Leawood Public Art Guide 2026

LEAWOOD PUBLIC ART

A GUIDE FOR THE CITY OF LEAWOOD, KANSAS

“GREAT ART PICKS UP WHERE NATURE ENDS.”

- Marc Chagall -

As a city, Leawood is committed to building a stronger connection between residents and our community’s natural beauty through its public art program. It is one of the many ways that Leawood fulfills its vision of “living with distinction.”

The mission of Leawood’s Public Art Program is to integrate highly visible art into our community for the purpose of creating a legacy of works to be enjoyed by current and future generations.

We seek to create thoughtful and dynamic public spaces that enhance the quality of our lives and inspire a sense of pride and delight.

We hope you will use this guide to explore and celebrate all the public art throughout our city, and spend some time enjoying what makes Leawood truly distinct.

PORCH LIGHTS

Intersection of Somerset Dr. & Lee Blvd.

FAITH

Brook Beatty Park

8646 Lee Blvd.

FOR THE GOAL & RUN RED RUN

Leawood City Park 10601 Lee Blvd.

REFLECTIONS (I)

Leawood Aquatic Center - Leawood City Park 10601 Lee Blvd.

REFLECTIONS (II)

The Wave at 106 - Leawood City Park 10601 Lee Blvd.

LLLOOPPI

Leawood City Park

10601 Lee Blvd.

REACHING

10760 Lee Blvd.

INSPIRATION

Southeast corner of Tomahawk Creek Pkwy. & College Blvd.

SPOOKED

Tomahawk Creek Pkwy. near College Blvd.

INTROSPECTION

Tomahawk Creek Pkwy. near 114th St.

GROWING

Tomahawk Creek Pkwy. near 115th St. VARIANCE

Tomahawk Creek Pkwy. near 115th St.

SKYWRITING I

Tomahawk Creek Pkwy. near Town Center Dr.

WALKING WOMAN

Tomahawk Creek Pkwy. & 118th St.

WEIGHT OF YOUR HEART/ WEIGHT OF A FEATHER

Leawood Justice Center, Tomahawk Creek Pkwy. & Town Center Dr.

WOMEN OF THE WORLD

Front of Leawood Municipal Court 4205 Town Center Dr.

DANCERS (TANGO)

North of Leawood City Hall on Roe Ave.

THE SENTINEL

Front of Leawood City Hall 4800 Town Center Dr.

CLOUD GATE

Yilan Park 12601 Nall Ave.

PASTORAL DREAMER

133rd St. between Mission Rd. & Roe Ave.

AVANIM VETSEIADIM (STONES AND STEPS)

Gezer Park 13251 Mission Rd.

HARVEST TABLET

Gezer Park 13251 Mission Rd.

POINT DEFIANCE

Ironwoods Park 14701 Mission Rd.

PRAIRIE LESSONS

Ironwoods Park 14701 Mission Rd.

PRAISE

Fire Station No. 3 14801 Mission Rd.

Porch Lights, 2008

Dennis Reynolds

Cottonwood Kansas Limestone, Molten Glass, and Copper

Dedicated May 2009

Former Leawood resident Dennis Reynolds constructed

Porch Lights from saw-cut Cottonwood Kansas Limestone and backlit, molten-colored glass. This landscape artwork sits within the traffic island at the intersection of Somerset Drive and Lee Boulevard, on land shared by the cities of Prairie Village and Leawood. It was commissioned as a “coming home” gesture at the gateway to the historic district of Leawood, which was developed at the end of World War II. During the war, Americans upheld a tradition of keeping their porch lights lit at night in order to help “our boys” overseas find their way home. The glowing, colored glass scattered throughout the triangular stone structure represents welcoming porch lights. In addition, the V-shaped design is reminiscent of the “V” for victory, made famous by Winston Churchill during the same time period.

Reynolds has more than 40 years’ experience providing award-winning design throughout the world, including projects in Australia, Dubai, and East Asia. He holds a Master of Landscape Architecture from Kansas State University. Combining art and environment, his public artworks result in responsive and innovative spaces that connect and reflect each community.

Faith, 2002

Wendell Castle (1932-2018)

Bronze

Dedicated June 2002

Kansas native and internationally recognized artist Wendell Castle is known for his innovative designs in wood, plastic, and bronze, as well as a style that playfully marries organic and geometric forms. Widely regarded as one of the most important postwar American art furniture designers, Castle challenged conventional concepts of function and appearance, contributing to the transformation of the American tradition of handcrafted furniture into an experimental modern art form.

“From the beginning I have wanted to make art furniture. I like to be in the space between furniture and sculpture, because that area has enormous possibilities.”

Castle was commissioned by the City of Leawood to create this oneof-a-kind bronze bench, Faith, which features an upside-down flower across a trapezoidal support.

