Luxiere - Oklahoma Lifestyle & Real Estate // Edition 49

RODEO

SUPER MID SIZE JETS

VERY LIGHT JETS

SUPER LIGHT JETS

50 ON THE COVER: THE BOLEY RODEO

RIDES HIGH

A crowd-pleasing spectacle of skill and athleticism, a full-throated celebration of community and culture, a joyous Memorial Day event with the air of a huge family reunion—the annual rodeo in the historic Black township of Boley, Oklahoma, is a must-see experience.

STORY BY ANDREA SCHULTZ

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FOLLOWING THE FLOW

OKC built it, and rowers are coming; how a dried-up stretch of riverbed became the top-tier RIVERSPORT complex, and a milestone on the road to Olympic glory.

STORY BY ALEXANDRA BOHANNON

44

COMEBACK SONG

Singer Leigh Hetherington’s hope, faith and persistence through years of tribulations have helped shape who she has become, and fill her debut country album Gospel of the Underdog.

STORY BY MICHAEL KINNEY

58

LIGHTS, CAMERA, LIFTOFF

Fresh off hosting Ethan Hawke at a screening of his new movie, the Tulsa Film Collective is working to ride the city’s cinematic success in supporting and educating local filmmakers.

STORY BY ALICIA CHESSER

74

DOING THE JOB

A descendant of educators and chefs, trailblazer on the local food scene and proud resident of OKC’s East Side, Chaya Pennington is shaping students’ futures at Metro Tech.

STORY BY GREG HORTON

86

NAVIGATING NATURE'S MAJESTY

Small coastal villages, dazzling glaciers, even breathtaking blue whales—exploring the fjords of Chile is an adventure wrapped in luxury aboard the Seabourn Pursuit.

STORY BY LEIGH ANN LANE

49 EDITION

FROM THE PUBLISHER

“Do you guys know how lucky you are to live here? This is a badass place.” That’s what actor and director Ethan Hawke told the assembled guests at a fundraiser for the Tulsa Film Collective a few weeks ago.

Around the same time, “Reservation Dogs” and “The Sensitive Kind” creator Sterlin Harjo could have easily been talking about all of Oklahoma when he said this about Tulsa: “There’s a bit of mystery, there’s a bit of darkness, there’s a bit of love, there’s a bit of light, there’s a bit of magic.”

These are heady, exciting times to be an Oklahoman. Whether you’re a new transplant or your people have been here for generations, it feels like the state is palpably energized. While we’re thrilled to see Oklahoma capturing the creative zeitgeist, we’re also a little surprised that it’s taken this long.

Oklahoma, our home, is a wild, diverse, collaborative, interesting place filled with fascinating people. Our mission has always been to celebrate them. In this edition, we bring you the story of singer/songwriter and citizen of the Cherokee Nation Ken Pomeroy, who started making music when she was 9 years old and now tours with John Moreland and Iron & Wine. Her songs move people to tears, and her story is equally lyrical.

Singer Leigh Hetherington is a shining example of good, old-fashioned, Oklahoma ingenuity. Nearly a decade ago, divorced and mother to a 7-year-old, she fostered her musical career — and supplemented her family’s budget — by performing. As a funeral singer. Michael Kinney talked to her about parlaying that gig into a successful company, her new album Gospel of the Underdog and much more.

Another woman charting her own creative path is Oklahoma City’s Chaya Pennington, a chef, entrepreneur, teacher and the third generation of her family to call her East Side neighborhood home. Greg Horton catches up with her to talk about her many “firsts” — and what’s next.

There is perhaps no story more quintessentially Oklahoman than that of the Olympic venue and international destination that is Oklahoma City’s RIVERSPORT. Why? Because in the decades before its inception, the Oklahoma River was so dry it had to be mowed. Alexandra Bohannon brings us this fantastic, improbable global success story on the heels of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic team trials for Canoe/ Kayak and Kayak Cross held at RIVERSPORT in April.

Readers, with each edition of Luxiere, we marvel at the stories we feel so privileged to tell. And after each edition, we are prone to wondering how we will top what we’ve done. In the end, though, we never truly doubt — because, to quote our state song, “We know we belong to the land, and the land we belong to is grand!”

Until next time,

STACY D. JOHNSON Publisher, Owner

MICHAEL KINNEY Writer

ALICIA CHESSER Writer

ALEXANDRA BOHANNON Writer

GREG HORTON Writer

SHANNA TEEL, P h .D. Writer

STEVE GILL Editor/Writer

CHRISTINE EDDINGTON Writer

KATI HANNA Writer

KENNON BRYCE Photographer

ANDREA SCHULTZ Writer

RYAN "FIVISH" CASS Photographer

COOPER ANDERSON Website

STACY D. JOHNSON Owner/Publisher

DESIGN | nvsble.studio

ON THE COVER | The annual rodeo held Memorial Day weekend in the historic Black town of Boley, Oklahoma, is a celebration of cowboys and cowgirls, culture and community. Photo by Ryan “Fivish” Cass.

CONTRIBUTORS

Special thanks to all of our Luxiere partners for your contribution of time and talent to make this extraordinary resource.

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Advertising claims and the views expressed in this magazine by writers do not necessarily represent those of Luxiere Magazine. No responsibility is assumed for unsolicited materials. Originals of manuscripts, photographs, artwork or other materials should not be sent to Luxiere Magazine unless specifically requested to do so in writing. Luxiere Magazine is not responsible for the return of any manuscripts, photographs, artwork or other materials submitted. Luxiere Magazine shall have no liability for errors, omissions or inadequacies in the information contained herein or for interpretations thereof. Luxiere Magazine shall have no liability for any infringement of copyright or other arising out of publication thereof. Luxiere Magazine reserves the right to edit submissions before publication. Reproduction in any form without prior written permission from the publisher is strictly prohibited. All requests for permission and reprints must be made in writing to Luxiere Magazine, c/o Legal, 2123 N Classen Blvd Oklahoma City, OK 73106. EDITION

WOMAN OF INFLUENCE

MEGHAN MUELLER

BY CHRISTINE EDDINGTON

First things first: People experiencing homelessness are not lazy. They are among the most resilient and creative people you’ll ever meet, according to Meghan Mueller, the new executive director of Oklahoma City’s Homeless Alliance. Mueller has been at her post since early April, after working for the agency in a variety of positions for a decade.

This woman is terrific at shifting paradigms and offering fresh perspective. Think about it. “These people — who are moms, dads, sisters or brothers — wake up every day and choose to survive,” Mueller says, while also admitting that she’s not sure she could mentally survive the duress of homelessness. “They may walk miles for a meal, through whatever weather Oklahoma decides to throw their way that day. If I need a snack, I walk 10 feet to the refrigerator.” They find places to sleep, drinking water, ways to bathe and cope with mental struggles — the traumas that caused their homelessness as well as the isolation so many unhoused people experience. “If they can do all of that, they can do anything,” she says.

