I am thrilled be giving the Fall 2016 Howard E. Wooden Lecture at the Wichita Art Museum, this Thursday, November 17. If you are in the greater Wichita area please join us.

Alexander Calder, Large-Scale Sculpture, and the Public Sphere
In the 1970s, Wichita put itself firmly on the map of the art world when it commissioned Joan Miró and Alexander Calder–two living artists at the height of their international fame–for landmark projects. As Wichita State University’s Ulrich Museum of Art celebrates the reinstallation of its conserved Miro mosaic Personnages Oiseaux (Bird People), the Wooden Lecture focuses on Alexander Calder and his signature mobile in downtown Wichita, Elementes Demontables (Dismantled Elements).

Calder (1898-1976) was a pioneering modernist. He helped to revolutionize sculpture and is best-known for his signature contribution–kinetic works of art known as “mobiles.” In his later career, Calder created mobiles of epic scale for vast public spaces. The Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill architect Gordon Bunshaft persuaded his  Wichita clients to commission a site-specific mobile for the bank on Douglas Avenue. This lecture explores Calder’s public sculptures and mobiles, placing the Wichita commission in its larger context.

The lecture is free and open to the public. Dinner is $40 per person, and a cash bar will be available. RSVP deadline is Thursday, November 10. Call 316-268-4912 or email rsvp@wichitaartmuseum.org to make a reservation. Checks made payable to the Friends of the Wichita Art Museum should be mailed to: Wooden Lecture, Wichita Art Museum, 1400 W. Museum Blvd., Wichita, KS 67203.

Questions? Call 316-268-4912 or email rsvp@wichitaartmuseum.org.

The Howard E. Wooden Lecture is generously sponsored by the Friends of the Wichita Art Museum Endowment.