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Wichita Art Museum, Wichita

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Art Museum · Hidden Gem · Museum
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The Wichita Art Museum is an art museum located in Wichita, Kansas, United States.
The museum was established in 1915, when Louise Caldwell Murdock’s Will which created a trust to start the Roland P. Murdock Collection of art in memory of her husband. The trust would purchase art for the City of Wichita by “American painters, potters, sculptors, and textile weavers.” The collection includes works by Mary Cassatt, Arthur G. Dove, Thomas Eakins, Robert Henri, Douglas Abdell, Winslow Homer, Edward Hopper, Yasuo Kuniyoshi, John Marin, Paul Meltsner, Horace Pippin, Maurice Prendergast, Albert Pinkham Ryder and Charles Sheeler. The Museum's lobby features a ceiling and chandelier made by Dale Chihuly.

The museum opened in 1935 with art borrowed from other museums. The first work in the Murdock Collection was purchased in 1939. Mrs. Murdock's friend, Elizabeth Stubblefield Navas, selected and purchased works of American art for the Murdock Collection until 1962. The building was enlarged with a new lobby and two new wings in 1963. In 1964, a foundation was established for the purpose of raising funds for new acquisitions. In the 1970s, the city built a new and larger climate controlled facility. In 2003, the museum finished another expansion project giving the building a total of 115,000 square feet (10,700 m2). The current building was designed by Edward Larrabee Barnes.

Tera Hedrick, an art historian and Wichita East High School graduate, was hired as curator in 2017 after serving in an interim role.
In January 2020, the museum announced that it would begin renovation on its main entrance and lobby.
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Wichita Art Museum reviews

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TripAdvisor traveler rating 4.5
173 reviews
Google
4.7
TripAdvisor
  • We stopped by on a Sat. morning to check it out-we do this in most larger towns we visit-and were absolutely blown away by their collection of Pre-Columbian artifacts on display. And then to see the.....  more
    We stopped by on a Sat. morning to check it out-we do this in most larger towns we visit-and were absolutely blown away by their collection of Pre-Columbian artifacts on display. And then to see the.....  more »
  • My wife & I were in Wichita for a Saturday night hockey game, and we stopped into WAM after visiting the nearby Botanica community gardens. The Art Museum is on a pleasantly landscaped plot of... 
    My wife & I were in Wichita for a Saturday night hockey game, and we stopped into WAM after visiting the nearby Botanica community gardens. The Art Museum is on a pleasantly landscaped plot of...  more »
Google
  • Attended alone for a delightfully serene experience. Some wonderful pieces of art, excellent value for money, and a lovely lady on the front desk made for a thoroughly enjoyable couple of hours. Museum shop is outstanding as well. Will definitely return next time I'm in Wichita.
  • We love the art museum! I bring my boys (5 under 5) all the time and they still ask to go back! There is a large kid area with chairs and tables to color/do the provided activities as well as children's books, sensory chairs, and couches. My kids enjoy printing off scavenger hunts to bring in and that keeps us discovering new things each visit! There is a clear floor with art pieces under it that visitors can walk over and explore, and the events WAM puts on are always a fun time!

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