Members In The Media​

ART SCENE – DEAN MITCHELL
Peaceful, quiet, contemplative, witnessing – all descriptors of Dean Mitchell’s art thoughtfully created in a variety of media. Whether this prolific, powerhouse artist is working in oil, watercolor, or acrylic, the message is the same.

This is the start of a segment of blogs highlighting local artists that will be involved in the Artist’s Salon, sponsored by the Women’s Center at the InterUrban ArtHouse on April 1, 6-7 p.m. This posting is about local artist Stasi Bobo-Ligon. Staci is a local to Kansas City and studied at UMKC before moving to Chicago. In Chicago she attended the Art Institute of Chicago where she developed her art as a contemporary artist. While studying there she received highly sought after, Art House Studio Gallery’s Artist-in-Residence position.

The Kansas City Museum announced in August that it is working with artist and historian Ed Dwight and International Architects Atelier to create a new weathervane for the Carriage House at the Kansas City Museum. The museum is in the early stages of architectural design for the restoration and renovation of the Carriage House, with the Carriage House slated to open by 2026.

Watercolor artist Dean Mitchell grew up in the small town of Quincy, Florida, where he draws inspiration using his unique style of realism.

The Kansas City Museum carries within its walls and on its grounds the past, present and future of our city.

My work is an experience—take it all in!

After 19 years in corporate America, I left in 2017 to pursue my business and commercial modeling. As an artist, I create jewelry for the everyday person as well as expressionary bold pieces for the fashion runway and for gallery exhibitions.

The Pitch: What TV jingle/song is forever stuck in your head?

Clarissa Knighten: Now sing along with me—“Thank You for Being a Friend!” I can sing this song anywhere—at any time! I even own several T-shirts with my Golden Girls! Rose Nylund is my girl.

Clarissa Knighten has been highlighting the best features of Kansas Citians and others with her jewelry designs, which can be seen on runways and galleries in and out of Kansas City. “I am a Black, female, jewelry designer who wants everyone to be able to wear or own a piece of art,”

Exhibition and book signing.

Ed Dwight First Black Astronaut

Testimony Exhibition Interview with Dean Mitchell | A special, virtual evening as world-renowned artist and African American Artists Collective member, Dean Mitchell, discusses his work, career and Kansas City ties with local KCUR 98.3’s Renèe Blanche, host of Night Tides.

Revolution Exhibition at KCAI | KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Art Institute will open its new gallery with an exhibit featuring Black artists.

"Revolution in Our Lifetime: An Exhibition in Three Parts" will feature works by Emory Douglas, the African American Artists Collective and KCAI students, according to Michael Schonhoff, director of the KCAI gallery.

Simple stitches, ragged edges, and contrasting fabrics. Wrapped from start to finish in prayer. That’s how Sandra Revelle—artist, storyteller, and member of Colonial Presbyterian Church in Kansas City—brings the buried narratives of former slaves to life using machine- and hand-sewn panels vividly illustrated with scenes from the past.

The creatives behind the remake of a ’90s sitcom have proven once again that Kansas City artists can play with coastal counterparts on the same field. | “Bel-Air,” a dramatic re-imagining of Will Smith’s “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” debuted on Peacock in February. The brainchild of Morgan Cooper, a filmmaker from the Kansas City area, “Bel-Air” has showcased the works of several Kansas City artists.

The Independent Magazine's Art Scene series published a feature on Kansas City Artist Wolfe Brack.

Local playwright Olivia Hill has switched gears for her latest venture. Her new memoir Travel North Black Girl came out at the end of May. The story switches back and forth between her Kansas City childhood and her move to a small village in Alaska as a newly-married young woman.

A woman started making jewelry as a form of therapy. Then, she quit her job to pursue her passion full time. Now, Clarissa Knighten is one of the featured designers at KC Fashion Week.

I met with Mr. Tyrone at the Alvin Ailey Studio in Kansas City, which is the place where he used to teach me dance. He was finishing up a class; they were getting ready for their spring performance. Another former teacher, Michael Joy, was the first to greet me. I could hear Mr. Tyrone in the class correcting form and demanding art. We locked eyes, and he gave me a head nod. He then concluded the class and stepped out to meet me.

