With the goal-den summer just around the corner, Lawrence has kicked its World Cup preparations into high gear to welcome the Algerian team.
Lawrence-based artist Stan Herd is creating an earthwork in the city just in time for the World Cup.
Herd and his team — Evan Herd, Kyra Roselee and Janis M’Caelin — will create the Algerian flag on a quarter-acre site near Iowa Street and Bob Billings Parkway behind the Lied Center, according to a Thursday news release.
The team plan to use the site’s natural contours to make the flag appear to ripple in the wind.
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“It’s going to have an undulating pattern, so it’s not just a plain flag,” Herd said in the release.
Like many of his past pieces, Herd will use Kansas materials, including native grass, limestone, coco shell, wood mulch and bricks to create the earthwork.
The project, a collaboration between Herd, the Lied Center and Score Lawrence, received major funding support from Lawrence resident and former mayor John Nalbandian.
“This gift is an opportunity to share the pride I take in our community,” Nalbandian said.
Herd’s team aims to have the flag completed by early June, when Team Algeria is expected to arrive.
As the project moves forward, organizers are exploring ways to involve the community in the creative process.
“To have Lawrence native Stan Herd creating his work as part of this effort is more than we could have imagined,” Ruth DeWitt, director of community relations for eXplore Lawrence, said in the release. “Stan’s plan to honor not only the Algerian team, but also the people of Algeria, by creating their flag in the Lawrence earth embodies the very idea that art brings us together.”
World Cup matches begin Thursday, June 11, and the final match is set for Sunday, July 19. Six matches are slated for Kansas City between Tuesday, June 16 and Saturday, July 11.
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Courtney Lane (she/her), staff reporter, has worked with The Lawrence Times since April 2026. She can be reached at clane@lawrencekstimes.com.
Read her complete bio here. Read her work for the Times at this link, and see her photography for the Times at this link.
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