Juneteenth art project brings Black history to Johnson County buses
The Johnson County government is partnering with JuneteenthKC for the first time on a public art and transit project that will place Juneteenth-themed designs on buses and bus shelters throughout Johnson County as Kansas City prepares for the FIFA World Cup.
The 2026 Juneteenth Artist Amplification & Transit Project centers on a commissioned piece by Daniel Montoute, a Black artist who moved to Kansas City nearly three years ago and has since become active in the local arts and civic community. The artwork is expected to appear across multiple public-facing platforms this summer, including transit, digital media, community activations and cultural events.
His Juneteenth design features a young Black girl holding a soccer ball. Montoute used his daughter as the reference for the image. The girl sits near midfield, between the goalposts, with a sunflower included in the design.
The project is timed around both Juneteenth and the global attention expected during the World Cup. Johnson County officials said the transit placements will be visible along key commuter routes during a period when the Kansas City region is preparing to welcome visitors from around the world.
The Juneteenth artwork will appear on existing RideKC buses and bus shelters throughout Johnson County. The RideKC routes have also been expanded to serve World Cup commuters.
“This year, for the first time, Johnson County Government has partnered with JuneteenthKC,” a Johnson County Government announcement said. “This collaborative effort will feature the commissioned art on buses and bus shelters throughout Johnson County.”
The commissioned artwork was formally unveiled May 18 at the Johnson County Arts & Heritage Center in Overland Park. The event will also outline how the artwork and related messaging will be used across transit, digital platforms and community programming.
The project is connected to several partners, including JuneteenthKC, the Arts Council of Johnson County and Johnson County Park and Recreation District. JuneteenthKC is also exploring ways to further highlight Montoute’s work through the Juneteenth Celebration at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and within the Onyx Arts Block at the Zhou B Art Center during the 15th annual JuneteenthKC Heritage Festival.
Makeda Peterson, program director for JuneteenthKC, said the partnership is part of a larger effort to connect residents and visitors with African American cultural programming during World Cup activity.
“We’re really excited about it,” Peterson said. “We kind of negotiated this special partnership with Johnson County and I think it’s going to be great because, again, this hub at Overland Park is going to be where all the buses are going to go from Johnson County sites for those people that are going to go watch the World Cup.”
The bus and bus shelter campaign is one piece of a broader Juneteenth effort in 2026. The Johnson County government has hosted a Juneteenth community event for the past four years, but this year’s project expands that recognition into a regional public art campaign.
The transit pieces will also include a QR code connecting people to community organizations and cultural events happening during the World Cup period. For organizers, the goal is not only to mark Juneteenth, but also to use one of the region’s busiest international moments to direct attention toward Black history, art and community life in Kansas City.
“There actually will be a QR code that they can scan while they’re at the bus stations and while they’re positioned, waiting on these buses to pick them up to take them to the World Cup site,” Peterson said. “That will be connected to other community organizations and community partners that are hosting activities throughout World Cup time.”
Montoute was selected after seeing a call for an artist to create work tied to Juneteenth and the World Cup. The opportunity, he said, fit the kind of visual storytelling that drives his work.
Montoute is originally from the Virgin Islands and lived in Georgia for about a decade before moving to Kansas City. He first came to the area while visiting family, then connected with Pendleton ArtsBlock and was accepted into a residency before returning home. Soon after, he and his family packed up and moved.
“So I actually saw that they had put out a call for the Juneteenth project,” Montoute said. “They were looking for an artist to create a piece that kind of spoke to the World Cup, as well as Juneteenth and all the symbolism that meant.”
Montoute’s work shifts in style depending on the message, moving between abstract forms and recognizable subjects such as people, birds, animals and plants. For this project, he created an image that connects Juneteenth, youth, endurance, play and the unfinished work of liberation.
“So in the imagery, it’s a little girl and she’s kind of sitting holding a soccer ball, which kind of represents that within that struggle, there’s still a part of it,” Montoute said. “And a part of the work is to find time to relax and to play and to actually enjoy life.”
The soccer field carries another meaning. Montoute said the figure’s placement near midfield represents being between goals, with work still ahead. The grid lines of the field point to the boundaries, rules and systems people continue to navigate.
The sunflower represents endurance and the ability to grow in different environments. The sky is designed to feel open and bright, with a sunrise-or-sunset feeling that suggests a future still being shaped.
“I wanted to make sure that I chose a Black youth, a minority group youth, kind of speaking to the future that we’re creating, that we’re actively building for our children,” Montoute said.
The format required Montoute to think beyond a traditional canvas. Because the image will be displayed on buses and bus shelters, he had to consider how the design would work across different surfaces, how partner logos would fit and how the core message would remain visible.
He said the county and project partners gave him room to create while also making sure he understood the requirements of the public campaign. The process, he said, gave him the support and space to focus on the artwork.
“They really understood the arts,” Montoute said. “They understood the culture and they were willing to just let us create from the place that it needed to be created from.”
For Montoute, the commission is also a public introduction to more of Kansas City. Since arriving in the area, he said he has tried to embed himself in the community. He serves on the board of reStart and has created work focused on homelessness, including “Living in Tents,” shown at Westwood City Hall and “Rosham,” which compared the transient lifestyle of birds to the plight of people experiencing homelessness.
His upcoming solo exhibit, “Chameleon’s Lament,” is planned for November at ArtsKC and will use chameleons to explore homelessness, code-switching and survival. Montoute also created a public commission at the historic fire station on Vine Street, across from Vine Street Brewing.
As JuneteenthKC prepares for its 15th annual Heritage Festival and Kansas City prepares for the World Cup, the transit project gives Montoute’s work a larger public stage. It also turns a daily part of the region’s transportation system into a moving reminder of Juneteenth, Black childhood, cultural memory and the future communities are still working to build.
Peterson said this year’s celebration is also about showing Kansas City’s African American culture to a wider audience during a historic moment for the region.
“I’m excited to have the opportunity to really show the world, especially with it being in the World Cup game that evening,” Peterson said. “It’s going to be impossible at this point for it not to be an opportunity for KC to show what it looks like to share African American pride and culture, what it looks like for us to come together as a community and just really enjoy what every human loves to experience.”
