Lee’s Summit wants to create new mural to welcome visitors to Green Street area
A matching grant from the Missouri Department of Tourism will not only help downtown Lee’s Summit visitors find their way within the burgeoning shopping district, but it is funding a new Green Street mural showcasing the community.
The grant was submitted by the City of Lee’s Summit and the Lee’s Summit Visitors Bureau with the city supporting a $30,000 match portion of the $60,000 grant.
The city recently released a call for artists for the two side-by-side 20-foot tall by 16-foot wide digital banners, which will be displayed on the parking garage outer walls facing Second and Green streets.
“We’re looking for something bright and beautiful that speaks to Lee’s Summit as a community and what we bring to our visitors,” said Silvia Arellano Fernandez, the city’s cultural arts specialist. “It could be historical, it could have some hints of our agricultural roots. It could really showcase us as a community and our downtown.”
In addition to the mural, the grant is funding wayfinding projects to add signage near the downtown Amtrak station and parking areas along with additional kiosks.
“The mural is part of the wayfinding,” Fernandez said. “It says ‘you’re here, this is the spot to park, to eat, to play.’”
Downtown Lee’s Summit and the new Green Street development are not new to public art displays. Examples of artwork that debuted with Green Street’s August opening are a 14-foot-tall lighted signature sculpture, large white arches — referred to as wickets, a digital banner mural on the Green Street Market building and a mural greeting visitors inside the city’s parking garage.
The new mural will be installed by May 31 in time for downtown Lee’s Summit’s Futbol Fridays. The community events will begin June 12 and are part of the community’s celebration of the FIFA World Cup games in Kansas City.
“It will be an amazing Futbol Friday experience for people who are invested in the World Cup,” Fernandez added, “so we want the mural to be there when we welcome those new guests to downtown.”
The mural will also be on display during Lee’s Summit’s annual Downtown Days, scheduled for June 5-7 . Close to 100,000 people traditionally visit the shopping district during the three-day community event.
“We hope it puts that message out there that we welcome everyone,” Fernandez said. “We’re just so happy people come to us and get to experience Lee’s Summit, and this will really add to our aesthetics of downtown.”
The deadline to submit a design for the new mural is March 22, and artists must live within the Greater Kansas City metropolitan area. The mural, which will include the words “Welcome to Lee’s Summit,” will be on display around three to five years.
The artist or artist team selected for the mural will receive a $3,000 stipend, with the winning design announced by April 7. A group of community members will review the submissions and select three finalists to interview before naming the winning proposal.
With the new mural facing the busy intersection at Second and Green streets, Fernandez said the artwork will both enhance this Green Street entry point and draw attention to the parking garage.
“A lot of people don’t realize that this parking lot is free and open to the public,” she said. “I believe this space and this location is something our visitors are going to see when they first come into the city or when they first come into Green Street for an event.”
Lee’s Summit is known as a community that values public art with the city government also emphasizing these displays.
“As a city, a lot of departments and divisions are investing in the arts within their new developments,” Fernandez said. “It’s something the city is really thinking about when we’re creating new spaces and creating new opportunities, and we’re trying to find ways to incorporate arts and culture more into every aspect of the community.”
The Lee’s Summit Parks and Recreation Department recently added a mural to its Pleasant Lea Park and is planning a sculpture at the Lovell Community Center in Legacy Park.
“It’s amazing for our community that we can come together and appreciate the arts,” Fernandez said.
She added that research has shown that public arts enhance inclusion and belonging within a community.
“There’s so many positive aspects of art, and it’s so vital to us as a community to have that. I think it’s amazing that our city is backing us up on those efforts.”