“Memories had a way of tearing through my life like worn sheets, splitting in the middle,” Olivia Hill writes in her recently published memoir “Travel North Black Girl.” The line reflects her approach to the story of how she traveled from the poor neighborhoods of Kansas City to the Alutiiq/Sugpiaq village of Tatitlek, on Prince William Sound, where her then-husband was hired to be a schoolteacher in 1982.

June and July’s featured art is curated by the African American Artist Alliance of Kansas City. This exhibition features works by Michael Brantley, Xavier Gayden, Jason Piggie and Sandra Scott-Revelle. An opening reception will be held Friday, July 8 from 6-8 p.m. View samples of their work through Monday, August 8.

"Self-Taught Jewelry Artist."
I will never forget the first moment I met Clarissa "Rissa" Knighten at a Kansas City Fashion Week Oak Park Mall Rack Check and had a physical reaction to her calming presence, voice, and overall nature. Especially because, as an "Influencer Collective" member for KCFW who had never interacted behind the scenes with the designers, I innocently (selfishly?!) asked if she had ever considered a statement piece that draped the back; lo and behold, she liked it, designed

As young as 5 years old, Wolfe Brack used the nature around him to create imaginary, miniature worlds. Now, as an adult, he creates miniature works of art to explore and learn more about the the world around us. | We’re FlatlandKC.org, KCPT’s digital magazine, a destination for local and regional storytelling in and around Kansas City.

Review of Protest+Hope=Healing
In “Protest + Hope = Healing,” choreographer and organizer Tyrone Aiken brought together a multi-disciplinary cadre of artists for an intimate event that explored how these artists have challenged injustice, offering models for others.

The Kansas City Artist’s Riveting Jewelry Work Offers a Metaphor of Struggle
Sometimes, art serves as a living metaphor for the life of the artist, a physical embodiment of his or her life story. “Lady in Satin,” the last album released by Billie Holiday during her lifetime, contains an exhilaratingly painful rendition of “You’ve Changed.” Although the song is talking about falling out of love, it almost feels like Holiday was singing about how the fame, setbacks and struggles of life had change

The opening reception is March 18th and second reception is April 15th. The show will stay up through April 29th. Presented by InterUrban ArtHouse in partnership with UMKC Women’s center as part of the ongoing Her Art/Their Art Project. The purpose of this show is to illustrate and celebrate the unique experiences and challenges female-identifying and non-binary artists face in America, as they bring together family, careers, activism, and artistic fulfillment. What does it mean to identify, live, and navigate our society as a woman or non binary femme in 21st century America?

Covering Kanas City's performance, visual, cinematic, and literary arts, KC studio writes an article about AAAC advocating for Black art in exhibits and commissions where group members are making their mark on the KC Arts scene.

IN Kansas City is the city and lifestyle content provider, in print, social media, and online, for Kansas Citians interested in what’s happening in the metro. They’re all about amazing experiences, music news and reviews, what theater to see, the latest fashion trends, exquisite homes and gardens, restaurant reviews, what’s new and who’s who.

A Frame of Mind: Presented by the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art | A Frame of Mind takes a hard look at race in America through the lens of one art museum. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art sits at a crossroads: in the middle of Kansas City, in the middle of the country, and in the middle of America’s shifting cultural landscape. We’re working through the slow and sometimes messy change of a big museum asking what it can be and whose stories it tells. Along the way, host Glenn North meets brilliant Black and Native artists and thinkers in Kansas City who help us see through their eyes.

The Charlotte Street Foundation will manage the spaces for tenants with an arts bent. The first tenants will be the African American Artists Collective, the KC Public Theatre, and the KC Society of Contemporary Photography.

Interview by Glenn North with Julián Zugazagoitia. Dr. Julián Zugazagoitia is the fifth director and chief executive officer of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. An international scholar, museum director and consultant who has served as the director and CEO of El Museo del Barrio in New York. | Filmed by Little Piggie Entertainment