Sara Shepherd is the Lawrence Journal-World's features reporter, covering food, arts, lifestyle and culture.
Prior to joining the Journal-World staff, Sara was the news editor and city reporter for The Shawnee Dispatch. She previously spent five years as a reporter at The Kansas City Star, covering primarily crime and courts, as well as Johnson County schools and city government.
Sara is an Emporia, Kan., native and — proud! — fourth-generation Kansas University graduate. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/KCSSara.
Recent Stories
Mask collection brings personality to new theater's lobby
The walls of Eleanor Woodyard’s study suddenly seem very, very bare. More than 180 colorfully adorned visitors from across the globe that once smiled, frowned and grimaced at Woodyard and her late husband have taken up residency elsewhere — a place they’ll undoubtedly be able to make more friends.
Odd 'drawings of little note' make public debut in offbeat gallery
Michael Krueger teaches art at Kansas University, has exhibited and lectured internationally and had work featured in art publications in major U.S. cities. But no one’s ever written about his bizarre, palm-sized (and some pinkie-sized) cutout “drawings of little note” — no one’s ever really seen them.
New curator plans lunch-hour tour of updated 'Roots and Journeys' exhibit
The Spencer Museum of Art's new curator of global indigenous art will lead a lunch-hour tour on Friday of her inaugural exhibit. “Too often, ideas about ‘natives’ are linked to outdated stereotypes, which can make these communities seem frozen in a particular time and place,” she says. “The reality is that their traditions have undergone as many transformations in form, medium, meaning and aesthetics as European or Asian art has.”
Off the Beaten Plate: Bill Self Pasta at 23rd Street Brewery
Winningest coaches call for winningest food combinations — like buffalo chicken and homemade mac ‘n’ cheese. 23rd Street Brewery staffers say that while Kansas University men’s basketball coach Bill Self didn’t necessarily create his namesake dish, he has been known to order it.
Peace, love and local food on wheels
Co-op dishes up ‘Om-style cookin’ from big, yellow truck
Think food trucks are all about greasy gyros and cheap street tacos? Think again, at least if you’re in Lawrence.
Shamanic healing has a foothold in Lawrence
From 'soul retrieval' to transformative dance, believers say spiritual practice fills a void
Shamanic healing has a foothold in Lawrence, and followers of the practice say it seems to be growing here as it grows in Western culture as a whole. Shamanism is not widely accepted as effective, but those who practice it say it's filled voids in their lives they previously couldn’t quite put their fingers on. By Sara Shepherd
Lawrence Libations: Oatmeal Stout Float at Cottin’s Farmers Market
This only-in-Lawrence, build-it-yourself libation is available at the sole public location Free State Brewing Co. beer and Iwig Family Dairy ice cream regularly come together.
A vegetable-eater’s Eden
Home garden, one of 18 on tour, features curb-to-curb produce, chickens
For an easy summertime dinner at home, Bob Gent loves a good stir fry. He’ll toss together potatoes, eggplant, okra and tomato, and maybe a little meat to make a full and savory meal. Such a dinner is especially easy for Gent — everything he needs is growing just steps from his kitchen door.
Big wooden bird, bigger ball of fire envisioned to commemorate anniversary of raid
Performance art seeks to capture attention of folks on the fringe
Some people are interested in history. Some are drawn to art. To engage the rest, artist Gregory Thomas believes, publicly destroying a larger-than-life item in a giant ball of flames usually does the trick. Meet the Quantrill's raid commemoration idea known as the Phoenix Festival.
Artist bugs out
Printmaking experiment puts real people's faces on bugs' bodies
Printmaker Patrick Vincent set up Stigmergic — aka the Bugs Project — like a science experiment. Define parameters, he thought, then see how things play out. The variables are now on view in a creepy, crawly installation at the Lawrence Arts Center.
