Restore KC

This program is a conversation with Kansas City Museum’s resident historian, Dr. Gene T. Chávez, and Pedro Sierra who left Cuba in 1954 at the age of 16 to pursue his dream, which he describes as “the only thing he’d ever dreamed of—to play professional baseball”,Much like Kansas City well-known local MLB celebrity, Diego Seguí who also left Cuba during the regime change there. After playing in minor leagues club, Seguí broke into the big leagues at age 24 on April 12, 1962, with the Kansas City Athletics. Sierra’s path to accomplishing his dream led him to Negro Leagues and eventually to the MLB. Both players baseball stories will be discussed.This virtual event is part of the educational programming associated with ¡Pleibol! In the Barrios and the Big Leagues / En los barrios y las grandes ligas. Organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service in collaboration with the National Museum of American History.

In this Restore KC, we'll be talking about Community Journalism and its importance to the overall health and vitality of Kansas City's neighborhoods. Since the year 2,000, over 250 small, locally owned newsrooms have shuttered their operations, leaving communities without a locally centered news source that covers micro-local news such as church fish frys, local school board activity or boy scout chili dinners. Larger news outlets traditionally don't or won't cover those events because they're more about "if it bleeds, it leads," ratings centered news.The Northeast News is an award winning, Community Journalism outlet that has served Kansas City's Historic Northeast community since 1932.

Blue River features oral histories and the ecological and cultural history of the river. In conjunction with the Renew the Blue Campaign, the documentary brings attention to the river, its needs, and the many organizations and communities working to improve it.The documentary promotes positive outdoor experiences, reminds people of the river’s proud past and inspires them about its future, In 2020 it won a Mid-America EMMY in the Public Affairs – Special/Program category. After the film, meet local renowned filmmaker, Michael Price, English Landing Films, who captured the beauty and the challenges of the river in all seasons. He is best known for his films seen on KCPT Evicted and A City Divided

Join Dr. Gene T. Chávez, Historian for the Kansas City Museum and Dr. Sean Rost, Oral Historian at the State Historical Society of Missouri for a conversation of the significance of the Santa Fe Trail to both Mexico and Missouri.

The McNay Art Museum in San Antonio, Texas pays tribute to 90s icon, singer, designer, and Texas legend—Selena Quintanilla-Pérez—with five photographs by award-winning San Antonio photographer John Dyer. Selena was the subject of Dyer’s photo assignments for the cover of Más Magazine in 1992 and again for Texas Monthly in 1994, just months before (March 31) she was tragically killed at age 23.Join us for a presentation followed by a conversation with Kate Carey, Head of Education, who curated this wonderful and colorful exhibition at the McNay Art Museum.

My Affirmation Project is local KC artist Nicole’s art practice, healing process, and heart for the world. It manifests as anonymous public art pieces, experiences, and intimate take-a-ways. There have been over 600 affirmation billboards posted globally since June 2019 that have been viewed by over 60 million humans. 20,000 people received anonymous “Affirmation Postcards” in 2020, each individually addressed by hand.My Affirmation Project has partnered with global brands such as Hallmark, Rareform, Outfront Media, Lamar Advertising, and Ballyhoo Media to embed messages of compassion into their corporate advertising. The project has been featured on The Today Show, NPR, The Washington Post, Inside Edition, and Yahoo. Nicole was awarded a Bronze OBIE, a lifetime achievement award in advertising, in the summer of 2020 for her work with the billboards.Join us for a presentation followed by a conversation with Nicole Leth, Kansas City artist and writer, about how one billboard led to more than 600 billboards around the world and the importance of compassion.

In this Restore KC program, West 18th Street Fashion Show’s Senior Artistic Director Peregrine Honig will have a conversation with artists Craig Rohner of NOWOE, Van Shawn Branch of Kayie, and Dionne Holt of Renee LaRouge about the creation of Summer In Hindsight—the full length movie created during the 2020 pandemic—and how they had to reimagine their thinking and designs.

In this two-part series, mindfulness teachers Tracy Ochester, PsyD and Sydney Spears, Ph.D., of Midwest Alliance for Mindfulness will hold an interracial conversation exploring how practicing mindfulness and compassion can support dismantling racialized trauma and help prepare us for sustainable racial justice work.

In this two-part series, mindfulness teachers Tracy Ochester, PsyD and Sydney Spears, Ph.D., of Midwest Alliance for Mindfulness will hold an interracial conversation exploring how practicing mindfulness and compassion can support dismantling racialized trauma and help prepare us for sustainable racial justice work.

