In the Exhibition Hall:
“Dr. Blackenstein’s Blacktacular Black Shack of Arts and Sciences”
A solo exhibition and experience from Harold Smith

Learn more: https://www.studiosinc.org/events/harold-smith-blacktacular

In Studios Gallery:
“Riding the Rail”
A Seven Week Installation of Album Covers, Posters, Tattoos, Paraphernalia and Propaganda by Peregrine Honig
Curated by Sean Kelly, Assistant Curator Emily Loubser

Learn more: https://www.studiosinc.org/events/riding-the-rail

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Launched to serve mid-career artists, Studios Inc is Kansas City’s only nonprofit arts organization offering pivotal three-year residencies to mid-career artists who are poised to significantly expand their careers. Studios Inc offers a unique immersion experience for resident artists, who use their studio and exhibition space to produce and exhibit work, network and learn from one another, and attract and cultivate relationships with art patrons, collectors, and arts professionals.

What is my work about?

The short answer:

Seeking a common theme in my work, I realized there are two main themes. One has always been allowing the camera to teach me mindfulness. The other is searching for relationship and connection.

For those who like the full story:

Our melting-pot ancestry goes back many generations in the US. As a result, I didn’t grow up with a sense of cultural identity beyond the mainstream, which didn’t suit. I admired the richness of culture and belonging I observed in friends with more recent ties to another place. In time, I realized I could choose some piece of my ancestral background as the focus of my quest for culture. Although I do not play an instrument, when I found the KC Traditional Irish Music community at Prospero’s, it felt like home. I have called it church. Naturally I also visited the Gaelic homelands.

As an adult with neither church nor child to bind me, when I found a community I felt its vitality to my well-being. The Arts, The KC Trad Irish Music Community, and my workplace are spaces where I’ve found those connections beyond my small but close family.