Kansas City Parade of Hearts artist disheartened after sculpture is damaged
When artist Jessica Endaya Keefer learned what happened to her sculpture over the weekend, her heart sank.
Keefer’s sister called Sunday morning to break the news during a visit with their parents to the Town of Kansas Bridge near downtown Kansas City. The heart-shaped artwork, a 400-pound fiberglass piece decorated with symbols meant to honor Filipino-Americans, was cracked, resting on its side and missing its metal placard.
The art installation, which has been removed temporarily, is one of 154 displays around the Kansas City metro through Parade of Hearts, an outdoor exhibition that’ll be up through May. Keefer told The Star on Monday that she spent hundreds of hours on the piece — sketching the design, drafting its statement and applying the acrylic paint.
It was dedicated to Keefer’s mom, who immigrated to the U.S. during the 1970s to work as a nurse. She retired a few years ago after working at Truman Medical Center for nearly 40 years.
Keefer, a 36-year-old graphic designer living in Liberty, said she has been glad to hear support from other artists and the Parade of Hearts organization since the piece was damaged. She hopes the incident was accidental, but she also worries about the possibility that hers may have been the target of vandals.
In the artwork, she blended colors and other symbols — including an airplane — to demonstrate the blending of American and Filipino cultures that she connects with as a first-generation American. Keefer’s is the one that most notably represents an Asian culture that she is aware of, she said.
“I don’t have the privilege of just assuming it was an accident,” said Keefer, pointing to the documented rise of hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.
“I don’t want to come to those conclusions,” she added. “But I also can’t not think that — especially just from like the recent happenings in the past few years,”
Organizers with the Parade of Hearts have not ruled out that possibility. But they also haven’t found anything to indicate someone damaged the sculpture intentionally, said Jenn Nussbeck, one of the exhibit’s directors.
Plans have been made in advance to address worries about the public artworks being vandalized as they’re out for Kansas Citians to see over coming months, Nussbeck said. Each piece has GPS and alarm devices installed to alert organizers when sculptures are moved — and signs warning passersby of the security that’s in place.
“They are beautiful pieces that are out for just a couple of months,” said Nussbeck, noting that “they can be broken.”
For hearts that are severely damaged, organizers are bringing them back to the shop — which has been dubbed the “heart hospital” — so they may be repaired if possible and put back on display.
As the exhibit continues, Nussbeck said she hopes those enjoying the works around Kansas City will respect them so that Parade of Hearts can “keep as many hearts out of the heart hospital as possible.”
This story was originally published March 22, 2022 at 8:00 AM.
