In addition to its regular juried and resident exhibitions, KAF maintains the Kranzbergs’ private collection, built over decades and heavily focused on St. Louis artists. These works are displayed in regular rotation across KAF’s venues and spaces.. Portions of The Collection, some never before publicly displayed, are now part of a special exhibition, A Story Unfolding, on view through April 5 at The Kranzberg Gallery. Bringing them to this location represents a full-circle moment in the first physical space occupied by KAF in the Grand Center Arts District.
Female identifying artists are central this installation, which balances large-scale, room-defining work with pieces that reward close looking by artists including: Carol Carter, Sabina Ott, Tina Mion, Melody Evans, Diana Guerrero-Macia, Ginny Ruffner, Lola Ayisha Ogbara, and Bunny Burson. Across media, scale, and approach, these works carry equal presence. A Story Unfolding marks a return to origin, without nostalgia, shaped by clarity and care and informed by a deeper understanding of how stories grow through ongoing relationships with artists, place, and time.
As St. Louis natives, Nancy and Ken Kranzberg show their pride for the culturally rich city through their immense and ongoing support of its artistic community. This exhibition focuses on chronicling a timeline of the region’s conceptual and stylistic trends, the selections representing not only artists who spent considerable time in St. Louis, but also recognizing established and well-known artists working nationally and internationally.
“When we collect work, we try to focus on artists who are living and working here, or in support of galleries and arts organizations dedicated to giving artists opportunities to show their work in St. Louis,” says Nancy Kranzberg.
The pieces in The Collection are portraits of the Kranzbergs’ relationship with the artists and/or their work—a time capsule of their ongoing and lasting commitment to the St. Louis artist community. However, the value of the Kranzberg Collection far exceeds its prescribed material and emotional value. Their sustained interest in collecting illustrates the importance of cultural preservation in connecting the broader population through art.
Selected works from The Collection were previously displayed in an inaugural exhibition at The Kranzberg Arts Foundation Gallery at the St. Louis County Library Clark Family Branch. This new iteration continues KAF’s commitment to providing broad community access to The Collection.
“Accessibility to this work is important.
Part of creating that access is the KAF Visual and Literary Arts Department’s ongoing maintenance and stewardship of The Collection, including restoration and digitizing of the full catalogue through Omeka, an open source web-publishing platform for the display of collections and exhibitions.
“Everything was previously in binders and paper files, so getting it digitized has been a big effort over the past five years because, ultimately, we would like it to be available as an educational resource,” Grafos says.
Stop by The Kranzberg Gallery during regular hours on Saturdays from 12 to 4 p.m. to see A Story Unfolding and visit other KAF venues to experience other pieces from The Collection.
