My Mind
Owner: City of Leawood
Artist: Michael McClanahan
Dates: Dedicated May 27, 2010; Relocated May 2012
Medium: Painted steel, 24-carat gold leaf
Description:
This piece that resembles a gate on wheels stands 7 feet tall. Centered in the sculpture are two prison-like doors that swing open opposite each other. Each door is adorned with an antique padlock, which can be locked or left open. The wheels of the work are shackled to the base.
"My Mind" symbolizes changing situations such as promises made and sometimes broken due to misunderstandings or conflicts. The bars symbolize the tensions between one's expectations and one's reality. The gold leaf will tarnish like the deterioration of the ideal transitioning into the real. The wheels represent the comings and goings of different situations. The central gates present a two-way passage of a changing situation where the person usually, but not always, goes in one way and out the other.
This was the first privately donated artwork to the City of Leawood. It was originally displayed at the corner of College Boulevard and Tomahawk Creek Parkway. Due to concerns about flooding in that area, the work was relocated to its current location in Ironwoods Park. It can be found about a quarter-mile east of the main parking lot near the fishing pond.
