The Newkirks are a husband-and-wife, singer-songwriter duo performing original country songs infused with a contemporary flair. Drawing from their experience of small-town mosey and big-city rush, The Newkirks create music built with simple, yet powerful, ingredients: genuine lyrics that speak of heartbreak, sounds that evoke love and triumph, and stories of struggle and success. 

This Thursday from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., The Newkirks will fill the Streetcar with the soft and soulful melodies of bluegrass and country music. Join us onboard the first KC Streetcar leaving Union Station after 5:00 p.m. to witness this exciting free, public performance.

The schedule of musicians is as follows, with so much to hear and experience this summer, you won’t want to miss any of it:

July 11: The Newkirks
July 18: Braulio Bosi
July 25: Kartez Marcel
August 1: Miki P

Click here to add this event to your calendar.

For more information about the musicians and when they’ll be performing, along with all the other exciting events this summer, be sure to visit us at artintheloop.com.

Mervin the Monarch Streetcar

First comes Mervin and then come the butterflies. Art in the Loop is proud of the continuing work being done with artists Amanda Gehin and Christina Bereolos. The caterpillar streetcar, Mervin, has become an essential part of the Downtown KC family and now he finally has some food.

Thanks to a partnership with  River Market & Downtown Community Improvement Districts, and with donations from Green Thumb Gardens, City Roots and the Missouri Department of Conservation planters bursting with butterfly food have been installed along the KC Streetcar line from 15th Street up into the River Market and beyond into the Central Business District.

An extension of the project Macrocosmos Caterpillar: Monarch Streetcar, these micro-habitats include perennial native plants that will provide food for caterpillars, nectar for butterflies and pollen for bees. Mervin and other monarch caterpillars can only eat the leaves of milkweed, and the presence of this plant in the landscape has diminished significantly—especially in agricultural fields. This is partially why our Eastern Monarch butterfly population has declined by more than 80% since the 1990’s. Current scientific research has shown that cities could be the key to saving the monarch population by embracing the wildness necessary to sustain them. If you observe these planters closely you may spot a monarch caterpillar or even a chrysalis! Please report sightings with #artintheloop and #kcstreetcar.

In other exciting butterfly news, the Lepidopteran Art Group is opening a show,  Caterpillar Waystation / Herbivory Labyrinth, at the Beco Gallery located on 1922 Baltimore Ave. The show is on view through July 27 with an opening reception on July 5 from 6–9 p.m. Featuring work from artists Christina Bereolos, Patricia Bordallo Dibildox, Amanda Gehin, and Andy Ozier, the show hopes to bring attention to the power of our local pollinators and the intrinsic beauty that they hold.

For more information about the projects, like this one, that are percolating in Downtown KC, visit artintheloop.com. For more information about the artists visit Amanda Gehin’s website, amandagehin.com or her Instagram, @dispersedbyants or Christina Bereolos’ Instagram, @waterwatereverybear.

For more information about Beco Gallery visit their website, becoflowers.com/gallery.

For more information about KC Streetcar and their projects visit kcstreetcar.org or @kcstreetcar.

Violinist/Vocalist K’Tina (Kay Tina) draws sounds from the jazz and R&B worlds and mixes them a contemporary sophistication. A classically trained violinist, K’Tina’s music builds on a foundation of technique and style with an expressive quality that brings power and emotion to her music performances. Much like her music, K’Tina’s performances are entertaining, skillfully conceptualized, and powerfully evocative.

This Thursday from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., K’Tina will deliver a knock-you-down musical performance, rich with emotion and alive with skillful technique. Join us onboard the first KC Streetcar leaving Union Station after 5:00 p.m. to witness this exciting free, public performance.

The schedule of musicians is as follows, with so much to hear and experience this summer, you won’t want to miss any of it:

June 27: K’ Tina
July 11: The Newkirks
July 18: Braulio Bosi
July 25: Kartez Marcel
August 1: Miki P

Click here to add this event to your calendar

For more information about the musicians and when they’ll be performing, along with all the other exciting events this summer, be sure to visit us at artintheloop.com.

 

Join us for an artist-led tour of the 2019 Art in the Loop Project: Make/Believe in Downtown Kansas City on Saturday, June 22, 2019. The tour will start at Washington Square Park (Pershing & Main Street) at 2:00 p.m. After viewing the art in the park, we will discuss the artwork at the Union Station Streetcar Stop then board the Monarch Streetcar. As we travel north to River Market, we will discuss the various artworks installed at the Streetcar stops. The tour will conclude at the River Market West Stop for a closing reception at Our Daily Nada with drink specials.

