A new sculpture is now on display at the intersection of Shawnee Mission Parkway and Roe Avenue, courtesy of the non-profit group Artists Helping the Homeless.
It's big, bold and red -- and presents a challenge from Mahatma Gandhi.
Kar Woo, a local artist and business owner, helped to establish the philanthropic group more than a year ago. Since then, the organization group has quietly raised money to feed, clothe and even provide medical services for area homeless. But Woo wanted to broaden the circle of awareness from artists and philanthropists to the widen population.
So last October, he and several artists started brainstorming ideas for a public sculpture that would capture the attention of harried passers-by. "We decided to be more direct and kind of shout the message," he says. What they came up with was a bright red, 16-gauge metal creation stands 10-feet high and 25-feet long. It says simply "Be The Change" -- a shortened version of Gandhi's famous challenge, "Be the change you wish to see in the world."
In April, the sculpture made its public debut at MidAmerica Nazarene University in Olathe, before moving to All Soul's Unitarian Universalist Church near the Plaza in May. Yesterday, Woo packed up the bright red quote and hauled it over to Shawnee Mission Parkway and Roe Avenue. This spot struck the artist as particularly appropriate, not only for the visibility, but because the city of Mission's is already working on a grassroots effort to feed the needy.
In March, Mission broke ground for a new community garden at Lamar Avenue and Foxridge Drive. Four beds are already planted with greens, carrots and tomatoes and four more beds should be done in the next two weeks, says administrative intern Josh Rauch. Then, the bounty from those crops, Rauch says, will go to 50 low-income, disabled and elderly residents within the city.
But Woo emphasizes the sculpture's message isn't all selfless. "The goal is not just to help other people, but to help ourselves," he says. "Things are so challenging and none of us really like change. But maybe somebody will drive by and see it and think, 'Maybe I can make a change for me.'"
We're thinking Gandhi could get down with that interpretation, too.
