Downtown Wichita - 120 E. 1st St N.

The LUX is set on developing a unique sense of community and place in Downtown Wichita while keeping true to the building's original 1950s character. It's modern, Downtown living—in a city that is in the midst of a great revitalization! Join us.

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Downtown Events

"Bouncing through Downtown: Art & Basketball"
Tuesday, March 25
Downtown Wichita

Celebrate Wichita hosting the 2025 NCAA Men's Basketball Championships with “Bouncing through Downtown”, a unique art experience transforming downtown storefronts into basketball-inspired galleries. Three local artists have reimagined and recycled basketballs into one-of-a-kind installations, bringing creativity and energy to the city. 

Funded by a City of Wichita grant, the artworks will be on display March 15 – April 7, inviting residents and visitors to explore downtown in a fresh, vibrant way during the tournament. 

Featured Artwork and Locations are the following: 

“A Game of Growth” – Taylor McQueary|
509 E. Douglas Ave.
Blending basketball with nature, this vibrant installation features bold paintings of players in action. Surrounding them, oversized paper mâché plants and flowers—incorporating recycled basketballs—symbolize growth and transformation. McQueary, an art teacher at Wichita West High School, collaborated with her students to bring this vision to life.

“Ballin’ Wichita Flag” and “Hooping in the Dub” – Mike Glasscock
102 N. St. Francis St.

This striking reimagining of the Wichita flag uses painted basketballs as individual pixels to form the city’s iconic red, white and blue design. A second piece at this corner property deploys metal basketball rims to create our city’s iconic “W.”

“Braille in the Paint” – Envision Arts Gallery, an initiative of Envision
801 E. Douglas Ave.

Recycled basketballs, painted white, form the words "WICHITA KS" in Braille on a sleek white basketball court. Smaller basketballs spell out basketball-themed messages. Vinyl-mounted Braille decoders are positioned at an accessible height, ensuring that everyone, including children and those in wheelchairs, can engage with and decode the messages.​​​​​​​

On Friday, March 21, a public walking tour will begin at 509 E. Douglas Ave. at 7 p.m. on Friday, March 21. Also happening that day is You Be the Artist, happening in Naftzger Park where participants can create a sunflower out of recycled basketball materials. Click here for more information


Contact Anna Laurin at (316) 500-6650 or info@downtownwichita.org
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Defining Black Wichita: New Horizons, 1970s - Today
Tuesday, March 25
The Kansas African American Museum

This exhibit is the third part of the Defining Black Wichita series and focuses on African Americans in Wichita from the 1970s to today. Empowerment from the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s created space for African Americans to fill in government, business, education, arts and culture, and athletics. As a result of this, the 1970s became a time of transition and opportunity. African Americans crossed the color-line at Hillside Street that once restricted where people of color could live and moved into neighborhoods that were previously closed to them, beginning a period of exploration of new spaces and new horizons.


Contact Brittany Beck at (316) 260-6165 or curator@tkaamuseum.org
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Sharks
Tuesday, March 25
Exploration Place

Older than dinosaurs—and more threatened than threatening—sharks are spectacular, surprising and often misunderstood. Discover the incredible diversity of this ancient and fascinating group of fishes.

  • Augmented reality interactives where you can play with a whale shark or explore the contents of a shark’s stomach
  • Real, touchable shark specimens from the Australian Museum collection
  • Life-size shark models ranging from 18-inch epaulette shark to the 26-foot whale shark
  • Plenty of jaw-some stuff for kids and families

Contact Laura Roddy at (316) 660-0602 or laura.roddy@exploration.org
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Kansas: An Immersive Dome Experience
Tuesday, March 25
Exploration Place

Renowned for its sunflowers, windswept wheat fields and endless cattle ranches, Kansas evokes the legendary spirit of America’s heartland with its rolling plains and pioneer spirit. Home to buffalo, wild horses, majestic prairies and breathtaking views of the nation’s last wilderness reserves, those who live here are captivated by its beauty. From its Native American roots to its role in westward expansion, Kansas represents the heart of what makes our nation great.

“It makes me want to explore Kansas a little bit more”
   – Exploration Place Member

Filmed completely by drone, Kansas: An Immersive Dome Experience presents the beauty and wonder of the Sunflower State in a way never seen before: as a love letter to Kansas.

RATED: G | RUNTIME: 25 min. 

Dome Theater tickets are available for purchase only at Exploration Place. Tax not included. 

More information on Digital Dome Theater shows


Contact Erin Manning at (316) 660-0600 or erin.manning@exploration.org
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Being Modern
Tuesday, March 25
Wichita-Sedgwick Co. Historical Museum

Wichitans desired to be modern since the City’s beginning in 1870. The Modern era had been evolving for a century at that time and it would take another 100 years before Wichita achieved a “modern” look. World War II (1939-1945) greatly disrupted development in design.

Over the next two decades, postwar prosperity propelled design of the modern era to its zenith. By that time, Wichita’s modernization was most apparent in its new urban 1969 skyline, which remains in place today.

In the 1950s and 1960s, modern design from architecture to fashions and furnishings became familiar as people followed popular trends replacing old with new. Visual art and advertising led the way for the modern look - which by the 1960s, people referred to as “Mod.” This new look coincided with changes as  society became more pluralistic and increasingly aware of its diversity. The post-war baby boom gave rise to a prominent youth culture creating new markets. New technology improving the ability to travel and share information led to wide acceptance of modern style.

This modern sensibility cast a popular and unifying mindset. This era featured non-representational abstract design to create engaging effects rather than portray objects or scenes. The effects were both dazzling and confusing, challenging everyone’s perception of reality. Our visual world was forever changed.

(This exhibition follows (and is directly patterned after) the Museum’s previous exhibit Art Deco on the Plains. It takes the timeline forward to explore modern design experienced locally in the 1950s and 1960s. The exhibition is a feature of the Lois Kay Walls Local Visual Art History Series.)


On view through 2025 in the Slawson Gallery, 4th floor.

Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum - 204 S Main


Contact Michelle Frikken at (316) 265-9314 or museum@wichitahistory.org
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