Leawood 360: E14- Public Art

So starting off today with kind of more of the big picture, Anne, many people know Leawood for beautiful neighborhoods and parks, but they may not realize we have more than 25 public art installations throughout the city.

Why has public art become such an important part of Leawood's identity?

Well, there are a number of reasons, Beth.

The city's natural beauty, its green spaces are very important to our residents.

We know that.

Public art enhances our green spaces and in some cases activates our green spaces.

I think reaching outside of our city park is a great example of a space that really was activated by the installation of public art.

Our extensive collection of public art is a source of pride.

for our residents.

Our collection reflects the city's commitment to excellence and beauty and living with distinction, and therefore enhances our city's identity.

At the end of the day, we believe that our public art collection enhances our quality of life in Leawood.

And you're so right about reaching being that activation of green space.

I see many people that like to walk the trail and then walk right under reaching, so that's a great example of that.

And Kim, for you, the public art program has grown steadily over the past quarter century.

What has been the vision that kind of guides that growth?

Well, I think the vision always comes back to what the city needs.

In many cases, we are asked to select public art to, as Anne mentioned, enhance or activate a space or because there's some new construction and there's some public art that would benefit that construction.

An example of that is the aquatic center.

When that was redone, there's now public art within the aquatic center that our residents can enjoy.

And I think the vision really goes back to the residents and our visitors and enhancing their quality of life and making sure that there's something for everyone.

So our art collection is very diverse because we want people to be able to experience and interact with a real variety of artwork in the collection.

Absolutely.

And Melissa, for someone who's new to Leawood, how would you describe what makes our public art collection different from simply placing sculptures around town?

So I would say that there's two things that make our art collection different.

And that is one, we have a public art master plan that guides where we site our pieces.