JT Daniels is an artist and muralist in Kansas City and a 2023 recepient of the Studios Inc Residency. JT’s work weaves together various elements, such as characters and phrases, into streamlined designs that represent the heartbeat of the urban community.

Daniels invited Studios Inc. Gallery Manager Jaede Bayala to visit his studio this January as part of our new series highlighting A.I.R.’s and their works. Images and works-in-progress were documented by Terri Pollack.

Melanie Johnson is an artist and educator from Kansas City who was recently awarded a residency at Studios Inc. for 2025-2028. She creates large-scale charcoal drawings envisioning the emotional relationships between flora, fauna, and the female figure. Studios Inc. Gallery Manager Jaede Bayala asks Johnson “5 Questions” as part of our new series highlighting A.I.R.’s and their works.

The Studios Inc. Gallery Manager Jaede Bayala sat down with Armin Mühsam, who was recently awarded a residency at Studios Inc. for 2025-2028, as part of our new series highlighting A.I.R.’s and their works.

Mühsam is an interdisciplinary artist working with painting, drawing, and sculpture. 

Mallory Edson holds many hats; musician, video producer, and at Studios Inc – Communications and Marketing Manager.

The hustle and bustle in current A.I.R Hong Chun-Zhang’s studio never ceases! After completing an ambitious project at the Volland Foundation, which consisted of a 100 ft-long “Prairie Dragon” constructed from locally harvested hay bales, corn stalks, mesh, and textiles as well as a new body of work titled “Hair of the Dragon” in their gallery space, she has turned her attention to participating in an exhibition at the Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas. The show's chief curator is Susan Earle and is funded by the NEA. 

Studios Inc. announces two new artists as the awardees of the 2025-2028 Studios Inc Artist Residency Program: Melanie Johnson & Armin Mühsam. Launched to serve mid-career artists, Studios Inc is Kansas City’s only nonprofit arts organization offering pivotal three-year residencies to mid-career artists who are poised to significantly expand their careers. In tandem with the Residency Program is the Studios Patron Program, which connects artists directly with a patron for a heightened level of dialogue between resident artist and patron through studio visits, exhibitions, and funding opportunities. The Studios Inc Exhibition Series features an annual group residency exhibition each spring and all residents have a solo exhibition as they culminate their residency. 

Studios Inc Artist-in-Residence Caleb Taylor is a receipient of the 2024-25 ArtsKC Inspiration Grant! Chosen from a competitive pool of 84 applicants, each grantee receives a $3500 award to support a project that promotes artistic growth and community engagement.

This piece is amongst several others that are currently for sale at Studios Inc. Each tax-deductible piece from The Residency Collection would make a great addition to a home or office. You can view works available to purchase at https://www.studiosinc.org/studiosinc-collection. 

After many hours of careful assemblage, “Still Tangled” debuted at Studios Inc on August's First Friday, 2024. The exhibition showcases work by former artist in residence Susan White, and revists her 2021 solo exhibition “The Untangling”. Locally harvested honey locust thorns are scattered across the room in heaps and strung up above the ceiling. The thorns are painted in many colors; gold, silver, red, white, and blue. Accompanying them are pyrographs made up of thousands of tiny dots, holes meditatively burned into paper. Using a wood-burning tool, the artist strategically burns small holes into the thorns and sticks them together like pieces of a puzzle. Tension is the glue, although sometimes actual wood glue comes in handy. 

Hong Chun Zhang’s “Hair of the Dragon” is on view at Volland Foundation through September 22nd, 2024.