Operation: Us

The National WWI Museum and Memorial is celebrating a big one this fall. On Thursday, Nov. 5, the museum hosts Operation: Us, an all-decades birthday bash marking 100 years since the site opened as Liberty Memorial in 1926. It's part of the museum's Operation series, those themed evenings of food, fun, and history that each look at a different side of society during the Great War and how it still ripples through popular culture.

The night is built around the museum's own history. The main event is a conversation with past and current curators Mark Beveridge, Doran Cart, Reyna Catching, and Dr. Christopher Warren, moderated by President and CEO Dr. Matthew Naylor. After that, the action moves to the North Lawn for the premiere of Liberty's Beacon, three installations by Xavier de Richemont, Leslie Epsztein, and Camille Gross, with Onionlab, and a preshow by TorchHouse Studio.

There's a reason the museum is leaning into the "all-decades" theme. Across its 47 acres, it's been a backdrop for just about everything Kansas City does: concerts, festivals, ceremonies, vigils, sporting victories, civic rallies, weddings, and breakups. These days you'll also find urban sled slopes and skyline sunsets. The night doubles as a call for memories for Story Capture, the museum's centennial oral history project, and it runs alongside the exhibition Story of the Museum and Memorial.

Operation: Us runs from 5:30 to 7:30 PM on Thursday, Nov. 5, at the museum's Liberty Memorial site, 2 Memorial Drive, Kansas City, MO 64108. It's an 18+ event, and tickets are $30 per person, $20 for Museum Members.