Bird Lives aka Charlie Parker Memorial

A large bronze depiction of Charlie Parker’s face with his eyes cast downward. The face has a green patina. It sits atop a bronze trapezoidal base with a brown patina. The face was not cast as a whole but rather in pieces that were later assembled together. This is what gives the face its grid-like appearance.

This sculpture memorializes legendary jazz artist Charlie “Bird” Parker. He was a major part of the Kansas City jazz scene and culture. It is located in the middle of a plaza, also named after Parker, in the historic Jazz District and just west of the American Jazz Museum at 18th and Vine Streets.