IN Kansas City August 2020

The KC Arts Community’s Pandemic Response

AUGUST 2020 | INKANSASCITY.COM

AN EXCLUSIVE Q&A WITH

RENOWNED OPERA STAR

JOYCE DiDONATO

Living with Art AT HOME WITH A STUNNING COLLECTION OF CONTEMPORARY BLACK ARTISTS

BLACK CHEFS Tackling Racism in the Food Industry

ARTS

THE

ISSUE

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Contents AUGUST 2020 54

72

68 66 Features 54

IN CONVERSATION WITH JOYCE DIDONATO The opera diva talks about pandemic life, her love of teaching opera, and her hope for change.

58

LIVING WITH ART An outstanding collection of contemporary Black artists fills this Brookside townhouse.

66

Departments

68

BLACK IN THE RESTAURANT BUSINESS As Kansas City and communities around the United States grapple with ongoing racial inequality, we speak with three Black chefs and food business owners about their experiences in the industry.

72

TAKE IT OUTSIDE An Overland Park backyard becomes a stylish retreat designed for outdoor living.

STAGE FRIGHT Metro arts organizations creatively address ways to deal with the shuttering of doors and stages.

16

WOMEN IN BUSINESS IN KC

20

ENTERTAINING IN KC

26

OUR MAN IN KC

30

ARTS & CULTURE IN KC

38

BEHIND THE MUSIC IN KC

44

LOOK IN KC

50

LIVING IN KC

82

FLAVOR IN KC

96

MY ESSENTIALS IN KC

IN EVERY ISSUE

On the cover A painting by Mickalene Thomas overlooks the dining room in the home of Sharon and John Hoffman. See the feature on page 58. Photo by Aaron Leimkuehler.

AUGUST 2020

| 8 | INKANSASCITY.COM

10

EDITOR’S NOTE

12

INKANSASCITY.COM

If it’s an emergency, don’t wait.

When you need us, we’re ready.

Now, more than ever, we’re taking extra precautions to keep you safe in our ER. If you’ve been injured or are experiencing symptoms like chest pain, shortness of breath, or severe stomach discomfort, seek help immediately. There’s no safer place be.

To find the location nearest you, visit

TrustedERCare.com

Editor’s Note

An Art-Full Life Vol. 3 | No. 8 AUGUST 2020 Editor In Chief Zim Loy Art Director Alice Govert Bryan Digital Editor Michael Mackie

W

hen I was working with our architect designing our Westside home, one of the quirkier things I did was plan it so there was a place for the art my husband and I have collected over the years. Not just having the space—but designing each space to fit particular art in a particular place.

When Sharon and John Hoffman were planning their new home with the help of an architect and a designer, they too made sure they had space for their collection. They are consummate collectors of art. They buy what they love. It’s nice that what they love is considered some of the most exciting art being produced today. And the fact that they mix that edgy, contemporary art with their Art Deco, Art Nouveau, and midcentury-modern furniture makes their home even more exceptional. It’s a highly personal home that we are thrilled to bring you—starting on page 58.

For a brief moment in time (mainly as a college student), I fancied myself an artist.

While I gave up that dream some time ago, I am forever grateful for what it has given me. My husband and I have a home that’s filled with wonderful art that means much to us—paintings, drawings, and photographs by dear friends, some of whom I’ve known since school, some with whom we’ve developed deep friendships over the years since.

And we don’t just love art that bears an imprint of friendship. On the wall of the staircase leading to the second floor, paintings, drawings, and prints that I’ve discovered at antique stores and estate sales are stacked, salon-style, almost from floor to ceiling.

Now that we’re selling our house and moving (that, dear reader, is what they call burying the lede), I’m doing it all over again. This time we’re renovating, but I’m making sure there’s space in the finished house for each of the pieces we want to keep. We’re downsizing, so it’s possible a few things will have to go. But the pieces that we care about the most, that have personal meaning and remind us of friends we have and friends who have left us, those will have a special place in our heart, and in our house.

Our home is a living testament to the fact that an art collection doesn’t have to be expensive, or by famous artists, or even what might be widely accepted as good.

What it does have to be is what you love, and nothing less.

Contributing Photographers Pete Clouston, Aaron Leimkuehler, Simon Pauly Graphic Designer Eva Tucker Copy Editor Craig Magnus Publisher Michelle Jolles Media Director Brittany Coale Senior Media Consultants Katie Delzer, Nicole Kube, Shelayne Lawyer, Krista Markley Newsstand Consultant Joe J. Luca, JK Associates 816-213-4101, jkassoc.net Editorial Questions: zloy@inkansascity.com

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Zim

photo by aaron leimkuhler

Contributing Writers Kelsey Cipolla, Stacy Downs, Judith Fertig, Timothy Finn, Cindy Hoedel, Cody Hogan, Merrily Jackson, Damian Lair, R. Murphy, Katie Van Luchene

AUGUST 2020

| 10 | INKANSASCITY.COM

Design Now, Enjoy Forever

kitchens | bathrooms | home

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www. por t foli o - ho m e. co m Monday—Friday 9 to 5 Saturday 11 to 3

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INKANSASCITY.COM ENTER TO WIN

Break Out the Bubbly!

Hey, prosecco lovers!

We challenged the bartenders at Leawood’s new Verdigris cocktail bar to whip up an inspired drink using prosecco that will dazzle your friends.

Grab your socially distanced brunch bunch and indulge.

Find it at inkansascity.com/ eat-drink/recipes.

Want to get away from it all? Our friends at the all-new Inn at Meadowbrook in Prairie Village are giving away the staycation you need at the swankiest new spot in town! One lucky winner will experience a #oneofakind unwind with a one-night stay in a luxurious room. In addition, the grand-prize winner can enjoy dinner at Mission Farms with a $100 gift card to a Mission Farms’ restaurant of their choice. Enter to win by August 31 at inkansascity.com/the-magazine/enter-to-win—and good luck!.

FOLLOW US

Summer-rific restaurants are just a hop, skip, and jump away. From happy hours

Berry delicious. What’s the only

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Leave it to the professionals. What are the

worst mistakes homeowners do that make designers cringe? We asked a few local interior designers to divulge what they consider to be their clients’ biggest no-no’s. (And, yes—in case you were wondering, sometimes you can have too many throw pillows.) Find it at inkansascity.com.

thing better than fresh raspberries and cream? It’s a gourmet recipe for the light, refreshing dessert. Check out the tart, tasty version from our friends at Grand Street Café and celebrate national Raspberries and Cream Day on August 8. Find it at inkansascity.com/ eat-drink/recipes.

AUGUST 2020

| 12 | INKANSASCITY.COM

INSTAGRAM @INKANSASCITYMAG

WEEKLY NEWSLETTER subscribe at INKANSASCITY.COM (under The Magazine tab)

VERDIGRIS PHOTO BY AARON LEIHMKUHLER

to the local restaurant scene, we have the city’s most comprehensive dining guide.

So many restaurants to please your palate. Check ‘em out at inkansascity.com/eat-drink/ dining-guide

FACEBOOK @INKANSASCITYMAGAZINE

GREAT PLAINS SPCA ANIMAL EXPERT ANSWERS YOUR PET QUESTIONS Animal expert, Ashley Flores, CPDT-KA, is the Director of Animal Behavior & Training at Great Plains SPCA. Ashley has more than 16 years of experience in animal training and behavior.

FEATURED PET Dear Ashley – How do I know if it is too hot outside for my dog? Any tips on keeping her cooled off in the summer months?

– Diego Rodriguez

Queen Pearl is a fun-loving ball of fur looking forward to her next adventure.

She has a lot of get-up-and-go and loves meeting new people and seeing new places. Queen Pearl is smart, driven, and willing to learn whatever you have to teach her. She’s a little unsure about other dogs, so she will need slow introductions to new canines and is searching for a home without children under five. If you’re looking for a thoroughly delightful pup who can keep up with your active lifestyle, but still settles down with snuggles at the end of the day, then Queen Pearl may be just the dog. To adopt Queen Pearl, visit greatplainsspca.org/adopt.

GREATPLAINSSPCA.ORG

5424 Antioch Dr. | Merriam, KS 66202

Hi Diego – This is an excellent question considering how hot it has been lately. I would highly recommend fresh, cool water, access to shade, and lots of breaks from the heat. I like to use ice cubes in water dishes and damp towels for my dogs during the summer months. Baby pools or doggy pools are a must-have if your dog likes being outside a lot. Avoiding the midday heat by playing in the morning or evening and providing places that are shaded will help significantly. Avoiding asphalt can also be a big help since dog’s paws can be as sensitive as human’s feet. Make sure your pup is well-hydrated and never leave your dog in the car unattended during warm weather. Know the signs of heat stroke and seek medical attention If needed. The hot humid weather that we are experiencing in the KC area is extremely dangerous for pets and this is a serious situation because there are many deaths due to heat stroke.

Stay cool and hydrated!

– Ashley Flores, CPDT-KA

Dear Ashley – My dog keeps eating grass, but he does not seem sick. Should I be concerned?

– Richard Pochaska Hi Richard – Many people believe that dogs eat grass to force themselves to throw up when they are ill, but in most cases, this is

not the reason. Eating grass is a very normal behavior for many puppies and while most dogs grow out of it, some do not. Dogs normally eat grass out of boredom, or they simply just enjoy the taste. I would only be concerned if your dog seems to get ill from eating the grass. If this seems to be the case, meet with your vet. Make sure your dog is not eating other plants that can be harmful to him, but most vets agree that eating grass is okay and digestible.

– Ashley Flores, CPDT-KA

Dear Ashley – As you know, there is a pandemic going on and I was wondering about some fun things I can do at home with my pets to alleviate their boredom.

– Jane Li Hi Jane – At Great Plains SPCA we provide a lot of enrichment to the animals to alleviate boredom. Some examples of enrichment that we use are scent sprays (water with a drop or two of extracts like lavender), puzzle feeders, a variety of tactile toys, and music. There are tons of super cheap DIY toys and feeders on the internet that you can make. My favorite form of enrichment is just playing hide-and-seek or creating a makeshift agility course out of things in my home like chairs for weaving and leashes for jump rope. Many dogs like what we call flirt poles. This is essentially the same thing as a wand teaser for cats, but for dogs. You tie a toy at the end of a pole for them to catch and play with. I also recommend playing with bubbles! Scented bubbles are a big hit with many dogs and cats. Have fun playing!

– Ashley Flores, CPDT-KA

ADOPT. DONATE. VOLUNTEER. About Great Plains SPCA: Great Plains SPCA is an independent 501 (c)(3) no-kill shelter serving approximately 6,000 animals annually in the Johnson County community. As Kansas City’s premium family shelter, we continue to support the seven municipalities that we are contracted with including Overland Park, Leawood, Shawnee, Lake Quivira and Johnson County Parks and Recreation and unincorporated Johnson County.

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Women in Business by

IN KC

Michael Mackie

photo by

Aaron Leimkuehler

Adrienne Haynes

THE FOUNDER OF SEED LAW AND SEED COLLECTIVE HAS BUILT HER BUSINESS ON THE BUSINESS OF BUILDING SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEURS

A

drienne B. Haynes is a giver. As the managing partner at SEED Law and founder/lead consultant at SEED Collective, Haynes gives back every chance she gets.

That is, of course, when she’s not already paying it forward. The UMKC law grad—who grew up in Illinois and Iowa—opened her law firm five years ago. Her goal? To have her team put their efforts and energies into helping entrepreneurs build businesses that are scalable, sustainable, and successful.

If you ask her, she’ll tell you she got bit by the entrepreneurial bug in high school. When Haynes arrived at college, she realized going into law might be the missing link she needed to pursue her entrepreneurial spirit.

“When I first started, people laughed, ‘Entrepreneurial law is not a thing.’

But I knew it had to be. I knew there was an opportunity to be supportive.

Every day I have been reminded it’s been a good choice because every business decision has a legal ramification,” she says. “I’ve been really fortunate to partner with entrepreneurs to see how the law really impacts

AUGUST 2020

those day-to-day operations and build strategies around that.”

With her strong Midwestern roots, Haynes determined early on to network—and then network some more. She says she learned from the best along the way. “I have been very fortunate to be raised by intelligent, very intentional women. I’m also fortunate to have been taught by some of the best women—some tenacious women who have a really important vision for the community,” she says. “And I’ve been afforded the opportunity to share what I’ve learned with other women through direct representation on the legal side or consulting to help design entrepreneur programs.”

Her motto? “I’m a teach-what-you-learn-as-best-you-can,” she says. “I’ve had my fair share of ‘first Black woman to win this award’ or ‘first Black woman in this position,’ but what I really like is when I get to partner with people or organizations and design my own position that fulfills a need,” she says. “Just being a Black woman entrepreneur, there’s definitely societal and systemic challenges I’ve faced. Entrepreneurship allows you to pursue the human right of self-determination.”

Now that she’s carved out a niche, her SEED Law firm continues to make a difference on a daily basis. “When you have a business that makes it past five years, well, that’s my proud baby,” she says. The firm is expanding their footprint across the Midwest, aiming to help clients from Kansas to Illinois. “Especially at this time, [we want] to help existing and aspiring entrepreneurs recover and develop strong roots.

Even in an economic recession, that’s when entrepreneurs really have the opportunity to build a business. And we want to be able to do that for as many people as we can.” Meanwhile, SEED Collective meets people where they’re at—focusing on executive coaching, education, research, and ongoing advocacy. “If there’s anybody who needs that support, I’d love to chat,” she says.

Haynes has two big wins in her corner that she’s excited about.

First up, she says, Global Entrepreneurship Week is scheduled in midNovember. This year Haynes is the statewide coordinator. “I’m being intentional about supporting entrepreneurs all across the state. And the more we network together, the stronger our state’s entrepreneurship is,” she says. And second, Haynes is slated to give her first TED Talk in September. “I’ll be able to share some of the work I uncovered while doing my Innovator-In-Residence Fellowship at Kauffman. I have a lot of work to do, but I’m really excited to share the lessons and stories I’ve learned in doing this work.”