And another thing. Instead of asking people what they did to become homeless, Mueller would prefer we ask what happened to them to cause their homelessness. “Our culture has the desire to ‘other’ the problem. There’s so much power in a simple paradigm shift. I think about what it would take for my mom to end up needing our services, or for me to. The answer is trauma.”

The Homeless Alliance, founded 20 years ago by Mueller’s predecessor and mentor Dan Straughn, is dedicated to the idea that it’s possible to end homelessness in Oklahoma City. The agency’s origin story is the embodiment of that famous Margaret Mead quote: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. In fact, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

Straughn and a handful of businesspeople were meeting at the legendary Lunch Box restaurant, which occupied a prime downtown spot near Hudson and Sheridan for decades. The

group noticed people walking by who looked like they might be homeless. “Someone in the group said something like, ‘There has to be a better way do homeless services than the way we’re doing it.’ So they formed a committee and visited other cities to see what Oklahoma City might be able to do better,” Mueller says. The rest is history. As an homage to its founding, the Homeless Alliance proudly displays the refurbished Lunch Box sign over the lunch line at its day shelter.

Mueller joined the team 10 years later. “I started as an intern. It was my final practicum,” she says, as she’d almost completed her master’s degree in social work. “I went to OU for both undergrad and grad school. I grew up in central Oklahoma and went to Deer Creek schools all the way through.”

That internship changed the trajectory of her life. “I didn’t set out to work in homeless services, but once I got here, I was totally hooked.” Part of that she quickly attributes to the culture of the organization, set by Straughn. “I had the hare-brained idea, as an intern, to have an art show,” she says. She imagined opening an ‘art studio’ where people could create art, and then hosting a gallery opening for them. “As a student, I thought about the therapeutic value that art can bring to life.” She also liked the idea of the new identity that came with the project. “There are all kinds of labels, and all kinds of assumptions that people make about people who are experiencing homelessness. And I loved that this program had the power to transform that and to transform someone into an artist. I went to Dan and asked him to hear me out. He said, ‘Sure, try it.’” She did, and the program, called Fresh stART, is still going strong, with several art shows each year.

The culture of innovation and collaboration established and nurtured by Straughn is something Mueller cherishes and fosters. “Dan leads with empathy. The culture he created here was a big part of why I stayed.” When Mueller began work at the Homeless Alliance, she was its 15th employee. Today there are 160 most of

the year and 180 or so in the winter, when additional shelters are open. Ten years ago there were three case workers offering direct service; today there are 60. “We knew we needed to walk the walk, not just talk the talk,” Mueller says, so the agency dipped its toes into offering direct services. “Turns out we’re really good at it.”

Social entrepreneurial enterprises came next. Homeless Alliance produces and sells its award-winning magazine, the Curbside Chronicle, created to provide both a voice and employment opportunities for people who are experiencing and/or at risk of homelessness. In addition to providing a source of income, the Curbside Chronicle works with vendors to break down barriers to traditional employment and develop time management, money management and social skills. Street papers like the Curbside Chronicle enable people to earn enough money to get into housing and end their homelessness.

Curbside Flowers is a traditional flower shop providing supportive employment to people adjusting out of homelessness. Patrons can walk in and buy flowers, order them for delivery or work with the shop to create centerpieces for special events.

Sasquatch Shaved Ice is a nonprofit snow cone stand (with several locations) that offers youth — including those who are low-income, foster, or justice-involved — with a supportive employment opportunity designed to help build job skills, improve financial literacy, increase high school graduation and higher education enrollment and provide a foundation for long-term financial stability and job readiness.

The newest endeavor, Curbside Apparel, is a screen-printing company that produces custom shirts, posters and more. People working at the apparel shop earn a screen-printing certification and practice skills like inventory management as they move out of homelessness.

As Mueller settles into her new role, she’s focused on preserving the terrific, collaborative, innovative culture of Homeless Alliance while exploring new ideas. One of those is the concept of diversion. “Diversion is an effort to divert people from ever entering the system and needing our services,” she says. Seemingly tiny adjustments are often all that’s needed to keep someone from becoming homeless. “It could be a month’s rent, or it could be that someone just got a job that requires steel-toed boots, but they can’t afford them. It’s critical thinking and problem solving,” she says.

In a job like hers, in a field like homeless services, the work can be hard, and the stress can take a toll. Sometimes even the brilliantly optimistic Mueller feels defeated, exhausted and discouraged. When that happens, she looks for perspective. Or she goes for a run and gives herself a pep talk. “I remind myself that I can do hard things,” she says. When asked what she’d like to suggest other people do to help, she doesn’t lead with donating or volunteering, although she welcomes both. Instead, she says this: “People ask me that question more than any question. I always say — it’s so simple and so cheesy — but, like, be a nice person. People who are experiencing homelessness are so used to being ignored. They’re so used to people seeing them and moving to the other side of the sidewalk or pretending that they’re not there. So I think one of the most powerful things you can do is acknowledge that person. It’s so simple, but literally just a wave and saying hi, I acknowledge that you’re there and that you’re a human being with value and worth.”

Do also feel free to donate. Or volunteer. You can learn more at homelessalliance.org. •

LUXIERE’s Woman of Influence is presented by First National Bank of Oklahoma

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CREATING MODERN WORKPLACES

Helping professionals reclaim their well-being and life fulfillment

BY SHANNA R. TEEL, Ph .D.

Workplaces can no longer ignore that talented people and leaders need support and resources to manage their emotional, mental and physical health at work. The time has arrived to create new cultural and organizational norms and systems that support healthy life and leadership behaviors to lead to sustainable success.

The pace of work, high-pressure job demands and inattention to health and well-being in the workplace are causing many, even previously high-performing individuals, to burn out and show signs of decreased health, motivation, engagement and performance — while masking their real needs and struggles to survive at work.

As an industrial psychologist, business consultant and executive coach, I founded LeaderHealth® to create healthy, multi-dimensional leaders and organizations. Glenn Griffith of Toyota Motor Sales North America and his team have been working with LeaderHealth® for 10 years, and I spoke with him recently about the methodology and its results. You can watch the full interview on the LeaderHealth® YouTube channel at youtube.com/@leaderhealth.

Share one or two things you love most about your job and company— what keeps you motivated?

More than anything, I love that this is a people business, and the challenge of personal relationships, forming meaningful relationships where there is mutual trust to accomplish objectives.

I admire our dealers/customers; they are entrepreneurs, and their livelihood is on the line every day. I love helping them. I went to school to get a degree in automotive management, but a degree in psychology would have served me better.

I enjoy being exposed to new things, learning and the diversity of my work. But it is the people. Dealing with different personalities and finding common ground to achieve objectives is what I really like.

Let’s talk about balance. What does living a balanced life mean to you? What happens when you get out of balance and how do you get back in balance?

