Now Showing: Newest Exhibits At Wichita Museums

From Visit Wichita:

April 2, 2021

To assist with public safety, please remain diligent in adhering to safe practices outlined by the CDC like wearing a face covering and social distancing when out in the community and stay home if you feel ill. We recommend confirming details and verifying requirements and/or safety procedures for guests before visiting a local shop, attraction, eatery or other business.

Wichita museums offer ever-changing installations, including national traveling exhibitions and temporary displays of featured works from their impressive permanent collections. Here’s your guide to new temporary and permanent exhibits that have opened recently or are opening soon.

Wichita museums are affordable and several museums mentioned below even offer free admission (as noted below).

Botanica Wichita

“Big Bugs,” May 1-July 31: Just when you thought it was safe to go outside, big bugs are invading Botanica Wichita. This traveling exhibition features 12 larger-than-life animatronic insects installed throughout Botanica’s 20 acres. Penny Centipede stretches out to nearly 10 feet long, Perry Mantis stands 7 feet tall and Drake Dragonfly’s wings span 10 feet wide. Learn fun facts and background information about each species as you enjoy the exhibit during general admission visits and special events.

B-29 Doc Hangar, Education & Visitors Center

Wichita Warbird Weekend Static Exhibition, July 2-5: The B-29 Doc Hangar, Education & Visitors Center is hosting this event to give visitors a unique, up-close and personal opportunity to see the three American bombers that helped win World War II. Joining Wichita’s B-29 Doc will be a B-17 Aluminum Overcast and B-25 Berlin Express. All three aircraft will be on static display and open for ground and cockpit tours Friday, July 2. The aircraft will each operate ride flights on Saturday, July 3 and Sunday, July 4. The aircraft will be on static display the remainder of the weekend unless serving ride flight customers.

CityArts

Admission to the galleries at CityArts is free.

• “An Abundance of Colors & Creatures,” through May 21: Features Wichita watercolor and mixed media artist Jamie Briggeman.
• “James’ Theme - Behind the Lens,” April 12-May 21: Showcases photography by Certified Professional Photographer James Mitchell.
• “Greetings from Afar,” April 12-May 21: An exhibition of mixed media work by Ranal Harrell Young.

Exploration Place

• Ending soon! “POPnology: From SciFi to Wifi,” through May 2: This national traveling exhibition on pop culture is included with general admission at Exploration Place. You’ll discover how innovators reach through the silver screen and turn fiction into fact. Go back to the future with a full-scale replica of the Delorean Time Machine. Dive into the realm of augmented and virtual reality. Journey to Mars with a red planet rover and much more.
• “PAW Patrol Adventure Play,” May 15-Aug. 29: In this exhibition based on the hit preschool series, you and your family will join Marshall, Chase, Skye, Rubble, Everest, Rocky, Zuma and Tracker to explore your unique abilities, overcome challenges and help friends.

• “Monster Fish: In Search of the Last River Giants,” May 29-Sept. 6: Based on the popular Nat GEO WILD show, this exhibition takes visitors beneath the surface of the world’s rivers, examining these ancient fish that are enormous in size and rapidly dwindling in number. See five extraordinary, life-size sculptures of monster fish as well as videos and hands-on activities for all ages.
• "Drone-Tography: The Elevated Eye,” through 2021: What started as a hobby for Wichitan Jeremy Miller has grown into much more. Miller is the owner of Wichita’s Drone-tography, LLC and is known for capturing stunning imagery of Wichita and showcasing the city and the state of Kansas in a new light. Through this uniquely Wichita exhibit, shift your perspective on the world, look eye to eye with sky scrapers and soar above the horizon.

Kansas Aviation Museum

Play on a Plane, May 22: While the Kansas Aviation Museum is open year-round, visitors only get the chance to climb inside the aircraft on static display on the ramp during Play on a Plane. On this day, select aircraft will be open to explore and other activities include WSU Tech’s Future Maker Lab, a bounce house, food trucks and more.

Mark Arts

Mark Arts’ galleries are open by appointment only 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; admission is free. Call 316-634-ARTS to schedule. Drop-ins can usually be accommodated, but gallery attendance is limited.

• “The Space Between,” April 9-May 15 in the Wiedemann Gallery: This show curated by Wichita’s Armando Minjarez features artists from the Heartland exploring the space between self and space itself, perception and memory, vestige and vanguard.
• “The Study Collection: Portraiture Exhibition,” April 9-June 12 in the School of Creativity Gallery: More than 40 works from the Mark Arts Study Collection that reveal life.
• Youth Gallery exhibitions include: Congressional Art Awards, April 9-30; Walk a Mile with EmberHope Youthville, May 7-28; and Mark Arts STEAM Academy, June 1-Aug. 7.

