KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The now-iconic shuttlecocks that adorn the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art’s lawn weren’t always beloved, but they will be looking their best for a global audience next summer.
“In 1994, they may have caused a little bit of consternation — people raised some eyebrows, ‘Was this art?'" said Stephanie Fox Knappe, the museum’s Sanders Sosland senior curator.
Few cityscapes are more distinctly associated with Kansas City today than Coosje van Bruggen and Claes Oldenburg’s shuttlecocks, which were commissioned by the Sosland Foundation.
“The importance of the shuttlecocks to the Nelson-Atkins and Kansas City can't be underestimated,” Fox Knappe said. “They (van Bruggen and Oldenburg) had free rein. They could make anything they wanted for the lawn of the Nelson-Atkins. So they looked at this museum, this formidable neoclassical facade and the great 22-acre lawn, and thought, ‘Wow, this would be an amazing place to create the effect of a badminton match that was interrupted with the birdies left all over the lawn.’”
Oldenburg and van Bruggen’s instructions for the installation included a note that the shuttlecocks should be restored regularly to keep them looking fresh from the box, according to Fox Knappe.
It takes a herculean effort to keep the oversized shuttlecocks — each stands more than 19 feet tall with a diameter of nearly 16 feet — pristine.
The one closest to Emanuel Cleaver II Boulevard on the museum’s south lawn was removed in October 2024, repainted and reinstalled last winter.
“The process to de-install the shuttlecocks is pretty incredible,” Fox Knappe said. “It takes major heavy equipment; it takes cranes. Every 500-pound feather needs to be taken off, then they roll off the lawn to an industrial painting company here in the Kansas City area. They'll be cleaned and painted, then the process happens in reverse to reinstall them at the end.”
Next month, it’ll be the shuttlecock on the north lawn’s turn to be removed and whisked away by Belger Cartage Service for restoration, with plans to get the other two on the south lawn refurbished before the FIFA World Cup 2026, which will stage six games in Kansas City next summer.
The region’s climate — rainy springs, scorching summers, wind-swept falls and icy winters — takes a toll on outdoor artwork, so chipping, cracked and weathered paint is to be expected.
“I believe this is the second time that the shuttlecocks will be de-installed from the lawn of the museum and taken away to be painted and then reinstalled,” Fox Knappe said. “The process takes about two months, and we're really grateful to the Richard J. Stern Foundation (for the Arts) and the Sosland family for helping to fund this restoration.”
It’s quite a departure from their controversial beginnings.
“Now, they've become a symbol, not only of the Nelson-Atkins treasures, but also Kansas City," Fox Knappe said.
Visitors like Alexis Colosky, who stopped in Kansas City on a road trip from Colorado to Ohio, flock to the museum’s lawn daily for photo ops with the nearly 20-foot-tall shuttlecocks.
“We're on a special vacation, seeing a bunch of cool things,” Colosky said. “This was on one of the stops to see a few of the state's largest stuff. ... This is one of the Kansas City stops that I'm going to remember.”
Tosh and Colson Demsey also visited the museum Wednesday to see the shuttlecocks. The father and son are making their way from Fresno, California, to mid-Missouri for a youth writing retreat.
“It looks pretty cool,” Tosh said. “I'd never heard about it before, but we played badminton quite a bit during COVID in our backyard, so I thought it would be fun to see.”
Tosh, a high school math teacher, took pictures of Colson next to the fully restored shuttlecock and laughed at the idea of sending them home to students who play on his school’s badminton team.
“The photo on Google made it look big,” he said. “But when you see it in person, it's a lot bigger than it looked in the photo.”
Colosky agreed: “It definitely feels a little crazy being right next to it and realizing, holy crap, this thing is a really tall thing. It's actually pretty amazing.”
For better or worse, the shuttlecocks have become woven into Kansas City’s DNA, one of the stock images nonresidents have of the city.
“I think now we'd be more surprised if a major event happening in Kansas City didn't feature the shuttlecocks here at the Nelson-Atkins,” Fox Knappe said. “They really have become a beloved icon.”
Next year, they’ll look fresh for the World Cup’s worldwide audience.
“Certainly, with the World Cup on the horizon here in Kansas City — so proud to be a host site — we definitely want everything at the museum to be looking great,” Fox Knappe said.
This is the second time the shuttlecocks are being fully restored since their installation 31 years ago.
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KSHB 41 reporter Tod Palmer covers sports business and eastern Jackson County. Share your story idea with Tod.
