About the Book
re: MEMBERS is a catalog of the Kansas City Artists Coalition's exhibition of members past and present. The exhibition, July 10 - August 20, 2015, is in KCAC''s galleries in Kansas City, Missouri. The Kansas City Artists Coalition is celebrating its 40th Anniversary! re: MEMBERS is a tribute to the people who have been a part of it. There are 58 illustrations of artwork by 45 artists. Curators of the exhibition were: Philomene Bennett is the co-founder and past-president of the Kansas City Artists Coalition. Bennett is a prominent painter and art instructor in Kansas City and has been an active artist for 50+ years. Bennett has had over 100 solo, two-person and group exhibitions of her work throughout the United States. Her work is in the collections of museums and corporations throughout the United States, including the Kemper Museum, Kansas City, Mo.; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC; the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, Daum Museum, Sedalia, MO, Albrecht -Kemper Museum, St. Joseph, MO, Prudential Life Insurance, New York, NY, United Missouri Bank, Kansas City and Blue Springs, MO, Mutual Benefit Life, Kansas City, MO, Odyssian Technology, South Bend IN, American Express, Salt Lake City, UT; and many others. Jim Sajovic is a Professor at the Kansas City Art Institute. He has been involved with KCAC from the early days. Sajovic's solo exhibitions include: Jim Sajovic: Hix Fragments & (pash'n), Todd Weiner Gallery, KCMO: Be Inspired, Kemper Crossroads Museum: KCMO. Jim Sajovic: Evolution, Daum Museum of Contemporary Art, Sedalia, MO; Dreamer-Ecstasy, Belger Arts Center, KCMO Jim Sajovic, The Lowe Gallery, Atlanta, Georgia; Millennium Garden, The Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art, St. Joseph, MO. The Art of Jim Sajovic, The Mulvane Art Museum, Topeka, Kansas. Sajovic's works are held in public and private collections in the United States, Europe, and Asia. His artworks have been exhibited in galleries and museums, nationally and internationally, including New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles; Edinburgh (Scotland), Paris (France), as well as Milan, Rome, and Venice (Italy). James Martin is an independent consultant, curator, educator and writer based in the Kansas City area. He serves as Curator of the Center for the Healing Arts at Truman Medical Centers and he currently consults on public art for the municipalities of Gladstone, MO; Merriam, KS; and Olathe, KS. He began his career in 1989 as Interim Director at the Kansas City Artists Coalition, and returned to work for KCAC in 1995 as Managing Editor of Forum Magazine. In addition, he was formerly Curator of the Sprint Art Collection and Assistant Curator in Modern and Contemporary Art at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Janet Simpson is Executive Director of the Kansas City Artists Coalition and has been in this position since 1989. The Executive Director has primary responsibility for the organization, including artistic direction of the Exhibitions Series and Programs. Simpson has served on various committees and boards in her community, state and nation including the Kentucky Arts Council, the University of Missouri-Kansas City's Urban Mission Task Force: Culture and Arts, Missouri Arts Council Organizational Development Working Committee; Kansas City Municipal Arts Commission 1% for Art Panel; the River Market Business Association Board of Directors; the Missouri Citizens for the Arts Board of Directors; and the National Association of Artists' Organizations Board of Director, and was the Midwest representative to that organization and served on the Working Conditions Committee and the Conference Committee.