Renowned earthwork artist Stan Herd creating Algerian flag installation in Lawrence for World Cup
April 16, 2026
LAWRENCE, KANSAS — When members of the Algerian men’s soccer team and their fans arrive in Lawrence in the weeks to come, they will find a reminder of home with a decidedly Kansas twist.
On a slope of grassland near Iowa Street and Bob Billings Parkway, behind the Lied Center of Kansas, Lawrence-based earthwork artist Stan Herd is creating an image of an Algerian flag, rippling in the wind.
“It’s going to have an undulating pattern, so it’s not just a plain flag,” Herd said of the design, which takes advantage of the site’s topography.
The quarter-acre site is smaller than the canvases Herd and his team are used to working with. But as with previous pieces — on some of which he’s “used a tractor like a pencil” — Herd’s work will be rooted in the Kansas soil. Native materials like grass and limestone, as well as coco shell, wood mulch and bricks, will form this signature visual representation of the role Lawrence is playing in welcoming the Algerian men’s team and their fans this summer.
The project is a collaboration among Herd, the Lied Center of Kansas and Score Lawrence, the Unified Command to coordinate preparations for the 2026 Men’s World Cup and the city’s position as a basecamp for Team Algeria.
Lawrence resident and former mayor John Nalbandian provided the lead financial contribution for the project.
“This gift is an opportunity to share the pride I take in our community,” Nalbandian said.
The earthwork is among several Score Lawrence projects that are bridging regional artists and the global soccer event. Ruth DeWitt, director of community relations for Explore Lawrence, the city’s convention and visitors bureau, said Lawrence’s vibrant arts and culture scene will be accessible to summer visitors through public art installations, free music events, history and heritage exhibits, and community festivals.
“To have Lawrence native Stan Herd creating his work as part of this effort is more than we could have imagined,” DeWitt said. “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. I know people will visit the site, take in its meaning and feel the pride of a people we are hosting as they play for one of the most important championship runs in the sporting world.”
Team Herd — Stan Herd, Evan Herd, Kyra Roselee and Janis M'Caelin — aim to have the project complete by early June, when the Algerian men’s team, its support staff and fans are expected to arrive. In the meantime, the local community will see the earthwork take shape over the next several weeks.
“The area has thatch where grass has been growing for three or four years, so there’s nothing growing underneath,” Stan Herd said. “We’ll refurbish with new grass.”
That new grass will form the green color field in the Algerian flag.
“The process informs us about the art,” Herd said.
As the Algerian flag project moves forward, organizers are exploring opportunities for community members to be involved in the creative process.
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The flag will be just one of many pieces Herd has created in the Lawrence area and abroad. Moreover, the flag won’t be the only of his earthworks with an Algerian connection.
In 2009, he created a portrait of Ibn Battuta — a Moroccan Muslim traveler, explorer and scholar — in a field north of Lawrence. Herd said that earthwork set out to establish a new understanding between Muslim-majority countries and the West.
“When Ibn Battuta left for Mecca, the first place he went was Algeria, so he had a history at three important cities in Algeria,” Herd said.