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by: Jessie Cartwright Let's Walk! Everyone is Welcome!  You are invited to combine art and wellness in the beautiful outdoors with Mayor Eric Mikkelson and the Prairie Village Arts Council as we kick-off the first Prairie Village Art Walk, Friday, June 11, at 5:30 pm. Designed to highlight our city’s public art, build community, and promote wellness, the Art Walk includes eight significant works of art by local and internationally known artists along Mission Road from The Shops of Prairie Village to Corinth Quarter. We will begin at The Homesteaders, Shaffer Park, 5:30 pm, at Mission and Tomahawk Road.  As Campbell explained to the Kansas City Star, her piece represented the “homesteading spirit” of the Westward movement. The symbols she chose included “the nourishing soil, the wheel and the basic unit of society -- the family.” We will make a stop at Fluid Form, Mission Lane:  Fluid Form was selected by our residents through a popular vote held in June 2017. Once selected, the 1,000-pound cold cast aluminum sculpture was installed in its current location and dedicated on Friday Dec. 15, 2017. After Fluid Form, we will continue south for a ribbon-cutting event at Fifties Freedom In the Village at approximately 6:00 pm, joined by sculptor E. Spencer Schubert and donor Brad Johnson to officially welcome our city’s newest sculpture, also unofficially known as "the boy on a bike".  E.S. Schubert Sculpture Studios, located at 110 Southwest Boulevard in KCMO, today is recognized as one of the most outstanding makers of bronze monuments in the Midwest. We will continue north along Mission Road to view five more works of art, ending at 83rd Street, Corinth Quarter, for the recent mural Connections at Corinth.  Phil Shafer’s mural is a geometrically-themed, vibrant set of panels wrapping around the building bookended by Tide Cleaners on one side and Panera Bread on the other. Color was one of Shafer’s most important considerations for the piece. Use the mural as a photo background and tag Corinth Quarter on Instagram and Facebook, @corinthquarter, and Prairie Village Arts Council, @artsprairievillage. Use the hashtag: #pvartwalk! The Art Walk is approximately 3.6 scenic miles of amazing public art round trip. If you are not able to attend the Kick-off, the sculpture information placards will remain throughout the summer. A special feature of the Prairie Village Art Walk includes viewing access through Otocast, a free geo-mapping app with artist audio, text, and visuals about their artwork. Download Otocast and select Prairie Village, KS to hear all about them as you tour the public art.  Download the Otocast app to your phone through your app store.
On both iPhone and Android. We look forward to seeing you at the Prairie Village Art Walk this summer!
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 Photo by Matthew Dehaemers "Prairie Evolution" sculpture by Matthew Dehaemers by: Nancy Kalikow Maxwell “House” may not be the first word that comes to mind when gazing at the sculpture in Corinth Square, but maybe it should be. Matthew Dehaemers, the work’s creator, explains that he had residential buildings in mind when he designed this piece which stands at the entrance to the shopping center (adjacent to Spin! Pizza). Dubbing his work, “Prairie Evolution,” Dehaemers crafted the two skyward arches to represent the transformation of Prairie Village residences from the original sod houses into contemporary suburban homes. The pair of structures emerge literally from the earth, gently curving upward to form what resembles the roof lines of modern Prairie Village homes. As a Kansas City native, Dehaemers is intimately familiar with the architectural history of this area. His family’s Johnson County roots can be traced all the way back to the early 20th Century. Dehaemers himself lived near 93rd St. and Mission, and “the Corinth area was part of my growing up” he previously told the Shawnee Mission Post. Dehaemers graduated from Rockhurst High School and obtained a B.F.A. from Creighton University and an M.F.A. from the University of Wisconsin. During his career he has won commissions to create public art for a variety of locations across the country, including Charlotte, NC, Casper WY, and Santa Clarita, CA. In 2013, CSN Retail Partners commissioned Dehaemers to create the sculpture as part of their Community Improvement District agreement with the City of Prairie Village. Their intent was to install a piece that would serve as a welcoming gateway to the newly-developed Corinth Square shopping center. The colorful series of panels he created not only welcome shoppers, but provide a subtle nod to local history by reminding viewers that the area evolved from a swath of tallgrass prairie into a modern suburb.  Photo by Matthew Dehaemers According to Dehaemers, the best time to see the colorful piece is on a sunny day when the sun is on either side of the panels. But even on cloudy days, the silhouetted house shapes that grace the piece should not only evoke Prairie Village history, but hopefully make you feel right at home.  All photos by Matthew Dehaemers can be found at http://matthewdehaemers.com/public-art-ii/. "Prairie Evolution" is one of the 8 public art sculptures you can visit during the Prairie Village Art Walk that begins June 11, 2021.
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