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Crossroads Arts District

Kansas City's Creative Neighborhood

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Katrina Revenaugh — The Verdant Hours

April 3, 2025 By info@leedy-voulkos.com

Created in the solitude of the early morning, The Verdant Hours is a collection of contemporary mixed media works that explore the intersection of nature and urban expression. Each piece is a fusion of raw graffiti energy and the delicate beauty of botanical forms — where the resilience of nature meets the grit of the streets.

Built in layers, these works combine acrylic, pigment inks, oil sticks, pastel and hand-cut Japanese KOZO paper to create richly textured surfaces. Using an alternative printmaking process, pigment inks and the artist’s own photography are burnished into the surface by hand, embedding imagery into the composition like a memory pressed into time. This tactile process allows each layer to reveal something new — subtle remnants of previous marks, traces of botanical forms, and echoes of urban landscapes.

Through abstract interpretations and floral shapes, The Verdant Hours reimagines the essence of botanicals, capturing their forms in unexpected ways. The rhythmic layering of materials reflects the harmony and tension between the organic and the industrial, the ephemeral and the enduring.

This exhibition celebrates the coexistence of two seemingly opposing forces — urban culture and the natural world — revealing the beauty that emerges from their convergence. The Verdant Hours invites viewers to pause, look closer, and to find wonder in the places where nature persists, even in the most unlikely environments.

Artist Statement:

My work is a fusion of photography, printmaking, and painting — an ongoing exploration of the unexpected relationship between street art and nature. At first glance, graffiti and botanicals seem like opposites, but both are acts of mark-making, subject to time, decay, and renewal. 

Graffiti layers over itself as new artists leave their mark, much like a garden where plants grow, fade, and regenerate. Both evolve, transforming walls and landscapes into living, ever-changing compositions.

I am inspired by graffiti’s raw energy and the ephemeral beauty of botanicals. A single gesture — a faded tag, a bold stroke of color, a vine creeping over a wall — feeds my creative process. 

Using an alternative printmaking technique, I merge elements from photographs of graffiti, botanicals, and insects, burnishing pigment inks onto layered surfaces of paint and mixed media. Through this tactile process, the vibrancy of street art intertwines with the organic flow of nature, creating immersive, dreamlike compositions.

I see my work ever changing — where the urban and the organic coexist, fade, and begin anew.

Artist Bio:

Katrina Revenaugh is a photographer, printmaker and painter. She combines those disciplines to transform the grit and chaos of street art into her own visual language.

Over the years, she has traveled to 24 cities across 11 countries to photograph graffiti in the world’s most dynamic street art environments. She sees graffiti as the purest form of “mark making” — a raw, expressive connection between artist and city, a visual language that tells the story of a place and people.

Drawing from her travels, she fuses the energy of urban art with the delicate beauty of nature. Using an alternative printmaking process, she layers her own photographs of graffiti, botanicals, and insects, burnishing pigment inks onto painted surfaces.

Gestures intertwine with flowers, vines, and textures, combining the organic and the industrial in unexpected ways. Each piece is a layered narrative, a fusion of marks and memories that blur the lines between past and present, nature and city.

Originally from the Midwest, Katrina spent her teen years in rural Southern Illinois, where her love for nature and flowers grew. Later, living near Venice Beach and attending Otis College of Art & Design, she developed a fascination with graffiti and street art. This dual passion fuels her ever-growing archive of images, gathered from alleys and gardens alike, forming the foundation of her work. She currently resides in Kansas City. 

* * * * *

Artist Talk with Katrina Revenaugh: The Verdant Hours Exhibition

Saturday, April 12, 2pm

Join artist Katrina Revenaugh for a talk about her exhibition, The Verdant Hours, on Saturday, April 12th at 2 pm at LVAC. Discover how her mixed media fuses with raw energy of street art with the delicate beauty of botanical forms, creating a powerful dialogue between nature and urban expression.

Richard Mattison — Moments Noticed

April 3, 2025 By info@leedy-voulkos.com

Visual and auditory experiences are major sources of sensory stimulation in my life. Seeing and hearing inspire within me, spontaneous intuitive expressions that I deem to be celebratory in nature. I have, since childhood, felt drawing, painting, and making to be magical activities.

