Staff Report  - Briefly Noted

Pembroke Hill students win art medals; Lenexa grants tax abatement, bond issuance for industrial warehouse project; Overland Park Arboretum virtual plant sale sells out

Leawood resident Mariel Pepitone, a senior art student at Pembroke Hill, recently won a gold medal for her artwork. Photo courtesy Pembroke Hill.

Three Pembroke Hill art students win national medals in Alliance for Young Artists & Writers’ Scholastic Art and Writing contest

Three Pembroke Hill senior art students from Johnson County won national medals in the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers’ Scholastic Art and Writing Contest.

    • Sophie Barrett (Overland Park) won a gold medal in ceramics for her piece, “My Adoption Paper”
    • Mariel Pepitone (Leawood) won a gold medal in digital art for her piece, “American Life: Spic and Span”
    • Shelby Lamping (Overland Park) won a silver medal in comic art for her piece, “My Childhood House”

About 2,900 works of art and writing were selected for national medal from more than 18,000 works awarded regionally with Gold Keys, Pembroke Hill staff wrote in the announcement last month. An exhibition of the winning works will take place virtually in June.

City grants tax abatement, bond issuance on Lenexa Logistics Centre East

The Lenexa city council on April 21 unanimously agreed to grant up to $48 million in issuance of industrial revenue bonds for two proposed buildings to be constructed at Lenexa Logistics Centre, an industrial park near 116th Street and Renner Boulevard. The city council also granted a 10-year tax abatement for both construction projects.

The developer — LL East, LLC and Renner 113 LLE LLC — is building a 230,000 square foot commercial warehouse/office facility and a 603,000 square foot commercial warehouse/office facility at the industrial park.

Amid COVID-19, Overland Park Arboretum plant sale goes virtual and sells out

The Overland Park Arboretum and Botanical Gardens annual spring sale was held virtually this year, and according to an Overland Park tweet, it’s already sold out.

Similar to the city’s take on a drive-thru farmers’ market approach, those who have purchased plants will participate in a curbside pick-up between April 29 and May 1. The Arboretum will confirm a pick-up time with purchases via phone call, and should contact the Arboretum at donna.stringellow@opkansas.org if they have not received a pick-up time.

All spring sale plants are locally grown, and all proceeds go toward the Arboretum, according to the Arboretum website.