It begins with family first. If my family isn’t right, I won’t be good, and I won’t be the best leader I can be. Balance, safety and security of my family is paramount. I have to check this box to go do what I need to do on a given day. I love my work and love what I do; it is part of my balance. It is rewarding and challenging. If I didn’t have this, I would be out of balance. If I was just an individual contributor, I would be out of balance. And, lastly, it is me. My own self-balance is predicated on my family and my work. When I’m good with my family and my work, then I spend time on myself. And I’m OK with this. This is what works for me.

I can get out of sync. I restore balance by engaging with something outdoors, hiking, running, archery, camping — anything outdoors is where I self-regulate and get myself back in balance. At the office,

sometimes I will throw in earbuds and walk the parking lot while taking a call, and this also rejuvenates me.

My mission is to help leaders and growth-minded professionals stop trading health for success. Did you make those trade-offs in your career?

Yes! Long hours, hard work and dedication to one company. But for me, it was a fair trade. I am blessed to work for a company where there are trade-offs, but in turn I’ve been supported.

I was able to coach my boys in youth sports. The trade-offs I made didn’t seem like sacrifices, they were blessings. My mindset was, if you trust me, empower me and give me the freedom to do my job, then I will pull on the oars and give you 100% day in and day out.

Your company has two different tracks to advance in leadership; talk about your experience with this.

In my career, this would have been one of the difficult decisions to make. If I chose career track number one, there would have been a commitment to many moves around the country and a lot of uncertainty. It was a tough time for me to make this decision. I don’t like saying no to people, or to the company and leaders whom I respect greatly. Ultimately, I had to go back to my value of balance, and family first.

After more than 30 years at Toyota, what are you seeing with the talent in the organization today? Are there differences in the tradeoffs and sacrifices they are making today compared to you and your generation?

Generally, what I experience with the younger generations is that they have a more laid-back, balanced approach. I admire it greatly. There are times where I wish I had more of it in me. The younger generation appear as if they are living more for today; for me and others in my generation, we are working for tomorrow. I wish I were better at living for today. I always work hard for tomorrow and save for tomorrow. The result is that I end up with extra vacation days at the end of year, and the younger generation are buying extra days. I like this and admire it. I want to be more like them!

What do you do to take care of your physical health?

I had an epiphany over 20 years ago. I was very sedentary, I was obese, I wasn’t exercising, I wasn’t outdoors. One day, I woke up and told my wife, ‘This is it. I am done,’ and I flipped a switch. Since then I’ve been disciplined with my nutrition. I am not perfect. I use the 90/10 rule: 90% of the time, I am pretty good. And 10% of the time I can destroy a pizza.

I began by getting my calories under control and tracking what I was doing. Later, I learned to jog. I started small, then I worked up to doing marathons. Now I am trying to run less — I am aware that I can’t run 50-60 miles anymore and I don’t want to get injured. So I do other things. I am trying rucking (backpacking) now. I exercise five or six days a week.

My physical health journey helps me feel good physically, but what it has done for me mentally trumps what it does for me physically. The mental aspects are huge for me. It is a great way to start my day.

Can you share the differences you have experienced with the quality of your thinking and mood from then to now?

I was more existing than living. Now, I am living. I feel more alive now. Then, all I did was eat, sleep, drink, work. I was very sedentary, but a lot has changed since then. The biggest part was changing my morning routine: I wasn’t a morning person, I would hit the snooze button. Now, I get up and I’m in the basement working out or outside running. This is a way to set myself up for a day of success.

I want to be clear: I am not meaning to sound like I have this all figured out. I have bad days and weeks, but these healthy habits are how I get out of bad times. I just stay on top of the fact that physical health drives my emotional health. I would say to others, start small, stay after it, don’t regress. Get up, day after day, and it will work itself out.

Share a few tips for leading and living with your new LeaderHealth® paradigm.

1. Be genuine.

2. Embrace who you are and what you can contribute to the organization. When working in a team that is all the same, we are far less effective than working with a diverse team. Embrace what makes you unique and different. Know what it is and bring it to the table. There is no mold; you don’t have to be a certain way or certain person to achieve success. Everyone can do it their own way.

3. To promote health through the organization, know your role and your purpose. •

Glenn Griffith

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TILES OF TRIUMPH

The passion behind OK Let’s Mahjong

BY KATI HANNA PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHLOE REED

Sydney Rainey’s passion for the ancient game of mahjong began her trip to becoming an entrepreneur and starting her company, OK Let’s Mahjong (okletsmahjong.com). In less than a year, Rainey has built a thriving multi-city enterprise. Central to her success is her own passion for the game and her love of teaching—Rainey’s dedication to sharing her love for mahjong with others has revitalized interest in this timeless pastime by fostering a growing community of enthusiasts.

What inspired you to start a business centered around teaching mahjong, and how did your personal journey lead you to this point?

I learned how to play back in July of 2022. I like to say after one and a half games, I was completely hooked. Three friends and I formed a regular group called the “Mahjong Mermaids,” since the first tile set we played with was ocean-themed. This hobby turned into an obsession that had me itching to play all the time. In efforts to grow my pool of people to play with, I started teaching family and friends how to play — and the more I taught, the more I understood the game and loved sharing my knowledge with others. I knew there was serious demand here in OKC to learn American mahjong, and it’s just complicated enough that the majority of people prefer to be taught rather than pick up a book or how-to guide to figure it out themselves. I realized I had a knack for teaching effectively, a network to get it started and the enthusiasm and passion to keep it going — cue new business venture!

I graduated from SMU (Southern Methodist University) with an engineering degree in management science and went on to work for PepsiCo in supply chain and logistics. When the pandemic forced everyone to work from home, I moved back to OKC to be with my now husband and closer to my family. After seven years with the

company, it was time to leave the corporate world and explore my entrepreneurial dreams. One of my dear childhood friends, Libby Howard, and I started an event rental company, offering luxury tabletop pieces and decor here in OKC. Two years in that industry taught me so much, and I carry that knowledge and experience with me in all that I do for OK Let’s Mahjong.

Mahjong is a game with a rich cultural heritage that is taking off in Oklahoma. Why do you think there is such a growing interest and demand for the game?

I truly believe that the COVID-19 pandemic reignited people’s enjoyment of at-home entertainment and spending more time with those they love. Since mahjong has been around for a very long time (Chinese mahjong arose in the early 1800s and American mahjong in the 1920s in the U.S.), older generations are teaching younger generations, bridging a gap and establishing a common interest between age groups that’s fun, social and challenges our minds in unexpected ways. People today are searching for a healthy, rejuvenating hobby in a society that glamorizes busy schedules and endless screen-time. Mahjong creates authentic community and connection via an unplugged and distraction-free experience.

Would you share a memorable story that encapsulates the joy or transformation mahjong has brought to you or your clients? Nothing brings me more joy than hearing my students tell me about the groups they’ve formed, the weekly games they’ve scheduled and the memories they are creating around the table with their friends and family. This is a life-long game that will continue to set the stage for cherished, face-to-face interactions in a world dominated by technology.

