I was recently on Facebook and saw a Call to Artists for a 3D sculpture to be displayed above a fountain in Ward Parkway Center in Kansas City, MO. I immediately jumped at the chance and submitted photos of Gretchen for consideration. I was over the moon when they contacted me to say they had selected Gretchen.

After meeting with the property management team (love, love, love), I decided that I wanted to build a base for Gretchen to balance on. With only a week or two to complete the base, I immediately got to work.

The base is made from two pieces of 2-inch-thick Styrofoam insulation, cut into circles and then coated in concrete patching compound and mortar. Tiles were laid out face-down, glued to a mesh backing, and then placed around the perimeter. More tiles were added to the top and some along the underside. Because the top isn’t viewable from eye level, I didn’t want to weigh the piece down with more tiles.

A very sincere thank you to the team at Ward Parkway for selecting Gretchen and providing a venue for local artists to showcase their work. Please check out MallArts, coming every Friday in April 2026, to see more work from local artists!