Dierk Van Keppel

Queen Anne’s Lace

October 18, 2017/in Art & Sculpture Private Art Kansas City Dierk Van Keppel, L. William Zahner Blue, Brown, Green, Indigo, Light blue, Orange, Red, Rose S 2010 /by cmorris

Queen Anne’s Lace artwork for Private Residence

Queen Anne’s Lace is an artwork made in collaboration with Dierk van Keppel for a private residence, manufactured using Zahner CNC-cut 1/2″ plate aluminum. The artwork draws inspiration from an image of the Queen Anne’s Lace flower found in the collector’s garden.

Zahner worked with Dierk Van Keppel whose studio at Rock Cottage Glass created the glass inlay for the artwork. The metal component of the piece was made in aluminum at the Zahner facility in Kansas City. The aluminum surface is processed with a GB-60 finish, providing a muted reflectivity.

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Queen Anne’s Lace

Detail of the Queen Anne's Lace artwork, showing how light can pass through the glass inlays.

Starlight Donor’s Circle

January 11, 2017/in Art & Sculpture Performance Center, Public Art Kansas City Gastinger Walker Harden Dierk Van Keppel Gold, Silver S 2007 /by cmorris

Donor’s Circle at Starlight Theatre

In 2007, the Starlight Theatre added a Donor’s Circle designed with local glass artist Dierk Van Keppel. The Donor’s Circle for the Starlight Theater features stainless steel, glass and lighting elements in both the ceiling and floor of the outdoor patio.

Zahner engineers and artisans worked with Gastinger Walker Harden, with Bob Rohlf and the Starlight Theatre Association of Kansas City to engineer, fabricate, and install the artwork. The surface features glass cast by local Kansas City artist Dierk Van Keppel.

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Starlight Theater

In the late 1990s, they theatre company recognized a need to fortify For the Theatre's centennial, a new building was completed to improve that quality of productions which could be performed at Starlight. In 2000, Zahner was responsible for manufacturing the new roof system for the amphitheater. Named the Jeannette and Jerome Cohen Community Stage, the new stage also included a roof for Starlight theatre, and increased its technical capability, making it one of the largest roadhouses in the country.

Zahner manufactured the stainless steel memorial ceiling pieces as well as the inset floor and framework for the glass floor system. The stainless steel and floor medallions are etched with the inscription of “Anita B. Gordon Honorary Court”.

Detail of the metal ceiling system made for the Starlight Theatre Donor's Circle

Starlight Theatre Donor's Circle, featuring inset glass with floor and ceiling metalwork.

The metal base for the inset glass at Zahner HQ in Kansas City

Memorial ceiling before peeling the protective film from the stainless steel

Trinity Sculpture

December 30, 2016/in Art & Sculpture, Interior Architecture Sculpture Shawnee Mission--Kansas Dierk Van Keppel Blue, Silver M 2009 /by cmorris

Interior Sculpture for Shawnee Mission Medical Center

A massive interior sculpture adorns the new atrium for Shawnee Mission Medical Center in greater Kansas City, Missouri. Zahner fabricated and installed the large-scale mobile, a metal and glass artwork conceived by Dierk Van Keppel.

The glass fixtures were cast and blown by Rock Cottage Glass, the art-glass studio of Dierk Van Keppel. Entitled Trinity Sculpture, the project was commissioned by the Shawnee Mission Medical Center. The aluminum and stainless steel by Zahner was manufactured by Zahner to encase the inset glass pieces by Keppel.

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H&R Block Installation

Zahner worked in both an art fabricator capacity, as well as a collaborator to Dierk Van Keppel. Keppel used glass blowing and fusing to create a number of fused glass pieces in flat form.

H&R Block Installation

August 15, 2016/in Art & Sculpture Sculpture Kansas City Dierk Van Keppel Blue M, S 2006 /by cmorris

‘Blue Sun’ Hanging Mobile for H&R Block Headquarters

In 2006, H&R Block commissioned artist Dierk van Keppel to produce a custom glasswork in the new headquarters for their downtown office in Kansas City. Blue Sun is a blown and fused glass mobile, hung in an aluminum armature.

Zahner worked in both an art fabricator capacity, as well as a collaborator to Dierk Van Keppel. Keppel used glass blowing and fusing to create a number of fused glass pieces in flat form.

Zahner cut the glass and produced the frames and stainless steel armatures for the artwork. Zahner also provided engineering-design to create the sculpture’s balance and leveling mechanisms that keep the mobile stable.

Related Project

Starlight Donor’s Circle

Zahner engineers and artisans worked with Gastinger Walker Harden, with Bob Rohlf and the Starlight Theatre Association of Kansas City to engineer, fabricate, and install the artwork. The surface features glass cast by local Kansas City artist Dierk Van Keppel.

Dierk Van Keppel installation at the H&R Block in Kansas City.

Dierk studied art glass at the University of Kansas from 1983 to 1987, assisting with lectures and demonstrations for artists including Dale Chihuly, Stephen D. Edwards, Ken Carder, Fritz Driesbach, and Wes Hunting.

In 1984, Dierk studied under Richard Marquis and Thermon Statom at Pilchuck Glass Studio in Stanwood, WA, joining the staff at Pilchuck in 1985. In 1986, Dierk founded his first private glass studio, Free State Glass, in Lawrence, KS. In 1991, the artist moved closer to his hometown near Kansas City, and established Rock Cottage Glassworks in Merriam, Kansas.