This week in Wichita
The live music schedule is picking up, with more streaming concerts available from local venues as well as at least one facility giving you a chance to watch a concert in person. If you choose to venture out, please keep safety in mind for you, the staff and other patrons.
Free: Kansas African American engagement center
Anytime, virtual
The Kansas African American Museum has created an online engagement center that can be accessed from tkaamuseum.org. The center offers virtual lessons using four- to five-minute videos across three learning channels. Topics range from retrospectives of significant historical figures to cultural artifacts from the museum’s collection and heritage subjects including the Underground Railroad in Kansas.
Free: Concerts at Chicken n Pickle
Various, 1240 N. Greenwich and virtual
Chicken n Pickle, the indoor/outdoor dining and entertainment complex in the east Wichita Plazzio development, is offering dine in and curbside food service, has its pickleball, shuffleboard and bocce courts open (fee charged and the staff has reserved 15 minutes between bookings to sanitize) and this week launched a nearly daily concert schedule for the remainder of May. The facility is limiting the number of guests and spacing tables in accordance with Kansas guidelines. For those not comfortable watching in person, you can catch the concerts live at 5:45 p.m. on Facebook or replay them later. This week’s roster: Anthony Harvey on Friday, Ari Chandler on Monday, Justin Fowler on Tuesday, Jake Gill on Wednesday and Patz on Thursday.
Free: Lasting Expressions’ live stream concerts
Various, virtual
The Quarantine Concert Series, hosted by photography studio Lasting Expressions and BoneHed Sound, continues this week. The live stream concerts run 7 to 9 p.m. and this week’s lineup is: The Pre-Existing Conniptions on Friday; Mad City Cruisers on Saturday; Dustin Arbuckle & the Damnations on Sunday; and Cynthia Rausch Band on Thursday, May 21. Watch the free concerts on Lasting Expressions Studios’ Facebook page, where they’ve got a schedule published through May 30.
Free: Watermark Books author events
Various, virtual
Watermark Books & Cafe has three virtual events scheduled this week on Zoom and Facebook Live. The events are free, and you can purchase the books from the event page at watermarkbooks.com. The store offers curbside pickup or a flat $2.99 shipping fee.
Local author and New York Times illustrator Grant Snider will read from his newest children’s book “What Sound Is Morning?” at 10:30 a.m. Saturday.
At 6 p.m. Tuesday, New York Times bestselling authors Marie Mutsuki Mockett and Téa Obreht will offer a Q&A. Mockett’s new book “American Harvest” tells an epic story of the American wheat harvest, the politics of food and the culture of the Great Plains. Obreht will discuss the paperback release of her best-selling “Inland,” which takes readers on a mythical journey across the American West.
New York Times bestselling author Jessica Francis Kane and two-time Pushcart Prize-winner Anna Solomon will lead an online conversation at 6 p.m. Wednesday. Kane’s focus is the paperback release of her novel “Rules for Visiting” and Solomon will talk about her newest work of fiction, “The Book of V.”
Free: Live concert stream from Wave
7:30 p.m. Sunday, virtual
See a quarantine concert streaming live from the indoor stage at Wave starting at 7:30 p.m. most Sundays. Tune in to the venue’s Facebook page to watch. GhostRock, self-described as a four-piece jamtronica band, is scheduled to perform reggae and urban dance rhythms this week.
Mark Arts’ online art and culinary workshops
Various, virtual
Three dates remain in Mark Arts’ May lineup of online workshops, conducted on Zoom. Enroll at markartsks.com at least 48 hours in advance so you can get your shopping list or pick up your supply kit.
Join Joe Stumpe in creating an Asian Sampler meal (easy coconut curry, green papaya salad and Korean barbecue) from 7 to 8 p.m. Monday. Cost is $30 per household plus groceries. Get a gluten free and dairy free culinary lesson from mother-and-son duo Pam Bugler and Simon Bugler, the chef-owners of Wichita-based food trailer Against the Grain. Their session is 6 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and costs $40 per household plus groceries. From 8 to 10 p.m. Friday, May 22, take a Girls Night In: Sunflower Strong workshop to create a sunflower painting. The $40 fee includes materials, and participants are encouraged to invite their friends to register, too.
Free: Coffee at the Cosmo: Hubble Space Telescope
9 to 10 a.m. Thursday, virtual
During the past month, the Cosmosphere in Hutchinson has celebrated two milestones in space history at cosmo.org: the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 13 mission and the 30th year since the Hubble space telescope launched. Join Cosmosphere space science educator Robert Lounsbury III for a free online lecture, part of the space museum’s “Coffee at the Cosmo” monthly series. Join the live event at facebook.com/kscosmosphere to hear the science behind Hubble and its impact on the world.
Free: Tour “Prairie.River” at The Volland Store
3 p.m. Thursday, virtual
Lisa Grossman grew up in rural western Pennsylvania and has been painting the prairie since she first saw a horizon upon moving to Kansas right after art school. She recently turned her attention to the Kansas River, the largest prairie-based river system in the world, and the Lawrence-based painter and printmaker is showing that work as part of a two-artist exhibition called “Prairie.River” at The Volland Store, in Alma, about 140 miles northeast of Wichita.
The art gallery remains temporarily closed, so the exhibition, which also features the drawings of Manhattan, Kan., based Erin Wiersma, can be seen in its entirety at thevollandstore.com. Join Grossman for a virtual tour using Zoom. The event is free but RSVP on the website to get login details.
Virtual independent movie screenings for all ages
Various, virtual
Wichita’s mama.film microcinema is continuing to offer a selection of independent films to screen at your home. New titles this week include two short film programs from the New York International Children’s Film Festival available through Sunday. Both feature selections of award-winning short films from around the world; one set is suitable for ages 3 and older and another is for ages 8 and older. Each program is $8 and can be watched on your computer, Vimeo mobile, Apple TV or Roku.
Also new this week, “Michelin Stars: Tales From The Kitchen” goes behind the scenes to see how the Michelin stars are awarded, to talk to the chefs who work tirelessly to maintain their status and the impact of the little red book on the world of haute cuisine. Get the details at mama.film