Author: Ranjit Arab

July 31 is the last day to see the summer exhibitions at the Ulrich Museum of Art on the Wichita State University campus. Art Is a Superpower! and On Vacation! will be removed to make way for other installations.

Gallery hours are 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday-Saturday. Admission is free.

The summer exhibition includes sculpture pieces by Tom Otterness, whose works are featured on the Ulrich’s TikTok “U Views” series; a mask series by artist and activist Ai Wei Wei; and photography Ayana V. Jackson. Works from the Ulrich’s permanent collection featuring the Moscow Ballet and a tour of American roadside diners are also included.

Come check out these wonderful exhibitions while you still can.

The Ulrich Museum of Art is excited to host artist Ayana V. Jackson for a virtual artist talk at 6 p.m. on June 15. The program is free and open to the public. Registration is required.

Jackson is a contemporary American photographer and filmmaker who mines 18th- and 19th-century Western art and photographs as a means to challenge racial and gender stereotypes ingrained in historical narratives. Her work examines how the Black body has been portrayed, what has been left out of the frame and uses self-portraiture to consider the role these narratives play in constructing identities. Jackson’s work is held in the collections of The Studio Museum in Harlem, Princeton University Art Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, Detroit Institute of Art, and National Museum of African Art Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

Two new acquisitions of her work for the museum’s collection are included in the Ulrich summer exhibition Art Is a Superpower!, which is on display at the Ulrich 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Saturday through July 31. Admission is free. The Jackson pieces in the Ulrich collection were also recently featured in one of the museum’s TikTok posts.

Soviet émigré artist Vitaly Komar will share how his experiences living in both Cold War superpowers shaped his career in his talk, “The Dance of Dissent: Reflections on Art, Humor, and the Cold War” at 6 p.m. Tuesday, June 1 via Zoom. Komar visited Wichita on his first trip to America in 1979.

Komar gained international acclaim throughout the 1970s and ’80s, along with artist Alexander Melamid, for their biting commentary on the Cold War. Komar and Melamid’s portfolio, “A Ballet: The Life of Stalin,” is part of the Ulrich Museum’s permanent collection and is currently on display in the museum’s summer exhibition On Vacation!

The event is free and open to the public. Registration is required. Click here to register and receive the Zoom link.

Two new exhibitions, “On Vacation!” and “Art Is a Superpower!,” go on display at the Ulrich 11 a.m.-5 p.m. May 20-July 31. The museum is open Monday-Saturday and admission is free. Click here for directions and parking.

On Vacation! features pieces from the Ulrich’s permanent collection that celebrate excursions and adventures. This includes John Baeder’s photographs of 1970s American diners, the art of Alexander Calder and George Grosz and a series of colorful prints from Dutch artist Karel Appel  among other works.

Art is a Superpower! shines a spotlight on the amazing new pieces the museum has acquired over the last five years, including stunning photographs of powerful Black women by rising star Ayana V. Jackson, a series of drawings on blue disposable face masks by world-famous Chinese-born artist Ai Weiwei and giant sculpture pieces from Tom Otterness, creator of the iconic Millipede and Shockers sculptures on campus. These works represent themes of identity, human rights, democracy and patriotism.

The Ulrich will have lots of wonderful programming to accompany these exhibitions. Check ulrich.wichita.edu/programs  for updates.

This Saturday is your last chance to view the current exhibitions at the Ulrich Museum of Art on the Wichita State University campus. From the Civil Rights-era photographs of Gordon Parks, to the latest works by faculty artists, an exhibition based on memories from the Shocker community, and one inspired by Haitian voodoo culture, the current shows have something for everyone. But you’ll have to see them soon because they’re gone after Saturday. The Ulrich Museum is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Admission is free.