MOD Gallery & Space, hit the ground running in 2021. MOD started 2021 with a soft re-opening on May First Fridays, after being closed for over a year and a half from the COVID Pandemic. Brian Ousley, the owner of MOD, spent the quarantine time remodeling and tiding up the gallery to get show-ready with great art for the Kansas City area! It is time to reflect and look to the future at what MOD has in store for 2022.
MOD Gallery is a local gallery in the Kansas City Crossroads Arts District, one of the hippest galleries in Kansas City, Missouri! 2021 was the best year to date for art sales and artistic events in the Crossroads! What will MOD bring to the Arts District in this new year? Check out just a few of the highlights for the past year and what is to come in 2022! If you would like to know more about MOD, check out a few of the stories at katdaydesign.com.
In May, the year started with Jim Ramirez and Brandi Johnson, also known as Flybysuze, at MOD’s soft opening! Ramirez displayed his Cardboard Abstract Art, and Flybysuze had a colorful display of abstract paintings.
The artists worked creatively throughout the year, getting their special gal dressed to impress for the Mannequin Memoirs III show! Dressed to kill, the ladies stepped out for an exceptional debut for June’s First Friday. Awesome local artists created each lady’s “wardrobe” in their own unique style and fashion.
The MOD Cantina and Front Gallery Bar officially opened on July’s First Fridays with their own liquor license. The featured artist Phil Dunn of Phildunnartkc brought many great pieces of art. Dunn’s unique style of paintings preserved & enhanced with a resin coating made for a fantastic show at MOD. Dunn has also had many accomplishments working at Society KC with his stunning artwork. MOD plans to incorporate Phil Dunn’s unique style in the gallery in 2022.
July was MOD’s first, First Friday event to sell alcohol! Brian Ousley had worked diligently throughout the Pandemic to get the gallery ready for multiple inspections and received his liquor license in mid-June. MOD also hosted a comedy act in July with Comedian Davey Wester, Jon Schieszer, and Connor Hangsleben for a night of laughter! The end of July MOD featured legendary Kansas City Bluesman Nick Schnebelen!
In August, artist Richard Day literally brought the beach to MOD for his first time showing his collection of paintings he did up and down the Pacific Coast Highway in Orange County, California. Jeremy Boatright of Mental Wasteland also showed his amazing artwork along with Richard Day as the featured artists for August!
Even with the pouring down rain that hit First Friday, September was an excellent show. The featured artist was Fernando Achucarro with his fabulous charcoal sketches. The Accidental Project was the featured band, but the rain had a different say on the MOD Back Patio activities.
The front gallery had fantastic music from the amazing DJ Ray Velasquez. Velasquez is MODs featured First Fridays main stage DJ! MOD also hosted the KKFI Crossroads Music fest with the Heavy Emotions DJ’s rocking EDM Music on the MOD’s Back Patio and Cantina. The Bridge 90.9 announced to the public that MOD’s own DJ Ray Velasquez would be returning to the radio airwaves with his legendary program, Nocturnal Transmission! You can listen to it on Friday nights from 10 pm till 1 am every week and streaming previous episodes at https://bridge909.org/shows/nocturnal-transmission.
EEPHUS brought his wide variety of sports memorabilia artwork on October First Fridays, making for a fantastic show! EEPHUS has a combination of old baseball cards worked into art and a large variety of t-shirts and other sports collectibles! Phil Dunn also showed his fantastic Resin art paintings in the front gallery!
In November, MOD featured the artwork of Teresa Dirks and Jacob Hess. And in December, MOD featured Craig Mildrexler and his Black Light Paintings for their 13th Annual Charlie Brown Christmas Charity Event, which raised money and donations for Jump Start Art KC, Harvesters, and the Salvation Army!
2021 was an excellent year for all the pop-up artists like Justin Canja, aka PaperMonkeyMovement, Crystal Ramirez, Gabriel Reyes of KCEscapades, Chad Taylor, Art by Samm. Amanda America, Joseph E. Walton Photography, Paul Kavanaugh, Peter Quick, James Sprinkle, Mark Peterson, Larry Buchanan and many more great artists!
“Art in the Street” at MOD in 2021 featured Mallory Art Gallory aka Twistedsisgoods, Photography by Mark Petersen, Craig Mildrexler Blacklight Paintings, Photography by Larry Buchanan, and Hannah’s Filthy Cosplay, Amanda America and many more talented artists! !
Some of the artists showing on the Back Patio and MOD Cantina were Heather Inez Benoit and Luis Garcia, aka Hechokc! With a few other attractions! Other ‘Art in the Street’ and ‘Pop-up Artists’ have been Amanda Carullo, Britton Browning, Eric Enzbrenner, Holly Hempfling, David Ameryun!
What to look forward to in 2022 at MOD Gallery & Space
After a two-month break, MOD Gallery will open its doors on March 4, featuring artists Heather Inez Benoit & Bassim Sabawi! April 1, we will have Brandi Johnson, aka Flybysuze, and the Red-Headed League lighting it up on the Backdoor patio and MOD Cantina! Heavy Emotions will be the MOD Back Patio & Cantina regular DJs for a night of fun and dancing on First Fridays with the weather permitting!
On May 6, 2022, Joseph Walton Photography from New Orleans will return as the featured artist! On June 3, MOD will have Phil Dunn of PhilDunnArtKC back with his excellent Resin Coated Paintings! Hold on to your hats, folks, The Back Patio will feature live music from The Black Mariah Theater on May First Fridays and Mensa Deathsquad will be back for a great show on the Back Patio & Cantina on June First Fridays!
MOD has not yet booked a band for July First Friday, but the featured artist will be Justin Canja! Canja’s been spending the cold months getting ready for the new year. I can’t wait to see the new work that Canja will bring to MOD! We have no bands booked for the rest of 2022 yet. But we have artists booked through October. In August, the featured artists are Matthew Stevens & Amanda America, a music-themed show. In September, the featured artists will be Luis Garcia and Chris Frye, and in October, EEPHUS will be back with his sports memorabilia! November is still open for that unique featured artist, so it will be exciting to see who the artists will be in one of the closing months of the year! December’s featured artist will be Craig Mildrexler and his Black Light Art! December will close out with MOD’s Charlie Brown Christmas, a time for giving and donating to those less fortunate. We are excited for another great First Friday’s season at MOD and hope to see you there!
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