Kansas City MO, September 1, 2026: Charlotte Street is pleased to present Strength in Softness, an exhibition curated by Charlotte Street staff member Cherline Philogene and featuring current and past artists from Charlotte Street’s Studio Residency Program. The exhibition will open September 16 with an opening reception from 11 AM–1 PM at The Box Gallery (1000 Walnut Street, Suite 211, KCMO, 64106) and will remain on view through January 29, 2027.
Strength in Softness brings together past Charlotte Street Studio Residents Erin Dodson and Caroline Honas with current residents Ellie Naeger and Yulie Urano. Through sculpture, installation, and mixed-media practices, these artists create a visual conversation exploring the relationship between softness and strength, fragility and endurance. Together, their works invite viewers to consider how materials, like living things, hold memory, transformation, and resilience.
For nearly three decades, Charlotte Street has supported Kansas City’s artists through exhibitions, grants and awards, residencies, public programs, and performances. Since its founding in 1997, the organization has served as the primary incubator, connector, and advocate for the region’s contemporary arts community. Strength in Softness continues Charlotte Street’s longstanding commitment to creating opportunities for local artists to share their work with new audiences expanding access to contemporary art throughout Kansas City.
Located on the first floor of the Commerce Bank Building, The Box Gallery is an 830-square-foot exhibition space dedicated to showcasing Kansas City’s arts and cultural history through partnerships with artists, collectors, arts organizations, businesses, and universities. The gallery provides an accessible downtown setting for engaging with Kansas City’s arts and cultural history.
Commerce Bank and the Richard J. Stern Foundation for the Arts-Commerce Bank Trustee have been longstanding partners of Charlotte Street. Together, the organizations cultivate collaboration, ambitious creation, and whole-person support for hundreds of local artists each year by providing resources, spaces, and community that enable artists to take creative risks and build sustainable careers and lives in Kansas City.
ABOUT THE BOX GALLERY
The Box Gallery is an 830-square-foot exhibition space located on the first floor of the Commerce Bank Building at 1000 Walnut Street, Kansas City, Missouri. Dedicated to presenting exhibitions that reveal Kansas City’s arts and cultural history, the gallery partners with local artists, collectors, arts organizations, businesses, and universities to present a year-round exhibition program. Admission is free and open to the public Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Complimentary parking is available in the Commerce Bank Building Garage with gallery validation.
ABOUT CHARLOTTE STREET’S STUDIO RESIDENCY PROGRAM
Charlotte Street’s Studio Residency program supports visual artists, writers, and performing artists by providing free studio space, rehearsal space, professional development, and opportunities for exhibition, performance, mentorship and cross-disciplinary collaboration. The residency cultivates an environment of experimentation, dialogue, and community-building for approximately 30 artists each year. Charlotte Street’s annual Open Studios event makes Resident art more accessible to a broad public audience and encourages exchange and collaboration among the Studio Residents. Artists receive Residency for two-year terms, on a rotating basis, with a new cohort of approximately 15 joining each June.
ABOUT CHARLOTTE STREET
Charlotte Street centers Kansas City’s most forward-thinking visual artists, writers, and performers—acting as the primary incubator, provocateur, and connector for the region’s contemporary arts community, and its leading advocate on the national stage. Since 1997, Charlotte Street has distributed over $3 million in awards and grants to artists and their innovative projects and has hosted countless exhibitions, performances, convenings, and conversations connecting and challenging Kansas City’s contemporary art ecosystem. For more information about Charlotte Street, its awards, programs, and initiatives, visit www.charlottestreet.org.
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View the press release as a PDF here.
