The Spirit of Freedom Fountain

[!warning] Correction — this fountain is not at 18th and Vine A 2026-07-31 sourcing pass found that this page placed the fountain “at the intersection of 18th and Vine,” at “the entry to the 18th and Vine Historic District.” That is wrong by roughly three and a half miles. The Spirit of Freedom Fountain stands at Emanuel Cleaver II Boulevard at Cleveland Avenue, in Brush Creek Greenway Park.¹² KC Parks’ geospatial inventory places it at 39.03805, -94.54150;³ this page’s frontmatter gives 39.0805, -94.5642 and neighborhood: "18th-and-vine", both wrong. The “Brush Creek Boulevard” half of the old address was merely dated — Brush Creek Boulevard was renamed Emanuel Cleaver II Boulevard. Frontmatter left unedited per remediation scope and flagged in Open Questions.

The Spirit of Freedom Fountain, dedicated September 13, 1981, is one of the most significant memorial sculptures in Kansas City honoring African American contributions to the city.¹² Created by acclaimed Chicago sculptor Richard Hunt, it stands at Emanuel Cleaver II Boulevard and Cleveland Avenue in Brush Creek Greenway Park.²

History

In 1977, City Councilman Bruce R. Watkins organized the Spirit of Freedom Foundation to develop a monument to the contributions of African Americans in Kansas City.¹² Richard Hunt, a Black Chicago sculptor, presented an abstract model to reflect the symbolic nature of the subject, and noted that it was in keeping with the improvisational aspects of Kansas City jazz.¹²

Watkins died September 13, 1980. The fountain was dedicated September 13, 1981 — exactly one year after his death.¹² Its inscription reads:

“Richard, Hunt, Sculptor. This work was inspired by civic and community leader Bruce R. Watkins, March 20, 1924 – September 13, 1980. Dedicated September 13, 1981.”²

[!note] Correction — Watkins organized it; he was not its subject This page said the fountain “was conceived in the late 1970s as a major civic memorial honoring Bruce R. Watkins.” That inverts the record. Watkins organized the foundation that built it, and its subject is the contributions of African Americans in Kansas City generally.¹² Its own inscription says the work was “inspired by” Watkins.² Because it was dedicated on the first anniversary of his death, it functions as a memorial to him as well — but that is a consequence, not the commission. Note also the separate Bruce R. Watkins Cultural Heritage Center, a distinct institution nearby on Blue Parkway, which is easy to conflate with this fountain.

Sculptor

Richard Hunt (born Chicago, September 12, 1935; died December 16, 2023) was a sculptor whose welded-bronze and welded-steel abstract works became defining contemporary American public sculpture.⁴ In 1971 he became the first African American sculptor to have a retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.⁴

The claims that Hunt’s other major commissions include works at “the Mall in Washington, D.C.” and the Hyde Park Art Center were carried by this page without a source and were not checked against Hunt’s catalogue here.

Architecture + materials

A 5,000-pound free-form metallic sculpture sits on a pedestal in the middle of an elliptical retaining pool with raised platforms supporting the sculpture. Water pours from the base of the platform, and there are six clusters of water jets in the interior of the basin.¹ The form suggests upward motion and transformation.

[!note] Medium — “welded bronze” not confirmed This page describes the work as welded bronze. The City of Fountains Foundation says only “metallic”;¹ KC Parks does not state a medium.² Bronze is likely, given Hunt’s practice, but no source consulted here states it.

Current status

Operating; owned and maintained by the KCMO Parks & Recreation Department.¹² The fountain had deteriorated badly and underwent a full rebuild in the winter of 2017-18: the sculpture was removed off-site to be cleaned and restored, and the fountain itself was torn out and rebuilt with new concrete, plumbing and lighting. It was re-dedicated April 17, 2018 as part of that year’s Fountain Day.¹

Cultural significance

The Spirit of Freedom Fountain is among the most significant African American civic memorials in Kansas City. It stands on the Brush Creek corridor in Brush Creek Greenway Park, near the Bruce R. Watkins Cultural Heritage Center and the Brush Creek Amphitheater.²³ It does not anchor the 18th and Vine Historic District entrance — that claim, carried by this page, is corrected above.