Castle’s work is in the permanent collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, Museum of Arts and Design, Smithsonian American Art Museum, and many more. In 2007, he received the Modernism Lifetime Achievement Award from the Brooklyn Museum.

For the Goal & Run Red Run, 2008

Jorge Blanco

Powder Coated and Painted Aluminum

Dedicated April 2009

These brightly painted sculptures by Jorge Blanco celebrate the athletic endeavors that take place throughout Leawood City Park. The abstracted figures of For the Goal and Run Red Run depict a moment of action frozen in time. Blanco’s careful consideration of the site, as well as his playful use of scale and punchy primary colors, fulfill his artistic vision to create relatable and joyful works of art. The influence of his formal education in industrial design is most noticeable in his use of heavy-duty industrial hardware. Always one for creative play, Blanco is also a recognized cartoonist, illustrator, and furniture designer with interests in science, music, sports, and humor.

Born in Caracas, Venezuela, Blanco currently lives and works in Sarasota, Florida. In addition to exhibiting globally, including in Japan, Belgium, Spain, and his home country of Venezuela, his sculptures can be found in public art collections across the United States.

For the Goal and Run Red Run were commissioned by the City of Leawood and titled by local school children.

Reflections (I & II), 2022

Rock Cottage Glassworks

Dierk Van Keppel (Lead Artist), Bryan Morris (Lead Fabricator) and Josh Dickens (Gaffer)

Hand-Blown Multilayered Glass Rondels and LED Lights

Dedicated May 2023

Reflections by Dierk Van Keppel’s studio, Rock Cottage Glassworks, welcomes visitors to both the Leawood Aquatic Center (main entrance breezeway) and The Wave at 106 (transom above entry) in Leawood City Park.

Composed of multilayered rondels, or glass disks, the works are created using traditional Italian glassblowing techniques. The vibrant color scheme of Reflections (I & II) references organic oceanic plant and sea life, while the title plays upon the glimmering reflective properties of sun-dappled water.

Van Keppel studied glass techniques at the University of Kansas and the Pilchuck Glass School in Stanwood, Washington. He opened his first studio in Lawrence, Kansas, and then moved to Merriam, Kansas, in 1991 where he established his current studio, Rock Cottage Glassworks.

Van Keppel’s glassworks can be found in both private and public collections across the Midwest, including Kansas, Missouri, and Texas. Another piece by Rock Cottage Glassworks’ Van Keppel, Hive, made in collaboration with Robyn Nichols, resides at the Prairie Oak Nature Center in Ironwoods Park.

lllooppi, 2004

Nate Fors

Mixed Media

Dedicated May 2004

lllooppi is a series of seven, 56-inch brightly painted metal disks jutting out from a 40-foot-tall white pole, reminiscent of 45 rpm vinyl records and a larger-than-life record player spindle. The artist’s concept relates to his passion for music and record collecting. Known for his love of puns and witty wordplay, Fors scrambled the word “lollipop” to create the title lllooppi. This playful piece was commissioned by the City of Leawood to sit near the entrance to City Park.

Recognized primarily as an abstract painter, Fors’ career is marked by an embrace of experimentation, where he challenges himself to explore new materials outside of the paintbrush.

Fors is a Kansas City-based artist whose paintings are in the collections of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Spencer Museum of Art, and Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art. He is also the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, a Charlotte Street Foundation Award, an Avenue of the Arts Foundation Award, and a Missouri Visual Artists Biennial Fellowship.

Reaching, 2024

William S. Nemitoff

Powder Coated Aluminum, Limestone, Acrylic, and LED Lights

Dedicated September 2024

Reaching, by artist William S. Nemitoff, was commissioned to celebrate the city’s 75th anniversary. It dramatically plays with elements of scale, lighting, and color to evoke multifaceted moods and reactions from audiences. By day, the non-representational sculpture compliments the surrounding landscape of Leawood City Park by extending its 75 aluminum rods heaven-bound, which creates a motif reminiscent of sentient trees or wheat shocks. By nightfall, the rods and modules illuminate the twilight with undulating color schemes. Reaching becomes a beacon of light and celebration, transforming into an enchanting sea anemone abstraction.

Discovery and exploration are compelling narratives behind Nemitoff’s work, inviting social dialogue between art and engagement, and embracing curiosity, whimsy, and wonder. Themes of peacekeeping and comradery are associated with olive trees, the driving symbolism behind Reaching. The six-chambered foundation of the sculpture directly references the stylization of Solomonic Gates in Gezer, Israel. Reaching commemorates positive Sister City relations between Leawood and the Gezer region of Israel, while highlighting Leawood’s distinctive growth over the past 75 years.

Nemitoff was raised in Leawood but now resides and works out of his design studio, Curious Form, in New Orleans, Louisiana. His work can be found in private and public collections across the United States.

