Committee approves Long House permanent art collection; Friends of Overland Park Arts seeks expanded public art planning and funding

Jeremy Myers, assistant parks and recreation director, and Julia Villier, manager of arts and events, presented a recommended permanent art collection for the Long House at the Overland Park Arboretum and Botanical Gardens. Staff said the selection followed an open Call for Artists that yielded more than 700 submissions and passed through Friends of the Arts, Friends of the Arboretum, the foundation and the parks and recreation advisory council before reaching committee consideration.

The collection recommendation includes a mix of outright purchases and commissions intended to reflect the regional prairie and to prioritize local artists with Kansas City ties. Staff said the foundation will contribute up to $70,000 toward the project and that the city will cover installation and ongoing maintenance from parks maintenance budgets; staff noted the city will become responsible for long‑term care after installation.

The committee voted to recommend council approval of the Long House permanent collection. Committee members asked about selection process details, commissioning vs. purchase, and the decision to feature women artists in this grouping to address demographic balance in the city’s collection.

Separately, the committee heard from Sonia, chair of Friends of Overland Park Arts (FOA), who described FOA’s advocacy and fundraising work and proposed next steps: inventory existing public art, update the public art master plan, identify maintenance needs, and develop funding strategies (including embedding art line items in CIP projects). FOA and staff recommended prioritizing public and visual art in the short term while exploring expansion to other disciplines later. Committee members asked staff to include public art considerations in upcoming park projects and the Clock Tower Landing programming review.