The cultural capital of Wichita, Kansas includes its diverse neighborhoods, parks, art, churches, ethnic groups, and festivals. Efforts are underway to revitalize historically African American and Latino neighborhoods. Key landmarks include the Keeper of the Plains statue and various art museums and theaters. Festivals celebrate Wichita's culture, but the city struggles with its self-image due to its Native American roots, frontier past, and diverse population that remains compartmentalized by race.

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Cultural Capital of Wichita, Kansas
An overview of the “Air Capital of the World” by Sarah Leming

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Ethnic Groups Festivals

3. The historical McAdams neighborhood
was once a thriving, predominately
African American neighborhood. During
it’s peak, it was home to an all black
school, the Dunbar theater, an ice-cream
shop and other businesses. This area used
to have a sense of community and was
coined “the black downtown”.
(webs.wichita.edu) Once desegregation
caused the neighborhood school to close,
the neighborhood began to lose it’s
vitality. To this day it is still largely
comprised of lower income African
Americans and work is being done to
revitalize the neighborhood. New markers
have been placed at the neighborhood
boundaries, Mennonite Housing has come
in to help with affordable houses, and
when I drove through the neighborhood a
man was working on the Dunbar theater
is on the National Register of Historic
Places and is in the beginning stages of
renovation.

4. Businesses- past &
present
Mennonite Housing
Dunbar Theater, at left

5. A predominately Latino neighborhood,
which had been referred to as “Little
Mexico”, is also undergoing revitalization
efforts. The city approved funding for
this area and it opened in 2011. This
area is home to restaurants, dress shops,
and a new art gallery, “Dos Fridas”. With
the addition of the Nomar name and
open market, the Nomar Community
Development Project aims to “transform
this already culturally vibrant
neighborhood into an exciting
destination of authentic food, shopping
and fun in a safe, ethnically rich
environment.” (nomardc.com)

6. Glimpses of the Nomar area.

7. Most visitors to Wichita would
remember this signature cultural
statue, “The Keeper of the Plains” by
Blackbear Bosin was placed at the
confluence of the Arkansas and Little
Arkansas rivers. This area has
undergone a complete renovation, with
the installation of foot bridges,
historical and cultural sign markers, and
the statue now stands within a ring of
fire that is ignited nightly. The statue
now connects to the “Mid America All
Indian Center”, bottom right.

8. Wichita lies on the northwestern most
tip of the “Bible Belt” so it is only
natural that church organizations are a
prevalent part of the city. They play an
important cultural role to their
members and serve as a way to carry
on the tradition. Wichita has a fairly
large Lebanese population, some of
whom attend St. George Greek
Orthodox Church, at left. Each year they
open their doors and host a Lebanese
Dinner available to the community.
Similar experiences are to be had from
the Vietnamese, Korean, Mennonite,
and other churches. Other religions are
also represented through the Islamic
Society of Wichita, Synagogues, the
Buddhist Meditation Center, The Hindu
Temple and more.

9. Orpheum
Theater, left
and
Century II
Concert
Hall, below
“Soda Fountain Sit-In”
sculpture pays tribute to the
Dockum Drug Store sit-in that
happened in Wichita as part of
the civil rights movement.
Wichita Art Museum

10. Various forms of art and many museums can be found in Wichita, Kansas and all play an
important part of the cultural capital of the city. A condensed list is below:
ART- MUSEUMS-
• Wichita City Arts • Kansas Aviation Museum
• 1st Friday Music & Final Friday Art Crawls • Museum of World Treasures
• Wichita Ballet • Exploration Place Science Museum
• Wichita Center for the Arts • Old Cowtown Museum
• Sculpture Walks • Ulrich Museum of Art
• Individual Art Galleries • Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical
Museum
• Century II Performing Arts
• The Kansas African American Museum
• Orpheum Theater
• Great Plains Transportation Museum
• Wichita Sympohny
(The Museum of World Treasures is pictured in back, is located on one edge of the
Old Town Farm & Art Market Square)

11. FESTIVALS-
Festivals and celebrations are important events in Wichita, Kansas. The biggest, the
Wichita River Festival, gathers the town each year near the Arkansas River for live
music, food, and various entertainment.
Other events include: The Tallgrass Film Festival, Automobilia Moonlight Car Show and
Street Party, the Wichita Jazz Festival, Wichita Flight Festival, the Annual Asian Festival,
American Indian Festival, Anime Festival, Cinco de Mayo, Renaissance Festival, and
many more.

12. Wichita’s parks and neighborhoods are as varied as its people. In the city center some
homes are small and boarded up, while half million dollar lofts occupy what were once
abandoned warehouses. To the east and west, and suburban areas, large sprawling
houses with tidy manicured lawns are the norm. On any given evening, in a park in a
lower income neighborhood one would find families gathered together for BBQs or
picnics or various children gathered for a pick-up game of basketball. On the suburban
edges, children are shuffled to various sports complexes for practices and lessons while
parents play on smart phones.

13. In conclusion, Wichita is home to a variety of tangible and intangible forms of Cultural
Capital. Overall, priority has been given to the multiple ethnic groups that call this city
home, as well to the arts and playing tribute to our past.
However, despite being the “Air Capital of the World”, I feel that Wichita struggles
with its self image. It seems understandable given its Native American roots, Wild West
history, entrepreneurial and air industry upbringing and the diverse array of people who
settled here.
The photos and descriptions in this overview illustrate there is an economic divide
within the city. Despite the end of segregation, the city remains very compartmentalized,
without much movement from area to area by different races.
As efforts to improve and maintain upon the cultural capital of Wichita continue, I feel
that its varied past and lack of a unified image will operate to both unite and divide the
city.
All photos taken by Sarah Leming