Epsten Gallery, which is approaching its 25th anniversary in 2016, has been known by a variety of names over the years, sometimes leading to some confusion. Regardless of its official name — The Kansas City Jewish Museum Foundation, The Museum Without Walls, The Kansas City Jewish Museum of Contemporary Art or the Epsten Gallery — as an entity it has always provided a mixture of museum-quality exhibits and programming that interest the entire community. Today Epsten Gallery Foundation President William Kort said the gallery is widening its net, increasing its programming to appeal to an even broader range of people in the community.
The Epsten Gallery Foundation is a 501c3 non-profit that was created in 1991 by Sybil Kahn and her husband, the late Norman Kahn, as The Kansas City Jewish Museum Foundation.
“As The Kansas City Jewish Museum Foundation, the Kahns intended in the long term to have an actual museum of Jewish artifacts and Jewish art in Kansas City. {mprestriction ids="1,3"}Before that dream was realized, they operated as The Museum Without Walls. During that period of the 1990s they put together art exhibits at various venues,” Kort said.
Since Village Shalom opened in 2000, the Epsten Gallery has been housed inside the senior continuing care community. The space was dedicated 15 years ago and funded by the Epsten family.
“At the time the board of Village Shalom thought it would be a wonderful amenity for the residents to have a gallery,” Kort explained.
He described the Epsten Gallery as a unique venue that reaches out to the community through exhibits designed especially to fit the gallery’s mission: providing “innovative art exhibitions and partnerships that engage, inspire and enlighten a diverse community through all stages of life, celebrating our common humanity through art.”
But the gallery is not simply for exhibits.
“Epsten Gallery’s ARTicipation program provides an excellent outreach vehicle, not only to residents of Village Shalom and the Jewish community, but to the community at large, especially the disadvantaged and under-served,” he continued.
Kort noted that the gallery continues to be committed to enriching the lives of seniors at Village Shalom and is also committed to broadening its reach and programming beyond the four walls the gallery occupies.
Fittingly, Kort said Epsten Gallery’s upcoming Urban Suburban, its largest fundraiser, is called “Transition, Experience and Adventure.”
“We are constantly transitioning, experiencing and have adventures at the Epsten Gallery.”
One of those transitions was changing the name to Epsten Gallery. Kort said the decision was made for several reasons, the first being the Epsten Gallery name was exactly how the community knew and understood the organization. Secondly, it’s not a museum because it does not house a permanent collection. Finally, Kort said there really “wasn’t a groundswell in the community to create a museum.”
“Today Epsten Gallery provides innovative art exhibitions and partnerships that engage, inspire and enlighten a diverse community through all stages of life and celebrate our common humanity through art. The Epsten Gallery is a place where multi-generational communities may enrich their lives by sharing the wonder, excitement and inspiration of art visually and through hands-on experiences,” Kort said.
Kort said the gallery is what it is today because of its past leadership.
“Director Emeritus Eileen Garry, and the wonderful volunteers who served on the board of directors, deserves much of the credit for bringing in several museum-quality exhibits and putting into place many of the programs we have today,” Kort said.
OUTREACH PROGRAMING
Kort said ARTicipation is one of the gallery’s most popular programs. Former Curator Marcus Cain and art therapist Sherri Jacobs deserve much of the credit for their groundbreaking work creating this program. He is thrilled current Curator Heather Lustfeldt is spearheading the gallery’s ARTicipation programs and continues the tradition of bringing high-quality and engaging exhibits to the gallery.
“ARTicipation has become our outreach program for putting together wonderful exhibits. Through various ARTicipation programs we are able to share cultural, educational and exhibition resources as well as art-therapy based workshops and community art events,” Kort said.
As a supporter of the Epsten Gallery for more than a decade, Kort is truly biased when he says, “Many of the gallery’s programs are quite moving, especially ARTicipation.” But then he can quote a dozen other people who have the same thoughts. One is Mel Mallin, a resident of the Villas at Village Shalom and a Friend of the Epsten Gallery.
“We were at a program recently and he said, ‘I don’t think most of the residents out here have any idea of what kind of gem they have here in this gallery.’ ”
Artist Hugh Merrill, who served as president of The Kansas City Jewish Museum Foundation in the late 1990s, is also a big fan of ARTicipation.
“The Epsten Gallery ARTicipation outreach program is an interactive series of participatory creative actions meant to extend social and cultural dialogue in the Kansas City metropolitan community,” Merrill said.
Kort would really like to see more Village Shalom residents take part in ARTicipation programs at the gallery and believes they would love them if they just gave them a chance. The family of Betty Brand is the perfect example.
Brand, who likes to tell people she is “the big nine-oh (90),” has faced some health challenges in recent years. Kort knows the family and suggested to Brand’s daughters that they accompany their mother to an ARTicipation workshop.
“Before it was all over she was laughing and having the best time, telling stories and talking about her past in Kansas City … When her daughter Pam left, Pam told me, ‘I haven’t seen my mother in this frame of mind for a long time.’ Later that week Betty came down to the gallery to talk to our Curator Heather Lustfeldt and thanked her for the adventure.”
While some residents don’t realize they can attend these programs, others in the community may be under the wrong impression that the programs are solely for residents and their families. Kort enjoys taking advantage of the ARTicipation workshops and has brought his grandchildren to several events.
“We can all be working on different projects simultaneously with residents and other members of the general community. The engagement that goes on between the generations is therapeutic and a lot of fun. You can see the residents responding and you can see the public responding. There’s kind of a magic that goes on at these workshops.”
In the very near future, thanks to a grant from the Jewish Legacy Foundation and in partnership with Jewish Family Services, that magic will be available to Jewish residents of other senior facilities in the community.
“We will provide art-therapy services and ARTicipation outside the four walls because we know there are a lot of seniors not living in Village Shalom that may be in other facilities across the area,” Kort explained.
The grant came through earlier this year and Kort hopes the programs will be operational by fall.
“We will offer similar services outside of Village Shalom to residents of other senior care facilities. We will also offer group-setting workshops in those facilities to those Jewish residents,” he explained.
FOR THE LOVE OF ART
Just this week the Pop-Up Artist Residency, a series of one-week interactive residencies and related programming with five artists: Casey Whittier, Barb Wishnow Jacobs, Matt Dehaemers, Mark Cowardin and Hugh Merrill, opened at Epsten Gallery. This program is supported in part by private contributions and a grant from the Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission, which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts. Lustfeldt said the artists have been invited to transform the Epsten Gallery into a lively, interactive studio environment open for Village Shalom residents, their families, visitors, volunteers, youth groups and adults of all ages and abilities. Open studio hours with the artists, organized workshops and studio sessions will occur during each artist’s residency.
Up next is the annual Urban Suburban exhibit, which begins Aug. 30. The art being exhibited will be selected by April Watson, the curator of photography at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. The patron event takes place on Sept. 30.
Kort points out there is no charge to visit gallery and it’s open to the public every Tuesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday. It is closed on Mondays. He also encourages members of the community to support the gallery by becoming a Friend of the Epsten Gallery.
For more information on the Epsten Gallery, its exhibits and programs, visit www.epstengallery.org.{/mprestriction}
