Arts & Culture

Stories and videos about music, dance, visual and performing arts and film in the Kansas City metro.

Hello Atelier | How a Hobbyist Turned Passion into Product

Flatland has teamed up with Hello Atelier, a Kansas City-based podcast that explores what it means to be a working artist. Hosted by Betsy Blodgett, the weekly podcast takes you into to the studios of designers of all different mediums to learn about their inspiration, their design process and the personal stories behind their art. Hello Atelier is presented by Phonicalia,…

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A front view of a food truck.

Fed Up Fest & Other Weekend Possibilities

Live acts. Surprise beers. The chance to help feed the hungry. Your heart and belly will be full at Fed Up Fest, a benefit for the Harvesters Community Food Network, at CrossroadsKC at Grinders (417 E 18th Street) from 2:30 to 11 p.m. Saturday. Catch acts on two stages (including Sylvan Esso and the Phantastics),…

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A man speaking near his painting.

An Iconic Artist’s Paintings Throughout the Metro

Born in 1916 in Auburn, New York, Eric Bransby’s career began while studying at the Kansas City Art Institute as a student of the renowned muralist Thomas Hart Benton. Bransby’s career — highlighted recently in an NPR article — is also the focus of a new documentary, “A Last Mural.” Here we highlight the many…

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Bob Dylan, Titan Of American Music, Wins 2016 Nobel Prize In Literature

The prolific musician is the first American to win the prize for lifetime literary achievement in 23 years. While Dylan long enjoyed favor as an outside shot for the award, few expected him to win.

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Acrobats jumping.

The Weekend Starts Today

Aw, the sweetness of hate. Hate can actually be healthy, believe it or not, especially when channeled into something as silly as sports. What Royals fan among us, after all, doesn’t healthily hate Madison Bumgarner? Or, for that matter, the Oakland Raiders. Coming off a bye week and a bad loss, our beloved Chiefs face…

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Portrait of local artist, Vi Tran. Photo by Jim Barcus

The Son in ‘The Butcher’s Son’

Vi Nhan Tran was smuggled out of Vietnam and captured by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia before finding refuge in a Red Cross camp in Thailand. It’s a story of a lifetime — and all before he was three years old. Tran’s only memory from that part of his life is busting his head open…

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cookies

Artisan Chick Event & Other Weekend Possibilities

The Artisan Chick Event is Saturday (10 a.m. to 8 p.m.) and Sunday (11 a.m. to 4 p.m.) at Crown Center. You can browse and shop handmade local goods and artisan food products (everything from brigadeiros to pickles), try a cookie and beer pairing, or sample spirits from Union Horse Distilling Co. and J. Rieger…

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Painted pianos in a line.

Sympathetic Vibrations | Recycled Joy

On the third floor of a creaky warehouse in the West Bottoms sits an army of pianos. They are meticulously arranged in rows, with price tags that comically belie their monetary value – and more importantly, the value the instruments could bring to their potential recipients. The pianos have formed rank in this spot, thanks…

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Puck from "A Midsummer Night's Dream" posing.

The Weekend Starts Today

Summer in Kansas City is a sauna. Winter is an icebox. Spring is an allergy festival. Autumn, though, is a glorious, crisp, riotous celebration of color. With the first bursts of fall foliage just starting to show around town, and temperatures expected in the high 60s this weekend, you couldn’t ask for a better time…

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Cover image for Hello Atelier podcast

Hello Atelier | Heading the Letterpress Resurgence

If you are a design aficionado who regularly cruises blogs like DesignSponge and Apartment Therapy, you are likely acquainted with the work of this week’s guest, Brady Vest. He is the founder of Hammerpress Design, a letterpress design studio that has been leading the letterpress comeback for over 20 years. Vest’s story is cool. I…

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