KANSA CITTA PUEBLITA Opens at Urban Culture Project, 9/17

Kansa Citta Pueblita is an exhibition of new work by Kansas City-based artist Maria Calderon in which she melds Kansas City's modern culture together with Peruvian folk traditions. In this solo show, opening at the Urban Culture Project Space on Friday, September 17, 2010, 6pm, Calderon presents the community of Kansas City as a pueblo or tight knit community, "where the people, the places, and the atmosphere exist in a unique balance," writes Calderon.

Calderon presents this community from her own singular perspective, and in relation to its seasons, permanent and temporal fixtures, nature, architecture, transport, and diverse population. Included are a fantastic array of Kansas City icons and local characters, including local artists, who many viewers will immediately recognize.

This exuberant exhibition further reflects upon the spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical health of the community. "Although we live in an American city, there are functional resources as well as an abundance of useless space, i.e abandoned businesses," writes Calderon. "I would like to influence new perspectives of our community and how it can become compared and contrasted to an ideological primitive or native society."

Featuring vivid colors and patterns, works include a large-scale burlap painting installation composed of many parts, a series of paintings on paper, and a brand-new sculpture.

The opening includes remarks by the artist at 6pm, and a performance by the Andean Express. Featuring the artist's father, the band will play traditional Andean music using folk instruments such as the zamponas or 'pan flutes,' charango, bombo drum, quena flute and classical guitar.

This exhibition runs through November 6, 2010.

Maria Calderon received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from North Park University, Chicago, IL, in 2006. She is a former Urban Culture Project Studio Resident (2007-8), who has recently exhibited at the Wonderfair Gallery, Lawrence, KS; Speak in Kansas City, and is currently in the 2010 Flat Files Exhibition at the H&R Block Artspace. She is also a certified Yoga Instructor teaching in Kansas City, Mo. For more about the artist, visit www.mariacalderon.com

Urban Culture Project is an initiative of the Charlotte Street Foundation, an organization dedicated to making Kansas City a place where artists and art thrive. Urban Culture Project creates new opportunities for artists of all disciplines and contributes to urban revitalization by transforming spaces in downtown Kansas City into new venues for multi-disciplinary contemporary arts programming. For more information, visit www.charlottestreet.org.