The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is the major art museum in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, and is considered one of the finest smaller collections in the country. The museum was opened in 1933 after bequests from the estates of Kansas City Star publisher William Rockhill Nelson, schoolteacher Mary Atkins, and others. Today, the museum is arguably best known for its collection of Asian art, especially that of China. The museum also has a large collection of ancient art, modern sculpture, European painting, and other representative works from Africa and The Americas. The museum has one of the most extensive collections of Henry Moore sculpture in existence.

From 1954 through 2000, the Jewel Ball, Kansas City's debutante ball, took place every June in the main hall.