March 26, 2022

The Lee’s Summit Chamber is honored to host a community celebration and ribbon cutting welcoming the downtown Lee’s Summit Parade of Hearts heart located at the Amtrak Station, 217 SW Main Street. Both Chamber members and the public is invited on Tuesday, March 29th at 4:00 p.m. for ribbon cutting and celebration with the heart. Attendees will hear from Lee’s Summit Mayor, Bill Baird; Parade of Hearts representative, Jenn Nussbeck; and the artist behind the heart, Beth Martens.

The Parade of Hearts is a public arts experience located in the Heartland of the United States with 154 different hearts located throughout the area. Art will be on display from March through the end of May with the goal to unify our communities. Money raised will benefit those affected most by the events of 2020 and 2021.

Each heart displays a different, unique design created by local artists. For the downtown Lee’s Summit heart, artist Beth Martens happens to be a Lee’s Summit native; born and raised in this area and a 1981 graduate of Lee’s Summit High School. She went on to study Visual Communications and Illustration at the University of Kansas and now enjoys a creative career, working in layout and design, digital illustration and currently – Marketing. Married for 34 years she has three grown children, two sons and a daughter.

In January 2020, Martens began to focus on watercolor painting, spending the past two years honing her skills, while taking on commission work and entering local shows.

More information about the Parade of Hearts initiative and the artist can be found at theparadeofhearts.com. To find out more about the community celebration and ribbon cutting visit the Lee’s Summit Chamber’s Facebook page or call the Chamber at 816-524-2424.

Please note this event was originally scheduled for March 23rd but was postponed due to inclement weather.