A sticker vending machine in Lenexa Public Market is helping nature conservation in the area with the help of local artists.
Throughout March, the “Prairie In The Parks” vending machine has been spreading art and awareness in the Lenexa Public Market through four collectible stickers.
Olathe artist Allison Bowman created the project, commissioning herself and three other local artists to create stickers that pay homage to four Johnson County parks maintained by Johnson County Parks & Recreation District Natural Resources and Kansas City Wildlands.
Money generated from each 50-cent sticker sale are split between the JCPRD Foundation and the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in Kansas to support local and regional prairie preservation efforts.
For Bowman, the mission pays tribute to the Konza Prairie near her hometown of Manhattan, Kansas. The project also shines a light on the importance of both local artists and nature.
“My work, my art practice, has a lot to do with mental health and well-being and nature,” she said. “So getting out and seeing these natural spaces that we have in our community, I think, are really important for us as human beings to experience.”
Bringinh the project into focus
Bowman took inspiration from machines on display at a conference last summer by Art-O-Mat, a company that repurposes old cigarette dispensers into art vending machines.
“I was like, ‘Oh, that’s a really great way to bring art to meet people where they are,'” she said.
Having moved to Johnson County about seven years ago, Bowman said roaming through the area’s prairies reminded her of living next to the Flint Hills in Manhattan and how she didn’t take advantage of it as much as she should have.
Not wanting other people to have that regret, as well as give them a greater appreciation for nature in Johnson County, she focused on shining a light on nearby nature havens like Kill Creek and Cedar Nile prairies.
“I can sort of get the same feel of the Konza Prairie (from) the prairie remnant spaces right here in my own community. And then I kind of wondered ‘Do people know about this? Are they going to the parks for this?'” she said.
A grant helped kick the project off
After being awarded a $3,500 Arts KC Inspiration Grant, which supports ambitious art projects designed to make a positive impact on the community, she hired three graphic artists to create individual pieces that would eventually become stickers.
The artists include:
Also needing a vending machine, Bowman said she got in touch with someone that was able to sell one and ship it from Minnesota.
“It was expensive. But I’m super grateful for the grant money to help cover the purchasing of the machine and the shipping of it,” she said.
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The machine promotes tangible goods
Channeling Bowman’s childhood, where she would collect stickers, as well as the continuing rise of tangible collectibles, like Pokemon cards, the project gives people something they can hold in their hands.
“The driving factor behind the sticker machine is that I wanted it to be geared towards younger people and have something tangible and tactile, because what kid doesn’t like stickers, right?” she said.
On that same thought, it educates them on the tallgrass prairies and how they’ve been significantly reduced, due to development and farming.
“They get the sticker and then, they get to learn about these parks that they’re probably visiting anyway: ‘Did you know that this park has this prairie land, and only 4% of the tall grass prairie is left?’ It’s kind of an educational piece,” she said.
Have stickers, will travel
While the vending machine is expected to be removed from the Lenexa Public Market at the end of the month, Tessa Adcock, manager of the market, is hoping it will stick around longer because it’s had such a positive impact.
“I think it’s a great addition to this space,” she said. “(It) is an ongoing commitment to learning about Kansas and the community and the art, just all of it together.”
Whether it stays or goes, Bowman said it is likely going to travel around the area at some point, helping spread the word about the local tallgrass prairies and getting people out to experience them this spring and summer.
“The goal is to move it around, and I’m trying to figure out where the next location is,” she said. “I already have my own art practice following, so I feel like those, you know, that core people are now telling their friends, and they’re bringing their kids, and the Lenexa Public Market has been awesome, and they have family nights, and so it’s just a lot of collaborative promotion to kind of get the word out.”
Other Lenexa art news: ‘Meet Me in Lenexa’ — Artist and design picked for Old Town mural project
