LEAVENWORTH, Kansas — Emilio Gutierrez, senior in graphic design at the University of Saint Mary in Leavenworth, Kansas, recently saw his original artwork installed in a permanent local outdoor art installation.
With geometric shapes and vibrant colors akin to Native American beadwork and natural landscapes, Gutierrez designed and painted his “Celebrating the Elders, Those Who Walked the Earth” Spirit of the Buffalo statue last semester.
Over the past summer (of his own initiative) and during the fall 2025 semester (for a course requirement), Gutierrez interned at the Fort Leavenworth Lamp as photojournalist. During that time, he was also devoting time to the Spirit of the Buffalo project. He spent an estimated 250 hours to design, prep, hand paint and protectively seal his Native American-themed statue for the art exhibit, which he documented in a time-lapse video. (Visit the Fort Leavenworth Garrison Facebook page to watch the video.)
Project origins
Spirit of the Buffalo is a Leavenworth County Historical Society-initiated community art and history project, made possible through a Kansas Tourism Grant and community sponsors. The outdoor art installation includes 20 metal buffalo statues placed across Leavenworth County featuring original designs by local artists. The designs depict the artists’ interpretations of the themes State of Kansas, Old West and Historic Leavenworth, and were chosen by a panel of judges to be included in the project.
“Primary goals were to develop a unique tourist attraction, to raise funds for the continued operation of the Carroll Mansion Museum, and to showcase the incredible talent of local artists,” said Denise Souza, Leavenworth County Historical Society project manager. “We believe the project complements existing community art, such as the bronze statues at City Hall and Fort Leavenworth, the beautiful outdoor painted art murals, and the First City Art Passageways project.”
Similar art displays have popped up around the world — the CowParade in Kansas City, Chicago and other cities; fiberglass quarter horses in Amarillo, Texas; Dala horses in Lindsborg, Kansas; even art-covered buffalo statues in Oklahoma and South Dakota — but Souza said there are no other hand-crafted metal buffalo herds with original Old West- and Kansas-themed designs anywhere else in the United States.
USM artists
Souza said LCHS partnered on the Spirit of the Buffalo project with the Leavenworth County Artists Association and LVArts, and through that partnership connected with Tom Wallestad, associate professor of art and graphic design at the University of Saint Mary.
Wallestad’s Sculpture and 3-D Design course students, including Gutierrez, worked in groups to submit designs for the project. One of the group’s designs was chosen for the project’s “first herd,” with the course’s 18 students working to complete that buffalo, “Artistic License.” Later, Gutierrez’s group’s design was selected for the second round of buffalo statues to be painted and installed, and after conferring with his now-former classmates, Gutierrez dove in solo to accomplish the project that evolved into his “Celebrating the Elders, Those Who Walked the Earth.”
“Artistic License,” sponsored by Saint Mary’s marketing department, was installed on the university’s campus in Leavenworth. It is positioned in front of Xavier Hall, which is home to the university’s art department.
“I've always liked the phrases creative license or artistic license,” Wallestad said of the name, noting that even if the deeper meaning of an artist’s creative prerogative is overlooked, visitors will see the obvious connection.
“Artistic License” features a state license plate motif, incorporating into the design “1858,” when the Sisters of Charity arrived in Leavenworth, and “1923,” when the University of Saint Mary was established. Wallestad speculated that the license plate theme might also reference the possibility that the metal used in the buffalo sculptures could have come from old automobiles.
Solo project
Gutierrez’s “Celebrating the Elders, Those Who Walked the Earth” officially went on display in Leavenworth near Haymarket Square a few weeks ago. Souza said the owners of Swann Painting, Ed and Cindy Pruitt, who sponsored the buffalo, are very pleased with Gutierrez’s work.
“I had the opportunity to watch Emilio work on the statue, and his attention to detail was incredible,” Souza said. “He hand-painted every part of the mane, which included hundreds of pieces of metal.”
Gutierrez said he consulted his Native American-Mexican cousin, Maria Gutierrez, a Kickapoo tribe member who does beadwork, for respectful and accurate ways to paint the Native American beadwork design he envisioned for “Celebrating the Elders, Those Who Walked the Earth.” She advised him to develop his own design, to make something beautiful from his own thoughts. He also researched using printed resources to ensure any symbols he incorporated into the design were purposeful and interpreted correctly.
