Atchison Art Association seeks designs for Soul Tree memorial

The Atchison Art Association is seeking proposals for a sculptural memorial commemorating the Soul Tree, giving Atchison County residents a say in how one of the city’s most meaningful landmarks will be remembered. The association said the tree holds “a powerful place in Atchison’s history and collective memory,” and design submissions are due by August 1, 2026.

The project fits the association’s larger public-art mission in Atchison, Kansas. In its bylaws, the group says, “Through Education, Outreach, and Exhibition, our mission is to provide access to the arts and avenues for artistic expression in the Atchison community and throughout the region.” Its public-art materials also describe a local landscape that already includes murals, sculptures, mosaics and landscape art, placing the Soul Tree memorial inside an established citywide tradition rather than as an isolated one-off.

That matters because the Soul Tree is being treated as more than a decorative feature. A memorial gives residents a way to preserve the story attached to the tree, create a visible place for reflection, and pass that meaning along to future visitors who may know Atchison for its historic sites, riverfront views and civic landmarks. The search for designs also opens the door for local artists and designers to interpret that memory in a form that can last through changing seasons and generations.

The association has framed the effort publicly on Facebook, where it wrote, “We are still looking for designs for a Soul Tree Memorial!” The same post underscored the reason the project has drawn attention, saying, “The Soul Tree holds a powerful place in Atchison’s history and collective memory.” That language makes clear the memorial is meant to reflect a shared sense of place, not simply to add another object to the city streetscape.

For Atchison residents, the call for designs is a chance to help decide what kind of symbol best fits the city’s identity. Whether the finished work becomes a sculpture, a landscaped feature or another form of public art, the outcome will reflect how the community wants to remember the Soul Tree and what it wants that memory to say about Atchison now.