We all know the famous lyrics:
I'm going to Kansas
City, Kansas City here I come
I'm going to Kansas
City, Kansas City here I come
They got some crazy
lil' women there
And I'm gonna get
me one.
Well I already had my own crazy lil’ woman, Ann, a “Janeite”
and when she suggested that I accompany her for the annual Jane Austen Society
of North America (JASNA) meeting she usually attends, I said why not. The meeting was to celebrate the 200th
anniversary of what is arguably her best novel, Persuasion. I like Austen’s
works and we’ve never been to Kansas City.
So, I became a “Janeite” and we planned to make a week of it, arriving
several days before the conference began to explore the city.
More on the JASNA experience in a separate entry as this
one covers the unexpected pleasures of the city itself and will be long enough. For that entry click here.
The convention hotel, the Westin Crown Center (highly
recommended, great hotel), agreed to give us the convention rate for the entire
week and after a flight connection in Atlanta, we arrived at the crowded,
outdated Kansas City Airport (MCI) where we immediately got an Uber into the
city.
Imagine our surprise when we were picked up by a couple
that could have posed for Grant Wood’s American
Gothic. Well, I thought, we ARE in
Kansas City so why shouldn’t they look like that? Turns out the driver’s companion was indeed
his wife and he takes her on Uber rides to and from the airport on Sunday
afternoons. They were friendly as all
get out: in fact, all the people we met in our city travels were as we took an
Uber everyplace.
As Anne Elliot says in Persuasion, “…altogether my
impressions of the place are very agreeable.”
Actually, ours were more than agreeable.
Kansas City, MO (there is a KC side in Kansas as well), has everything a
jaded East Coast resident who considers everything between here and CA flyover
country, could want, culture, jazz, historical sites, food (particularly Joe's BBQ), world
class museums, and did I mention jazz and great food? It also has something I did not expect…..hills!
Yes, imagine that, hills in Kansas
City. Living in FL, I am envious.
It’s called the City of Fountains and there are many
striking ones, but I’d call it a city of diversity, different districts each with
their own focus, the Union Station/Crown Center, Crossroads Arts District,
Power and Light District, the River and City Market. Our first order of business was to get on
their FREE streetcar which travels throughout the entire Downtown area to
reconnoiter. Once we had our bearings,
we went back to the hotel, with its fabulous view of the entire city, changed,
and then began to explore.
Many of the places I will be mentioning are extensively
covered on the Web, especially the museums, so expect nothing much more than
our own personal reactions.
Union Station is a nearby walk in an enclosed overhead
walkway. It was one of the most heavily
traversed train stations in the US, particularly during WW II, went into
disarray after air travel devastated rail traffic, but has subsequently been
restored into a tourist Mecca. It’s
simply beautiful and one can get a good sense of what it once was and its
importance. Freight train traffic still
heavily rumbles nearby as well as one Amtrak train.
Here’s Ann in front of the Amtrak waiting room and the waiting
room itself. Just like a painting.
The interior of Union Station, cleaned and restored.
Love the ceiling.
Art work hangs in the station including this Homage to
Hopper— Harvey House Union Station Kansas City, MO by Marlin Rotach.
They say that maybe a million people sat on this bench during the station's heyday.
From here on in, days and nights get a little convoluted,
transposed, so I’ll take them by venue:
Museums range from traditional to modern to subject
specific. Towering above all is The
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art which, like NYC’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, has
something for everyone, from early European, to Egyptian and Greek and Roman,
right through contemporary, from all corners of the globe. It is massive and free! Its marble lobby and skylight announce its
imposing presence.
They had a special exhibit there which drew me, “The Big
Picture” – the Hall Family Foundation gift for photography acquisitions,
photography being one of my special interests.
The exhibit ranges from historical photographs, such as this one which
is attributed to Silas A. Homes, a Salt Print of New York City’s Union Square
from 1856. Some one hundred plus years
later I would be crossing Union Square after getting off the subway from
Brooklyn on my way to work. To me, the
photograph is a time capsule.
