Kansas City Favorite Tips by yooperprof

Bartle Hall Pylons - "Hair Curler Art" The Arts Review

Favorite thing: In the 1990s Kansas City's convention center, Bartle Hall, was expanded southward across the I-670 freeway. An innovative use of steel cables helps to secure the section of the building which extends over the highway lanes. As a result of a new city mandate (1% for art), there was a considerable amount of money in the budget to be spent on artworks associated with the project. Hence the prominent sculptures atop the structural pylon which locals affectionately (?) refer to as "hair curler art."

The work was created by a prominent New York based artist, R.M. Fischer. (His work can also be seen at Battery Park City in lower Manhattan.) Although it is hard to tell from a distance, the pylons are 230 feet high, and the individual sculptural units each the height of a medium-sized tree - 30 to 40 feet. They were put in place by helicopter. Certainly, the city does not need to worry about the possibility of vandalism for these public sculptures.

(It's interesting how in this view the pylons "echo" the form of the nearby Kansas City Power & Light Building. Although from this angle they appear to be the same height, the KCP & L structure is acutally twice as tall.)

Sculpture - Lewis and Clark The Arts Review

Favorite thing: In 1804, Merriweather Lewis and William Clark, along with their expedition, passed this point overlooking the junction of the Missouri and Kansas Rivers on the continental expedition.

To commemorate the bicentennial of their journal, the city commissioned this new piece. It's by contemporary (traditional) sculptor Eugene Daub, and depicts Lewis & Clark, Sakakawea, the faithful dog Seaman, and York, Clark's slave (not seen in this view.) The Lewis and Clark memorial is in Case Park, at 8th and Jefferson in the northwest corner of the downtown "Freeway Loop."

Sculpture - Abraham Lincoln and his son Tad The Arts Review

Favorite thing: At first glance, you might think it's a little odd to see a statue of the great Republican Abraham Lincoln at Kansas City's monumental City Hall, a bastion of the machine politics of the Democratic Party. And you might think that at your second glance as well!

Indeed, it was a private individual, a retired Insurance executive named Orville Anderson who personally spearheaded a fundraising campaign which collected over $140,000 to pay for the commission and installation of this traditional and representational work. The sculpture, dedicated in 1986, is the work of American artist Lorezno Ghiglieri:

http://www.art-lorenzo.com/

Sculpture - Ilus Davis statue The Arts Review

Favorite thing: Ilus Davis (1917-1996) was mayor of Kansas City through the difficult 1960s, including the time of the terrible riots of 1968 (following ML King's assassination) when half a dozen people were killed. But his period in office was marked by constructive growth for the city, as he helped lay the foundations for the development of Kansas City International Airport in the northland, and the Harry Truman Sports Complex east of the Blue River.

His statue stands appropriate in front of City Hall downtown (414 E. 12th Street). The work of California artist Bruce Wolf, the statue is on a four foot pedestal, and stands nine feet tall! (It was unveiled in 2003.)

St. Martin in the Fields Fountains Review

Favorite thing: Another one of Kansas City's many public fountains, this is also on the bike/walking path east of the Plaza. The piece was designed by the famous Swedish sculptor Carl Milles. (For another piece by Milles, see the page about the "Konserthuset" on my Stockholm page.)

Sculpture - "Pendergast memorial" child The Arts Review

Favorite thing: "Boss" James Pendergast apparently had a number of redeeming qualities. He was said to be very fond of immigrants and children. This "child" is part of the sculptural grouping of the Pendergast memorial. There's no explanation, but it could be a depiction of an orphan child - Pendergast is reported to have donated some of his ill-gotten gains to orphanages throughout the Kansas City area.

Sculpture - "Boss" Pendergast overlooks the River The Arts Review

Favorite thing: James Pendergast (1856-1911) established a political "machine" that dominated Kansas City politics for half a century. He was the oldest of four brothers each of whom was involved in running the city from the 1890s through the end of the 1930s. And when I say that they ran the city, I also mean that they controlled elections and determined which businesses in the city would succeed or fail.

The youngest Pendergast brother, Tom, gave a humble haberdasher named Harry Truman his first breaks in local politics in the 1920s. Pendergast was ultimately brought down by charges of income tax evasion in 1939.

This statue of James sits at Clark Point, at 8th and Jefferson in the downtown freeway loop, overlooking the West Bottoms. (It is close to the Lewis & Clark memorial, but you could overlook it if you weren't looking for it.) The memorial was commissioned by the city in the 1920s, and executed by well-known artist Frederick C. Hibbard. (Hibbard had studied with Lorado Taft in Chicago.)

Sculpture - Andrew Jackson at the Courthouse The Arts Review

Favorite thing: This was a Depression-era commission, unveiled in 1934. Jackson County Missouri is named after President Andrew Jackson, the powerful and manipulative Democrat who dominated the Federal Republic in the 1830s. The sculpture was commissioned by the Democratic politicians who were powerful and manipulative in the Jackson County of the 1930s.

The artist was Charles Keck (1875-1951), an American pupil of Saint-Gaudens who was much in demand in the period of the 1920s and 30s for his monumental and representative work.

The J.C. Nichols Fountain Fountains Review

Favorite thing: Kansas City prides itself on its fountains, which are said to be more numerous here than anywhere else in the world. Well, I don't know about that, but there are plenty.

J.C. Nichols was the 1920s developer who created the Country Club Plaza, as well as numerous residential neighborhoods to the south and west. (I grew up in a J.C. Nichols development nearby.) He had traveled in Europe - specifically, in Spain - before World War I, and wanted to create something "of lasting value" in K.C. He spent millions on the Plaza and other projects, and was especially interested in fountains and statuary. The Nichols Fountain is at the northeast corner of the intersection of 47th Street (Cleaver Boulevard) and J.C. Nichols Parkway, just to the east of the Plaza.

From the official "Fountains of Kansas City" webpage: "This fountain is the best-known and most-photographed of all of the city's fountains. It is located at the east entrance to the popular Plaza district. The sculptures were created in the early 1900's and adorned the Mansion of Clarence Mackay in Long Island, NY. The fountain was transported to Kansas City, refurbished and dedicated in 1960. The J. C. Nichols Memorial Fountain has four equestrian fugues which are said to represent four rivers: the Mississippi River (the one with the Indian riding the horse and beating off an alligator), the Volga River (with the bear), the Seine and the Rhine. Children in the Kansas City area contributed more than $50,000 to the J. C. Nichols Fountain on the Plaza. . ."

http://www.kcfountains.org/index.html

Seville Light Fountain Fountains Review

Favorite thing: From the official Kansas City Fountains website: "A triangular traffic island at a busy intersection on the Plaza is the setting for this ornate fountain. Sculptor Bernhard Zuckerman was commissioned to create an exact replica of the Plaza de Los Reyes fountain in Seville, Spain. The central shaft is 30' tall and carved from several kinds of marble. Water flows from the four masked faces located near its 20' square base."

J.C. Nichols Parkway at West 47th - the eastern edge of the Plaza.