Become Part of the Art in Oppenstein Park

People as Monuments


Thursday, 10/16, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
@Oppenstein Park, 12th & Walnut

People as Monuments is an interactive public monument series that challenges the here and now of Kansas City. This temporary public art installation will include a plinth/platform for people to activate where they become instant “public monuments”.

Alongside organized performances by Jose Faus, Mark Southerland and Jordan Stempleman, the general public is also invited to step up on the plinth and become an instant public monument. A camera will be set up to document Citizens as public monuments and an online database will be created.  The project challenges the typical approach to place-making by commissioning permanent monuments stating “We were here”, while People are Monuments shifts the conversation and context to “We are here and now” challenging the typical public art infrastructure.

This performance is created by local artist Sean M. Starowitz. Starowitz’s work is executed in a variety of social, political, and community engaged contexts. Notable projects include Fresh Bread, BREAD! KC and Byproduct: The Laundromat. He currently resides in Kansas City, Missouri as the artist-in-residence at the Farm To Market Bread Company. He is a 2010 graduate of the Interdisciplinary Arts program at the Kansas City Art Institute and a 2012 Rocket Grant recipient with support from the Charlotte St. Foundation, Spencer Museum of Art and the Andy Warhol Foundation. More recently, he is a 2014 Charlotte St. Foundation Visual Art Award Fellow.

This performance is part of Art in the Loop Foundation’s 2014 Downtown Street Art/Creative Placemaking Pilot Project, a series of events and art installations with the goal of activating Oppenstein Park and the sidewalks of Downtown Kansas City with innovative, engaging and temporary art. For more information about these performances and installations contact Ann Holliday, program director for Art in the Loopann@downtownkc.org or Jessica Borusky, guest curator, jessicaborusky@gmail.com.

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