By David Markham
The public is invited to an Aug. 22 event celebrating the reveal of the four 2024 Poster Project designs in an ongoing series of collectible posters created by local artists featuring JCPRD parks and facilities.
The event will take place from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Johnson County Arts & Heritage Center, 8788 Metcalf Ave., Overland Park. This free event is open to the public, and attendees are encouraged to RSVP by Aug. 19 using an online form which can be accessed at JCPRD.com/1901/JCPRD-Poster-Project.
“We are excited to feature four new parks within the JCPRD park system, each with unique attributes in different parts of the county” said Superintendent of Culture Susan Mong. “Art has a powerful role to play in celebrating nature. I hope these posters inspire our community to spend extended time in these beautiful spaces and experience the gift of being present.”
All four 2024 poster artists will be at the event, including: Sol Anzorena, who created the design for Ernie Miller Park; Haley Chaffin, who created the art for Antioch Park; Julia Morris for Stilwell Community Park; and Ruthie Osa for Mill Creek Streamway Park. Artist remarks will begin at 6:30 p.m.
“The art selection process for this year’s project happened to yield four female artists, which was a fun outcome and serendipitous,” Mong said. “This year’s artists pushed the boundary of color in some new ways. You will also see different times of day featured – adding to the diversity of the overall collection. Each new artist we bring to the project always brings a new perspective and we are just thrilled to feature local talent from right here in our community.”
The poster project is part of a Public Art Program JCPRD launched in 2019 to activate parks, trails, and facilities in a new way. The posters will feature JCPRD places and spaces using the iconic and majestic style used by Work Progress Administration (WPA) artists in the 1930s. Each year, JCPRD expands its collection featuring parks, trails, and facilities that are part of its system. 2023 was the first year of the poster project, and the inaugural year’s entries featured posters of Big Bull Creek Park, Cedar Niles Park, Lexington Lake Park, and Shawnee Mission Park.
Following the 2024 reveal on Aug. 22, JCPRD posters, notecards, and postcards will be for sale both in person at the Museum Store located inside the Johnson County Arts & Heritage Center and online through the website, parksandgreenspaces.com Proceeds from these sales will benefit the JCPRD Public Art Program. New for 2024 are stickers featuring this year’s poster designs.
A call for artists for the poster project went out in late February inviting regional artists to participate in this poster design opportunity. The four successful artists were chosen by an Art Selection Committee from 23 applicants who met an April deadline for submitting qualifications. Each successful artist received a $2,500 stipend.
This project is generously funded by AT&T and supported by The Parks and Recreation Foundation of Johnson County. To learn more about the program and this year’s artists, visit JCPRD.com/1901/JCPRD-Poster-Project.
