Wichita Art Museum — Attraction in Wichita

To begin, I thought I had brought my children here years ago but, I do not believe I have ever been here! Although exhausted from the week, I'm SO VERY GLAD I WENT! I REALLY ENJOYED IT! The admission was also FREE, yes FREE!! 🎉 Gratefully! 💝 This warmed my heart because it PROVIDED ALL FAMILIES, artwork displayed or not, a Higher Level Of Opportunity To Be Able To Attend.🥹💖💝 I HOPE the word got out and spread to the fullest extent and that Families TOOK ADVANTAGE Of This OPPORTUNITY TO EXPERIENCE SOMETHING THEY MAY NOT HAVE Even Considered OTHERWISE. Especially if they enjoy, can appreciate and see the beauty all art forms have to offer!

Yesterday, was the OPENING NIGHT of USD259 STUDENT ART SHOW and a few of our students' artwork was displayed along with many others. I was TRULY IMPRESSED AND IN AWE😲🤯💗😁😌 BY THE Abilities, Quality, and GIFTEDNESS Our Community OF STUDENTS Have On Display!

ONE (2 Actually) OF OUR STUDENTS specifically, who has/have built a great rapport within our student/staff relationship🥰🤗 in addition to being a student(s) who displays great effort, value in education, and integrity- was so very excited and proud to have artwork displayed and attend with her family! (I hope I helped make it even more special by attending by surprise! 💕 I am fond and appreciative of our art teacher also, but I'm not one who tends to get out or attend events often either.) THEN even more gratefully, we were also ALLOWED TO TOUR MOST OF THE REST OF THE MUSEUM besides a few, specific events or areas where a pass is needed! (Respected and understandable.) There were so many GORGEOUS, INTRICATE, APPEALING, THOUGHT INDUCING, EYE-CATCHING, CURIOSITY BUILDING, INTERESTING DISPLAYS To Be Enjoyed, Appreciated, and respected...and there were likely many more I didn't get to! At one point I looked up and AUTOMATICALLY RECOGNIZED and was THRILLED BY SEEING A LARGE, BLOWN GLASS CHANDELIER AND A WALKABLE GLASS BRIDGE OF DALE CHIHULY'S in person as desired since college Art History many, many years ago! 🎉Yay! In addition to an exciting toddler section! (That also displayed how we looked up books in our days at the library with a card catalog!🤣)

BUT WAIT‼️IT STILL GETS BETTER!!! Then I was gifted a FREE PASS for up to 4 adults to attend again!! YAY!! Now I just have to figure out how to take my grandson and still be able to view the rest of the displays I missed! THANK YOU WAM AND WPS FOR THIS...

5 stars because this was only my second visit to the WAM in my entire life, but the first time I felt welcome and saw myself throughout the museum. I'm a Wichita native and first visited the WAM as a young girl on a school field trip many years ago. Being bussed to white schools as a kid and going on field trips like these, with subtle reminders that I did not belong were things I learned to manuever from a very young age. As much as I loved arts and culture, this museum was one place I never returned because I could only remember how out of place I felt during that visit as a child. Now, as a chief officer of a museum in another state, those childhood experiences serve as a reminder of how important inclusivity and accessibility is within the arts and culture community. While visiting home for the holiday, I had a scheduled visit at the All-Indian museum and hadn't even considered visiting WAM because I stopped keeping up with it some years ago because things I read contunued to lack the diversity in the arts and culture space that I valued. As we left the All-Indian Museum, my best friend mentioned how there's been a shift in the WAM's exhibitions and events. I made a u-turn and we decided to check things out.

The experience was far from what I experienced as a child. The staff was warm and welcoming, the gift shop boasted books and other items relevant to my culture, and the selection of exhibitions were culturally rich, informative, and stunning. I was also told that the WAM welcomed a new executive director in recent years, so perhaps the shift is attributed to fresh leadership. The only feedback I have would be to offer some form of sanitation near the interactive listening station in the Freedom Fighters exhibit. I would've loved to listen, but was reluctant to use the headphones. Lastly, the installation of the hanging paper with the paper chandelier of the Illuminated Body exhibit could use some tidying up. Some of the things used to afix the paper to the ceiling and walls are noticeable, but a beautiful exhibit all the same. Thank you WAM, for shifting my perspective through your...

Disclaimer: To be upfront, I refused to take pictures out of respect of the artists and their work. This is a personal thing for me, that's all.

I adore museums, especially with their themes like machines, textiles, history of war and so on. I never thought I would fall in love with a museum that focuses on pieces made about the state of Kansas but also the artists who were born and/or lived in Kansas.

This was my first visit so uncertain about the change of what's displayed. It's a two story, handicap accessible building with elevators and handicap accessible water fountains & bathrooms.

I can't express in enough words how much I loved getting to read the lives, experiences and what touched the hearts and souls of so many Kansans. The blend of pencil, charcoal, conventional paint and photography pieces that capture the life of Kansas from the 19th century and modern times is breath taking. There was even a glass making section that showed off works I only got to see one of two pieces of a collection, not more than twenty!

Parts of the second floor is a paid only section, so my date and I remained on the free to the public section side. I needed more time spent just to see the pieces, but the few moments I got helped bring up so much joy with witnessing the recreation of a wheat field shifting in the breeze (modern art piece or not, it's an amazing piece of engineering and metalwork) as well as one incredible piece that really touched home for me.

There is a gift shop and seem to have regular sales on various made goods. I picked up a super cute burlap material based hand bad for my child and they adored it!

I'm looking forward to going...