Kansas City based artist Benjamin Parks focuses primarily on painting large-scale portraits and figurative work. Benjamin adds personality and life to his realistic pieces through multiple layers and strokes, which represent the emotional history of both subject and painter...
Polly McCann is an artist, author, speaker on imagination and the creative practice and founder of Flying Ketchup Press. Polly often draws inspiration for her colorful pieces through her research on the creative subconscious and dreams. McCann’s artwork is on display at the...
Kansas City artist and KCAI alumna Terri Pollack draws inspiration for her pieces from the art world around her. Painting brightly colored backgrounds, she creates vibrant images and then crosses her work into different media. Terri’s work is on display at the Oak Park...
Xavier Gayden is a KCMO illustrator making watercolor and digital artwork. Using bold shapes, patterns and color, Xavier’s work challenges the viewer to use their abstract mind. Gayden’s artwork is on display at the Antioch branch until August 21, 2022.
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What comes first...
Zac Bendrick is a painter experimenting with expressionism and abstraction. Using bold strokes and color, Zac creates large-scale pieces representing emotional themes and feelings. Bendrick’s work is on display at the Central Resource branch until August 21, 2022.
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Introd...
Campbell is a 21-year-old visual artist from Lawrence, Kansas. He has been painting and developing his style from a young age, taking inspiration from renowned painters such as Monet, Van Gogh and Haring. Using his emotional connection to colors and imagery from his...
Jean McGuire is a Kansas City native and painter. When she returned to painting after a 40 year hiatus, Jean often used her fingers as tools and a limited color range to create. Although her fingers are still a favorite tool, Jean now experiments with different techniques...
Introduce yourself and describe your work and the media/genre you work in.
Hello, my name is Kathy Liao. I’m a visual artist, an art educator, and an art administrator. My recent paintings and wall drawing installations document the fluid state between experience, memory...
Self-taught artist Lynell Diggs works in charcoal and acrylic, creating visually stimulating art using vibrant color and movement. Lynell’s focus for his work is to honor his ancestors and inspire those who view it. His work has been exhibited at the Negro Leagues Baseball...
A Kansas City Art Institute graduate, Joha Bisone lives and works in Kansas City and has participated in numerous local exhibits, group shows and collaborations. Joha’s use of bright color and fluidity reflect a vibrancy and movement inspired by nature, while the...
Daniel Baxley is a former firefighter turned artist living and working in Gardner, Kansas. Drawing inspiration from the unconscious, Daniel creates abstract pieces using oil on canvas, mosaic, sculpture and fused glass, often exploring similar themes through the different...
Kansas City native and artist Dylan Carroll views painting as a cathartic experience and takes time to let the canvas speak to him. Carroll elevates acrylic into a three dimensional medium by using tools and objects to lift and manipulate the paint. Dylan can often be found...
Book illustrator and former creative director for Hallmark, John Keeling specializes in custom portraits. Primarily working in watercolor, John is drawn to the medium for it’s freedom, transparency and unpredictability. His work can also be seen on calendars and greeting...
Born in Argentina and based in Kansas City, Sol Anzorena imbues her art with a passion for the environment. Sol has studied at the Universidad de Granada in Spain, Uniwersytet Artystyczny w Poznaniu in Poland and Faculdade de Artes Plasticas in Brazil. Her studies abroad and...
Kansas City-based artist Zoe Green works "from the human form and everyday life experiences to create opalescent environments that explore our more vulnerable thoughts regarding mortality and aging." She describes her work as "ambiguous" with "strong undertones and...
Talk about your work. What would you like people to know about it?
All of my work is created with intention from a space of meditation and reflection. My hope is that the viewer will be able to connect to and have a visceral response to the work. Does it evoke a memory...
Introduce yourself and describe your work and the media/genre you work in.
My name is Linda Nickell and I am a local Kansas City artist primarily developing contemporary landscapes using oil and cold wax medium. I enjoy creating art in my studio space located in the...
The JCDS Emerging Artists Program exists to develop the skills of Emerging Artists so that they may reach their full potential and receive income through the sale of their art. It provides an opportunity for this group to build meaningful relationships with professional...
After a diagnosis of severe post-traumatic stress disorder in 2011, Michael Schmaltz underwent several therapy sessions involving art. In 2012 he decided to buy oil paint and canvasses and started a series of self-portraits. He paints portraits of women because they can show...
Talk about the work on view. What would you like people to know about it?
The purpose of my paintings is to create a space where viewers can get lost exploring. My work is centered around mental health, specifically depression and anxiety. Painting is not only a process for...
Kansas-City-born illustrator, painter, ceramicist and part-time junk collector, Dick Daniels is a child of the 50’s who blossomed in the full glare of the psychedelic ‘60’s, influenced by the underground commix movement, abandoned amusement parks, American folk art and cheap...
Introduce yourself and describe your work and the media/genre you work in.
Hi, my name is Melanie Nolker and I am a full time oil painter here in the Kansas City area. I paint with the colors of Monet, and with a palette knife (a small trowel) instead of a brush. Using the...
Introduce yourself and describe your work.
My name is Matt Hawkins. I’m a paper toy making, toy designing, illustrating, banjo picking, incessant doodler working away in an attic in Overland Park.I weave humor and energy into bold, whimsical art for humorous and often...
Artist Statement: Tarot cards have been around since the 15th Century, used for playing games and divination. Until the invention of the printing press, each deck was drawn by hand. I have always been fascinated with tarot cards as a tool for introspection. It was a few...
Chris received her BFA in Painting and Drawing from the Kansas City Art Institute, her MA in Art Education and Ceramics from the University of New Mexico and currently teaches at Blue Valley Northwest High School. By day she helps kids dive deeper into the world of ceramics...
Art is fun—even when Life isn’t. I like to make things. I enjoy life and believe in art that entertains, delights the eye and engages the mind. My work involves nature, family or a sense of place that is infused with a playful spirit. I try to produce my impressions of ...
Jean McGuire is a Kansas City native who returned to painting four years ago after a 40-year hiatus. Most of her paintings are done with her fingers, but she’s not afraid to use a brush when needed. In her most current work she experiments with the effects of spattering or...
Joe Bussell is an award-winning painter of startling, vibrant abstracts that defy description. Figures and shapes float and scrape across the canvas in ways that are both playful and mysterious. His work embraces primary colors that can simultaneously blend together and...
I think of my drawings as specimens that have not yet been identified, as in they are abstract organic forms based on textures found in nature with an emphasis on mark making and mapping out larger spaces to find potential areas for detail and elaboration.
My paintings, on...
Influenced primarily by John Singer Sargent and Mary Cassatt, Kansas City-based painter Marcia Streepy enjoys the challenges of "plein air," or outdoor, painting. Her work depicts scenes of the natural world and city life painted on location. Whether she is applying oil...