Matthew Dehaemers: new public art installation

New Corinth Square sculpture evokes area’s ‘Prairie Evolution’POSTED BY PVPOSTER • NOVEMBER 12, 2013Original PostCorinth Square has a new public art installation that draws on the area’s history for inspiration.The new piece, “Prairie Evolution,” was commissioned by the shopping center as part of the Community Improvement District agreement with the city, and was built by artist Matthew Dehaemers, who has several pieces of public art on display throughout the metro. Though Dehaemers currently lives in Shawnee with his wife and two children, grew up near 93rd Street and Mission Road, and says the Corinth area was “part of my growing up.”Dehaemers says the piece is intended to evoke the growth of the area from a swath of tallgrass prairie into a modern suburb.  His artist’s statement on the piece follows:This commission for Corinth Square is inspired by the “evolution” of the prairie from the original sod houses literally built from and coming out of the earth to the contemporary suburban home of our the local community. The base two bases reference at the same time the sod house emerging out of the prairie and also the modern day roof line and dormer of a Prairie Village suburban home. From this foundation a series of silhouetted home shapes replicate and grow vertically. These two structures unfold skyward to the point of nearly converging with one another to form an archway. Their presence creates a welcoming gateway to the newly developed Corinth Square.The piece is built from steel frame with colored glass. The installation at the center between Salty Iguana and SPIN! was completed last Thursday.“The best time to see the piece is on a sunny day – early morning and early afternoon,” says Dehaemers. “At those times the sun is on either side of it and it really activates the translucent colored panels.”