10 museum exhibitions worth the drive from Wichita this summer

MeLinda Schnyder
·7 min read

Next month, the newest Meow Wolf installation opens and its location in the Dallas-Fort Worth area makes it the closest to Wichita of the brand’s four immersive, interactive art and technology experiences.

Meow Wolf Grapevine’s The Real Unreal is among our annual list of exhibitions worthy of planning a road trip to see this summer. The following new or temporary experiences are all within a day’s drive of Wichita. Visit the websites for details on hours and admission.

A photography exhibition made up from two bodies of work by Philip Heying are on display at The Gallery at Volland, in Alma.
A photography exhibition made up from two bodies of work by Philip Heying are on display at The Gallery at Volland, in Alma.

In Kansas

“Country | Citizens,” through Sept. 3, The Gallery at Volland, near Alma: This photography exhibition is from two bodies of work by Philip Heying, a Kansas native who spent time away from the state before returning in 2019 and who was named a 2022 Guggenheim Fellow. “Country” includes works with titles that capture a singular moment, such as “A temperate spring feeding the headwaters of the South Fork Cottonwood River in winter, -2 degrees Fahrenheit (2) – 26 December 2022 4:24pm.” “Citizens” focuses on candid moments the area’s wildlife captured a trail-cam-like setup. Coordinate your visit with Volland’s Charro Jerry Diaz Family Horse Show and Ensemble Iberica Flamenco Concert on July 8. thevollandstore.com

“Tarantulas: Alive And Up Close,” through Sept. 4, Sternberg Museum of Natural History, Hays: This one won’t be for everyone, including me. Learn about the secret world of tarantulas and attempt to overcome any phobias surrounding some of the biggest spiders on the planet by exploring this exhibition that includes live specimens. You’ll get a glimpse into their habitats and life habits and get to know the 20 species of the giant spiders. Kids can climb a tarantula burrow. I was afraid to ask the details of the advertised “interactive components;” you’ll have to find out for yourself. sternberg.fhsu.edu

“Mission Aerospace,” through Sept. 10, Flint Hills Discovery Center, Manhattan: The company that created this exhibition covering the history of flight, navigation and NASA specializes in interactive mazes. So plan to go through the 2,000-square-foot immersive maze experience while also trying your hand at gyroscopes and building a rocket at this culture and science museum in downtown Manhattan. flinthillsdiscovery.org

“By the Numbers,” through 2023, Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library & Museum, Abilene: This new, temporary exhibit in the Special Exhibits Gallery is built around paintings from the Eisenhower Library’s own collection that resulted from a pet project by Eisenhower’s scheduling secretary when he was president. Oval Office visitors were given paint by number kits to complete and return to Eisenhower, known as the “painter president. You’ll see works by key historical figures as well as celebrities. eisenhowerlibrary.gov

Regional

“Year of the Titanic Children,” through 2023, Titanic Museum Attraction, Branson, Mo.: A wicker trunk belonging to the family of the youngest person to board the Titanic is among the artifacts making up this special display to honor the 135 passengers who were 15 years or younger. Millvina Dean was nine weeks old and traveling in third class with her older brother and their parents, who had sold everything in England to travel on the Titanic as they made their way to Wichita to open a tobacco shop, according to Titanic Museum Attraction officials. Millvina’s father died on the ship but the rest of the family made it to a lifeboat and survived. Good Samaritans gave the family the wicker trunk filled with food and clothing as they figured out what to do next, and Millvina kept the relic the rest of her life. When she considered selling it to help pay for her care as she aged, the “Titanic” film’s director and stars donated money so she could keep it. She was the last surviving and oldest passenger of the disaster when she died in 2009 at age 97. This and other stories are told through this special exhibition that includes dozens of other artifacts. titanicbranson.com

The Real Unreal, opening July 14, Meow Wolf Grapevine, Grapevine, Texas: The newest installment of the Meow Wolf franchise of immersive art experiences is also the closest for Wichitans; it’s a 350-mile drive to the mall in North Texas that houses The Real Unreal. Expect 30-plus rooms of multidimensional art and technology that guides visitors through a narrative that begins with a blended family who has unknowingly unlocked portals to a different existence. Meow Wolf Grapevine will also include a cafe, retail store and a venue for live events. Meow Wolf created its first immersive, interactive experience in Santa Fe, N.M., in 2016 and also has attractions in Las Vegas and Denver. The Grapevine experience involved 150 artists and fabricators, 38 from Texas, making 70 unique and captivating experiences within The Real Unreal.