For Haynes, sisterhood has been ingrained in her essence for a long time. “I was a camp director for an all-girls camp—and I did that for five years,” she says. “Being able to help, nurture, and learn with women has been an important part of my career from the very beginning. I think about all the young women I worked with and all the women who have helped me. And women? We are honest with each other. So those that have given me constructive criticisms, given me opportunities— when I hear the term ‘girl power,’ I’m with it,” she says with a laugh. “To be able to inspire someone else, it encourages me.”

| 16 | INKANSASCITY.COM

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Entertaining

Cookbooks I Will Never Surrender by

Merrily Jackson

MOST OF US AREN’T COMFORTABLE HAVING PARTIES YET, DUE TO SOCIAL DISTANCING. BUT WE CAN BRUSH UP ON OUR READING ABOUT ENTERTAINING. MERRILY SHARES HER FAVORITE SOURCE BOOKS

A

fter four-plus decades of working for The Man, I officially retired last month.

(Many readers weren’t aware this column was my side hustle, I had a full-time job working in PR and marketing at Kansas City’s essential hospital: Truman Medical Center/University Health).

Despite the pandemic prohibiting me from the boozy, frivolous socializing I’d been so looking forward to, retirement has been pretty dreamy. It’s lovely to have an hour-after-unsched-

Email me with your entertaining questions, dilemmas, or triumphs at mjackson@inkansascity.com

AUGUST 2020

| 20 | INKANSASCITY.COM

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Entertaining

Dine often and dine well.

IN KC

Just Cook with Sally!

My new favorite cookbook is by someone I actually know and admire, former Kansas Citian and legendary hostess Sally Uhlmann.

Just Cook with Sally is a dazzling blend of workable, delicious recipes, mouth-watering photography, and deftly written memoir. Sally has had a fascinating life. Her writing will beguile you.

The following recipe from her appetizer section would be perfect for a small drinks gathering, in this time of social distancing. Everyone or every couple could have their own tasty wheel of crumbly, melty baked goat cheese, with an individual ration of crackers.

A LOVE LETTER IN STORIES AND COOKING

BY SALLY UHLMANN

Baked Goat Cheese As an appetizer or topping. Serve as an appetizer with vegetables and crackers or on top of leafy salads, roasted or steamed vegetables, or pasta.

1 log goat cheese ¼ cup olive oil in a small bowl 1 cup homemade breadcrumbs (pulse dried, leftover bread cubes in a mini blender until you have a coarse crumb)

250

OF THE BEST KC RESTAURANTS

Dining Guide

For the city’s most extensive restaurant guide, head to inkansascity.com/ eat-drink/dining-guide

AUGUST 2020

Heat oven to 350°. Form individual goat cheese disks 1½-inches thick and 2 inches in diameter. (Plan on one goat-cheese patty per person.)

Dip each disk in the bowl of olive oil to coat. Put breadcrumbs on a small plate and dip the discs in the crumbs to coat. Place in a small baking dish. Pour remaining olive oil over the top of the discs.

Place on the middle shelf of the oven and bake until the crumbs are browned, and the cheese begins to ooze. Watch carefully as it will melt if over-cooked. Serve immediately.

| 22 | INKANSASCITY.COM

uled hour to invite my soul, to putter, to organize things—like my out-of-control cookbook collection.

COOKBOOKS: MY VERSION OF SELF-HELP I confess I have an addiction to cookbooks. I have hundreds of them, stashed all over the house, many of which I’ve never used to produce a single recipe. Cookbooks are my great relaxation, my insomnia cure, my escape. I have a Kindle for all non-food-related reading, but for cooking I must have the pages of a hard-copy book. I have not had good experiences with random recipes I’ve found online. Really, not even once.

Here are my top go-to cookbooks, and some of my favorite recipes within them. I have decided to leave out Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa series, lest I sound like a broken record; regular readers of this column know how much I love Ina. Suffice it to say her books—all 11 of them—are to be trusted.

IT’S ALL IN THE TECHNIQUE One of the most useful books I own is The New Best Recipe from the editors of Cook’s Illustrated. This bulky compendium explains cooking technique in the liveliest, most helpful prose.

Say you see some lovely fresh scallops at the market, and you get them home and want to know the best way to pan-fry them. This book will help you. It taught me the techniques I will forever use for poaching eggs and making frittatas.

AMO ITALIANO — AND INDIAN! Many Kansas Citians were thrilled when Lidia’s opened back up after it closed for the pandemic. Its food continues to be consistently excellent, a reflection of Lidia Bastianich’s pitch-perfect standards. Her cookbook Lidia’s Favorite Recipes is one of my keepers. Her Quick Garlic-Tomato Sauce recipe tells you how to turn a can of tomatoes into dinner. And, in a pinch, you can make dinner from her four-ingredient Red Cabbage and Bacon Salad. Email for the recipes, or any I mention herein.

But before Lidia, for me there was Marcella Hazan’s timeless Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. Read the book’s introduction and you will learn so much about Italy and its regions.

Besides offering up extremely coherent, doable recipes, this book is endlessly engaging. Her recipes for minestrone and pear cake (the perfect winter dinner-party dessert) alone are worth the price of the book.

What Marcella and Lidia did for Italian cooking, Julie Sahni did for Indian cuisine in her Classic Indian Cooking, the definitive work on the subject. It is a joy to cook from, and a fascination to read. If you are cooking for a vegetarian, this book is a treasure trove. My book falls open by itself to the lentils section.

MON AMIE JULIA My copies of Julia Child’s legendary Mastering the Art of French Cooking, both volumes, are on the uppermost shelf in my kitchen, unreachable without a step stool. Always within easy reach, however, is From Julia Child’s Kitchen. I have used it so often, it’s broken in half, so it is also in two volumes. Full

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Entertaining

IN KC

disclosure, though: I bought it used. Anyway, her Potage Parmentier (potato and leek soup) is easy but tastes like it took hours. Her Fast Moussaka is a perfect use of summer eggplant.

I SHALL ALWAYS BE LOYAL TO THE LEAGUE The Junior League is famous for the regionally themed cookbooks produced by its local chapters and sold to generate funds for worthy causes. When Beyond Parsley, the cookbook of the Kansas City, Mo. Junior League, was published in 1984, it set a whole new standard for its genre, drawing national acclaim and landing the prestigious James Beard Foundation Award. Thirty-six years later, it’s still au courant, loaded with great recipes for entertaining. My copy of BP is spattered and dog-eared, with notes beside many of the recipes.

Its sequel, Above & Beyond Parsley, is also excellent, but I am biased, having served as its production and design chair, and a proud member of the soup-testing committee. Which reminds me to tell you that one reason Junior League cookbooks are so reliable is that all recipes in them are tested a minimum of three times.

Both are available on amazon.com.

I LOVE ME A MEMOIR My favorite sub-genre of cookbooks are collections of food essays, with a recipe or two at the end of each essay. I have read and reread Laurie

Colwin’s Home Cooking: A Writer in the Kitchen and More Home Cooking, as I have James Beard on Food and Amanda Hesser’s Cooking for Mr. Latte. All are equal parts memoir and cookbook.

Ruth Reichl’s books are my most cherished of this genre. Former editor-in-chief of Gourmet magazine and, before that, restaurant critic for the New York Times, the woman tells a story so entertainingly you forget you’re reading. Although her memoirs are more autobiography than cookbook, the recipes she provides are wonderfully clear.

Her book Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise delivers a penetrating message about the effect of our physical appearance on our self-identity. And she says some thrillingly catty things about her NYT co-workers and certain famous restaurateurs.

Her recipes for Sort-of-Thai Noodles and Spaghetti Carbonara alone are stand-bys for me.

I’ll never loan you my copies of her other food memoirs, Comfort Me with Apples, Tender at the Bone, My Kitchen Year, or Save Me the Plums because I still turn to them for inspiration and recipes.

A FINAL NOTE FOR COOKS AND NON-COOKS There’s not a single thing wrong with perusing your pretty cookbooks, then picking up the phone and calling a restaurant to order dinner for your gathering. Takeout is really, really fine. Especially now, when restaurants need our support.

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IRON DISTRICT ON A TOASTY SUMMER EVENING, perfect for dining outdoors where

there’s room to spread out, I grabbed a friend and jumped across the river to North Kansas City to check out the still-new Iron District.

Open Thursday through Sunday, it’s an open courtyard surrounded by colorful shipping containers retrofitted to serve as food vendors, retail shops, and even a tiki bar. Oh, and there’s a rooftop deck with stunning views of downtown. No issues with the six-foot rule here!

We divided to conquer—one getting a lemongrass chicken rice bowl and spring rolls at Thaiger and another having the buffalo meta (veggie) burger and fire nachos (with cashew queso—quite good!) at the plant-based Kind Food. And of course, a few rounds of tiki drinks from the cool guys at Tiki Huna. After all, it’s incumbent upon me to get a representative sampling.

Other options we didn’t have room for (this time) included: Avobite, an avocado bar; B-Rads, comfort food; Morning Day Café, breakfast; Plantain District, Cuban flavors; Safe Bakes, allergy-free desserts; and Sno.Buh by Ice Cream Bae, adventurous ice creams.

There’s shopping (primarily clothing, candles, and jewelry), too: 3&Me Boutique, Bohème and Wasteland Society. And beyond eating, drinking, and shopping, there’s also inBOX Podcast Studio for anyone needing a quiet space with all the high-end recording gadgets for putting together a podcast episode, and Wellness Space, rentable to practitioners for yoga, reiki, or massage appointments.

Finally, the live music (I’m told it’s there every night) was really awesome. Truthfully, besides people wearing masks, you would never have known that outside the circle of industrial containers, there was a pandemic still raging.

HOT GOSSIP: Being there was the most normal I’ve felt, out and about, since businesses began to Whose incredible open up. So, if you’re looking for somehome has a “River thing unique to get out of the house for, Club” ladies-only restroom? check it out.

AUGUST 2020

OVERHEARD “The weather is changing more quickly than your outfits.”

n multiple occasions, I’ve found myself referring back to periods of my life—neatly categorized into distinct epochs, based on what regional NPR station I was tuned into and the program I was simultaneously following.

It began when I was an old-soul 14-year-old. During summers and school holidays, I made an hour-long, round-trip daily drive (I know—14 and driving—Kansas!) to work in the bookkeeping department at one of my grandpa’s banks. It was my first job and really was one of my most fond memories growing up. Like—actually growing up. I distinctly remember my evening drives home with Robert Siegel, Linda Wertheimer, Noah Adams, and Michele Norris on All Things Considered. I did not know what NPR was.

But it’s not incredibly surprising I stumbled upon it, given that in rural Kansas one could likely only pick up a tiny handful of clear stations. So, thank goodness for KRPS 89.9 out of Pittsburg. At a young, hungry, and impressionable age, public radio extended my horizons far beyond what, say, listening to endless 90s pop music for the equivalent amount of time every day could have produced. It was my summer school, so to speak. But also, a mentor. I’ll especially never forget the latest U.S. Supreme Court decision overviews, which I’d then get home and print from our (first) home computer (so much wasted paper and ink cartridges!), so I could read the

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Our Man

IN KC

decisions in full, later. Your typical HOT GOSSIP: 14-year-old boy I was not.

Soon, I packed up for college Who shot a squirrel, at K-State, and nearby Salina’s during a dinner party, Radio Kansas was there to greet from the family room, me. No longer driving home in with a pellet gun? the evenings, I switched to WeekHuman: 1; Critter: 0 end Edition with Scott Simon and Liane Hansen and the cult classic This American Life with Ira Glass.

A decade earlier, the story seemed to have been already written that I’d head to law school, and while doing just that at KU, Lawrence’s treasured KPR station was a connecting thread to normalcy, when plenty of times my life felt like it was unraveling quicker than I could knit it back together. I kept up with some of my old programs, but I also dove head-first into the podcast version of This I Believe, hosted by Dan Gediman and David Allison. I listened to it as I made the trips back and forth to Topeka, where I was a clerk at the Shawnee Co. District Court. And I listened to archived episodes dating back to the series’ inception by Edward R. Murrow. I’m still subscribed to that podcast to this day. It’s all on my phone so I don’t miss an episode, and I can easily refer back to the ones that have left indelible marks on my own beliefs. Two are especially worth mentioning, both from seemingly unlikely (and coincidently, Midwestern) philosophers: The Flaming Lips rock singer and guitarist, Wayne Coyne’s “Creating Our Own Happiness” and Missouri farmer Steve Porter’s “The 50-Percent Theory of Life.” I re-listened to them both right now, closed my eyes, and was instantly transported right back into my car and to the moments I was trying to understand and sort out, when I heard each for the first time. As NPR puts it: a “driveway moment.”

A decade later, I’m a grownup who spends every morning before work with Morning Edition, on our very own KCUR 89.3, and I pop in throughout the week to catch bits of other programs as much as I can.

I fully recognize this has been a long lead-up. But as I was having (distanced) cocktails with neighbor, friend, and KCUR reporter, Peggy Lowe—and I was gradually inching my way through the above to the story’s actual point—she quipped, referring to this column: “Well, that’s the story you should tell.” And because we’re (somehow) still amidst a pandemic, and my outings remain regulated, I’m very glad I had the space and flexibility to do so.

OVERHEARD The reason I mention all this is that I “I’m very good was regaling Peggy on how much I enjoyed at fires.” the recent KCUR RadioActive annual benefit—this year, gone virtual. (She even

| 28 | INKANSASCITY.COM

OVERHEARD “Do you love him more than your luggage?”

had a cameo appearance!) And the “Of course, I virtual nature happened to be a rare love him more stroke of serendipity, because I was than my luggage. away for some quiet quarantine time But… I don’t buy in Vail, Colorado but didn’t miss a expensive luggage.” bit of the fun. I ordered dinner from one of my favorite restaurants there, Sweet Basil, popped open my takeout boxes and laptop, and tuned in alfresco from my balcony at the base of the mountain.

Right then, over the course of about three minutes, pianist Shelly Freeman opened with a taped-together, hand-composed and self-arranged medley of all the classic NPR program theme songs. And during those minutes, the sequence of above memories, that I’d never thought of in an uninterrupted stream of notes, all came flooding back, which then exited through my eye sockets and streamed down my face. It was a surreal and touching moment. I hadn’t really realized how important, and constant, and really formational public radio has been in my life.

From there, the program never skipped a digital beat. Lisa Rodriguez, in full gala attire, gave us a mixology and history lesson for her favorite cocktail, the French 75 (using Tom’s Town Gin).

