"Confluence" design completed for Parade of Hearts Kansas City project

                            

"Confluence," my quilt cover for a large fiberglass heart, has been completed for the Parade of Hearts Kansas City project. It is on display through mid-May in the Waldo community at the Harry Higgins Trolley Track Trail at West 75th Street and Wornall Road in Kansas City, MO. 

From this...

My "Confluence" design was among more than 700 designs submitted by regional artists last fall to the Parade of Hearts KC organization. From those submissions, 154 designs were selected. Artists began picking up their fiberglass forms in November to start working on their approved designs. Each heart form measures 60 inches wide by about 65 inches tall (including the rectangular base on which the heart shape is mounted) and is about 13 inches thick. Each heart weighs about 70-80 pounds. Each heart features the letters K and C on one side. 

To this on the front...

The "Confluence" quilt cover is composed of about 6,000 smallish mostly green cloth squares that I stitched together on a sewing machine. The small squares are intended to represent the green spaces -- lawns, parks, medians, forests, fields, lots, farms, lakes, ponds, pools and other natural areas -- in the Kansas City metro region. Appliqued over the green fabric are cloth "rivers" and "creeks" in various shades of blue, as well as labels that show the names of some of the waterways, cities and towns in the region. Not every waterway is labeled; neither is every town or city. The flip side of "Confluence" is the same as the front side but does not include any labels; it is intended to show what the region looks like in its natural state. The overall effect of the quilt cover is like that of a pixelated Google Earth image. All the stitching took between 60 and 70 hours, so some serious time was logged at the sewing machine. 

And this on the back.

"Confluence" and the other 153 giant hearts are now being delivered to drop-off points in the area. Next in the process will be applying a clear-coat layer to protect the artwork from the impacts of weather. After that, the hearts will be on hand for viewing at an artist meet-and-greet in early March. The hearts will then be placed throughout the metro region, where they will be on display through the end of May or early June.  I don't know yet where "Confluence" will be located. 

A heart auction is planned for mid-June to raise money for several organizations and programs, including The University of Kansas Health System, Mid-America Regional Council's programs for children, AltCap, and VisitKC Foundation. The artists also benefit from the project by receiving a stipend for their creative work.