KC Activity #9 – Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art
4420 Warwick Blvd, Kansas City, MO 64111
Cost: Free!
Atmosphere: Pristine, peaceful.
Good for: Day dates, art aficionados, families
Features: Event space, restaurant, gift shop
Pro Tip: After Kemper, walk less than half a mile to The Nelson Atkins’ sculpture park.
Kansas City boasts two great art museums within walking distance from each other – Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art and The Nelson Atkins Museum of Art. The best part? They’re both free to the public.
Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art is small, but home to some great contemporary pieces. They frequently change out exhibits and permanent collection pieces, so new works are always coming through. You can easily explore the museum in an hour or less, but despite its size, the museum boasts more than 100,000 visitors each year.
Their most recent exhibit that was in place when I visited was Magnetic Fields: Expanding American Abstraction, 1960s to Today. It is the first U.S. exhibit dedicated exclusively abstraction by women artists of color. The pieces were all extraordinary, and the exhibit was well put together. Kemper Museum also does a great job of including exhibit-related activities for children and adults, like books to browse through and art projects.
Kemper Museum also claims one of Kansas City’s most celebrated restaurants – Café Sebastienne. Known for its brunch, Café Sebastienne is open Sundays from 11am to 2:30pm. I haven’t made it there yet, but I can’t wait to go and try their Crab Cake Benny or Brioche French Toast. xx, Libbie.
