Neighborhood by Neighborhood: Parade of Hearts Through Waldo, Brookside, and Ward Parkway

Hearts Across the Southland  ·  Part Two of Three

Neighborhood by Neighborhood: Hearts Through Waldo, Brookside, and Ward Parkway

Five sculptures wind through some of Kansas City’s most beloved neighborhoods, connecting a story about Mickey Mouse’s true origins, a three-generation family project, and the cultural crossroads of the south side.

By Kristina Light

Kansas City is more than the city you see from the highway. This year’s Parade of Hearts offers a great excuse to explore neighborhood by neighborhood. This second route in a three-part series follows six sculptures through Waldo, Brookside, and the city’s south-side corridors, from the Rockhurst University campus all the way to the Missouri-Kansas border and beyond.

ROCKHURST & THE TROOST CORRIDOR

THE HEART OF BELLEFONTAINE

by Jacob Luke

E 53rd St & Troost Ave, Kansas City, MO  ·  Rockhurst University

Jacob Luke, a lifelong Kansas Citian with a love for local history, has painted three Parade of Hearts sculptures. His first featured iconic landmarks like the Scout and Union Station. His second told the story of the Garment District in vivid color. For his third, he wanted to the story of Kansas City’s foundational role in the birth of animation.

“I just love the Kansas City history and telling stories that are less familiar,” Luke said. “Many folks aren’t familiar with Disney’s connection to Kansas City.”

The Heart of Bellefontaine centers on Ub Iwerks, a Kansas City native who co-created Mickey Mouse with Walt Disney and whom Luke considers the true father of cartoon animation. “You hear Walt Disney, he’s the name, but Ub Iwerks was the true artist and master.” The heart is painted entirely in black and white to honor Steamboat Willie, the 1928 short that debuted synchronized sound and animation. “They pioneered an art form,” Luke said, “and it’s now in the public domain. I stenciled a giant QR code on the base that routes to my website to view Steamboat Willie, as well as the trivia of the heart and what it represents.”

The piece is loaded with Kansas City Easter eggs. “Bellefontaine was the street where Walt lived as a kid, so that’s an easter egg,” Luke said. “Main Street is featured on the other side because of Main Street USA, that was inspired by Marceline’s Main Street. And East 31st was where Laugh-O-Gram Studio was in Midtown.” The new circular design with its cutout center presented fresh challenges. “It’s a great photo op and selfie opportunity, but it is a different idea to design around.”

Luke now lives in the historic Northeast himself, close to where his mother grew up and where Disney once lived. “I grew up knowing the story of Walt and his KC connections, so I started there. As I dove in more and learned, I discovered even more.” That deep familiarity gave him a strong foundation going in. “As a native Kansas Citian, it is a cool feeling to know that Mickey was created here in our backyard and that innovative people have always been a part of our city, that creativity, ingenuity and fun are part of our heritage.”

More of his work is at kansascityhues.com.

While you’re there

• Tiki Taco A Kansas City fast-casual chain slinging fresh Cal-Mex street tacos and burritos with a creative Asian-fusion twist.
• Forest Hill Cemetery Established in 1888 and designed by George Kessler, Forest Hill Calvary Cemetery is Kansas City’s most storied burial ground, the final resting place of Hallmark founder J.C. Hall, real estate developer J.C. Nichols, political boss Tom Pendergast, Negro Leagues legends Satchel Paige and Buck O’Neil, and fashion icon Kate Spade.

WALDO

ROOTED IN LOVE

by Marie Tabler, William C. Meyer & Audrey Tabler

201 E Gregory Blvd, Kansas City, MO  ·  In front of McLain’s Bakery

Marie Tabler has a BFA, more than twenty years in graphic design, and is now working toward a nurse practitioner degree at Rockhurst University. She has never been afraid of a steep learning curve. “My dad taught us: if you want to do something, there’s a way to do it and a way to fix it,” she says. “We never doubted we could do it.” When she applied for the Parade of Hearts, she brought her father, William, and her 23-year-old daughter Audrey on as co-creators, making Rooted in Love a three-generation project from the start.

The heart is a painted piece with a grouted stained glass mosaic in the center atttached with a welded metal insert. “My father taught me to cut  and make stained glass,” Tabler says. “He created the metal insert in the middle. He welded it, and it was galvanized.” Her daughter, a software engineer at Hallmark, joined the painting. “She’s always drawing. She helped me paint. We did it together all through December and January.” They worked in her father’s heated shop, which was an asset in the winter months when cold weather can freeze paint.

The process had tense moments. “We had moments we were unsure if the metal insert was going to fit. When you galvanize metal, the heat process changes it. And Dad worked it out. Like always, my dad made it work,” she said with a smile in her voice. Her father also shaped the final look of the design. “He said, ‘You really need to think about the way they wrap so it wraps really well, not just straight across.’ His inspiration led to the continuity of design.”

The symbolism of the piece is layered and intentional. “The white is the spirit, the wings of a dove, the peace inside us, and part of our passion,” Tabler explains. “Wheat represents growth and our agricultural heritage, and seeds are ideas.” The back of the heart carries the theme outward into the community. “The back is a field of ideas. People came together and built this city. It took a lot of people. We build on what people did before, and it shapes us.”

The placement at McLain’s Bakery in Waldo turned out to carry more meaning than the Parade team knew when they made the assignment. Tabler’s grandparents lived in Waldo and ate at McLain’s every week. Her parents had their wedding cake made there 54 years ago. “The team did not know the significance of the location,” she says. “It was beautiful seeing the heart that our family created together in love find its home that is so connected to our family story.”

