j. thomas lovell jr. community center sculpture

The Lee’s Summit Parks and Recreation Department seeks to commission a professional artist to design and complete a Sculpture to be installed at the J. Thomas Lovell Jr. Community Center at Legacy Park is located at 901 NE Bluestem Drive, Lee's Summit, MO 64086. This work will be situated to the side of the main entry doors. The artwork should be inviting and creative; it should be complementary to the space; embody health and fitness, and reference the center's community, active, and engaging environment.

Selection Process

Round 1: Call for Artists’ Proposals

The Lee’s Summit Parks and Recreation Department will convene a selection panel to evaluate eligible submissions.

Round 2: Finalists create and present a Concept Proposal to the Selection Panel.

The Selection Panel will review finalists’ proposals, budgets, and qualifications (images of work, resume/CV, letter of interest, references, and select one artist or artist teams.

Three artists or artist teams will be selected to interview with the panel and propose their concept, which should include a visual representation of the proposed project, and the artists will also receive a

$500 stipend for providing their concepts to the team before interviews begin.

The selected proposal will be presented to Lee’s Summit Cultural Commission for acceptance into the Public Art collection as part of the Public Art policy. The Artist and final concept will be selected and contracted by Lee’s Summit Parks and Recreation.

Timeline and Benchmark Dates

(All dates are subject to change.)

• Final 3 selected, and notified by December 8, 2025

• Final 3 concept proposal interviews: January 12-14, 2026

• Artist selected: January 16, 2026

• Sculpture installed: October – November 2026