A Message from Vivian, Sculpture Installed at Woolsey Hall

From Our Director
Connections, Community, and Collaboration

Please join us in welcoming Vivian Zavataro to the Ulrich Museum!

“Today marks one week of my start as the Executive and Creative Director of the Edwin A. Ulrich Museum of Art. This past week has been filled with connections with the museum staff, students, faculty, and our wonderful community members. I am looking forward to strengthening these relationships and working on future collaborations within the university and with local organizations and partners. If you are on campus, stop by the Ulrich to say ‘hi.’”

Vivian Zavataro is a museologist who specializes in contemporary art, community engagement, and art mediation. She has traveled widely working for museums, galleries, and contemporary art exhibitions to broaden her knowledge and experience of the art world. Her goal is to facilitate interaction between art and the public. Diversity, inclusion, and creativity are essential aspects of her practice.

Martin H. Bush Outdoor Sculpture Collection
Stratosphere Joins Works at Woolsey Hall
A new, large-scale sculpture has joined the works on display at Woolsey Hall. Stratosphere by Hybycozo (Yelena Filipchuk and Serge Beaulieu), 2022, stainless steel with gold powder-coating, was installed on Friday, Oct. 21. Located on the west side of Woolsey Hall, the piece is 12 feet in diameter and is an Ulrich Museum purchase with additional funds from Woolsey Hall, home of W. Frank Barton School of Business. Elliott Shuffle was the installer representing Hybycozo and James Porter, Ulrich exhibition designer and production manager, managed the installation for the museum.

Community Event
Empty Bowls: Chili Cook-Off a Tasty Success
A record crowd of 700 hungry guests selected a handmade bowl, filled it with chili and chowed down to support Kansas Food Bank at Saturday's Empty Bowls: Chili Cook-Off. The fundraiser is a collaborative project that brings the Ulrich Museum of Art together with Wichita State University; WSU School of Art, Design & Creative Industries; WSU Ceramics Guild; Red Lodge Clay Center; Reuben Saunders Gallery; and USD 259/Wichita Public Schools to give a caring hand to the hungry citizens in our community. This year's event—which saw the return of Empty Bowls for the first time since 2019—was sponsored by Meta, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas, Fidelity Bank, Spirit AeroSystems, and Emprise Bank.

Brenda Lichman, a visual arts instructor teaching ceramics at Wichita East High School, is the founder of Empty Bowls Wichita and co-coordinator for the event with Carolyn Copple, former membership and special events manager at the Ulrich. Local artist and Ulrich volunteer Denise DeBusk organized this year's vendors. These vendors and donors gave more than a hundred gallons of chili and soup, as well as toppings, sides, and other items and services:

Bella Vita   Bricktown Brewery   Cargill   Central Standard Brewing   Chartwells   Cheddars Scratch Kitchen  Chef Loudermilk  
Chicken N Pickle   Dillons   DooDah Diner   George’s French Bistro  
Grace Hill Winery Great Harvest   Jason’s Deli   Kimlan’s   KMUW   Meddy’s   MIF Deli   Nourish ICT   Olive Tree   Scotch and Sirloin  
Spirit Catering/Eurest   Tanya’s Soup Kitchen   The Old Spaghetti Factory   Torchy’s Tacos   Twelve Restaurant & Bar   Vora          Wichita Country Club   Wichita East High School Culinary Club
Wichita Fellowship Club   Wichita Marriott  
Wichita Northwest High School Culinary Club

Bowls were created by area high school students, local artists, students and faculty of Wichita State University, and other supporters of Empty Bowls. Volunteers, about one hundred in all, made it all come together, and included large groups from Wichita High School East, Wichita High School Southeast, and the WSU Ceramics Guild.

The fundraiser marked the final Ulrich event for longtime employee Copple, who worked her last day during Empty Bowls. “I chose this date as my final day because Empty Bowls has been such a large part of my history at the Ulrich,” Copple said. “An enormous part of my heart has gone into developing this project with our beautiful founder, Brenda Lichman. I'm so grateful for this opportunity to raise awareness of the struggle of hunger in our community and to support the Kansas Food Bank.”

