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Skywalk Sculpture: Rita Blitt

The Skywalk Memorial Foundation commissioned esteemed international artist Rita Blitt to create a sculpture that will serve as the focal piece of a memorial honoring the victims, rescuers and survivors of the Hyatt skywalk collapse in 1981.

While she wasn’t at the Hyatt Regency when the skywalk collapsed in 1981, Rita Blitt’s fifth grade art teacher, Ruth Ann Angstead, was among the many people injured that night. Now, Blitt has the opportunity to pay tribute to her art teacher who inspired her to create as well as to the victims, rescuers and survivors of the tragedy. Randy Mason caught up with this Kansas City favorite just down the street at the Carter Art Center.

Blitt has installed over 45 monumental sculptures up to 60 feet in height, had 70 solo exhibitions and participated in many group shows. Her works have been shown and installed in Australia, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan and the United States. It isn’t often that one artist is featured in three shows at the same time, but that’s what happened this fall when Rita Blitt had shows underway at both Longview Community College and Penn Valley Community College, as well as in the gallery at Central Missouri University in Warrensburg. Rita Blitt’s Penn Valley show runs thru Nov. 7. The show at Longview runs through Nov. 12th.

The memorial will be part of a larger park developed by Children’s Mercy Hospital partnering with the KCMO Board of Parks and Recreation. Visitors to the memorial will find a 36-foot plaza area illuminated by pinpoints of light. The pinpoints of light will symbolize the victims, rescuers and the ripple effect the tragedy has had on the community. The memorial will include a seating area surrounded by lush plants. The Skywalk Memorial will be installed in Hospital Hill Park at 22nd and Gillham Road.

Blitt will create with advisors L. William Zahner, Hon. AIA, A. Zahner Company and Lorie Doolittle-Bowman, AIA, Bowman Bowman Novick Inc.

In 2009, KCMO Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners approved plans for a memorial, and SMF announced the location in Hospital Hill Park, 22nd and Gillham in Kansas City, Missouri. The Hyatt skywalk collapse remains the deadliest structural collapse in U.S. history other than the World Trade Center. 114 people were killed, 216 were injured and countless lives were changed forever by the unprecedented disaster.

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The Local Show-October 6, 2011

This week on The Local Show, we take a look at the performance many people missed at the grand opening of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. We attend...

This week on The Local Show, we take a look at the performance many people missed at the grand opening of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. We attend a Mental Health First Aid class at the Bert Nash Center. We see an excerpt from the documentary Voces del Pasado. We speak with Rene Aguirre from Ñ Magazine, a publication devoted to the Spanish-speaking community in the metro. And we give you a look at some art with a very large message.

Premiere Projection Pizzazz: Quixotic Fusion & Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts

The Local Show presents a look at the amazing performance which turned the new Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts into a canvas for Quixotic Fusion’s unique blend of technology and dance.

Six Decades of Community Support: Bert Nash Center

For sixty years, The Bert Nash Center has been providing a wide range of mental health services in Douglas County.

Voces del Pasado: Jesse Valdez

Gene Chavez produced the documentary Voces del Pasado: Mexican Americans Tell Stories of Their Past which chronicles the stories of Kansas City’s Hispanic community. The Local Show shares an excerpt about the experience of Jesse Valdez.

The Local Lowdown for Latinos: Rene Aguirre & Ñ Magazine

Nick Haines welcomes Rene Aguirre, Managing Editor of Ñ Magazine, to discuss the unique role his magazine plays for the Hispanic community in the metro.

Debt Feeling: Cargo Container Critique

Some say, “Go big or go home.” For sculptor John Salvest, he took advantage of an opportunity to send the Federal Reserve bank a very big message.

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Premiere Projection Pizzazz: Quixotic Fusion & Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts

The opening weekend at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts was a star studded affair featuring performances that showcased the new stages inside, but Quixotic Fusion and Baruch Gayton...

The opening weekend at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts was a star studded affair featuring performances that showcased the new stages inside, but Quixotic Fusion and Baruch Gayton Entertainment Group turned the exterior of the venue into an attraction as well. For those of you who missed this amazing marriage of technology and music, The Local Show presents another look:

Opening Night ‘Projections’. Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. Kansas City – September 16, 2011 from Quixotic Fusion on Vimeo.

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Six Decades of Community Support: Bert Nash Center

It is estimated that at some point in their lives, 50% of American adults will have a diagnosable mental health disorder. In a single year, it will be one in...

It is estimated that at some point in their lives, 50% of American adults will have a diagnosable mental health disorder. In a single year, it will be one in four people. According to a 2004 World Health Organization study, the disease burden of mental health disorders are North America’s biggest health problem, ahead of heart disease, lung disease and cancer – combined.

For the last 60 years, one local organization has been on the front lines in the fight against mental health problems. You’ve heard of taking classes in CPR and First Aid so you can help others who may need medical help. What about a training course for those needing helping with a mental illness?

What if you have someone in your family or a longtime friend or co-worker suffering with a mental condition? How do you assist them?

The Local Show takes you into a local class offered at the Bert Nash Center that teaches people the skills to deal with mental health emergencies.

The Bert Nash Center is a non-profit community mental health organization offering a wide range of outpatient mental health services for residents of Douglas County, KS. Founded in 1950, the Bert Nash Center was created in memory of Dr. Bert Nash (1898-1947), a University of Kansas educational psychologist and community leader dedicated to improving the health of Kansas children. Today the Center is a licensed, comprehensive mental health facility committed to providing research-based services to improve the lives of Douglas County residents.

The Center provides a number of outpatient therapy options for adults and children including individual and group therapy and the following services: Anxiety Disorders Clinic; Dialectical Behavior Therapy; Integrated Dual Diagnosis Treatment; and Intensive Outpatient Therapy. In addition, the Center provides community support services for those who are diagnosed with Severe and Persistent Mental Illness (SPMI).

The organization employs psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses, social workers, educators, case managers, employment specialists, personal attendants along with a small administrative staff. All Bert Nash therapists are professionals trained to assess and treat problems related to mental/emotional/behavioral health. Each therapist at Bert Nash is licensed by the State of Kansas and has earned a masters degree or Ph.D. in social work or psychology.

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