Artworks inspired by this location

Lawrence is a university town about 40 miles west of Kansas City, and about 20 miles east of Topeka (see information on Topeka below). This city of 80,000 inhabitants is a liberal oasis in the midst of ultra-conservative Kansas, and has been referred to as the "Berkeley of the Plains". Lawrence is consistently ranked as having one of the highest populations of artists per capita in the nation. It has also been ranked by one magazine as one of the most "educated cities in America".

Massachusetts Street is the main street downtown. There are about six blocks lined with shops, restaurants, art galleries, coffee houses, and live music venues. When the weather is warm, this area is the center of activity and the sidewalks will be choked with hippies, punks, posers, dogwalkers, window shoppers, alumni tourists, street musicians, protesters, and religious proselytizers.

At the heart of town is the University of Kansas (aka KU). Known primarily for its basketball team, it is also one of the better public educational institutions in the Midwest. The university campus is very beautiful, with lots of green space and some attractive historic architecture. The Spencer Museum of Art, on campus, is an excellent art museum. It is small but it has a good, diverse permanent collection and thought-provoking temporary exhibitions. Another interesting site on campus is the KU Natural History Museum, populated by a better-than-average cast of stuffed animals and dinosaur bones.

The Granada, one of Lawrence's many live music venues

Another place to see art in Lawrence is right out in public, thanks to Lawrence-based muralist Dave Loewenstein. He has painted several murals in Lawrence, as well as other locations in the Midwest. In my opinion his best work is on the back side of Cordley School (pictured at right). It tells the story of the undergroound railroad in Kansas. Dave is a friend of mine, and we have worked on a couple projects together. To see images of our Hobbs Park mural project, go to my What's New page. There are other examples of public art on display in Lawrence. Every summer sculptures by artists from all over the country grace the corners of Massachusetts Street. The university also has some public sculpture on its campus. The Lawrence Art Center, a block east of Mass. St., has a gallery space with exhibitions by contemporary artists, and also offers art classes for children and adults.

Lawrence Art Center

KU Natural History Museum

Topeka

Topeka is about 20 miles west of Lawrence on I-70. There are two reasons to stop there:

The Kansas Museum of History has a permanent exhibition on the history of Kansas that is educational, interesting, and well-designed. It covers everything from caveman times to the present day.

The Kansas State Capitol is a commanding neoclassical structure, primarily worth visiting for its art. The most famous murals in the building are by John Steuart Curry. His image of abolitionist John Brown is possibly Kansas's most famous artwork (It also appeared on the cover of an album by the rock group Kansas). There is another series of murals by another artist that were done in the '40s or '50s in a very graphic, brightly colored style, and up in the rotunda are some more traditional allegorical murals (see examples below). I wish I had more information on the other artists in this building, but unfortunately they are not discussed on the state capitol's web site.

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