Fifty years ago, the Ulrich Museum of Art was opened on Wichita State’s campus. It was designed to help support the university’s educational goals through applied learning experiences.
Now, in 2025, the museum has become an iconic staple of Wichita State and the community around it, holding 89 outdoor statues and an abundance of art in several mediums within its walls.
To celebrate the momentous milestone, the museum directors held the Ulrich 50 Gala to help bring people of the Wichita art community together to remember and celebrate the past, while also looking ahead to the future and what it may bring for the museum.
Lee Starkel, a fundraising co-chair for the Ulrich 50 Gala, was able to experience some of the earliest exhibits the Ulrich had to offer. She said that while she was not able to attend the opening day of the museum 50 years ago, she would visit it often.
“My husband and I were on campus around that time and we went to early exhibits,” Starkel said. “And then I went back to WSU as a full-time student and would come through there three times a week to go to art history, and I just never left.”
Starkel said the museum caught her eye not only because of her passion for the arts, but also because she saw the value in having a place like it accessible for students.
“It was things I would only read about or see in a magazine, and there (it) came to Wichita State, and the academic mission makes it a unique museum for Wichita … to have an academic museum with that as part of its museum,” Starkel said.
Patricia McDonnell was able to help further this academic mission during her time serving as the museum’s director from 2007 until 2012.
“I’m the lucky person who once, some time ago, was the director of the Ulrich Museum of Art,” McDonnell said. “… I fell in love with the people and the campus and College Hill.”
McDonnell said an important part of a museum director’s job was connecting people with art and projects.
“It was so great to find more people who wanted to be part of that, whether to help make it happens (or) donate to the cause,” McDonnell said. “Students that came and interned to help us pull it all off, that’s really exciting work and it’s very personal (and) rewarding.”
McDonnell expressed that seeing the Ulrich reach 50 years of being open was incredible.
“Isn’t it heartwarming? Isn’t it amazing?” she said. “The Ulrich has made so many achievements and reached for excellence all those 50 years, and here we are.”
Janel Razook, who is a “tax accountant by trade,” said she loves the arts even though she isn’t an artist herself. Razook, who currently serves on the Ulrich museum advisory board and as a board chair, said she remembers the first impression Ulrich made on her.
“I’m from Wichita, but I moved away to Scottsdale, Arizona, for 18 years and I moved back several years ago, and I had a friend introduce me to the Ulrich,” Razook said. “That started my longtime relationship … I remember going to the Ulrich and just feeling what a true gem it is in our community. It’s just a special place.”
Razook said seeing this “gem” reach its 50-year anniversary is incredible. Alongside the joy of Ulrich being around for 50 years, Razook said she is already looking 50 years down the road.
“I would love to have a new building, and have additional space for education to display art and just really build out,” she said.
Matthew Broderick, president of the Wichita Arts Council, said seeing Ulrich reach this milestone serves as a reminder of the power of community.
“It stands for how timeless art is and how it can be the soul of the community,” Broderick said. “… The art community is small but mighty, and we support each other.”
