Topeka Making Gains as an American Art Town.

Today I discovered "Google Insights" and out of pure curiosity I decided to find out how many searches were done for "art topeka ks." Surprisingly I discovered that there has been a significant growth since March of 2009. Continuing my curiosity I decided to type in "art taos nm" and to my astonishment I discovered that since March of 2009, Topeka has given Taos a run for their money on the Google Search Engines!


Looking over the past year, Topeka has gained national attention through the grassroots "Think Big Topeka" Google Fiber Experiment Campaign and this is one good example of how when one of us wins, we all win. Google turns into Topeka for a day - then suddenly, Kiplinger Personal Finance notes Topeka as one of the "Best Cities 2010"!  Then again in July "Best City for Your Future: Topeka, Kan." It also is a fantastic complement to all the hard work our citizens have done inspired by John Villani's insights from the "Symposium 2005, The Arts Catalyst for Community Growth."

In September 2005, John Villani, Author of "The 100 Best Art Towns of America" was the featured speaker in the Community Foundation's symposium. Topeka was not mentioned in the aforementioned book, but Topekans embrased Villani's vision for all the possibilities the Arts offered Topeka. On creating a thriving arts community "The goal of it all is to attract new users and new residents into your downtown, to bring unused parts of your infrastructure back to life and attract people who bring their jobs with them," Villani said. Since that fateful day nearly 5 years ago, the Arts in Topeka have made great strides to become one of the next top 100 Arts Towns in America. With the guidance of the Heartland Visioning Committee, Arts Connect of Topeka, Think Big Topeka and many other businesses and agencies we are growing into significant competition for those listed "Top Arts Towns" in America. The NOTO project is poised for exciting developments in the next year and I am keeping my eyes open and my ear to the ground for even more exciting Arts Events in Topeka -- Contratulations Topeka you are truely becoming "A Great Arts Town!" Let's keep up the good work!


Gallery Hours: Monday – Friday, 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. and Saturday, 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. SouthWindArtGallery.com

Framewoods of Topeka Gift Certificate Cards make the perfect gift for any occasion!  Gift certificates are good as cash for anything in the store — custom framing, gifts and even artwork at SouthWind Gallery Gift cards may be purchased online or at the store in denominations of $25, $50, $75, or $100.