Restoration & Renovation

Summer Wheat’s JewelHouse

James Turrell’s Skyspace

Ed Dwight’s Weathervane

Restorative Practices

Holiday Meet & Greet + Ornament Signing with Irma Starr

Saturday, December 14 and Sunday, December 15 Holiday Meet & Greet + Ornament Signing with Irma Starr
11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Saturday
12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Sunday
Wisteria, our Boutique – First Floor
Free Event | No Tickets Required

Join us for holiday cookies and meet Irma Starr!

Irma’s Starr’s artistic journey has been a trip back in time; she is a 17th century slipware artist. While viewing the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art’s famous Burnap Collection of ceramics, Irma fell in love with the slipware mermaid on a plate, by English slipware artist Ralph Toft, and has never looked back.

Irma Starr began her journey in 1963 as a mother of two and a senior at the Kansas City Art Institute (KCAI) when she was given a life-changing assignment; go to the Nelson-Atkins, just across the street from KCAI, choose a piece of ceramic art and reproduce it. The rest is history. In 2002, she was commissioned by the Smithsonian Institute to create a 36-inch commemorative plate for the 30th Anniversary of the Renwick Gallery, where it is now hanging.

She is accomplished in all of the classic glazing techniques: combing, feathering, marbling, and slip trailing. Starr has been commissioned by private connoisseurs, museums, companies, and the White House to create commemorative pieces.

Quick Facts About Irma Starr:

  • Specializes in 17th-century English Slipware Pottery
  • Works of art include commemorative plates, decorative ornaments, jewelry and figurines.
  • In 2000, Hillary Clinton commissioned her to make a commemorative plate for the Clintons’ 25th wedding anniversary. She has also done ornaments for the White House Christmas tree.
  • In 2002, the Smithsonian’s Renwick Gallery of the National Museum of American Art commissioned her to create a commemorative plate for the Renwick’s 30th anniversary.
  • Her work can be seen at leading museums around the nation, including the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and the National Museum of American Art.
  • Her studio is based in Kansas City, MO.

Shop our exclusive Irma Starr Corinthian Hall and Fairy Princess ornaments plus enjoy the live Dickens Carolers singing on the first-floor landing from 12:00 to 2:00 p.m. and Saturday and from 12:00 to 4:00 p.m. on Sunday as you visit the museum. No seating available.

For more details, please contact Mike Carr, Retail Manager at 816.702.8336.

 

HOURS & ADMISSON

Thursday
10:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Friday & Saturday
10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Sunday
Noon – 5:00 p.m.

General Admission is FREE