Welcoming Artist Stan Herd
Osawatomie, KS (April 26, 2023) – City of Osawatomie officials are excited to announce a relationship between the City of Osawatomie and internationally acclaimed Kansas artist Stan Herd.
As city officials continue to work to elevate Osawatomie at the state and federal levels, including a plight to preserve our critically important history as a National Historic Park or National Historic Site as part of the National Park Service, their efforts have gained the attention of many notable Kansans, including Stan Herd. From his biography:
“A native Kansan, Stan Herd began as a painter and muralist before attaining the position as the pre-eminent ‘representational’ earthworks artist in the world today. One of the founders of the ‘Prairie Renaissance’ Herd has been active in a group promoting film, music and the arts in America’s heartland. He has continued to produce numerous earthworks that grip viewers around the world. Herd’s artworks have spanned 40 years and include works with major companies in commercial endeavors alongside his monumental fine art earthworks in China, Cuba, Australia, Brazil and in 13 states in the US.”
(Photo by Jason Dailey for INKansas City)
With assistance from the Allen W. and Gladys Hawkins Charitable Foundation, the City of Osawatomie is thrilled to announce that Stan Herd will be producing the world’s first earthwork portrait of infamous abolitionist John Brown inside John Brown Memorial Park to highlight the importance of the community’s role in Bleeding Kansas and the pre-Civil War era nationwide. The portrait will officially debut during the 2023 John Brown Jamboree celebrations, though Herd and his team began preliminary mapping and outlining in late April. The City of Osawatomie is planning to celebrate the unveiling with an array of local, state, and federal representatives to help recognize this monumental artwork and homage to Kansas' foundation.
“Many Kansans, and a sizable majority of Americans, know little about the storied history of John Brown and Osawatomie. This story is but one component of an amazing unfolding of the American DNA; from the ‘Trail of Death’ of the Potawatomi to the thunderous beginning of the war that separated the Nation, to the opening of the West with the industry and rail convergence on the Kansas plains. Every American should know this story, if they want to know who they truly are as a Nation.” - Stan Herd
Herd chose a lesser-known image of Brown to replicate in the earthwork, though he believes it tells a deeper story as the image is thought to have been captured while Brown was living in Kansas. In the image, a beard-less Brown stares into the distance with a pensive and grim expression. Herd is looking forward to the challenge of replicating the emotion portrayed in the image and finds it a "very powerful" piece of American history. The earthwork will be produced through a detailed combination of cut grass layers and deposits of mulch, stone, and/or soil. Herd and his team, including assistant and Geology Lead Brandy Cookson of central Kansas; Art Director Kyra Roelse of Eugene, Oregon; Spiritual Advisor and son Evan Herd of Lawrence, Kansas; Media and Logistics Lead John Zarr; and Communications Director Janis M'Caelin-Light, will be working in Osawatomie over the next several weeks to learn more about the community, develop the earthwork, and make deeper connections to the area’s history.
Other powerful earthwork portraits recently completed by Herd include Maya Angelou and John Lewis in Atlanta, Amelia Earhart in Abilene, Elie Wiesel in California, and an upcoming landmark portrait of legendary Kansas Senator Bob Dole commissioned by the Dole Institute in honor of the late senator's 100th birthday. Herd has also produced work in New York City with then-real estate developer Donald Trump, a project upon which the 2011 film "Earthwork" was based. Previous commercial works by Stan Herd include contracts with Nabisco, Netflix, Spotify, among many others. Alongside his own original earthwork landscapes and character portraits, Herd also produces his own original fine art, many of which can be viewed at his website.
Photo by Stan Herd (via Twitter) of Elie Wiesel Earthwork Portrait
For more information on Stan Herd, his lifetime of work, or his current projects, please visit any of the sites included below:
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
 City of Osawatomie Press Release "Stan Herd" (April 26, 2023) | 141.17 KB |
| Stan Herd - The Legacy Project (Provided by the Artist) | 7.8 MB |