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Its purpose is to collect, preserve and exhibit American art, and educate the public about America's artistic heritage and evolving cultural identity.
The Wichita Art Museum opened in 1935. It is home to one of the premier collections of American Art in the country, The Roland P. Murdock Collection.
Art museum, specializing in American art. 18th to 20th century American painting, sculpture, drawing, prints; pre-Columbian art.
Enjoy the children's interactive gallery, Museum Store, Truffles cafe, and a lively schedule of programs and special events.
This is just a brief overview of what’s new at the renovated Wichita Art Museum:
As the largest art museum in the state of Kansas, the Wichita Art Museum
houses one of the country’s finest collections of American art, spanning three
centuries of painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts.
Masterpieces by Mary Cassatt, Winslow Homer, Horace Pippin, and Edward Hopper
are among the more than 6,000 works in the permanent collection. With the
opening of the $10.5 million expansion project, the Wichita Art Museum’s gallery
space will increase by more than forty percent.
“The most exciting thing
about this renovation and expansion is that we will be able to exhibit all 168
works of the Roland P. Murdock collection, and also have ample room for
traveling exhibitions,” states Museum Director Charles K. Steiner.
Because of
this incredible expansion project, visitors to the Wichita Art Museum will enjoy
seven distinct exhibitions on the grand re-opening day:
1) American Art for
Wichita: Elizabeth Stubblefield Navas and the Formation of the Roland P. Murdock
Collection.
June 9, 2003 – August 1, 2004
2) Dale Chihuly: Two Installations.
June 9, 2003 - permanent
installation
3) The Living Room: a hands-on gallery for children and adults with an
inaugural installation by artist Sunni Mercer.
June 9, 2003 – May 30, 2004
4) Selections from the L.S. and Ida L. Naftzger Print Collection
Opens
June 9, 2003
5) 33rd Annual Kansas Watercolor Society, 7-State Exhibition
June 9, 2003
– September 7, 2003
6) Gifts of Art in Honor of the New Museum
Opens June 9, 2003
7) The M.C. Naftzger Collection of Paintings, Sculptures and Drawings
by
Charles M. Russell
Opens June 9, 2003
The first exhibition, American Art for Wichita: Elizabeth Stubblefield Navas
and the Formation of the Roland P. Murdock Collection, will take Museum visitors
on a fascinating historical journey through the acquisition process of this
important collection. All 168 Murdock works, including many of the
Museum’s most beloved paintings, will be hung in order of their
acquisition. Thus viewers will be able to see how Wichita’s Cassatt,
Homer, Hoppers, and Doves fit into a larger art collecting strategy.
Visitors will begin to understand why these choices are good examples of
“American Art for Wichita.” Along the way, viewers will pause to meet the
dealers, advisers, and role models that Mrs. Murdock’s assistant, Elizabeth
Stubblefield Navas, consulted during the 20 years that it took to amass this
prized collection. Seeing some of the prices paid will make the Museum
experience even more vivid as readers witness Mrs. Navas’s pursuit of a
museum-quality art collection.
The renovated Museum can also boast
new amenities including a handsome second-floor restaurant with a scenic view of
the Arkansas River, an expanded gift store, and an additional 100 parking
spaces.
Visitors to the revamped Museum will be inspired when they enter the
new building by literally walking under a work of art --the new Persian
ceiling titled, Wichita Art Museum Persian Seaform Installation, crafted by
Seattle glass artist Dale Chihuly. “Inspired by the intricate patterns of
traditional Persian glass, Wichita’s Persian Seaform Ceiling is unique,”
observes Steiner. “It is the first Persian ceiling created by Chihuly that can
be viewed from both above and below.” Guests will enjoy this first experience at
the Museum, and be further impressed after they pass under the Persian Seaform
Installation and climb the staircase into the S. Jim and Darla Farha Great Hall
where they can view the Wichita Art Museum Confetti Chandelier also by Chihuly.
Both of these permanent installations have been acquired through the generosity
of the F. Price Cossman Memorial Trust, INTRUST Bank Trustee.
The Wichita Art
Museum opened in 1935. It is home to one of the premier collections of American
Art in the country, The Roland P. Murdock Collection. Located at 1400 West
Museum Blvd, the Museum is open Sunday noon to 5 p.m., and Tuesday through
Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with special extended hours on Thursdays from 11
a.m. to 8 p.m. Admission is $5 for adults; $4 for seniors and students; $2 for
children 5 and up. However, the public is admitted free every Saturday and
registered school groups are always free.
