21C Museum Hotel Exhibit The Future is Female

 We have visited the 21C Museum Hotel before but the exhibit has changed.  The current exhibit is The Future is Female, April 2024 - March 2025.  We will visit once a year.

The history of the Savoy Hotel:

 The Savoy Hotel and Grill was a historic hotel and restaurant in Kansas City, Missouri. The Savoy Hotel was the oldest continuously operating hotel in the United States west of the Mississippi River until it closed in 2016 to undergo extensive renovation by 21c Museum Hotels and reopened in 2018. In 1974 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Kansas City's Hotel Savoy was built in 1888. It was built by the owners of the Arbuckle Coffee Company. In 1903 the original hotel was remodeled and the west wing was added featuring the Savoy Grill dining room. 

In the early 1900s, the Savoy was a luxury destination for travelers arriving by train in Kansas City. It was the first hotel seen by travelers as they entered the city from the old Union Depot. With the depression of the 1930s and the later shift toward suburban living, the hotel began to fall into disrepair, although the restaurant remained active. A renovation of the hotel into a bed and breakfast began in 1985. The renovation project was undertaken by owner Don Lee. Lee had purchased the Savoy Grill in 1960 and the entire Savoy Hotel in 1965. During the renovation, care was taken to preserve original pieces of the hotel that were still in usable condition, including the original reception desk and stained glass artwork. The Savoy Grill included the original carved oak bar, high beamed ceilings, murals painted in 1903 by Edward Holslag, and the famous Booth No. 4, which was frequented by Harry and Bess Truman.

Original desk

There is beautiful stained glass in the dome.

Original floor

I'm sorry - I'm all history this week. 

Just like last year, I walk in and ask if I can view the art.  This year I was told I could but they give tours every Friday.  I hope to remember that next year.   Now to the art exhibit featuring my favorites.

Saya Woolfauk, ChimaCloud Crystal Body

Cheryl Pope, Portrait of a Woman

Wool Roving Needle Punched in Cashmere

Zoe Buckman, Wakeful Anguish, Ding Ding, and Ode On

Vintage wedding dresses, embroidery, boxing gloves, chains

Close-up

Close-up

I forgot to get the artist's name

Labels are poems

Frances Goodman, Medusa

Acrylic nails, foam and metal

Really Acrylic Nails

Felix Cid, Woman's March

Digital Pigment Print on Archival Paper

Close-up

Lily Mueller made all 3

Hand-dyed silk velvet, machine quilted

I just love textiles

Just a few more pictures:

Original barber chair

Looking into the Savoy Gill

I love the blue penguins.

Original stained glass windows in the Savoy Grill.

This hotel is in the Historic Garment District.  It's so funny remembering my visit a year ago.  I was so scared to ask about looking at the museum.  I looked it up November 28, 2023.  I have changed and grown in the past year.

I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving!