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.
City living possesses an energy, a buzz. Out your window there's amazing architecture - rich in history. You can walk to grab a bite to eat or go see a concert. You CAN have urban living in Wichita when you live at The LUX. Go on. Find your new home Downtown.
Looking for commercial space?
Residents of The LUX have the convenience of never leaving the building for stellar coffee and noms. Adelitas Coffee Co is located on the first floor of The LUX. It’s your pit stop before work, for a bite to eat or perhaps between episodes of your favorite show.
See what else we have to offerReady to flip your perspective? Step into a world where nothing is quite what it seems. Shapes shift, rooms stretch, pictures move and your eyes play tricks you won’t believe. Illusions blends mind-bending visuals, surprising interactives and surreal moments that will have you wondering – can you really trust your eyes?
In collaboration with The Kansas African American Museum for the fifth year, Exploration Place will be featuring a large-scale outdoor exhibit during Black History Month. Each night during February, Exploration Place will honor African American scientists and STEM leaders by projecting giant portraits onto the side of its iconic island building. The display will be freely viewable from the path along the Arkansas River. Visitors also may take in the display from inside Exploration Place on Thursday nights, when the museum is open until 8 p.m. Admission is not required to view the display from the Exploration Place promenade.
Changing weekly throughout the month, the display will honor Wichitans’ contributions to Black history:
Find out more ways to celebrate Black History Month in Wichita.
Whether your visit includes exploring the exhibits or catching a show on its own, the Dome theater is a Wichita attraction not to be missed!
Immerse yourself under the soaring 60-foot screen with a 360-degree view and booming surround sound in the largest dome theater in Kansas. Experience first hand why the magnitude of an immersive cinematic journey, developed specifically for the curved complexities of a dome screen, can’t be replicated in a traditional theater setting. The only question is… where do you want the Dome to take you?
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 2026 in the Slawson Gallery, 4th floor.
Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum - 204 S Main
Since 1939, the Historical Museum has been actively collecting and preserving artifacts central to telling our local history’s stories. These artifacts are acquired in a number of ways, including purchases from local thrift shops.
Thrift Finds in the Museum Collection features objects fortunately discovered by Museum staff at local thrift stores. These items, no longer of use to their original owner, can help us to tell the story of our community.
The newest additions in the series include a 1973 leisure suit from Henry's Department Store and a circa 1955 Toni Todd sundress, both found locally at Goodwill (21st & Amidon).
Some notable finds still on view include designs by Halston and Victor Costa, a Nehru jacket retailed by Henry’s department store, and a 1950s Shocker Lounge bowling shirt.
|
|
