Impressive exhibits! Well worth the time to meander through. Wide variety of works on display.read more

I attended KCAI between 1965 and 1966 and was planning to major in Industrial Design. Having taken…read more4 year of art classes in high school in Shreveport Louisiana I had been lucky enough to have gotten a good foundation in art early with dedicated teachers. While in Louisiana I had some newspaper articles written about my art while there. When I first arrived at the Art Institute in 1965, I move into the then new dormitory with a excellent cafeteria and dinning area that impressed me. However, dorm life was a disappointment since I had to share the room with a roommate that had no intentions of finishing the semester and I had one these guys for my first two semesters. Both boys (they never grew up) were always having friends over (who also were quitting) so they were drinking and partying in the room at all hours of the night. I was forced to go downstairs and study in the dinning area to get my work done. I was disappointed in the Art Institute, first in my Foundation Training in that from what art work I saw that my instructors had done reminded me of my first year in high school art. However, I had never liked English or History in high School but I love attending both of these classes taught by Roy Culver (English) and John Burke (History) . My second year I started my major Industrial Design thinking about being a car designer or at least product designer. Again, I was disappointed in the teaching and had a strong feeling that my teacher who was also the Dean John Lotus really had no experience teaching Industrial Design. I also noticed that there were many manufacturing companies in Kansas City at the time that were probably using Industrial Designers but we were never exposed to these companies and those companies more than likely never knew there was a Industrial Design department at the Art Institute. The final straw and the reason I dropped out of the Art Institute was a story told to our Industrial Design class mid term of my second semester. I was already wondering what I was doing at the Art Institute when one morning Dean Lotus came into the classroom with a big smile on his face and told us that he had received a phone call from one of his best students that had graduated the year before and that the student had gotten a great job. After a long story about how great the student had been while a student at the Art Institute our Dean told us that this student had gotten a job in Minnesota with a big manufacture called Church they manufactured toilet seats. I said nothing and finished the class then walked to the Resistor Office and resigned. I was drafted into the Army 90 days later and later sent to Vietnam. I did get the job as an Technical Illustrator and stationed in Saigon where I not only helped put out a magazine there (GRUNT Magazine) that turned out to be quit popular and even today issues are for sale on the internet and even some colleges have it in their archives. I was assigned to a photo unit and we sometimes made ID photos for American construction contractors and after talking to them I decided to change employment directions. When I left Vietnam I when back to LSU in Louisiana and got a degree in Engineering and 4 months after graduation I got a job with a oil company working in New Guinea, I never stopped from that point working in Thailand, Sumatra, Vietnam, Bahrain, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Nigeria. Frist I will say that my early art education taught me to think outside the box that had been an asset in my professional life enabling to solve engineering problems that were though impossible before. I went on to being a Project Manager on my last $6billion project in Nigeria before retiring in Thailand where I am writing this review at 76.

I'm a tough crowd to please when it comes to who can watch my kids and I literally cannot say…read moreenough positive things about this school and the little ladies who run it. The communication is just unmatched. The activities are thoughtful and fun; the curriculum is so thoughtful and sweet. I learn new things from my 3 year old all the time now. The most impressive thing about this school is how well it's run. Ashley and Brittany consider every detail, whether it's a birthday celebration or a fire safety drill, they have things completely under control. I literally cannot think of one negative thing to say. I love these girls and I love their school. If I could give them a billion stars, I would.

Great first Friday Art is displayed with Great attention to…read moredetail. Wide variety of art availabl.

Recently I bought a new Lyman Whitaker wind sculpture from Leopold Gallery. They threw in a bottle…read moreof wine, a Malbec, which I appreciated and enjoyed. The wind sculpture was delivered about a month ago when I was out doing errands, so Jose wasn't able to bring it in for me as he normally would. Brian, my lovely next door neighbor, brought it in for me, It sat in its box, along w/ the box containing the poles, in my dining room until the weather cleared and Brian had time to install it. He came over last week, then discovered he didn't have the brackets he needed to attach it to the deck railing. My brother Jim attached my other wind sculpture to the deck railing w/ zip ties several years ago but those failed during high winds a few months ago and Brian reaffixed it to the railing, using brackets which will outlive me. He ordered more and was able to come over yesterday and install the new one. When he finished he observed that it looked like a menorah, which I hadn't noticed, but it does. I can see it from my seat at the dining table and if I stand up I can see it from my office window and I love the way it looks. Brian can see it from his deck. I'm going to be sending photos of it to Paul, who owns the gallery, so he can see how it looks.

