R. Gregory Summers | Kansas City Historical Series, “Living in the Past”
May 2 + June 6, 2025 | 6 – 9pm

Using black and white photos of historic Kansas City as his inspiration, Summers combined his artistic talent with his love of local history to create an all-new series of original paintings featuring Kansas City as it once was.

“Take Me from the River” shows the Town of Kansas as it grew from a mere trading post to what it is today. Over time, the town gradually shed its somewhat checkered past, the saloons, brothels, and gambling of the river district, up Quality Hill to the high-end shopping, and finance, then on to the Pendergast years, and beyond.

Greg was born in the Flint Hills of Kansas and moved to the Kansas City area in 1960. He began his professional career at Hallmark Cards Inc. in 1979. A Master Engraver, he now paints primarily “En Plein Air” across the globe with a limited pallet of only 4 colors.

R. Gregory Summers | Kansas City Historical Series, “Take Me from the River”
May 2 + June 6, 2025 | 6 – 9pm

Using black and white photos of historic Kansas City as his inspiration, Summers combined his artistic talent with his love of local history to create an all-new series of original paintings featuring Kansas City as it once was.

“Take Me from the River” shows the Town of Kansas as it grew from a mere trading post to what it is today. Over time, the town gradually shed its somewhat checkered past, the saloons, brothels, and gambling of the river district, up Quality Hill to the high-end shopping, and finance, then on to the Pendergast years, and beyond.

Greg was born in the Flint Hills of Kansas and moved to the Kansas City area in 1960. He began his professional career at Hallmark Cards Inc. in 1979. A Master Engraver, he now paints primarily “En Plein Air” across the globe with a limited pallet of only 4 colors.

First Fridays at Border Brewing Company
Located in the heart of the Crossroads Arts District, Border Brewing Company is your go-to stop on First Fridays. With our prime location just steps from the Art Alley and some of the best galleries in KC, we’re pouring fresh craft beer and welcoming everyone — whether you’re just starting your First Friday crawl or winding it down with friends. Our spacious patio is open and buzzing every month, offering a relaxed, family-friendly vibe with big yard games and plenty of seating to kick back and enjoy the night.

This First Friday, we partner with Brit Boy Street Food, bringing bold, UK-inspired eats right to our doorstep — from loaded fries to curry-soaked deliciousness that pairs perfectly with a cold pint. Inside, our taproom is packed with approachable options for beer drinkers of all kinds (and even some options for those avoiding alcohol). Whether you’re here for the art, the food, or just the energy of the Crossroads, Border is a must-visit stop that brings people together in the best way possible.

The Belger Glass Annex is excited to announce that the warm shop and cold shop are now open! What is a warm shop? What is a cold shop? Great questions!

Up to this point, you may be most familiar with the Belger Glass Annex’s “hot shop.” The hot shop is where we teach glassblowing glasses, offer glassblowing private parties, and host monthly free First Friday demonstrations.

The hot shop is called the “hot shop” because the glass stays hot the entire time the artist is working with it. Hot shop artists start with molten glass that needs constant reheating, and the finished piece is still around 1000 degrees when it gets loaded into an annealing oven to cool.

In the “warm shop,” the glass starts out cold, gets warmed up, then cools back down. Warm shop artists start by cutting and arranging pieces of room temperature glass before loading a kiln to heat and melt the glass.

In the “cold shop” the glass stays cold the entire time. Through processes of cutting, grinding, and polishing, cold shop artists can change the shape and texture of glass while never needing to heat it up.

Belger Arts is pleased to present Materialize: Visualizing Climate Change. This exhibit brings together the work of six contemporary artists who explore multiple aspects of one of the world’s most challenging topics.

The artists’ innovative use of materials and digital processes invite viewers to examine the impact of climate change on natural and human-made systems. Caroline Landau utilizes clear glass to memorialize a Bristlecone pine tree, a species threatened by climate change. Marie McInerney’s laser-etched graphite drawings illustrate data related to habitat disturbances such as landslides and fires. Lauren Shapiro combines ceramics and technology to depict fragile and endangered coral ecosystems. Steve Gurysh employs 3D scanning to recreate ash trees devastated by emerald ash borers. Tali Weinberg incorporates images of fire-scarred trees into weavings using petrochemical-derived materials. Anne Yoncha sonifies and materializes soil data from post-extraction peatlands in her installation titled, Peat Quilt 1.

Each artist asks viewers to consider how digital technologies transform disembodied data into experiences that engage our senses and emotions. In doing so, they raise critical questions to inspire change and cultivate environmental stewardship.