Happy 81st, Wichita Art Museum; ice cream for everyone!

The Wichita Art Museum is offering several ways to cool down as the downtown museum celebrates its 81st birthday on Saturday.

From 1 to 3 p.m., WAM, located at 1400 W. Museum Blvd., is offering its Summer Birthday Bash.

“We bill it as kind of an old-fashioned ice cream social,” said Teresa Veazey, public relations manager for the museum.

Vanilla ice cream, donated by Hiland Dairy, will be dished up by the Wichita Wagonmasters civic organization. Toppings will be provided by Nifty Nut House.

Entertainment comes from the Wichita State University Steel Drum Band.

The ice cream and entertainment format has been the way for the museum to celebrate its birthday for the past few years, Veazey said.

“The Summer Birthday Bash will be definitely be a great time to cool off,” she said. “I get the feeling it will be very hot on the 16th.”

Guests at the bash get free admission to the museum – the cost for all Saturday admissions is footed by Colby Sandlian of Sandlian Realty, Veazey said – and get to create as well.

The museum is asking guests to help re-create one of its more well-known works, “Conference at Night,” one of four Edward Hopper paintings in its collection.

A mixed-media collage of the piece will include bits painted and prepared by the visitors, Veazey said, and will eventually hang outside the museum’s lecture hall for a year, with the names of all the wannabe artists who helped attached.

Attendance for the Birthday Bash has ranged from 800 to 1,000 people a year, Veazey said.

“This is definitely a community favorite,” she added. “It’s a great introduction to the museum.”

This story was originally published July 14, 2016 at 2:13 PM with the headline "Happy 81st, Wichita Art Museum; ice cream for everyone!."