Other Dallas-Fort Worth metro exhibitions to consider: “Emancipation: The Unfinished Project of Liberation,” through July 9, Amon Carter Museum of American Art; “The Science Behind Pixar,” through Sept. 3, Perot Museum of Nature and Science; “Lives of the Gods: Divinity in Maya Art,” through Sept. 3, Kimbell Art Museum; “Robert Motherwell: Pure Painting,” through Sept. 17, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.

“Diego Rivera’s America” is on display through July 31 at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Ark.
“Diego Rivera’s America” is on display through July 31 at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Ark.

“Diego Rivera’s America,” through July 31, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Ark.: This is the first major exhibition in more than two decades to focus solely on the Mexican artist who told the story of everyday experience in murals and individual paintings. It is a collaboration between Crystal Bridges and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. It debuted in San Francisco and Bentonville is the second and final stop for this presentation. The exhibition provides a critical and contemporary interpretation of his career through more than 140 works, from drawings to easel paintings and frescoes. This is a ticketed exhibition at the otherwise free museum. Crystal Bridges has several other nonticketed exhibitions this summer as does The Momentary, the contemporary art satellite space to Crystal Bridges. crystalbridges.org

“Towers of Tomorrow with LEGO® Bricks,” through Sept. 3, The Durham Museum, Omaha, Neb.: See 20 of the most innovative skyscrapers from North America, Asia and Australia recreated in architectural detail with LEGO building bricks. Visitors can use some of the 200,000 loose LEGO bricks to add to an ongoing metropolis in the display. Also on exhibit through Sept. 3 is the debut of “The Lunchbox: Packed with Pop Culture,” highlighting 500 lunchboxes from the personal collection accumulated over three decades by an Omaha man. durhammuseum.org

“Spider-Man: Beyond Amazing – The Exhibition,” through Oct. 1, Union Station, Kansas City, Mo.: This exhibition made its world premiere in late May at Union Station. To celebrate the 60th anniversary of Spider-Man, Marvel Entertainment and Semmel Exhibitions created this traveling exhibition that traces the pop culture icon’s origins in 1962 to his current adventures. See original comic art, costumes, merchandise and rare artifacts in galleries that tell the story of Spidey and trace changes to the super hero through the years. There are also photo op spots alongside Spider-Man and other key characters, plus interactive displays. unionstation.org

Other Kansas City exhibitions to consider: “Fierce Women: Artemisia Gentileschi and the Women Worthies,” through July 23, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art; “Fortopia,” through Sept. 4, Powell Gardens; “Bespoke Bodies: The Design & Craft of Prosthetics,” through April 2024, National WWI Museum and Memorial.

The newly renovated lower level of the National WWI Museum and Memorial.
The newly renovated lower level of the National WWI Museum and Memorial.

“ArtNow: The Soul is a Wanderer,” June 22 through Jan. 15, Oklahoma Contemporary, Oklahoma City, Okla.: The biennial “ArtNow” exhibition showcases new and made-for-the-space works, and this edition asked 13 Oklahoma-connected, cross-generational artists to create or select work in response to the poem “A Map to the Next World” by former United States Poet Laureate Joy Harjo. Mediums include painting, sculpture, photography, video, installation and performance. oklahomacontemporary.org

Other OKC-area exhibitions to visit: “51st annual Prix de West Invitational Art Exhibition & Sale,” now through Aug. 6, National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum; “True Nature: Rodin and the Age of Impressionism,” June 17 through Oct. 22, Oklahoma City Museum of Art; “Cosmic Callback: An Illuminated Interlude,” through July 31, Factory Obscura.