This page also listed the fountain as the site of annual Bruce R. Watkins commemorations, Juneteenth gatherings, Black History Month events and other civil-rights memorial events. No source consulted documents any of these.

The combination of Richard Hunt’s nationally significant artistic reputation⁴ and the fountain’s origin in Bruce R. Watkins’s Spirit of Freedom Foundation¹² makes it one of the most significant pieces of civic art in Kansas City.

Visiting

• Address: Emanuel Cleaver II Blvd at Cleveland Ave, Kansas City, MO — Brush Creek Greenway Park²
• Best time to visit: Spring through fall
• Public access: Free; 24-hour public space

Sources

Footnotes

1. City of Fountains Foundation — “Spirit of Freedom Fountain.” https://cityoffountains.org/spirit-of-freedom-fountain/ (also served at https://cityoffountains.org/spirit-of-freedom-fountain-swope/, the Foundation’s Swope-region gallery copy) — asserts: a 5,000 lb. metallic free-form sculpture on a pedestal in the middle of an elliptical retaining pool with raised platforms supporting the sculpture; water pours from the base of the platform and there are six clusters of water jets in the interior of the basin; in 1977 City Councilman Bruce R. Watkins organized the Spirit of Freedom Foundation to develop a monument to the contributions of the black people in Kansas City; Richard Hunt, a black Chicago sculptor, presented an abstract model to reflect the symbolic nature of the subject and noted it was in keeping with the improvisational aspects of Kansas City jazz; the fountain was dedicated in 1981 exactly one year after Watkins’ death; location Emanuel Cleaver II Boulevard and Cleveland Avenue; designer/artist Richard Hunt; dedicated September 13, 1981, repaired winter 2017-18, re-dedicated April 17, 2018; owner KCMO Parks & Recreation Department; in the winter of 2017-18 the sculpture was removed off-site, cleaned and restored, and the fountain torn out and rebuilt with new concrete, plumbing and lighting, re-dedicated as part of the 2018 Fountain Day event. (cityoffountains.org returns HTTP 403 to plain automated fetches; read directly via Firecrawl 2026-07-31.) ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹

2. Kansas City Parks and Recreation — “Spirit of Freedom Fountain.” https://kcparks.org/places/spirit-of-freedom-fountain-2/ — asserts: location Emanuel Cleaver II Blvd at Cleveland Ave, within Brush Creek Greenway Park; artist/designer Richard Hunt; installed 1981; and the fountain’s inscription in full — “Richard, Hunt, Sculptor. This work was inspired by civic and community leader Bruce R. Watkins, March 20, 1924-September 13, 1980. Dedicated September 13, 1981.”; plus the account of Watkins organizing the Spirit of Freedom Foundation in 1977 to develop a monument to the contributions of African-Americans in Kansas City, Hunt’s abstract model and his Kansas City jazz remark, and the dedication one year after Watkins’ death. (kcparks.org returns HTTP 403 to plain automated fetches; full text read directly via Firecrawl 2026-07-31.) ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴

3. Kansas City Parks and Recreation — official geospatial fountain inventory (ArcGIS feature service behind the department’s fountain StoryMap). Query URL: https://services.arcgis.com/4o5uMWTHuOhUVJPd/arcgis/rest/services/Fountains/FeatureServer/0/query?where=1%3D1&outFields=*&f=json&outSR=4326 — StoryMap front end: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/6702216deb434183afad873c811626f1 — asserts: a “Spirit of Freedom Fountain” record at 39.03805, -94.54150, region “Central,” park name “Brush Creek Area” — roughly three and a half miles south of 18th and Vine (about 39.0917). (JSON queried and parsed directly 2026-07-31; HTTP 200, 101 features citywide.) ↩ ↩²

4. Wikipedia — “Richard Hunt (sculptor).” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Hunt_(sculptor) — asserts: born September 12, 1935 in Chicago; died December 16, 2023; in 1971 he was the first African American sculptor to have a retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art. ↩ ↩² ↩³