Free to Be. . . A 1960s Fashion Revolution
Wish you could wear mini-skirts, go-go boots, bell bottoms, and a macrame vest, channeling the best of Cher?
A new exhibit opened at the Johnson County Arts & Heritage Center showing 1960s fashion in all its glory. Curated in partnership with the Fashion Merchandising and Design Program at Johnson County Community College, Free to Be features garments from the department’s extensive collection.
To further enhance the exhibit, a series of talks will highlight national and world influences on fashion.
On June 27, Stuart Hinds, curator of special collections and archives for the libraries of UMKC, launched the lecture series with 1960s LGBTQ Activism in Kansas City. “Many believe the struggle for gay and lesbian civil rights began with the Stonewall Uprising in June of 1969,” says Hinds. “However, activists had been working for nearly 20 years prior to that pivotal event to make inroads to securing full citizenship in the United States. Queer individuals in Kansas City played surprisingly important roles in that movement, while simultaneously advancing the cause locally. This talk will focus on those details as well as the vibrant LGBTQ social scene in Kansas City in the 1960s.”
On July 18, Dr. Matthew Warner Osborn, an Associate Professor of History at UMKC, traces the development of The Psychedelic Revolution of the 1960s and how it influenced fashion.
Portraits of Childhood: Black Dolls from the Collection of Deborah Neff
A new exhibit is open at the National Museum for Toys and Miniatures on the UMKC campus that features 135 handmade Black dolls dating from around 1850 to 1940, as well as almost 60 period photographs, daguerreotypes, and paintings depicting the dolls posed alongside both children and adults.
For nearly a century, African American women designed and made rag dolls for their children or the children they looked after. Over 25 years, Connecticut attorney Deborah Neff built up a collection of these little works of art. Where many people dismissed such objects as domestic artifacts of no great importance, Neff felt otherwise.
A selection of more recent Black dolls from the Museum’s collection provides additional perspectives on the exhibition’s themes to consider. Little is truly known about this vast collection of Black dolls, allowing space for viewers to create their own narratives and inspire dialogue around the themes of race, gender, and identity.
Tivoli Under the Stars
What began by necessity during the pandemic, has now become a summer fixture with Tivoli Under the Stars at the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art.
On Friday evenings throughout the summer, Tivoli will screen films that allow you to sit back on the lawn (bring your own chair or blanket) and enjoy a movie under the night sky.
Beginning at dusk on July 26, you can catch the 1991 Point Break, starring Keanu Reeves and the late Patrick Swayze and directed by Kathryn Bigelow. Point break is a surfing term referring to the place where a wave breaks against a point of land, sort of a rock and a hard place.
Keanu Reeves is the novice FBI agent sent undercover to investigate a group of surfers suspected of robbing banks. They’re known as the Ex-Presidents because they commit the crime while wearing masks of U.S. presidents. Patrick Swayze, playing the surfer leader Bodhi, finally escapes to Australia with the FBI in hot pursuit, surfing to his death on the lethal wave of a “50-Year Storm.”
Melissa Etheridge and Jewel at Starlight
Who says you can’t come home again?
Celebrated Leavenworth native Melissa Etheridge begs to differ. She joins forces with Jewel for a much-anticipated concert at Starlight at 7:30 p.m. on July 31.
As part of a 19-city North American tour, the two-time Grammy winner Etheridge and the four-time Grammy nominee Jewel will bring their unique singer-songwriter style of music.
Jewel will perform music from her latest studio album, Freewheelin’ Woman, as well as fan favorites like You Were Meant for Me, including her Grammy-nominated, multi-platinum debut album, Pieces of You, and her multi-platinum follow up Spirit.
Etheridge will also perform massive hits such as I’m the Only One and Come to My Window.