On the north face of a new parking garage rising at 18th Street and Lydia Avenue, Kansas City has reserved a blank rectangle nearly the height of a three-story building, 29 feet tall by 20 feet wide. The space is slated for a permanent, wall-based public artwork intended as a gateway into 18th and Vine, a district tied closely to Black cultural life, jazz history and long-running community institutions.
Before work begins, the selection process has become a public dispute. Local artists and advocates have criticized the city’s decision to open the call nationally and say the process has left Kansas City creators feeling shut out of a taxpayer-funded commission located in a culturally significant neighborhood.
A central point of contention is the outcome of the first round…