Image making is, and has been, inspired by visual discoveries that stimulate interaction in much the same way a seductive partner invites me to dance. My partner and I mutually celebrate. I paint what feels right visually and pictorially at the moment.

The unpredictable character of the ever-changing natural outdoor landscape intrigues me. I experience the event that is the sum of what is happening both internally and externally. I typically begin with an initial on-site experience that sets the painting process in motion. While I start from direct visual response to the subject, I proceed editorially with decisions based essentially on what intuitively feels right –pictorially. From the beginning, I paint holistically. Since each stroke changes the whole image in much the same way that each note alters a musical composition, I measure the effect that each stroke has on the overall pictorial composition at the moment of its occurrence.

Each work is inspired by an event/experience discovery that informs me. I am led by it. To me, painting is a kind of dancing meditation. Its’ meaning is in the joy of doing it.

Picasso has been quoted as having said “I don’t seek, I find!”

Richard Mattsson

I began painting and drawing from direct observation in the early eighties after twenty five years of working more or less abstractly and primarily from imagination. My early schooling at the Minneapolis School of Art in the late fifties, was largely influenced by the psychological and existential forces that surrounded abstract expressionist thinking. I attended the Minneapolis School of Art immediately following U.S Army service in Japan where I was first introduced to Buddhist thought and oriental culture in general. I have only recently come to realize how those early experiences have unconsciously informed my process. Painting has become a form of present and discovery oriented meditative practice.

For me, painting is dancing to visual music.

Initially, my choice of subject matter was intuitive. I began to paint what I saw before me with no predetermined attitude toward the outcome other than it had to feel right. While I don’t subscribe to any “isms,” I do consider myself to be a formalist with an interest in pattern, color and expressive composition. I try to appropriately respond to the circumstances of my experience in a manner balanced between external and internal observation. The place or situation of landscape appeals to me particularly because it is an ever changing unpredictable event. Painting, listening, dancing, and gardening are all exciting influences in that they all require that I surrender to the forces of life that play in the moment.

The fact is, I have enjoyed making both images and objects since childhood. The process has been magical, spiritually vital, and integral to my sense of being.

Richard Mattsson Artist Talk

Lisa Hamilton — Catching Sight

April 3, 2025 By info@leedy-voulkos.com

Through the emphasis of mark making, texture, and movement I strive to create a kind of language which speaks to the peace and solace of nature. Like an offering I use metalwork to honor her distinct beauty. I am fascinated by the spaces, the poetry of shadows, those voids left by encroaching lichen, crisscrossing tree branches, and the paths of time. Catching Sight invites the viewer to see this world through the lens of my experiences.

Artist Statement:

As an infant I was placed in a hollow on the side of a hill under an old oak tree. The smells of the freshly dug earth, the sun dappling on my face, and the gentle rocking of the tree were my companions. Wind gusts rustled my hair, and leaves visited me while I gazed up and waved my arms in celebration. Acorns and bugs watched while the grasses danced and whispered me to sleep, leaving me kin to nature. This experience is expressed in my work through natural found objects and representational forms.

One afternoon, when I was twelve, I watched from my window as my neighbor welded. The arc of sparks was never-ending, beautiful, and mesmerizing. No matter how hard I tried I could not see his project through the bursts of light. I had no idea those bright flashes were permanently burning small holes in the backs of my eyes. Instead of a tragedy, it was an unexpected gift which left me with companion spots that live where I look. These multiple void shapes appear in my work through texture, repeated forms, piercings, and movement.

My current work reflects the ritual of disassembling the strata of these remembered events. I break them into the relevant pieces then like an offering, I add metalwork to honor their distinct beauty. This work speaks to the peace and solace of nature. They are a reflection of self through the lens of my life experiences. I am fascinated by the poetry of shadows, those voids left by encroaching lichen, crisscrossing tree branches, and the evidence of time.

