By MATT PIKE
The Albrecht Kemper Museum of Art is set to open two new exhibits next week with art pieces centered around American culture, going up just in time for several international visitors to flow to the area for the World Cup.
Starting next Friday, Hollis Wilford: Sculptures, Paintings, and Drawings and The Shape of the Prairie by Keith Jacobshagen will open at the museum, with free admission on opening night from 4 to 7pm.
Executive Director Eric Fuson says Jacobshagen is an artist from Nebraska, known for his works of sweeping landscapes with giant skies.
"They're just gorgeous, they really, really are, if you've ever been to the Nelson Gallery in Kansas City, or right here in St. Joseph to ours, you may have seen one of his paintings at either place, he's in collections all over," Fuson says on the KFEQmunnity show. "He's an amazing painter, so we're going to have some of his paintings, we'll have some his drawings, kind of his field sketches where he makes notes, which are always fun to see where he came from."
Fuson says along with these works, the works of Hollis Wiliford highlight the west with works with cowboys and Native American works, leaning into the 250th anniversary the United States.
Fuson says both exhibits really highlight American culture, during a time where St. Joseph could see an influx of international visitors with the World Cup coming to Kansas City in June.
"They're very fascinated with the west and this expanse of space we have here, so we thought well let's really lean into that and find a couple of exhibits that would work for that, and we feel like both of these are going to be something very unique for them that you won't see in a European gallery," Fuson explains.
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