Inspiration, 1987

Rita Blitt

Painted Steel

Dedicated September 2021

Inspiration is a cheerful abstract dancing figure created by longtime Leawood resident Rita Blitt in 1987. Inspiration stands at a monumental 28 feet by 26 feet by 1.5 feet and weighs approximately 4,000 pounds, making it Blitt’s largest piece to date. In 2005, a 5-foot version of Inspiration won an award at the Florence Biennale.

Blitt’s work celebrates nature, music, and dance. Her sculptures are inspired and directly translated from her single line drawings, often created to music.

“I let drawings flow from my subconscious. When I saw the drawing that later became Inspiration, I knew immediately that it was special.”

In addition, Blitt is a longtime collaborator of David Parsons of Parsons Dance Company, New York.

An international painter, sculptor, and filmmaker, Blitt’s work has been featured in over 70 solo exhibitions. Her works can be found in the collections of The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, John F. Kennedy Library, National Museum of Singapore, and many more. Her sculptures are permanently placed in public art collections in Australia, Israel, Japan, Singapore, and the United States.

Inspiration was offered as a gift to the City from Leawood residents Bill and Mary Walker.

Spooked, 1999

Stephen LeBlanc

Bronze, Edition 1/12

Dedicated June 2000

Spooked often deceives drivers along Tomahawk Creek Parkway into thinking a herd of deer is crossing the road. This realistic bronze grouping depicts three life-size deer (two does and one buck) leaping across the median. Spooked was created by wildlife sculptor Steven LeBlanc, a former resident of Overland Park, Kansas, who is nationally recognized for his lifelike depictions of animals. Through his art, LeBlanc strives to show his respect and reverence for the natural world.

Prior to becoming an award-winning sculptor, LeBlanc studied biology and practiced taxidermy. Today, LeBlanc maintains a studio and gallery space in Colorado. His sculptures can be found on many college campuses and in corporate collections across the United States.

Spooked was commissioned by Chuck Peters, president and CEO of Peters and Associates Development Company, for the City of Leawood. Peters worked with the Leawood Arts Council in planning and approving the art and its surrounding landscape.

Introspection, 1994

Larry Young Bronze, Edition 2/5

Installed May 2012

Sculptor Larry Young is recognized throughout the country for his fluid forms and innovative compositions, which expertly incorporate negative space. Introspection is a large bronze sculpture created by the lost wax casting process. This sculpture symbolizes themes of contemplation and selfreflection by transforming the sculpture’s interior negative space into a humanlike form. As trail walkers and art viewers move around the artwork, the sculpture’s interior figural form shifts, dances and transmutes.

Young was invited to display Introspection as part of the City of Leawood’s Art On Loan program in 2010. It became a part of the City of Leawood’s Public Art Collection in 2012.

Young resides in Columbia, Missouri, where he owns and operates a 6,000-square-foot foundry. He personally creates most of his work in bronze, and occasionally fabricates in stainless steel and marble. Over his 50-year artistic career, Young has placed over 75 outdoor sculptures throughout the world. In addition to being an accomplished artist, Young is a two-time Olympic medalist in racewalking.

Growing, 1999

Richard Hunt (1935-2023)

Stainless Steel

Dedicated August 1999

Richard Hunt was commissioned to create Growing for the City of Leawood in 1999 to celebrate the city’s 50th anniversary. This commission became the first artwork acquired for the public art collection.

Growing showcases Hunt’s signature style, which utilizes strong geometric forms, like cubes, pyramids, and cylinders, at the base of his sculptures before building upward with flowing, organic curves and expressive, abstract elements. Hunt’s work frequently features welded and cast steel, aluminum, copper, and bronze. However, early in his career, Hunt worked with whatever crumpled metal materials he could procure from junkyards. This early use of scrap metal can still be sensed in the sharp points, dramatic folds, and bold curves of his later work. Preferring to be called a “Midwestern sculptor,” Hunt lived and worked in his hometown of Chicago, Illinois.

Hunt is recognized as the foremost African American abstract sculptor of public art in the second half of the 20th century, with over 150 public art placements across the United States alone. He is the first African American sculptor honored with a retrospective exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, as well as the first to serve on the National Council of the Arts.

Variance, 2013

Albert Paley

Painted Stainless Steel

Dedicated June 2015

World-renowned artist Albert Paley’s sculpture, Variance, was selected by the City of Leawood’s Art in Public Places Initiative to be the centerpiece of the city’s art corridor along Tomahawk Creek Parkway. Variance was selected from a series of 13 cardboard maquettes created by the artist in preparation for the “Paley on Park Avenue: New York City” exhibition. The sculpture was subsequently fabricated, then unveiled in June 2013 as part of the outdoor exhibition installed between 52nd and 67th streets in New York City.

Paley’s style integrates both art and architecture. As one approaches this 17-foot-tall, monumental sculpture, the complexity of Variance and the artist’s attention to detail become apparent. Paley’s background as a jeweler informs one of his creative guidelines: no matter the physical scale of a work, it should be treated with the same thoughtfulness and delicacy required for his early jewelry work.

