By Mike Sherry
Editor
For those of us who live inside the Interstate 435 loop, the Mission Road/Tomahawk Creek Parkway corridor is a heavily travelled thoroughfare — serving as one route to The J and to synagogues in southern Johnson County.
So it is fitting that a striking Rita Blitt sculpture is now located at the intersection of Tomahawk Creek Parkway and College Boulevard, which has a daily traffic count of approximately 30,000 vehicles, according to the latest data from the city of Leawood.
I pass that way almost daily and was curious to see what was taking shape at the southeast corner of the intersection. Work crews have been there for months.
Finally, this bold yellow steel sculpture emerged. It is impossible to miss, especially in the dark, when illuminated by the spotlights at its base. In the grayness of winter, it is almost like a perpetual sun shining through the craggy limbs of the surrounding trees.
I was intrigued, especially because I am typically underwhelmed by the public art along our roadways.
When Holly York, Leawood’s cultural arts supervisor, told me it was a Blitt work, the serendipity could not have been stronger. Only days before Marian Kaplan, immediate past president of Hadassah Greater Kansas City, had alerted us to Blitt’s inclusion in a November feature in Hadassah Magazine.
We will get to the story in a moment. But first, a little about Inspiration, the new addition in Leawood.
The abstract dancing figure stands 28 feet tall and weighs about 4,000 pounds, making it Blitt’s largest piece. Blitt actually created the sculpture in 1987, and it previously was installed at Bannister and Hillcrest roads in Kansas City, Missouri, in front of what was originally Hillcrest Bank.
Inspiration is a gift to the city from Leawood residents Bill and Mary Walker.
As noted in a June article in The Chronicle, Blitt grew up at Congregation Beth Shalom and raised her daughter at The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah.
The Hadassah Magazine story, headlined “Art With Optimism,” also noted Blitt’s Jewish upbringing in Kansas City. The article highlighted Blitt, 89, and two other artists still producing work at ages 91 and 85, respectively Hedy Pagremanski and Mira Lehr.
The story said the women “are among a distinct cohort: older, established Jewish artists who are continuing to create art and attract new audiences even as they navigate the challenges of the ongoing pandemic. With strikingly different styles, the three bring socially conscious insights and a tangible sense of optimism to their creative endeavors.”
The full story can be seen online here ( https://www.hadassahmagazine.org/2020/11/24/art-with-optimism/