Legendary NPR national reporters—Steve Inskeep, Rachel Martin, Scott Horsley, David Greene, and Sarah McCammon—joined us from their living rooms and backyards, tantalizing us with their most memorable reporting experiences and their own driveway moments.

Steve Inskeep completely choked up (I was in illustrious company), expressing what he believes to be the most important thing each of us can do: be an active citizen. He said he feels proud to go to work every day, maybe even more right now, not because he’s someone important, but because he’s just a citizen. Like all of us.

KCUR’s interim general manager, Sarah Morris, updated attendees on the new 24-hour classical music station, 91.9 Classical KC. She also broke the news to many that KCUR will be one of four lead stations in NPR’s new Midwest Hub. Woot woot!

And finally, there were moving tributes given in honor of our own Bill Shapiro and Charles Ferruzza (very well done, Gina Kaufmann), as well as the renowned Cokie Roberts, the “founding mother of NPR,” all of whom passed away this past year.

Last but not least, Chuck Haddix sent us on our way with jazz tunes from his Fish Fry program. Oh, and a rogue, spontaneous digital after-party picked up where Chuck left off. Major h/t to the event co-chairs Julie Walker Browne & Pete Browne and Ann & Bob Regnier. And be sure to mark your calendar for next year’s in-person event, June 11, 2021. More good times will be around the corner.

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Arts & Culture

IN KC

L

ike jazzy Gee’s Bend quilts, Debra Smith’s paintings with kimono fabric move to their own quiet, powerful rhythms. Working with vintage Japanese textiles, Smith feels something that others might miss— the spirit of the handmaiden, the silk weaver, the maker herself.

Smith spent a year in Florence, Italy, studying fashion before earning a BFA from The Kansas City Art Institute. Next, she headed to New York to study at The Fashion Institute of Technology. Today, she exhibits around the world. Her work is also in many corporate collections, including Hallmark; Shook, Hardy & Bacon; and Sprint. debramsmith.com

Debra Smith

THE KANSAS CITY ARTIST ANSWERS FOUR QUESTIONS by

Judith Fertig

INKC: As an artist, how did you come to

fabric as your main medium?

Photo by Pete Clouston

Smith: I am a third generation weaver on

my mother’s side; my grandmother also quilted and painted. So it was in my blood.

We moved from Texas to Hannibal, Mis-

AUGUST 2020

| 30 | INKANSASCITY.COM

souri, when I was 5 years old, and my mother became very active in the Arts Council. I grew up with raku fire pits in the backyard, cyanotype workshops, and other creative adventures.

I already had a rich history in textiles from my childhood, KCAI, and FIT. My love for kimono was a discovery due to timing and opportunity. After graduating from KCAI, I had a roommate who was working at Asiatica and was about to leave her position. I was already weaving with beautiful scrap fabrics that Asiatica had donated to KCAI and had woven a series of scarves that one of the owners purchased.

October 17 KARRIN ALLYSON December 12 DAVID BENOIT A Christmas Tribute to Charlie Brown

INKC: What kinds of stories, or feelings, or associations come with kimono? Why choose them for your work?

Smith: When I create paintings out of vintage silk textiles from the 40s, 50s, and 60s, I feel a vibration to the fabric that draws the viewer in, a vibration of the human hand that actually made the fabric. That is what drives me: The beauty of the handmade. The time, the patience, the stunning design and color combinations. It is all the raw material for the poetry and emotions that I attempt to translate through my reconstruction of these fabrics.

January 16 JEFF LORBER February 12 ANAT COHEN

INKC: Could you describe your process? Do you start with an idea or with a piece of cloth? And then what?

Smith: Each one of my artworks is intuitively pieced. Only once or twice have I worked from a drawing when I’ve had a commission.

Inspiration will come from a fabric, or even two colorways accidentally landing on each other in my studio. I sit at my sewing machine with an office chair on wheels, easily turning from the iron on one side and to a cutting surface on the other, slowly building the work over hours, days, and occasionally weeks or months.

I pin it to the wall at the end of every day and always look at it with fresh eyes the next. Sometimes it will turn upside down completely in the end. Each piece is two layers of vintage silk that is hand cut, sewn on a machine, clipping the seams after every stitch. The two layers are eventually fused together and finished with a hand-stitched border mounted to acid-free foam core to be framed.

March 20 PAQUITO D’RIVERA April 9 ELIANE ELIAS

INKC: How has Kansas City nurtured you as an artist?

Smith: I lived in New York City as a self-employed artist for al-

most ten years. I chose to move back to Kansas City because I recognized how hard I was working to just exist in New York. I wasn’t enjoying the town. I had to weave so many scarves to pay the bills it left little time to make artwork.

I made more artwork that first year I was back in Kansas City than I did almost the entire time I lived in New York, and I was also redoing an historic house on the Westside from top to bottom that first year. Kansas City lifted a weight off my shoulders I didn’t even know was there. It gave me room to breathe and the space to create, for that I am forever grateful.

AUGUST 2020

Richard J. Stern Foundation for the Arts, Commerce Bank, Trustee

| 31 | INKANSASCITY.COM

All shows subject to change

Arts & Culture by

IN KC

Judith Fertig

ELIAS SIME: TIGHTROPE NO ONE KNOWS when Kansas City cultural life will return to normal. Not even Siri.

But the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art will still be hosting this traveling exhibit through January 31, 2021—catch it when you can. Ethiopian artist Elias Sime scours the open-air markets of Addis Ababa for motherboards, keyboards, and circuitry. From this discardedOur techCommitments to You. nology, he creates large-scale abstract collages that explore • Highest level of customer service and expert care our fascination, dependence, and our relationships• Doctors withwill always be informed of the patient's status & progress • Quick results and happy patients that technology.

Tightrope features more than two dozen colorful works of art. Like topographical maps or drone’s view of vast landscapes, Sime’s work also points to natural pathways that connect us, not unlike the inner workings of man-made machines. kemperart.org

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FIDDLING AROUND WITH ALL THIS EXTRA TIME on your hands, why not put them to good use and try the fiddle? If you’ve had a secret yen for that old Cher song Gypsies, Tramps, and Thieves, you can get into the spirit by learning how to play the fiddle in the Romany style. Just imagine your bohemian friends gathered around your firepit while you rosin up the bow.

Violinist Laurel Morgan Parks and cellist Sascha Groschang, known as the alternative string duo The Wires, show you how to start playing at whatever level you’re at. Their courses include Absolute Beginner, Celtic Tunes, Cello, Techniques, Old-Time Tunes and more.

You will work at your own pace using the videos and sheet music/fingerings found within the website.

If you want more, you are invited to attend their weekly Zoom classes for Absolute Beginners and Intermediate levels + Happy Hour. drunkenfiddles.com

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IN KC

Judith Fertig

MISSOURI WINE AND JAZZ FESTIVAL BRITISH MUSIC LOVERS take their picnic hampers and a bottle of Champagne for an outdoor concert at Leeds Castle.

We Kansas Citians also like the high ground, but it’s Liberty Memorial for us with wine, live music, jazz, and food trucks on Saturday, August 8 from 2 to 11 p.m. and Sunday, August 9 from 1 to 8 p.m.

Bring your own lawn chairs and an umbrella, if you wish, but let the vendors delight you with wine and foods perfect for a summer evening. What wine goes with smooth jazz?

Which wine with blues? You decide.

What could be more perfect for a Kansas City event during the pandemic?

Tickets available through missouriwinejazzfest.com.

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RISING TO THE CHALLENGE THE JOHNSON COUNTY MUSEUM, housed in the revamped King Louie bowling lanes, is one of the few museums that opened in June. If you haven’t taken in the Electric House exhibit from 1954, when everything really was upto-date in Kansas City, then you can take a walk down fairly recent memory lane.

The museum has also gathered items from residents to tell the story of Rising to the Challenge: Suburban Strength in Difficult Times amidst drought, tornadoes, floods, blizzards, the Great Recession of 2008, influenza in 1918, COVID-19, and other adversities. It can make you feel a little better that we can get past this, too. jcprd.com

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Through January 31, 2021

Elias Sime, Tightrope: On the Edge (detail), 2015, reclaimed electronic components on eight panels, 48 x 258 ¾ inches.

Collection of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri, Bebe and Crosby Kemper Collection, Museum purchase made possible by a gift from the William T. Kemper Charitable Trust, UMB Bank, n.a., Trustee, 2016.02.01. © Elias Sime, courtesy of the artist and James Cohan, New York. Photo: E. G. Schempf, 2019

@kempermuseum ke m perart.org 442O Warwick Boulevard, Kansas City, MO 64111 FREE ADMISSION | FREE PROGRAMS | FREE PARKING

Behind the Music

IN KC by

Timothy Finn

Candice Hill

C

andice Hill is something of a rarity in the music world: a woman percussionist whose repertoire includes the steel pan, a chromatically pitched instrument fashioned from an oil drum. She recently answered questions from IN Kansas City about her favorite instrument, her role as a teacher and mentor at Staley High School, and how she is navigating life as a musician during a pandemic.

Talk about your childhood. What was your upbringing like?

Candice Hill: I grew up in Columbia, Missouri, raised by both my parents, who are still married today—44 years—and with an older brother, Chad. My mom was a teacher so she would get summers off with us, and I have very fond memories of summer activities growing up: lots of baseball and softball, playing outside, going to camp. I’d say I had a

AUGUST 2020

pretty great childhood, and my parents were always very supportive of my hobbies and interests.

When did music enter your life? Who were your earliest inspirations?

CH: My mom played piano when she was young, and when I was very young, she would sit down on the piano to clunk out tunes she could remember. I really liked the piano, and they got me set up in lessons when I was 6 or 7.

My dad was actually the bigger music fan. He played drums growing up, and we would have dance parties at home to his “oldies.” My brother also had a radio, and then a record player and tape player, so I would listen to his music. It was pop when we were young and eventually he got into a Beatles phase, which rubbed off on me several years later, and then punk.

| 38 | INKANSASCITY.COM

I also remember having this Fisher Price record player with mostly kids’ music. I was really into pop as well when I was young, like New Kids on The Block. The first CD I bought with my own money was Red Hot Chili Peppers’ What Hits. I later got really into Nirvana as well.

I also listened to a lot of classical and jazz music, specifically Big Band era, which my dad was really into.

When and why did you decide on drums/percussion?

CH: Even though my dad played drums, it hadn’t occurred to me to try them. When I was in middle school, I was playing saxophone and we had a parade coming up. The drumline needed a bass drum player, and it looked fun, so I volunteered. That was it for me; I loved it. My parents put me in drum set lessons the next summer. I expanded to all types of percussion, but pretty much only performed in school ensembles or church band.

Who are some of your favorite drummers/percussionists?

CH: I discover new favorites all the time. I’ve always loved Buddy Rich,

Dave Grohl, Gene Krupa, as well as some amazing instructors for Drum Corps International drumlines, like Scott Johnson, Bill Bachman, and Bret Kuhn.

In the last 15 or so years, I’ve become a fan of Liam Teague, a steel-pan performer. I also studied with Boogsie Sharp, and Robert Greenidge, the pan player for Jimmy Buffett, in grad school. More

recently I have been into Vinnie Colaiuta, Neil Peart, Steve Smith, and Todd Sucherman.

When did you start playing steel pan? What drew you to it?

CH: I started playing in a small steel band in college, and I had never heard of them before. I just remember thinking the sound was so unique, and after a couple years I was totally hooked. That’s when I got really serious about it and decided to focus on steel pan in grad school.

What’s the key or ‘secret’ to playing the steel pan? Do you prefer them to drums?

CH: The biggest misconception from a technique standpoint is that it is not a drum. A lot of drummers approach it with a heavy hand and too much arm. So the secret to technique is to play more relaxed with more flexible wrists and fingers and a much lighter touch. From a musical standpoint, the key secret would be that the instrument knows no boundaries when it comes to musical styles. You can play any genre you can think of, and this really opens up the types of gigs you can play with it as well. It’s not just for pool parties.

I would say I almost prefer steel pan to drums because I know pans so well. I feel I can play any piece of music you set in front of me. On a drum set, I have certain styles I’m really comfortable with, and others not as much. The same goes for other percussion instruments. I am really comfortable on snare, for instance, and only somewhat comfortable

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Behind the Music

IN KC

on marimba. They all have their place in my world though. I usually find that when I’m playing a lot of pan gigs, I miss playing drums. But the opposite is true as well.

You teach at Staley High School. What are the rewards of teaching music?

I actually never thought I wanted to teach, and only started when I was in grad school as part of my assistantship. I really liked passing on my knowledge and passion. I teach the drumline and assist with spring ensembles at Staley, and the biggest reward is watching kids grow up through the program and grow to love music. Most of them do not go on to pursue music in college, but I know the dedication, passion, work ethic to show up on time, and the reward of working hard is instilled in them. Some of them do go on to study music, and that gives me warm fuzzies, but it’s not the ultimate goal for me as their teacher.

How have you been surviving the pandemic, as a musician?

CH: I teach private lessons and was able to quickly switch online. It’s not ideal but it works in a pinch. I would say about a third of my students dropped at that time and all my gigs were canceled, so it was tough, and still is.

I’ve done online streaming shows and have gotten a lot of tips from people who just want to support in this time. I’ve started to get some outdoor gigs, so I’m hoping that continues to pick up. It’s a little rough

though, because you are so reliant on the weather. I’ve gained a couple of students who preferred online lessons or live outside of Kansas City.

I was not teaching online before this, so I’m really hoping to continue adding more online students that are not local.

That’s all financial though. As a musician, it’s hard not to create in some way. I’ve done some writing for the high school drumline, and I’ve been recording some solo videos for my YouTube channel, as well as some cool quarantine projects with other pan players. It’s been a mental game though, because with all the stressors the pandemic is causing, a lot of the time I just don’t feel inspired. That’s something I’m still learning to push through.

If you weren’t a musician, what would you be doing?

CH: I honestly feel like music is the one thing I am good at. If not for music, I would likely be in library science in some way. I love libraries and research.

You are a woman in a field with a male majority, especially, it seems, in the area of drums/percussion. What obstacles or biases do you face and have things improved much since you became a professional musician?

CH: The first time I ever really noticed it was in middle school. I remember the section leader of drumline being relentless with his comments about me being a girl and how I made dumb faces when I played.

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I’ve had my fair share of stupid comments over the years. Some things like “What does this girl think she’s going to do?” when they see me sit in with a friend’s band, only he used a nastier word than “girl.” I’ve been asked if I’m with the drummer—I think every female drummer has heard that one—and was always teased for having that “tough” face when playing in drumline. Literally every guy in the line was making a stone face, but some guys liked to tease me and tell me to smile, and that I was too little and cute to be tough.

I get the whole “Oh my god it’s a girl playing drums!” reaction a lot, too, but I usually think that’s pretty nice. Honestly, it has bothered me from time to time, but mostly I just like to prove people wrong.

It truly was something that happened more in my youth. I have the belief that my playing will speak for me, and if people like it, cool. If not, that’s cool, too.

In bands of all men, at first they generally try to be really polite and save the “guy” talk. Then after a while they realize I’ve been playing music with men for decades, there’s not a lot I haven’t heard, and I’m not easily offended.

As a teacher it has been mostly positive. I teach a drumline full of boys and only one girl. They are pretty respectful through it all. I think kids now have more female music teachers in general, so it doesn’t faze them at all. As a private teacher, I have a decent number of girls who take lessons, and their parents picked me specifically because I’m a woman. I think it’s because they feel more comfortable with that for

their daughter, but also because they want their daughters to see there’s no reason they can’t play drums.

What do you like most about life as a musician in Kansas City?

CH: Opportunity. Before COVID, there were lots of venues, arts organizations that support musicians—and pay them—as well as lots of kids wanting to learn to play drums. It can be tough, because you have to constantly work to get more gigs, but that’s true anywhere. I just feel like there’s usually so much going on here, yet it’s small enough that you can gain some recognition, even with a smaller following.

WANT MORE TIMOTHY FINN? Check out his weekly online-only content at inkansascity.com.

Every Wednesday the website publishes his list of Top 5 Notto-Miss Concerts in the metro.

Every week you’ll find his revered, rollicking, reasoned reviews and commentary.

Email Timothy Finn at tfinn@inkansascity.com

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Look

IN KC

Fashion

BY

R. Murphy

No Passport Required

I

f you were looking forward to that trip to Paris for Fashion Week, you might want to cool your jets.

With travel curtailed for the near future, we’ll all have to hope that Paris comes to us. Luckily, a new boutique in the Fairway Shops opens this month that will blend Parisian cool with California laid-back, all within an easy drive.

Clairvaux is the newest project from fashion-industry veteran Joni Johnson and small-business cheerleader Nancy McCarthy. Johnson wanted to encompass a global feel with many new and innovative designers from across the globe, along with cult favorites like Rag and Bone and Ganni. Although Clairvaux definitely has French joie de vivre, it will also bring a fresh European perspective to the table.

“With technology, the world has definitely gotten smaller. Before, we would only see Paris and New York, now we’re seeing Copenhagen fashion week, and it’s a completely different look. They start influencing each other. When you travel there and see the street fashion, it’s much more of a creative expression, whereas here in the states, it’s still more focused on athleisure,” says Johnson.

That shift from yoga pants to a more cultivated look is coming to the shop as well. Johnson says that she’s excited to see maxi-dresses paired with trainers or a chunky sandal as an elevated but still laid-back look. Flowy dresses still offer ease and comfort but give a bit of polish as well.

Johnson is actively seeking designers who are new to the Kansas City market, such as Dorthee Schumacher, Sandy Liang, and Enza Costa. In addition, she will carry footwear, accessories, and basics, along with Kansas City’s own Native Atlas. In the Paris of the Plains, Clairvaux offers the opportunity to explore without leaving town. shopclairvaux.com

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Above: Jensen two-tone woolblend blazer by Birgitte Herskind.

Left: Beaufille pleated shirt and skirt. Right: Little Liffner Tulip tote.

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Look

IN KC Beauty

‘‘Maskne ’’ MASKS=ACNE BY

R. Murphy

H

ave you amassed a personalized and fashionable array of face masks in the last few months? So have we.

Have you also gained a few unwelcome blemishes since you’ve been wearing those face masks so often? Yep, us too!

Luckily, we are surrounded by pros who know how to keep their skin in top shape even when wearing masks for up to 12 hours a day—nurses. We asked two experts to recommend their top products to keep skin clear and healthy while they keep their lungs clear and healthy. Here’s what they said.

KC Dwyer spends her nights in the Emergency Department at Research Hospital. Her first step after her shift? Cleanse.

The Multi Deep-Clean cleanser from Laneige goes on thick and creamy and goes a long way. She warns that it can be drying, so make sure to follow up with a good moisturizer, but it will take the whole day off your face, even if it involves bodily fluids.

Once your face is clean, give it a little TLC. Dwyer swears the Algeniest Power Serum is her desert-island beauty product. “This is your Hail Mary on days you were beat and fell asleep in your makeup.

Use this the next night and wake up with a brandnew face. It’s amazing.”

For stubborn blemishes, Dwyer turns to spot treatment. Sleeping in the Avarelle Acne Cover Patch means that essential oils such as tea tree and calendula pull out impurities without much effort from you. Wake up with less redness and on your way to clear skin.

Mallorie McKernan cares for trauma victims every weekend at Truman Medical Center as an ED nurse as well. The first stop after her shift is the shower to decontaminate and slather on an affordable but effective cleanser.

“I use the Garnier SkinActive Pore Purifying 2-in-1 Clay Cleanser/Mask in the shower after every shift. I keep it on while I’m showering the rest of me.

It’s not as expensive so I can use it liberally like that,” says McKernan.

Laniege Multi Deep-Clean Cleanser, $23, at sephora.com.

Algenist Power Recharging Night Pressed Serum, $94, at sephora.com.

Garnier SkinActive Pore Purifying 2-in-1 Clay Cleanser/Mask, $7.99, at garnierusa.com.

Avarelle Acne Cover Patch, $8.50 for 40, at avarelle.com.

Dirty Lamb Tea Tree Wand, $42, at thedirtylamb.com.

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Look

IN KC

Wellness

Work Workout by

R. Murphy

A

ny office dweller knows that the desk is the enemy of the body. Man was not meant to sit for hours at a time, but when the TPS reports have to be submitted, you hunker down. All that hunkering can do a number on the body, and now that many of us are working from home, it’s important to give ourselves a little self-care and work out the kinks now and then.

We asked local wellness coach and trainer, David Bromberg of Bromberg Fitness (davidbrombergfitness.com), for a few tips to make the day a little less painful, whether you’re in the office or at the kitchen table.

First, Bromberg says, mix it up. “Change how you sit throughout the day and take a break from your screen and look out a window (or as far into the distance as possible) for at least 30 seconds to let your eyes reset from staring at a screen,” he says.

Elevating the monitor to eye level, whether you’re sitting or standing, will also help to keep strain off of the upper back and neck. For a bit more activity, Bromberg suggests these three exercises to open up the body and allow you to return to a more natural posture.

BAND PULL-APART—Grab an exercise band with light resistance. Hold it in front of your body

with two hands and gently pull the band apart, then return to starting position, stretching your upper body. Do two sets of 15-20 repetitions one to two times a day.

HALF KNEELING HIP FLEXOR STRETCH—Kneel, with one knee on the floor and the opposite

foot on the floor for support. Place the foot of the leg with your knee down on a low chair, creating a V-shape with your leg. Slowly lean forward, stretching the hip flexors, which are shortened by prolonged sitting. Try a 30-second hold on each side twice per day.

BIRD DOG—Starting on all fours with a flat back, raise one arm and the opposite leg and extend

out to come in line with the back. Return to starting position and switch arms and legs. Do two sets of ten repetitions on each side.

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Living

IN KC

Extreme Kid-Room Makeover BY

Stacy Downs

Rocketeer series screen prints from dkngstudios.com.

T

he last few months have been tough for everyone. But some of the hardest hit were kids who had to learn the last quarter of the school year in a whole different setting without seeing their pals in person.

As school is about to come to an uncertain start, one thing that could spark a little joy is an upgraded bedroom.

Two years ago, I planned a surprise room redo for my youngest son when he was visiting his grandparents during the summer.

While we didn’t buy new furniture, we did four things that made a huge difference.

PAINT A few weeks before my son stayed overnight with his grandparents, I knew his dad and I were going to pull this off. I had conversations with my youngest about his favorite colors. Through it all, he seemed to gravitate towards “sky blue as it became night and the moon brightens it up.”

So I scoured paint stores for the right shade of intense sky blue with a bit of aqua and gray. We painted all the walls and the ceiling that color, and it felt just right.

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OVERHEAD LIGHTING We replaced the soft white fabric fixture that had been in place since the room was a nursery, and replaced it with a large, modern orange drum shade.

BEDDING We used a modern quilt with navy, orange, red, and lime geometric patterns and solid red T-shirt sheets and paired them with an orange blanket. This combination really livened up the room.

ART We sought pieces that would be meaningful to him, including an oversized canvas of The Flash, one of his favorite television series, and we framed a poster from his first concert (Corb Lund at Knuckleheads). Behind his bed, we hung three “Rocketeer” prints as a triptych.

The result: my son loved it. “It feels like me,” he continues to say.

I’m putting this process on repeat and doing a makeover for my oldest son who’s about to start high school.

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There’s An Alternative to Jacked Up Furniture

AS SOON AS I walk in the door, my dog, Jack, typically greets me with a smile and a hug (some might call it jumping up on me). But I will never forget the day more than a year ago when he avoided eye contact with me and shrank off into a corner, tail tucked between his legs.

In short, Jack was hiding something.

Something big.

I headed into the living room and Jack remained in the kitchen. Uh-oh, not following me was another giveaway. As I entered the room, I shrieked when I came upon the scene.

A large pile of foam and feathers were piled onto the floor. Our Jack had turned our sectional sofa into his personal chew toy.

After months of covering up the couch carnage with throws and strategic pillow plumping, I’ve decided it’s time to make the sofa fit for company once again. It’s a good thing Jack is so cute, and that I’ve had great experiences getting furniture reupholstered.

HERE’S MY ADVICE: Choose fabric wisely. Our family uses this sofa every day, so I’m getting an indoor-outdoor fabric that can withstand lots of wear and tear. These days, performance fabric comes in lots of textures, so the one

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I’ve chosen feels and looks like velvet, but it’s strong as woven steel.

Sweat the details. You can always change a few things you didn’t like about your previous sofa or chair. The back pillows of this modern sofa were always a tad floppy, even before Jack sank his fangs into them, so I’m going to make them firmer. Additionally, you can always add a skirt, or welting in a contrasting fabric—it depends on your personal taste. And this is where you have a conversation with your upholsterer. Take magazine tearsheets or draw details to convey what you’re after.

Practice patience. Great upholstery is worth the wait. It’s nearly always in high demand and takes weeks longer than you think it should. But that’s especially true now that we’ve been in a pandemic and staring at our furniture for hours on end. The results of a recovered piece typically turn out better than the original.

Living

IN KC

by

Stacy Downs

New and Old in the Crossroads

T

his summer, Steve Rogers set up a gallery space for Prize Antiques + Garden at 122 Southwest Boulevard in the Crossroads Arts District.

There, in the 5,000-square-foot spot previously occupied by Finefolk boutique, are furniture, art, and accessories curated from around the globe, from 18th century to present day. Modern, clean lines mix with highly textural elements including hemp, white oak, earthenware, and stone.

Whether from the garden or for the kitchen, these disparate objects somehow all seamlessly work together.

“Impact and scale are key,” Rogers says.

Rogers is keeping his West Bottoms warehouse, too, but plans to open the Crossroads shop with weekend hours.

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On a recent 40-minute Instagram video showcasing his new Prize, Rogers led a tour of wares from around the world. Bus signs from Belgium, a wooden 1970s dining table from Sweden, leather chairs from Spain, benches from Morocco and pottery and abstract paintings by Kansas City Art Institute alumni were just a few of the featured stops along the way.

“I say the word ‘transitional’ a lot because these pieces can work in traditional and modern homes,” he says.

For the latest products, Rogers says to follow @prizekc on Instagram. See something you like? Screen grab it and direct message him for the dimensions and other details. prizeantiques.com

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METAL AS MUSE AND MOOD

15 N Water St Liberty, MO 64068

corbintheatre.org Located on the Liberty Square in downtown Liberty, MO

WHAT IS VERDIGRIS? Besides being a bright bluish-green patina formed on copper or brass by atmospheric oxidation (think Statue of Liberty), it is also the name of the newest cocktail lounge at Park Place in Johnson County.

Located in Leawood and brought to you by the brains behind the Monarch Bar in Kansas City, it’s easy to see this type of metallic magic inspired nearly every surface—the walls, ceilings, furniture, art, and even the drinking glasses.

The result: sleek and sophisticated.

You definitely yearn to sit back, slowly sip on something, and stay for a while.

“We wanted it to feel like the Great Gatsby, both retro but ahead of its time,” says Christian Moscoso, one of the partners.

At the same time, the green and blue color palette and natural materials feel Midwestern, and that familiarity creates comfort and coziness.

Moscoso points out the scuffed brass edges on the cocktail tables.

Without a doubt, no detail was overlooked. Even the throw pillows and rugs are patterned with green and blue reminiscent of metal oxidation.

GET THE LOOK Art. The mixed-media abstracts by local artist Jennifer Janesko feature blues, greens, and copper hues. Their patterns provide perfect texture in the space.

THE LARAMIE PROJECT August 6, 7,STAGE 8 7:30pm CORBIN THEATRE May 29August - June 7, 2020 9 2pm Fridays & Saturdays - 7:30pm

Virtual Performance Option $15 $15 Sundays - 2pm

Reagan & Gracie Schwalm LIVE! August 23rd 2pm - $5 Sophie Gliser LIVE! August 30th 2pm - $5 Grace Johnson / Belle Loomis LIVE!

August 30th 6:30pm - $5

All August Performances will be held at Belvoir Winery in Liberty, MO because of social distancing guidelines.

Wall color. The navy-blue color is PMS 303. It makes a great foil to the artwork and metal accents.

