Signco Wraps the KC Streetcar and Streetcar Stop Enclosures Annually for Art in the Loop!
Art in the Loop, a non-profit focused on revitalizing downtown Kansas City through local art, places art installations throughout the city—most notably at the streetcar stops and even on an actual streetcar. Their annual open call invites local artists to submit work based on the year’s chosen theme, which in 2024 is “Convivencia,” the Spanish word for coexistence.
From Art in the Loop:
“Convivencia is a space between harmony and conflict. It expresses a shared life with others that is a constant practice, effort, negotiation, and joint achievement, while recognizing friction or opposing energy. We recognize that artists and creatives are very familiar with navigating space, energy, and time among one another and within their communities.”
While the selected artists can apply their artworks to the streetcar stops themselves, many do so with the help of Signco, the official wrap installation team for the KC Streetcar Authority since 2018. Since then, Signco has transformed Kansas City’s streetcars with vibrant wraps that promote local businesses, events, organizations, art, and more. Their successful partnership with the KC Streetcar Authority led to their association with Art in the Loop – they have helped bring artists’ works to life on streetcars and the stop enclosures for seven years now.
Art in the Loop faced problems with the durability and quality of the streetcar stop installations during the first years of the program as there was not a uniform method for applying the artists’ art to the enclosures. Signco got involved as an installer seven years ago and, thanks to Signco’s expertise in printing and installing durable, weather-resistant wraps for vehicles (as well as other indoor and outdoor surfaces), Signco became the top choice when the need for a reliable installation team to handle the wrap project arose.
Signco’s established relationship with the KC Streetcar Authority and the team’s commitment to high-quality work have made Signco an ideal and ongoing partner for the project, meeting logistical and technical challenges while showcasing local artists and their art in a durable and visually dynamic format.
Take a closer look at this year’s Art in the Loop installations!
Welcome To Soakie’s
Welcome to Soakie’s
A {B/qKC} installation by Zach Frazier and Nasir Montalvo
Zach Frazier is a graphic designer, educator, and experimental publisher who curates and distributes narratives often overlooked by traditional publishing. They foster collaboration across various mediums and disciplines to challenge conventional approaches to creation and exhibition. This year, Frazier has partnered with Nasir Montalvo, the founder of {B/qKC}, a digital archive dedicated to educating the Kansas City community about the contributions of local Black LGBTQIA2S+ community members.
Materials from {B/qKC} were used to create “Welcome to Soakie’s.” The work tells the story of Soakie’s, a downtown KC sandwich shop that, from 1993-2004, became renowned as one of the few Black gay nightclubs in the country, thanks to an unlikely partnership between the Italian mob and two Black gay men. It is a showcase of KC’s ballroom culture, celebrating Black queer camaraderie and chosen family.
Our Sky Project
Our Sky Project
Bei Hu
Bei Hu is a multidisciplinary designer, educator, and Visiting Assistant Professor in Graphic Design at the Kansas City Art Institute. She is passionate about storytelling through technology, creating interactive and playful experiences that bridge physical, linguistic, and cultural boundaries.
Our Sky Project is a unique work created over three years and involving participants from over 23 countries. The installation celebrates the shared human experience across geographical, linguistic, and cultural boundaries. Each sky panel was taken by individuals from around the world, with their name, country, and city information printed on the bottom right corner of each one.
How Do You Bloom?
How Do You Bloom?
Katrina Revenaugh
Katrina Revenaugh combines multiple disciplines, including photography, printmaking, and painting, to translate the world of street art into her own visual language, with recent work blending street art and botanicals.
Revenaugh’s streetcar stop installation encourages interaction among riders. As they approach the stop, riders can stand on footprints placed strategically on the ground before the stop and read the poem found within the artwork. Participants standing together recognize a moment of shared experience, that is, riding the streetcar together in a positive, uplifting spirit.
K. See. The Good
K. See. The Good.
Ellie Newlin and Maggie Newlin
Twin sisters Maggie and Ellie Newlin are the founders of ME Designs, a design team and muralist duo based in Kansas City. The sisters have served on the board of the American Institute of Graphic Arts’ local chapter, AIGA KC. Passionate about contributing to the city’s creative community, they bring that energy to their work as full-time graphic designers, always looking for new ways to engage and inspire the communities they serve.
Kansas City’s vibrant spirit and the diverse people who call it home are the driving forces behind the duo’s streetcar stop installation. The oversized sunglasses feature one transparent lens that encourages visitors to interact on both sides of the stop. Each element of the work is woven together to “highlight the beauty, individuality, and unity of our city’s collective identity,” says a statement from the Newlins.
Living Together
Living Together
Sue Moreno
Sue Moreno’s streetcar stop shelter installation is a serene depiction of unity and peace, featuring women flying gracefully in the sky, symbolizing harmony and joy. Her stated goal is for viewers to feel themselves in peaceful coexistence.
Moreno, a resident of Kansas City, Missouri, mentors young Latino artists and contributes to local exhibitions, including MAYA: The Exhibition at Union Station, and A Layered Presence at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, an exhibition exploring themes of immigration and LGBTQIA+ experiences. An art teacher for over 35 years, she remains deeply involved in her communities.
Threads of Convivencia: Embracing Diversity Through Fiber Art
Threads of Convivencia: Embracing Diversity Through Fiber Art
Meranda McDermott
Meranda McDermott is a Kansas City-based sculptor with a particular interest in creating interactive artwork. She strives to spark dialogue and connection with her work, pushing viewers to engage with their surroundings and focus on their community connections. Her streetcar stop artwork is an interactive project designed to engage the community in several ways.
McDermott has posted designated times when she is present at the streetcar stop, engaging the public by mending clothes sourced from Goodwill bins, teaching participants about sewing and thrifting, and offering informational flyers. The outstretched arms belong to subjects photographed by McDermott herself, then printed and installed on the shelter’s glass. Passersby are encouraged to add to the artwork themselves by creating sleeves with the available fabric and using magnets to attach them and cover the arms.
EPH 4:2
EPH 4:2
Julia Morris
This year’s theme “Convivencia” is also represented on one of the streetcars! Julia Morris created the Art in Loop wrap, which was installed by the Signco wrap team.
Her work explores the balance between love and tension in human relationships, reflecting on the need for coexistence despite conflict. It depicts the need to accommodate, influence, and even clash with one another, with harmony symbolized by fluid movement and overlapping colors while the rigid forms encourage reflection on interactions with challenging or marginalized individuals.
The Signco team looks forward to supporting Art in the Loop for many years to come. The team’s expertise in creating and wrapping the Kansas City streetcar and streetcar enclosures with vibrant local art ensures that the artists’ vision will be brought to life with vivid color, precision installation, and impressive durability – in spite of Kansas City’s often harsh weather conditions.
Whether creating and applying wraps to vehicles, creating indoor or outdoor displays, or a wide range of exterior signage, the Signco team’s commitment to excellence has made the company the go-to choice for impactful, long-lasting visual results.