Paley is the first sculptor working in metal to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Institute of Architects, the organization’s highest award to a nonarchitect. He is also the recipient of the 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Sculpture Center. Paley’s works are in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, among others.

Skywriting I, 2016

John King Painted Steel

Dedicated March 2022

Skywriting I, with its graceful movement propelled by a gentle breeze, is the first kinetic artwork procured for Leawood’s public art collection. The piece is painted a shimmering, iridescent blue—reflecting the sky as it dances with the wind. John King’s inspiration for the piece came from a hang-gliding experience when he was joined midair by a hawk.

“We flew and circled together for several minutes, each eyeing the other from above or below as the air changed. This piece represents several birds seen overhead, circling and crossing each other’s paths, and the resulting choreography of their wings against the sky.”

King lives and works in Lyons, Colorado, where he is inspired by his surroundings, especially the movement of air and water and its flow from the mountain canyons to the Great Plains. Each piece comes to life with the touch of wind, water, or viewer. His large, brightly colored kinetic sculptures can be found in hospitals, museums, schools, parks, and art collections across the United States.

Skywriting I was selected as a piece for Leawood’s Art On Loan program before it was purchased for the public art collection.

Walking Woman, 2018

Michael Stutz

Silicon Bronze, Stainless Steel, and Limestone

Dedicated May 2019

Walking Woman, located near the trail access off Tomahawk Creek Parkway, celebrates the daily interaction between people and nature experienced on Leawood’s active trail system. This representational piece portrays a female form confidently striding across three limestone blocks locally sourced in Kansas. The larger-than-life figure is expertly constructed of silicon bronze strips and finished with a blue-green patina. The sculpture’s color contrasts with the dark green of the trees in summer and the brown foliage in winter. Light sparkles and shadows dance through Walking Woman’s multi-layered woven lattice, imparting a sense of movement.

Originally a prop builder in the film and fashion industry, Michael Stutz subsequently created enormous figurative pieces for Mardi Gras parades that provided inspiration for his public art projects. The results of his experience evolved into Stutz’s signature style.

“During my time building the Mardi Gras parade floats, I figured out how to design and build very large papier mâché figure props by using a strip-weaving process that I use to make my cardboard and metal pieces today.”

Stutz completed his first public art commission in 1999. Since then, his work has been placed in cities across the country from Portland, Oregon, to Jacksonville, Florida, both in public and private collections. Currently, Stutz works from his studio in Southern California.

weight

of

your heart/weight of a feather, 2017

RDG Dahlquist Art Studio - David Dahlquist and Matt Niebuhr

Corten Steel, Limestone, Aluminum, Bronze Alloy, and LED Lighting

Dedicated April 2017

weight of your heart/weight of a feather is a site-specific installation commissioned for the Leawood Justice Center. The sculptural shade structure is made of laser-cut, weathered steel, and is a contemporary, abstract interpretation of the scales of justice. It is inspired by the ancient Egyptian measurement of truth and justice.

Through floriography, or the symbolic language of flowers, David Dahlquist and Matt Niebuhr incorporate the relationship between the justice system and flowers into the two steel panels with cutouts. These two panels can be seen as the left and right weighing pans of a scale that balance on an illuminated fulcrum in the center of the plaza.

Sweet chestnut flowers relate to the sentiment “do me justice.” Coltsfoot flowers represent innocence and the phrase “justice shall be done.” The overall concept of justice has been traditionally associated with coneflowers for their hearty ability to thrive in difficult conditions, reflecting the resilient nature of the judicial system.

Dahlquist and Niebuhr’s public art is recognized for its dynamic synthesis of art and architecture, and its ability to connect site-specific narratives with function and purpose. Dahlquist holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from the New York State College of Ceramics. Niebuhr holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Iowa State University.

Women of the World, c. 1998

Kwan Wu

Bronze and Stainess Steel

Dedicated March 2012

Women of the World celebrates the diversity of women throughout history, from nations and communities around the world. The sculpture features a globeshaped armature representing the Earth, supported and uplifted by two large hands. Bronze cutouts of the continents and profiles of women, representing their unique cultures, adorn the core armature.

Chinese American artist Kwan Wu is best known for his heightened realism, utilizing the mediums of clay and bronze. Wu began his sculpture education in 1973 at the leading school of sculpture in China. He later studied under the Chinese National Sculptor, Pan Ho. His artistry can be found in private and public collections across the United States, especially in the Midwest and in China. Although primarily recognized as a sculptor, Wu is an accomplished painter collected worldwide for his unique style and color palette. His ability to capture the spirit and emotion of his subject, regardless of medium, is remarkable. Wu lives in the Kansas City metropolitan area.

Women of the World was offered as a gift to the City of Leawood from Astoria Healthcare Properties, LLC.