What is the best part of your job?

There’s a new level of excitement and accomplishment that I feel when I see a student’s light bulb go off. I’ve never been in a role that engages so intimately with the client. I appreciate the vulnerability that people are sharing with me by coming to learn a brand-new (to them), slightly intimidating game — and at times admitting when they don’t understand something or lack confidence in certain rules or scenarios. I feel honored to guide people through the rollercoaster of emotions that comes with learning American mahjong.

So often entrepreneurs have to “build the plane while they are flying it,’’ especially when the demand for the services is so high. How do you manage building your business while also delivering the services and leading so many different mahjong events?

Juggling OK Let’s Mahjong’s growth, teaching classes and hosting events has been a whirlwind of learning and gradual improvement. Embracing imperfection and taking risks has been key to my progress, pushing me to step out of my comfort zone and dive into new experiences with excitement and determination.

Our relationship with local businesses has been an integral part of our growth and success as well: We are able to provide unparalleled experiences with amazing partners like Bradford House, where we offer group classes and learning series in their charming Lantern Room paired with our signature mahjong cocktail menu; Cosabella Kitchen, where we host themed events and socials alongside their fabulous cuisine and cozy ambiance; and Edit & Co boutique in Edmond, where we partner with owner Katie Whitson to provide unique shopping and learning experiences surrounded by a curated collection of high-end clothing, accessories and more. We’re thrilled to have a few more local spots involved in our new social and competitive leagues launching this spring and fall.

Looking forward, I know you already have locations in Tulsa, Sun Valley, Idaho, Houston and Amarillo. Based on the continued popularity and demand for mahjong, where do you see OK Let’s Mahjong in five years?

I foresee OK Let’s Mahjong being your go-to resource for all things mahjong. Online resources, finding community, recurring events and competitive outlets through local leagues, clubs, pop-ups and more. Maybe we’ll even start group mahjong retreats to fabulous destinations!

What advice would you give to aspiring entrepreneurs who want to build a business out of a passion for something they love?

Are you ready to eat, sleep, breathe, dream and embody your business? It’s all-consuming in the best way, but make sure you aren’t ruining what you love about it by making it your full-time job. If you love that it provides a mental escape from your day-to-day, cherish that relief and joy it brings.

Life is too short, and I’d rather risk failure than the regret of never trying. If your passion is strong enough, your selling point comes naturally. If your determination is strong enough, your success is inevitable.

What is one habit you follow that you believe has contributed to your success as an entrepreneur?

I call it “living in optimism land,” where I truly believe things are going to work out as they should. I use this phrase when I’m teaching mahjong as well. When a student gets discouraged that they can’t get the tiles they need, I encourage them to focus on how they can still pull off a win vs. spiraling and pivoting prematurely. I try to balance this philosophy while building and managing my business with agility, responsiveness and leveraging opportunities to pull off an entrepreneurial win.

Life’s small indulgences often bring us great joy. Could you share one luxiere that has become an essential part of your lifestyle?

A matcha latte a day keeps the anxiety away. It is a specially crafted beverage, less caffeine than coffee, and just as good hot or iced. I’ve tried countless matcha lattes across OKC, so maybe a review of my favorites is in order … stay tuned. •

Kati Hanna is a partner with The Mettise Group, a consulting firm focused on growth-stage companies and leaders. The Mettise Group completes a holistic evaluation of organizations and leaders to quickly and efficiently deliver an operating system that focuses on opportunities, best practices and solutions.

Sydney Rainey

Branch 5ft Entrance Handle by Philip Watts Design exclusively available from Alexander Marchant.

Branch 5ft Entrance Handle by Philip Watts Design exclusively from Alexander Marchant.

PRIDE & PURPOSE

Citizen Potawatomi artist Stuart Sampson on his craft and artistic style

BY VALENTINA GUTIÉRREZ

From the Howell Gallery in Oklahoma City to prestigious events such as the Red Earth Art Market and Santa Fe Indian Market, the striking portraits created by Stuart Sampson continue to draw eyes and praise. The Edmond artist spoke with us about subjects spanning the influence of his heritage, his appreciation for wood as a painter’s medium and his desire to further the stories of the past.

How has your heritage as a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation influenced your artistic style and subject matter?

Being a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation is something I take great pride in. From an early age I was exposed to my family culture by my grandfather; he was very proud of his cultural background, and in turn, he wanted to convey the importance of passing down this knowledge. I was always curious about the great leaders of tribes and the rich cultural traditions of Indigenous people. My artistic style and subject matter are heavily influenced by my childhood thanks to my grandfather.

Can you describe your process and the techniques you use when painting on wood panels, and what draws you to this particular medium?

I am a self-taught artist, so much of my process is trial and error. I have always preferred wood because of the natural texture it offers and its ability to be versatile. Whether I am using wood stain or paint, I always have the flexibility to make decisions on the fly — something I cannot do with canvas. I also enjoy creating 3-dimensional art out of wood, where I use wood blocks and dowel rods to establish the background while cutting out the painted figure from wood to add extra dimension. I have always thought the wood is a unique aspect that sets my style apart from other artists.

Your use of bright planes of color and monochromatic backgrounds is also quite distinctive. What inspires your color choices, and how do you decide on the color palette for each portrait?

Color is something I struggled with early on as an artist. I was always second-guessing myself and I was always my harshest critic. Over time I began to feel more comfortable with color, and it is almost second nature when choosing my palette. I tend to use strong contrast in order to grab the viewer’s attention or convey a certain feeling. Sometimes I use a more graphic style with bright colors, and other pieces I tend to stick to a more realistic palette — it all depends on the piece and seems to change quite often.

You paint a diverse array of subjects, from Native American faces to athletes and actors. How do you choose your subjects, and what do you aim to convey through their portraits?

The beautiful aspect of art is the viewer will interpret the painting in their own way. When choosing a subject for a portrait, I always try to select an image that is interesting or someone who the viewer can connect with. I am always on the lookout for figures to paint, and many times I may wait long periods of time before I select the image … On the flip side, I may come across something and know immediately where I want to take the piece.

How do you balance cultural representation with artistic expression?

Working mostly from photographs that are often over 100 years old, my goal has always been to bring new life to these images in a more contemporary way, in the hopes they may inspire the next generation of collectors or even artists to further the stories of the past. I always try and respect the subject I am painting, being mindful of the tribe and traditions of the individual. It can be tricky when adding contemporary elements, but it is all about furthering the stories of the past in my eyes.

Who are some of the artists or cultural figures that have inspired your work?

My favorite artist has always been T.C. Cannon. His contemporary take on Native art had a huge impact on my style and interest in art early on. While I admire many artists, I try not to be influenced by the style or subject matter of another artist. Local artists such as Dylan Calvin, Billy Hensley and Bryan Waytula have all been helpful in terms of helping me navigate the local art scenes, and their input has been priceless.

