Five ways Wichitans can live their best virtual lives until it’s safe to go out again
If we can’t live our best lives — and really no one can during a pandemic that comes with social distancing, stay-at-home orders and quarantines — then we might as well try to live our best virtual lives.
Wichitans have been stuck in isolation for more than month, waiting out the coronavirus pandemic and doing their best to help flatten the curve.
In the meantime, they’ve been missing out on all the things that make life fun: concerts, trips to the zoo, springtime tulip viewings, happy hours and art shows.
But thanks to the internet, many of those things have continued throughout the last month, though in a much less personal fashion.
And while virtual living is no where near as fun as actual living, lots of creative, energetic and tech friendly people who’ve been willing to take all the things Wichita loves to do and throw them on the Internet are helping us all get through.
Although the stay-at-home order may lift on May 3, people will likely continue social distancing, meaning that virtual life may be here to stay for now.
Here’s a look at five ways Wichtians are now able to live their best virtual lives while the new normal persists.
Virtual live music
Wichita’s bars are closed down for now, and many of the local musicians who rely on the bars for regular gigs have no where to play.
Music fans are feeling it.
But a few venues known for live music have had good luck with virtual concerts. Wave, the downtown music venue that last spring packed them in, has been putting on a “quarantine concert series” that it streams live on its Facebook page each week. Mountain Deer Revival performed last weekend on the venue’s empty stage but in front of a big virtual crowd, and Pretend Friend and Joey Henry’s Dirty Sunshine Club will have a turn starting at 7 p.m. on Sunday.
Another popular quarantine series has come from The Artichoke, 811 N. Broadway, where owners Uche Onwugbufor and Tracy Rutledge have been inviting musicians to come in each week and perform in the empty bar for a live-stream audience. They started with a show by Dustin Arbuckle and Wayne Long in late March, and they’ve streamed new shows on Facebook each Friday since, featuring names like and Sunshine the Bunny, Tiger Kings and Dangie. Next up: Uche himself will perform with Nikki Moddelmog at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, April 24.
The most popular shows have had several hundred viewers at once, Uche said, and he’s getting lots of message from fans thanking him for the concerts. He’s not able to pay the musicians with anything more than “stale beer,” he said, but he’s not having problems finding takers.
“I’m just speaking for myself, but I need to have music and I need to have live music,” he said. “I’m fortunate because, even though there’s nobody here, I get to be 10 feet away from live music, and I’m hoping that people can vicariously live through me and Tracy while we’re here with them.”
Virtual wild animal meetups
The Sedgwick County Zoo and Tanganyika Wildlife Park have both been closed to the public for weeks. The animals are still there, though, being kept company by their keepers.
Fans who are missing the animals can still see them, though.
The zoo, like most of Wichita’s cultural attractions, has been live streaming animal visits and tours with keepers via Facebook live since it closed. On Thursday, Keeper Blake was in the Veldt Barn introducing viewers to the zoo’s three young male Nyalas that arrived at the beginning of the month and haven’t been seen yet by visitors.
Facebook viewers also have been able to virtually visit with Nugget the Victorian Crown Pigeon and hang out with the river otters while they take a morning swim. People are able to post questions that the keepers can answer during the live stream.
“Even though we’re closed, we’re still caring,” the keepers say as they log off from the adorable videos.
Tanganyika also has been posting visits with its animals, and on Saturday, it will live stream a virtual penguin event all day. It will last from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and viewers will be able to play penguin games, watch penguins be fed and more. Find the event on the Tanganyika Wildlife Park Facebook page.
3. Virtual happy hours
Wichitans can’t slide up to the bar to visit with their favorite Wichita bartenders for now. But they can slide their computer mouses into some virtual happy hour gatherings being hosted online.
One of the most popular happens every Friday live from Hopping Gnome Brewing, which is open for beer-to-go but closed for beer-to-stay.
Each week, owners Torey and Stacy Lattin have been sitting down with a few friends and colleagues in a “Virtual Tap Room” to drink beer, share brewing stories and answer questions live. The next one is this Friday, April 24, and will be streamed live on the Hopping Gnome Facebook page starting at 7 p.m.
Buffalo Wings & Rings at 2636 N. Greenwich Court also has been putting on “Herd from Home” virtual happy hours at 5 p.m. each Thursday, where staff members stream themselves hanging out in the empty restaurant. Last week, they sipped on Moscow Mules, chomped on chicken wings and played a round of “Schitt’s Creek” trivia. The happy hours are live streamed on the restaurant’s Facebook page.
Virtual fun for bored kids
Several other Wichita attractions — including Botanica, Great Plains Nature Center and Exploration Place, have also been offering virtual tours and activities to keep out-of-school, restless kids entertained.
Botanica fans have been able not only to watch director Marty Miller dig up tulip bulbs online, but on Tuesdays and Thursdays, they’ve been turning in to watch staffers lead book readings and singalongs for kids.
Exploration Place, meanwhile, has had staff members virtually demonstrating crazy science experiments — liquid nitrogen racquetball anyone? — and posting weekly Stay-At-Home STEM challenges like egg drops and pillow fort construction contests that, if families complete, can result in prizes.
And Great Plains Nature Center staff members also have been streaming live events, which have included a things like a hangout at the Kansas Wildlife Exhibit in Riverside Park and a tour of the center’s classroom full of animals. That collection includes a painted turtle, a Texas brown tarantula and a Woodhouse’s toad that “can scream like a woman, which is terrifying,” according to the staff member who lead the tour.
See all the venues tours on their individual Facebook pages.
Virtual art shows
Art buyers are stuck at home, which means artists are suffering, too. But Javan Andrew of J. Andrew Designs and Janelle King, owner of The Workroom, have created a Virtual Final Friday that allows artists to feature their work for sale and art fans to buy it. This month’s is Friday from 6 to 8 p.m., and details are available on Facebook.
The first one happened in March, and local artists shared photos, abstract acrylics and watercolors for sale. You can relive it all here.
Not enough? The artwork from both the Wichita Art Museum and Ulrich Museum of Art are all available for perusing — virtually, of course.
This story was originally published April 24, 2020 at 5:01 AM.
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