This KC artist was picked to design the giant poster hanging near 18th & Vine | Opinion
Ask, and you shall receive is a statement that is pretty well-illustrated with the hanging of a banner on Kansas City’s Lydia Street garage, even before the structure itself is complete.
In case you haven’t noticed it — and I don’t see how you could miss it — as you approach Kansas City’s Historic Jazz District there is a new art edition welcoming visitors just before crossing Paseo Boulevard. Of course, you can’t actually drive into the district right now because 18th Street is undergoing construction. A lot is going on over there these days since it is being turned into a pedestrian-friendly entertainment district. That’s many months away, though.
But a few months ago, Kansas City artists asked city officials for public space to highlight their talent and love for Kansas City through art. The contractors building the multi-deck garage on Lydia, a coveted spot for art, heard about that need and responded. They reached out to the 18th and Vine Arts Festival Foundation for help finding a local artist who could capture the essence of the Historic Jazz District on a banner.
Michael Tombs, an OG in the KC art scene, was a perfect pick. Tombs, 70, grew up in Kansas City and has been active in the arts scene here since 1991.
Tombs told me he was asked twice before to do big art projects in the city. One was called “Spill Paint Not Blood,” a nine-panel anti-violence mural exhibited at Kansas City’s American Jazz Museum and the second was “Mural of Light,” depicting illuminated angels atop a building on Troost Avenue.
“This is the only time I’ve been asked to do a project in the city that has nothing to do with violence,” Tombs said. “This is the first time I have been asked to do something that celebrates our accomplishments.”
His 30-feet-by-40-feet art piece is a temporary installation, but it’s significant in that it begins to answer a plea from local Kansas artists, particularly artists of color, to be seen, represented and respected more by their city.
The Tombs piece, which faces north on 18th Street, comes a month after a brief controversy erupted between the Kansas City Municipal Art Commission and local artists who claimed they felt blocked out of a process seeking artists to design a public art installation to be featured on the Lydia garage.
Initially, a city selection panel chose artists from around the country as finalists for the project, which comes with a $185,000 budget, including tools and supplies. None of the finalists were from Kansas City and none were artists of color, even though the project space is at the front door to an area celebrated as representative of the contributions of Black culture in Kansas City.
Local artists complained that such a project should go to a local artist with an understanding of the cultural significance and historic impact of the district — its music, its food, its ties to Negro Leagues baseball. That makes perfect sense to me. And apparently to city officials.
Kansas City officials listened to artists and changed the selection process to allow only local artists to bid for the space. A new call for artists went out, and that application process closed on April 6. We will know soon how many local artists are in the running, and get a look at what the art submissions look like. Tombs has tossed his work in the mix.
The art he has hanging on the garage is a kind of placeholder, and will stay there through the FIFA World Cup soccer games this summer.
Tombs’ giant banner is a digitally created collage — no AI was used — that he calls “Reunion,” because it draws on the history of 18th and Vine, depicting a celebration of music, sports, history and BBQ. “I wanted to celebrate the amazing things we have contributed to Kansas City and the world,” Tombs said. “I wanted it to look like a celebration with vibrant colors.”
I went to the site to get a close-up look at the piece. It’s like a pictorial documentary and the longer you stare at it, the more likely you are to see something in it that you hadn’t noticed before.
Tombs said it took about seven days to create. “I used this opportunity to remind myself what is important about 18th and Vine,” Tombs told me. “I wanted all the bits and pieces to be significant. I wanted to remind people that we are so much more than buildings and structures, that we have a spirit.”
No doubt, that piece captures the spirit of the historic district.
Off The Vine
Below are stories about culture and identity from communities in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Go here to find more from Star reporter J.M. Banks.
As the FIFA World Cup draws near, all of Kansas City is looking for a part to play in this global event. Kansas City’s historic 18th and Vine Jazz District is no different. Banks wrote about the multi-week effort the district has in store.
This Black-run non-profit has reached an unprecedented milestone in the millions of dollars it has contributed to the start, expansion and sustaining of small businesses across Kansas City’s historic racial dividing line. The effort helps to narrow the city’s Black/white wealth gap. Banks explains who, what and why.
Around The Vine
- A major national traveling exhibit, ”Through Darkness to Light: Photographs Along the Underground Railroad,” is coming to the Watkins Museum of History, 1047 Massachusetts St., Lawrence through May 23. The exhibit is sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, Exhibits USA and Mid-America Arts Alliance.
- The Red Bull Dance Your Style is returning to Kansas City, only this year at a bigger venue. The global 1-on-1 all-style dance battle, where the audience decides who will be the Midwest champion dancer, starts at 6 p.m. on April 25 at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, 1601 Broadway Blvd., Kansas City.
- As the weather warms up in Kansas City there’s no better time to go on the hunt and locate the 150 giant specialty hearts displayed around the city. All of the uniquely designed heart sculptures in the Parade of Hearts 150 United event will be on display by April 15.
Vine Picks
- President Donald Trump depicted himself as Jesus Christ “the healer,” in an AI generated image posted on his social media platform Truth Social (it has since been taken down after backlash) and Star columnist David Mastio calls him out for this “sickening anti-Christian portrayal of himself.”
- City officials, following the lead of Kansas City’s East Side community members, may have decided on a new road configuration for U.S. 71 Highway. Find out which way city leaders are leaning on this controversial project.
- Starting next school year, Kansas public school districts could face steep fines when students participate in protests during the school day. Star reporter Matthew Kelly writes about all the details surrounding a new law
Your voice matters to us. What local issues do you want to hear discussed in On The Vine? Let me, Mará Rose Williams, The Star’s senior opinion columnist, know directly at mdwilliams@kcstar.com. Thank you for reading.
This story was originally published April 15, 2026 at 9:31 AM.
