Sculpture dedication at Overland Park Arboretum and Botanical Gardens honors late artist

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — KSHB 41 reporter Isabella Ledonne reports on stories in Overland Park, Johnson County and topics about government accountability. Share your story idea with Isabella.

—

There's a new art sculpture on display this week for visitors at the Overland Park Arboretum and Botanical Gardens.

Julie and Hal Hanson are like most parents.

They are always taking pictures of their son's artwork. That hasn't changed with the "Growing Kindness Poppy Garden," a larger-than-life sculpture park.

Julie Hanson

"Jeff would be so happy about this sculpture," Julie Hanson, his mother, said. "It is exactly what he would have loved."

To the country, artist Jeffrey Hanson was known for creating vivid artwork through paintings and fashion.

He did it all while being visually impaired after he was born with neurofibromatosis. It's a rare genetic disease that causes tumors in your nervous system.

Hanson was diagnosed with a tumor in his brain when he was 12, significantly impacting his eyesight.

Isabella Ledonne

“Jeffrey's favorite flower to paint was poppies, and he did hundreds of floral landscape paintings in his 15 years of painting, but he loved poppies," Hal Hanson, his father, said. "He never painted beige on white because of his low vision. It's got to be screaming orange on black, so high contrast and heavy texture. That just became his theme."

While he was well known around the country for his artwork, the Overland Park community remembers him most for his kindness and philanthropy.

"It was his story, I think, as much as his art, that he's just a kid, he's just a visually impaired kid from Kansas and he's out there painting as best he could with low vision and became very philanthropic," Hal Hanson said. "I think its an inspiration to a lot of people who have any type of disability."

He created paintings for celebrities like Sir Elton John and Billy Joel and helped generate more than $7 million for charities by donating his artwork.

Isabella Ledonne

"Jeff had this core belief — every act of kindness helps create kinder communities, more compassionate nations and a better world for all," Hal Hanson said. "And he lived by that."

Jeffrey passed away when he was 27. But his spirit of kindness continues to grow after his parents and the City of Overland Park dedicated the Growing Kindness Poppy Garden in Jeff's honor.

Isabella Ledonne

"It's really wonderful for us to have somebody from Overland Park who wants to spread that kind of message and we get to be a part of that story," said Julie Freijat-Babel, Overland Park's marketing communication specialist. "It's just really lovely that we get to carry that piece with us through the future for generations to come and see and enjoy."

The Hanson's explained that "Growing Kindness" isn't a memorial for their son, but rather a symbol of Jeff's kind heart and a reminder of one's ability to overcome anything.

"Our hopes are that [visitors] learn just a little bit about Jeff's story. as to who he was, and what one visually impaired kid from Kansas was able to do to change the world through kindness," Julie Hanson said. "It's sort of teaching people, encouraging people to be kind and sort of appreciate Jeffrey for what he believed in, not just his name or him personally."

—