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Published July 03, 2008 03:02 pm - Taina Chapman, of Fairway, Kan., has never taken art history. She doesn’t know the difference between a Rembrandt and a Monet. Chapman is 6 years old. Find new perspective w/ Nelson-Atkins slide show Click the player below to view the slide show.
By Melissa Dunson mdunson@joplinglobe.com Taina Chapman, of Fairway, Kan., has never taken art history. She doesn’t know the difference between a Rembrandt and a Monet. Chapman is 6 years old. Yet, the little girl spent part of last week touring some of the world’s great works of art — and enjoying it. “I want to be an art teacher when I grow up,” Chapman said. “I like to make stuff out of stuff pretty much.” Chapman was at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City with her class recently. She is part of a new generation the museum is reaching out to by including different types of art that appeal to different types of visitors. The museum is also trying to incorporate art into the architecture to emphasize that art is an experience rather than an exercise solely of the intellect. “We believe that a good society has to provide certain things to its citizens. Education is a big thing in our country,” said Marc Wilson, the museum’s director and chief executive officer. “But the same thing applies to art. Why should a citizen not have access to some of the greatest achievements in human history?” Some of those achievements are on display at the Nelson-Atkins. Famed pieces include the oil painting “Saint John the Baptist in the Wilderness” by Caravaggio; “The Thinker” by sculptor Auguste Rodin; an oil self-portrait by Rembrandt; part of Monet’s famed “Waterlilies” collection; and a large collection by Neosho-born artist Thomas Hart Benton. With its newest addition, the Bloch Building, the Nelson-Atkins was named Time magazine’s building of the year for 2007. It ends up being one of the 10 largest encyclopedic (general) art museums in the world. It already has world-renowned collections of Asian art and photography, and, when some construction is done next year, it will have one of the largest collections of American Indian art. Already this year, the museum has been featured on television in Spain and Japan, and in an Iranian newspaper. But it remains a secret for many in the Midwest. “You can still find people even here in Kansas City who don’t know who we are, or where we are,” Wilson said. “You would be surprised. This museum may be more famous in Tokyo than it is in the U.S.” 
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