Mirrored furniture. The cocktail tables were custom-made, but similar pieces can be found in vintage stores. Their reflective surfaces make the space gleam from the metal accents and ambient lighting. verdigrisbar.com

AUGUST 2020

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Tickets: corbintheatre.ticketleap.com

www.VisitLibertyMo.com

words by

Cindy Hoedel

photo by

Simon Pauly

IN CONVERSATION WITH

Joyce DiDonato

S

heltering in the countryside near Barcelona, the opera diva from Prairie Village tries to sound upbeat in a trans-Atlantic What’s App call. Joyce DiDonato’s liquid voice—deeper than expected and scrubbed of any regional accent—soothes as she talks of improvising and finding joy in the dark days of coronavirus. But anxiety tinged with anger lurks below the placid surface. Her voice has a tell: When she comments on America’s failed response to the pandemic, for example, her words slow and then escalate in tempo and pitch, like a finger racing up the piano keys from middle C. You wonder if she is going to sing the next sentence, in fiery aria style. And then, just as quickly, DiDonato gathers her breath and re-centers.

Born Joyce Flaherty, the sixth of seven children of a self-employed architect and a church choir director, the three-time Grammy winner and four-time ECHO Klassik female artist of the year, attended St.

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Ann’s Catholic School and Bishop Miege High School before earning a bachelor’s degree in music education at Wichita State University. She did post-graduate studies at Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, then spent three long years with a vocal coach completely changing her technique, a risk that paid off in marquee billings at La Scala, Opera National de Paris, the Royal Opera House and the Metropolitan Opera.

She got a late start at age 35, but at 51, she is still at the top of her game.

DiDonato, who has been married twice and is currently in a relationship, kept the name of her first husband. She has headlined in all the world’s great opera houses and sung nearly all the major lyric-coloratura mezzo-soprano roles. Before the Met was forced to go dark, she sang the title role in Handel’s Agrippina to stellar reviews in a February and March run.

DiDonato is known for daringly fresh interpretations of classic roles on stage, and also for shedding some of the conventions of diva behavior off-stage. Her website, joycedidonato.com, has an entire section devoted to her activism, mainly music education in prisons, empowering young girls in poor countries through music and advocacy for LGBTQ equality. Her Twitter and Instagram feeds are a charming and personal mix of backstage moments, gardening photos, art and, lately, Black Lives Matter posts.

DiDonato’s most recent Grammy-winning album, Songplay, mixes jazz, Latin, and tango rhythms into arrangements of Italian Baroque arias, jazz standards, and tunes from the Great American Songbook.

DiDonato will perform in a livestream at noon CT Sept. 12, from the Fundació Hospital de la Santa Creu I Sant Pau in Barcelona, Spain, joined by pianist Carrie-Anne Matheson and a yet-to-beannounced guitarist as part of the Met Stars Live in Concert series.

Tickets cost $20 at metopera.org; the concert will be available for later viewing for 12 days.

You have homes in Kansas City and outside Barcelona. Why did you decide to shelter in Spain?

All my work for the year has been canceled. I was due to be at the Met performing through the end of April and then touring the States in May, and it all got canceled. With my partner, we made the impulsive decision to be here rather than to stay in New York, so right now it feels like we made 100 percent the right decision.

Just watching, you know, what should have been the greatest country in the world completely and utterly fall down on the responsibility of this pandemic has been extraordinary to watch. I have to say—horrifying and extraordinary.

What is your pandemic life like?

We’ve just been doing a lot of work, like many people, in the garden and trying to fix up some things around the house. But emotionally I have to say I’ve gone between two extremes without a lot of middle ground— from really, really, really, really enjoying kind of a blissful time of quiet and solitude and reflection and going inward in a way that I haven’t been able to do ever in my life. And the other part has been grief. I’m looking at my industry and it’s been decimated without any real signs of coming back in a viable way, at least until next year. That’s been horrifying to see for my colleagues, for culture in general and for the human spirit. The thing that we need so much is comfort and solace, which can

AUGUST 2020

‘‘

I’m looking at my industry and it’s been decimated without any real signs of coming back in a viable way, at least until next year. That’s been horrifying to see for my colleagues, for culture in general and for the human spirit.”

be found in music. People are relying on artists to go online and do what we do for free and be there for people, but meantime so many colleagues have no security of paying their rent next month. All my colleagues are independent, self-employed people that don’t get unemployment benefits, so it’s been devastating to my industry. And at the same time, I’ve lost close friends to the virus, and I see what’s happening to my country, and I’m in a state of grief.

Does being immersed in the world of opera affect the emotional landscape of your life off-stage?

I think having the chance to immerse myself in that level of drama and emotion has actually brought a lot of clarity in my life about balance and the extremities of humanity. What it’s taught me is how to be present, how to be really connected to the present moment, because that’s where you have to live on the stage—not in what’s just transpired or what’s coming up. The other thing is it’s bred a tremendous amount of empathy. I think I’m sort of geared for that anyway, but as I look around at the world today, I’m glad I know how to access empathy, and I want to continue to bring that to the world, because that’s what’s really missing right now big time.

In one of your master classes online, you are helping a young singer and telling her that in one passage of a song, “You have to earn that note,” you can’t just leap into a big note, you have to get the audience to come along with you first.

Mmm, that’s something that I find a lot in terms of performance, but it’s also true in life, you know? I mean, it’s not always that things are just going to fall in our laps. I think our sleeves have to be rolled up all the time.

You started out studying to become a music teacher in college.

Is it satisfying after becoming a big star on stage to add the teaching part now?

Enormously so. It’s been a gift for me to interact with young people.

That moment where you see the inner light bulb go on in the student’s head, when they make a connection and I’m just sitting here like a pinball machine, just keeping the ball in play, not actually doing anything, but keeping it in play, and they make the connection. I find that exhilarating.

What was it like, performing a duet of Simple Gifts remotely with

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The Harriman-Jewell Series welcomed Joyce DiDonato and pianist Yannick Nézet-Séguin for a performance of Schubert’s Winterreise at the Folly Theater in December, 2018.

Yo Yo Ma, with each of you in your own homes?

On the one hand it was incredibly satisfying and beautiful to work with him, because he’s the greatest musician in the world, and on the other hand it was very sad because I miss the presence of being in the same room, because that’s how music can be created not just put together.

photo by don ipock for harriman-jewell

How do you think the arts are going to be changed by both the Black Lives Matter protests and the pandemic? What are your fears and what is your hope about what could emerge?

My fear is that we won’t change.

What do you mean?

Finally, it is the moment where awareness is coming into our lives. We are starting with our eyes to see things our fellow human beings have been experiencing that we’ve either been oblivious to or ignorant of or purposefully have turned our eyes from. And when you see these things you can’t un-see them, and you can’t un-know them. From my point of view as a fellow human being, a world where discrimination and hatred are acceptable is not a world that I want to live in or participate in, you know?

Sandy Hook is an example. We live in a world where people are

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OK with young children being gunned down. I don’t like that. I think a world that allows that really has its priorities completely turned inside out. And so my fear is that we get upset but nothing really changes in the art world. I see enormous potential for growth and for expansion of artistic experiences and voices coming in and realizations, we have so much to learn from all different kinds of cultures, so much to learn from all different kinds of artists and their experiences.

The whole driving force of art is to open up eyes and hearts and ears and minds and to see how extraordinary life can be through so many filters and angles, to say, “This I like, that I don’t like,” and to move in directions that bring growth.

So I’m not afraid of the changes that are hopefully coming, but I’m afraid of the status quo at this point. And that’s not to say we must turn our back on everything we have been as an industry. I mean, we’re a white European art form, essentially, and we don’t have to deny that.

But also, we are an art form that is full of potential and possibility, and the more that we can integrate and expand—for me that potential is infinite and that excites me as an artist.

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Interview condensed and minimally edited for clarity.

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Living with Art AN OUTSTANDING COLLECTION OF CONTEMPORARY BLACK ARTISTS FILLS THIS BROOKSIDE TOWNHOUSE Judith Fertig Aaron Leimkuehler

WORDS BY PHOTOS BY

L

ongtime art collectors John and Sharon Hoffman can finish each other’s sentences.

They’ve been married 51 years, so perhaps that is not surprising. But what is amazing is their shared taste. “If we walk into an art gallery, 99 percent of the time we will zero in on the same piece,” says Sharon.

Their collecting days began when they were in their late 20s when Ted Coe, then the director at the Nelson-Atkins, saw the need for educating Kansas Citians beyond the Old Masters and the Impressionists. In the late 1960s, Coe had put together a Pop Art exhibit traveling to Kansas City with works by luminaries such as Roy Lichtenstein and Robert Rauschenberg.

Most of the pieces had a price tag of around

In the living room, two midcentury-modern rosewood-framed blue-velvet sofas face a Ursula von Rydingsvard sculpture. Hanging over the Dunbar credenza is a painting by Lynette Yiadom-Boakye.

Opposite is a Theaster Gates assemblage and a portrait of Michelle Obama by Hank Willis Thomas.

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Above: On the entry level, a midcentury marble-topped table surrounded by acrylic chairs from Museo holds a sculpture by Willie Cole. The large painting is by Lawrence Gipe; to the right is a Deborah Roberts cut-paper collage. Right: Two Hank Willis Thomas photographs hang over a piece by David Gilmore. The photograph on the back wall is by Fabrice Monteiro. Opposite: In one corner of the main level, a Nam June Paik video and neon work hangs opposite a Stanford Biggers “Cloud” sculpture, a Toyin Ojih Odutola drawing and a McArthur Binion crayon drawing. Two porcelain works by Kurt Weiser sit atop the piano.

$1,000; even then they were a steal. But very few sold. People just didn’t understand Pop Art. “That was an embarrassment for Ted,” recalls John.

That experience led Coe to gather together beginning collectors who wanted to learn about contemporary art.

The Hoffmans joined this group and traveled to St. Louis, Minneapolis, Chicago, and New York. With their exposure to Pop Art, their knowledge grew and their tastes changed.

“The 1960s transformed the American art scene, which used to look back to Europe. Pop Art was starting to reflect what was happening in the U.S. Ted made us see how the art was so relevant,” says John.

The curator did even more for the fledgling collectors.

“Ted Coe showed us how to collect— getting to know the gallery owners, knowing what to look for in an emerging art-

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ist,” says John, “what might be the next step for the artist creatively.”

The Hoffmans also learned the importance of attending an artist’s opening night at a gallery. “It’s the opportunity to meet the artist and make a connection,” adds Sharon. “We now have personal relationships with many of the artists whose work we collect.” Of the 30 artists in the recent “30 Americans” exhibit at the Nelson, the couple owns works by 20 of them. “A dream come true,” Sharon says.

“We didn’t set out to collect Black artists,” she says. But the couple found their work so cutting edge, the visual and content so equally compelling, “It all came together for us. The turning point was when we met Kehinde Wiley at his opening. We saw his painting of a Black man on a Napoleonic steed, and we couldn’t breathe.”

As they acquired more, they had to edit.

They traded up with gallery owners or donated some art to museums. A sculpture by Black sculptor Fred Eversley, bought at the former Morgan Gallery, is now at the Nelson, as is the nine-foot “Saint Adrian” painting by Kehinde Wiley that used to hang in the Hoffman’s former River Market loft.

Now the couple is surrounded by art in their Brookside townhouse designed by architect Trevor Hoiland. The first floor is the entry, the second floor houses the bedrooms, and the third floor contains the living room, dining room, and kitchen, with lots of natural light.

“It’s like living in a treehouse,” says Sharon.

The east wall is 40 feet high and 50 feet long.

“It can handle a lot of art,” says John. “We had words continued on page

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78

Top Left: A Titus Kaphar painting and a Michal Rovner series overlook the circa 1910 Josef Hoffmann Die Fledermaus settee and chairs. Top Right: Lining the top floor staircase are Nick Cave’s “The Day After Yesterday,” Titus Kaphar’s “James Madison,” and a photograph

by Vic Muniz. Opposite: In the dining area, the table is by Matt Castillega. The Mickalene Thomas painting is flanked by a Camaroon headdress and a Philip Eglin sculpture. On the pedestal is a Manuel Neri sculpture.

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A mixed-media triptych by Ebony Patterson hangs over a midcentury bench. The assemblage is by Radcliffe Bailey.

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In the master bedroom, a photograph by Chen Chi Lin tops the mahogany and ebony Art Deco bed.

Contemporary lamps are from Museo. Below left: A collage on canvas by Jamea Richmond-Edwards overlooks, from left to right, ceramics by Donna Polseno, Bodil Manz, and two antique French Art Nouveau vases. Below right: Tucked into one corner of the master bedroom, an Art Deco club chair anchors a Robert Rauschenberg collage, and the Art Nouveau desk sits below a Wangechi Mutu collage.

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ST

A G E FRIGHT WORDS BY

AUGUST 2020

Katie Van Luchene

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EARLIER IN JULY WHEN THE BIG FOUR—THE KANSAS CITY BALLET, KANSAS CITY SYMPHONY, LYRIC OPERA, AND THE HARRIMAN-JEWELL SERIES—ANNOUNCED THEY WERE CANCELING OR POSTPONING PROGRAMMING THROUGH THE END OF 2020, MANY OF THE METRO’S ARTS ORGANIZATIONS FACED THE SAME ISSUES WITH A VARIETY OF REACTIONS. HERE’S HOW FOUR RESPONDED

W

hoever coined the phrase, “The show must go on” never witnessed a citywide shut down due to a pandemic. The stay-at-home mandate hit the arts community especially hard. By March, stages went dark. Art galleries closed. Performances were canceled. And scheduled fundraisers were sidelined.

The handful of arts groups profiled here represents dozens more throughout Kansas City. People in leadership roles admitted to initial emotions of feeling gobsmacked, depressed, angry, frightened.

But without exception, each one interviewed began making immediate plans to connect with artists, audiences, subscribers, members, and supporters through “with a heavy heart” emails, phone calls and socially distanced ad hoc meetings. Unlike other tough times many had endured before, this catastrophe had the additional stress that no one knew when it would end. Two weeks? Two months? A year?

Yet one thought, one rallying cry was echoed by all four organizations: learn to pivot. Fast.

Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art “If I never hear that word again, I’ll be happy,” says Breeze Richardson, who became Kemper’s director of marketing and communications three years ago. “But there it was. After realizing we had to shut our doors without knowing when we could reopen, we began to pivot, rethink our roles, and retool how we communicate with our varied audiences.

