Well friends, this is my last segment as KMUW’s arts commentator. Over the past 5 years, it’s been my immense pleasure to take in an incredible array of art exhibitions and meet some of the finest artists I’ve ever known.

Think of a mechanical pencil and the cylinder of graphite peeking out of end—just a half-millimeter thick. Now, imagine a long, white sheet of paper, unfurled in front of you. Where do you make the first mark? It’s daunting to think about drawing this way, but this is what artist Robyn O’Neil is known for.

The Ulrich Museum on the WSU campus is featuring several important dialogues on race, history, poverty and suffering this winter.

This winter, you have many opportunities to learn more about Kansas photographer Gordon Parks.

This art review originally aired on October 14, 2015.

“Best of” lists are popping up everywhere, so here is my top 5 local art shows of 2015.

The Wichita Art Museum is currently displaying the exhibition, Scenery, Story, Spirit: American Painting and Sculpture from the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. This selection of art on WAM’s second floor presents an overview of mostly 19th century landscapes, still life, genre paintings and portraiture.

Adult coloring books are a gaining popularity, including here in Wichita. This phenomenon has been the topic of nationally published articles, many of which claim that the soothing activity of coloring decreases stress and anxiety, and helps adults practice mindfulness.

Unpaid labor is a big problem in the arts. Artists, writers and a host of other creative professionals spend their early careers working for free in order to hack into the industry. This phase is often treated as a rite-of-passage, but now unpaid work persists well beyond these fledgling years. Artists and writers continue to be asked by institutions and non-profit organizations for their work, in exchange for “exposure.”

One of my favorite writers at the moment is New York Magazine art critic Jerry Saltz. Saltz is always an entertaining read. He may not be everyone’s up of tea, but I love his conversant writing style, sense of humor, shrewd insights and his utter fearlessness when it comes to sharing what he thinks.