Kansas City Star Suspects Racism After 'Parade Of Hearts' Vandalized

With a few exceptions, the Kansas City "parade of hearts" has mostly been a flop and a marketing effort that had "artistic" aspirations but worked out more like a series of Instagram traps. 

Sadly . . .

While rampant vandalism has been a problem in Kansas City for YEARS the newspaper suggests that hate crimes against Asian-Americans are the culprit of a recent bit of destruction . . .

Here's their divisive suggestion . . .

The heart-shaped artwork, a 400-pound fiberglass piece decorated with symbols meant to honor Filipino-Americans, was cracked, resting on its side and missing its metal placard.

The art installation, which has been removed temporarily, is one of 154 displays around the Kansas City metro through Parade of Hearts, an outdoor exhibition that’ll be up through May. Keefer told The Star on Monday that she spent hundreds of hours on the piece — sketching the design, drafting its statement and applying the acrylic paint.

It was dedicated to Keefer’s mom, who immigrated to the U.S. during the 1970s to work as a nurse. She retired a few years ago after working at Truman Medical Center for nearly 40 years . . .

“I don’t have the privilege of just assuming it was an accident,” said Keefer, pointing to the documented rise of hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

“I don’t want to come to those conclusions,” she added. “But I also can’t not think that — especially just from like the recent happenings in the past few years,”

Organizers with the Parade of Hearts have not ruled out that possibility. But they also haven’t found anything to indicate someone damaged the sculpture intentionally, said Jenn Nussbeck, one of the exhibit’s directors.

For folks in Kansas City with a memory . . . 

Pretty much everyone tagged the "parade of cows" and even tourists wrote on them with magic markers. Unfortunately, because the newspaper has become a social justice crusade more than an outlet for information . . . Their angle imagines rampant anti-Asian hate on local streets . . . Which, thankfully, isn't the reality for most residents

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

Kansas City Parade of Hearts artist disheartened after sculpture is vandalized

When artist Jessica Endaya Keefer learned what happened to her sculpture over the weekend, her heart sank. Keefer's sister called Sunday morning to break the news during a visit with their parents to the Town of Kansas Bridge near downtown Kansas City.