Wichita, Kansas – Sept 16, 2024

– The Wichita Art Museum is honored to present Robert Peterson: Somewhere in America, the first major museum exhibition of work by contemporary Oklahoma-based artist Robert Peterson. Somewhere in America features 46 paintings—many made on a monumental scale—of African American individuals, couples, and families in everyday moments. Honoring Black communities, Peterson inserts contemporary African Americans into the history of portraiture—which has traditionally memorialized the rich, white, and elite—to celebrate the “Black experience as [he] knows it.”

Self-taught, Peterson picked up a paintbrush for the first time in 2012 to distract himself from an upcoming hip surgery. A little over a decade later, he is a rising star with paintings in major museums and prominent private collections throughout the country. The portraits in Somewhere in America resonate deeply with Peterson’s own life and biography, picturing his memories and experiences. Although they represent his unique perspective, Peterson hopes that his paintings also connect across lines of class, gender, age, and race, encouraging all viewers to “see something of themselves” in the works, “their neighbor, their loved one, or somebody that they grew up idolizing.” Robert Peterson: Somewhere in America tells a deeply personal—yet widely recognizable—story of family, community, and legacy.

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Admission is FREE for WAM members, college students w/ID and youth 18 & under.
General Admission is $12 for adults/seniors.

Robert Peterson: Somewhere in America is organized by the Wichita Art Museum.
This project is supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

2024 exhibitions and public programs are generously supported by the Downing Foundation.
All museum exhibitions receive generous sponsorship from the Friends of the Wichita Art Museum and the City of Wichita.

PRESENTING SPONSOR
National Endowment for the Arts

PRINCIPAL SPONSORS
DeVore Foundation
Emprise Bank
Shaw Family Foundation
Dwane L. and Velma Lunt Wallace Foundation

DISTINGUISHED SPONSORS
Connie Bonfy
Damon and Lai-L Daugherty
Lou and Terry Heldman
Kristin and Will Price
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For more information about the exhibition and  special events to further engage with the community: wam.org/peterson

Contact: Naama Marcos
Director of Marketing and Communications | marcos@wam.org| 316-268-4985

Wichita Art Museum: 1400 West Museum Boulevard, Wichita, Kansas USA 67203 | 316-268-4921
The Wichita Art Museum connects people, ideas, and art through remarkable experiences.

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“This exhibition celebrates the Black experience through paintings of African Americans in everyday moments. Although deeply autobiographical, Peterson’s work invites all viewers to find a piece of their own story within these powerful portraits.” — Dr. Tera Lee Hedrick, Curator