Exclusive: Parade of Hearts artist describes his 2026 design

Behind the scenes: Eric Doucette on Tuesday was the first artist out of 150 to hear the good news: his design had been selected.

• Parade of Hearts executive director Jenn Nussbeck joined him on a call Tuesday with Axios.
• "I got some butterflies going," Doucette said after finding out. "I feel privileged."

What he's saying: "I was initially looking for a road map to Kansas City… I knew that Seville, Spain, was the sister city" that inspired the architecture on the Country Club Plaza, he told Axios.

• He says he started with the idea of thumbnails, with KC "at the center of it all." His design is inspired by KC's sister cities across the globe.

Zoom out: This Parade of Hearts installation will take place from April through August next year and be featured prominently while soccer fans from around the world visit KC.

• Parade of Hearts organizers say this group of artists reflects the organization's mission of diversity of age, race, gender and location.

• "Instead of just being localized, it's globalized," Doucette said.

State of play: Artists will start picking up their hearts this month and will have until February to work on them.

What's next: All the hearts will be on public display in one place on April 4, Nussbeck says, with the metro-wide installation running April through August.

The bottom line: "The best celebration will really come once the piece is completed, and I get to show it off to the world," Doucette said.