North High students create artwork for Wichita Art Museum exhibition News Oct. 5, 2023  |This link to Wichita Channel 12 news (CBS affiliate) showcases a community project led by artist Barbara Earl Thomas in conjunction with the exhibition Barbara Earl Thomas: The Illuminated Body (organized by The Chrysler Museum of Art). Thomas worked with North High School students to create a cut-Tyvek screen that was incorporated into The Transformation Room, a work in the exhibition.

In conjunction with the exhibition Clearly Indigenous: Native Visions Reimagined in Glass, WAM hosted one of our Art Chatter evenings, when creatives in Wichita give short, pecha-kucha style presentations on their art and practice. Inspired by Clearly Indigenous, the summer 2023 Art Chatter featured Native and glass artists. This link shows the list of presenters.

In partnership with the local arts nonprofit Harvester Arts, WAM hosts community exhibitions curated by local artists and creatives. The summer 2023 exhibition Twice Removed: Native American Life After Relocation centered around present-day Indigenous life in Kansas, featuring video, photography, and ledger art that blended traditional and contemporary elements. This link features a call for community members to contribute ledger art to Twice Removed.

In fall 2022, WAM began working with local Spanish professor Teresa Molina and her students on translating gallery text into Spanish. Initially they translated only featured exhibitions (including Clearly Indigenous organized by International Arts & Artists and Barbara Earl Thomas: The Illuminated Body organized by The Chrysler Museum of Art) but recently began translating texts for our permanent collection rotations. This article from our newsmagazine, W, describes that partnership.

For the opening party of Clearly Indigenous: Native Visions Reimagined in Glass, WAM hosted a dinner featuring Chef Loretta Barrett Oden (Potawatomi). Working with Wichita Chef Katharine Elder, Oden created a menu featuring only precontact American foods—no beef, white sugar, or wheat flour! Oden spoke before each course, sharing insights into Native culture, history, and foodways.