Artist Assembly: Deep Dive Sessions

Posted January 15, 2026

Wednesdays, February 11, 18; Tuesday, February 24; Wednesday, March 4 | 5:30–6:30 PM

Last December we hosted our Artist Assembly, a bi-annual gathering for anyone in the Kansas City area who identifies as an artist, culture bearer, or artist organizer. Through facilitated conversations and collaborative working sessions, the Assembly surfaces the needs of our creative community and identifies shared resources, strategies, and opportunities.

This February and early March, we continue conversations started in the Artist Assembly with four Artist Assembly: Deep Dives. Occurring weekly over the course of the month for one-hour sessions, we invite artists and organizers to engage deeply with specific issues shaping our local arts ecosystem, from exhibition making and arts writing to funding models and community care.

Each session stands alone, but together they form a collective inquiry into how we build power, sustainability, and connection in Kansas City’s creative community.

Deep Dive 1: Critical Arts Writing in Kansas City

Moderated by Nyonu Branch-Watkins (Fortresses Magazine)

Wednesday, February 11, 2026

This Deep Dive focuses on critical arts writing in Kansas City: how artists and writers talk about art, who gets to participate in those conversations, and how criticism can be more accessible, ethical, and responsive to lived experience. Writers, artists, arts educators, and non-writers are warmly encouraged to attend.

Participants will have the opportunity to share perspectives, name challenges, and identify what kinds of mentorship, programming, and support would make engaging in critical and interdisciplinary writing more viable.

Outcomes: Shared language, peer connection, and a role in shaping future arts writing resources and programming in Kansas City.

RSVP HERE

Deep Dive 2: Innovative Funding Beyond Competitive Grants

Wednesday, February 18, 2026

During this Deep Dive session, participants are invited to discuss current funding structures available to working artists in the greater Kansas City area and imagine alternatives to project-based competitive grant cycles that help build sustainable income streams and generational wealth.

RSVP HERE

Deep Dive 3: Community Care in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Tuesday, February 24, 2026

During this Deep Dive session, participants are invited to discuss current challenges and potential solutions to whole body care within the creative community. Time will be given to discuss the ways that artificial intelligence and surveillance technology impacts well-being.

RSVP Here

Deep Dive 4: Participatory Exhibition

With Elizabeth Spavento, Charlotte Street Co-Director

Wednesday, March 4, 2026, 5:30–6 PM

During this Deep Dive session, participants are invited to review four exhibition proposals by Charlotte Street Co-Director, Elizabeth Spavento. Potential exhibitions include a participatory biennial featuring artists under 18 from the Charlotte Street neighborhood; An exhibition featuring analog technologies with artist-led coalition S.H.I.T.P.H.O.N.E or Scathing Hated of Information Technology and the passionate Hemorrhaging of Our Neo-Liberal Experience; From Away: a group show that pairs Kansas City-based artists with artists from Maine; and Elders to the Front! An exhibition that features artworks by artists 55 and older. All participants will vote on their favorite proposal which is slated to open in November 2026. The remaining time will be spent collaborating on ideas for public programming to take place throughout the exhibition.

RSVP HERE