Want to double your donation? Investigate if your employer will match donations to The Rabbit hOle! You can do this by directly contacting your Human Resources department and asking them if they offer a matching gift program. It will take all of us to open the World's First Explor-a-Storium!
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Sam and the Tigers, written by Julius Lester and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney, reclaims and retells the story of a young boy who outsmarts a cohort of hungry tigers, leading them to meet their buttery end.... Lester's playful and joyous reimagining of a story with a difficult history, combined with Pinkney's rich and vibrant illustrations create an opportunity for cultural re-examination through an entertaining and modern fable. To honor Pinkney and Lester's work and their respective creative and social legacies, The Rabbit hOle's designers and fabricators are perfecting a merry-go-round version of the tale (complete with tails.) Soon, you can become part of the story too!
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The History(?) and Mystery of Trains at The Rabbit hOle:
Tracks once criss-crossed the yards where our fabrication shop now stands. Where did they come from? Where did they lead? What looks like a lonely track to nowhere still runs past the CNC router, a solitary monument to our building's past lives. Some days tracks can be spotted in the alley beside our building; other days they disappear into memory and time. Trains still pass by the RAB FAB windows, but no longer do they darken our door. Though the tracks have been paved over to make way for new machinery and different dreams, you can still hear a spectral train whistle late at night - if you stay still and listen. Just one of the many mysteries of The Rabbit hOle…
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listen...do you hear that? |
From left: Kel (Film, '24), Asletti (Animation, '23), and Peyton (Sculpture, '23) |
The Rabbit hOle is delighted to have three rab-fabulous interns working with us this summer! Thank you to our friends and partners at the Kansas City Art Institute, and a special thanks to the Stanley H. Durwood Foundation who made this opportunity possible.
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Book Pairing - Freight Train, written and illustrated by Donald Crews.
Pairing by our resident illustrator and imagineer, Charlie Mylie (and Misha).
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Miles of coal, rattling boxcars, hoppers of grain, tankers of who knows what, intermodals stacked two high, empty gondolas, and refrigerated cars aka “reefers” pass through Kansas City ALL THE TIME. Which is great if you love watching trains like we do (though it’s mostly Misha). KC actually has one of the most trafficked train spots in the whole country! It’s called the Junction (link below to the live cam) and you’ll get trains on bridges, trains under bridges, trains coming around the bend, trains crossing the road and trains so close you better cover your ears. While you wait for the regular, but always surprising, appearance of a locomotive, there is gravel to throw or stack (depending on your temperament) and plenty of pigeons to observe. It’s not uncommon to see others at the Junction in camping chairs or enjoying a cold beer (I find they are best combined). Train watching is really train waiting. I used to wonder what my “rail fan” friends saw in trains. What are they other than loud, fossil fuel burning machines moving resources around our insatiable country? Now I have a toddler in my life who gasps “train!” when a horn carries on the wind from some never-so-distant track. He’s always ready to go watch trains and again I mean, wait for them. It’s a waiting loaded with anticipation, wound tight when our gazes are set to the bend of track curving out of sight. It’s a waiting that is spacious and livable. We eat snacks, we play games, we explore what’s at our feet, we notice the horizon and are giddy to hear any engine anywhere (especially in the sky, ”plane!”). Waiting for the roar of a Diesel engine is a way to be together and play alone in our own small world. When a train does finally come, Misha hops up, pointing to make sure I see it too. And after a couple minutes of hypnotic machinery sliding by, he normally goes back to whatever he was doing while we waited. With a train passing behind him, I see him with a specific tenderness. One moment we’re looking around the bend hoping for something to come, then in a slip of time before our eyes, it’s “going, going, gone.”
-Charlie
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All aboard the t-shirt train! |
We're eager to see your little ones roll through our doors when we open! In the meantime, show your support with a youth-sized Rabbit hOle logo tee. |
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Chris Raschka is back! This time he has moving pictures within a moving picture. Very meta. |
Pssst: You may have noticed a....train of thought throughout this issue. See if you can spot the train in Chris' video!
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These days the RAB FAB is busy producing pieces for The Rabbit hOle's exhibits, from Firehouse signage for The Fire Cat to flowers for My Father's Dragon. Follow us on social media for more updates! |
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Curious to see what else is up our sleeves? Head to www.rabbitholekc.org to read more about our mission, exhibits, and other stuff
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