KANSAS CITY, MO.-Last week one more construction fence was erected in downtown Kansas City -- this one surrounding Oppenstein Brothers Memorial Park at 12th and Walnut. This pocket park – owned by Jackson County, and located immediately to the north of the new Power and Light District, Sprint Arena, and H&R Block Headquarters -- will be undergoing a public art renovation, courtesy of the Art in the Loop Foundation and a creative team led by Kansas City based artist Laura DeAngelis.

“It is an honor for Jackson County to host this extraordinary public art project, which is the outcome of tremendous hardwork, creativity, and partnership among numerous entities and individuals,” said Michele Newman, Director of Jackson County Parks and Recreation, who also serves on the Municipal Art Commission. “We are thrilled to see it come to fruition, and excited for the public to see and experience a greatly enhanced park.”

Laura DeAngelis, a 1995 Kansas City Art Institute graduate, was awarded this commission in late October, 2006 at the culmination of a competitive, two-phased selection process. Following nearly a year’s worth of planning, community outreach, design development, and fundraising, her “Celestial Flyways” is expected to be largely completed by late November, 2007.

The basis of “Celestial Flyways” is to create a sense of connectivity – within the park itself, between the park and its immediate surroundings, and between downtown Kansas City and the larger ecosystem of which is a part. “I wanted to shift people’s perceptions and encourage a different kind of awareness of the space, reconnecting the park to the sky directly overhead and the continuous rhythms of the natural world, which are so easy to lose sight of in the middle of the city,” said Laura DeAngelis.

Weaving together astronomical, ornithological and botanical references, the project encompasses a variety of art elements integrated into a design scheme including new landscaping, paving, and seating. Dominique Davison, of the recently launched Crossroads-based firm Davison Architecture + Urban Design, collaborated intensively with DeAngelis on the design of the project, including managing input from a team of engineers, fabricators, and other design consultants, including Brett Douglass of Genus Landscape Architects in Des Moines.

“Each discipline informed the other and influenced the overall aesthetic of the park through months of creative dialogue,” said Davison. “Interlacing public art with park design, this project pushed the artist to work outside of her craft, and vice versa -- prompting the designers to think more fluidly about what park design might be.” The park is designed to work as a vibrant public space hospitable to a range of uses and activities, from large public gatherings and events, to quiet respites, to hands-on interactions with the art work.

“Oppenstein Park is a hugely important public space in the heart of Downtown, surrounded on all sides by new development and a growing residential population,” said Bill Dietrich, President and CEO of the Downtown Council and an Art in the Loop Foundation Boardmember. “Over the last few years, our Downtown Community Improvement District has worked hard to make the park a clean, safe, user-friendly place, and park use has greatly increased. This Art in the Loop project is a major next step forward in the park’s evolution. It exemplifies a site-specific approach to public art that will enhance the park functionally as well as visually, and add even more momentum to our downtown renaissance.”

The central sculptural element of the project is a ten-foot diameter interactive “Astrolabe” or “Star Disk.” Sitting horizontally on a ceramic tile-clad concrete base, this large, blue steel disk, fabricated by A. Zahner metals, will chart over 500 stars visible in the Kansas City sky. Visitors will be able to turn a dial, “setting” the disk to any given month, day, and hour, illuminating (via LED lights inside the base, fiber-optics, and small holes in the disk corresponding to the brightness of each star) the stars that would be visible overhead at that moment. This one-of-a-kind astronomical instrument was developed in collaboration with internationally renowned astronomer James E. Morrison, who developed a specific computer program to map the stars from a Kansas City-specific perspective. In addition, the entire face of the disk will be etched with more than fifty drawings of constellations by DeAngelis and fellow Kansas City artist Peregrine Honig. While immediately easy to use and enjoy, text etched on the disk and dial, and nearby signage, will provide more information about the sculpture and the astronomical information it conveys.

The ceramic tile cladding the Astrolable’s base, created by DeAngelis who is known for her high level of craftsmanship and meticulous attention to detail, will weave together references to the stars as well as plants and birds native to Kansas City. Bluestone etched with the months of the year will cap the concrete base, providing a seating surface all the around way the disk.

“Celestial Flyways” also includes a series of approximately 15 native birds, produced at actual size as etched steel plates (also fabricated by Zahner Co.) and embedded in new concrete pavement. Matching the drawing style of the constellations on the Star Disk, these birds will be positioned along dyed concrete “migratory lines,” referencing Kansas City’s position along the Mississippi flyway, a major route for migrating birds. These birds will extend beyond the boundaries of the park to surrounding sidewalks.

Other components of the project include a long, curved, walled planter with integrated seating, new stairs faced with ceramic tile, and two raingardens located near the lowest elevations of the park in order to harness, slowly filter, and clean water runoff before it enters the sewers. The existing park fountain has already be removed and stored in order to create a more open plaza area for larger gatherings, performances, and events. The entire plaza area is being repaved in five-foot-square cement blocks, replacing pavers that are nearly 25 years old and matching the new sidewalks along 12th Street being completed concurrently as part of the new downtown streetscape.

Funding for “Celestial Flyways” is provided by the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation, the City of Kansas City, Mo., Oppenstein Brothers Foundation, Commerce Bank Trustee; the Richard J. Stern Foundation, Commerce Bank Trustee; Muriel McBrien Kauffman Foundation, Bank of America, H&R Block Foundation, Wall Street Tower, Francis Family Foundation, Lighton Foundation, Stinson Morrison Hecker, Kansas City Power and Light, Missouri Bank and Trust, the Arts Council of Metropolitan Kansas City Arts KC Fund, and JE Dunn Construction Company. In-kind support is provided by Jackson County and the Downtown Council/Downtown Community Improvement District.