“For instance, a week after we closed, Jessica Thompson-Lee, our creative engagement manager began uploading ‘Virtual Playdates,’ short, fun, step-by-step videos of art projects to do at home inspired

AUGUST 2020

by the museum’s permanent collection.”

The museum’s popular weekly event, Scavenger Saturday, added a home addition and encouraged players to post photos online.

Artist-talks videos became available, including newly published conversations from the archives. Docents gladly took to Facebook with #EyeOpener, personal thoughts of favorite pieces from the permanent collection, which garnered more comments than anything else posted in the last three years. The Mystery Art Challenge became virtual, with kits distributed to 100 participants to play along at home; July’s version sold out in 24 hours. And the museum’s gift shop added facemasks to its textile section.

As anyone who’s ever attended Kemper’s annual gala with 500 wall-to-wall revelers dressed to interpret that year’s theme, it was evident the 2020 version couldn’t be an in-person event. “We’re lucky to have chairs who understood the need to—there’s that word again— pivot to turn this year’s party into a celebration for supporters, whatever form it takes.”

While details are still coming together at this writing, Richardson promises it will be as amazing as ever, noting that long-time collaborator Chadwick Brooks is involved, and will include a special thankyou gift for “ticket holders.”

With her typical enthusiasm, Richardson has found the last few months energizing rather than defeating. “Everyone here saw this not as a setback but an opportunity for growth. Nothing was seen as a BandAid, but as a new way to reach existing audiences and bring in new ones.

“Going forward, we’ll keep expanding several of these new ideas in our quest to inspire and educate our community through art.” kemperart.org

InterUrban ArtHouse Like Richardson at Kemper, Angi Hejduk, InterUrban ArtHouse’s CEO, viewed the shutdown as an opportunity to reach the community through new ways. As part of the trio (including founder Nicole Emanuel and Wolfe Brack) running the Overland Park event space and programs to support and advance artists, Hejduk admits to an initial feeling of dread of the unknown.

“But,” she says, “there was never the thought of pulling the plug here. We have people depending on us, including 25 studio artists.”

The ArtHouse @ Your House became a free live-stream series to inspire and offer a sense of community during a time Hejduk says can be isolating for artists in particular. IUAH had to quickly evaluate how to make its four key programs accessible: ArtMatters, for artists and entrepreneurs to develop skills and participate in discussions; ArtWorks, to help artists learn and manage business strategies; ArtsConnect, a community engagement program; ArtSmart, providing arts programming in several Shawnee Mission School District’s public schools; and ArtHeals, offering a safe environment for sharing and creating through art activities.

Rather than hosting in-person classes, ArtWorks has transitioned to Zoom, with individual consulting time available via phone calls. The

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CONTINUED ON PAGE

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B L

A CK

AS KANSAS CITY AND COMMUNITIES AROUND THE UNITED STATES GRAPPLE WITH ONGOING RACIAL INEQUALITY, WE SPEAK WITH THREE BLACK CHEFS AND FOOD BUSINESS OWNERS ABOUT

words by

Kelsey Cipolla

THEIR EXPERIENCES IN

photos by

Aaron Leimkuehler

THE INDUSTRY

in the

RESTAURANT BUSINESS AUGUST 2020

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“

I didn’t even have money, I had nothing—I just had the passion and I wanted to bring my food to Kansas City, my culture to Kansas City, and introduce people to West African food.

”

Fannie Gibson FANNIE’S WEST AFRICAN CUISINE

Fannie Gibson learned to cook as a child growing up in Liberia, but she didn’t have any professional training when she decided to share West African food with Kansas City at her own restaurant. She was even warned against the idea by others in KC’s restaurant world.

“A lot of them said, ‘No—nobody wants West African food. The only food that’s accepted is Ethiopian and Jamaican, so I don’t think you should do that. Don’t go that route. Nobody’s going to buy from you.

Don’t waste all your money and your time,’” Gibson recalls. “And I’m so grateful I didn’t listen to them.”

After moving from Liberia to Ghana and then Kansas City, Gibson found her new home’s dining landscape without a restaurant serving the dishes she loved to cook at home.

She started posting pictures of her creations to social media and quickly found a following. Gibson also learned there was a demand for her food—people asked her to ship dishes so they could experience them.

“I didn’t even have money, I had nothing—I just had the passion and I wanted to

bring my food to Kansas City, my culture to Kansas City, and introduce people to West African food,” Gibson says.

Nowadays, people come from all over the region to try the dishes at Fannie’s West African Cuisine, the Hyde Park restaurant she opened with her husband in 2018. The menu is extensive because Gibson wanted to honor the culinary traditions of all the countries that make up West Africa.

“Our menu does not look like any menu in America,” Gibson says. Offerings include jollof rice—a flavorful staple dish that fea-

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tures rice cooked with tomatoes—sweet and spicy peanut butter soup, and fufu, a starchbased dish that calls to mind a dumpling.

Fannie’s also highlights a variety of whole baked fish and stews, including one of Gibson’s personal favorites, cassava leaf.

Gibson says she’s grateful the Kansas City community—one critics told her wasn’t diverse enough to support a West African restaurant—has embraced the food she serves.

“I see the support,” she says. “People from everywhere, all walks of life, Black, white—everybody comes.”

“ ”

There are plenty of Black chefs in Kansas City, but most of the chefs that you hear about, it’s all white chefs. We, as Black chefs, are under the radar.

Cherven Desauguste

MESOB

“I’ve always known that I wanted to open my own restaurant, some way, somehow,” says Cherven Desauguste. “But I never thought that it would be this fast.”

What Desauguste, the chef/co-owner of Mesob, calls fast actually came after more than 15 years working in restaurants.

After getting his start in South Florida in the mid-1990s, Desauguste moved to Kansas City and worked in a variety of kitchens, including a number of hotel restaurants.

His experience advancing through the culinary world will sound all too familiar to many: As the only Black chef during his time cooking at Argosy Casino, Desauguste says, “I had to make myself noticed. I had to do more, in a sense, than the rest of the guys. It didn’t matter if they were mediocre—it was irrelevant. But as for me, I had to do more. I had to show who I am.”

Desauguste didn’t mind working harder, he says, because he was looking to the future.

For him, that vision came to fruition when he and partner Mehret Tesfamariam opened their Caribbean and Ethiopian concept in 2011 under the name Mesob Pikliz. The latest iteration of the restaurant calls Midtown home and is known just as Mesob, but it still serves the two very different cuisines under one roof, respecting their distinct traditions rather than attempting to fuse them together.

The Caribbean side of the menu allows Haitian-native Desauguste to showcase the

island-style approach to food, which is focused on fresh herbs, fish, and vegetables.

“We don’t tend to use a lot of heavy spices on our food—it’s all about the marination,” he explains. The Caribbean menu includes dishes such as jerk chicken and waffles with a hibiscus barbancourt rum maple glaze, seafood-studded paella, and pan-fried snapper with fried plantain.

Tesfamariam’s Ethiopian heritage inspired the other half of Mesob’s menu. But Desauguste admits he started out with little knowledge about the country’s cuisine, which he considers almost the opposite of his own, especially in its emphasis on spices. The Ethiopian offerings include dishes such as tibs, with lamb, beef, chicken, shrimp, salm-

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on, or mushrooms sautéed in a house blend of spices, clarified herb butter, onions, garlic, tomatoes, and jalapeños.

Diners have proven dedicated to the continent-spanning food and helped raise the restaurant’s profile over the years, but Desauguste says many Black chefs receive little recognition from their companies or the public.

“There are plenty of Black chefs in Kansas City, but most of the chefs that you hear about, it’s all white chefs,” he says, pointing out that many smaller businesses don’t have the capital to invest in marketing. Social media is helping to change that but gaining recognition can still be an uphill battle.

“We, as Black chefs, are under the radar.”

“ ”

I do feel like I’m in a space where I’m maybe breaking barriers and kicking down doors so that for somebody coming up behind me, it’s going to be a little bit easier for them.

Shanita McAfee-Bryant

THE PROSPECT

Early in her culinary career, chef Shanita McAfee-Bryant realized she needed to take a break.

“It wasn’t that I wasn’t passionate about cooking—I wasn’t really passionate about the current industry setup,” she explains. “In the early 2000s, late 90s, it was hard to be a woman, especially a Black woman.”

Women were often relegated to making salads and desserts, and as a Black woman, she experienced blatant racism in addition to the sense she had to work twice as hard as her colleagues.

“I didn’t feel like I ever had the luxury of being able to step back and take a little bit of time for my personal life,” she says. “I’m like, ‘I’ve got to keep working, I’ve got to be at work, I’ve got to be in the restaurant, I have to be there, people have to see me.’ You feel like you just have to do, do, do, do, do.”

After more than 20 years working in Kansas City’s culinary industry, chef Shanita McAfee-Bryant has a wealth of experience. She attended culinary school at Johnson County Community College, and cooked at YaYa’s Euro Bistro, The Westin, Rockhill Tennis Club and the Kansas City Club in addition to previously owning her own Southern-inspired restaurant and food truck, Magnolias.

Although she still offers limited catering, McAfee-Bryant’s focus has now shifted to advocacy with the creation of her nonprofit. The Prospect will offer culinary and en-

trepreneurship programming for under-resourced communities as well as provide healthy food. USDA produce boxes are currently distributed on Thursdays and Fridays.

McAfee-Bryant also created a platform for Black chefs to discuss their experiences with “The Conversation,” a Facebook Live show that she co-hosts with acclaimed pastry chef Erika Dupreé Cline. The series was inspired by conversations McAfee-Bryant had with friends that she didn’t see happening in more public settings. Topics covered since “The Conversation” launched earlier this summer include self-care, mental health, the value of culinary school for people of color and how the media ignores Black chefs.

“It’s really hard to be ‘the only’ because

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you second guess yourself all the time,” she explains. “Did they write that article about me because it’s February and I’m the only female Black chef in Kansas City, or did they write that article because they genuinely cared about my perspective and my career and my experience?”

Despite all her experiences, McAfee-Bryant has no plans to switch careers.

“Food is still my outlet,” she says. “I’m never going to turn my back on food—never. It’s never going to get too difficult where I don’t want to do it. I do feel like I’m in a space where I’m maybe breaking barriers and kicking down doors so that for somebody coming up behind me, it’s going to be a little bit easier for them.”

Above: Large limestone slabs outline the curves of the flower beds.

Right: A variety of surfaces define the expansive outdoor living space.

I

n 1954, Elvis Presley released his first single, That’s All Right. The frozen TV dinner debuted.

And this California way cool ranch was built in Prairie Village.

By the time Bob Lindeblad moved in, the interior needed a refresh. In 2015, he was ready to tackle the exterior. As a landscape architect trained at Kansas State, and with experience as a city planner, Lindeblad knew he wanted to keep the streamlined midcentury-modern feel. Now with the civil engineering firm BHC Rhodes, Lindeblad “felt too close to the ¾-acre space. I needed another pair of eyes to help design it.” He called on Kurt Kraisinger of Lorax Design Group to “do it once and do it right.”

They mapped out three zones. The expansive patio, the shady pergola, and the raised bed garden. Using soft, lightly

PHOTOS BY WORDS BY

Aaron Leimkuehler Judith Fertig AUGUST 2020

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Take it Outside A PRAIRIE VILLAGE BACKYARD BECOMES A STYLISH RETREAT DESIGNED FOR OUTDOOR LIVING

AUGUST 2020

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Want More?

If you love what you see, there are more photos at inkansascity.com

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Above: A solitary Japanese maple shades one of the flower beds. Left: In the pergola’s seating area, a wall of bamboo provides privacy and shade. The outdoor aluminum-framed sectional from CB2 serves as a gathering place for guests watching the flat-screen TV that’s mounted on the opposite wall.

toned aggregate for the patio surface, dark ipe wood for the decking, and custom concrete for the firepit and built-in planting beds, the look references 1950s California ranch. Lindeblad scoured the outdoor living site Potted in Los Angeles for the right look and found the chartreuse-y hoop chairs now arranged around the firepit.

“I love to entertain,” Lindeblad says, so the patio/deck features an outdoor kitchen with a bar, a dining area, and seating around a troughshaped firepit. “It’s the focal point. Everybody always gathers around it,” as they did for his Super Bowl party last February. The big concrete planter, centered by a small coral bark Japanese maple, holds perennials in his favorite blue, yellow, and orange attracting birds and butterflies.

Around the property, plants in pots or pots as tables, some from PolyStone Planters in Kansas City, Kansas, can be moved around easily.

For the pergola, Lindeblad wanted “something that is never going to fall down.” Asheer Akram of Kansas City Metalworks, who is both sculptor and metalsmith, fashioned a modern take on an age-old design. Under the filtered light from the pergola, Lindeblad planted ferns, hydrangea, and boxwood. He found the colorful pillows for the CB2 sectional at Costco. “The Great Wall of Bamboo,” as Lindeblad calls it, screens this area from the neighbors.

In the kitchen garden of raised cedar beds, Lindeblad grows new potatoes, lettuces, asparagus, and all the summer vegetables. He can then fire up his Lion grill and offer dinner guests his signature pork tenderloin, grilled vegetables, and a salad, from plot to plate.

In a time of social distancing, the backyard has been a bright spot.

“I work on the patio a lot,” he says. “As a business development person, I was used to taking people to events all over town, but when the

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Above: Lindeblad oils the ipe wood deck once a year to retain the mellow, dark color of the wood. A bowl of succulents on the dining table requires little care for lots of color. Below: Strands of string lights crisscross the deck, providing accent lighting for evening gatherings.

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Above: In the garden’s raised beds, lettuces, tomatoes, dill, and squash thrive. Below, clockwise from top left: A stone path meanders through the flower beds. Prime time for the David Austin roses. Clematis climbs a wrought-iron frame. Lindeblad’s favorite hues of orange and blue are sprinkled throughout the flower beds, attracting butterflies and hummingbirds.

pandemic hit, that was all shut off,” says Lindeblad. “Just recently, I started inviting clients and business friends—just one to four people—for coffee or happy hour on my patio. It’s been very successful and so much better than just looking at someone on the computer screen.”

