116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
New Cedar Rapids Museum of Art exhibition celebrates 50th anniversary of KCCK-FM, Cedar Rapids photographers
‘All that Jazz’ open through end of August
The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
In recognition of the 50th anniversary of KCCK-FM, Iowa’s only jazz radio station, the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art brings together photographs of jazz musicians taken by Cedar Rapids natives for an exhibition titled “All that Jazz: Photographs by Carl Van Vechten and George T. Henry.”
“Cedar Rapids has many connections to jazz music. It is the home of Iowa’s only jazz radio station, KCCK-FM; it has produced and hosted many jazz musicians over the years; and Cedar Rapids is the hometown of two photographers who captured jazz greats in their work, Carl Van Vechten and George T. Henry,” said Julia Jessen, curator of collections and exhibitions. “Through portraits and performance photography, this exhibition celebrates the 50th anniversary of KCCK-FM by highlighting the legacy of jazz and two artists’ approach to documenting this uniquely American art form.”
Van Vechten moved to New York City in 1906. He became a well-known critic of music and modern dance, and wrote about Harlem and the black artists he encountered there. Van Vechten would end up photographing many of the creatives that formed his large circle of famous friends and acquaintances.
In contrast, Henry would remain in Cedar Rapids for most of his life, working as Coe College’s visual historian and photographing countless important moments. This exhibition highlights the work of Van Vechten and Henry and their approaches to capturing jazz greats on film.
“With completely different visions, two artists from Cedar Rapids left a lasting impression on the history of jazz. Working in New York, Carl Van Vechten captured many of the jazz greats of the Harlem Renaissance with his camera. In Cedar Rapids, George T. Henry did the same, only later,” said Sean Ulmer, executive director of the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art. “While the former approached his subjects in a more formal portrait format, the latter caught the jazz performers performing. When taken in combination, these two artists succeeded in capturing the key players who defined jazz music in the 20th century.”
“All that Jazz: Photographs by Carl Van Vechten and George T. Henry” is open now through Aug. 31, 2025.
Daily Newsletters