Like everyone, I was caught off guard and stunned by the mass death and injury that occurred recently in Las Vegas. This shocking event, along with the perils our American brothers and sisters are facing in Puerto Rico made it seem that any commentary I might make about art feel forced and weak.

Last Saturday it was 90+ degrees. It was the day the 2nd round of murals to be painted in the Douglas Design District lifted off and began. My wife Taeko and I went out to explore the different sites.

I've always felt that a sculptor suffers most for his or her art. To coax emotion and greatness from stone, steel, bronze, or wood is torturous.

While the story of Lindsborg Artist Mike Hartung is a delicious one, it is also achingly sad.

My wife Taeko and I recently took our 2-year-old granddaughter, Hazel, to the Wichita Art Museum's outdoor sculpture garden. The late afternoon was gorgeous and Hazel was captivated by the great sculptural works and the beautiful plant life.

This week, consider packing yourself a sack lunch and heading down to City Arts. In the 2nd floor gallery you will find the new exhibition Bibs & Forks Food Invitational.

I'm getting older. I'm 58. I started seriously selling my art when I was 26. I get to see some of that 32-year-old work from time to time and am struck by the directions I took.

In 1975 I stepped in to my first art class at Wichita East High.

Jean-Michel Basquiat died of a heroin overdose at age 27 in 1988 after having been a professional artist for only 7 years.

I know this woman, artist Chiyoko Myose. And knowing her makes her current exhibition--Movements of Thread-- on view at City Arts confirm what I have always known: Her work is a real extension of her being--her actual soul.