The Kansas City Public Library hosts Margi Conrads and Catherine Futter for a discussion called Drawing the Curtain Back: Reinstalling the American Galleries at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art on Wednesday, June 3, at 6:30 p.m. at the Plaza Branch, 4801 Main St.

Museum curators Conrads and Futter explain connections between American art and political history, from the earliest days of the nation and onward. This discussion will focus on six key dates—1776, 1826, 1850, 1886, 1913, and 1939—that tie the expanded American art collection to the wider events of American history, which is the organizing principle of the new galleries. They will also discuss the rewards and challenges of reinstalling this collection of paintings, sculpture, and decorative arts.

The Sarah and Landon Rowland American Art Galleries, the recent expansion and reinstallation of the American art collection at the Nelson-Atkins Museum, feature one of the finest public collections of American art nationwide.

Conrads is the Samuel Sosland Senior Curator of American Art and Futter is the Helen Jane & R. Hugh “Pat” Uhlmann Curator of Decorative Arts.