Author: Theresa Mott

Jo Reinert, Ulrich curator of modern and contemporary art, will discuss the process of curating “Fully Dimensional: Artists of the Outdoor Sculpture Collection,” at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 21 in the Ulrich Museum.

“Fully Dimensional: Artists of the Outdoor Sculpture Collection” is on display this spring in the Polk/Wilson Gallery and Amsden Gallery.

Visiting author Brian Turner will read from his new trilogy of poetry books as part of the Writing Now Reading Now series at 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 15 at the Ulrich Museum of Art in the Dr. Sam & Jacqui Kouri Collection Study Center.

Writer of the memoir, “My Life as a Foreign Country,” Turner has penned five collections of poetry. He’s the editor of The Kiss and co-edited The Strangest of Theatres and lives in Florida with his dog, Dene.

Writing Now Reading Now is cosponsored by the Department of English, Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Watermark Books & Café and the Ulrich Museum. This event is open to everyone. A reception will be hosted starting at 5:30 p.m.

Celebrate love and creativity this Valentine’s Day at the new Makers & Masterpieces series from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 14 at the Ulrich Museum of Art.

Learn the printmaking process using linoleum blocks to create a card for someone you love with the help of WSU’s Tornado Alley Press. Take a photo with the Robert Indiana “LOVE” sculpture. Enjoy sweet and savory snacks and hot cocoa sponsored by the Office of Diversity & Inclusion. Enjoy a special viewing of love themed artworks in the Dr. Sam & Jacqui Kouri Collection Study Center. Purchase roses and handmade ceramics from these student organizations, Arts Exploration Association and the WSU Ceramics Guild.

Join the Ulrich Museum of Arts for the Ulrich Spring 2024 Exhibition Opening Celebration from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 25 at the Ulrich.

Ulrich receptions are a party and more. Engage with artists and art fans, watch artist demonstrations, create your own art and enjoy food and fun for all ages. Join the Ulrich for an exploration of its newest exhibitions on display this spring; celebrate its Outdoor Sculpture Collection (OSC) with the exhibition, “Fully Dimensional: Artists of the Outdoor Sculpture Collection,” highlighting 35 of the OSC sculpture artists; and explore local muralists through “Urban Canvas” and engage with the curatorial experience with “The Ulrich Co-Lab.”

The Ulrich Museum of Art is celebrating it’s 50th anniversary in 2024 with two years of special events, commissions, exhibitions, programming and a book.

The first special event, “At The Illusionist’s Table,” is a dinner featuring a performance by internationally-renowned illusionist Scott Silven. He has a sold-out world tour and his off-Broadway performances in NYC were extended and sold out completely. Silven will host a dinner for six nights Jan. 29-Feb. 3 at Public at the Brickyard and can only accommodate a total of 24 people at the table each evening.

Tickets for 24 Wichita State students (a value of $175 each) have been reserved and will be given away in a random drawing. Those who wish to enter must fill out this form by 4 p.m., Friday, Jan. 26. Winners will be drawn and contacted that same day.

Presented in conjunction with the exhibition, “Where We Belong: Refugee Stories from Wichita,” on display in the Beren Gallery at the Ulrich Museum through Dec. 7, join a film screening of “Midnight Traveler” at 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 2 in the CAC Theater.

Hassan Fazili and his family seek asylum when he is threatened by the Taliban in this powerful documentary that shows the hardships experienced by one refugee family as they flee for safety, making the film along the way. Presented in partnership with PBS Kansas.

You are invited to gather at the fall 2023 Belonging Plaza from 1 to 3 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 29 on the north patio of the Rhatigan Student Center for a presentation by student members of the WSU Hispanic American Leadership Organization (HALO). Light refreshments will be served, and Kariana Massingill, volunteer coordinator of HALO, will share remarks at 1:30 p.m.

Researched and assembled by student members of HALO, Belonging Plaza will honor seven notable Latine alumni, faculty, staff and community members:

• Elizabeth Chacón, first Hispanic graduate of the University of Wichita (1932).
• Bobby Argumendo, aerospace engineering graduate (1957) and first Hispanic player in Shocker basketball history.
• Eli Romero, first football player of Hispanic descent to play for the Shockers.
• Gene and Yolanda Cemerena established the Shockers Adelante Scholars, an initiative to support minority students with high financial need.
• Sara Mata, executive director of the Hispanic Serving Institution.
• Ana Lazarin, serves as director of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives for the College of Engineering.

This program was organized by students from HALO with support from the Office of Diversity & Inclusion, the Ulrich Museum of Art, University Libraries, Special Collections and University Archives, and the Office of Hispanic Initiatives.

Belonging Plaza is a mobile monument and pop-up commemorative tool, created by the Office of Strategic Communications in collaboration with the Office of Diversity and Inclusion. The plaza is designed to move to different locations on campus, allowing student and community groups to highlight a variety of historically underrepresented or marginalized trailblazers and communities.

From 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursdays in November, drop in to the Collection Study Center at the Ulrich Museum of Art to catch documentary films about transformative artists of modern times. A different film will screen on a loop each date. Admission is open to everyone.

On Nov. 30, watch “Leaning into the Wind” and follow artist Andy Goldsworthy on an exploration of his local environment and himself through ephemeral and permanent workings on the Scottish landscape, cities and his own body. Directed by Thomas Riedelsheimer.

Join Lesley Dill as she discusses her exhibition, “Lesley Dill, Wilderness: Light Sizzles Around Me,” at 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 16 in the Beren Gallery of the Ulrich Museum of Art. A reception begins at 5:30 p.m.

The exhibition represents an ongoing investigation into the voices and personas of the American past. For Dill, the voices grew from early America’s obsessions with divinity and deviltry, and on fears of the wilderness “out there” and inside everyone. The extremes of both shaped history and gave pulse and heat to the words of activists such as John Brown, Sojourner Truth, Anne Hutchinson and Dred Scott. Dill writes: “These personas and their times stir something deep in my own family history and sense of self. I am compelled to explore this period in America’s history when limited access to diversity of written word ignited the bravery of these figures in response to their times.”

Vivian Zavataro, Ulrich Museum of Art executive and creative director, will discuss the process of curating “chro•ma [kroh-muh],” currently on display in the Grafly Gallery, at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 15 in the Beren Gallery at the Ulrich Museum.

Refreshments start at 10 a.m. Everyone is welcome to this Senior Wednesday event.