The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art holds works by artists such as Claude Monet and John Singer Sargent. Also on the Nelson's stately grounds is "Shuttlecocks," a 1994 pop art sculpture by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen that's received national attention. With the Nelson as a backdrop, the 18-foot-high shuttlecocks look as if an errant giant has left them behind after a game of badminton.

Around the corner, there's more 20th-century art at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art and Design. Opened in October 1994, the Kemper's collection includes more than 700 works by such artists as Georgia O'Keeffe. The Kemper's dramatic stainless steel, glass and concrete structure stands on the gently rolling grounds of the Kansas City Art Institute, where Thomas Hart Benton once taught, and a 14-year-old Walt Disney once studied.