Exhibitions
Art is always happening at the Library - come see what's new!
We’re proud to showcase artwork that inspires, educates and brings our community together. Ten of our Library locations feature dedicated gallery spaces where visual artists from across the Kansas City metro area exhibit their work. These displays are enjoyed by visitors of all ages—and they help make our Libraries even more vibrant and welcoming.
We’re fortunate to partner with InterUrban ArtHouse, which curates exhibitions at all Library branches except the Central Resource Library. InterUrban ArtHouse also partners with the Library to offer art-centered events including hands-on workshops, performances, classes, and more.
Explore our current exhibitions:
- Preview the featured artwork
- Get to know the artists and their creative perspectives
- Find out where and when each exhibit is on display
M.A.S.A.
Blue Valley Library, May 11 - Aug. 16.
The Migrating Assembly for Stories and Art (M.A.S.A.) is a Kansas City-based collective of artists and consultants. M.A.S.A. provides a platform to showcase their work, featuring exhibitions, workshops and panel discussions focused on themes of migration, healing and identity. Visit masakc.art for more information.
JCDS Emerging Artists: Color Stories
Central Resource Library, May 11 - Aug. 16.
The Emerging Artists program is an art-as-employment program offered through Johnson County Developmental Supports, an agency in the Johnson County Government. The JCDS Emerging Artists Program includes adult artists with intellectual and developmental disabilities who are passionate and driven to create artwork. They work in a studio at the Johnson County Arts and Heritage Center. In addition to earning income many have had the door opened to equal citizenship, self-expression and increased self-esteem from the art program, where they are seen as artists first and not defined by their disabilities. Acrylic paint, watercolor, ink and ceramics are all commonly used mediums in the Emerging Artists Studio. Each artist has a unique voice and vision. You can find the JCDS Emerging Artists on Facebook and Instagram @JCDSEmergingArtists to stay updated about studio sales and exhibits. Their “Color Stories” exhibition is an expression of the artists’ rich and varied views of the world around them captured as painted narratives.
Join us for the reception, August 7, 4-6 p.m. at Central Resource Library.
Katrina Revenaugh
Cedar Roe Library, May 11 - Aug. 16
Revenaugh’s work combines photography, printmaking and painting as a way toexplore the connection between street art and nature. After years of traveling and photographing graffiti in cities around the world, Revenaugh has come to think of graffiti as one of the most honest forms of mark making — raw, fleeting and deeply connected to place. Through the tactile process of mark making, energy of the city softens into something organic — work that feels alive, imperfect and always evolving.
Racquel Phillips
Corinth Library, May 11 - Aug. 16
Racquel Phillips is an abstract and figurative artist working primarily with acrylic paint. Her work explores themes of resilience, human potential and transformation, reflecting how individuals and communities endure and grow. Through layered textures, dynamic forms and bold color, Phillips creates expressive pieces that invite reflection, emotional connection and a sense of hope for the future.
Susan Clafin
Gardner Library, May 11 - Aug. 16
Clafin is a fiber artist who creates one-of-a-kind market bags and handbags from upcycled materials. The materials used include vintage textiles — quilt scraps, saris, kimonos, clothing and
small quantities of “leftover” yarn. Clafin draws inspiration for her creations from nature, travels and museum artwork. The colors and dimensional characteristics of the combined fibers create bold utilitarian pieces.
Kwanza Humphrey
Leawood Pioneer Library, May 11 - Aug. 16
Kwanza Humphrey is an award-winning artist who has been included in exhibitions across the United States, including being one of the small group of artists selected for inclusion in the new terminal at the Kansas City International Airport. Kwanza’s masterful and disciplined work, often characterized as impressionist realism, resides in the permanent collection of the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, as well as extensive private collections.
Aisha Lee
Lenexa City Center Library, May 11 - Aug. 16.
At the heart of Lee’s practice is the lotus flower, a symbol of resilience and new beginnings. It appears throughout her work as a visual metaphor for Black life — blooming in strength and beauty despite challenging conditions. Lee presents figurative works as reflections of contemporary times, not as historical relics. They carry the wisdom of the past while making space for new beginnings — reminding us that liberation is both inherited and actively pursued.
Matthew Willie Garcia
Merriam Plaza Library, May 11 - Aug. 16
Garcia utilizes quantum mechanics, cosmology and astrophysics as a source to explore queer identity and the complexity of human existence. To convey these grand ideas, they employ bold, vibrant and colorful graphic prints, paintings, and installations. Garcia’s creative vision is influenced by the aesthetics found in Marvel comics, manga, traditional Japanese prints and western animation. These ideas and influences are translated through traditional printmaking techniques, particularly screen printing and water-based woodblock,and combined with animation and installation to construct immersive realities that challenge the viewer’s perception of art and science.
Brittany Noriega
Oak Park Library, May 11 - Aug. 16
Noriega's colorful body of work celebrates a love of nature, insects and design, through the bold, vibrant techniques developed during her two-year tattoo apprenticeship many years ago. It's both a nod to that formative time and a visual welcome to a new season — a moment to revisit the brightness and confidence that tattooing taught her, now applied to subjects that have always captivated her.
Chris LaValley
Shawnee Library, May 11 - Aug. 16
LaValley’s work is an ongoing dialogue between light, color, shape and space, seeking to foster reflection, connection and spiritual resonance. Their practice is rooted in nature, sacred geometry and the symbolic power of color and form, influenced by artists like Hilma af Klint and the Transcendentalist painters. LaValley approaches art as a meditative, intuitive process where composition unfolds through mark-making, layering and color relationships. Current work explores the energy that connects all life, using recurring geometric forms that often emerge through meditation and dreams.
