Troost MAX Artwork

For the first time, the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority has commissioned original public art at prominent locations along Troost MAX. Artists drew upon community input and local history to create interesting and compelling works.

31st & Troost, “Catalyst,” Matt Dehaemers

This large-scale incorporates linguistic history in the structure’s design. Dehaemers designed the structure to resemble a tree, playing off one origin of the word “Troost,” which can mean tree. The motion of the structure results in a creation that is constantly in flux, much like the history of Troost.
Dehaemers recently completed Seven Sentinels at the city’s vehicle impound facility. Nationally, he has been recognized by the Public Art Network’s Year in Review for four years in a row starting in 2004, and again in 2009.
See a video of the sculpture in motion.

39th & Troost, “Unite,” Jefrë

The Catholic Key covered the March 2011 dedication of Unite.
Jefrë created a sculpture that draws on the image of hands coming together, evoking a joining together or way to cross a divide. The artist worked with area children, gathering drawings of what the children want to be when they grow up. These drawings of doctors, firefighters, engineers and other vocations are incorporated into the sculpture.
Jefrë is an internationally acclaimed emerging public artist based in Miami who has received numerous awards for his innovative designs. After ten years working with international design firms, Jefrë launched his own couture public art studio in 2008 with a focus on environmental art, green roofs, boutique plazas, parks, and public art master plans. In his first year, he has been selected for six national blind public art competitions in New Orleans, Washington D.C., Toledo, Palm Beach, Orlando, and Philadelphia.

75th & Troost, “Every Day I Have the Blues,” David Dahlquist

The installation chosen for the 75th & Troost MetroStation is a tribute to Kansas City’s rich jazz history. The sculpture is an oversized piano structure with LED lighting. It is a powerful red epoxy painted steel and aluminum structure. The open, cantilevered framework suggests the raised lid of a grand piano; pedestrians can actually walk under the structure on a walkway or sit on benches resembling the piano’s keyboard.
David B. Dahlquist is a nationally-recognized public artist and teacher. He is the Creative Director of RDG Dahlquist Art Studio, a comprehensive design and fabrication facility within RDG Planning & Design, specializing in the integration of artwork within building architecture and the landscape.

The Troost Bridge

The new bridge over Brush Creek is a project of the City of Kansas City, Mo.  On the pedestrian walkway of the bridge, a series of polished stainless steel of panels will reflect light throughout the pedestrian walkways on the bridge. The panels will evoke the movement of the water flowing under the bridge, as well as the motion of the pedestrian, bicycle and transit traffic across the bridge. See drawings of the bridge:
View from the pedestrian walkway
Side view of the Troost Bridge at daytime
View of the reflective glass wall at nighttime
Side view of the Troost Bridge at nighttime