Background
Prairie Village, Kansas, is a post-war residential area in Kansas City that is home to 21,000 people. The R.G. Endres Gallery is in the city’s municipal office building and promotes an annual, juried exhibition of local art each September.
Challenge
In 2008, Callahan Creek was asked to deliver an original logo and Call for Entry materials for the juried exhibition, and I was charged with directing the project and designing the work.
Solution
Prairie Village lacks an obvious natural landmark, and the ubiquitous nature of water towers hardly makes them noteworthy. But the Delmar Tank atop a hill west of the municipal office building is a Prairie Village icon of sorts. During the years, it has been tagged by students at Shawnee Mission East High School, which is a few blocks north, and the tower’s elevated location gives it an observational quality.
I made dozens of rectangular, thumbnail interpretations of the water tower with pen, paint and marker, then encouraged my co-workers to join the fun. I would use local art of a local icon to illustrate the promotional materials for a local art show featuring local artists.
The result was a colorful mosaic of images that delighted board members and brought visitors to the show.
Concept, identity, art direction & design // Chris Ralston