Fall 2022 Exhibitions on Display Now!

Fall exhibitions are available to view at the Ulrich through December 3. Our hours are 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday-Saturday. Admission is always free and parking near the Museum is available.

August 25, 2022 — December 3, 2022
Myths of the West: Narrating Stories of the Land and People through Wichita Art Collections will introduce viewers to diverse narratives of the history of the American West, focusing on the history of the Great Plains and the perspectives of Native American artists, both past and present. The exhibition showcases works held in Wichita art collections, with additional loans from outside of Wichita adding works by contemporary Native artists. Comprised of approximately 80 pieces, Myths of the West questions familiar narratives by juxtaposing works of art that capture them with ones that delve into underrepresented and difficult histories. These include the significant presence of African Americans in the West; the roles available to women on the frontier; and, above all, the dispossession, destruction, and cultural genocide that White settlement brought to Native Americans. Focusing in large part on bringing together works by three generations of Native American artists, the exhibition emphasizes that despite all odds, Native cultures continued to persist and innovate throughout the 20th century and remain a vital part of American life today. 

August 25, 2022 — December 3, 2022
Cheryl Pope: Variations on a Love Theme presents recent work by American artist Cheryl Pope, who uses a unique punched wool technique to create richly textured and colorful pieces that respond to the Western tradition of large-scale easel painting. Pope spent the formative decades of her artistic career in Chicago, where the Art Institute’s exceptional holdings of French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings, particularly by a group of artists collectively known as the Nabis, shaped here visual imaginary consciously and unconsciously. In this body of work, she is calling up that ostensibly familiar repertoire of visual motifs and formal concerns to create deeply personal reminiscences. In her own words, in making this work, Pope "turned to painting for a more sensual act of storytelling." "These new paintings," she has written, "are the memories of love and loss, and like memories, they are both fact and fiction; skewed, blurred, filled in and left empty." Pope’s images capture the significance of mundane moments, reveal the hidden dynamics of relationships, and explore the psychological power of interiors. In the process, they hold space, both literally and metaphorically, for her viewers to pause and consider the hidden meanings found in the most intimate and familiar locations of our own everyday lives.

These exhibition and associated programs are generously supported by Art Bridges, INTRUST Bank, Emprise Bank, Fidelity Bank, and Wichita Marriott Corporate Hills. Additional support provided from the Carol E. Wilson Memorial for the Ulrich Museum, Keith and Georgia Stevens, Don and Ellie Skokan, and Jeff and Janice Van Sickle. The Ulrich is grateful for the ongoing support of Salon Circle members who make the Museum’s exhibitions and programs possible through their Salon memberships. We also receive funding for general operational support from the City of Wichita and Wichita State University.

Join our Stev Overstreet Curatorial Intern Josh Cornett and take a closer look at the group of works included in the section "Migration" in the exhibition Myths of the West: Narrating Stories of the Land and People through Wichita Art Collections, on view at the Ulrich Museum of Art August 25-December 3, 2022.

Share your Ulrich Memories with us!

Our 50th anniversary is right around the corner (in 2024) and we're planning lots of great exhibitions and events to celebrate the Museum's excellence. One thing we are working on is collecting memories from folks who have been connected to the Ulrich over the years. Whether you are a present or past employee, a donor, volunteer, student, or general visitor, we'd love to hear your favorite memories of the Ulrich. We've created this webpage, which has a form on it, to help you share your stories. The memories we collect will be shared throughout our 50th anniversary celebrations and might even end up in a book we're putting together. We'd love to hear your stories.

Are you an Ulrich Member?

We've seen a big bump in the number of people who follow us on social media in recent weeks, but are you an actual member of the Ulrich Museum? Membership has its privileges... plus, it's free and easy to sign up! Being an Ulrich member is the best way to ensure you keep up to date on all the latest Museum news and happenings. Join now on our website.