The Kansas City Convention Centers Sky Stations are the four giant aluminum sculptures atop the 230-foot pylons that support the exhibition hall’s cable-stayed roof. Designed by artist R.M. Fischer under Kansas City’s One-Percent-For-Art program, the lighted sculptures measure 40-by-30 feet in size and can be seen from up to a two-mile radius.

Inspired by the art deco light fixtures and architectural details throughout the Municipal Auditorium and other 1930s-era buildings downtown, the Sky Stations are part of a comprehensive scheme to tie together the old and new parts of the Convention Center facilities. Forty-eight aluminum interior hanging sculptures and two floor-based sculptures, also designed by Fischer, adorn the Conference Center, Convention Center and Municipal Auditorium lobbies and walkways.

“The exciting aspect of this project is how the ‘Sky Stations’ impact the downtown skyline,” Fischer says. “I see the sculptures as symbolizing a sense of hope and optimism for the people of this city, much the same way that the 1930s art deco represented a new thinking and a looking forward to the future.”

Fischer, who lives and works in New York, was selected to create the artwork for the Convention Center Expansion project by the Kansas City Municipal Art Commission’s Artist Selection Panel. The artist’s commission was funded under the city’s 1986 ordinance dedicating one percent of the estimated cost of a municipal construction project to artwork for that project.

The artwork was dedicated by the Municipal Art Commission on Sept. 24, 1994, with the opening of the Convention Center expansion.

Kansas City Convention and Entertainment Facilities, Kansas City, Mo.
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