Imagine the Nerman Museum as a lovely three-tiered cake perched on the Johnson County Community College campus (JCCC). The icing on the confection is the stunning Oppenheimer Collection, which celebrated its 20th anniversary last year and is valued at more than $10 million. Curated by the Oppenheimers—gregarious Kansas City art collectors and advocates—and the Nerman's executive director Bruce Hartman, 21 pieces grace JCCC's grounds, including sculptures, paintings, photographs, ceramics, new media, textiles and American Indian art. Not only does the parade of art offer students a rich perspective, but it also earned the college prestigious recognition as one of the top 10 U.S. college campuses for public art.

MIAMI BEACH, FL – DECEMBER 05: A general view of the Galerie Daniel Templon at the Art Basel Miami Beach 2012 VIP Preview at the Miami Beach Convention Center on December 5, 2012 in Miami Beach, Florida. (Photo by John Parra/Getty Images for Art Basel Miami 2012)

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – Art Basel Miami Beach 2012's grand opening on Wednesday, December 5, 2012, was truly a world affair. The Vernissage — Art Basel's big, opening night event — was a ball. The scene was more like a midsummer night's dream.

The glitterati from Italy, German, Spain, Holland, Nigeria, The Dominican Republic, Mexico, India and France were there. The billionaire philanthropist and notorious art collector, Eli Broad, was in attendance, as was Las Vegas casino magnate Steve Wynn (a formidable art collector himself). The peripatetic and global art collectors, Mera and Don Rubell and Martin Freiermuth of the Vontobel Swiss Investment Group were there. The convention center's acoustics were painted with canvases of Spanish, French, Arabic, German, Yoruba, Chinese and Italian.

Rap stars P.Diddy, Pharell, Rick Ross and Hip Hop mogul Lyor Cohen were in the house. This year's black presence was formidable.

Dana Schutz, Swimming, Smoking, Crying, 2009. Oil on canvas, 45 x 48 in. Collection Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Johnson County Community College, Overland Park, Kansas, Gift of Marti and Tony Oppenheimer and the Oppenheimer Brothers Foundation. © Dana Schutz. Courtesy of the artist and Friedrich Petzel Gallery, New York..

DENVER, CO.- The Denver Art Museum announced today that the 10-year career survey of renowned contemporary artist Dana Schutz will be exhibited at the museum November 11, 2012, through January 13, 2013.One of the most influential young artists to emerge in the past decade, Schutz is recognized for her voracious imagination, strong subject matter and vibrant color palette.

Dana Schutz: If the Face Had Wheels will be on view in the Gallagher Family Gallery and included with general museum admission. Schutz will give a Logan Lecture at the museum on November 7, 2012.

The artist is also connecting to the community. She will present a works-on-paper exhibition at MCA Denver (September 21, 2012 - January 13, 2013) and will participate as a Hamilton Visiting Artist at the University of Denver.

Tony and Marti Oppenheimers were honored at a Sept. 29 gala at the Nerman Museumof Comtemporary Art, where the galleries were filled with works of art they purchased for the collection. It includes two "Soundsuits" by Nick Cave, a Kansas City Art Institute alum whose career is skyrocketing.

The Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art and Johnson County Community College mark a milestone this fall, celebrating the 20th anniversary of art collectors Tony and Marti Oppenheimer's patronage.

The couple, former residents of the Kansas City area who now live in Los Angeles, have contributed more than $2.5 million for the purchase of contemporary art by emerging and established, national and international names. They have also consistently supported local and regional artists, whose works make up roughly 30 percent of the museum's 153-piece Oppenheimer Collection.

Late last month, a museumwide exhibit of the Oppenheimer Collection opened in conjunction with a 20th anniversary gala honoring the couple. Roughly two-thirds of the collection is now on view, and all of the works are featured in a 340-page hardcover Oppenheimer Collection book, with an essay by critic and Star reviewer Elisabeth Kirsch and pictures of each piece accompanied by short entries written by local art historians.

So it's a good time to take stock of what Nerman Museum director Bruce Hartman calls "the foundation upon which our permanent collection rests."

Credit Laura Spencer / KCUR The "Three Musketeers" of collecting (from left to right): Tony and Marti Oppenheimer and Bruce Hartman.

When you think of a patron of the arts, what name comes to mind? Maybe it's Medici or Guggenheim.

In Kansas City, it's likely to be Bloch, Hall, Helzberg, Kauffman, Kemper...or Oppenheimer. A new exhibition at the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art displays the ongoing relationship between Johnson County Community College and the Oppenheimers. It's one that's literally filled the campus with more than 100 pieces of art.

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Marti and Tony Oppenheimer, at their home this summer in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Nerman celebrates 20th anniversary of Oppenheimer art collection

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – The Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art will host a gala Sept. 29 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Oppenheimer art collection.

The event, honoring Marti and Tony Oppenheimer, will begin at 7 p.m. at the Nerman on the campus of Johnson County Community College. For information about attending, visit jccc.edu/foundation or call the JCCC Foundation at 913-469-3835. Admission will be $125 with additional patron levels available.

More than 500 artists, art dealers and art aficionados from Chicago, Wichita, Little Rock, Ark., and other cities across the nation are expected to attend. They will include friends from Sotheby's in New York, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Also that evening, the Nerman will unveil more than 15 new gifts from the Oppenheimers. They will include another stunning painting from Dana Schutz, whose Swimming, Smoking, Crying graced the cover of Art in America in November. Other artists exhibiting new works will be Nick Cave, Kim Dorland, Asad Faulwell, Kirk Hayes, Angel Otero, Cordy Ryman, Kent Michael Smith, Stefanie Gutheil, Lonnie Powell, Ian Davis, Allison Schulnik, Leidy Churchman, Brian Calvin, Warren Inessee and Brian Tolle.

The mesmerizing film Mound by Allison Schulnik, which has been acquired by the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, features a cast of ghoulish characters.

Nerman Museum acquires video Mound by artist Allison Schulnik

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – Projected in the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art's Oppenheimer New Media Gallery at Johnson County Community College is Allison Schulnik's new mesmerizing film Mound. A reception celebrating this latest acquisition to the Oppenheimer Collection will be held in the museum Atrium from 6 to 8 p.m., Friday, January 13th. The reception is free and open to the public.

The 4.23-minute film features a ghoulish cast of more than 100 figures – mostly made from clay – which sway and melt and reappear. It's the kind of film that requires multiple viewings for one to appreciate the extraordinary range of movement, detail and expression.

Museum director Jeffrey Deitch with Anne Hathaway at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA reception (photo: Jessie Grant)Who would have guessed that more than 60 arts institutions and 70 commercial galleries in Southern California could team up for anything? Yet "Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945-1980," which is just such a collaboration, is now underway. Conceived by the Getty Research Institute, PST celebrates the birth of the Los Angeles art scene in venues from Santa Barbara to San Diego.

"It's a herculean, magnificent effort," said John Baldessari at the Getty's Oct. 2 Opening Celebration. One of many California artists featured in the various exhibitions, Baldessari said his works appear in 11 different shows.

Dana Schutz, Swimming, Smoking, Crying, 2009. Oil on canvas, Collection Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Johnson County Community College, Overland Park, Kansas. Gift of Marti and Tony Oppenheimer and the Oppenheimer Brothers Foundation

One of the most coveted American painters of the past decade, Dana Schutz is being honored with her first major museum survey show, featuring some 30 paintings and a dozen drawings that reflect her absurdist sensibility for storytelling, while conveying her intuitive and jovial handling of paint.

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