Events
StoryTime: “Life Doesn’t Frighten Me” by Maya Angelou, illustrated by Jean-Michel Basquiat, and edited by Sara Jane Boyers
December 4, 2026 | 10:30am - 11:00am
FREE Event, Past & Present: Celebrating New Acquisitions and Collection Highlights at the Wichita Art Museum, Storytime, Exhibitions, Youth & Family, Youth & Family
Cost:
Free event. No reservations required.
Location:
Wichita Art Museum
Book: Life Doesn’t Frighten Me by Maya Angelou, illustrated by Jean-Michel Basquiat, and edited by Sara Jane Boyers
Artwork: Uman, In my gumboots with my fur coat in the snow, 2019. Acrylic and gesso on canvas, 120 x 89 inches. Wichita Art Museum, Paula Downing Collection, 2025.3.4
Special Guest: Taiomah Rutledge
STORYTIME IN THE GALLERIES
Join us for engaging stories and related activities that make works of art come to life for young learners and their caregivers during StoryTime in the galleries on the first Friday of each month. Each program weaves together a children’s book, focused art looking at an artwork or exhibition, and a featured guest who brings energy through performance, music, movement, and creative play. Extend your visit by exploring PLAY—WAM’s interactive space for families—afterward.
· First Fridays of the Month, 10:30 am
· Features guest performers
· Music and movement activities
· Art looking and artmaking
· FREE for families and kids of all ages
· Admission is free and no reservations are required
· Children must be accompanied by an adult
About the instructor:
About Taiomah Rutledge
Taiomah Rutledge is a multidisciplinary artist and cofounder of Warclan Collective based in Wichita, Kansas. A member of the Ojibwe, Meskwaki, and Dakota people, Taiomah imbues his work with cultural narratives and reinterprets modern ideas of community and belonging. Taiomah studied fine art and graphic design at Wichita State University and is an Artist Inc. Alumni. He is a cultural advocate and mentor for native youth, instructing with his family’s drum “Thunderhead” and collaborating with the Mid-America All-Indian Museum through culture shares and art making. Taiomah is a current facilitator for Artist Inc. and guest curating Native art exhibitions for Kansas based non-profit galleries and presenting art workshops and cultural programming in an effort of art advocacy and community building.
Thank You to Our Sponsors:
◆ Youth and Family programs are generously supported by Art Bank of America and Bridges Foundation’s Access for All program
◆ Youth Education programs are supported by the Lynne Ruffin-Smith Charitable Foundation
◆ The Wichita Art Museum’s education programs are supported in part by the Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission, which receives funding from Kansas Department of Commerce and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.