In the coming weeks and months you will hear stories about how we need a new art museum. You will hear about problems at our current museum involving improper climatization, possible water damage issues, and mold. The ceilings in the basement are too low to properly exhibit work. The lighting is outdated, and so on. The museum houses the amazing and priceless Murdock collection that must be protected, and so measures must be taken. And I believe all of this is true.
I also whole-heartedly believe that we should embrace designer and builder Ben Hutton’s idea to move the art museum to the now-closed Wichita Central Library building in downtown Wichita. The building, listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 2020, is just sitting there, waiting for love. It is the first Brutalist-style building constructed in Kansas. It is original. It looks like no other. It is gorgeous.
Moving WAM to the old library shows we have panache and passion for our city. It inspires exciting growth in our city’s core. It offers an amazing welcome and meeting place to those who visit Wichita. And it falls in line with the supposed vision the City has for the area.
I can hear the old groan of practicality and fiscal responsibility right now before the efforts even begin. And it is this very sense of old-fashioned, ultra-conservative view and thought processes that have held our city back for years. I’m dying for real change and I’m hoping you are too.
Let it roll.
