Merriam residents can help choose the next piece of public art headed for the Turkey Creek Streamway Trail at Chatlain Park.
The city's Public Art Committee picked three finalists from 168 applicants, according to the city's public art page. Each artist presented a site-specific proposal to the committee at its Oct. 1 meeting at City Hall. Public comment is open through Thursday, Nov. 5, online or in person at the Merriam Community Center.
The committee, chaired by Shawn McConnell, plans to review feedback and make its selection on Thursday, Nov. 12. The city's announcement describes all three concepts below.
'Flooded by Wonder' — Matthew Mazzotta
Mazzotta, of Canton, New York, envisions an 18-foot hand rising above the trail with a Regal Fritillary butterfly resting on one finger. The butterfly's wings would shimmer and shift color with the light. Stripes on the hand represent the rising and falling water table, and the colors stand for prairie plants including wild violets, the only food the butterfly's caterpillars eat.
The Regal Fritillary is a Kansas native the city says is becoming harder to find. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says habitat alteration has reduced the species to local colonies of remnant prairie, from southern Wisconsin west to Montana and south to northeast Oklahoma. An existing butterfly garden at the Chatlain Park site sits along I-35's monarch migration path, according to committee minutes from Aug. 13.
Mazzotta is a TED Fellow, Guggenheim Fellow and Loeb Fellow at Harvard University, according to his website.
'Crossing' — Asheer Akram
Akram, of Kansas City, Kansas, proposes three rust-colored steel arches and three curved benches in a field at Chatlain Park. The polished interior walls would reflect the sky, trees and visitors. The piece is wheelchair accessible and climbable by children.
The arches draw on the original Merriam train depot. The city was originally called Campbellton until the 1880s, when it was renamed to honor Charles Merriam, a secretary of the railroad. The three benches sit at different heights, representing levels of flood water the ground has seen.
Akram holds a BFA in sculpture from the Kansas City Art Institute and runs Asheer Akram Custom Fabrication.
Untitled — W. Scott Trimble
Trimble, of Seattle, Washington, designed a sculpture depicting the rock layers beneath Merriam, including limestone and shale formed over millions of years. Curving shapes echo Turkey Creek and ancient glaciers. Colored pieces represent fossils embedded in the stone.
The city said Trimble hopes visitors will learn about the ground they're standing on and feel connected to the area's natural history.
How to weigh in
Residents can submit feedback at merriam.org/Residents/Our-Community/About-Merriam/Public-Art or at the Merriam Community Center through Thursday, Nov. 5. The Public Art Committee is scheduled to make its selection on Thursday, Nov. 12, with artists notified Friday, Nov. 13.
