Connecting Cultures Across Kansas City

Connecting Cultures Across Kansas City: The Hand-in-Hand Folk Art Collection

On view at The Museum of Kansas City, Special Exhibition Gallery – June 12, 2026 – January 2027

Organized by the Mattie Rhodes Center and presented in collaboration with The Museum of Kansas City, Connecting Cultures Across Kansas City: The Hand-in-Hand Folk Art Collection features more than 200 rarely seen works of folk art from across the globe, with a particular focus on pieces from Latin America and the American Southwest. This exhibition explores the ways in which folk art reflects shared values and human experiences across communities and cultures. Through cultural expression, identity, and time-honored traditions, these works bridge local communities and global traditions.

The exhibition also celebrates the legacy of Alice Ann Biggerstaff (1924–2007), a Kansas City native and longtime Hallmark Cards artist. During her career, Alice Ann traveled extensively, drawing artistic inspiration from around the globe and began gathering pieces that eventually became the Hand-in-Hand Collection. After retiring to Santa Fe, New Mexico, she continued collecting art and created a home that reflected her passion for cultural expression. In 2007, Alice Ann donated the collection to the Mattie Rhodes Center, ensuring that these works would remain accessible to the public for years to come.

In this exhibit, you will encounter works by multigenerational artisan families, including the exquisite ceramic traditions of the Aguilar and Blanco families of Oaxaca, as well as the whimsically carved wooden animals of the Alvarez and Rodríguez families of the American Southwest. Also included are countless works created by artisans whose names were never recorded or have been lost to history. Together, these objects demonstrate how artistic traditions preserve identity, resilience, and cultural memory across generations.

Connecting Cultures invites visitors to honor both named and unnamed makers and to consider how artistry endures through the blending of ancestral techniques, cultural storytelling, and community knowledge. These works serve as living links between past and present, connecting people across time and place