Belger Crane Yard Gallery presents Milestones: Belger Arts’ Tenth Annual Resident Artist Exhibition opening Friday, June 2, 2023, at 2011 Tracy Avenue, Kansas City, MO 64108. The public is invited to view the work and meet the artists from 6 to 8 pm. The exhibition includes work by Cindy Leung, Sun Young Park, Gina Pisto, Adams Puryear, Meredith Smith, and Nicole Woodard.

This year Belger Arts celebrates a significant milestone: the tenth year of its Artists in Residence program. The program originated at Red Star Studios, a long-time Kansas City ceramics gallery and studio. After its closing the program found a permanent home in May 2013 when Belger Crane Yard Studios opened. Belger Crane Yard Studios continues to host national and international artists through the program, providing ceramic artists the opportunity to expand their body of work or create a special project that may be outside of the scope of their routine studio practice.

The group exhibition, with its range of styles, themes, and techniques, also marks a milestone for the six artists, as it is the culmination of their time in the residency program. Through porcelain, a ceramic material originating from the East and popularized by the West, Cindy Leung facilitates conversations around topics such as consumerism, colonization, and cultural hybridity. Sun Young Park combines clay and non-clay materials to create large, abstract sculptures that reflect how she processes and translates her reality and explores the duality of the material and the conceptual. Adams Puryear documents pop and internet culture, combining traditional techniques and contemporary imagery inspired by the internet’s “anti- filter.” Curio as a site within the domestic, plays a major role in Gina Pisto’s work that explores the ritual of collecting and preservation as an act of desire. Meredith Smith uses clay, figurative sketching, poetry, and various other aspects of her work to relay an array of experiences across the human condition. Nicole Woodard’s work currently focuses on exploring the vulnerability and trauma of the body from the perspective of a woman.

Come join us for First Fridays! We have a variety of craft beer, hard cider, and hard seltzer all made in-house. Check out our beautiful backyard patio, and venture on to art alley to look at one of Kansas City’s most iconic street art spots as well!

Tap into your wild side at Casual Animal Brewing Company where local beer, plants, and art intersect! Our taproom brims with floor to ceiling greenhouse vibes and graphic design.

BEER: Enjoy a pint or flight of our 11 rotating taps, including our Local Motive beer where $2 of every pint is donated to a different KC non-profit every two months.

FOOD: It’s also PIZZA FRIDAY at Casual Animal, featuring freshly made pies by Devoured Pizza pop-up. Jhy Coulter’s cloud crust is SO AMAZING that she won Hulu’s “Best in Dough” competition! Pizza is available 4 – 8pm (or until they sell out)!

ART: We also have Homegrown Merchandise/D’n’A Screen Printing onsite selling their original art prints on totes, tees, and more!

GOOD CAUSE: This month, every pint of the Local Motive Kolsch benefits Thelma’s Kitchen, providing social & mental health services and reducing food insecurity for KC neighbors in need. Meet some Thelma’s Kitchen representatives onsite 5 – 8pm to learn more about the organization, volunteer opportunities, and upcoming events.

Influenzers explores the familiar and yet forgettable of social media. I don’t like social media, yet I’m addicted, just like everyone else. The paintings are inspired by the jumble of images that appear in the algorithm of mindless scrolling, each vying for your attention.

I’m not interested in fashion or flowers, but too often, the same type of styled poses and cookie-cutter images continue to fill my screen day after day. I wanted to address this and pull inspiration from the same subject matter that typically doesn’t interest me, and connect the two together to introduce a new aesthetic and bring interest to the ordinary.

Artist Bio

Jared is a self-taught artist and graphic designer living and working in Kansas City. He has exhibited both paintings and drawings in various group and solo shows throughout the Kansas City area. You can view more of Jared’s work on Instagram @jaredisgreen

Studios Inc’s, SUMMER FUNDRAISER / Selections from Current Residents & Alumni group exhibition is a walk through the history of the Studios Inc Artist Residency Program and features works from an esteemed roster of current resident artists and alumni, including:

Lilly McElroy, Emily Sall, Yoonmi Nam, Peregrine Honig, Harold Smith, Jill Downen, Misha Kligman, Ricky Allman, Barry Anderson, Patty Carroll, Miguel Rivera, Robert Bingaman, Gerry Trilling, Kathy
Liao, Benjamin Rosenthal, HyeYoung Shin, Lori Raye Erickson, Miles Neidinger, Jarett Mellenbruch, Lonnie Powell, Garry Noland, Caitlin Horsmon, Marie Bannerot McInerney, Debra Smith, Judith G. Levy,
Kevin Townsend, Miki Baird, May Tveit, Susan White, Marcie Miller Gross, Susan White, Peter Warren, Matthew Dahaemers, Andrea Flamini, Dylan Mortimer, Colby K Smith, Brett Reif, Jamie Warren,
Elijah Gowin, Archie Scott Goebber & Beniah Leuschke

This is the perfect time to celebrate the history of the vibrant Kansas City arts community and collect works from some of Kansas City’s premier artists. All proceeds from sales directly fund future artist residencies. Studios Inc is a 501 © 3 Non Profit Artist Residency Program serving mid-career artists in the Greater Kansas City Metro. Learn more at www.studiosinc.org.

SUMMER FUNDRAISER/SELECTIONS will be on view through August 23, 2023. Exhibition hours are Wednesday thru Friday 10am-4pm and Saturday 12 – 4pm. Private tours are available.