Shopping Cart

Western Auto Sign

$175.00

Kansas City, Missouri

 

Fun Facts:

  • Located in the Crossroads neighborhood of KCMO
  • Built between 1914 and 1915
  • Plot of land was triangular, which gave the building it's distinctive shape
  • Was originally built as office space for Coca-Cola
  • After changing hands several times, the building was sold to the now-defunct Western Auto Supply Co. in 1950, who used the building as headquarters until the company was sold to Roanoke, Va.-based Advance Auto Parts Inc. in 1999
  • Now houses condominiums
  • The building was placed onto the National Register of Historic Places in 1988
  • The sign atop of the building is 73 feet tall
  • The sign incorporates about 1,000 feet of neon tubing and 2,500 bulbs
  • The sign was first lit on April 1, 1952
  • After having been dark for many years, the sign was refurbished and relit on July 13, 208 at 8:45 PM

Process And Size Guidelines

I handcraft each piece in my home studio, located just outside of Kansas City, MO.

Most of the photos I use were taken by me on my travels near and far.    I review each photo, looking for striking colors and strong structural elements.    If you think of the entire design as a pie, I am looking for a perfect “slice” of pie within the picture.  Once I find it, the slice is mirrored and repeated in a circular fashion to create the whole pie, i.e. the kaleidoscopic design.

 

The design then is printed multiple times onto photo paper and I hand cut different elements from each copy of the design with scissors (yes, scissors!). After the cutting is done, I reassemble the pieces into tiered layers separated by foam core, creating the unique three-dimensional kaleidoscopic effect.  Finally, I mount the piece onto mat board and frame it in a shadow box, adding a small copy of the original photo to the piece.

 

 

Each design is available in multiple sizes.  The larger the piece, the more layers the design will have, which gives you even greater depth and dimension.  The larger size also allows for more intricate cutting, providing more texture and more "wow"!

 

 Size
Outside Dimensions Inside Dimensions Frame Color
10x10
9.75" x 9.75" x 2" 9" x 9" x 1.5" Black
13x13
13.5" x 13.5" x 2.75" 12" x 12" x 2.25" Black
16x16
18.5" x 18.5" x 4" 16" x 16" x 3" Custom made reclaimed cedar with museum quality plexiglass front