Local Artists Go Miniature

Fine-scale miniature artists in the collection of The National Museum of Toys and Miniatures create astoundingly small objects inspired by everything from Louis XV’s study at Versailles to an Art Deco bathroom to a tray of chips, salsa, and guacamole. These small versions of full-scale objects invite the viewer to look closer at the world around them in exciting new ways.

What have you always wanted to make in miniature?

The Museum invited artists within a 60-mile radius of Kansas City to submit up to three small visual artworks to be considered for a juried exhibition in the Museum’s newest gallery. 2D and 3D submissions of any media and concept were welcomed, but objects could be no larger than 12x12x12”.

Artworks could be realistic, abstract, and/or imagined subjects and did not have to be inspired by an existing, full-scale object. All artists selected will receive a $575 honorarium and must agree to have their work on view at the Museum for the duration of the exhibition, October 25, 2024 – June 9, 2025. Artists in the exhibition will also be invited to participate in creating interpretation elements as well as leading makers workshops for the community.

OPENING RECEPTION ON OCTOBER 25 SOLD OUT.

After receiving 127 submissions, jurors of “Local Artists Go Miniature” selected artworks from 29 artists to be on display during the exhibition. The National Museum of Toys and Miniatures would like to thank the Kansas City community for the impressive number of high-quality entries that were received. These small artworks showcase big talent.

Aimee Garcia
Alivia Haltom
Alyssa Sipe
April Pugh
Arlyn Johnson
Cary Esser
Celina Curry
César Lopez
Chandra Beadleston
Chandra Debuse
Dean Kube
Emily Blair Quinn
Eric Conrad
Hoseok Youn
Hùng Lê
Janet Hanna
John Eck
Kate Schroeder
Kelly Conner
Kendall Bolden
Kim Lindaberry
Kristina Panos
Mackenzie Fulmer
Melissa Guadalupe Wolf
Oscar Gutiérrez
Shawn Sanem
Sydney Pener
Thomas Mueller
Traci Furan

Carlos Ortiz-Gallo – Artist | Curatorial Fellow, Local Artists Go Miniature

Carlos Ortiz-Gallo was born in Lima, Peru, in 1993 and eventually migrated to Miami, FL. Currently based in Kansas City, Ortiz-Gallo works with a diverse array of mediums to create large hybrid installations. Ortiz-Gallo has participated in several solo and group shows and has exhibited work at galleries in Missouri, Illinois, Florida, and Texas. He obtained his BFA in Printmaking and Art History from the Kansas City Art Institute in 2016. Ortiz-Gallo was a resident artist at Art Letter & Numbers in Averill Park, NY, in the fall of 2021 and a resident at ACRE Projects in 2018.

Chris Toledo – Fine-Scale Miniature Artist

Chris Toledo is a Los Angeles-based artist renowned for his exquisitely detailed miniature models of historical interiors. With a passion that began in childhood, Toledo has refined his skills to create 1:12 scale miniatures that are strikingly accurate representations of architectural periods, particularly the early 20th century. His work is not just about replicating details but about evoking the feel and historical context of the periods he models. One of his iconic Art Deco bathrooms and a commissioned Miniature Art Museum are in The National Museum of Toys and Miniature’s permanent collection and on display in the Miniature Maze.

Cristina Albu – Associate Professor of Contemporary Art History and Theory | University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC)

Cristina Albu is an associate professor of contemporary art history and theory at UMKC. Her research addresses how contemporary art enables us to question what and how we perceive. It focuses on artists’ uses of new media such as video and biofeedback technology to enhance attention and highlight the fluidity of selfhood and interpersonal exchanges. She is the author of Mirror Affect: Seeing Self, Observing Others in Contemporary Art (Minnesota University Press, 2016). Albu is also co-editor (with Dawna Schuld) of a volume of essays titled Perception and Agency in Shared Spaces of Contemporary Art (Routledge, 2018). Her writings have appeared in scholarly anthologies (e.g. Hybrid Practices: Art in Collaboration with Science and Technology in the Long 1960s, Framings, The Permanence of the Transient, Crossing Cultures) and journals, including Afterimage, Artnodes, and Athanor.

Jill Downen – Artist | Chair of Sculpture | Kansas City Art Institute (KCAI)

Jill Downen is a non-binary American artist based in Kansas City who works in site-responsive installations, sculpture, and drawing. Significant awards include the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship, the Stone and DeGuire Contemporary Art Award, the Charlotte Street Foundation Visual Artists Award, and an international Santos Foundation Grant. Downen has created installations at The Momentary/Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, The Oklahoma City Museum of Art, and for Open Spaces: The Exhibition. Their residencies include MASS MoCA, the MacDowell Colony National Endowment for the Arts residency, and Cité International des Arts residency in Paris, among others. They hold a BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute (KCAI) and an MFA from the Sam Fox School at Washington University in St. Louis. Downen is the chair of sculpture at KCAI and is represented by the Bruno David Gallery in St.

Wolfe Brack – Artist | Artistic Director of InterUrban ArtHouse | Board Member, The National Museum of Toys and Miniatures

Wolfe Brack is a self-taught artist born and raised in Kansas City. His work deals mostly with the minute, the unnoticed, and the humorousness that is often overlooked in our daily lives. Brack draws inspiration from natural forms, incorporating live organisms ranging from tiny plants to the human body, into his work. He was the Director of GLOW, a coalition of artists, body painters, models, musicians, and photographers that put on live arts events in Kansas City through the use of body paint, music, dance, and the human canvas. Brack is currently the Artistic Director for the InterUrban ArtHouse in Overland Park, KS, overseeing programming, events, and gallery exhibitions in the space.

Financial assistance for this project has been provided by the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency.