FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Feb. 17, 2006

Advisory panel selects artist for Sprint Center

At downtown Kansas City’s Sprint Center, visitors will enjoy one of the city’s most exciting standing public art installations, thanks to the collaboration of the Kansas City Municipal Art Commission, the City of Kansas City, Mo., and an innovative public artist.

Chris Doyle was recommended Friday to create the estimated $1.3 million art installation entitled, “We hardly ever see the moon anymore,” for the Sprint Center. The proposal includes landscaping, water and LED video screens on which the artist proposes to feature Kansas Citians “flying.”

“I want to bring an element of delight and magic that will knit together the Sprint Arena and the Power and Light District,” Doyle said during his preliminary proposal.

An all-volunteer selection panel of Municipal Art Commission representatives, local citizens, representatives of the Sprint Center’s design team and artists and art professionals familiar with public art, chose Doyle from a field of 154 artists from across the country. Doyle and Dennis Oppenheim, both from New York City, presented individually to the panel Feb. 8. The group made its final selection after deliberations Feb. 17 and will submit its recommendation to the full Municipal Art Commission for final consideration. Should the commission approve Doyle’s proposal, the City Council will deliberate on the contract this spring.

Friday’s selection was one of two high-profile art projects recently approved by an independent selection committee. Omaha-based Jun Kaneko was selected Feb. 7 to create artwork for the Kansas City Convention Center’s $135 million expansion.

“These two projects add life to Kansas City’s already exciting public art scene,” said Porter Arneill, director of the Municipal Art Commission. “The vitality and energy of this work will energize downtown Kansas City for years to come.”

Both artists were selected through Kansas City’s One Percent for Art Program. Under a 1986 ordinance, any new building project undertaken by the City must allot 1 percent of total design and estimated construction costs to commission a work of art related to the project. The Municipal Art Commission administers the One Percent for Art Program for the City.

“Whether it’s the terrazzo floors of the Kansas City International Airport, the Sky Stations atop Bartle Hall or the sculptures at Swope Park’s Lakeside Nature Center, our public art complements our public spaces,” Arneill said. “Kansas City’s One Percent for Art Program speaks volumes about our elected officials’ dedication to this city and its citizens’ cultural heritage.”

For more information about the One Percent for Art Program and the City’s Municipal Art Commission, visit www.kcmo.org/cimo or call Elizabeth Bowman, Municipal Art Commission, (816) 513-2656.