arts

Wichita city council members are expected to approve the 2018 recommended funding allocations for arts and cultural organizations on Tuesday during their weekly council meeting.

Friends University in Wichita is establishing its first fully funded endowed chair. The appointment will come in the Fine Arts Division as part of a $1.2 million gift from an alumna.

Meredith Gail Buchanan graduated from Friends University in 1980 with a bachelor’s degree in music education. She and her husband, Tim, want to enhance the educational experience at Friends, so they’ve committed more than $1 million to the fine arts program to establish the Tim and Gail Buchanan Chair in Fine Arts.

A new art exhibition opens today in Wichita that will showcase the work of Middle Eastern artists displaced by war.

The Building Bridges exhibit includes 80 paintings, most of them from Iraqi refugee artists. The work was brought here by the nonprofit Wichita Common Humanity, a collaboration of different religious and interfaith groups.

Coordinator Jan Swartzendruber says the goal of the project is to challenge stereotypes about the Muslim and Arab worlds and help the Wichita community better understand its Muslim neighbors.

A insufficient allocation of money for the Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission (KCAIC), a state organization that distributes grant money for community arts, has made Kansas ineligible for close to $800,000 in funds from federal and regional organizations that support the arts.

Chances are you’ve seen the Wichita flag popping up around town. The flag's three components represent happiness and contentment, a permanent home, and the freedom to come and go. KMUW’s Abigail Wilson spoke to several people who are on the forefront of the movement.

Film director Wes Anderson announced last year that he wants to create an amusement park. He says that it would have "hundreds of animatronic characters and creatures, rides through vast invented landscapes and buildings, extensive galleries of textiles and sculptures, plus an ongoing original music score piped in everywhere," and he wants the whole thing to be designed by a musician named Mark Mothersbaugh.

A brand new 'Chinese Garden of Friendship' is debuting Friday afternoon at Botanica. Construction began just over a year ago, and since then, bright red pavilions, a jade dragon and a variety of koi fish have made it their home. KMUW’s Sean Sandefur has more…

A decorative wall is on the only thing that separates the new Chinese Garden of Friendship from Botanica’s parking lot. But go beyond those six inches of concrete and you’re transported into a winding garden with waterfalls and plum blossoms.