Give city planners credit for pulling together the magnificent new Keeper of the Plains exhibit. But a reader raised a good question in a recent letter to the editor: Why is there no sign or plaque recognizing the statue’s creator, artist Blackbear Bosin?
It turns out the original plaque with Bosin information at the base of the Keeper was obscured when the statue was raised onto its new rock perch.
As my column today reports, city officials already realized their mistake in not having a new plaque. "A new one is in the works," lead project architect Kurt Skinner told me. One that will tell Bosin’s story and the Keeper’s.
Honoring Bosin and his vision will make the new Keeper site complete.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
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9 Comments
The _best_ way to have honored the artist would be to _NOT_ have spent over $20 million on overpowering bridges, ridiculous “firepots,” and a 30′ pedestal.
It was just fine the way it was.
If you can’t do it right the first time…
Randy: I haven’t been to the Keeper since the renovation, but after reading your article, it is high on my list.
When you stay out of politics you’re a darn good writer!
Mrs. XXX and I paid the Keeper a visit around River Fest time. What’s the problem? The Keeper is a Wichita landmark. The former setting was dreary. Why are some upset about having it “spruced up”? A friend took a picture a few nights ago while the firepots were burning and it looked pretty awesome. I even thought the bridges were pretty cool.
I know…it’s the money, right? “That money could have been spent on the poor and homeless”.
Problem is, most people who say that wouldn’t cross the street to piss on a poor person if they were on fire.
I like many of the changes made both at the ‘point’ and along the east bank by Farm Credit. My only real problem is the ‘towers’ on the bridges that over-dominate the scene in my opinion.
Also, I think the lights are too bright; however given security concerns is probably necessary.
I hate to say this, but maybe it would be more in accord with Blackbear’s memory if we left his name off this time.The Keeper was intended to be a bond between Earth, Sky and Water. It’s now become a glitzy Vegas-style advertisment for the city’s business interests. That was never Blackbear’s vision.
I like the keeper the way it is now. It is much more visible as it should be. Landmarks should be moved for the right reasons and one of them is to make the landmark more visible.
Back when I was a student at the Greatest High School in Wichita (East) there arose a great controversy about that school’s landmark pond with the Indian and Settler statue. It used to sit back way off Douglas between the high school and what was then Roosevelt Jr High. When the school needed to expand, it was decided to move the landmark to the front where it sits now. Many people opposed such a move. Some feared the landmark would be destroyed in the move. Others just thought it should stay where it was for decades. But the school district hired the best people it could to do the job under the watchful eye of preservation experts. And nobody today would argue that landmark is not as beautiful and original as it was and much more visible to the public now. It was done right and so was the Keeper- which you could not hardly even see before. As for the lights, yes, light it up for all to see! The Keeper is to Wichita what the Arch is to St Louis. It it Wichita’s represenative landmark.
Look closer. There is a Memorial Garden along the North Sidewalk on the Indian Center land, directly behind the Keeper.