Another favorite is Robert Frank’s Hoboken 1955,
capturing a certain kind of ironic sadness at a patriotic parade.
And what better time to display Andy Warhol’s homage to
baseball? His ‘Baseball’ 1962, is his
first photo-silkscreened painting. It
celebrates an American institution using news photos of Roger Maris.
My heart be still.
A photograph by none other than the beat poet, Allen Ginsberg, depicting
two writers of his generation, William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac. I had no idea Ginsberg indulged in
photography as well. Note his
handwritten description at the bottom of the photograph.
This is just a sampling of this unique collection,
including one by Diane Arbus, but space in this blog is limited so the best way
of seeing the collection is by saying (singing?) “Kansas City here I come!”
I’m including some representative works from their
regular collection, ones that have special appeal to me. Such as Willem de Kooning’s Woman IV which, I
shall never forget, was a favorite of the playwright, William Inge. Then Claude Monet’s Mill at Limetz 1888 is as striking by its
style as its presentation.
Armor for Man and Horse 1565 is carefully preserved and dramatically
exhibited:
And what museum would be complete without a Rodin?
A recent acquisition is “Lorenzo Ghiberti’s Gates of
Paradise. The 17-foot-tall gilded doors,
weighing 4 1/2 tons, are casts of the original doors created in the
15th-century workshop of sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti for the east facade of the
Baptistery of the Duomo (cathedral) in Florence, Italy. Ghiberti’s original doors can be found inside
the Museo dell’ Opera del Duomo di Santa Maria del Fiore. Casts were made in 1990, and a set was
installed on the outside of the Baptistery in Florence.
This pair at the Nelson-Atkins is a sister set to those
at the Baptistery. The installation in
the Nelson-Atkins will be the first time the casts will be seen in a U.S.
museum. No photograph can do it justice,
but I include some of its detail here.
I include the Nelson-Atkins bust of Caracalla, probably
Italy, 215-217 CE because it speaks to our times. Wikipedia summarizes the
nature of the man and his “accomplishments:”
The Roman historian David Magie
describes Caracalla, in the book Roman Rule in Asia Minor, as brutal and
tyrannical and points towards psychopathy as an explanation for his behaviour. Gibbon, author of The History of the Decline
and Fall of the Roman Empire, takes Caracalla's reputation, which he had
received for the murder of Geta and subsequent massacre of Geta's supporters,
and applies it to Caracalla's provincial tours, suggesting that "every
province was by turn the scene of his rapine and cruelty”. The historian Clifford Ando supports this
description, suggesting that Caracalla's rule as sole emperor is notable
"almost exclusively" for his crimes of theft, massacre, and mismanagement
Finally, an enjoyable lunch in their Rozzelle Court
Restaurant was a welcome respite.
Outside the Kemper Museum of Modern Art is a giant
sculptured spider and the irony of a modern message across the street.
This is another one of Kansas City’s gems, free to the
public, and its special collection of paintings by Angela Dufresne had just
opened. She is known to be from “The
School of Gena Rowlands,” interpreting cultural histories of fine art, film,
literary and oral histories. Her pieces
“The Line” and “Lonely Are the Brave” are shown here.
Then again, we needed a break and had to have lunch in
the art lined dining room of Kemper’s Café Sebastienne.
Kansas City also has several museums not to be found
anywhere. Two are actually housed in one
building and you could easily spend an entire day there. They are The American Jazz Museum and The
Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, naturally at 18th Street and Vine.
The American Jazz Museum has memorabilia, and best of all,
hands-on- exhibits where you can interact with jazz musicians to deconstruct
the music for a better understanding of what it means to “jam.” They have an original Picasso extolling Ella
Fitzgerald.
Posters and panels proliferate there.
The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum is a moving tribute to
forgotten heroes who were denied playing in the major leagues, although some of
the later ones, such as Satchel Page and Jackie Robinson, finally broke through
the color barrier.