The Wichita Art Museum is proud to publish an exciting roster of exhibitions. Due to the Museum’s recent $10.5 million renovation and expansion project, the Museum will feature seven exhibitions when it reopens to the public on June 9, 2003.
Schedule of Exhibition Openings 2003/2004:
1) Dale Chihuly: Two Installations
Enter the new Museum under the dramatic Wichita Art Museum Persian Seaform Installation and then experience the Wichita Art Museum Confetti Chandelier in the Museum’s S. Jim and Darla Farha Great Hall. Both works are on permanent display beginning June 9, 2003. These works were purchased with support from the F. Price Cossman Memorial Trust, INTRUST Bank Trustees.
2) American Art for Wichita: Elizabeth Stubblefield Navas and the Formation
of the Roland P. Murdock Collection.
June 9, 2003 – August 1, 2004
This exhibit takes museum visitors on a fascinating historical journey through the acquisition process of this important collection. All 168 Murdock works, including many of the Museum’s most beloved paintings, will be hung in order of their acquisition. Viewers will be able to see how Wichita’s Cassatt, Homer, Hoppers, and Doves fit into a larger art collecting strategy. Along the way, viewers will pause to meet the dealers, advisers, and role models that the collector, Elizabeth Stubblefield Navas, consulted during the 20 years that it took to amass this prized collection. This exhibition was made possible by the Robert M. Beren Foundation, the Wichita Eagle and the Fred C. and Mary R. Koch Foundation.
3) The Living Room: a hands-on gallery for children and adults with an
inaugural installation by artist Sunni Mercer.
June 9, 2003 – May 30, 2004
Be sure to explore the inaugural installation by Oklahoma artist Sunni Mercer. Her exhibition consists of six sculptures that are works of art that visitors will recognize as furniture with a magical air. Exhibitions in The Living Room evolved from artists and the community working together to dissolve the boundaries between art, life and the Museum.
This new hands-on gallery has something for everyone. Visitors will find Museum guides for adults and families, adventure backpacks, and other activities that allow exploration beginning in The Living Room and continuing throughout the Museum.
The Living Room is made possible by the Kansas Health Foundation and the S.M. and Laura H. Brown Charitable Trust.
4) Selections from the L.S. and Ida L. Naftzger Print Collection.
Opens
June 9, 2003
Enjoy this print collection as it is shown in rotation. The collection consists of more than 200 fine prints, principally etchings, engravings, and woodcuts that were collected and donated to the Museum by the Naftzger family. Featured in the opening installment will be the series of engravings titled: The Passion of Christ by Dutch master Hendrik Goltzius (1558-1617).
5) 33rd Annual Kansas Watercolor Society, Seven-State Exhibition.
June 9,
2003 – September 7, 2003
Marvel at the best watercolor paintings from across the Midwest during this annual juried exhibition. This year’s juror is well-known painter and printmaker Sondra Freckelton and she will present two lectures on May 17th at the Wichita Center for the Arts. The 10:15 a.m. lecture will be on the selections for the exhibition. The 1:00 p.m. lecture will be about her work.
6) Gifts of Art in Honor of the New Museum.
Opens June 9, 2003
Explore new acquisitions in Wichita’s world-renowned collection of American art. View beautiful works by artists including Frederick Carl Frieseke, Henry Varnum Poor, Eugenie Baizerman, and Gordon Grant.
7) Heritage of the West: A Romance Gone Forever. The M.C. Naftzger Collection
of Paintings, Sculptures and Drawings by Charles M. Russell.
Opens June 9,
2003
Experience the turbulent and thrilling themes of everyday life during the
settlement of the American West. This exhibit represents a cross-section
of Russell’s stylistic development over a period of 30 years, from 1896
through 1926.
Upcoming Exhibition Openings:
Speak Softly and Carry a Beagle: The Art of
Charles Schulz.
September 28, 2003 - January 4, 2004.
Featuring original works from the collection of the Charles Schulz Museum, this exhibition includes all the favorite Peanuts characters.
Organized by the Minnesota Museum of American Art, Saint Paul, MN and the Charles M. Schulz Museum, Santa Rosa, CA., The national tour of Speak Softly and Carry a Beagle: The Art of Charles Schulz is sponsored by Hallmark.
The exhibition’s Wichita venue is made possible, in part, by the Wichita
Eagle and the
Friends of the Wichita Art Museum Inc. It is partially
funded by The Boeing Company.
From I-35, take the Kellogg exit going west; then the Seneca exit, north. Immediately after crossing the bridge, turn left into the Museums on the River district.