Category: Events and Recreation

Carol Lewis, a Wichita State University Child Development Center employee, is retiring after 39 years.  Please join in celebrating her years of service 5:30-7 p.m. June 18 at the WSU CDC.

For questions about the event, contact Jillian Hoefer.

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.

The Wichita State Society of Public Historians will host a virtual meeting at 5:30 p.m. May 19 via Zoom.

After the general meeting, a presentation featuring published author Ken Spurgeon will follow at  6 p.m. Spurgeon was born and raised in Wichita. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in history from Wichita State University. He is an associate professor of history at Friends University, He has written or co-written and directed three documentaries that have also aired on various PBS stations throughout the Midwest.

The F1RST-Generation Student Celebration Week at Wichita State will take place Nov. 8–12. To commemorate the national First-Generation Student Celebration Day, the annual F1RST-Gen group photo of students, faculty and staff will be Nov. 8.

On Nov. 10, the inaugural members of the Alpha Alpha Alpha Honorary Society for First-Generation College students will be inducted.

For more information on events and services designed to serve our first-generation community members, visit the website.

The College of Fine Arts will host its second annual Commencement Cruise at 7:30 p.m. May 13. The tradition started last year because of COVID-19. All fall 2020 and spring 2021 CFA graduates, faculty and staff are invited to decorate their vehicles and cruise around the perimeter of campus. Family, friends and other members of the university community are invited to cheer on the graduates.

All graduating students will also be invited to join. Participants are encouraged to wear their regalia, and to make signs for their vehicles that represent their creative practice or program area. Staging for cruise participants begins at 7 p.m. The caravan will start rolling at 7:30 p.m.

Observers are invited to park and watch along Perimeter Road, WuShock Drive and Mid-Campus Drive.

For more info, visit the Commencement Cruise website.

Kevin Crowston, Syracuse Univeristy professor, will present at the Disaster Resilience Analytics Center (DRAC) seminar series 10 a.m. May 21 via Zoom. Crowston is a Distinguished Professor of Information Science in the School of Information Studies at Syracuse University. He received his Ph.D. in Information Technologies from the Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1991. His research examines new ways of organizing made possible by the extensive use of information and communications technology. He is currently editor-in-chief for the journals “ACM Transaction on Social Computing and Information, Technology & People.”

Please join Wichita State University Art, Design and Creative Industries (ADCI) for a retirement reception for Jim Hellman, associate professor, scheduled from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. May 13, at the McKnight Art Center atrium. Hellman spent most of his 45-year career educating graphic design students at Wichita State. Over the years, he worked tirelessly to help young designers understand the principles of design and apply them to real-world problems. At one point or another, Hellman has taught most of the designers currently working in Wichita, as well as numerous alumni working across the U.S.

Grab-and-go refreshments will be served.

Stop by the Food Truck Plaza near NIAR for Wheat Street Dogs food truck from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. today. You can get your meal to go or spread out on socially distanced picnic tables or green space.

Stop by the Food Truck Plaza near NIAR for Wheat Street Dogs food truck from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. today. You can get your meal to-go or spread out on socially distanced picnic tables or green space.

How’s your sleep hygiene?

For the next Tuesday Talks May 11, join Lisa Wiebe, Advanced Practice Registered Nurse, Heather Stafford, Student Health Services associate director, and Max Karst and Caitlin Nolen, Wichita State University students, for a conversation about sleep via Youtube.