Dancers (Tango), 2013

Ewerdt Hilgemann

Stainless and Corten Steel

Dedicated November 2018

Ewerdt Hilgemann’s Dancers (Tango) features a pair of 20-foot-high contorted columns of stainless and Corten steel standing opposite each other. Dancers was among seven artworks originally commissioned for a temporary exhibit, “Moments in a Stream,” on Park Avenue in New York City.

Dancers is a prime example of Hilgemann’s signature implosion process. After meticulously fabricating, forging, smoothing, and polishing pure geometric forms, Hilgemann uses a high-powered vacuum pump to pull the air out from the center of his hollow forms. As a result, the welded steel collapses and crumples like paper. Taunting perfectionism with this one-time action, Hilgemann challenges his materials’ limits, displaying the true strength of air and the unexpected fragility of steel. The final works are a masterful play on power and delicacy, challenging the viewer to embrace change and find beauty in imperfection.

Hilgemann, a German artist, lives and works in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. His sculptures are in private and public collections around the world, including Germany, Russia, Hungary, South Korea, and the United States.

The Sentinel, 2006

Tex Jernigan

Stainless Steel, EMT Conduit, and Paint

Dedicated October 2006

When viewed from most angles, The Sentinel appears wild and tangled. However, from one optimal perspective, the artwork reveals an unexpected configuration of organization and alignment. The Sentinel is situated to offer this perfect perspective as drivers turn into the north entrance toward Leawood City Hall. Looking straight down the barrel of the piece, one no longer sees the chaotic, twisting arms of the sculpture but rather, a starburst design radiating from a central point. As the title suggests, The Sentinel operates as a guardian, greeting and watching visitors as they pass through Leawood City Hall and Leawood Pioneer Library.

The Sentinel was initially a part of the Art On Loan program before it was acquired into the public art collection. At that time, Tex Jernigan was a senior studying sculpture at the Kansas City Art Institute. Currently, Jernigan is a film and digital strategist residing and operating in Brooklyn, New York.

Cloud Gate, 2011

Jesse Small

Galvanized Steel

Dedicated September 2011

As a focal point of Yilan Park, Cloud Gate was created to honor Leawood’s Sister City relationship with Yilan, Taiwan. The artwork was commissioned as an entryway into the park. It invites all visitors to take the pathway that traverses both east and west, representing the open exchange and connection between the City of Leawood and Yilan.

Cloud Gate is constructed of hot-dipped galvanized steel with a matte silver-gray finish and features the artist’s signature laser-cut, lace-like designs. The decorative upper portion of the gateway is intricately cut into swirling, stylized clouds, while each corner is adorned with ornamental groupings of cut steel reminiscent of lanterns.

Artist Jesse Small is a graduate of the Kansas City Art Institute, where he studied sculpture and ceramics. After obtaining a Master of Fine Arts degree in ceramics from Alfred University, Small studied and completed two extended artist residencies in Jingdezhen and Shenzhen, China. He has public art installations across the United States, including in Des Moines, Iowa, Los Angeles, California, and Monmouth, Oregon. Small has also exhibited throughout China including in Shanghai, Beijing, and Hong Kong. Small is inspired by the cross-cultural connections he has cultivated from his time in China.

Pastoral Dreamer, 2003

David Phelps

Bronze, Edition 3/6

Dedicated October 2005

Pastoral Dreamer by David Phelps depicts a male figure reclining in a relaxed position, partially sunken in the ground. At a length of 17 feet, this triple life-size, figural bronze sculpture invites the viewer to imagine and infer the unseen aspects of the figure. The inspiration for this piece is rooted in Phelps’ early years growing up on his family’s farm in California. The region’s dual threats of drought and floods have influenced his aesthetic, informing his creation of sculptures that appear to be partly submerged or emerging from the ground.

Located on 133rd Street between Mission Road and Roe Avenue, this tranquil, basking sculpture was placed to be enjoyed by families and the children attending the nearby elementary school. The piece is created from hollow, cast bronze pieces and features a dark, liverof-sulfur patina. Pastoral Dreamer, like many of Phelps’ works, reflects on the cycles of nature.

Phelps resides in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. His works are in private and public collections throughout the United States, Europe, Canada, Mexico, South America, and Australia, among others.

Avanim Vetseiadim (Stones and Steps), 2008

Ilan Averbuch Granite, Steel, and Water

Dedicated October 2009

Avanim Vetseiadim is the focal point of Gezer Park, which celebrates Leawood’s Sister City relationship with the Gezer Region of Israel. Born in Tel Aviv, internationally renowned artist Ilan Averbuch was commissioned to create this piece because of his intimate knowledge of the Gezer Region, as well as his Israeli heritage.

The 22-foot ladder of steel and recycled granite rises from a small reflecting lake. Averbuch says the symbolism of the ladder paired with water allows the viewer to consider the connection between the physical and metaphysical realms.

