The Kemper Museum's Permanent Collection

While we were in Kansas City, we stopped and saw the current exhibitions at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art. Typically the Kemper Museum offers rotating exhibitions of national and international artists, much like the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis. Changing exhibitions allows them to stay at the forefront of what is happening in the arts and to focus on the cutting edge. But right now the Kemper Museum is featuring several themed exhibits of works from their permanent collections, thus reflecting on the past ten years.

Now some people may think that showing such works is sort of a cop out or an unnecessary focus because a changing exhibition would bring a totally new discourse to the venue, exposing the community to something different while staying as current as possible. But I think that it is good for all institutions to focus on works that they have collected every so often because doing so examines what the institution itself offers and how that organization has grown and evolved over time.

By showing works from their permanent collections, institutions can get a better feel for their own visions and come to a greater understanding of exactly what it is that they do, what they have to give to the community and where they have come from. Likewise, viewers can come to appreciate just where the institution's interests lie and what sorts of work and ideas they have supported over the course of time. I found it a very interesting glimpse into the curatorial and collection interests of the Kemper Museum and am glad that I was able to see the shows.