A SATURDAY WITH KELLY KUHN

Occasionally we see perfect days when everything just falls together: a sunny break in the gray weather, a neighborhood block brimming with eclectic shopping, a grouping of vibrant, complementary personalities. Such was the case the day KC Home Design met up with Kelly Kuhn, owner of Blue Gallery, in her exhibition space in the Crossroads Arts District (118 Southwest Blvd.).  

Upon arriving, we took a turn around the gallery, stopping first at artist Shannon Gaines Bowman’s “Members Only” exhibition of decorative objects. (Lisa Lala has since filled the space with her compelling “List” exhibition, running through March 22.) Bowman’s husband, Rich, is also represented by Blue Gallery. “We’ve carried his paintings since we opened in 2000,” Kuhn says, noting the gallery’s 10th anniversary this year. “He’s distinctly Midwestern; the landscape is his muse.”

Kuhn then guided us through a few of Blue Gallery’s other notable artists: Aileen Chong, the San Francisco-based artist whose Peruvian and Chinese heritage informs her saturated, mixed media canvases with a quality that Kuhn calls “quiet and lovely but complex”; Daniel Ochoa, who expresses his own Mexican-American background via figurative paintings that Kuhn finds reminiscent of the work of Francis Bacon; and Eric Zener, whose striking mixed media work layers actual photographs printed on transparency paper with resin, gold leaf and paint. “I love that Eric is a self-taught artist,” Kuhn says. “He has a B.A. in psychology [and] picks up on moments where we’re alone and finding ourselves again.

“You can never pigeonhole what inspires you,” she continues. “I once fell irrationally in love with a painting of a tractor in a wheat field. I love seeing that with my collectors. I never want them to have pieces they’re only ‘so-so’ about. I want them to feel inspired.”
Kuhn finds her inspiration all over the country—and right next door at Ben Sundermeier’s Space Planning + Design. As we perused the tailored, classic furnishings, the effervescent Bowman joined us; she and Kuhn fell immediately in love with a pair of ottomans by California-based Cisco Brothers. “This company does these really elegant pieces but then throws in an element of fantasy,” Sundermeier says. “Everything is so functional and comfortable and whimsical. It’s just really fun to live with.”

So are the tables overflowing with upholstery samples, also by Cisco (E). Sundermeier says he loves the fabric panels’ larger-than-normal size: “Even with plain linens, you see a big piece and fall in love with it. Plus, it’s more fun to lay them out [when they’re big].”
Bidding Sundermeier farewell, we headed to the next storefront—Hammerpress (A), where Kuhn regularly shops for notecards. Our visit was timely, as owner Brady Vest had just announced a new collaboration with Amber Hodgson, the former owner of The Darling Room salon. The two have added a two-chair salon right inside Hammerpress; its barbershop feel is a perfect fit with the retail space’s ruggedly chic aesthetic. And Vest’s retail line is expanding, too: In addition to the letterpress graphics and paper goods produced on site, the new “General Store” will sell everything from lucky horseshoes to scented soaps. “Amber has a really great eye and style,” Vest says. “We shared a clientele; it made sense.”

The thing that made sense to our group right then was a trip across the street to Extra Virgin, one of Kuhn and Bowman’s favorite lunch spots. Joined by photographer Susan McSpadden, we worked our way down the menu of tapas, starting with the mixed marinated olives ($4) and Mediterranean deviled eggs ($3) and then moving on to the fried duck gizzards ($8), chorizo and fig-filled chicken thighs ($9), and baked pasta formaggi ($9). Between the many delicious dishes we passed and the varied conversation that flew, it was truly a perfect day.