As one of the 19 local artists selected for commissions to complement the upcoming Kansas City International Airport, on track to open in March of 2023, Rachelle Gardner-Roe is full-steam ahead on her work, Flyover Country: The Wild Side. This tongue-in-cheek acknowledgement of the Midwest’s moniker focuses in on the rich world flora and fauna that can be found in our region. The work will consist of three 40 x 60″ textile panels consisting of thread and hand-dyed Shetland sheep blended with alpaca wool, from the family farm, Meadowtree. Once framed behind UV plexiglass, the work will span about 20 feet in one of the Southwest Airlines gates.
The response to the work-in-progress has been positive, with the project rendering make the front page of The KC Star on April 27th! If you have a KC Star subscription, check out the full article.
To continue to see more behind-the-scenes progress, follow the artist on Instgram or Facebook. To see updates of all the artworks in progress, see BuildKCI’s July Art Update.
Rachelle Gardner-Roe 