Visit the New Wing of the Nelson Art Gallery

The new addition to the Nelson Art Gallery is worth visiting. I did so this past week and was very impressed. Don’t get me wrong. The outside of the building is butt ugly at best – even if it glows at night -- it is still ugly during the daytime and that is when most people will see it. The inside is the treat. It is a marvel of architecture. Many of the exhibits have moved from the Nelson’s Modern Art section placed in the main building of the new wing of the museum. The expansive white walls and ceilings with their geometric shapes are a treat that add to the artistic values of the modern art sculptures. For those of a more traditional sense of art the rest of the new museum is well worth the visit. A word of advice – wear some comfortable walking shoes. It is a long slog from one end of the new Bloch Building to the other – and uphill all the way back. Parks and Police . . . Much has been written and said about the problems in Coleman Park. Most of it on this blog – but it appears that some people are finally beginning to listen. The police have become more responsive to calls (and there have been a lot of them) from neighbors of the park. The situation has also been helped by unusually cool and wet weather, which has rained out a number of the ball games played at the park. The Park Board and Police Department need to quit the “no, you shut-up” argument they have been having and work together to make certain park rules are enforced. Parks should be a “plus” for a neighborhood, not a “minus”. Finally, ALL city officials, from the Mayor no down need to quit taking the position of “Oh, I didn’t know there was problem in the parks” attitude. As the weather gets warmer we will see if the lesson has sunk in that there are degrees of civility that must be followed in public places. A lot of what has been happening at Coleman Park this spring has ignored that rule. It is time our Park and Police Department stepped up to the challenge of holding higher standards in our city parks. Kansas City's New Mayor . . . Mark Funkhauser has appointed a new Park Board. He replaced all but one member of the current Board with new members. Nothing wrong with that. As Mayor, it is his perogative. But his comments in doing so smacked of demagougery with racist overtones. Funkhauser stooped to a new low by accusing the Park Board of being a haven for elitists. Kansas City has long been held up as one of the nation's leading areas in park space for the public . . . it does not matter if your skin color is purple, green or blue. The good Mayor should remember that those "elitists" before him created that legacy.