THE IT LIST Concrete Lodder Concrete LLC lodderconcrete.com Landscape Design Lorax Design Group loraxdesigngroup.com Metalwork Kansas City Metalworks kansascitymetalworks.com

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Be IN the Know

living with art continued from page

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every piece measured and figured out where it would go.” Their ceramics collection is displayed together, not one here and there; the spacing of paintings is also intentional rather than haphazard. Interior designer Lisa Schmitz helped design a streamlined interior—especially the kitchen, where everything has its place.

A neutral palette and a mix of furniture styles from Art Nouveau to Art Deco and midcentury modern give each area an identity. Sharon says, “We took the advice of Erin Dziedzic of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, who said, ‘Works of art need to talk to each other’ by color or theme or design. And so we try to do that with each grouping.”

Living with art is as natural to the Hoffmans as breathing. “It’s part of our everyday lives,” says Sharon. “It’s so enjoyable to be surrounded by memory and meaning.”

The Hoffman’s ceramics collection displays both local and nationally known artists, such as Ken Ferguson,Viola Frey, Akio Takamori, and Beatrice Wood.

THE IT LIST Builder UCB Properties uc-bproperties.com Interior Design Lisa Schmitz Interior Design lisaschmitzinteriordesign.com

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STAGE FRIGHT CONTINUED FROM PAGE

67

IUAH team will reevaluate class-based programs this fall; if held onsite, classes may be spread out with fewer participants at one time.

One of the most successful new online offerings is Lost & Found, a five-part interactive film series that addresses solitude through dance and music. Each weekly film was co-hosted by other arts groups, including the Charlotte Street Foundation and ArtsKC. That collaborative experience is one reason Hejduk is excited about the future. “We all realized, more than ever, that we’re stronger together. Johnson County Community College’s Carlson Center reached out within days to ask, ‘what do you need?,’ and volunteers came forward to offer assistance.”

Hejduk experienced her own personal revelation during these months. “My pat answer to ‘how are you?’ was always, “Busy!,’” she says. “Suddenly, I had a minute to be more thoughtful, more aware.”

She also discovered a silver lining to making more IUAH programs and artwork available online, and that’s being more accessible to the disabled community. “It’s humbling to understand their needs more than ever,” she says. “That connection is just one reason we’ll look for other ways to communicate to a more diverse and wider variety of audiences going forward.”

Hejduk notes another upside from a more robust and engaging online presence. “We’ve quadrupled our audience lately, not just in our immediate community but around the world.” She hopes that

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translates to more donors to support programs that in turn support and encourage artists. interurbanarthouse.org

Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey There it is again—pivot—in a glossary of dance moves. So it’s no surprise that the Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey was able to swiftly shift programming from studio classes and workshops to online offerings.

As the official second home of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, KCFAA makes dance accessible to all people. At its core is teaching young people not just dance moves, but critical life skills, including self-esteem and critical thinking. Each year, the organization reaches more than 25,000 young people through ten programs.

Soon after the doors were closed due to the pandemic, KCFAA instructors began offering classes online. While returning students knew they would miss the personal interactions Ailey Camp provided, this was a chance to challenge themselves in new ways as front rooms became studios with instructors like Kennedy Banks leading young dancers through a warm up followed by a dance routine via iPads.

While granting the coronavirus has taken away some of the important elements of face-to-face interactions of summer camp, KCFAA artistic director Tyrone Aiken hopes the new online tools will

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reach a wider audience in the future.

Aiken is doing his part to encourage people to get moving even while sheltering in place with his “Take 5 with Ty” online video series. In the first one, he and three others danced around the kitchen table to OutKast’s Hey Ya, picking up a bottle of Lysol spray and hand sanitizers to shake along the way. Other videos focused on balance and movement.

And while KCFAA’s popular annual gala featuring performances from Ailey II had to go virtual this year, the May 2 event was a success. Viewers were treated to presentations and performances by AileyCamp the Group and gala honorees, and full-length choreographies produced by France.tv.

Throughout the closures and postponements, KCFAA’s CEO Melanie Miller reminds its patrons and supporters that, as a non-profit, it depends on the public’s generosity to continue to deliver programs that have a positive impact on our youth. For instance a $100 donation funds a workshop for 30 students. And, she notes, in today’s environment, reaching out to our underserved community is more vital than ever. kcfaa.org

Heart of America Shakespeare Festival “Was I sad when I realized we wouldn’t be able to present The Tem-

pest in Southmoreland Park this summer? Of course,” says Heart of America Shakespeare Festival’s executive artistic director Sidonie Garrett. “The conversation with the crew and actors was one of the most painful things I’ve ever done.

“But at the same time I’m hopeful for the future. That’s the only way I know how to be.” So don’t call it a cancellation; it’s a postponement until 2021.

In the meantime, HASF’s other programs continued, including Summer Camps, which became virtual. Through interactive live sessions and individualized coaching, students ages 5 to 18 learned crafts and storytelling, presentation skills and language arts.

Garrett’s grit may come from the fact that the organization has faced financial trials throughout its 29-year history. “We came close to closing several years ago and the community came to our aid,” she says. “We’re lucky to have that support, and that of our incredible board of directors and staff.

“We’ll keep moving because we know next year’s festival will be better than ever. Just think: we have even longer to get the costumes and staging just right.”

Donation options can be found online and include membership in the Free Will Society, the Marilyn Strauss Legacy Fund, named after HASF’s late founder, and by purchasing signature T-shirts. kcshakes.org

REDEFINING PARADISE loraxdesigngroup.com | 913-972-7244

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Flavor

IN KC

In the Kitchen TOMATOES BY

Cody Hogan

PHOTOS BY

T

wo of my favorite days of the year: the first day of tomato season—and the last day of tomato season. Like many other chefs who have to successfully manage the inventory of delicate and highly perishable heirloom tomatoes, tomato season is both a blessing and a curse in a restaurant kitchen.

Daily inspections—sometimes twice a day— are necessary to catch the best moment of ripeness and avoid spoilage and loss. Beautiful and delicious tomatoes are not cheap.

At home, tomato season is a different animal. Even though I have a sizable garden, I have never had more tomatoes than I could manage—in part due to the squirrels. Every morning during the growing season, one of the first things I do is make a round through the garden harvesting every tomato leaning towards ripeness.

Getting there before the critters is the challenge. Thankfully, “vine-ripened tomato” is something best avoided. Ripening off the vine and on the kitchen counter is ideal, especially when temperatures are extremely high. When left on the plant too long, texture and tang can fade resulting in flabby and mealy fruits—and tooth marks. Avoid putting them in the refrigerator—the flavors fade significantly.

Tomatoes are extremely rewarding to grow, but if you don’t have that luxury, these beautiful, meaty orbs are equally wonderful to shop for at the farmer’s market. With the resurgence in popularity of heirloom tomatoes which come in a rainbow of colors, textures, and subtle flavor variations, there is surely a tomato for every palate. But even more fun than growing or shopping for tomatoes is cooking and eating them.

The first tomatoes of the season, usually cherry tomatoes, are eaten raw and with relish. As the summer progresses, I tend to invest in more involved preparations like pasta sauces, pizza toppings, or tarts.

If blessed with an overabundance of these treasures, make a lively fresh tomato sauce, or roast and freeze them for future use—I also like to dry or dehydrate them, but that is a bit of a commitment. No matter the preparation, do take advantage of the summer tomato season. For something extra special, give this tart a try.

Tomato-Leek Tart When experiencing a glut of tomatoes, and I can’t possibly eat another salad (although I usually can if they are especially delicious), I like to use fresh tomatoes baked into a tart. If you have a prepared pie crust, puff pastry or filo dough, feel free to use those, but I love to make this rich and flavorful dough for vegetable tarts. In a food processor (or not— but it does make things fast and easy) put 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour and 1 teaspoon salt. Add about 1 teaspoon of chopped fresh thyme leaves and grate in the zest of one lemon. Pulse. Add 12 ounc-

AUGUST 2020

Aaron Leimkuehler

es of chilled butter diced into half-inch cubes, and pulse again until the mixture looks like coarse oatmeal. Drizzle about ¼ cup ice water over the mixture and pulse again until the dough begins to come together. If it looks too dry and crumbly to manage, add another tablespoon (or two) of ice water and pulse again. The dough will not look like a uniform mass, but will be shaggy with some stray bits in the processor bowl. Divide the dough into two balls. Wrap each in plastic wrap and flatten into a disk. Refrigerate the dough and allow the butter to chill and the moisture to evenly distribute itself, about 30 minutes. (You only need one piece for this tart, but the dough is easier to make in this size—and how wonderful to have enough to make another tart! And it freezes beautifully.) On a lightly floured board, roll out a piece of the dough slightly larger than the pan you will bake it in, approximately 1/8-inch thick. Gently press the dough into the pan, especially along the side. To ensure that the crust is extra crispy, blind bake the crust—line the crust with aluminum foil or baking parchment and weight it down with uncooked rice or beans in a 375F oven for about 15 minutes. Carefully remove the foil weights, poke the bottom and sides of the crust with a fork and return the shell to the oven. Bake until light golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes more. Remove from the oven and cool completely. Meanwhile, heat a generous splash of extra-virgin olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add 2 cups sliced leeks (white and light green parts)—or sliced onion if that’s what you have—and cook, stirring often, until tender and very lightly browned, approximately ten minutes.

If you would like to add a bit of your favorite herb, here is the place to put it, in with the leeks for the last few minutes of cooking. Basil and oregano would be wonderful, but don’t forget other options like thyme or dill (see “In Your Pantry”). Season with salt and pepper and remove from heat. Allow to cool completely. Assemble the tart by spreading an even layer of shredded cheese (I like Montasio, but any good melting cheese like fontina, low-moisture mozzarella, young cheddar or even a mixture of whatever scraps you have in the fridge will do), about two cups, in the bottom of the tart shell. Spread the cooked leeks over the cheese. Arrange ¼ to ½-inch thick slices of ripe tomato overlapping one another to cover the leeks. If you have a few cherry tomatoes, poke them into any vacant spots. Season the tomato slices with salt and pepper and drizzle with a bit of olive oil. Bake until the tomatoes are lightly browned and the pastry shell is fully baked, about 20 minutes. Hold at room temperature until ready to serve. Although this tart is delicious at room temperature, it is even more lovely served warm. When ready to serve, sprinkle the tomatoes liberally with grated Pecorino Romano or Parmesan and quickly reheat in a hot oven or under a low broiler. Serve with a light and refreshing salad or some flavorful sautéed summer vegetables.

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In Your Pantry MORE THAN JUST BASIL Tomatoes and basil (and oregano, of course) are obvious best friends in the kitchen. But tomatoes are equally wonderful with other herbs. Don’t forget about these options the next time you are faced with a mound of tomatoes looking for a bit of embellishment.

Winter Savory This attractive herb is a mystery to many—you’ve probably heard of it but have no idea what it tastes like.

Winter Savory is resinous, a bit like rosemary, oregano, or thyme.You may substitute it for those herbs or use it in combination. Strip the leaves from the stems for a quick simmer in your next tomato sauce, or drop in the whole branch which can easily be removed when cooking is finished. Savory is hardy in our climate and is especially welcome in comforting cool-season bean and tomato soups.

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Dill Give your next tomato salad a Greek twist with a sprinkling of dill fronds or flowers and a dollop of yogurt. Plant dill in the garden one time—that is probably all it will take to have a lifetime supply. It’s not a perennial, but freely and randomly reseeds itself.

Thyme Thyme cooked with tomatoes is a culinary ticket to the south of France. The duo is especially wonderful with lamb. Try a sprinkling of thyme when roasting tomatoes to intensify their flavor, or mix with bread crumbs and olive oil as a crunchy topping for baked tomatoes. A light tomato broth with white wine and thyme is a lovely companion to most seafood.

Mint

Modern-American cuisine from award-winning Chef Linda Duerr. Chef Duerr and team present elegant fare and carefully curated menus for a variety of special occasions.

A member of the same plant family as basil, mint is frequently overlooked as a seasoning for tomatoes. Slowly braised in a tomato sauce, or chopped and added at the last minute, mint brings a refreshing quality to summer tomato dishes. Try it in your next tomato sauce for pasta or bruschetta topping.

Mint is especially welcome in very spicy preparations.

AUGUST 2020

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IN KC

In Your Cocktail PERCHERON by

Kelsey Cipolla

T

he recipe for a summer night out has less to do with the drink in your hand than it does where you’re drinking: Make it somewhere outside, far enough off the ground that you can feel the tickle of a cool breeze as you look out at the city’s skyline.

The Percheron checks all those boxes and many more. Perched on the rooftop of the ultra-hip Crossroads Hotel, the bar pairs its glamorous location overlooking landmarks like the Western Auto sign and Liberty Memorial with a pleasantly relaxed atmosphere. Guests gather around beer garden-style picnic tables in between rounds of lawn games like bocce—just don’t think too much about the implications of throwing a ball around while you’re on top of a four-story building, and you’ll be fine. (A nearby sign wisely commands players to keep rolls below the waist and on the court.)

Although it’s only been open since the spring of last year, Percheron has already earned recognition from Condé Nast Traveler and Maxim, not to mention scores of Kansas City revelers looking to enjoy a night up and out. It’s not uncommon for the bar, which opens Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 4 p.m. and closes at a tame 11 p.m. (10 on Thursdays) to have a wait on weekends or particularly nice summer evenings. Percheron is appealing anytime, but it really comes alive at night, with strings of lights illuminating the crowd admiring the 360-degree view.

For now, food isn’t available at the bar, but guests aren’t left high (atmospherically speaking) and hungry, thanks to a collabo-

AUGUST 2020

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photo courtesy of percheron

Flavor

ration with neighboring Lulu’s Thai Noodle Shop. The restaurant offers mobile ordering and delivery straight to rooftop—because the only thing better than Thai food at the end of a night of imbibing is Thai food while you’re enjoying all those drinks.

It’s only fitting that the hotel has a topnotch bar—after all, the space has a long history with booze. The building was originally constructed as the Pabst Brewing Depot in 1911, when teams of percheron horses traipsed along the streets hauling wagons filled with beer. During Prohibition, the real estate was snatched up by Tom Pendergast, who reportedly used the premises to bootleg liquor.

