James Naismith thumbtacked the freshly typed 13 rules for his new game, Basket Ball, to a gymnasium bulletin board in December 1891. Now nearly 120 years later, the public will have its first chance to see the landmark document that launched a cultural legacy in a display at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. James Naismith’s Original Rules of Basket Ball opens to the public Saturday, March 5, in Kirkwood Hall at the Museum.

Bingham@200
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
March 9 – Oct. 2 2011
To honor the 200th birthday of George Caleb Bingham, the esteemed artist who depicted Missouri frontier life, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art will launch a bicentennial exhibition, Bingham@200

Monet’s Water Lilies
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
April 9 – August 7
For the first time in more than 30 years, all three panels of a remarkable water lily triptych by the preeminent Impressionist Claude Monet will be on view together, from April 9 to Aug. 7, at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. The exhibition reunites the right-hand panel, from the Nelson-Atkins collection, with panels owned by the Saint Louis Art Museum and the Cleveland Museum of Art. The three were last exhibited together in 1979. With the exception of a triptych in New York’s Museum of Modern Art, this is the only Monet triptych in the United States.

A 56-foot stainless steel sculpture of a tree by internationally acclaimed artist Roxy Paine will be permanently installed in the Kansas City Sculpture Park at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, beginning in early April. The tree was commissioned by Martin Friedman, Hall Family Foundation consultant for the Museum’s Sculpture Park for 20 years, and was funded by the foundation.

The Photographs of Ray K. Metzker
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Jan. 15 – June 5, 2011
Works by Ray K. Metzker, one of the most original and influential photographers of the last half century, will be on view from Jan. 15 to June 5, 2011, at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. The Photographs of Ray K. Metzker will reveal Metzker’s ability to turn ordinary subjects, including the urban experience and nature, into the visual poetry of the finely crafted black-and-white print.