“The ladder grows out of its reflection created in the water. Stone and water are opposites and are the materials from which I carve this image. They form a dialogue with surprises and questions.”

Currently, Averbuch lives and works in New York. His sculptures are featured in major public institutions such as the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Israel Museum, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, and the Tel-Hai Arts Institute. His works are collected internationally, including in Canada, Israel, Germany, and India. Averbuch is the recipient of two Americans for the Arts/PAN (Public Art Network) Year in Review awards, as well as a Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant.

Harvest Tablet, 2009

Gadi Fraiman

Israeli Limestone and Concrete

Dedicated October 2009

Polish-born artist Gadi Fraiman was commissioned by Leawood’s Gezer Region Sister City Committee to create Harvest Tablet. The limestone tablet is a replica of an ancient Gezer calendar unearthed from the Tel Gezer archaeological dig site in Israel. The original artifact is one of the oldest known examples of Hebrew writing, estimated to date back to the 10th century B.C.E.

Fraiman’s passion for agriculture and stone sculpture coalesces in Harvest Tablet. As both a farmer and an artist, Fraiman describes his approach to working the land and carving stone as “a long, detailed, delicate, loving act of much sustained attention.”

Harvest Tablet is displayed at the entrance to Gezer Park, also home to a Havdalah garden filled with fragrant herbs used in the ritual of Shabbat, as well as a small grape vineyard. Together, the park gardens and artwork remind visitors of the shared agricultural roots of Leawood and its Sister City, the Gezer Region of Israel.

Fraiman started carving stones in his free time in 1982 using found tools, and continues to create art for private and public collections in his studio in Mishmar David, Israel.

The City of Leawood features two of Fraiman’s works in its collection. The other piece is The Bull, a small Jerusalem stone sculpture, which is displayed in the entry of Leawood City Hall.

The tablet is translated from Hebrew, at right, describing a calendar for planting and harvesting.

Two months harvest

Two months planning

Two months late planting

One month hoeing flax

One month barley harvest

One month harvest and feasting

Two months vine pruning

One month summer fruit

Point Defiance, 2009

Beth Nybeck

Mild Steel and Stainless Steel

Installed October 2014

Point Defiance, a sculpture composed of folded mild steel with a rust patina and stainless steel, greets visitors at the entrance to Ironwoods Park. Its abstract, animalistic body looms upon a geometric point with Kansas limestone as its base.

Point Defiance was initially an Art On Loan piece, and has previously been exhibited in Iowa, Indiana, Florida, and Colorado. The sculpture invites viewers to imagine and develop their own interpretation of the abstracted form. Collaborative themes of nature, storytelling, and cultural connections inform Beth Nybeck’s growing body of work.

Nybeck, a Kansas City-based artist, was the first female sculptor represented in Leawood’s public art collection. She is recognized nationally for her large-scale metal sculptures, which she fabricates herself. Nybeck’s work is in private and public collections across the United States, including Missouri, Florida, Louisiana, and California.

Prairie Lessons, 2007

Dennis Smith Bronze, Edition 1/15

Dedicated April 2007

Prairie Lessons is a companion piece to the Historic Oxford Schoolhouse in Ironwoods Park. This life-size figural bronze is a tribute to teachers, from the formative contributions of one-room schoolteachers to the present-day educators of Kansas. Internationally acclaimed figurative sculptor Dennis Smith happily accepted this commission based on personal childhood experiences attending a school like the Oxford Schoolhouse.

Smith’s impressionistic style captures an exuberance for life, frozen in a moment of discovery. His works can be found across the country from Seattle, Washington, to New Orleans, Louisiana. Smith’s work is also internationally exhibited in the American Embassies of Prague, London, and Moscow, as well as in national parks in Denmark and Japan.

This work of art represents a unique collaboration led by the Leawood Foundation in cooperation with the Leawood Historic Commission and the Art in Public Places Initiative of the Leawood Arts Council.

Praise, 1994

Bruce A. Niemi (1956-2025)

Stainless Steel

Dedicated June 2022

Based in Kenosha, Wisconsin, artist Bruce A. Niemi was a secondgeneration sculptor who studied under his father, Frank J. Niemi, an ornamental iron artist and self-taught sculptor.

Niemi would begin his sculptures by cutting out multiple bold shapes, curving and then polishing them. As each shape took its own unique form, he would build relationships between them, combining each piece into new configurations until a new sculpture is formed. He took inspiration from the beauty of nature, exploring shapes that are as simple as a blade of grass or as powerful as waves crashing along the seashore. Despite working with bulky, heavy metals, his work evokes a positive and uplifting quality that draws the viewer inward and upward.

Praise features Niemi’s experimental approach to additive sculpture with its masterful arrangement of geometric elements that soar to connect the heavens and earth. This radiant sculpture welcomes all who pass Fire Station No. 3.

