Recently, I attended the opening of the Kansas City Chiefs’ new art installation at Arrowhead Stadium.  Initiated by Sharron Hunt,  and developed with assistance from local experts Jacqueline Chanda, President of the Kansas City Art Institute; Barbara O’Brien, Director of Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Julián Zugazagoitia, Director and CEO, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art; and the Sherry Leedy and Dolphin Galleries, the collection features eleven works by regional artists.  As an arts enthusiast, I was pleased to see the Chiefs’ send a clear signal to the community that they value the arts as an important cultural amenity.

Most people would agree that having a sports team, like the Chiefs, is important to our region and the same is true of the arts. Everybody benefits from the vibrancy of our arts scene, regardless of their level of participation.  And kudos to the KC Chiefs’ for selecting fine art pieces by artists with roots in the region and national reputations. Our region has many accomplished artists and I am so pleased to see them getting the attention they deserve. 

Artists with work now installed include: Philomene Bennett Alan Chow, Matthew Dehaemers, Phil Epp, Lisa Grossman, Anne Lindberg, Adolfo Martinez, Elliot Norquist, Charlie Podrebarac, Jesse Small, and Dierk Van Keppel. In addition, pieces by Nedra Bonds, Jose Faus, Jun Kaneko, and Terry Evans are due to be installed in the future as the collection continues to grow. Six of these artists have affiliations with ArtsKC, either as grant recipients, exhibitors through our corporate Now Showing program, or graduates of Artist INC, our business training program. For fans without tickets on the Scout Investment Club Level, you will be able to see parts of the collection on Arrowhead Stadium tours and an art-specific tour and curriculum for schools is now in the design phase.

Thank you Kansas City Chiefs for your continued support of the arts in KC!