The property’s history may be long and complex, but the menu at today’s Percheron is comparatively short and sweet. A few beers make the list, one that of course includes Pabst Blue Ribbon, along with an approachable selection of wines and spirits.

The cocktails are well-suited to be enjoyed alfresco, particularly frozen offerings like the strawberry daiquiri. Percheron reopened in June following COVID-19 precautions with a menu of classic cocktails, but keep an eye out for creative, seasonally inspired drinks. In the meantime, you can never go wrong with a summer favorite: The Moscow Mule.

The classic cocktail is refreshing and balanced, says Jeremy Bennett,

director of lifestyle for Crossroads Hotel. “It delivers all of the citrus and ginger bubbles your heart desires,” he says, adding, “It’s impossible to drink just one.” And naturally, the bar uses vodka from Tom’s Town Distilling Co., the Crossroads spirit-making outfit named for Pendergast.crossroadshotelkc.com/food-and-drink/percheron-rooftop-bar

Classic Moscow Mule 2 .5 .5 4-6

ounces Tom’s Town Double Grain Vodka ounce fresh lime juice ounces Giffard Apricot ounces Cock & Bull Ginger Beer

Combine the ingredients and shake. Serve over ice garnished with a lime wedge.

OPEN FOR BUSINESS PHOTO COURTESY OF PERCHERON

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IN KC

Kelsey Cipolla

QUIRK THERE’S SOMETHING QUIRKY brewing at Boule-

In Culinary News

vard: Quirk Spiked & Sparkling seltzers launched at the beginning of the summer, just in time for all our outdoor sipping needs. What sets Boulevard’s latest offering apart from the myriad other seltzer options on the market? First, they’re made with real fruit juice and all-natural ingredients, resulting in a light, effervescent taste. Then there are the flavors: sweet and sour strawberry lemon and basil, smoky blackberry sage and refreshing pear yuzu, all with 90 calories and less than one gram of sugar in cans cute and colorful enough for the ‘gram. Find them wherever you usually stock up on Boulevard along with the brewery’s Fling canned cocktails—the company’s other foray beyond beer debuted in spring of last year. boulevard.com/quirk

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Kelsey Cipolla

CULTIVARE

In Culinary News

HEALTHY MEALS for a hectic lifestyle were the inspiration for Cultivare KC, a new Overland Park (13366 Metcalf Ave.) eatery from the Goebel family in partnership with Kasim Hardaway and Nam Cu, founders of the KC-based social media and influencer marketing agency TKG. Offerings include shareable dishes like hummus and veggie spring rolls, plus signature and classic salads and grain bowls that are elevated from typical fast-casual fare without feeling unapproachable, Hardaway says. “We have rather complex dishes like our miso-mushroom bowl—that boasts oddly delicious components like a savory granola and maple-miso sauce—but also straight-forward classics like our Cobb salad,” he explains. The feel-good food combined with the natural, bright restaurant space, makes eating your veggies more appealing than ever. cultivarekc.com

Support Local Buy Local IN Kansas City thrives because of our local content and most importantly, our local advertisers, both online and in the magazine. In this time of uncertainty, please shop local, eat local, and do whatever you can to support local Kansas City businesses.

Keep calm, observe all preparedness advice, and carry on!

AUGUST 2020

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IN KC

Kelsey Cipolla

PIZZA AND PIES POP-UP DURING PANDEMIC

In Culinary News

EFFORTS TO STAY CONNECTED with family and friends during COVID-19 led two local culinary pros to new businesses when word of their creations spread beyond their circles and requests started coming in from strangers. For Amy Marcus, it was pies, while Nick Vella found success with pizzas.

Marcus’s Sweet Tea Pie Co., sweetteapieco.com, specializes in flavor combos your grandma wouldn’t have dreamed of, like a buttermilk custard with orange pekoe tea pie, and her personal fave, the whiskey peach and tomatillo. Vella’s Observation Pizza also serves up unexpected flavor combos, including the European Elvis, which features bacon, Reese’s Pieces, Nutella, basil, and brie. Both now operate out of kitchen space in The Bauer, where guests can pick up orders placed in advance. Observation Pizza also offers limited delivery. observationpizza. godaddysites.com

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AUGUST 2020

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SPONSORED CONTENT

Drive-In Classical Music at a Drive-In Theater? We’re In! PARK UNIVERSITY’S INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR MUSIC’S inaugural “Stanislav and Friends” benefit concert last year was extraordinary. Patrons had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to sit on stage mere feet from renowned musicians as they played. This year’s performances will be even more noteworthy—pun intended—because of the event’s locale, says Park ICM’s executive director Lisa Hickok.

“We all need something to bring us together right now,” she says.

Forget homebound virtual concerts. The team at Park ICM just upped the ante by selecting the legendary Boulevard Drive-In Theatre to showcase the college’s world-class entertainment on the theater’s mammoth screen on September 17. “We’re all sick of sitting in our living room watching another TV show,” says Hickok. “So we’re taking the performances to the big screen—a drive-in, no less—which is something most of us haven’t done in decades.”

Given that it’s Park ICM’s opening concert of the season and biggest annual fundraiser, the venue makes perfect sense. “You can easily socially distance. Plus, it adds a little spectacle and Americana to it, so we thought, why not?” she says. “When we asked Boulevard their thoughts on drive-in classical music, they said, ‘We’re in!’”

A Family Affair (and Bring the Dog, Too!) With space for more than 700 cars, the upcoming 2020 “Stanislav and Friends” concert already has garnered plenty of buzz. “People are starved for 1) something to do and 2) the arts,” says Hickok. And the chance to bring the whole family out for a night of Milk Duds and Mozart does offer a certain allure. “We’re recording performances throughout Kansas City—in unexpected places to ensure the show is visually exciting,” she says. “It’s definitely a different exposure to classical music.”

The event will raise some much-needed funds for Park’s International Center for Music—a music program that’s quietly producing some of the best classical musicians in the world. Created and spearheaded by the founder of Park ICM and director of the piano studio Stanislav Ioudenitch, this intensive training program is one-of-a-kind in the United States.

Cast of Characters This year’s performances include a talented cast of characters—many of whom are Ioudenitch’s protégés. Some—such as revered pianist (and Instagram fan favorite) Behzod Abduraimov—are becoming globally recognized names. “Behzod normally travels the world all year long playing alongside international orchestras,” says Hickok. “But this year—because of the pandemic—he’s been staying here in Kansas City

and practicing. The fact he makes KC home—what more could you ask for?” Abduraimov recently released a new album featuring the music of Rachmaninoff which—mic drop!—he recorded using Rachmaninoff’s personal piano in Lucerne, Switzerland.

September’s benefit concert will highlight Ioudenitch’s friends and colleagues, such as cellist Dilshod Narzillaev and violinist Maria Ioudenitch, Ioudenitch’s talented daughter. Pianist Kenny Broberg— who is getting his master’s at Park University—is also on the roster of performers. Broberg is an acclaimed pianist in his own right and last year won the bronze medal in the Olympics of musical competitions in the world—the XVI International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow.

“Out of all the music schools in the United States, he was the only American out of seven finalists,” says Hickok.

Gourmet Concessions? Yes, Please.

As with any good drive-in theater experience, concessions will be a priority. But for benefactors of the event, Hickok reveals, “they will get the VIP treatment—including premier parking and a gourmet VIP concession box that is top secret.” General admission tickets, meanwhile, are a steal. “The big news? We are going to offer the drive-in experience to the general public,” she says. “$50 for two guests in one car or $100 for as many people as you can cram in your vehicle. A classic-music clown car, if you will,” Hickok says with a chuckle.

And the grand finale promises to be quite a treat. “We’ve saved the best for last. Imagine an eight-hand, four-pianist, two-piano finale!” says Hickok. “With two people furiously playing on one piano, it gives a whole new meaning to the term dueling pianos.”

This event is sure to sell out. So if you’re interested in purchasing tickets, we’d suggest ordering them soon. DON’T MISS THE SECOND ANNUAL “STANISLAV AND FRIENDS” ON SEPTEMBER 17 AT THE BOULEVARD DRIVE-IN THEATRE. ICM.PARK.EDU

Stanislav Ioudenitch

Behzod Abduraimov

Kenny Broberg

Maria Ioudenitch

Flavor

IN KC

Reservation for One BILLIE’S GROCERY by

Kelsey Cipolla

O

photos by

n the outside, it’s a Midtown monument to local history. The Spanish Colonial Revival-style building is rendered in brick and terra cotta made even more striking by the passage of time. Designed by trailblazing female architect Nelle Peters and constructed in 1928, it’s earned a spot on the National Register of Historic Places.

Billie’s Grocery, one of the building’s new tenants, provides a dramatic contrast to the aged grandeur of the exterior. Polished concrete

AUGUST 2020

Aaron Leimkuehler

floors, stark white walls, minimalist furnishings, and neat rows of Edison bulbs make the eatery a portrait of modernity.

Although the space is styled with neutrals, it’s really just a canvas to show off the vibrant colors and textures of the food conceived by owner Robin Krause, a nutritional therapist practitioner and the owner of East Brookside’s Unbakery. Krause is also the owner of another business in the Peters building, internal wellness apothecary Apothé, which offers wellness workshops in addition to Billie’s

| 92 | INKANSASCITY.COM

hands-on cooking classes.

Cubes of electric pink watermelon are topped with sapphire-hued mint leaves and a sprinkling of black and white sesame seeds in a surprising sesame ginger watermelon dish. The sesame and ginger flavors make themselves known, but the watermelon’s subtle sweetness still comes through, lifted by the bite of charred green onion.

Fresh, healthy ingredients like those in the watermelon dish make up the majority of Billie’s offerings. Currently open for breakfast and lunch, morning fare includes a hearty avocado toast, a slice of sourdough with avocado, beet root, herb butter, greens and a soft egg. Lunch offerings consist of a variety of sandwiches and bowls. The lazy sushi bowl—a blend of brown rice and quinoa, tuna, veggies, kimchi and pickled ginger—is a smart concept, although the herbaceous, almost chimichurri-like sauce served on the side is overpowering enough to drown out any other flavors if not used sparingly.

With so many veggie-forward dishes on the menu, it comes as a bit of shock that one of the standout items is Billie’s Reuben, tender pastrami with house-fermented purple kraut that maintains its crunch and a horseradish mayo that should be on every sandwich’s wish list. A sizable pile of beautifully colored and seasoned fries comes on the side—snappy and fried with aplomb, they’re some of the best you’ll find in town.

Food only makes up a portion of the offerings at Billie’s Grocery.

There’s also a long list of coffee drinks that boasts unusual ingredi-

ents—from the dandelion-root latte with chicory, mesquite, and ashwagandha to the Shroomunity Latte, which features a mushroom-blend syrup—plus fresh juices and smoothies.

The drinks are a showcase for one of the core elements of Billie’s menu: Offering delicious options to people with a variety of diets, including gluten- and dairy-free, as well as vegan. The commitment is also apparent in the pastry cases flanking the counter where guests place their orders. It’s a veritable treasure chest for anyone shut out from normally indulging in beautiful desserts. The appeal isn’t lessened for those without dietary restrictions—the key lime tart in a gluten-free crust is acidic enough to make your mouth water and sweet enough to keep you coming back for another bite and perhaps another whole dessert. There are plenty to choose from: luscious triple-chocolate cakes, brownies, tea cakes, cookie-dough bars and more.

Vegan desserts and dandelion-root lattes may conjure up visions of the West Coast and Gwyneth Paltrow, but Billie’s Grocery’s Midwest heart helps make it feel like an appropriate addition to KC’s dining landscape. The service is quick and friendly, and the guests seem too absorbed with their warm conversations and satiating plates of food to give much thought to the benefits of adaptogenic mushrooms. But if you do want to know, Billie’s is there, the culinary equivalent of your favorite aunt who used to live in California and always has a crystal in her purse. billiesgrocery.com

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My Essentials

IN KC

PEREGRINE HONIG ARTIST, FILMMAKER, ENTREPRENEUR BY

Michael Mackie

P PHOTO BY AARON LEIMKUEHLER

eregrine Honig is a rare bird. Her art is in the permanent collection of The Whitney Museum of Art, The Chicago Art Institute, and The New York Public Library, among others.

Besides having her art shown internationally, she’s also in the midst of turning The West 18th Street Fashion Show’s 20th year into a feature-length film. “We are moving it from the street to the screen,” she says. Mike Dillion and Calvin Arsenia will be scoring and performing in the film. “The last time I stood in front of a crowd, I was handed The Urban Hero Award and the next time I’ll address a large audience will be the evening of October 16th at The Boulevard Drive-In to debut the director’s cut of Summer in Hindsight, which I am currently working on with Justin Gardner,” Honig says. “We did this during a pandemic and a cultural revolution. I am not sure where else or how else this could happen at this moment in history.”

As the owner of Birdies, a luxe lingerie boutique in the Crossroads, her take on the pandemic is unique. “Running Birdies during a global pandemic has shown me what lingerie signifies during stress and how dedicated my wonderful staff is. Your first thing on and last thing off changes during a quarantine,” she says.

Peregrine’s essentials...

SCENT OF THE SEASON: In this heat, Afghanistan orange blossom and sustainable Indian rosewood.

IN MY CLOSET: I love

Bordelle, Bordelle Studio Pia, and Lonely.

Lonely I ordered a blush Evgenia robe for a scene in the movie that might result in some personal debt.

LISTENING TO: Calvin Arsenia’s recent cover of Portishead’s Glory Box.

DATE NIGHT: The Antler

Room—and a dog walk Room through my neighborhood.

CAFFEINE FIX: Oddly Correct, Monarch, Mildred’s,

and Quay depending on where my errands take me. I love an afternoon short flat white.

SPEAKEASY OF CHOICE: SWEET TREAT: Novel’s pistachio and

strawberry cream pie.

Swordfish Tom’s.. I let Jill make me something with whiskey.

AUGUST 2020

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GUILTY PLEASURE:

I don’t affiliate guilt with pleasure.

DAY TRIP: The Elms.

HIDDEN GEM:

The Clendening History of Medicine Library houses one of the nation’s finest collections of rare, historical medical books and manuscripts. The library also maintains an extensive collection of monographs and periodicals in the history of medicine, medical humanities and biomedical ethics. They own Japanese anatomy drawings with brains colored in crushed pearl paint. Make an appointment.