Niemi has 54 permanent public sculptures on display across the United States and Europe.

Originally located at Phelps Tool and Die and then later at a private residence in Leawood, Praise was gifted to the city by Christopher and Bridget Lee in 2021.

The Bull, (date unknown)

Gadi Fraiman

Jerusalem Stone

Installed October 2010

The Bull was donated to the City of Leawood by PolishIsraeli artist Gadi Fraiman in celebration of Leawood’s Sister City relationship with the Gezer Region of Israel.

Sculpted from Jerusalem stone, a hard dolomitic limestone, the warm, coral hues of the natural stone contrast with the cool, smooth surface. The curved planes reveal layers of stone, sweeping into the points of the bull’s horns. The horns appear on opposite sides of the sculpture, as well as pointing in opposing directions, creating multiple facets of one bull or many bulls. From Celtic mythology to the Taurus zodiac, as well as the many references throughout the Torah, the bull has come to symbolically represent the dualities between stubbornness and brutality, abundance and strength.

Fraiman is a sculptor, painter, and educator living and working in Israel. His public works can be found throughout Israel. Fraiman has exhibited nationally and internationally, including in France, the United States, and Belgium. Fraiman’s sister work in Leawood’s public art collection, The Harvest Tablet, is featured in Gezer Park.

X, 2009

John Northington Glass and Steel

Installed February 2009

John Northington sculpts using commonplace materials such as concrete, steel, and glass. By molding, forming, and then partially destroying these materials, he gives his abstract sculptures an eclectic and industrial look. Using recycled materials, his work appears to be what Northington describes as, “fossils of used cities.” Northington strives to give his pieces an aged, weathered look and a soul.

Northington’s, X, located in the lobby of Leawood City Hall, is constructed of crisscrossing cast glass with a torch-cut steel base. The clear glass hemispheres stand gracefully on a wedge-shaped pedestal. X was a part of the Art On Loan program before it was acquired for the public art collection.

Northington, originally from California, graduated from the Kansas City Art Institute (KCAI). After graduating, he was an adjunct professor in the sculpture department at KCAI for many years. Several of Northington’s works can be found in public and private collections in the Kansas City metropolitan area.

Anagenisi apo Koinonia, 2006

Reilly

Dickens-Hoffman Steel

Dedicated October 2006

Anagenisi apo Koinonia, by artist Reilly Dickens-Hoffman, derives its name from the Greek words meaning renaissance or rebirth, and fellowship or communion. It greets patrons visiting the Municipal Court lobby of the Leawood Justice Center.

Weighing over 1,300 pounds, the sculpture is a nonrepresentational assemblage of feather-like forms. The steel feathers, cut by flames, reference the rebirth, or anagénnisi, of the mythological phoenix—a bird that casts itself into flames to be reborn from its own ashes. During the work’s creation, Dickens-Hoffman cut 150 feathers, but used only 110 in the fabrication. The remaining feathers were given away in an act of communion, or koinonia, to people in the Kansas City community with whom he felt an important connection.

This sculpture was selected for the Art On Loan program when Dickens-Hoffman was a senior at the Kansas City Art Institute. Since then, Dickens-Hoffman has worked on numerous public art projects, including the Veterans War Memorial for the Osage Nation in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, and the 9/11 Weeping Wall in Overland Park, Kansas.

Woods, (date unknown)

Lola “Babe” Atha (1928-2019)

Acrylic on Canvas

Installed 2000

Situated in Leawood City Hall, Woods by artist Babe Atha is a large acrylic painting depicting a grove of trees. The artist’s impressionistic style and informal spontaneity result in paintings with a strong sense of life, light, and movement. Atha’s treatment of color ranges from deep, rich tones of the Southwest to fresh, floral hues. Her works express clarity and dignity in the beauty of simplicity.

“I enjoy the power and excitement of the brush, the way the paint moves on the canvas to create the form and essence of the flower – simplicity over confusion.”

Atha’s life and career flourished for decades in the Kansas City metropolitan area. She was educated at the University of Kansas, the University of Arizona, and the Kansas City Art Institute. Her works are on display in residences and corporations throughout the United States and Canada.

Nature by Nature 5, 2010

Enon De Groot

Acrylic on Canvas

Installed October 2010

Nature by Nature 5 was donated to the City by Enon De Groot in honor of Leawood’s Sister City relationship with the Gezer Region of Israel. De Groot often works in various styles and media. He began as a painter and has been exhibiting his works since 2007.

The painting is the fifth in a series that De Groot calls Nature by Nature. The sky is the only portion of the artwork created by paintbrush. All other features of the landscape have been created with the items that they represent, such as grass painted with grass and leaves with leaves. The result is an expressive painting with unique markings.

Located in Leawood City Hall, Nature by Nature 5 depicts a rural scene in Israel. The peaceful terrain features the sweeping curve of a subtle pathway vanishing into the horizon. This scenic view is reminiscent of wagon tracks in the Flint Hills of Kansas.

