Park University to Host Exhibit by Kansas City Artist Bryce Holt

Park University to Host Exhibit by Kansas City Artist Bryce Holt

September 29, 2025 - Park University will host an exhibit featuring the work of Bryce Holt, a Kansas City artist and co-founder of The Patrons, from Wednesday, Oct. 1, through Friday, Dec. 19, in the Campanella Gallery located inside Norrington Center on the University's flagship Parkville Campus. Admission to the Gallery is free and open to the public. A reception for the artist will be held on Friday, Oct. 17, from 5-7 p.m. in the Gallery.

In the exhibit, titled "What a Pretty Story," Holt invite viewers of the exhibit to enter the role of storyteller for each vibrant painting. "Like our lives, none of these are simple, straightforward tales," Holt said. "The scene is set and you have a fragment of a narrative; like a line pulled at random from a book whose pages are now yours to fill. The figures on the canvas are frozen in a moment of pause waiting for your mind to begin telling you a story."

He adds: "As your narrative comes into focus, I want you to tell the person next to you what bizarre circumstances brought the characters to this strange and beautiful moment. More importantly, what happens next? The core of 'What a Pretty Story' is that you and I are collaborating. I have offered up a prompt and a moment from the middle. It is now for you to imagine the rest."

In 2021, after 20 years in the software industry, Holt made a career shift and started painting full-time. A self-taught artist focused on figurative and representational pieces with a story behind each one, Holt says storytelling is at the heart of his work, with each painting having a narrative behind it before it is started. Read and view more about Holt's work at thepatrons.com.

The Campanella Gallery is open during Norrington Center's regular business hours:
• Monday-Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Sunday, 4 to 9 p.m.
• Regular business hour exceptions:
o Saturday, Oct. 4, through Sunday, Oct. 12 (Park University's Fall Break): Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, closed
o Tuesday, November, 11 (Veterans Day): closed
o Wednesday, Nov. 26, through Sunday, Nov. 30 (Thanksgiving): Wednesday, 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday-Sunday, closed
o Saturday, Dec. 6, through Friday, Dec. 19 (Park University's Winter Break): Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Friday, 9 a.m. to noon; Saturday-Sunday, closed