After narrowing down submissions from myriad artists, Leawood Arts Council chose William Nemitoff’s sculpture proposal to honor the City of Leawood’s 75th anniversary.
Nemitoff’s proposal, a sculpture titled “Reaching,” will represent the relation between the City of Leawood, Kansas, and its sister region, the Gezer Region of Israel.
“Reaching” will be a 12,000 pound, 28-foot-tall abstract sculpture in the shape of an olive tree. Its final location is yet to be determined as of this publication, but Nemitoff said it will likely be in either Leawood City Park or Gezer Park (which would reinforce the sculpture’s connection with the Gezer Region). The official timeline for the sculpture’s construction and completion is not certain, but it should be built by the end of 2023, the 75th anniversary of Leawood’s incorporation in 1948.
William Nemitoff, a native of Leawood, considers Judaism a “core element” of his identity. His father, Rabbi Arthur P. Nemitoff, is Rabbi Emeritus of The Temple, Congregation B’nai Jehudah, and has served as rabbi in various synagogues across the United States. As the son of a rabbi, William Nemitoff said he “grew up in the synagogue; that was like my second home.”
Jewish art was valued in Nemitoff’s family, he said. He is not a fan of “gift shop art,” but considers it an impetus to create unique, beautiful Jewish art pieces.
“There’s a lot of kitschy art out there,” he said, “and I think that what that presents is an opportunity for design, thinking about how to reimagine those things.”
After receiving his Master of Architecture at Tulane University (and going to Israel to complete his fifth-year thesis), Nemitoff built furniture and worked as a designer and director of fabrication at a production company. In 2018, he founded Curious Form LLC in New Orleans, Louisiana.
“I see it as a multifaceted avenue to explore many different options,” Nemitoff said about Curious Form. The company deals with art fabrication and design, allowing Nemitoff to pursue and create his own artistic visions while also providing those same services to clients. So far in 2022, Curious Form has produced three large-scale artworks.
Both of Nemitoff’s parents separately sent him the same news: Leawood was putting out a “public art call” for its 75th anniversary and requesting proposals.
“I was like, ‘Okay, I need to invest my time in this. This is important to me. This is my hometown,’” he said. “I really needed to do something special here.”
The idea for “Reaching” did not come instantly to Nemitoff. He said he felt separated from his hometown, having been away for so long. Once he decided to follow the idea of using the sculpture to represent Leawood’s connection with the Gezer Region, he began doing research.
Nemitoff reached out to family friends that lived in Kibbutz Gezer and learned that the trend of Israeli youth entering the tech industry has reduced the agricultural output of Kibbutz Gezer to mostly just olive trees. He also began to research the biblical city of Tel Gezer, where he became interested in the city’s archaeologically excavated solomonic gates. At the time of King Solomon, the defensive gates were technologically advanced with six different chambers for soldiers to hide in. If the gate was stormed, enemies would get attacked on all sides.
The Gezer Region’s olive trees, the Israeli tech industry, and solomonic gates all came together in Nemitoff’s design for “Reaching.” Seventy-five flexible strands of white powder-coated aluminum (representing 75 years of Leawood) will twist upwards and fan out to form the abstract shape of an olive tree. LED lights that “twinkle” and change color will be at the tips of the strands, representing the modern tech industry in Israel. The sculpture’s base will be shaped like the solomonic gate of Tel Gezer and made of limestone, which is native to both Leawood and the Gezer Region.
“Unlike the [Tel Gezer] gate, where you'd want to defend, [‘Reaching’] has these open strands so you can actually see through and there are no worries about anyone hiding,” Nemitoff said. “Obviously, kids are going to play in it… I think that it’s very important for art to be accessible to everyone.”
The idea for “Reaching” was generated in line with Nemitoff’s artistic philosophy. He compares his philosophy to that of a rabbi writing a sermon; like a rabbi looking through a Torah portion to find a concept that resonates with his congregation, Nemitoff looks through his influences and tries to find for viewers “that one thing that speaks to the core of what that person, that group, that city is.”
“When I approach a piece of artwork, I want to find something to pull — I want to pull something out of the ether, something about that project to make that spark that then brings the piece to life,” Nemitoff said.
“Reaching” will be fabricated at Curious Form in New Orleans before being shipped to Leawood for its final installation. Nemitoff plans on visiting Leawood multiple times during the artwork’s planning process and construction before celebrating the city’s anniversary at his sculpture’s unveiling.
“I’m incredibly honored to have been chosen to do this in my hometown for its 75th anniversary,” he said. “It’s really something special to me.”