“I basically went with a lot of geometric shapes as a base because I wasn't trying to go for just one specific thing,” he said. “Lower towards the legs I stuck with wildflowers, flowers that grow in slower parts of the river, flowers that grow a little bit further away but also wildflowers that grow everywhere around the river. I used waterlilies and fire pink and spiderwort.”
He said the blue and teal section between the beadwork and wildflowers represents the Missouri River, an element suggested by a classmate in his team’s original design. He said the river ties to the Native American theme as a necessary fresh-water element and would have been a major factor in territory and living decisions.
“My thought process is I want to do something different, because when I saw some of the other buffalos, (depicting) portraits of Native Americans … on horseback or just looking very proud, I want to do something a little bit different but also with something to still be proud of. Their own art form, which is beadwork, and they use beadwork in a lot of their ceremonial … and regalia (traditions), and it's just really, really pretty to look at, really beautiful stuff to look at,” Gutierrez said.
Project takes off
Souza said it has been exciting to see the Spirit of the Buffalo driving tour take off, watching families stop to take photos with the different buffalo statues around town. She said hundreds of inquiries and positive comments have been received about the project.
“When the first buffalo statue went on display, we were so happy with all of the positive comments we received from the community and visitors alike,” she said. “Since last year, the number of LCHS Facebook posts increased from 600 on average to 10,000 on average. LCHS has posted over 50 articles and photos providing updates to the public. One recent post and photo of a painted buffalo and its artist garnered 33,000 in reach.”
Souza said thanks to assistance from the Fort Leavenworth Frontier Army Museum, which hosts the project’s website, a QR code will soon be available on a sign next to each statue allowing visitors to access information about each artist’s design, as well as the associated history and culture of the Kansas Plains tribes.
To take the Spirit of the Buffalo virtual tour and access information that corresponds with each buffalo, visit https://frontierarmymuseum.stqry.app /1/tour/56843.
For more information about the project, visit https://leavenworthhistory.org/spirit_of_the_buffalo.htm.
Lamp internship
Gutierrez said his view of the military community was expanded through his Lamp internship experience. His familiarity with the Army had been essentially limited to a cousin’s participation — and was not entirely positive due to deployments and other hardships and hazards associated with the military. He said his immersion covering community and family events at Fort Leavenworth helped him see the military in a new light.
“(The internship) was something I loved doing, mostly because I got to see how involved the community is, especially with the (Veterans Day) Parade … and every assignment had something unique to it,” Gutierrez said. “It wasn't just the same, just going out and taking pictures, it was different each time. It was very exciting to do.”
Gutierrez, a Topeka, Kansas, native who is now taking photographs at events for the university’s marketing team, said the Lamp internship helped develop his communication skills as well by talking to people to learn more at assignments and getting the names of those in his photographs. He said he also further developed his “artistic eye,” seeing a photograph before it happened, and anticipating — and waiting — for the perfect shots.
“When I was (covering) the fishing derby, I had to predict when the fish might come and strike on the lure… I was just waiting for someone to get a tug at their line, and then all of a sudden, I start hearing the water splashing, and I go to turn immediately, and (a child) is pulling out of the water like a 12-inch catfish,” he recalled of one of his first assignments.
Gutierrez covered another fishing derby later in the year, and he said it was a nice feeling when some of the event organizers recognized him from his first assignment.
During the fall semester, Gutierrez teamed up on several assignments with fellow Lamp intern Melanie Libby, University of Missouri sophomore in strategic communications who is also an Army brat.
“It was nice because she knew her way around the base, and I knew how to take the photos, and she could ask the questions (while on assignments),” he said.
Gutierrez credits his mom, Letitia Gutierrez, for teaching him everything he knew about photography before the Lamp internship.
“My mom never truly became a full-time artist, but she deserves her due credit — she definitely deserves her due credit, because she doesn't hear it a lot, but she takes wonderful photos,” he said, describing how he would ask her questions about taking photos and watch her work on her photos late into the night until she got them just right.
“I just learned watching her take pictures of me, my sisters, and sometimes my dad, because my dad coached a lot — he coached all three of us, basketball, baseball, softball, track,” Gutierrez said.
He admitted that he would pick up his mom’s camera and secretly take photos if she walked away to take a break.
“I'd pick up her camera and kind of play around with shooting the surroundings, like, say, the landscapes or whatnot, because I thought landscapes were pretty or just looked really interesting, like the sun was glowing off the trees that day in a really interesting way,” Gutierrez said. “I would do that stuff, but I would always delete it because I didn't want her to know I picked up her camera.”
