Site 1 is a collaboration between six galleries in the Kansas City area that culminates with a one-day, outdoor, group exhibition. The exhibition includes curation by The Ekru Project,  Beco Gallery, Troost Gardens, Sapien Gallery, Curiouser & Curiouser, and plug. Site 1 brings together curatorial practices and infrastructures that work from and with precarity, foregrounding emerging practices that combine collectivity. Community engagement and support is the catalyst for the structuring of this exhibition. Collectively, we aim to create new local opportunities and improve connections to existing ones but also ensure the artists and institutions they’re serving have input in the development of the artist community.

Site 1’s opening will inaugurate the group’s first curated exhibition of outdoor sculptures, thus unfurling an exciting node for its temporary site installation. But, perhaps, more importantly, Site 1 will introduce new ways spaces deviate from the white cube format. Embracing the entire landscapes and cityscapes in their curation, Site 1 is an alternative response to the pandemic, as social distancing and being in an open-air environment are preferred.

The curatorial team has carefully planned the siting of the artworks across some of the iconic architecture platforms of The Slabs in Gillham Park, offering interesting sightlines and dialogues between the pieces, the natural environment, and surrounding architecture.

We’re excited to join alongside neighbors and partners in the community that has prioritized the arts as a way to bring people together. Site 1 celebrates artists and the city and encourages visitors to experience art in a more welcoming non-traditional space.

Site 1 will feature Art by .E Lewis, Lilly Powell, Jessica Heikes, Elaine Buss, Craig Deppen Auge, Gerry Trilling, Julia Monte, SK Reed, Annie Woodfill, Ariadne Fish, Andrew Ordonez, Andy Ozier, Hope-Lian Vinson, Kathy Liao.

Site 1 will take place at The Slabs in Gillham Park located at 4200-4298 Kenwood Ave, Kansas City, MO 64110.

The one day event hours are 12:00 - 3:00 pm