De Groot’s work is featured in public and private collections across Israel and the United States.

Leawood City Hall - 4800 Town Center Drive

Various Works, (assorted dates)

Jim Hamil (1937-2022)

Watercolor

Throughout Leawood City Hall, a collection of dewy watercolor paintings by Jim “JR” Hamil captures the beauty of nature and significant sites unique to Leawood. The paintings include Leawood in Springtime, Old City Hall, City Hall in 1988, Majors House, I-Lan Park, The Historic Oxford Schoolhouse, Leawood South, and a collection of untitled landscapes.

A prolific watercolorist, Hamil was a local artist who spent much of his career painting natural landscapes and landmarks across Missouri, Kansas, and Colorado. He is well known in the Kansas City region for his prairie landscapes and Country Club Plaza-themed paintings.

In 1954, Hamil graduated from Shawnee Mission (now Shawnee Mission North) High School and went on to receive a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Kansas. In 1958, he embarked on a 15-year career at Hallmark Cards, where he once had the opportunity to provide a watercolor lesson to former President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

In 1972, Hamil established a studio space on 45th Street and State Line Road and began painting full-time for galleries such as American Legacy Gallery in Kansas City, Missouri, and Colony Bistro in Overland Park, Kansas. In 1990, Hamil was the recipient of the prestigious Kansas Governor’s Arts Award. His work is in private and public collections throughout the United States.

Inspiration, 1993

Blitt

on Paper, Edition 210/250

The original artwork for this print was inspired by the Oslo Accords, a pair of agreements between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1993, which aimed to facilitate peace negotiations. Fueled by hope and gratitude, Rita Blitt produced a small wood version of Inspiration as a gift, given through the United Nations, to the government of Norway. Blitt then was inspired to create this print to give to all 183 member states of the United Nations “as a reminder to reach out and aid others locked in conflict.”

Blitt is an internationally renowned painter, sculptor, and filmmaker who cares deeply about people and creating a more harmonious world. On paper, Blitt’s lines contain a kinetic energy and an embedded sense of spirit. When translated into the third dimension, the sculptural drawings investigate our relationship with space and celebrate movement.

A sculpture titled Inspiration by Blitt also resides in the public art collection. Although sharing the same title, these two pieces are not related to one another.

Untitled (Beetle), c. 2016

Gracefully creeping across the surface of the large-scale canvas, Untitled (Beetle) by Jill Oliver welcomes visitors into the Prairie Oak Nature Center at Ironwoods Park.

Oliver is a lifelong resident of the Kansas City region. After studying art education at Kansas State University, she became an arts instructor and educator for the Shawnee Mission School District.

Working in a wide range of subject matter, from portraits to landscapes, Oliver enjoys painting on large canvases because of their visual impact. Compositions with strong, dramatic light and shadows and interesting textures are stylistic recurrences in her work.

Untitled (Beetle) was the first two-dimensional piece to be selected fo the Leawood Art On Loan program, before the City purchased it for permanent installation at the Prairie Oak Nature Center. Oliver’s works reside in private and public collections across the Midwest.

How is public art funded in Leawood?

PUBLIC FUNDING

Public funding for public art comes from two sources: The City Public Capital Art Fund and the Public Art Impact Fee.

The City Public Capital Art Fund is an allocation from the city’s general fund currently equal to $7.00 per year per resident, and pays for all Leawood arts projects and programs, including the acquisition, installation, and maintenance of public art.

The Public Art Impact Fee is assessed on non-residential private development, renovation, or redevelopment projects at the rate of $.15 per added square footage.

Who is responsible for selecting Leawood’s public art?

In accordance with the city’s Public Art Policy, a Selection Committee is appointed by the city’s Art in Public Places Initiative (APPI) for each public art project. The Selection Committee considers artists, projects, and the location for the artwork, as specified in the city’s Public Art Master Plan and consistent with the project’s definition and scope, including budget, as determined by APPI. The recommendation of an artwork by the Selection Committee must be reviewed and approved by APPI, the Leawood Arts Council (LAC), and the Governing Body.

PRIVATE FUNDING

Grants from Arts Agencies

Application for public art funding may be made to private agencies and other private foundations which fund the arts.

Private Donations

Private monetary donations may be sought through various fundraising activities and channels.

Private Donations of Art

All private donations of art to the City are subject to the approval process for the acquisition the public art outlined in the Public Art Policy, and must be accompanied by a Deed of Gift from the owner.

Public-Private Funding

Public-Private monies may be raised through partnerships, collaborations, or matching grants.

A Selection Committee is generally composed of three to seven members, including one artist or arts professional with knowledge of public art issues, three APPI members, and one LAC member. Additional members may include one non-resident and residents who have indicated interest in serving by contacting the Chair of APPI or city staff.