Gutierrez would learn of the Lamp opportunity from freelance photojournalist Peggy Bair, who was photographing a softball game that Gutierrez and his mother were also photographing because his sisters, Josefina and Victoria, were coaching the opposing teams from Lansing and Spring Hill, Kansas, respectively.
“I was just kind of practicing, because I was … going to start learning how to take photos, and that's kind of basically where it really started, me taking more photos, because before that we had just done simple things like taking pictures of the solar moon, doing things like that, but this time I was taking pictures of my sisters coaching,” he said.
Gutierrez said Bair started asking him about his interest in photography, and after being nudged by his mother, he asked her about internship or apprentice-type opportunities. Bair suggested he contact the Lamp, knowing the staff had dwindled to one person and could use the help.
Wallestad said internships, like the Spirit of the Buffalo project, are a way for students to connect and contribute to the community.
“Internships, in general, … are the time to practice what you've been doing in the classroom and then build a little bit of confidence for yourself, knowing you can get out there and work with others,” he said. “In the classroom … you know the structure — there's a certain amount of time, and maybe you can get extensions in the classroom — but when you get out there in the real world… you've got deadlines, and you've got people that have certain needs. You can't always be just doing it to make yourself happy — hopefully you can do both where if it makes you happy, it'll make the customer happy, too, but there are certain needs.”
Wallestad said he assigns practical projects and looks for ways to connect students with people in the community. Spirit of the Buffalo served as both a learning project for his students and a way to strengthen those connections.
For more information about the Spirit of the Buffalo art and history project, visit https://www.leavenworthhistory. org/spirit_of_the_buffalo.htm.
If interested in interning at the Fort Leavenworth Lamp, e-mail ftlvlampeditor@gmail.com.
Spirit of the Buffalo: Artists, statue locations
Artistic License
Artists: University of Saint Mary Art Students
Location: University of Saint Mary, 4100 S 4th St.
Celebrating the Elders, Those Who Walked the Earth
Artist: Emilio Gutierrez
Location: Swann Painting, 410 S. 7th St.
In Honor of the Military
Artist: Carmen Marie Almlie
Location: Leavenworth Local, 600 Shawnee St.
Taming the West
Artist: Teresa Tomrell
Location: Home2 Suites, 250 Delaware St.
Some Things Remain: Tapestry of Kansas History
Artist: Sara Filbert
Location: Leavenworth Main Street, 4th and Cherokee
Twin Souls
Artist: Tara Crow
Location: Kansas Country Store, 728 Cherokee St.
Lewis and Clark
Artist: Nancy Bauder
Location: Suburban Restaurant, 402 S. 20th St.
Sunrise to Sunset: AdAstra Per Aspera
Artist: Becky Gordon
Location: Carroll Mansion Museum, 1128 5th Ave.
Native Kansas Botanicals
Artist: Kristina Simon
Location: Heartland Dental Group, 3507 S 4th St., #5013
Living Legends
Artist: Tara Crow
Location: Culver’s, 600 Eisenhower Road
Kansas Railroads, “Fallen Flags”
Artist: Everett Ward
Location: Lansing City Hall, 800 1st Terrace, Lansing, Kansas
Honoring the Delaware/Lenape
Artists: Keyta D. Kelly and Rachel N. Kelly
Location: Tonganoxie Historical Society and Museum, 201 W. Washington St., Tonganoxie, Kansas
Life on the River
Artist: Teresa Tomrell
Location: The Depot, 781 Shawnee St.
“Rustic Matriarch”
Artist: original sculpture
Location: Exchange Bank & Trust, 630 Delaware St.
Sacred Spirits
Artist: Tara Crow
Location: Ten Penny Sports Bar and Grill, 529 Cherokee St.
“Trails”
Artist: Alan Collins
Location: 529 Cherokee St.
Women of the West
Artist: Teresa Tomrell
Location: Saint John Hospital, 3500 S. 4th St.
Kansas Flag
Artist: Becky Gordon
Location: Zaxby’s, 4925 S. 4th St.
The Kanza Sun
Artist: Tara Crow
Location: Z&M Winery, 24305 Loring Road, Lawrence, Kansas
C.W. Parker Carousel
Artist: Nancy Bauder
Location: C.W. Parker Carousel Museum, 320 S. Esplanade St.
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