There’s only one word that can describe Final Friday, April 24 at CityArts, and that word is “supersized.” As expected, the evening will include the opening of new art exhibitions from 5-8 p.m. in five CityArts galleries that highlight the amazing talent of local artists. But that’s only the beginning.

This Final Friday coincides with the 2nd ICT Art Day of Giving (ArtDOG), a 24-hour online fund-raiser for local nonprofit arts organizations that is led by the Wichita Community Foundation. There will be ArtDOG activities in CityArts’ Main Gallery where visitors can meet special guests from Exploration Place and Camp Allegro, take part in CityArts’ first-ever Urban Sketch Night (paper and pencils provided) and experience a durational art demonstration by portrait painter Carlos Soto that will take place over the course of several hours. Just outside CityArts’ doors in Old Town Square will be nonstop arts and culture activities and stage performances sponsored by the Arts Council as well as the introduction of “I Make Art Happen” or I(MAH), a new communitywide program to bring awareness of the arts in Wichita all year long.

All Final Friday and ArtDOG activities are free and open to the public. The following art exhibitions that open inside CityArts on Final Friday will be on display through May 23:

• Main Gallery and Main Hall Gallery: Fourth District 2015 Congressional Art Competition,” sponsored by the Office of Congressman Mike Pompeo
  Congressman Pompeo will host a public reception at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 26 at CityArts to announce the winners of this year’s competition, which features paintings, drawings, collages and more created by students living the Kansas Fourth District. The top entry will be displayed in the U.S. Capitol for one year alongside winners from all 50 states.
• Boardroom Gallery: “Disassemblance,” oils by Darren Morawitz
  Through his artwork, this Wichitan asks the question, “Have we lost ourselves in the binary confusion of the digital age?” Morawitz’ paintings take viewers on a journey inside disassembled minds that bear little resemblance to history past so they can make their own conclusions about our loss of humanity.
• Balcony Gallery: “Primary Colors,” paintings by Ginny Young
  Young is a Wichita artist who loves color, and she uses it freely in her paintings and collages. To her, color has the power to brighten someone’s world, both physically and emotionally. She also finds inspiration in shapes and patterns in everyday items such as pop cans, TV dinner trays and crumpled ribbons that otherwise might be overlooked and not considered as art objects.
• Extended Balcony Gallery: “Photographs of the Century,” photography by James Mitchell
  A Wichita artist, Mitchell’s portraits of people, crime scenes, still life and objects are intended to get viewers’ attention and give them a clear realization of what’s important in their own lives and in society.

CityArts, located at 334 N. Main in Old Town Square, is a focal point for the arts in Wichita. Its mission is to provide education, information and artistic opportunities to the community through art education, gallery exhibitions and cultural entertainment. CityArts is home to the Arts Council, a group that works in partnership with the City of Wichita to advance and promote arts and culture in Wichita community through advocacy, leadership, education and collaboration.