Meet our artists. - KCArtistLink

In their own words

Meet Kansas City's artists--and here their stories of business trials and triumphs. In their own words.

Stephanie Roberts

Stephanie Roberts is assistant professor of Physical Theatre for UMKC’s Professional Actor Training Program . She is also the founder of Boom! An International Lost and Found Family Marching Band that has played at the Kansas City Fringe Festival , Lanesboro, MN, and several Kansas City venues. Stephanie has toured nationally and abroad with companies such as Annex, Tears of Joy, Living Voices, and Seattle Mime Theatre. Ensemble-generated works include Meanwhile (UMKC), The Whisper, Lunacy (Dell’Arte International), Pseudo Omega, and 123 Fish Stories (Annex Theatre). She was recently awarded an ArtsKC Inspiration Grant to develop a one-woman mask play and was chosen by the Charlotte Street Foundation for a one-year studio residency as part of the Urban Culture Project. She holds a BFA in Acting from Cornish College of the Arts and an MFA in Ensemble Based Physical Theatre from Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre . This winter, Stephanie will be directing Slammed! KC Speaks out on the Recession at UMKC. READ STEPHANIE'S STORY ...

Jennifer Owen

After training with Pacific Northwest Ballet School , San Francisco Ballet School , School of American Ballet , and the Bolshoi Ballet Academy , Jennifer went on to dance with the Russian State Ballet , Moscow Renaissance Ballet, Kansas City Ballet , Hong Kong Ballet , BalletMet , and had the unique experience of appearing as a guest artist with the National Ballet of Turkmenistan. Notable roles Jennifer has danced include the title role in "Giselle," Kitri in "Don Quixote," principal roles in George Balanchine's "Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux" and "Donizetti Variations," and the central pas de deux in Todd Bolender's "Arena." Since forming the Owen/Cox Dance Group with composer Brad Cox in 2006, she has choreographed over a dozen works for the company. Jennifer is the recipient of a 2000 Princess Grace Honorarium , and winner of the 2006 Columbus Choreography Project. READ JENNIFER'S STORY

Anne Lindberg

Residencies can be an important part not only of artistic development, but also artists' networking and diversified funding strategies. Anne Lindberg’s drawings and sculptures have been widely exhibited throughout the United States and abroad and are in the permanent collections of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art , the Daum Museum of Contemporary Art the Detroit Institute of Arts, and the Spencer Museum as well as numerous private and public collections. In 2009, her work was shown at The Drawing Center , and she will have a solo exhibition at Cynthia Reeves Gallery in NYC, January 2010. Here, Anne shares her experiences with and the impact of her recent residency at Art Omi . READ ANNE'S STORY

Corrie Van Ausdal

Corrie Van Ausdal is an actor, writer, director, and founder of the Fishtank Performance Studio. She is well known for her stylized comedic characters and fearless physicality. In Kansas City, she has performed at the Unicorn and Coterie Theatres and extensively at Late Night Theatre, where she worked on ten shows in three years. She specializes in solo theatrical performance and a collaborative writing process. Her daughter is nearly three. READ CORRIE'S STORY

Robert Quakenbush

Robert Quackenbush is a painter, printmaker, and sculptor working full-time in the Kansas City area. Since coming to the mid-west four and a half years ago his work has been exhibited in twelve one-man shows and numerous group shows. In 2006 he was invited to join the Hand Print Press , a group of printmakers working out of UMKC. One of his prints has been curated into an exhibition “The Hand Print Press at 15,” which will be hosted by the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art beginning in December, 2009. In 2007, SPACES Magazine did a full length artists profile article about Robert and his work. The Kansas City Artists Coalition will host a one-man exhibition of Robert’s newest work in their Mallin Gallery beginning in March, 2010. On the immediate horizon is a collaborative effort with the sculptor Reilly Hoffman to create a body of work focused on images common to both of their styles...namely, feathers and wings. READ ROBERT'S STORY

Lisa Lala

Known for her luscious, expressive oil paintings on glass and canvas, Lisa Lala became well known for her Birds on a Wire series. Other series include the Hill series, Ferris Wheel series, and most recently, the List series, all which often include her doodles, drawings and stream-of-conscious writings sketched into the paint with a carpenter’s pencil.

With over ten sell-out shows since her launch in 2003, Lala’s work is now in many notable public, private and museum collections. Lala is represented by galleries in six cities: Atlanta, Chicago, Kansas City, LA/Laguna Beach, Little Rock, and her hometown Manhattan, KS. She has also exhibited in Belizian Arts, Central America, and Anthem Gallery in NYC. READ LISA'S STORY

Lisa Marie Evans

Lisa Marie Evans' work is shown internationally and varies in form from feature length documentary to short animation to public art installation. Evans currently works as an instructor at the Kansas City Art Institute, the University of Missouri Kansas City and Artists, INC, a professional development course for artists. She has been a selected artist for Creative Capital's Professional Development Workshop for Artists, the Arts Council of Metropolitan Kansas City's Inspiration Grant, Avenue of the Arts in Kansas City and Boynton Beach, and Charlotte Street Foundation's Urban Culture Project Studio Residency Program For Visual Artists. READ LISA MARIE'S STORY