Category: Events and Recreation

Join visiting artist George Ferrandi for a free flower-making workshop from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, July 30 at the McKnight Art Center Atrium.

The workshop will include the making of a sunflower that will adorn the ShiftSpace parade entry for the homecoming parade. Participants will also be able to keep their creations. All materials will be provided, and Ferrandi and members of the ShiftSpace Student Group will be on hand to walk participants through the process. Light refreshments will be provided.

Ferrandi is a Pennsylvania-based artist best known in Wichita for Jump!Star, a sprawling celestial community art project that she initiated with communities in Kansas. Ferrandi’s ShiftSpace residency was made possible with a grant from the Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission.

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.

Mental health deserves more attention. To aid this effort, the Wichita Journalism Collaborative (WJC) is bringing Wichitans together for Mind Fest 2021 from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday, July 31 at The Wave in Old Town, 650 E. Second Street.

Mind Fest is the culmination of Mindful Solutions, a series focused on mental health from the WJC — a coalition of 10 local newsrooms and community institutions. The event features free trusted mental health support, live music, nachos, massages and yoga.

This event is meant to provide a safe space for learning more about mental health concerns while relaxing and having fun. The first 250 attendees will receive a gift bag and relaxation items like mindfulness journals, sleep masks, and hot and cold packs.

University Libraries will host a book discussion from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 5 at the Leisure Reading Room located in the Ablah Library. Light refreshments will be provided.

The discussion will cover “What the Eyes Don’t See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance, and Hope in an American City” by Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, and it is the WSU Common Read selection for the current school year. The book describes the Flint water crisis and its ramifications to the local community, health care providers and whistleblowers.

The event is open to the Wichita State community. Registration is not required, but registered attendees will receive an email reminder.

President Rick Muma will lead a discussion of the book “Broke: The Racial Consequences of Underfunding Public Universities” 2-2:50 p.m. Aug. 12, at Devlin Hall. The event will also be available live on Zoom.

All university community members are welcome to attend. The discussion is part of the August Academic Resources Conference.

If you are interested in reading “Broke” before Aug.12, you can access an ebook copy of the book or a physical copy through University Libraries. If you have trouble accessing the book, contact University Libraries through the Ask a Librarian live chat feature.

The Kansas Small Business Development Center is hosting two business sales tax courses Aug. 25. Both courses are free of charge:

State Tax Workshop – 9 a.m.-noon, Wednesday Aug. 25 at the WSU Metropolitan Complex, Entrance B. Carl York, Kansas Department of Revenue, will give the basics of state tax in this free webinar. Topics include sales and compensating use taxes, tax forms and how to file them, estimated taxes and recordkeeping.

State Tax Workshop for Construction Contractors – 1-3 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 25 at the WSU Metropolitan Complex, Entrance B. Carl York, Kansas Department of Revenue, will focus on sales tax issues for construction contractors and subcontractors, including those who provide services such as plumbing, carpentry, electrical, roofing, HVAC and landscaping. Learn about applying sales tax to materials and labor, Project Exemption Certificates, tax returns, billing and more.

Want to earn a paycheck while going to school? Register and sign up for the virtual on-campus job fair from 1 to 3 p.m. Thursday, July 22, via Handshake. The fair allows students to meet employers and review resumes with on-campus offices in one convenient location.

Students can also fine tune their resumes and find out the basics of navigating a virtual career fair by joining one of three career workshops to prep the event:

• Virtual Career Fair Prep Workshop: 3:30 p.m. July 14
• Resume and Handshake Clinic: 12:30 p.m. July 15
• Virtual Career Fair Prep Workshop: 6 p.m. July 20

The Office of First-year Programs invites you to Clash of the Colleges Aug. 20. This event will include relay races, team sports and other competitions between academic colleges to determine who rules the school. Come by yourself or with a group of other new students and enjoy an afternoon of interactive fun. Virtual games will also be available Aug. 20-27.

Registration begins July 1. Participants must register to attend.

Current and incoming students are invited to attend the Virtual On-Campus Job Fair 1-3 p.m. July 22 via Handshake. The fair will host on-campus offices, departments and colleges hiring student assistants or graduate assistants for fall 2021.

This fair is for all majors at Wichita State University. Meet and chat with staff from various departments across campus who have student assistant, work-study, and graduate assistant employment positions available for the upcoming academic year. Register and sign-up for schedules begins July 6.

Your meeting schedules will be created for you based on the information provided when filling out the registration form. The deadline to register is July 16.

For questions, contact Lori Godderz, at 316-978-6568, or lori.godderz@wichita.edu.