Artist Bio:

Lisa Hamilton (b. Orange, California) uses her practice to examine the pull of the natural world. Through movement, texture, weight, she explores nature’s relation to the fragile yet resilient landscape of the body. Like an offering, she creates pieces that allow the personality of every natural object define its use. The ritual of wearing her work may be all that is needed to recreate the connection to the natural world she first experienced as a child. Her work has been exhibited Internationally and Nationally including The Santa Reparata International School of the Arts, Florence, Italy; Precious Collective, United Kingdom; Las Laguna Gallery, Laguna Beach, California; Agora Gallery, New York, New York; The Foundry Art Centre, Saint Charles, Missouri; Bluestem Missouri Crafts Gallery, Columbia, Missouri; Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, Little Rock, Arkansas; The Octagon Center for the Arts, Ames, Iowa; IncuArts Gallery, Honolulu, Hawaii, and others. She received her BFA in Metalsmithing/Jewelry with a minor in Art History from Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri, and her MFA with Honors in Metalsmithing/Jewelry at University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas. Lisa currently teaches Metalsmithing and Jewelry classes at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas.

The Essence of Joy — Celebrating the Art and Legacy of Lester Goldman

April 3, 2025 By info@leedy-voulkos.com

The Leedy Foundation is proud to announce The Essence of Joy: Celebrating the Art and Legacy of Lester Goldman, the first exhibition in the newly established Leedy Foundation Legacy Series. This inaugural exhibition honors the profound impact of Lester Goldman, whose four-decade career spanned from early realism to a unique blend of abstract expressionism, installation, and performance art. The show will run from March 1 to May 30, 2025, and is curated with special input from Goldman’s family, capturing the spirit of his joyful creativity and bold inventiveness.

Lester Goldman’s work is celebrated for its vibrant, childlike energy, emotional depth, and playful yet profound exploration of artistic boundaries. This exhibition not only showcases his remarkable artistic evolution but also serves as a tribute to his nearly 40-year career teaching at the Kansas City Art Institute. On the 20th anniversary of Goldman’s passing, this exhibition provides a rare opportunity to revisit his most iconic works and reflects the lasting impact of his artistic and educational contributions.

About Lester Goldman:


Lester Goldman was a vital force in Kansas City’s art world, renowned for his ability to push the boundaries of artistic expression. His work, ranging from realist paintings to abstract installations and performances, reflected his ever-evolving artistic vision. As a professor at the Kansas City Art Institute, Goldman’s passion for teaching and nurturing creativity left an indelible mark on countless students, further solidifying his place as one of the region’s most influential artists.

About the Leedy Foundation Legacy Series:


The newly established Leedy Foundation Legacy Series highlights the achievements of artists whose work has shaped the cultural fabric of our community, ensuring that their contributions are honored and celebrated for years to come. 

The Essence of Joy marks the first of many Legacy Exhibitions that will explore the legacies of artists who have enriched Kansas City’s artistic community and beyond. This inaugural exhibition exemplifies the mission of the Leedy Foundation — to preserve, celebrate, and promote the legacies of visionary artists who continue to inspire new generations.

Leedy-Voulkos Art Center, a cornerstone of Kansas City’s contemporary art scene, is committed to showcasing exceptional and diverse works of art.

First Fridays Street Market & Live Music!

April 2, 2025 By hello@artgardenkc.org

We’re back, Kansas City!

Crossroads Community Association and Art Garden KC are teaming up to bring you the ultimate First Fridays experience, celebrating our vibrant Kansas City arts scene!

Stroll down 19th Street and the iconic Art Alleys to discover:
  • Over 100 Local Artists & Makers: Unique, handcrafted vendors showcasing original artwork, jewelry, ceramics, and more!
  • Mainstage Entertainment: Enjoy live performances on our mainstage, hosted by DJ E of KKFI’s “Energy & Jams” show. Each month features a diverse lineup of local bands and performers!
  • Food Trucks & Local Eateries: Savor delicious bites from a variety of food trucks on 19th & Grand or check out nearby restaurants, pubs and craft breweries! 🍕🍻
🎨Event Details:
✨When: First Friday of every month, April – October, 5 PM – 9 PM
✨Where: 19th St. between Wyandotte and Baltimore
Whether you’re a seasoned art enthusiast or a curious newcomer, First Fridays in the Crossroads offer an unforgettable experience that celebrates the heart and soul of Kansas City’s creative community!
Hop on the KC Streetcar and join us in the Crossroads!
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Information about vendor applications and music inquiries can be found at www.kccrossroads.org/first-fridays
Follow @ArtGardenKC for event updates!
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