The Arts Council of Metropolitan Kansas City is on a mission. The group has been “erasing” art throughout the metropolitan area in hopes of inspiring the community to support the art that is here. As part of a public awareness campaign for its ArtsKC Fund, the Arts Council of Metropolitan Kansas City created a series of blank billboards with the message, “If we don’t support artists, there is no art,” and then they started replacing the billboards on April 5 with “found art,” images of art and arts venues representing Greater Kansas City. In addition, the Arts Council will unveil a series of three “Lost-and-Found” art pieces from different areas of the city as a way to suggest the potential loss of public art in the absence of patronage.
The art “erased” first came with one of the horses on the Parks and Recreation’s J.C. Nichols Memorial Fountain by sculptor Henri Greber, March 30, at Mill Creek Park. The second came well-known Kansas City Art Institute-graduate Nick Cave’s Soundsuit, April 15, at the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art at Johnson County Community College. The third piece will be Water Plaza by Jun Kaneko at Bartle Hall on a date to be determined in late April or early May.
The J.C. Nichols Memorial 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 Country Club Plaza district. The sculptures were created by Greber in the early 1900s and adorned the Mansion of Clarence Mackay in Long Island, NY. The fountain was transported to Kansas City, refurbished and dedicated to the memory of J. C. Nichols, the developer of the Plaza in 1960. The fountain has four equestrian fugues that are said to represent four rivers: the Mississippi River (the rider fending off an alligator), the Volga River (with the bear), the Seine and the Rhine.
Harlan Brownlee, the executive director of the Arts Council of Metropolitan Kansas City, says every city deserves great art. “What would a city be like without it? Would you miss it?” Arts provide economic development. “Arts create a vibrant place where we can come together as a community. The arts provide multiple perspectives. Art bridges gaps such as gender, race and socio-economics. Imagine a city without art. No Crossroads, no Rep, no Symphony, no dance, no Nelson. It is hard to imagine,” Brownlee says.
Anita Gorman, a long-time civic advocate and Missouri Department of Conservation commissioner, says art personifies all that is good for everyone. “Art can be a level playing field. Some of the most accessible comes in our sculptures and fountains around town. It can be unexpected as to how art helps. I was helping at the Salvation Army and a woman said that the fountains on make her feel better. The trick is that everyone has to help to keep our art going.” Kansas City Parks Board President John Fierro says the fountains in the city provide much of the city’s character.
“Art can help make our city a great place to work and play. We are raising awareness that support can bolster the economics. The Crossroads is a great example where a derelict area has been revitalized and businesses are growing. Art can help define our common humanity and improve our quality of life.”
The ArtsKC Fund, an initiative of the Arts Council of Metropolitan Kansas City, is a united arts fund that raises new money to support a wide range of arts organizations and programs. The Arts Council of Metropolitan Kansas City is a not-for-profit organization that serves the five-county Kansas City metropolitan area and strives to strengthen and enrich the community by growing appreciation, participation, and support of its arts resources. To help the organizations, the fund drive goal is $470,000. “When arts organizations gain dollars from us, they can apply for more grants because they have received a positive endorsement from us. It all returns to the community.” For more information about the ArtsKC Fund, visit http://www.ArtsKC.org.
