Today is a momentous holiday. It celebrates a good friend of ours who has never failed to give us an interesting night out, a quirky bit of gossip, a fun alternative to a mainstream idea, or seriously crazy weather. January 29, in short, is Kansas Day.

Back in 1861, when the land that is now our beloved home was known as “Bleeding Kansas” for its violent massacres and disputes, the Unites States officially declared Kansas a free state of the Union. Being the land of abolitionist extremist John Brown and an epicenter of agricultural possibility, Kansas was quickly inhabited by easterners looking for freedom and promising investments.

And what have we become? An ever-growing breadbasket to the country, and a downright fun place to be. To prove the latter, I’m happy to offer you a guide to making the most of your Kansas Day. If you’ve never before taken the time to appreciate the birthday of our beautiful home, let this year be different. Don your paper hats, Kansans, we’re going to have ourselves a party.

Some Notable Events, Sights, and Spectacles on Kansas Day:

• Final Friday: What a beautiful coincidence. Make the most of the evening by hopping around downtown, drinking in the nightlife and absorbing some of the best local art on display. While trotting the city streets, be sure you stop by Jones Gallery, Artists at Old Town, Mead Street Gallery, Upfront Gallery, the Friends University Riney Fine Arts Center, and Wichita State University’s Shiftspace Gallery. You can also join me at Ficsh Haus, armed with pencils and pastels, to draw some amateur studies of live models from Ballet Wichita. Supplies will be provided, but you can bring your own media if you choose. Finally, don’t forget that the Trolley is running Friday night, and will drop you off and pick you up at all of the most popular downtown venues. The best part? Everything mentioned above is absolutely free.
• The Donut Whole’s First Birthday Party: To celebrate the opening of the little donut shop that could, I recommend that you take a bite out of a non-traditional peach cobbler or maple bacon donut, and dance around the lion head stage to music from pop-rockers The Sluggos. Rock’n’Roll music, root beer and breakfast food? It’ll be hard to resist wearing bobby socks.
• The Wichita Art Museum: Let this be the night that you finally go see James Yarnell’s breath-taking photographs of America. The aerial photos in this exhibit capture the vast terrain and wonder of North America, making you fall in love with home and itch to explore more of it.
• What’s Luv Got To Do Wit It?: This is an event put together by schools, clubs, and organizations across USD 259 that will focus on teen relationships and raising awareness of common (albeit unacceptable) teen love trauma and abuse. On display is art from middle school and high school students around the city, as well as donated works from local artists who wish to support Wichita’s youth in their endeavor to make adolescent relationships healthy and fulfilling. Students and troupes will also be performing theatrical excerpts and improvs that illustrate the pitfalls of the modern teen romance. All donations will help fund similar programs. Can you resist seeing the handiwork of all of these local children or supporting a very worthy cause? Coming from someone with two beautiful little sisters in high school, I say no. You can’t. The event begins at 6pm at The Shopkeeper’s Gallery on Market.
• Colonizing Space: Maybe you’re looking to leave Kansas behind? Where better to go than… Mars. The Lake Afton Public Observatory is hosting a night in space, with discussions on life away from Earth and the advancements of modern space technology. I’m going to assume that you don’t keep a 16-inch telescope in your garage, so the view of Friday’s starry skies will probably be more impressive at the Observatory.
• Crossroads: If you haven’t seen, firsthand, the art and works of Gordon Parks, you simply aren’t making the most of your time in Wichita. This Friday, at the Ulrich Museum of Art, join many of us Wichitans as we admire the life of one of the inspiring artists and activists to hail from Kansas. Prepare to be moved.
• The Sunset: Let me explain this one. Kansas still enjoys a relatively low amount of air pollution. The fine balance, in fact, allows for light to be captured in shallow, fractured layers across the city sky. If we aren’t careful, we’ll overpollute our local atmosphere and the thin layers will become thick and murky. But for now, we enjoy some of the best sunsets the world will ever know. You are lucky enough to live in a true sunset theater, complete with an expansive, flat horizon and all of the optimal atmospheric ingredients for the most brilliant twilight colors. And what’s more, according to Weatherwise Magazine, winter is the best season for catching the most beautiful sunsets in our geographical region. This entertainment is always free to the public, but it may never be as spectacular as it is right now, right here. Enjoy.

There you have it. This Friday, you can celebrate all of the joys of being in Kansas by riding the trolley to downtown galleries, supporting youth activism, taking in history, drawing ballerinas, swinging your hips to live music, basking in native culture, exploring space, and being in the VIP audience of one of nature’s most awe-inspiring exhibits of beauty. I’m sure there’s more to do, including eating and drinking at locally owned hot-spots, visiting one of our many amazing parks or reserves, watching a show, or spoiling yourself by shopping at one of many unique boutiques, co-ops, or markets in Wichita and beyond.

So I turn to you for more inspiration. How do you recommend spending this most festive of Friday nights?

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