Andrew Drumm
AKA/FKA Andrew Drumm and Two Children
Andrew Drumm was the founder of the Drumm Institute. He was a successful cattle rancher who made his fortune in California, Texas and Oklahoma. Married but childless, he always helped the lesser privileged, especially children. He outlined the idea of the Institute in his will as “a home, school and farm for orphaned or indigent boys.” He purchased a farm in 1912 near Independence for this purpose and his will was carried out after his death in 1919. Despite changes in laws and regulations over the years that have limited the original vision of the Institute, it still exists to this day and is currently known as the Drumm Center Farm for Children, or simply the Drumm Center for Children.
When the Drumm Farm Villas neighborhood was created in 2000, the developer commissioned Kansas City artist Kwan Wu for an original sculpture of Andrew Drumm. The sculpture features Drumm seated with a boy next to him with his elbows on Drumm’s leg and his head in his hands.
The original work included a second free-standing sculpture of a boy standing with his left hand stretched above his head releasing a bird to flight. It stood two or three feet to Drumm’s left. The work was commonly referred to as “Andrew Drumm and Two Children” because of this. Unfortunately, a few years after installation, this free-standing sculpture was stolen and has not been replaced.
