KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The new Kansas City International Airport terminal features the largest public art project in the history of the city, and the majority of it was created by Kansas City-area artists or those with personal connections to the region, according to KCI.
Kansas City’s “One Percent for Art” program made it possible for the new terminal to feature 28 pieces throughout its garage stairwells, entry space, concourses and retail and seating areas.
Since 1986 the program has designated 1% of public construction costs to incorporate artwork or other aesthetics in all its projects, which focus on municipal buildings.
Of the over 1,900 applications received, 28 artists, 19 of those having ties to the Kansas City area, were commissioned to create an array of art pieces through various mediums, according to KCI. The pieces showcase characteristics of the region — whether it’s honoring KC’s jazz history or capturing the essence of the region’s landscape.
Artist Leo Villareal, who is based out of New York and has art installations around the world, recognized the importance of fountains in Kansas City through his “Fountain (KCI)” light sculpture.
Villareal said the sculpture, which consists of thousands of white LED lights that line 20-foot-tall elliptical rings, mimics the shape and feel of a fountain.
“Airports can be very chaotic, but I think this terminal represents something completely different,” Villareal said. “It's absolutely beautiful and there's so much natural light … really a very thoughtful approach. So, I'm really happy that the sculpture can participate.”
Located in a central area of the new terminal, “Fountain (KCI)” is visible once travelers enter the security area.
“I hope that [the sculpture] offers people a respite from the kind of chaos of an airport, and all the things that people have to go through, and a moment of creating a sense of wonder, awe and contemplation,” Villareal said.
Villareal said he is impressed with the other artists’ pieces, which are separated into two projects.
Artists with ties to the Kansas City area created wall-based works of art and are located in the terminal’s two concourses while other spaces in and outside of the terminal are reserved for pieces made by artists from around the world.
Rachelle Gardner-Roe’s work “Fly Over Country: The Wild Side” is a colorful textile piece located in Concourse B that depicts the wildlife in Missouri and Kansas.
Gardner-Roe hand dyed wool from her family farm in Adrian, Missouri, to create a colorful watercolor-like background. She then used a sewing machine to “draw” the regional wildlife, according to KCI.
“A little bit of education about our regional wildlife, but also just a little bit of joy and beauty and fun that I hope they take away from it,” Gardner-Roe said.
Some pieces guide travelers through the new terminal.
A suspended artwork of saxophones structured to portray birds, titled “Ornithology,” dangles above travelers’ heads in the entry to Concourse B as it honors Kansas City jazz musician Charlie “Yardbird” Parker. Artist Willie Cole assembled the artwork in Kansas City’s historic 18th and Vine District, perKCI.
Other works were strategically placed in seating areas.
One titled “Separate and Complex Bodies, Sophisticated Interactions, and Unfathomable Lives” is a panoramic collage of wooded spaces in the Kansas City area. The artist, Santiago Cucullu, showcases the woods at the beginning of spring.
KCI explains the artwork is a reminder that being in the woods can be inspirational to living in the moment.
In an effort to represent a diverse group of artists, 78% of the Kansas City-area artists are women or people of color and 75% of the worldwide artists are women or people of color, according to KCI.