During this time of social unrest, reckoning, and polarized political views, food can provide a bridge for unity. In this Restore KC program, Danielle Lehman, Founder of Open Belly Podcast, will have a conversation with Chef Keeyoung Kim of Sura Eats, and explore how the tradition of sharing a meal together can help us find our common humanity, while enjoying great food!

On October 31, 2017, the United Nations and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Creative City Network (UCCN) designated the City of Kansas City, Missouri as UCCN Member, making Kansas City the first and only City of Music in the United States. The UCCN was created in 2004 to promote global cooperation among cities that have identified creativity as a strategic factor for sustainable urban development. The 246 cities which currently make up this network work together towards a common objective: placing creativity and cultural industries at the heart of their development plans at the local level and cooperating actively at the international level.

Creative Placemaking is a strategy and collaborative process that uses arts and cultural expression for meaningful resident-driven engagement and community development. This Restore KC program will provide an opportunity to learn about the field and practice of Creative Placemaking, and why it is essential to deploy now—during this pandemic and social reckoning—in our parks and public spaces where we can address complex community issues to create a deeper understanding of place and shared heritage.This program will be a conversation with Kansas City-based Artist and Interactive Arts Educator Michael Toombs and Design Trust for Public Space Executive Director Matthew Clarke. The conversation will be moderated by Dr. Jacob Wagner, Associate Professor of Urban Planning and Design and Co-Founder of the Center for Neighborhoods at the University of Kansas City-Missouri and Nia Richardson, Assistant to the Director for Small Business + Entrepreneurship at KC BizCare.

This program is presented by the Bruce R. Watkins Cultural Heritage Center in collaboration with the Restore KC initiative.The Community Remembrance Project of Missouri (CRP-MO) is a community coalition that partners with the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) to memorialize victims of racial terror lynchings throughout history and foster meaningful dialogue about race and justice today. This Restore KC program will provide an opportunity to learn about the CRP-MO including its 2018 origins with the collection of soil at the location of the lynching of Levi Harrington, installation of the Levi Harrington memorial marker, and its vision to challenge racial injustice while advocating for equal treatment in the criminal justice system. The program will be led by CRP Co-Liaisons Glenn North and Staci Pratt.Since spring 2019, the Kansas City Museum has been working with an education team on developing programs and experiences using a restorative practices methodology. The Kansas City Museum education team includes museum staff members Paul Gutierrez and Anna Marie Tutera; Damron Armstrong, Founder and Artistic Director of The Black Repertory Theatre of Kansas City; Deb Campbell, Founder and Executive Director of Arts & AGEing KC; Dr. Gene Chávez, Historian and Curator; Anita Dixon, Director of UNESCO Creative Cities-Kansas City; Oralee McKinzy, Founder and Executive Director of Life 360; Dina Newman, Director UMKC’s Center for Neighborhoods and Dr. Jacob Wagner, Co-Founder of UMKC’s Center for Neighborhoods and Associate Professor in Architecture, Urban Planning + Design at UMKC; Glenn North, Executive Director of Bruce R. Watkins Cultural Heritage Center; Blanca Anchondo-Polite, Owner/Principal of Engage and Connect, LLC and Lisa Middlebrook, Collaborator and Catalyst; and Dr. Carmaletta Williams, Executive Director of Black Archives of Mid-America.

The first Restore KC program will create a virtual community circle to learn about restorative practices and why the Kansas City Museum is embracing its core framework and strategies to advance a civic unity vision. The program will be led by Blanca Anchondo-Polite and Lisa Middlebrook of Engage and Connect, LLC.The Kansas City Museum education team includes museum staff members Paul Gutierrez and Anna Marie Tutera; Damron Armstrong, Founder and Artistic Director of The Black Repertory Theatre of Kansas City; Deb Campbell, Founder and Executive Director of Arts & AGEing KC; Dr. Gene Chávez, Historian and Curator; Anita Dixon, Director of UNESCO Creative Cities-Kansas City; Oralee McKinzy, Founder and Executive Director of Life 360; Dina Newman, Director UMKC’s Center for Neighborhoods and Dr. Jacob Wagner, Co-Founder of UMKC’s Center for Neighborhoods and Associate Professor in Architecture, Urban Planning + Design at UMKC; Glenn North, Executive Director of Bruce R. Watkins Cultural Heritage Center; Blanca Anchondo-Polite, Owner/Principal of Engage and Connect, LLC and Lisa Middlebrook, Collaborator and Catalyst; and Dr. Carmaletta Williams, Executive Director of Black Archives of Mid-America.