‘We Are Lee’s Summit’ project to be installed downtown

More than 250 residents took part in public-art, photo project displayed downtown

LEE’S SUMMIT – A public art, photo project more than a year in the making will formally be installed at the Downtown Lee’s Summit Main Street office this week.

“We Are Lee’s Summit” is a compilation of more than 250 Lee’s Summit residents, each displaying a chalk quote describing what makes them unique and individual.

Residents from all corners of Lee’s Summit took part in the project, which was shot over three months in downtown Lee’s Summit. The photos will appear on eight panels on the west and south walls of the DLSMS office, 13 SE Third Street and include residents from 6 months to over 90.

Organizers Hilary Graves and John Beaudoin gleaned the idea for the public art-photo project from the “I am Joplin” photo wall that was installed in their downtown business district after the 2011 tornado.

“Seeing the ‘I am Joplin’ photo project was breathtaking,” Graves said. “And the second we saw it, we knew we had to bring this to Lee’s Summit.”

The same designer that brought the Joplin project to life, Paul Whitehill of Whitehill Enterprises, designed and printed “We Are Lee’s Summit.” Along with Whitehill, downtown Lee’s Summit metal fabricators Dave Eames and Ben Wine, of Fossil Forge Design, handled the metal signature above the project and will be installing it on the downtown offices this week.

Visitors to the public art project will also have be able to take a photo at an installed quote bubble and can upload their photos to the “We Are Lee’s Summit” group Facebook page. (https://www.facebook.com/groups/315480512952160/)

“We Are Lee’s Summit” was funded by several organizations, including the Lee’s Summit Arts Council, the Downtown Lee’s Summit Community Improvement District, the HMF Beaudoin Family Foundation and Ashley & Zach Lund. Fossil Forge Design, Downtown Lee’s Summit Main Street, Whitehill Enterprises and Christopher Hosmann Photography all donated time and talents to the project.

“This public art project shows the best of who we are in Lee’s Summit, and it couldn’t come at a better time,” Graves said.