Having shown your work at prestigious venues like the Santa Fe Indian Market, Cherokee Art Market and Red Earth Art Market, how have these experiences influenced your career and artistic development?

When I was first getting started as an artist, I began painting solely for myself with no intention of selling anything. Soon after having built an inventory, I decided to apply for the Red Earth Art Market. I can remember being extremely nervous before the show, not knowing what to expect and not knowing how my work would be received. It ended up being the best decision I could have made for my artistic journey. It gave me the confidence I could be a respected artist, while doing something I am so passionate about. These festivals are filled with so many great representations of Native culture and I am truly honored to be included in these events.

Are there any upcoming projects or themes you are particularly excited about exploring in your future work? How do you see your art evolving in the coming years?

My latest body of work explores combining themes from different eras of time, [such as] an Indigenous figure from the turn of the century paired with themes of modern days. My newest work looks to add a contemporary aspect to traditional Native art. As a self-taught artist I would have never dreamed I would be where I am today. My journey as an artist has been completely organic and while my style may evolve over time, my love for painting and creating will remain the same.

POWER IN SIMPLICITY

Cherokee singer/songwriter Ken Pomeroy is doing it for the music

BY ALICIA CHESSER PHOTOGRAPHY BY STERLIN HARJO

It’s one of those voices that takes your breath away.

Visit Ken Pomeroy’s social media as she tours the U.S. this summer with John Moreland and Iron & Wine, and you’ll see new fans chiming in with awestruck tributes to her resonant Americana sound. But even though she’s only 21, Pomeroy’s not new to moving folks to tears. The Cherokee singer/songwriter started making music when she was 9. And Oklahoma audiences have known for years that something special is happening whenever she takes the stage.

Artist Ken Pomeroy

“I was naive to simplicity in the beginning. As I have continued writing, my main goal is to get my point across in the fewest words.”

KEN POMEROY

“It’s sort of undeniable when you hear her,” says Sterlin Harjo, who featured her song “Cicadas” in Season 3 of “ Reservation Dogs.” “I just have a feeling that Ken’s got a big future ahead of her in music. She’s unique, and she’s also for real. You can tell she’s doing it for the music. And whenever you’re doing it like that, there’s nothing that stops you.”

Now, with a new album in the works and listeners nationwide beginning to take notice, Pomeroy is navigating a bigger landscape, both in her career and in her songwriting—while still drawing from inspiration close to home.

“I had such a lucky, music-filled upbringing,” she says. Her father, who was in a band himself, regularly brought her to hear music at his Moore venue The Shop at Skippy’s, immersing her in the sounds of Carter Sampson, John Calvin Abney and Kyle Reid in her pre-teen years. But her musical ear started getting tuned even earlier than that.

“I got introduced to John Denver when I was 6,” Pomeroy remembers. “I was so infatuated by how he would sing and paint pictures with his words. ‘Leaving on a Jet Plane’ was the song I was obsessed with as a kid. My mom Wendy actually burned a CD with that song on it 18 times—the only song on the CD, playing over and over. I would listen to it to go to sleep for years. I like to say John Denver is the reason I play music. It sparked something in me very young.”

From those beginnings, Pomeroy quickly found a voice of her own—one that draws comparisons to Gillian Welch and Phoebe Bridgers, but really sounds like her and her alone. As a teenager, she performed at events like the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival and Folk Alliance International, received the Rising Star award from the Songwriters Association of Norman, won the first-ever Jimmy LaFave songwriting contest and released an EP and then a full album, 2018’s Hallways, on Horton Records.

That vigorous start has mellowed into a deeper kind of energy. With 2021’s Christmas Lights in April, Pomeroy’s songs—always thoughtful, heartfelt, melodically unexpected and preternaturally mature—expanded into an ease and breadth that made space for

her powerful voice to range like a river. “I was naive to simplicity in the beginning,” she says of her early songwriting. “As I have continued writing, my main goal is to get my point across in the fewest words.” Like a watercolor sketch, the lyrical gestures in songs like “Joan” and “Flannel Cowboy” speak volumes with a single sweep. Her mesmerizing finger-picked guitar and her voice— which can go from under-her-breath to mountain-shaking in a split second—do the rest.

From Samantha Crain to Medicine Horse, Oklahoma’s Indigenous musicians have gained much-deserved national attention in recent years. Pomeroy joined a number of them on Anvdvnelisgi (ᎠᏅᏛᏁᎵᏍᎩ) —a 2022 compilation of contemporary songs sung in Cherokee, which marked the first time she had sung in that language—as well as on the “ Reservation Dogs” soundtrack. “So many amazing opportunities came from having my songs on the show,” she says, including connecting with Hrishikesh Hirway (creator of the Song Exploder podcast) and landing a new manager.

And of course, going out on tour: her busy summer takes her from Minnesota to Carnegie Hall to Washington, D.C., where as a teen she once played a nine-minute tribute to Woody Guthrie at a National History Day celebration. “Touring is all of the highest highs and the lowest lows mixed into one,” she says. “I get to tour with my partner, Dakota McDaniel, who also co-produced the record we have been recording this year. Anytime times get tough while touring, we always ‘perspectivize’ and think about how getting paid to play music and see the country is pretty rad.”

The roads that will take Pomeroy home (to paraphrase John Denver) now bring her to Tulsa, where she and McDaniel relocated last year from the Oklahoma City area. “Tulsa has so much music history and a huge folk/Americana scene, which is perfect for us,” she says. And while it’s not easy being a young woman in the music industry, she’s finding her way with the same assurance she shows in her songs.

“It’s sometimes very rough. I take the high road and keep truckin’. My payback is when they ask if my partner is ‘Ken’ and I get to say, ‘Nope, that’s me’—and give them a really firm handshake.” •

FOLLOWING THE FLOW

How RIVERSPORT became an Olympic paddling destination

BY ALEXANDRA BOHANNON

On April 26 and 27, American Olympic team hopefuls flew in from around the country to participate in the U.S. team trials for Canoe/ Kayak Slalom and Kayak Cross for the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games — which took place at RIVERSPORT in Oklahoma City.

Amid all the international attention, it’s fairly easy to forget how, a little over 20 years ago, the former North Canadian River was largely just dry sandbanks in a quiet area of downtown Oklahoma City. It took a series of fortunate and seemingly serendipitous events (along with blood, sweat and tears) to make the Boathouse District an international paddling destination.

“Each one of these milestone events led us to the next step, which led us to where we are today,” says Mike Knopp, executive director of the RIVERSPORT Foundation. “We just hosted our fourth Olympic trials and we’re going to have a world championship here in 2026.”

THE RIVER YOU HAD TO MOW

While numerous long-time Oklahoma City residents remember the river’s derelict days, there aren’t many remaining who directly remember its former heyday just over a century ago.

