A large-scale, textile triptych titled Towers by British artist Alice Kettle. The artist created the work in response to the 2001 attack on the World Trade Center. After the work was first shown in the U.S. during a 2009 Surface Design Conference in Kansas City, the artist gifted Towers to the Belger Collection so that it would remain in the U.S. We are honored to have received this special gift and to share it with visitors. To learn more about Alice Kettle, please visit her website.

Ada Koch’s preoccupation with war began with her childhood in Oak Ridge, TN where both parents worked at the Oak Ridge National Laboratories, a production site for the Manhattan Project where researchers developed the atomic bomb. She was persistently reminded of WAR: the Cold War, the Vietnam War, anti-war songs, local bomb shelters, and bomb drills in school. Now, decades later, Ada revisits anti-war protest songs from the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s in her quest to understand the repetition of violent cycles. Sadly, the songs of the past are currently relevant in the context of local and international violence.

Collectively, the pieces in this show touch on causes of war (power, fear, confusion, misinformation) which lead to violence, hate, and death. Yet Ada promotes a REMIX, taking what we have learned from a violent history and hoping for a more positive outcome with an emphasis on love and individuals.

Belger Crane Yard Gallery presents Common Thread opening Friday, February 4, 6 pm – 8 pm at 2011 Tracy Avenue, Kansas City, MO 64108. Artists remarks at 6:30 pm. The exhibition will remain on view through May 5, 2022.

Common Thread brings together the work of five ceramic artists who are inspired by textiles and textile processes. While the artists’ inspirations and representations vary, each incorporates fibers or fiber techniques in their process.

Shae Bishop explores the relationship between ceramics and textiles by making connections between each medium’s cultural history, pattern-making systems, and interactions with the human body. His work includes wearable garment sculptures made of interlaced ceramic tiles. Jeremy Brooks crochets, knits, and weaves strands of elastic clay to create forms that are inspired by traditional vessel making, mundane objects, and the queer experience. April Felipe’s collaged works blend ceramics, fiber, and wood and reference her childhood home, themes of identity, and the desire to belong. Inspired by ancient Italian and Lithuanian techniques, Anna Valenti’s woven and pinched clay vessels highlight shared traditions, human interaction, connectivity, and empathy. Casey Whittier’s work examines the systems of construction adopted from historical craft disciplines. Linking forms such as ceramic coils and beads she creates ceramic quilts, flowers, and other objects used in daily life.

The artists in Common Thread demonstrate a mastery of craft, a profound understanding of human connection, and share a playful and experimental approach to clay materials and processes.

February First Friday

Friday, February 4th, open 10 a.m., meet the artists from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Jones Gallery 1717 Walnut. 816 – 421-2111

www.jonesgallerykc.com

Thank you!

Come and go as you please, learn a little bit about what’s to come at The Bird, laugh a lot AND check our some great local artists! Only at The Bird.

Proof of Vaccination Required. Masks Encouraged. Donations Appreciated.

The Bird Comedy Theater is Kansas City’s newest comedy theater, located in the historic Hemingway Building in The Crossroad’s Arts District. Featuring improv, sketch and stand-up, every Thursday through Saturday!

www.TheBirdKC.com