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Emily Wheeler
Editorial Assistant
Pendleton Heights will look a little brighter this fall as Kansas City Art Institute (KCAI) students create murals along Sage Alley. KCAI and Pendleton Heights will continue accepting community input for these murals until Monday, Aug. 19. To submit your ideas, email phalleymuralproject@gmail.com. Make sure to include your street address with your submission.
KCAI said bringing murals to Sage Alley will increase pedestrian traffic and engagement. Residents are invited to join KCAI students to help make a mark along the fences of Sage Alley. This project will include two community paint days — from 1 to 5 p.m., Sept. 21 and Oct. 12.
The first paint day will involve priming the alley’s walls and fences — creating “doodle grids” for students to use in transferring the final design. The second paint day will focus on finalizing the murals and applying varnish.
“These murals will belong to the neighborhood, so it’s imperative that residents feel the images represent them,” said Héctor Casanova, an associate professor at KCAI. Casanova said input from community members and property owners will be used by KCAI students to create multiple concept sketches. Property owners will then select their preferred design from those options.
“The project is done as part of a class called ‘Us: Collaboration.’ The class focuses on the collaborative nature of art and artists’ power to use their art to improve the world in tangible ways,” explained Casanova.
In past years, KCAI students have painted murals across the Historic Northeast — including Scarritt Elementary and Whittier Elementary — for its community beautification project.
In September 2023, a new iteration of the project —Pendleton Heights Fairy Lights and Alley Murals Project— was launched. KCAI students created murals in Jade Alley, on the 200 block between Olive and Park.
The community is invited to follow the murals’ progress on the “PHMurals” Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/PHMurals.
Julia Williams
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