According to The Oklahoman, the river was popular in the early 20th century, offering attractions like the Delmar Gardens amusement park, trails, baseball fields, even a zoo. However, the frequent flooding along the river’s banks largely killed those development efforts.

After OKC officials used bond money to purchase land on either side of the river for flood control, the Army Corps of Engineers straightened the river in the 1950s to aid with water management efforts. The effort was a success … and removed most of the water from the river. The trails, industries and recreational development dried up like the river bank and sat largely vacant for decades. As Knopp puts it, “the joke is we mowed it — the river that we mowed two to three times a year.”

Fast-forward to the 1990s. The original MAPS project was underway, and taxpayer money was earmarked for installing well-water dams, returning outdoor trails and landscaping around the river.

When Knopp, then an assistant district attorney for Oklahoma County, heard of MAPS, his interest was piqued. A former collegiate rower, Knopp would go on jogs at the riverbank and consider its potential as a rowing destination.

“[The river] was totally straight in this section that happened to be over 2,000 meters long,” says Knopp, highlighting the standard distance of most rowing races. “And as a guy that knew the sport, I knew this could be really something special.”

Knopp quickly got involved in the Riverfront Redevelopment Authority meetings, working with Ray Ackerman, who was a major believer in the river. Knopp convinced Ackerman that the river really needed a boathouse and that the community needed rowing programming.

“The story I always like to share is that it rained just enough the night before [the MAPS] groundbreaking that I was able to get to friends of mine and some new rowers, and we put boats on the river,” recalls Knopp.

“It was like a light went on for people to see: This is what an active riverfront would look like.”

The North Canadian River looking to the northwest before its transformation into the current-day Oklahoma River

Rowing lanes in the Oklahoma River looking east.

BUILDING THE FOUNDATION

The next few years were a whirlwind of activity for Knopp and his growing paddlesports community. While he and volunteers brought collegiate rowing to OCU in 2000, it wasn’t until 2004 that former Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon gave the seed money for the Chesapeake Boathouse to be built on the newly renamed Oklahoma River.

The first annual OCU Head of the Oklahoma Regatta was also that year, attracting over 15,000 attendees and bringing national attention from rowers and water sport enthusiasts. Knopp jumped ship from his life as general counsel for the FAA to founding the Oklahoma City Boathouse Foundation (now known as the RIVERSPORT Foundation) to help manage the boathouse and rowing programming as its executive director.

But it wasn’t until 2006 that Knopp and the Oklahoma City Boathouse Foundation team got international and Olympic attention by “basically inventing night racing” after hosting the first-ever lighted rowing regatta with OGE Night Sprints. The river was illuminated by installing temporary stadium lights at the river, allowing racing to happen at night — which was unheard-of at the time.

With the world’s eye on Oklahoma City, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee selected the Oklahoma River and the soonto-be-called Boathouse District as the site for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials in Canoe/Kayak. RIVERSPORT earned an official designation as a U.S. Olympic and Paralympic training site in 2009, one of nine in the U.S. and the only river to receive the distinction.

GOING FOR THE GOLD

After the Olympic designation, the RIVERSPORT team didn’t rest on its laurels — it was time to keep innovating.

“When we want people to think about Oklahoma City and the sport of rowing and canoe/kayak, we want them to also think about innovation and how we help propel the sport forward with new ideas,” says Knopp.

This led to the Oklahoma River receiving permanent stadium lighting as part of MAPS 3 funding. Then, Knopp suggested adding a whitewater venue to the Boathouse District’s offerings.

“Again, people thought I was crazy,” he says, but “We had a perfect opportunity. We’d be one of the few places in the world to have both a flat water venue and a whitewater venue side-by-side.”

After successfully hosting the 2012 U.S. canoe/kayak team trials, Knopp continued to build his relationship with the International Canoe Federation (ICF). So when the RIVERSPORT Rapids opened in 2016, it was only natural that Oklahoma City would play host to the Road to Rio paddling exhibition and the second round of the U.S. Olympic Team trials for whitewater Canoe/Kayak Slalom.

2020 would’ve marked RIVERSPORT hosting both rounds of trials for Canoe/Kayak Slalom, had the pandemic not caused a reschedule and relocation of the trials. But Knopp and the team were more than ready for the 2024 trials, which RIVERSPORT received for Canoe/Kayak Slalom and Kayak Cross, debuting this year at the Paris Olympics.

AN INTERNATIONAL STAGE

The Head of the Oklahoma, the race that started it all, celebrates its 20th anniversary Oct. 5-6. And this is a milestone year for more reasons than just this.

“It’s taken 20 years, but now the fact that US Rowing decided to combine their two big summer national championship events into one and host it in one location in Oklahoma City, because they want to show the whole country Oklahoma City, is a pretty big statement,” says Knopp.

And these world-class events garner the attention of not just athletes and sporting enthusiasts, but trade groups and industry leaders as well. The Paddlesports Trade Coalition is hosting its first annual industry trade show and meeting in Oklahoma Sept. 3-6.

“OKC is a very welcoming place; never heard a bad word,” says Jeff Turner, executive director of the Paddlesports Trade Coalition. Turner explained that the PTC is hoping to make Oklahoma City the home of its annual meeting for the next five years and that he “hoped that OKC continues its commitment to paddling.”

That wish seems all but certain, as 2025 brings the Canoe Slalom and Sprint Super Cups to OKC, and in 2026, RIVERSPORT plays host to the ICF’s Canoe Slalom World Championships. The next few years seem bright with opportunities for RIVERSPORT.

“I mean, when you’re on the rapids, and you’re getting ready to go down the channel, you’re looking at our downtown skyline,” says Knopp. “It’s just such a unique site for people that are involved recreationally and in paddlesports.” •

Spectators wanting to cheer on the athletes who qualified for the U.S. Teams at RIVERSPORT can watch the Paris Olympics starting July 27. To see upcoming RIVERSPORT events or plan an excursion, visit riversportokc.org.

RIVERSPORT Rapids sits adjacent to the Oklahoma River with downtown OKC setting the stage.

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Artist Leigh Hetherington

COMEBACK SONG

Leigh Hetherington’s voice carries her through tough times

BY MICHAEL KINNEY

Leigh Hetherington didn’t even know it was a job. In all her years of working almost every type of task in the entertainment industry, the idea of being a funeral singer had never crossed her mind.

But in 2015, Hetherington was a divorced mother of a then 7-year-old daughter, selling funeral arrangements for a mortuary during the day while also working part-time as a waitress. Her dreams of being a country singer were a distant blur and had been replaced by the arduous reality of living paycheck to paycheck.

So when Hetherington saw that the mortuary paid $200 for a funeral singer, she didn’t hesitate to go for it.

