A vibrant 900-square-foot mural will grace the renovated Lenexa Community Center later this year in Old Town. The Lenexa City Council approved residents’ selection of Doodle Dood’s proposed “Meet Me in Lenexa” mural at its March 5, 2024, meeting. 

Nearly 2,000 residents cast a vote during the two-month selection process that started Nov. 8, 2023, and concluded Jan. 7.  A difference of 216 votes set the two proposed murals apart, with 831 people wanting ITRA Icon’s “Our Place in Time” and 1,047 selecting the “Meet Me in Lenexa” mural design by Evan Brown, also known as Doodle Dood.

The City will now work with Brown on a contract, timeline and additional opportunities for the public to get involved. 

During the mural selection process, the City also received at $9,500 grant from the Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission, which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. 

Background

When Lenexa decided to invest more than $11 million into the Old Town Lenexa campus, currently home to the Lenexa Community Center and Senior Center, they knew public art would play a part in the project. In keeping with Vision 2040, conducted in 2019, and the New Look at Old Town Study from 2016, a mural was identified in 2022 as a great way to add vibrancy, express civic pride and create community identity in the area.

Phase 1 of the mural selection involved engaging artists from the Kansas City region. Fourteen were considered, three made the cut, and two — ITRA Icons and Doodle Dood — put together designs for consideration. 

Mockups of the proposed designs went on tour for residents to see in person. They made multiweek appearances at the Lenexa Public Market, Lenexa Community Center and Lenexa Rec Center. The City also included information on how to view and vote for the mural of choice in TownTalk magazine, e-newsletters and on social media channels. Flyers were also distributed to local businesses with information on how to participate in the selection.

Construction on the Old Town campus has begun. Once complete, the former Community Center and Senior Center will be known as the Lenexa Old Town Activity Center. Installation of the “Meet Me in Lenexa” will follow with an anticipated completion date of December 2024.