I moved to Wichita in 1999, and was immediately struck by the artistic energy and grassroots initiative in this community. Local bands had groupies, well-attended performance art and theater productions were being staged in abandoned buildings, visual art exhibitions of impressive quality were mounted nearly monthly, and it seemed that almost everyone I met considered themselves to be an artist in some form or another. There were perhaps three active artist cooperatives producing large-scale exhibitions at least twice a year, and many smaller, vibrant galleries that frequently opened new shows. Needless to say, I was both surprised and excited; an attitude that has only been reinforced in the eight years following. Wichita is undergoing a sort of cultural renaissance right now—a wide range of groups with diverse and ambitious agendas are currently planning major events, new galleries open every few months, Wichita artists are receiving recognition on both regional and national levels, and the City and County are beginning to understand the advantage, both from a social and economic perspective, of supporting the arts. There are still challenges to surmount, with respect to the latter, but I do sincerely believe that Wichita is evolving in a positive direction, and will eventually become a significant Midwestern cultural center.