About 300 people work at the Kansas City Public Library – across nine branches, a digital branch, an outreach program, and at the Central Library. The exhibition An Exchange of Gifts: The Art of Kansas City Public Library Staff celebrates their creative talents and serves as a visual arts capstone for the Library’s 150th anniversary.

The postcard for the exhibition features a black and white photograph by Community Resources Specialist Sara Escandon of a butterfly perched on a leaf.

“It made me think of the idea of metamorphosis and adaptability,” says the Library’s exhibitions coordinator Craig Auge, “and it speaks on some level to our 150th year – the changes that we've gone through, and where we're headed.”

A public celebration for An Exchange of Gifts takes place on Saturday, November 2, 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. RSVP here.

“I knew there were lots of artists here, artists first who also work at the Library,” says Auge, who’s a collage artist. “But I also personally believe everyone has a creative impulse somewhere inside.”  

After the open call in June, Auge says he was “floored by the variety, by the passion, and the commitment” in the nearly 50 submitted works – including paintings, drawings, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, textiles, photography, and collage. 

Some pieces were created for the show – in art-making workshops at the Library, at home, or in studios – while other works were ones that staff artists had on hand. 

Themes included nature, history, travel, animals, personal connection – and literature, such as “Book Blanket,” by April Roy, Director of Employee Success. The knit blanket is draped, says Auge, “so it presents as a sculpture.” Each stripe of color represents a different genre in about a year of reading for Roy.

And, of course, there are references to the Library – past and present. 

Abbey Briscoe, who works with Missouri Valley Special Collections, created a collage called “Inseparable Friends” about the Library’s first full-time director, Carrie Westlake Whitney, and her longtime partner, Frances Bishop. According to Briscoe, the piece reflects "one of Carrie’s favorite hobbies: Putting together informational collages for patrons and displaying them on a bulletin board."

The Library's materials receiving specialist Nash High submitted a video of his country western song “Old Town Library” – filmed at Central’s circulation desk as a submission to NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts in 2022. 

“Well, you won't find me in the uptown bars with their grapefruit drinks and their baseball stars. Nor them salons with their hairdo magazines,” High sings. “But you can find me down at the old town library.” 

Auge says there were ongoing surprises and new revelations about staff members. 

One example, he says, is Leslie Case, an audiovisual specialist at the Library who handles Signature Events and other programming. Her painting “Used Car Lot Streamers” displays fluttering blue and white streamers.

“You get locked into ‘this is what Leslie does’ equals ‘this is who Leslie is,’” Auge says. “And it’s like, no, she has a whole range of interests – and just one of them is that she paints.”

He adds, “I think art can be the way to really get to know someone – or get to know them for the first time in certain cases, too.”