Signature Events

Celebrating Emerging Artists

Lindsey Doolittle, Kristen Devlin, Ryan Sikes, Brad Friedman

In conjunction with the Library exhibition Peripheral Visions, filmmaker Lindsey Doolittle screens and discusses her award-winning, 8-minute short film Emerging Artists, inspired by Johnson County Developmental Supports’ Emerging Artists program. She is joined by JCDS Arts Program Specialist Kristen Devlin and artists Ryan Sikes and Brad Friedman.

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artist painting with gloved hand
Thursday, February 9, 2023 - 6:00pm
Reception: 
5:30 pm
Central Library
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Sports: Right on Time, a Tribute to Buck O’Neil

Friday Night Family Fun

Based on numerous interviews and Buck O’Neil's autobiography I Was Right on Time, Kansas City storyteller and vocalist “Brother John” Anderson provides a masterful impersonation of the Kansas City and Negro Leagues Baseball icon. Recommended for ages 3 and up. Please note the 6 p.m. start time.

photograph of Buck O'Neil alongside baseball bat and ball
Plaza Branch
Friday, February 10, 2023
6:00 pm to 7:15 pm

Sports: Wait, That’s a Sport?

Friday Night Family Fun

Think you know sports? Sure, you’re familiar with football, baseball, basketball, hockey, and even curling and cornhole. But what about spikeball? Speed stacking? Yugikassen? Check out some sports that are off the beaten path but super fun! Recommended for ages 3 and up.

spikeball equipment
Plaza Branch
Friday, February 17, 2023
5:30 pm to 7:30 pm

Russia, Ukraine, and a Vexed U.S.

Sean N. Kalic, Merrill Walker, Mark Wilcox
Conflict and Crisis

A year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a panel of military experts from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College examines the impact of the costly, globally fraught war – including the intensification of tensions between Russia and the United States. It launches a series, Conflict and Crisis, exploring America’s chief sources of international stress.

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map of Ukraine with tank and soldier over
Tuesday, February 21, 2023 - 6:00pm
Central Library
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Sports: (Almost) March Madness

Friday Night Family Fun

It’s almost March, and that means lots of basketball tournaments! But you don’t simply have to watch, and you don’t have to be a 7-footer to participate. Try your hand at basketball-inspired games and other fun activities. Recommended for ages 3 and up.

basketball going into hoop
Plaza Branch
Friday, February 24, 2023
5:30 pm to 7:30 pm

Learning From Gordon Parks

Ann Dean
Missouri Valley Sundays

Lawrence, Kansas, photographer Ann Dean discusses the impact and inspiration found in three seminal books – The Learning Tree, A Choice of Weapons, and Half Past Autumn – by Kansas-born Black author, photographer, and filmmaker Gordon Parks, one of the most renowned documentarians of American life and culture in the 20th century.

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black and white image of Gordon Parks with camera
Sunday, February 26, 2023 - 2:00pm
Central Library
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