Lee's Summit Parks and Recreation: Pleasant Lea Park Mural Commission

The Lee's Summit Parks and Recreation Department seeks to commission a local professional muralist to design and complete one 13' x 22' mural at Pleasant Lea Park, located at 1100 SW Walnut St, Lee's Summit, MO 64081. The artwork will be situated on the right side of the two handball courts and should be inviting and creative, complementary to the space and park, and reference the park's play, active, and engaging environment. Artists must be residents within the Greater Kansas City Metropolitan Area (Jackson, Platte, Cass, and Clay counties in Missouri and Douglas, Johnson, and Wyandotte counties in Kansas).

Pleasant Lea Park is a 16.4-acre neighborhood park that underwent renovation in 2023, featuring multi-sport courts, an adventure treehouse playground, natural play areas, a multipurpose field, and an 0.8-mile trail with a pedestrian bridge. The artist will receive a stipend of up to $9,000, which is all-inclusive and will be determined after the request for qualifications is complete.

Applicants must submit a letter of intent (up to 1 page with a narrative proposal of no more than 300 words), three professional references (up to 1 page), resume or biographical information (up to 3 pages), and work samples (4-10 images in JPEG format, 1200 pixels on longest side, less than 5MB, and/or up to 5 video files). The selection process includes two rounds: Round 1 evaluates eligible submissions; Round 2 invites three finalists to create and present concept proposals and receive a $300 stipend. Finalists must be able to attend a virtual interview. The artist will be selected by October 10, 2025, with mural painting scheduled for October-December 2025. Applicants must be professional visual artists or artist teams, at least 18 years old, with experience in outdoor installation and executing projects from concept to completion within specified budgets and timelines. Previous experience working in the public realm and with public agencies is preferred. Full-time, permanent City of Lee's Summit employees, project consultants, contractors, and their employees and sub-contractors are ineligible.