The Current Perspectives Lecture Series fosters connection and broadens viewpoints within Kansas City. This program gives the community invaluable access to national and international creative leaders, whose unique perspectives spark progressive conversations and contribute to the growth of our cultural dialogue.

Speakers share insights into their career paths, influences, and both artistic and scholarly projects, offering fresh ideas and inspiration to attendees. By introducing these outside perspectives, the series enriches Kansas City’s arts scene and fosters a more diverse cultural landscape. At the same time, it heightens awareness of the vibrancy and relevance of our city’s cultural offerings, while exposing visiting lecturers to our local artistic community.

Rick Lowe was born in 1961 in rural Russell County, Alabama, and lives and works in Houston. Collections include the Brooklyn Museum, New York; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami; High Museum of Art, Atlanta; Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Overland Park, KS; Menil Collection, Houston; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; and the UBS Art Collection. Solo exhibitions include Art League Houston (2020–21). He also participated in Documenta 14, Athens (2017).

Among Lowe’s numerous community art projects are Project Row Houses, Houston (1993–2018); Watts House Project, Los Angeles (1996–2012); Borough Project (with Suzanne Lacy and Mary Jane Jacob), Charleston, SC (2003); Small Business/Big Change, Anyang Public Art Program, Korea (2010); Trans.lation, Dallas (2013); Victoria Square Project, Athens (2017–18); Greenwood Art Project, Tulsa, OK (2018–21); and Black Wall Street Journey, Chicago (2021–).

In 2013 President Barack Obama appointed Lowe to the National Council on the Arts, and in 2014 he was named a Mac Arthur Fellow. Lowe was a Visiting Fellow at the Neubauer Collegium for Culture and Society from 2019-2021. He is currently a professor of interdisciplinary practice at the University of Houston.