First picture was our own painting from 2/17, 2nd picture is what the instructor did as she was…read morewalking us through. 3rd photo is a reference of what we did with them 2yrs ago. Our first experience with them 2 years ago was great, it was done at a good pace, party size was small and intimate. You had time to ask questions the artist could and would stop and give you some Individual attention if needed. Now the experience we had last night was not good. We had a full class there was 6 couples in total. Our canvases were not ready when we arrived, we stood in the lobby and didn't have direction on what we needed to do or goad there wasn't anyone to greet us. So we decided to walk in and stood there until someone gave us a spot to sit in. She apologized for running behind as we had to wait for her to outline 12 canvases, she said the class size blew up at the last minute and they didn't have the time needed to be prepared ahead of time since they had to make an emergency supply run. Not a big deal! 45min later we start the actual instruction she said it would be speed painting techniques. The instruction went so fast that no one in the class could keep up, at one point someone spoke up and said we aren't ready as we were all several steps behind. What should have been 2hrs of painting and instruction turned in to a 1hr and 15min painting class. We all felt rushed and overwhelmed with the pace she was leading us at. My wife asked for support/help at the end once several couples left. She stopped by for a second but really didn't offer much support she left her board with my wife for reference but went back to cleaning up from the class. Overall it was not the same experience we had the first time, as we didn't feel we were given the same level of care or time to walk away with something we would be happy to hang up in our home. Overall we didn't have a good experience lastnight and as a small business I feel that there roadblock of not being ready for our class affected us and the quality of our experience as they rushed our class to finish on time as the previous class ran late so ultimately we suffered from that. And I don't feel they took the proper steps to make the moment right. We are unsure if we will reserve a class with them again.

My family and I visited for the first time and had such a great experience with Tamara! She was…read morekind, friendly and patient! We'll be back!

I have been volunteering at Mattie Rhodes for 10 years now, Their new gallery is down the street!…read moreThey still own the art building for educational classes for kids after school! but the gallery address is 1701 Jarboe St, Kansas City, MO 64108! I absolutely love it! It is a space open to the public, they have an immense amount of talented artists from all over Kansas City! I would 10000% recommend you visit!

Nothing beats wearing a brand new outfit to a big party…read more And Mattie Rhodes knows how to party. The gallery and art center has moved down the street into a much larger and full sized room. The tight and cramped spaces at the old location have been turned into a bright, open and inviting space for people of all ages and backgrounds. The art exhibitions are more in depth. The workshops can include more participants. And those exhibition opening and closing parties? They're better than ever. For more info, please visit the art center's website and Facebook page.

My husband surprised me with this lovely bouquet for our 42nd wedding anniversary! He went in…read morerather impromptu and saw a bouquet he liked that was already sold. They made this one right up for him on the spot and he said it looked even better than the one he had tried to buy! Love the English roses, zinnias, hydrangeas in the lovely color palette!

Bramble & Stem is the cutest local flower shop found in the Waldo neighborhood of Kansas City. If…read moreyou are looking for floral arrangements for celebrations or parties, Bramble & Stem should be the first place you check out! I went to this shop for the first time during the Annual Waldo Sip & Stroll and I now know exactly where to go when I need some flowers for an event or to simply spruce up my home. Did you know this spot offers hands-on floral workshops designed to help inspire and educate? This is a great idea for a family outing or celebration. Make sure to check out Bramble & Stem asap!

Two grand daughters attended art daycamp. Different media is explored. Good friends were made…read more Separated by ages. Fun and inspirational environment. Animals were fun to watch and feed.

This art studio fosters creativity! The owners and employees have a real desire to foster the…read morecreative process no matter what your age is. I've been there with 5 year olds and 80 year olds and each has left feeling uplifted and artistic! The setting is gorgeous. Where can you create pottery, paint a keepsake and play with kittens and feed a goat all in the same afternoon? This place is treasure!

Ah, my alma mater, and a treasure in Kansas City…read more Just like the school I got my Masters from, SLU, Rockhurst is quite definitely "in the hood." And, just like SLU, Rockhurst had the opportunity years ago to take part in the flight from the inner city and build a sprawling campus out in the burbs. Rockhurst, like SLU, did not give up on the city it was part of. You're going to find at Rockhurst a Jesuit education, which apart from a distinguishing element of service, focuses on building a whole person. We take philosophy and theology courses as part of the core not because we are trying to indoctrinate someone in religion, but to point out that life is more than marketing or biology. Rockhurst is the second-smallest Jesuit school in the country and certainly one of the more affordable. One of the drawbacks we have is that we do not have a good study-abroad program, but I came in as a junior transfer so I had already had that benefit at another school. I'm deeply grateful for my time spent at the Rock.

Rockhurst is an amazing university with many amazing qualities and individuals working there. The…read morecampus is beautiful and homey, it's very difficult to get lost and easy to find your classes. The professors are extremely passionate about their fields and very flexible to your own personal needs. There are many ways to get involved and an increasingly accepting environment for marginalized groups. This is the kind of place where people hold doors for others and everyone is very excited to be here and to get an education. Additionally, you do not have to be a Catholic to come here and there are a lot of individuals who are not. I would highly recommend attending this college and have had an amazing experience here!

Sprawling local art store in Crossroads with a large selection of art supplies! I am focusing on…read moreshopping small this year, and this store has just about anything you need for your art projects in their surprisingly-large space. It's the kind of place that makes me wish I was a real artist! Markers, paint, pens, paper, canvas, stamps, crafts, and more! They also have a good selection of little gifts and trinkets, which makes this a great place to shop for small birthday presents for your artsy friend. The staff are super helpful and welcoming and kind. Sure, everything is a little more expensive here than at a big box store, but they have high quality product, and you're supporting local art!!

Came to look around and buy underglaze…read more They don't answer the phone and there's no where to park. BOOOO!!!!