“‘I’m really a singer. I’ve been a singer my whole life. I’ve performed on Broadway in a Broadway show. I performed professionally,’” Hetherington told the mortuary director. “‘I’m really a singer. Could I come and audition for your mortuary to try to start doing this work with you?’ She said, ‘Absolutely.’ So I went and sang for them and they loved what I brought in and what I sang. And I ended up creating from that a funeral singing business in Los Angeles, where I was living at the time.”

If that entire scenario sounds like the makings of a Hallmark Channel movie, it’s because Hetherington’s life has played out like one. Raised in Edmond, she has seemingly endured it all only to bounce back and keep her dreams of a musical career alive.

Now, as Hetherington is on the verge of seeing everything she has worked for come true, she looks back on those painful days and is thankful she had the strength to get through them.

“When you’re going through a lot of trauma, you know you’re going through it, you feel it,” Hetherington says. “It’s devastating. I had many nights throughout my years of that chapter being a single mother, working numerous jobs, doing everything I could just to support us and keep our boat afloat. You definitely know you’re going through tough times when you’re going through tough times. Can’t tell you how many nights I had on my knees crying and praying to God and asking for just guidance and protection and help. I’m grateful that I have faith in my life, that I can surrender to that and I can trust in that, because sometimes you really are standing on the edge of the cliff; times are too tough and it seems almost too much to bear or take on.”

In January, Hetherington released her debut country album, Gospel of the Underdog. She said it is about “rising from the ashes to new beginnings, honoring your roots and being brave enough to leave tough stuff behind while looking ahead and stepping forward with hope and faith.”

The songs on the album are Hetherington’s life stories as a single mother who went through a difficult marriage and divorce, and came out on the other side a new person.

“It felt like something I just needed to do and had to do,” Hetherington says. “I wanted to share my life philosophies with my daughter. I wanted her to know about my stories in this way, through songs and music. A lot of it I did for her. Many of the songs I wrote for her as well. That was an inspiration and a motivation for me in making this album. I just felt so compelled to share my stories.”

She also used the task of creating the album as a form of emotional and spiritual self-therapy.

“It felt like a healing process for me to write them and produce them with my incredible producer (Dustin Kirkendall),” Hetherington says. “It was just a journey I knew I had to go through and I wanted to go through. I have so many other songs I’ve written that I cannot wait to release and share singles, but this body of music as an album, it just felt like real closure for me on a chapter of my life that was really tough — a long, but joy-filled chapter that just really made me the woman and the mother and the artist that I am. It felt like a real statement piece for me in that way.”

Hetherington’s life story has its share of ups and downs, from being a student co-anchor on “Good Morning Oklahoma” with actor James Marsden to being homeless to performing in RENT on Broadway with Neil Patrick Harris. That doesn’t even include being the first person hired to sing the international TV/radio jingle for the McDonald’s “I’m Loving It” campaign … while she was living out of her car.

Hetherington doesn’t go into great detail surrounding her marriage and the factors that led to the subsequent divorce in 2010.  But she said when her husband left her, it didn’t necessarily make her life any easier. It included four custody battles, being strapped for cash and working a series of odd jobs that she thought had nothing to do with chasing her dreams, including being a waitress and singing classic jazz standards for Alzheimer’s patients.

“You never get married thinking you’re going to get divorced, and you never become a parent thinking you’re going to be a single parent,” she says. “I went through a lot of really tough financial times through this whole time period. I had a tough co-parenting situation for a while.”

One of Hetherington’s saving graces during the difficult days was her ability to write songs. It allowed her to build up a reservoir of music that she would be able to call upon the day when opportunity would come knocking, which she never doubted would happen.

These days Hetherington can be found in Franklin, Tennessee, which is right outside Nashville. She continues to work on her music while also raising her daughter. Her dreams have grown to include performing at the Grand Ole Opry, performing a one-woman show she wrote, touring full-time and sharing her original music and stories with everyone.

“I could have never imagined this,” Hetherington says. “Thank goodness we don’t know [what’s going to happen] or we might not go on the whole adventure.” •

In January, Hetherington released her debut country album, Gospel of the Underdog.

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THE BOLEY RODEO RIDES HIGH

Where the legacy of the Black cowboy lives on

BY ANDREA SCHULTZ PHOTOGRAPHY BY RYAN “FIVISH” CASS

The annual Boley rodeo is an event where art, identity, culture and community intersect. The town of Boley, Oklahoma, is one of the only remaining allBlack townships and is home to the nation’s oldest community-based rodeos.

Hosted every year on Memorial Day weekend, this event is described by Jakian Parks as “one big family reunion.”

“I hope people are more aware of the importance of this Black town in Oklahoma. I hope it shows people the legacy of these cowboys and the hard work they put in to compete in the rodeo. You have to have dedication to be able to compete in a rodeo like this,” says Parks, founder and CEO of Oklahoma Cowboys.

According to the Oklahoma Historical Society, Boley was described as “the most enterprising and in many ways the most interesting of the Negro towns in the United States” by Booker T. Washington in 1905. Black townships have been slowly disappearing over the years, but events like the Boley rodeo have kept the legacy and unique history of Oklahoma towns like these alive.

To help promote this year’s rodeo, organizers behind the Oklahoma Cowboys and BlackSpace Oklahoma invited 40 community leaders from Oklahoma City to join them on a “Boley Rodeo Road Trip” to help expose more people to the Black cowboy lifestyle and culture.

“I’m excited that the world is tuned in right now. Events like these are critical to support rural communities,” says Vanessa Morrison with BlackSpace Oklahoma. “Over recent years with the centennial of the Tulsa Race Massacre, the Oklahoma Cowboys walking in the Louis Vuitton show at Paris Fashion Week and Beyonce releasing her new album Cowboy Carter — they’ve all brought new attention to Black southern lives, and have really catalyzed this year’s rodeo.”

The rodeo is a central part of the Black experience in Oklahoma. “Our goal is to keep people connected to help inspire and resource communities like these, to be able to support them beyond just the rodeo moment,” Morrison says. “These towns are working with little to zero resources, sometimes with no paid staff to keep them going. We are here to help better understand the context, to help support those who are doing so much with so little. We want to know how policy makers can better support those who have been left in the margins. We are aiming to provide hope.”

“The Boley Rodeo is one big family reunion.”

JAKIAN PARKS

This year, organizers of the Boley Rodeo upgraded the wornout bleachers, concession stand, bullpens and announcer stand, and enlarged the arena by 50 feet in preparation for the expected influx of new attendees.

“The exposure is major this year,” says Morrison.

The weekend’s activities included a huge parade, car show, food trucks, an art installation by artist collective A Creative House and a star-studded concert line-up featuring country dance artist Electro Horse, Taylor Deneen from Season 24 of NBC’s “The Voice” and Willie Jones, a country artist featured on Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter album.

Together, these elements create an authentic, inclusive and intentional community experience unique to the Boley Rodeo.