They’ve reproduced a field, built it and they came, with
life size statues of some of the luminaries who have played there.
Original equipment and uniforms are on display, as well as a painting of the Kansas City Monarchs who
were to the Negro Baseball Leagues like the NY Yankees were to the Major
Leagues.
Finally there is the remarkable Arabia Steamboat Museum. At first I thought this was simply a tourist
trap housing some of the artifacts of the Arabia which sank in 1856. But it is a veritable time capsule as it was
carrying over 200 tons of cargo intended for general stores and homes in 16
mid-western frontier towns. But no, it
took the imagination and adventurous spirit of five stalwart men to begin a
treasure hunt that ended in the most miraculous collection we have ever seen.
Buried below ground in over four stories of river mud for
over a century simply because the Mississippi River had changed course, David
Hawley ultimately located the wreck in July 1987. David, along with his father Bob, brother
Greg, and family friends Jerry Mackey and David Luttrell, would soon return to
the farm and begin an adventure consuming the next 20 years. The excavation resulted in the discovery of
the largest collection of pre-Civil War artifacts in the world. And to the credit of the Hawley family, they
decided to collect these thousands of items and once carefully excavated, clean
and preserve them, and put them on display.
Nothing from this fabulous treasure was ever sold. The net effect is overwhelming, tools,
clothing, furniture, and every imaginable artifact so well preserved in a nearly
frozen state entombed under a Kansas farm, some 45 feet below the surface. This was a walk back in time and all due to
one family’s efforts with the help of their friends.
Photographs cannot do justice to the breathtaking extent
of this collection, but I post some, glassware and other cargo they reovered.
Finally, on to the main attraction for an early arrival:
KC Jazz. That first night we hit the
Green Lady Lounge, having heard that some of the best jazz in the city can be
heard there. It looks like a plush den
of iniquity, and they don’t serve food, but, oh, the music, and with no cover
as well.
We were lucky to see the Steve
Gray trio along with a great jazz singer, maybe the best we’ve seen in a long
time, Shae Marie. What is she doing in
KC I wondered? She belongs in Birdland,
reminding me a little of Peggy Lee. Here
are two brief videos providing my point:
The next night we were at The Blue Room for a Jazz
Jam. The Blue Room is at 18th
and Vine and is actually connected to the American Jazz Museum. No food; just drinks and great jazz.
The following night we were at the Phoenix, a local bar
reminding us so much of the one we go to here in Florida for jazz jams, Double
Roads in Jupiter. The Phoenix serves
some good bar food but we came for the music.
The little area set up for the performers only accommodated drums and a piano
so I was wondering what that would be like. Pianist Mark Lowry, purported to be one of the
best in KC, turned that duet into a trio, setting up an electronic keyboard on
top of the piano and playing a walking bass, making the transition to trio. It’s a brief 45 second video, but it is a must watch by clicking on here.
Our final jazz night was at The Majestic, downstairs
where an old speakeasy resided in the days of prohibition (not very meaningful
in KC, it was a wide open town). But
this is a top steakhouse as well so bring your appetites!
The night before the full conference we had to try
another one of KC’s well known restaurants, Lidia’s. One of their specialties is their unlimited
trio of home-made pastas, changing the selection regularly. We lucked out having wild boar ravioli, spinach
pasta with shrimp, and farfalle with marinara and thick slices of fresh
Parmesan, all you can eat, freshly made at Lidia’s, a PBS chef and author. It’s in a KC warehouse building just adding to
the fun.
That step back in time described by our visit to the
Arabia is a good segue to the Jane Austen Conference, but best to break the
narrative here and continue in another entry.
Suffice it to say, Kansas City was much more than expected, reminding us
a little of Asheville, Seattle, and New Orleans in its own quirky
individuality. And, oh, did I mention
great museums, food, jazz, and sights? Did
I say how much I loved Kansas City?
