Over the decades, a glossy black sphere sitting outside the Freight House in the Crossroads has become a landmark loved by all.
You’ve passed it on your way to Jack Stack, Lidia’s or Grünauer. Created by local sculptor D.F. Miller, Rotary Sphere was commissioned as part of the Freight House’s transformation from an abandoned rail depot into one of the Crossroads’ most iconic buildings.
Some people lovingly refer to Rotary Sphere as a giant cake pop; others say it looks like a Poké Ball. Whatever your interpretation, it’s become one of the city’s most recognizable public artworks, drawing even more attention than usual this summer as World Cup visitors flooded downtown.
“I’ve always been kind of a minimalist,” Miller says. “It kind of is what it is.” The sculpture embraces that open-ended philosophy. Rather than create a sculpture with a prescribed meaning, Miller prefers to let viewers experience it on their own terms. “Artists are so fond of saying, ‘It’s like this’ or ‘It’s like that,'” he says. “Can we accept things for what they are?”
The sculpture, installed in the late 1990s, was part of a larger vision for this part of the Freight House. When developer Dan Clothier purchased the long-abandoned 1887 railroad building, neighboring Union Station’s future remained uncertain. Clothier’s goal was to breathe new life into the historic property through adaptive reuse.
“We were looking for ways to ingratiate ourselves to the surrounding community and also draw people to the building,” he says.
Working alongside architecture firm El Dorado, Clothier commissioned three Kansas City Art Institute artists to create site-specific works throughout the property. Miller designed Rotary Sphere, Jim Woodfill created the illuminated signal sculptures that glow above the parking lot at night, and Karen McCoy contributed a series of sculptural “Ear Trumpets.”
“[The art] became kind of our signage,” Clothier says. “We never really had a sign that blasted out ‘Freight House’ as much as just having the lights at night and the sphere. It just sort of set a mood for the kind of crowd we hoped to attract.” It worked: According to Clothier, the Freight House’s restaurants draw millions in annual sales.
For Miller, the commission was unlike a typical public art project. Although the sculpture is accessible to everyone, it’s privately owned by Clothier. Nearly three decades later, it continues to spin on its original motor after a recent restoration that Miller helped oversee.
What surprises Miller the most about the piece is the memories that people have attached to the sculpture. From World Cup gatherings at Grünauer to rehearsal dinners at Lidia’s to a healthy flow of Jack Stack visitors every day, Rotary Sphere has become a sort of milestone marker.
“I’ve been told about people returning to the Freight House with children of their own after posing for photos in front of the sculpture decades earlier,” he says. 101 W. 22nd St., KCMO.
