Art connects to conservation in Johnson County Parks & Recreation District effort

The art being created this spring by Cydney Ross and Alix Daniel in Kill Creek Park will disappear one day — exactly as planned.

Ross and Daniel are this year’s resident artists in a Johnson County Parks Department public art program that pairs the eye of artists with the department’s work in natural resources.

The public will have an opportunity Saturday to be a part of the ephemeral temporary art piece and contribute to the restoration effort by creating their own sculpture work with clay seed.

The Art and Natural Resources Residency is a short-term program where local artists are embedded with the recreation district’s natural resources team to learn, respond artistically and amplify the work.

The program was started because the community wanted park spaces and public art used in a new way, said Susan Mong, superintendent of culture for the Johnson County Parks & Recreation District.

“The residency highlights the amazing work our staff is doing in conservation in our parks,” Mong said.

Kirsten Taylor was the first artist in residence in 2022. Taylor focused on land restoration and the removal of the invasive species bush honeysuckle. She created a series of tables tiled with clay found on site at Shawnee Mission Park. The tiles told the story of what thriving plants were threaten by the crowding of honeysuckle.

The temporary art piece asked what should be allowed at the table.

”The honeysuckle was really choking the systems and preventing healthy undergrowth,” Mong said. “The art helps us tell that story. Art helps the community appreciate why these efforts matter. Art can connect to it better and help understand the things that are going on.”

The focus of Ross and Daniel is on prairie restoration at Kill Creek Park, which is at 11670 Homestead Lane in Olathe.

The prairie is managed and rejuvenated on a rotating basis by haying and prescribed fire. The prairie restoration efforts at Kill Creek Park started in the late 1990s.

Mong said the residency creates a unique opportunity for accomplished artists to work closely with park staff and naturalists and then respond artistically with a temporary art piece that engages and inspires the community around conservation efforts.

Ross and Daniel are both native landscape specialists at the Anita B. Gorman Conservation Discovery Center in Kansas City.

Ross said the residency program aligns with her direction as a ceramic artist, which changed during the pandemic.

“I wanted to stop making work fired for consumption,” she said. “I wanted to do something more that involved being outside and caring for the land. Then I heard about this residency. What are the odds?”

The temporary art piece is called “Restoring Refuge.”

“We are talking about what we think about as home: who depends on the prairie and what is our connection with the prairie,” Ross said.

It’s also about well-being.

“We all benefit from a healthy environment,” Ross said. “I can look at a field and see a bunch of things.”

She asking others to do the same.

“Take a moment, a closer look, get inspired.”

The elongated structure by Daniel and Ross will be made with alternating cedar poles and dry plant material. Native seeds, clay and soil are being used for small sculptures and details. Small windows will allow visitors to view prairie-inspired sculptures made during the community engagement workshop Saturday.

Over time, the installation will break down and become a part of the prairie restoration effort.

“The grasses will eventually grow up and totally envelop it,” Ross said. “I wanted to contribute in a more meaningful way. I wanted a deeper meaning in myself — and it’s fun.”

For more information about this week’s programs and the artist residency program, go to jcprd.com/1759/Art-and-Natural-Resources-Residency..