You are invited to our October Art Gallery Show!
Show runs thru November 6th.
First Friday hours on October 3rd. are from 5 till 8pm.
All are welcome and always free to visit, thanks!
Regular Gallery hours are from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Closed Sunday
Jones Gallery 1717 Walnut, KCMO. 64108
816 – 421‑2111
https://jonesgallerykc.com/

Belger Arts is pleased to present Put a Lid on It: Lidded Vessel Invitational. The exhibition opens Friday, October 3, at the Belger Crane Yard Gallery (2011 Tracy Avenue, Kansas City, MO 64108) and continues through January 3, 2026. An opening night reception will be held from 6:00PM to 8:00PM, during which awards will be announced at 6:30PM.

Put a Lid on It features imaginative work by over 100 artists, each contributing lidded vessels and covered dishes across a vibrant range of media and unique styles.

The exhibition is an exploration of the lidded form, showcasing how a lid creates a compelling separation between the interior and the exterior, the concealed and revealed. From whimsical butter dishes and exquisite tea pots to delicately crafted ritual jars and multicolored dropper bottles, each vessel demonstrates how this separation can be functional or emotional. The notion of what one chooses to hold inside, whether literal or symbolic, practical or sentimental, is at the heart of the exhibition.

Awards totaling up to $500 will be offered, with awardees announced at the opening night reception. Exhibition judges are Jessica Hong, Chief Curator at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, and Louise Myers, Proprietor of Pryde’s Kitchen and Necessities.

• 4:00 — 5:30 PM: Make Your Own Glass PumpkinAttendees can see how glass pumpkins are crafted and register to make their own between 4:00PM and 5:30PM. Space is limited, and registration is $75. Early arrival is recommended to secure a spot.

• 6:00 — 8:00 PM: Glassblowing Main EventThe Belger Glass Annex team of artists will captivate attendees by creating a Halloween-themed molten glass masterpiece inspired by designs from this summer’s Teen Campers.

Attendance is free. Complimentary, no hassle parking is provided.

Join us for The Edge of Your Field: DeAnna Skedel First Friday Opening Reception, 5pm — 9pm.

Like always, there will be refreshments and treats from local all gluten free and vegan bakery, The Littlest Bake Shop.

Artist Statement:

I collage eco-prints to embody the legacy of women whose artistry was often expressed through labor and caregiving. These layered works capture knowledge, emotions, and insights, much like inherited stories or cherished recipes passed down through generations. My pieces reflect and challenge social expectations, weaving natural and human-made materials into visual narratives.

Using the natural dye technique of eco-printing, ink-making, drawing, and assembling, I build works that demand slowing down and engaging deeply with the material as well as the image. Found objects — such as photographs, paper scraps, stains, and pencil marks — merge with organic elements to form compositions requiring observation and reflection, as they come together to mirror the cyclical nature of seasons and life.

My work is driven by a desire to uncover and share the narratives embedded in places, plants, and objects, as well as the often-muted voices of women. Aspects of ourselves that we dismiss, deny, or are simply unable to recognize. The images are of the hidden, the frightening, the furious, the forbidden, and the parts too disturbing to face as well as goals, desires or aspirations. I see both natural and human-made objects as vessels for stories that inform and inspire. Through this practice, I envision these pieces as handed down through time- like a family or cultural recipe, grounding me in the present and guiding me through this third phase of my life — a phase marked by instinctual wisdom, intuition, and a deep connection to nature. I seek guidance from women and the natural world as I navigate these transitions.

Bio:

DeAnna Skedel has been an artist and professor in Kansas City since 2002. Her eclectic studio practice is deeply intuitive — akin to cooking: a meditation, an infusion, and a slow maceration of ideas and materials.

She began exhibiting at the Ohio Craft Museum while still an undergraduate. Graduate studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago expanded her practice into theater and international opportunities, including the US/UK Contemporary Cast Iron in Sculpture Project in England, Overflow/Fluids (LA Art Girls) at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, and a native garden project in Voulx, France. In Kansas City, she has been an Avenue of the Arts recipient, participated in the Urban Culture Project, and was featured in The Sixth Surface: Steven Holl Lights the Nelson-Atkins Museum. She has also been active in the Kansas City chapter of the social justice organization Avodah.

A committed educator, Skedel received the Missouri Governor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching at Metropolitan Community College – Blue River, where students affectionately describe her as “some crazy combination of Mr. Miyagi and Bob Ross.”

Reflecting on her overlapping roles as artist, educator, and parent of teens who learn and experience the world differently, she writes:
“It feels like I am in a kind of puberty of maturity — an acceleration of personal and artistic evolution beneath layers of responsibility and societal invisibility.”

She cherishes the creative pause, seeing it as a space to reflect on matriarchal wisdom and the lessons passed down through generations.