The Envision Arts Gallery Featured in Global Online Travel Media Outlet

Many Envision leaders agree that the popularity of the Envision Arts Gallery and Community Engagement Center has helped increase the awareness and reach of Envision’s mission overall to people nationwide. With countless local news media stories to a handful of regional magazine features (I.e., Midwest Living and DIVERSEability),
the gallery has now been featured in an online travel and food publication that reaches millions of people across the world. 

Thrillist is a popular news/media outlet that features the most exciting and unique travel and food destinations in the world – and now the Envision Arts Gallery is one of those destinations.  

As a member of Visit Wichita, Envision works closely with the local tourism team to promote events and tourist spots like the arts gallery. When the Envision arts and marketing team got the call from Visit Wichita about a travel writer coming to visit the gallery, no one expected a prominent publication like Thrillist to feature her story.  

“The attention from the Thrillist article is exciting not just for the Envision Arts Gallery but for all of Envision and Envision Dallas because it’s an inspirational talking point that can get the conversation started for any department,” said Holly Herring, Marketing Manager for Envision. “We’re grateful to our partners at Visit Wichita for giving us the opportunity to showcase Envision's mission to a travel writer who has a reach far beyond our expectations.” 

The article titled, “Inside the First Art Gallery for Blind Artists and Audiences,” was published on June 23 and has already reached nearly 5 million people and has received over 247 Facebook shares and 35 Twitter shares by various people and organizations. These numbers are bound to grow as the article gets shared more on a daily basis.  

Thrillist promoted the article on their Instagram page saying, “When entering a museum, there’s always one universal rule: Don’t touch the art. But have you ever wondered how the blind get to experience museum exhibits? How can they tell what a piece looks like if they can’t feel the hard ridge of paint left after a swipe of the brush, or the delicate stubble of a pointillism portrait?⁠ Envision Arts Gallery in Wichita, Kansas has become a trailblazer in solving this problem. It’s the first art gallery in the US created by and for the visually impaired community.” 

“Since the release of the Thrillist article, we are witnessing an uptick in attendance as well as online and social media engagement that speaks volumes about the gallery’s mission, the opportunities it provides, and a sense of hope it brings to our community and to those around the world," said Sarah Kephart, Envision Arts Program Manager. “We are seeing large groups and individuals from other states traveling to Wichita to experience the gallery, including low vision specialists and foundations who are inspired and filled with excitement as they envision the possibilities of what equal access to the arts means now and what it will mean to future generations to come.” 

The Envision Arts Gallery is on track to reach even more people with inspiring exhibitions including an artist from the United Kingdom in 2024. Visit www.envisionartsgallery.com for more information about upcoming exhibitions and events and be sure to follow the gallery on Facebook and Instagram.