Museum of World Treasures

• “Original documents from Mary, Queen of Scots and James I of England,” on display at the Museum of World Treasures through early May: Every three months, museum staff rotates the original and unique documents its displays in the “Dark Room” within the European history exhibit. The 500-year-old documents currently on display are from Mary, Queen of Scots, and James I of England.
• “Ancient Chinese Imperial Grave Goods,” through June 30: These Han and Sui Dynasty era figurines representing guardians and nobles of ancient China are part of the first floor Small Stories.
• “Wichita Veteran Spotlight: Field Musician Harry Campbell Jr.,” through June 30: A bugle and banner, a uniform, his words, and his story as provided by Campbell’s family are part of the second floor Small Stories.
• “Petrified Wood,” July 1-Sept. 30: View the beauty and intricacy of a variety of petrified wood pieces and learn the science behind petrification with this exhibition in the first floor Small Stories.
• “Remnants from Nazi Concentration Camps,” July 1-Sept. 30: A somber look at items from Buchenwald and Munchen-Dachau with this display in the second floor Small Stories.

The Kansas African American Museum

Ending soon! “Through Our Eyes: Perspectives of African American Life in the 20th Century,” through April 24: This exhibition pulls from The Kansas African American Museum’s permanent collection to explore how Black artists experienced shifts in culture, social interaction and everyday life throughout the 20th century. Included works are by artists such as Romare Bearden, Jacob Lawrence and Lois Mailou Jones, as well as Kansas-based artists.

Ulrich Museum of Art at Wichita State University

The galleries at the Ulrich Museum of Art offer free admission.

• Ending soon! “Gordon Parks: I, too, am America,” through May 8: Featuring 40 photographs from the Ulrich Museum’s holdings of more than 170 photographs by Gordon Parks (1912-2006).
• Ending soon! “Renée Stout: Ghosts,” through May 8: Stout is a contemporary American artist whose work is renowned for its potent reflections on African American heritage and the visual culture of the African diaspora. The works in this exhibition are part of the museum’s collection.
• Ending soon! “The Faculty XXIII Biennial: It’s All Part of the Process,” through May 8.
• Ending soon! “Solving for X=Identity: Sharing Matrilineal Memories at WSU,” through May 8: A participatory exhibition focused on collecting memories of home for WSU students, faculty and staff.
• “On Vacation! From the Permanent Collection,” May 20-July 31: Drawn from the Museum’s permanent collection, the show features seven series of prints depicting places and events that present an array of possible vacation activities.
• “Art Is a Superpower!,” May 20-July 31: Featuring new works that have joined the museum’s permanent collection, these pieces all speak to the complexity of identity, human rights, democracy and patriotism as we stand in the midst of a global pandemic.

Wichita Art Museum

The Wichita Art Museum is open Tuesday through Sunday with free admission on Saturday. Among the museum’s current exhibitions:

• Ending soon! “African American Art in the 20th Century: Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights Era, and Beyond,” through May 23: This traveling Smithsonian exhibition includes nearly 50 paintings and sculptures by 34 leading artists created in moments of significant social and political change—from the 1920s jazz age to the 1960s civil rights movement and beyond.
• Ending soon! “Foot in the Door: Wichita Artists Make Their Mark,” through April 18: 570 12-inch by 12-inch artworks, each made by a local Wichita artist eager to get their “foot in the door” at WAM.
• “I, Too, Sing America: African American Art from the Wichita Art Museum Collection,” through Aug. 1: Extraordinary works on paper spanning the 1930s through the 1990s, including prints, watercolors, ink washes and collages from WAM’s permanent collection.
• “Brains and Toils: Prints of Labor and Industry from the Wichita Art Museum Collection,” through Aug. 15: Featuring prints of farmers, fishermen, dockworkers and builders of all kinds, the exhibition considers both urban and rural workers and the ways in which their labor shaped all aspects of America life—from politics and the environment to the family and community.

• “Before and After 1920: Women Artists from the Wichita Art Museum Collection,” May 1-Sept. 27: Originally planned for spring 2020 but delayed due to COVID-19 closures, this exhibition features work by women artists from the permanent collection. The exhibition spans works made before and after women gained the right to vote with the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920, exploring women’s contribution to various art movements of the 19th and 20th centuries.
• “Richard Marquis: Keepers,” June 12-Sept. 5: Marquis is known around the globe for his whimsical, technically masterful and often hilarious glass art. This exhibition features more than100 of the artist’s “keepers”—works from his own personal archive.

Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum

• “Turn It Up to 90! - the 90th anniversary of the Electric Guitar and its World Debut from Wichita,” through July 2021: This special exhibition at the Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum explores Wichita’s connection to the genesis of this most popular musical instrument, featuring dozens of historic electric guitars.
• Extended! “Metal to the Pedal,” through June 30: showcases a nearly 50-year span of pedal vehicle manufacturing, from a 1924 fire truck to a 1967 cherry red Ford Mustang. There are 45 vehicles in the exhibition.
• April 15-May 30: Enjoy free lunch-time admission to the museum! Bring your lunch and enjoy it outside in Heritage Square and then take a walk through the museum at no charge during the lunch hour. No food or drink inside, please.

Check out more Wichita area museums and galleries.

This press release was produced by Visit Wichita. The views expressed here are the author’s own.