 

Bo Hubbard, 2019 Art Director will lead the tour, with these participating artists:

• Alonso Ortega, Endless
• Ari Fish, Tact
• Evan Brown, Doodle KC
• Christina Bereolos & Amanda Gehin, Macrocosmos Caterpillar: Monarch Streetcar
• Angie Jennings, Streetcar Zen

This event highlights not only the streetcar’s support of the arts but other cultural organizations and galleries as well. This free and open to the public event will allow people to engage and interact with the 10 art installations of Art in the Park and Art on the Line. An overview of the tour as well as the artists and their works are as follows:

2:00  Tour begins at Washington Square Park (artists and audience gather to briefly discuss the park installations and performances)

2:05 – 2:20  Endless by Alonso Ortega

2:20 – 2:35  Tact by Ari Fish

2:35 – 2:50  Doodle KC by Evan Brown

2:50 – 3:05  Macrocosmos Caterpillar: Monarch Streetcar by Amanda Gehin & Christina Bereolos

Board Streetcar to River Market West (highlighting artworks along the line)

3:20 – 3:30  Milkweed Planters discuss and wrap up Macrocosmos Caterpillar Car

3:30 – 3:45  Streetcar Zen by Angie Jennings

3:45 – 4pm  Invite artist and audience to Our Daily Nada for closing reception with drink specials

Click here to RSVP.  Attendance is limited. Please contact with any questions.

The Maker Faire will also be taking place at Union Station on Saturday. You may want to consider parking at the River Market and then riding KC Streetcar to Union Station for the start of the tour.  Additionally, the Wine Walk on Delaware starts in the River Market at 5 p.m. Click here to learn more about the Wine Walk and click here to learn more about the Maker Faire.

Save the date for the second Art Crawl, which will be on Saturday July 13, 2019!

To learn more about the artists and the Art in the Loop Foundation, go to artintheloop.com.

For more information about the project, the artists and performance schedule visit www.artintheloop.com, www.facebook.com/artintheloop, or twitter.com/ArtintheLoop.

Ernest Melton is a jazz and blues focused saxophone player based in Kansas City. Melton will be mixing rich themes evoking the groove of contemporary blues-based aesthetics with the improvisations typical in many forms of jazz. Though diverse in its musical flavor, Melton’s sound is connected through its dynamism and happy, explorative nature.

This Thursday from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., let the groove seep into your body: wiggle your toes, tap your foot and be inspired by the Ernest Melton’s saxophone artistry. Join us onboard the first KC Streetcar leaving Union Station after 5:00 p.m. to witness this exciting performance.

The schedule of musicians is as follows, with so much to hear and experience this summer, you won’t want to miss any of it:

June 20: Ernest Melton
June 27: K’ Tina
July 11: The Newkirks
July 18: Braulio Bosi
July 25: Kartez Marcel
August 1: Miki P

For more information about the musicians and when they’ll be performing, along with all the other exciting events this summer, be sure to visit us at artintheloop.com.

 

 

To kick off the exciting and riveting 2019 Art in the Loop project: Make/Believe, many joined together in an opening reception to introduce this year’s talented artists, musicians, and performers. The Kick-Off event took place on Wednesday, June 5, 2019, at 6:00 pm at the Kansas City Public Library.

Art in the Loop Program Director, Ann Holliday and Artistic Director, Bo Hubbard presented to the public this year’s 15 brilliant selected artists and their fascinating works that will be on display all summer long in Washington Square Park, along the KC Streetcar route, and throughout the Downtown area. Also presenting at the event was Tony Jones _CBE, the Nerman Family President of Kansas City Art Institute. His talk highlighted the function and role of art in our communities with heed to the developing programming of KCAI and Art in the Loop.

The defining moment of this event was the moving performance by dancers, Tristian Griffin and James “SugEasy” Singleton. Their performance entitled When Two Worlds Meet united aspects of contemporary ballet and hip-hop dance to create an interesting and unique production that engaged and even moved some of the audience members.

Following the dance, the audience had the chance to talk with the performers and ask them about their process, experience, and expectations of their performance. When asked what was the main takeaway that they wanted the audience to receive from their performance, James stated “To reach, teach, and share this experience with someone else.” As part of the Make/Believe theme for Art in the Loop 2019, the elements of this performance have educated, inspired, and motivated people of all ages and capabilities to celebrate the cultural and artistic excitement within Downtown Kansas City. 

 

Art in the Loop is expecting 2019 to be one of the most exciting summers for art in Kansas City and we hope you will join us in all our events to come this summer. To learn more about the artists and the Art in the Loop Foundation, go to artintheloop.com.

 

For more information about the project, the artists and performance schedule visit www.artintheloop.com, www.facebook.com/artintheloop, or twitter.com/ArtintheLoop.

Click here to download the 2019 Art in the Loop Borchure and Map.