Kansas City Municipal Art Commission (June 5, 2026)

By Za’Carriah Simmons, Kansas City Documenter

See more about this meeting at Documenters.org

Summary

• Commissioners heard a presentation on a mosaic mural planned for Kessler Park.
• The commission selected an artist to produce a bust of former Mayor Sly James.
• The public art administrator provided updates on projects.

Notes

Meeting Attendance (commission members)

• Samantha Krukowski
• Branden Haralson
• Matt Wegerer
• Jen Macias-Wetzel
• James Shackelford
• Kathleen McCarther

Encroachments and artwork proposals

• 920 W. 24th St. – This building originally had a business on its first floor. Locations are being sought to place utility meters. It will comprise six meter banks. The commission approved the encroachment for the meter center.
• 6500 Euclid Ave. – Generator Studio requested a 10-feet-by-8-feet concrete monument sign on the property’s northeast corner with a new logo for the Metropolitan Organization Countering Sexual Assault (MOCSA) and sought an encroachment permit. The permit was unanimously approved.
• Kessler Park – The proposal is to create a mosaic mural at Lookout Point by Gate 2 in Kessler Park to encourage park traffic and serve as a park map. The artist, Samantha Ortiz, teaches language arts at Center High School and is a trained mosaic artist with 10 years of experience. She taught public school students how to make mosaics and contribute to mosaics created for their schools. Her Center High School students would work on the Kessler Park project. Community members and nonprofit Scraps KC are donating recycled materials for the mosaic.
  • “I love doing this,” Ortiz said. “I’ve been doing murals for over 10 years, and specifically, I love having our community come in to create the mural alongside us. I think that is the most important aspect.”
  • The proposers plan to create mockups in Lookout Point so the commission can get a better sense of how it would look before voting on whether to approve it. The project will be revisited in July.

Old Business

• Report from the Public Art Administrator
  • Public Improvement Advisory Committee projects
    • Tony Aguirre Community Center mural – Judges are voting and expect to finish within two weeks. Two of seven judges have cast their votes.
• GO KC projects
  • Celebration Cultural Trail — Wesley Clark – Main pods and elements have been installed, including the Sports and Athletics Plaza. The green circles are where etched stainless steel portrait medallions will go to highlight honored individuals. Other work remains to be done. When the medallions are in place and other work is done, the plaza will be cleaned and polished.
  • Grand pedestrian and bike bridge — “Bebop Bridge,” New York artist Mark Reigelman – The piece’s colored elements are based on musical notes. These elements run on both sides and nearly the entire length of the bike and pedestrian bridge.
    • There will be a QR code leading to an artist-compiled Spotify jazz playlist after consulting with Chuck Haddix, director of the Marr Sound Archives at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, producer and host of “The Fish Fry” on local National Public Radio station KCUR, co-author with Frank Driggs of “Kansas City Jazz: From Ragtime to Bebop” and author of “Bird: The Life and Music of Charlie Parker,” according to UMKC.
  • “The Light in Your Eyes,” R&R Studios – The piece is installed on the northeast corner of 75th Street and Wornall Road. City officials and Waldo business leaders gathered June 17 to cut the ribbon on the installation.
  • Dr. Jeremiah Cameron Park – The selection panel met. After discussion with commission members, the top two artists were moved forward to refine their proposals. The selection panel plans a meeting at an undetermined date in July.

Projects at buildings

• “River Cloud,” Ben Butler – The piece is being installed. The paint creates gradients and dark blue shadows.
• 18th & Lydia garage – Awaiting material from one final judge.
• Barney Allis Plaza – Mockups were viewed. The piece has a reflective surface. Lighting changes based on the angle viewed. The fabrication will take place in the summer and the installation in the fall.

100th mural project — 1829 Grand

• Continuation of the previous city manager’s project to build 100 murals before the FIFA World Cup — 99 of which have been finished. The building is privately owned, so it didn’t require the commission’s approval.

Las Tarascas

• After sitting in storage for several years, the piece is being installed at the corner of Southwest Boulevard and Pennsylvania Avenue.

New Business

• GO KC project — Commissioners approved a streetscape project at Holmes and Red Bridge roads, funded by GO KC with a budget of around $300,000.
• Sly James bust at the Convention Center — The commissioners approved the artist to produce the piece that will honor the former mayor’s time in office. The chosen artist was one of three local artists considered.

Next meeting Friday, July 10, 2026, 9 a.m.

Observations & Follow-Up Questions

• What is expected after the initial hype dies down from the Kessler Park mosaic? Regulars? A constant stream of tourists?
• How will the community react to the painting of the underpass? 

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