Council approves Douglas Street redesign budget and artist teams but pauses final OK for kinetic ‘feather’ artworks

The Wichita City Council on Wednesday approved a revised budget and supplemental design agreement for a multimodal reconstruction of East Douglas Avenue from Seneca to Meridian that includes a public-art program, but members asked for more community input before approving the final public-art designs.

Project and art: Public Works presented a corridor redesign that narrows the roadway to one lane each direction with a two-way center turn lane, adds curb extensions and relocates pedestrian crossings to reduce crossing distances. A public-art commission selected two artist teams: Armando Munoz (Site A) to create a gateway piece inspired by Wichita headdresses and Texas Longhorn forms; and Airworks Studio (Site B) to install kinetic “feather” wind-vanes intended to reference local aviation history and Indigenous imagery.

Why council paused final art approval: Councilmembers expressed support for a gateway treatment but asked for more discussion about the feathered kinetic pieces — specifically durability, maintenance costs and community aesthetics. Lindsay Benaka of Arts and Cultural Services and the consultant said the feather units would be rated and engineered for high wind loads and the artist team cited an existing kinetic installation in Wichita State University’s collection that staff reported has required minimal maintenance over decades. Still, council members asked staff to gather additional public input from the neighborhood and district advisory boards before the final art authorization.

Budget and schedule: The council approved the revised project budget and supplemental design agreement (including design funds needed to complete development), with the public-art concept to be further refined. Staff said $400,000 of general-obligation funding had been set aside for art and that an RFP process with finalists and a selection committee had already been completed. The contract for construction and further design phases will return to council when designs are complete.

Council direction: The project team will proceed with continued design work on the street improvements and will refine public-art designs with advice from the design council, the project consultants and council members. The council directed staff to hold public engagement opportunities and invited council members representing affected districts to participate in upcoming design-council discussions about final art approval.

Speakers who appeared on the record include Paul Gunsmond (Public Works) and Lindsay Benaka (Arts and Cultural Services).