‘tis the season!

UNION is hosting a fun holiday wreath-making event on December 1st, from 6 — 8 pm. 

This wreath workshop is a fun and informative DIY class for all wreath lovers! 

Your ticket includes your supplies to make your handmade wreath from Perfect Petals, as well as some holiday sweets from Orange Goat Sweets and refreshments. 

Hurry and grab your spot! Class sizes are kept small for individual instruction! 10% of all ticket sales will be donated to the Assistance League of Kansas City.

Buy your tickets on Eventbrite.

DORA AGBAS — Story Lines

Exhibition Statement

Line, the ultimate human invention, lets us describe our environment, express our inner landscape, and allows us to preserve knowledge for the generations beyond.

Crucial part of my practice is touch, handling materials with my own hands, therefore I chose tactile yarn, rope, and cord as line. My creative practice is a continuously evolving conversation with material. The manifestations of these collaborations are presented to the viewers with an invitation to read them as suited by their own vision, but also perhaps to contemplate how interpretation can alter meaning and intent.

In our times it is critical to think about how our eager twisting and turning of lines eventually leads to the loss of understanding and knowledge.

Artist Bio

Dora Agbas was educated as a biologist at her birthplace, Hungary. After landing in Kansas City, she worked for decades as a research scientist. She recently earned her MFA in Visual arts from the University of Kansas.

*****

RENA WOOD — Echoes

Exhibition Statement

Echoes is an exhibition of fiber art by artist Rena Wood. Employing vintage textiles and hand embroidery, Wood creates artwork that honors textile histories and past makers. Over the last 8 years, each piece has been made, added to, and re-made (in some instances) to investigate the essential role that memory plays in life. ‘Echoes’ relates to the textiles and patterns, reminding us of people and places that we may have forgotten. It refers to the reimagining of the handwork process, over and over again, to try and find meaning through obsessive making.

Artist Statement

My work gives physical form to the ephemeral sense of memory. The time I spend working is marked by each stitch, each knot, and each repetitive act of my hands. The result of my slow and repetitious handwork connects my process to the biological phenomena occurring all the time, gradually growing, multiplying, or deteriorating. I use stitching to create drawings on the surface of cloth to show a suspension between formation and falling apart, tangling and unraveling, the acts of remembering and forgetting, and to represent time passing and time stopped. I am intrigued by ideas about the visual aspects of how memories might appear in our brain and the changes that occur as memories are lost.

Artist Bio

Fiber artist Rena Wood received her BFA in Fibers from the Kansas City Art Institute and MFA from the Department of Craft/Material Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University. She is an Assistant Professor of Fiber Art at Tennessee Tech University’s Appalachian Center for Craft. As a Fiber Arts educator, she has taught workshops on embroidery and fiber processes at art centers and craft schools throughout the country. Previously, she was a Visiting Instructor at Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania and a Visiting Assistant Professor at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY. Rena has been an Artist in Residence at the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft in Houston, TX, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Gatlinburg, TN, and at the Craft Alliance in St. Louis, MO. Her work has been shown nationally in solo and group exhibitions. She was awarded a Tennessee Arts Commission Individual Artist Fellowship in Craft for 2023.

Come visit Santa at Union Station! He will be making appearances inside Holiday Reflections from 10 AM- 2 PM on,

• NOV 25 – 27
• DEC 3 – 4
• DEC 10 – 11
• DEC 16
• DEC 18 – 24

While Santa is here, he will roam around Holiday Reflections to interact with guests and take informal photos with guests. He will not be seated in a specific area for traditional Santa visits.

Presented by BOK Financial for 2022, Union Station expands and adds to its magical “Holiday Reflections” walk-thru holiday village. This spectacular themed experience fills Union Station’s massive Grand Plaza and features sky-reaching lights, dozens of decorated trees, forest friends and giant, floating mirrored ornaments PLUS a bigger-than-ever Rudy’s Wonderland where kids can ride the historic Jones Store Train (Mini Holiday Express Train). Immerse yourself in the holiday spirit with brilliant sights and sounds as only Kansas City’s historic home can deliver.

New this year and exclusive to Union Station in Kansas City, explore Santa’s secret wonderland where the elves live, and Christmas magic happens. Slip, slide, fly and glide through Lapland after boarding Santa’s magical sleigh and securing your personal HD Virtual Reality headset to begin your immersive journey. You’ll feel an incredible 4D range of sleigh motions, wind effects, sights and sounds. Joining you will be a delightful, animated character named, “D.A.S.H.”, who will guide you around the globe and even into space. Hold on to your hats and antlers … this could be a bumpy ride! This family-friendly experience will be one of the highlights of your holiday season and is conveniently located inside the wildly popular Holiday Reflections experience. The Magical Sleigh Ride VR seats up to 6 people and is available as a separate ticketed option. Ticket prices are $6 and must be purchased inside of Holiday Reflections.

DONATIONS APPRECIATED!!!

Join us for a fun, FREE night of short films at The Bird Comedy Theater, co-produced by The Bird and IX Film Productions!

Now accepting submissions at birdwatchingfilmfest@gmail.com and FilmFreeway!

Don’t miss this awesome (did we mention FREE?) showcase of local talent!

Stick around after the screening for a Q&A with the filmmakers in attendance!