We all feel it: the excitement rippling throughout KC for the global soccer tournament that will start in just a few weeks!

Hosting the FIFA World Cup in Kansas City is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to demonstrate why architects, especially in Kansas City, are relevant to the rest of the world. We want to tell our story.

Our chapter assembled a “Starting XI” task force in June 2024 to find a meaningful way to be involved with this epic event to help showcase the incredible strength of our AIA Kansas City sports architecture and design community. Led by Tom Waggoner, AIA, the task force met steadily to contribute ideas and enthusiasm, all with a focus on making the most of our chapter’s resources for this project. We are grateful for their dedication and contributions.

Now we are ready to roll out our exciting campaign!

We have 4 elements to announce today:

1. ARCHITECTS OF THE GAME Poster
   Commissioned by the AIA Kansas City task force and designed by local graphic designer Lance Flores, the poster’s “kaleidoscope” theme is a vibrant illustration of the range and depth of sports venue design and innovation created by our Member Firms in projects around the world.The poster has a QR code to guide viewers to the second element of our campaign: the new web page showcasing the history of Kansas City sports architecture.

   The posters are formatted for easy printing in your office. We look forward to seeing our poster displayed all over the KC region!

2. NEW PAGE ON OUR WEBSITE
   Generations in the making, now captured on our website: the history of Kansas City Sports Architecture and the current Member Firms who work in this distinctive category.
   
   Check it out here and look for the link to print a high-resolution ARCHITECTS OF THE GAME poster!
3. Billboard!
   Coming soon: an “Architects of the Game” billboard at Main St. and Truman, on display June 22-July 19. Stay tuned for more details!
4. POSTER PREMIERE PARTY hosted by Irwin
   Irwin has a home in the Crossroads, and they generously stepped up to support this campaign.You are invited to our Poster Premiere Party, hosted by Irwin!
   Tuesday, June 2
   4pm-7pm; Remarks at 5pm
   Location: Irwin | 1717 Oak St Suite 150, Kansas City, MO

• Food and beverages
• Poster giveaways (limited number available; gotta get there early!)
• Other surprises!

Please register in advance to help our hosts plan properly.

Come listen to Garry Noland discuss his exhibition, Piece Work, at Studios Inc on June 20th from 12 to 1 pm. Refreshments will be provided, so feel free to come ask questions and listen to Noland share his thoughts.

This traveling educational display is co-sponsored by the Church of Scientology of Kansas City. Come visit this traveling exhibit from May 1 – 9, 2026. Open daily from 11:00 am — 8:00 pm at the Independence mall, located in the former Earthbound Shop on the first floor.

Learn more about psychiatry’s crimes and violations of human rights at the world renowned Citizens Commission on Human Right’s Global Tour Exhibit — Psychiatry: An Industry of Death.

The visually spectacular exhibit features displays with graphic archival and current footage, inteviews with medical experts and moving accounts from victims of psychiatric abuse.

Bring your friends, family and anyone else who deserves to know the truth about psychiatric abuses.

Join us for a very special reception honoring the solo exhibition of Bunker Center resident Darryl Hines’s “Threads: Art in Motion”.

The artist will be signing copies of his book, “Sketches”.

Darryl Alexander Hines’s exhibition Threads: Art in Motion explores the shifting relationship between memory, identity, and time, using textile as both medium and metaphor. His work is grounded in the idea that the past is never fully behind us — it lingers, visible and influential, much like a fleeting image in a rearview mirror. Through richly layered, hand-stitched portraits and figurative compositions, Hines connects personal history with broader cultural narratives, examining how moments, places, and identities evolve while remaining tethered to what came before.

In this body of work, textile becomes a conduit for lineage and storytelling. Drawing inspiration from the utilitarian fabric work of his mother and grandmother, Hines transforms inherited practices into contemporary expressions of memory and presence. The tactile, textured surfaces invite viewers into an intimate encounter — one that blurs the boundary between observer and object, past and present. Through this process, Hines positions textile not only as a material of tradition, but as a dynamic, forward-moving language capable of carrying history into new and evolving forms.