On Oct. 28, 2023–almost 140 years after the final Impressionist exhibition in 1886–The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art opened a temporary featured exhibit titled “Monet and His Modern Legacy.” The exhibit is designed for viewers to observe the classic impressionist works by Claude Monet side-by-side with works by American artists who were inspired by his art. In addition to paintings by Monet that are not normally on display in the Kansas City area, the exhibit includes abstract expressionist paintings like “Composition No. 3,” 1959 by Sam Francis and abstractionist paintings by Jean-Paul Riopelle. 

There is a game at the exhibit’s entry where visitors can guess whether a painting is by Monet or an abstract expressionist artist based on close-up photographs of the brush strokes. Guests quickly discover that the elements of the two styles are very similar.

Observing Monet’s “Japanese Bridge,” 1918 alongside “Rashoumon,” 1957 by Norman Bluhm, visitors can see how Monet’s revolutionary use of color inspired Bluhm’s art. The exhibit also showcases “Haystack No. 6 and No. 7,” 1969 by Roy Lichtenstein: two pop art recreations of Monet’s “Wheatstacks (End of Summer),” 1980-91.

On display in the final room of the exhibit is one of the panels from Monet’s famous “Water Lilies,” 1915-26. The room is equipped with several comfortable seats where guests can sit and take in the many colors and strokes in this immaculate artwork. Frequent visitors of the museum who have seen this piece several times before can take a moment to observe this KC favorite in a new light and with a new appreciation. Take a moment to look at the individual brush strokes. Single out the greens, next the yellows, then the purples. Finally, step back to see the work as a whole.

I particularly enjoyed this exhibit because it provides a unique viewing experience of Monet’s artwork while highlighting the relationship between his paintings and the works of those he inspired that would otherwise appear unconnected.

“Monet and His Modern Legacy” is open until Mar. 10. Tickets can be purchased either online or in person at the Museum for 22 dollars or 12 dollars for students. These tickets allow entry into both the Monet and “Evelyn Hofer: Eyes on the City” exhibits. As always, guests can access the rest of the art museum for free. After touring the museum, visitors can find exclusive Monet-themed merchandise such as brightly colored shirts and accessories in the museum’s gift shop.

“Connecting the Dots” by Holly Anne Schenk presented by the Liberty Arts Commission is currently being exhibited at the William Jewell College Stocksdale Gallery of Art.

Schenk’s exhibit in Stocksdale contains varying paintings of abstract, objective, traditional and nontraditional form, but her focus on color, as well as formation from dots, is the connective theme of her work.

Schenk uses pointillism in all of her paintings. 

“What really connects them all is the dots, the way that they are done and put together,” said Schenk. 

Growing up in a small town in Nebraska, Schenk explains that though she loved art, she had very little opportunity to see or learn about it.

 “There was nothing to do with art and it was always looked at as being a luxury or a nice hobby, and a ‘but what are you going to do as a living’ sort of thing,” Schenk said. 

Schenk also developed a deep love for science growing up and explained that with excellent instruction from her teachers and support from her family, she ended up going to college on the pre-med track. However, during her college years, Schenk was required to take an elective, and she took a drawing class. 

Schenk explains that she had never taken an art class previously, but after taking the elective drawing class, she had an immediate gut feeling that this was what she was supposed to do. 

“A whole world opened up,” said Schenk. 

After the class, Scheck went home to tell her parents that she was changing her major from pre-med to art. 

 “My parents said ‘well if you change your major, you’ll never amount to anything, so you can pay for college yourself,’” Schenk said. “And I did. I have no regrets.” 

After obtaining her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in art education, Scheck has gone on to be an art teacher in both Nebraska and Missouri, the art director at Hallmark for 15 years and established herself as an artist in the Kansas City community. 

As an artist, all of Schenk’s work portrays the way she views the world, and her work always begins with a photo. Schenk takes a camera everywhere and takes photos of everything. 

“Sometimes I see something and I feel like I have to take a picture, I don’t know why, but then there are days that I want to paint but I don’t know what to paint and I go back through a bunch of images,” says Schenk.

As an artist as well as a teacher, Schenk is an advocate for art education.

“Think of art as a language,” Schenk said. “You wouldn’t tell someone to immediately write a paper in a new language. It’s learned. You teach ABCs, words, sentence structure, grammar and themes. It is exactly the same with learning art. In art, you learn composition, color theory, substrates and you learn what different materials will do. Then when you want to create, you can pull your stuff together and speak your language. There is such opportunity in art education and if kids learn it early, it can be used their whole life.”

“Connecting the Dots” will be at Stocksdale Gallery until Dec. 27.