DaVinci's Dream

LOCATION
Whitmore Park, Southwest Boulevard and S Early Street, Kansas City, KS

OWNER
Rainbow Mennonite Church

ARTIST
Arlie Regier

DATES
June 1, 1987

MEDIUM
Steel, diesel engine parts, antique wagon wheels

The artist imagined what Leonardo DaVinci would create if had he had access to the internal combustion engine and described this work as “a fantasy machine from the past, a huge tractor-like machine to challenge and stimulate the imaginations of children of all ages.”

This sculpture weighs one ton and combines primitive ox-cart and wagon technology with the brute horsepower of today’s technology. The engine parts are arranged to represent a 12-cylinder engine of approximately 1700 cubic inches. It has double overhead cam shafts and a total of 48 valves. A wide steel chain drives the two camshafts, and another chain transfers power form the crankshaft to a truck ring gear and pinion located in a large rear-mounted steel drum.