Prairie Star

As the weather (hopefully!) begins to cool down, I hope to see more people out enjoying the patio adjacent to our lovely Prairie Star Restaurant. Once out there, I encourage patrons to take notice of the beautiful sculpture in the middle of the patio called Prairie Star – the piece the restaurant is named after.

Prairie Star, the sculpture, was designed by Richard Bergen. Originally, it was proposed as a finalist for the capitol dome project in Topeka, Kan. The sculpture stands on a limestone pedestal, making the piece a total of over seven feet tall! Prairie Star used to be displayed in the main foyer at the Village Entrance before it was moved to the patio.

The artist, Dr. Bergen, holds an important place in Kansas history. His sculpture of a Kansa warrior is what was ultimately picked to stand atop the Kansas State House dome. The 20-foot, 3500-pound bronze sculpture, Ad Astra, is the only sculpture of a Native American warrior to be placed on top of a state capitol.

See you next week, thanks for stopping by!