H&R Block / A downtown gallery

H&R Block / A downtown gallery: AN ARTSY NEW HQ ADDRESS
Kansas City Star, The, October, 2006 by KEVIN COLLISON

About 250 pieces will be displayed.

"Our associates have had nothing but positive things to say. We nailed it." Linda McDougall, H&R Block spokeswoman. The challenge of relocating is over for 1,600 H&R Block employees, and now the fun stuff is under way — installing artwork in their new downtown headquarters. Some 250 pieces ranging from small paintings to wall hangings 30 feet wide will be displayed in the firm's tower at 13th and Main streets.

And in the tradition of Henry Bloch, the company co-founder and a patron of the visual arts, most of the lobby and atrium will become a new downtown art gallery. Besides the entry-level spaces where art will be displayed, the H&R Block Center complex includes an auditorium that will double as the 320-seat satellite stage for the Kansas City Repertory Theatre. "We've designed this to be a central place where we hope many facets of our community will come," said Mark Ernst, chairman and CEO of H&R Block.

The 17-story building is a prominent addition to the skyline, a distinctive oval-shaped tower sheathed in green glass with a natural stone-clad base. It juts into the heart of the entertainment district, which the headquarters served as a catalyst in creating as part of the South Loop Redevelopment plan.

The task of installing the company's extensive art collection was no less complicated. In addition to moving 190 pieces of art from the company's former headquarters, H&R Block commissioned 11 pieces for its public areas and an additional 41 new pieces from local and regional artists. The process was supervised by Paul Dorrell of Leopold Gallery.

Workers recently were busy framing and preparing to install a 10-foot by 12-foot oil painting, "Kansas River," by local abstract landscape artists Lisa Grossman. It was slated to be displayed opposite a 30-foot-wide wood sculpture by St. Louis artist William Lobdell, titled, "Confluence."

On the atrium floor made from bamboo, workers were assembling a 22-foot-wide glass sculpture titled "FenceLine," which was to be hung near a floating staircase. The piece by Lawrence artist Vernon Brejcha combines blown glass with stainless steel.

The art program comes under the aegis of a concept that considers art an integral part of the attracting and retaining good employees and contributing to the community.

"We're looking for the best of what the area has to offer, and that extends to how employees view themselves in the context of the company," Ernst said. "It makes it an interesting and more creative place."

The aesthetics of the new headquarters extend outside, too, where a stainless steel sculpture by STRETCH has been installed, as well as a work in bronze by Brent Collins, "Pax Mundi." Ernst said that H&R Block made a decision that the new building would be integrated into the entertainment district.

"To have the level of energy we want to have from this building, it can't be just us, it has to be part of the community," he said.