Tabler hopes viewers take something personal from the heart. “We’ve all been told we’re leaders because we influence someone. Everyone has influence and the ability to lead. I hope viewers remember they are leaders, we all are, and that love is one of the most powerful changing forces that we have. It is always best to lead from love.”

Marie Tabler’s portfolio is at marietabler.com.

While you’re there

• McLain’s Bakery  The heart is right out front of this Waldo institution, beloved for pastries, coffee, and wedding cakes going back generations. Arrive before 10 am on weekends for the best croissant selection. (201 E Gregory Blvd)
• HomeGrown Kansas City – Brookside  A top-rated brunch spot just a few minutes north, with fresh local ingredients and a loyal weekend following. (338 W 63rd St)

HEAD IN THE CLOUDS

by Alex Cronin

329B E Gregory Blvd, Kansas City, MO

Alex Cronin’s Head in the Clouds is installed just down Gregory Boulevard from McLain’s, making this stretch of the street a natural two-heart stop. Cronin’s design carries the dreamy, upward-looking quality its title suggests.

While you’re there

• Brookside Ceramics A neighborhood studio offering handcrafted pottery classes, wheel-throwing workshops, and paint-your-own ceramics.
• Green Utopia KC A zero-waste, eco-friendly shop in Waldo offering recycled, biodegradable, and sustainable products for the whole family.

WARD PARKWAY & SOUTH KC

WHERE IS THE JARIPEO?

by Cynthia Perez

9100 Ward Pkwy, Kansas City, MO

Cynthia Perez’s Where is the Jaripeo? celebrates a traditional Mexican rodeo, rich with horsemanship, music, and communal celebration.

While you’re there

• Ward Parkway CenterHome to restaurants including Hawaiian Bros., Five Guys, Charleston’s, Cold Stone Creamery, Firehouse Subs, Nick the Greek, and Crumbl Cookie, as well as AMC Theaters, Trader Joe’s, Target, and numerous shops.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WE BUILD THIS CITY

by Tina Shonk Little

800 E 101st Terrace, Kansas City, MO

Tina Shonk-Little did not apply to the Parade of Hearts because she is an artist. She is a heavy equipment operator with Local 101 and the local program organizer for NICE, the National Institute for Construction Excellence. When asked if she was an artist, she answered that she went to Paseo High School for the Fine Arts and majored in dance, not visual arts. The heart, she will tell you, was completely by accident. She applied because she was passionate about her idea and thought it would be a unique experience. “I thought it would be fun, then I was chosen, and I was shocked,” she said. “Like, what do I do now?”

What she did was spend four months in a winter garage, teaching herself to paint on YouTube and Google, hunting for vintage Tonka trucks at local thrift stores, and learning exactly how hard it is to attach a die-cast crane to a fiberglass sculpture through a long chain of failed attempts and creative pivots.

We Build KC depicts a construction site rising from the ground up, exactly as a real project does: piping first, then grade, then concrete, then the structural bones, then the building. The extended facade of the Panasonic Building juts from the front of the heart, a project Shonk-Little and her husband both worked on in the field. Every worker on the sculpture is female, fitted with properly sized PPE. That detail matters: correctly fitted safety gear for women on job sites has been a hard-fought battle in the trades. “Every detail is intentional. Completing it and bringing the vision to life was a big accomplishment,” she said. The letters, the interior, and the workers all glow in the dark. One of the trucks still lights up. Her advice: go see it at night.

Getting there took more than paint. A donated tower crane was destroyed in transport. A plan to use Lego Technic pieces was scrapped over weight and theft concerns. The final solution was an air return vent attached with self-tapping nails to the center of the heart, a dump truck epoxied on top, expanding foam, and a lot of coats of paint, sealed with outdoor all-weather clear coat. The small figures at the base are held with epoxy and screws.  Behind every home, every office, every attraction, every building in our city is the work of the laborers behind the scenes. “There were multiple times I was ready to throw in the towel,” she said, “But I am glad I didn’t.”

The heart carries a second message. Construction has the second-highest suicide rate of any U.S. industry, behind only mining and extraction, according to CDC data. Shonk-Little wanted the sculpture to open that conversation. Her work with NICE works to support laborers and foster a new generation of workers. The organization reaches students in K-12, encouraging imagination and creativity along with an interest in the trades in elementary school, helping middle schoolers explore the wide range of construction careers, and by high school, connecting students directly with a field that fits. Workers who enter registered apprenticeship programs through the Department of Labor are paid while they train, earn an associate’s degree on the job, and graduate debt-free. Starting wages range from around $22,000 to $58,000, depending on the trade.

“I hope this sparks something in young adults to want to explore the trade,” she said. “By the time they are 18, they don’t waste time in a field they aren’t interested in.”

Learn more about NICE at nice-kc.org.

While you’re there

• Trailside Center A free, volunteer-run museum and gathering place situated along the historic 3-Trails Corridor, featuring exhibits on the Santa Fe, Oregon, and California Trails, Civil War history, and local heritage.

In the Series:

• Route 1: Red Bridge, Martin City, Grandview, Belton and Raymore
• Route 2: Waldo, Brookside & South KC
• Route 3: Southern Johnson County

The Parade of Hearts runs through August. An online auction follows in early autumn. Find the full map at paradeofhearts.org.