Alice C Sabatini Art Gallery

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Alice C Sabatini Art Gallery Your connection to the Arts: inspiring curiosity, developing visual literacy, and building our commu We help people get art! The Alice C.

Sabatini Art Gallery promotes the understanding and enjoyment of art through diverse collections, exhibitions, and educational experiences. We are committed to providing access to art, inspiring curiosity, making connections, and building community. Topeka's oldest public art collection began here in the late 19th century. In our main gallery, we host six annual exhibits including two national competitions, a show for young people, and exhibits featuring local, national and international artists. As of 2012, we have committed the entry space (aka the Dr. Cotter and Jeanne Hirschberg Gallery) to being a full-time permanent collection exhibition space. It will also be full-service, meaning it will never close, reflecting the same hours of operation and service as the Library. Curated exhibits with selections from our 130(+)-year-old public art collection will rotate four times a year.

10/15/2026

In You Are Here: Maps and the Art of Travel, we're looking beyond maps as navigational tools. Maps tell stories, mark history and reflect the people, time and places that made them. Often, they are art.

Artist Norwood Viviano creates real-world cities out of glass. Using mapping tools and industrial materials, his creations "explore the cross-sections of geography, cartography, and history, merging urban landscapes with the symbols of industry that have fueled their booms, busts, and builds." (norwoodviviano.com)

See pieces from his Recast series, Chicago and Houston, in our free exhibit now through Nov 29, 2026 in the Alice C. Sabatini Gallery.

10/15/2026

Cartographers have a unique challenge - adapting our three-dimensional world into two-dimensional formats - maps. Like artists, their choices of colors, lines and design shape the way we see the world. Fiber artist Eileen Doughty can give us such perspective in a way few others can. Once a cartographer, Eileen uses colors, shapes and symbols to give us a new way of seeing the world, but through the richness of fiber art she also evokes a more layered sense of place. See her pieces Rhapsody Watershed, What's the Good News? and Far Side Geology in Your Are Here: Maps and the Art of Travel. This free exhibit is open through November 29 in our Alice C. Sabatini Gallery.

10/15/2026

In honor of Elmo's visit to the library, where we will see a sneak peek of Sesame Street and the Great Elephant Adventure, we are featuring some of the elephants from our permanent art collection. Sherry tells us about several of the elephant figurines you can see on display in our Atrium hallway. Made of wood, metals and ceramics, each shows a different interpretation of how artists see elephants and shape them from selected materials. Two of them are particularly fun - antique toys made by Schoenhut Piano Company. Just think of the children who played pretend with these precious pachyderms!

Come meet and see a preview of his African safari adventure on Sat, Oct 10, 10am-noon. We'll have a fun celebration with storytime, interactive Drum Safari show, safari-themed activities and make-your-own elephant stuffie (while supplies last).

October is Fiber Arts Month at the library! Each Monday you can pick up a fiber arts craft kit to make at home. This Mon...
10/15/2026

October is Fiber Arts Month at the library! Each Monday you can pick up a fiber arts craft kit to make at home. This Monday, the craft is a festive Pom Pom Flower Wreath. Get it in the Alice C. Sabatini Gallery while supplies last.

*Please note: the craft projects are designed for adults and may contain sharp objects not suitable for children.

10/15/2026

Elmo is coming to the library to give us a sneak peek of a new special episode, Sesame Street and the Great Elephant Adventure. As part of the celebration, we're showcasing elephant art from our collection!

Alice C. Sabatini, for whom our gallery is named, was commissioned by the Topeka Zoo in 1987 to create images of elephants for publications. She observed the animals closely, but carefully, sketching them in various styles. Her drawing of Tembo, flowers clutched in trunk, was featured in a fundraising campaign.

Come meet Elmo and see a preview of his African Safari Adventure on Sat, Oct 10, 2026, 10am-noon. We'll have a fun celebration with storytime, interactive Drum Safari show, safari-themed activities and make-your-own elephant stuffie (while supplies last).

10/15/2026

This painting is not OF an elephant - it's BY an elephant! Tembo, at the Topeka Zoo, painted vibrant artwork by holding a brush in her trunk. You can see it on display in our Atrium hallway.

We're getting ready for Elmo to visit the library and show us a sneak peek of Sesame Street and the Great Elephant Adventure. To mark the occasion we're showcasing some of the elephant art from our collection. Come meet Elmo and see a preview of his African Safari Adventure on Sat, Oct 10, 2026, 10am-noon. We'll have a fun celebration with storytime, interactive Drum Safari show, safari-themed activities and make-your-own elephant stuffie (while supplies last).

10/15/2026

In You Are Here: Maps and the Art of Travel, maps aren't the starting point. Maps are the adventure!

"Map of an exploring expedition to the Rocky Mountains in the year 1842 and to Oregon & North California in the years 1843-44" profiles the routes taken by Brevet Captain John C. Fremont as he recorded the cartography of the West. It's a fascinating piece of history accompanied by Fremont's journal of the expedition. Get a closer look at this free exhibit in the Alice C Sabatini Art Gallery through Nov 29.

The library is closed today, Sept 7. We open again at 9am tomorrow. Join us at the library for:• All day - You Are Here:...
09/07/2026

The library is closed today, Sept 7. We open again at 9am tomorrow. Join us at the library for:
• All day - You Are Here: Maps and the Art of Travel - Map Art exhibit
• 9:30am & 10:30am - Totally 2s
• 4pm - What's That Sound? After School Fun
• Check our website for more!

09/04/2026

Normally, adventure starts with a map. In our new exhibit You Are Here: Maps and the Art of Travel maps are the adventure! Visit this free exhibit in the Alice C. Sabatini Gallery Sept 4 - Nov 29, 2026.

The library will be closed Monday, September 7 for Labor Day. Our digital library is always open! Visit tscpl.org for eb...
09/02/2026

The library will be closed Monday, September 7 for Labor Day. Our digital library is always open! Visit tscpl.org for ebooks, audiobooks, movies, music, magazines and more.

Address

1515 SW 10th Avenue
Topeka, KS
66604

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 9pm
Tuesday 9am - 9pm
Wednesday 9am - 9pm
Thursday 9am - 9pm
Friday 9am - 9pm
Saturday 9am - 6pm
Sunday 12pm - 9pm

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