There’s already a deal for the old downtown Wichita library space? Not quite

As people have been getting vaccinated at the old downtown library, they’ve been dreaming about what they want to see in the space, which they shared for a story in The Eagle last week.

City officials contributed their comments to the story, saying they want the public to have a choice about what goes there.

What they didn’t say is that something is already planned for this summer, though it won’t be permanent.

The artists at Fisch Haus, the Commerce Street art collective, have been in talks with the city since last fall about doing one of their Open Studios there.

The group makes arrangements with property owners who have empty space to do temporary art exhibits. It “animates the space,” said Elizabeth Stevenson, secretary and treasurer of Fisch Bowl, the nonprofit that runs Open Studios.

“The neighborhood, of course, always benefits from artist intervention,” she said. “It’s kind of a nice relationship where everybody feels like they’re winning.”

Ten artists will take 500 to 800 square feet each on the ground floor of the former library, but the space likely won’t be available until July when the county quits using it for vaccinations.

Stevenson said originally, Open Studios was looking to be set up at the former library in time for the holidays. The county ended up needing the space for vaccinations.

“Obviously, vaccines take priority over everything else,” she said.

Open Studios has had many installations but not enough to keep up with artist demand. Stevenson said a couple of new artists sign up each week. Everyone is accepted, but it’s just a matter of finding enough space to allow each artist to have a showcase.

“The list is pretty long,” Stevenson said. “It is not as easy as I thought it might be when we first began.”

Stevenson is looking forward to eventually being in the former library.

“This is just the city of Wichita giving us to use an otherwise abandoned space for something constructive.”

This story was originally published April 5, 2021 at 11:20 AM.