Please note: ArtBreaks are moving to Wednesdays in 2025. Join us for a screening of the film Black Ash Basketry: A Story of Cultural Resilience. A collaborative project of the Great Lakes Lifeways Institute, Grand Rapids Community College, and the Goodwillie Environmental School, this film explores the role that black ash basketry has played in…
Rescheduled! The exhibition Legendary Voices: Art for the Next Century invites visitors to view much-loved pieces from the KIA’s collection in fresh ways, often drawing unexpected connections between very different works of art. In keeping with this concept, educational programming throughout the run of the exhibition will offer guests opportunities to engage with the visual arts…
Join Associate Curator Katherine Ransbottom and bring a friend for a tour of Legendary Voices: Art for the Next Century before it closes! Light refreshments will be available starting at 5:30pm and the tour will begin in the School Commons promptly at 5:45pm. Also enjoy an additional 5% off your member discount on your purchases…
Join us for light refreshments, open galleries, and interactive activities throughout the museum. This is a great opportunity to mingle with other members and explore Legendary Voices: Art for the Next Century before it closes! Also enjoy an additional 5% off your member discount on your purchases at the KIA's Gallery Shop (some restrictions apply).…
Kick the weekend off with a relaxing visit to our galleries! Enjoy hot beverages and pastries, and take advantage of your additional 5% member discount at the Gallery Shop.
Take a closer look at two paintings featured in the Legendary Voices exhibition: Karl Knaths’ Wounded Tree and Harold David Landes’ Pink Tree. How do these artists approach similar subject matter in distinctive ways? Gallery stools will be available.
There are so many things to find in the art on the walls. Let’s take a walk through the galleries and see what we can spy with our little eyes.
by Suzanne Greenlaw and Gabriel Frey Let’s learn about landscapes! We’ll begin with a book to see how the illustrator expresses them, visit the galleries to observe how artists portray them, and finally, you’ll create one of your own to take home.
During this virtual ArtBreak, learn about visual artist Leslie Barlow, whose painting Atquezali, At Indigenous Roots is featured in the ongoing KIA exhibition Legendary Voices: Art for the Next Century. Barlow’s colorful, life-size oil paintings serve as both monuments to community members and explorations into the ways in which race entangles the intimate spheres of…
Meet artist Kelly Church, an Ottawa/Pottawatomi black ash basket maker, fiber artist, educator, activist, and culture keeper. A member of the Gun Lake Band in Michigan and descendent of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Ojibwe, she comes from an unbroken line of black ash basket makers and from the largest black ash weaving…
The High School Area Show offers a unique opportunity for high school artists from Kalamazoo and surrounding counties to participate in a juried exhibition and display their work in a museum setting. The KIA is proud to support emerging artistic talent and committed to increasing young people’s access to the arts and arts education. This…
by Shonda Buchanan This powerful, deeply personal narrative explores Buchanan’s complex identity. She reflects on the trauma, resilience, and strength passed down through generations, as well as the tensions and misunderstandings she encountered due to her mixed heritage. Throughout, she weaves in stories of her ancestors, shedding light on the hidden and painful history of…