CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
Aries (Mangala), from a series of Astrological Paintings, Indian, about 1810. Opaque watercolor and gold on paper, 7 3/4 × 6 inches (19.69 × 15.24 cm). The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Gift of Wayne and Nancy Hunnicutt, 2019.63.1.
Mapping the Heavens: Art, Astronomy, and Exchange between the Islamic Lands and Europe
December 14, 2024 – January 11, 2026
Where are we? When are we?
These fundamental questions drove the development of astronomical sciences and religious practices across different times, regions, and faiths, to map and understand our place in the world and its relationship with the heavens.
The story of Mapping the Heavens begins in the Islamic World during the Early Middle Ages (c. 500s – 1200s CE), where Muslim scientists preserved and advanced the study of astronomy. Access to these scientific texts– many collected and translated in Spain in the 1200s and widely disseminated in books after the invention of the printing press in the 1400s–fueled a revolution of new discoveries and created a shared astronomical knowledge across Europe.
The works presented in this exhibition introduce the advancement of astronomy as a multi-cultural and multi-faith dialogue between scholars and scientists, showcasing the beauty and importance of the books, instruments, and images that communicated these discoveries.
Mapping the Heavens is part of our World Religions Initiative at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. This exhibition is co-organized with the Linda Hall Library and generously supported by the Lilly Endowment Inc.
To learn more, click here.
Michael Sims in The Lawrence Lithography Workshop booth at a print fair in New York, October 2023. Image courtesy of Emily Sims.
The Lawrence Lithography Workshop: Highlights from the Archive
December 21, 2024 – June 22, 2025
Composed of 24 prints from a newly established archive at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, this exhibition celebrates the creativity, talent, and collaborative spirit synonymous with The Lawrence Lithography Workshop (TLLW).
Master printer Michael Sims (born 1944) established TLLW in Lawrence, Kansas, in 1979 before moving it to Sunland Park, New Mexico, in 1997. Since 2001, the shop has operated out of Kansas City, Missouri, drawing artists as diverse as the subject matter and techniques represented in their prints. The artists have come from around the corner and across the country. Some are well-versed in printmaking while others are new to lithography and interested in exploring its possibilities. Many have returned again and again—a testament to the shop’s reputation and Sims’ expert guidance.
Among the hundreds of artists who have collaborated with Sims at TLLW are the following whose prints are on view in this exhibition: Leroy Allen, Anthony Baab, Paul Brach, Robert Julius Brawley, Suzi Davidoff, Joan Foth, Robert Green, Marcie Miller Gross, Dennis Helm, Edward Henderson, Tom Hück, Benito Huerta, Luis Alfonso Jiménez, Michael Krueger, Elizabeth “Grandma” Layton, Zigmunds Priede, Warren Rosser, Miriam Schapiro, Roger Yukata Shimomura, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Robert Stackhouse, Akio Takamori, Patti Warashina, and Andrzej Zieliński.
About The Lawrence Lithography Workshop Archive
In 2024, the Nelson-Atkins amplified a foundational gift made in 2023 by C. Richard Belger and Evelyn Belger and the John and Maxine Belger Foundation with a significant purchase. This resulted in a repository of lithographs by 55 artists made in collaboration with Sims at TLLW between 1980 and 2018. This archive ensures the legacy of this influential print shop, the artists with whom it worked, and the community it fostered.
