Video games make the transition from entertainment to art in the latest exhibit at the Kansas City Kansas Community College Art Gallery.
“The Art of Gaming” is on display through Sept. 23 at the art gallery, in the lower Jewell building at the main KCKCC campus, 7250 State Ave., Kansas City, Kansas.
Shai Perry, who curated the exhibit, said it was inspired by her stepkids, who were playing games online during the pandemic. Gaming was a way the kids communicated with each other, she said. Moms may not want their kids to have as much screen time, but it’s how kids are socializing today, she said, and the art show expresses these changes.
“I as curator have a series called ‘Art Is,’ where I take something you might not think is artistic and show people that it is,” said Perry, also the coordinator of the KCKCC Art Gallery. Creativity is part of everyday life, she added.
“We are creative every day in the way we decide what shirt and shoes to put on,” she said. Everyone creates, and the art show, “The Art of Gaming,” just expresses the creativity found around gaming.
The art exhibit has sparked the interest of students at the college, where there are members of a gamers’ club who have traveled to competitions and won awards. Some students have painted miniature characters to make them more realistic. Some college classes have scheduled tours of the art gallery.
Topics that have inspired art include tabletop games, old school games such as Sega and Mario, the NFL, and arcade games such as Pong, Duck Hunt and Tetris.
Some of the works are three-dimensional animation, while others are acrylic on wood platforms, some are drawings, others are acrylic on canvas and acrylic on paper.
Anthony Oropeza, a community artist who is an alumnus of KCKCC, has works in the exhibit. Another community artist with works on display is Darryl Woods, who works with kids’ art summer camps and whose works are loved by kids, she said. Oropeza is known for sports art, and Woods has done many superhero art pieces.
Other students and community artists who have works on display in the exhibit include Bekon Flory, Ben Lee, Christopher Guthrie, Damont Jordan, Emma Conforti, Ian Young, Joseph Sanchez, Julianna Johnson, Micki W. Hill, Oscar Alvarez-Alonso and Raven Harmon.
The art show opened Aug. 15, at the beginning of the school year, and runs through Sept. 23. There will be a closing reception from 4 to 7 p.m. Sept. 23. The art gallery is free and open to the public. Perry suggested that visitors make an appointment at 913-288-7408 to make sure that the gallery is staffed and it is open at the time they want to visit.
