By: Nicole Mitchell
Emerging and mid-career Hispanic and Latinx artists in Kansas City get the opportunity to highlight societal themes through the exploration of subject and scale with the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art’s annual Atrium Project. On display through July 28, the Kemper’s eighth annual Atrium Project exhibition, So the roots be known, offers a lens into the intersection of feminism and Exhibition Artist Sarah Zapata’s personal experience with her lesbian identity.
In her practice, Zapata navigates identity, community, lineages, counterculture, and histories of resistance through intentional usage of color, iconography, and textile techniques—such as acrylic yarn and natural fibers.
Zapata’s art expresses her intersecting identities as the daughter of a Peruvian immigrant; a first-generation American born in Texas; and a queer woman raised in an evangelical household. Before completing this project, Zapata researched the iconic history of the Kansas City queer scene and women. Inspired by Womontown—a group of primarily queer women who established a revolutionary community in Kansas City in the late 1980s—as well as the national lesbian magazine, The Ladder, which was once remotely operated by Kansas City writer and publisher Barbara Grier.
“Beyond her technical proficiency as a textile artist, Zapata demonstrates intellectual curiosity and generosity toward the communities she works with,” says Krista Alba, Kemper Museum’s assistant curator behind the exhibition. “Her interest in Womontown offers a unique opportunity to highlight and reframe local queer histories and stories through relationships with contemporary artists working in a national context.”
Zapata translated research conducted at the Gay and Lesbian Archive of Mid-America at the University of Missouri–Kansas City (UMKC) with her expertise in textiles to express political protest and solidarity.
Zapata’s textile pieces are draped, suspended, and slumped along the atrium wall, suggesting the many flags, banners, and quilts collaboratively constructed to encourage better futures for her community through solidarity and mutual care.
“One of the most compelling things about operating an archive is that you never know how the materials in your collection will be used,” says Stuart Hinds, curator of special collections and archives at UMKC Libraries. “This project is a perfect example of a completely unexpected albeit totally exciting interpretation of the queer history that lives in the Gay and Lesbian Archive of Mid-America at UMKC.”
Previous artist installations in the Atrium Project include José Lerma (2016), Firelei Báez (2017), Paul Henry Ramirez (2018), Angel Otero (2019), Joiri Minaya (2020), Aliza Nisenbaum (2021), and Pepe Mar (2022).
Plan your visit to Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art today and learn more on the Kemper’s website.
Nicole Mitchell (she/they) is a writer and social media manager who graduated December 2020 with a degree in strategic communication. A few of her favorite things include cuddling with cats, listening to Bon Iver, making lattes, and running her book club (even though sometimes she forgets to read the books.)
Photos courtesy of Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art.
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