Right outside the arena, the A Creative House team built a shoppable pop-up skeleton barn installation and lounge space that was inspired by luxury retail and performance art. Rebekah Danae and Alexander Tamahn were the co-collaborators on this installation, which featured additional works by artists Swan, Icky and Starboy Uni, who all produced handmade wearable art objects.

Regarding the influence for this collaboration, Tamahn says, “One of my first rodeo experiences was in Chicago at a Bill Pickett Invitational in the ’90s. There is this photo of me wearing a cowboy hat, boots and a track suit — this mismatched aesthetic feels so honest and true to my identity. When I think of Black rodeos, I think of the convergence of Black culture.

“Art and culture in places like Boley and historically Black spaces are almost a phenomenon in and of themselves because of their intersectionality in ways that are seemingly hybrid. There is hip-

hop, and streetwear, and there’s like an urban flair, but then it is very authentically infused with country and western aesthetics.”

Originally from Fort Worth, Texas, Tamahn reflects on the concept of self-expression and identity. “I love country, but I also love high fashion, and those are two things that you don’t necessarily associate, so embodying this has been a journey for myself. It comes out in these types of opportunities where I can really naturally bring them together.”

The idea of bringing an art installation like this to a rodeo circuit has been one that Jakian Parks and Rebekah Danae have discussed over the past few years, and with the growth of the rodeo this year, Parks thought that “Boley is the perfect place to begin.”

Danae comments, “I’m grateful that Karen Ekuban, who leads the Project 2020 Foundation, was open and supportive of bringing something new like this to a space like the Boley Rodeo.”

The increased passion to bring awareness to the rodeo this year helped attract an audience from all over Oklahoma, as well as New York City, Philadelphia and Atlanta.

“Everyone is going to feel like they know each other by the end of the event.”

Parks reflects on the conversation he had with the mayor of Boley, Dr. Francis Shelton, saying, “I see her vision and motivation to keep this town alive. When you come to the rodeo, you feel welcomed by the people of Boley. It is one big celebration — you’re coming down to hang out with your kinfolk.”

Today, 121 years after its town’s founding, the Boley Rodeo continues to show us the ropes on how communities can not only survive, but thrive. •

To learn how to continue to support the town of Boley, find it on social media @boleyoklahoma. Follow the journey of collaborators on Instagram at @oklahomacowboys, @blackspaceok and @a.creative.house.

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Costume worn by Betty Hutton as Pearl White in the Paramount Pictures production of 'The Perils of Pauline', 1947. Designed by Edith Head. Collection of Motion Picture Costume Design: Larry McQueen

LIGHTS, CAMERA, LIFTOFF

Tulsa Film Collective reignites to foster local cinema

BY ALICIA CHESSER

From the days when Francis Ford Coppola was shooting The Outsiders and Rumble Fish on the Tulsa streets to the recent game-changing phenomenon of “Reservation Dogs,” film has been a uniquely powerful force here. But never has there been so much excitement about film in this city as there is right now. If the Tulsa Film Collective (tulsafilmcollective.org) has anything to say about it — and it does — that kind of energy is about to become the norm rather than the exception.

“Do you guys know how lucky you are to live here? This is a badass place.”

ETHAN HAWKE

Founded in 2018 with the aim of creating a platform that would showcase local films and build a network of support for creators, TFC is relaunching this year with a slate of community screening events, plus plans for mentorship programs and microgrants to support local filmmakers. The new collective sees original members Sterlin Harjo, Charles Elmore and Jessica McEver joined by Shagah Zakerion, who brings decades of experience in nonprofit development and public relations to the team.

“Given the evolving film landscape and the success of ‘Reservation Dogs,’ which is a prime example of what is possible with the right formula of local, homegrown efforts, the time felt absolutely right to reignite this initiative,” Zakerion says. It’s clear that film lovers in Tulsa agree. They showed up in droves to TFC’s late-April launch event, dubbed The Big Night — a night that turned out to be a perfect instance of the magic that can happen at the intersection of cinema and community.

As you might expect from a collective of storytellers, how The Big Night happened is a story in itself. For several weeks this past spring, the Tulsa-based production team for Harjo’s new FX series “The Sensitive Kind,” which stars Ethan Hawke, had been everywhere here, often shooting into the small hours of the night. The team bought out space at a Pearl District bar, spent a day filming at Magic City Books and purchased props from Buck’s Vintage on 66. And, since Hawke happened to be in town, TFC grabbed the opportunity to bring him to Circle Cinema for a pre-release screening of his new Flannery O’Connor film Wildcat.

The Big Night screening — a fundraiser for TFC, featuring a custom brew from Heirloom Rustic Ales, cheekily named “A Good Beer Is Hard to Find” — promptly sold out two theaters at Tulsa’s iconic independent movie house. After the film, wearing a Crazy Eagle Media cap and a custom beaded bolo, Hawke invited the overflow crowd into the main screening room for a 30-minute conversation that ranged from how he and Harjo met (“our love affair,” they called it), to their work together on “Reservation Dogs,” to the importance of telling honest, place-based stories that respect and reflect the communities they come from.

Needless to say, Tulsa was thrilled to spend some quality time with Hawke, and he returned the love. “Do you guys know how lucky you are to live here?” he said. “This is a badass place.”

For TFC, championing cinema literacy through screenings and discussions like this goes hand in hand with bringing emerging local artists what they need to grow, especially as film becomes big business here. “Over the years, we’ve witnessed growth in the infrastructure supporting filmmaking in Oklahoma, from more sophisticated production facilities to an increase in funding from a statewide incentives program,” says Harjo, who’s been making films here for over a decade. “More widely, there is recognition that this industry is a powerhouse of economic mobility. These developments have created new opportunities for filmmakers to tell diverse stories from our backyard and learn how special a place Tulsa is.”

But there are gaps in the web, particularly when it comes to resources for young filmmakers. “It’s one thing to study film theory or production techniques in a classroom, but the nuances of managing a live set, solving real-time problems and creating within a budget are learned best through direct experience,” says Elmore. Providing those handson opportunities is a TFC priority — as is nourishing the collaborative, community-oriented ethos that already sets Tulsa apart from larger markets. Far from being in competition, “filmmakers here are eager to support each other and are unified in their desire to elevate the city’s narrative,” he explains.

Harnessing the energy of the moment in Tulsa’s larger arts renaissance, and inspired in part by what Richard Linklater achieved with the Austin Film Society, TFC aims to provide what Harjo calls “a road map” for navigating the film industry and a deeper appreciation for the art form throughout the community. “Our ultimate goal,” says McEver, “is to establish a self-sustaining ecosystem in Tulsa that not only supports local filmmakers but also attracts talent from across the country, positioning Tulsa as a key hub in the American film industry.”

:

“Tulsa’s got a good ring to it,” Harjo says. “I think that’s why there are a lot of songs with the word ‘Tulsa’ in the title. There’s a bit of mystery, there’s a bit of darkness, there’s a bit of love, there’s a bit of light, there’s a bit of magic. And I think that it makes for a really great place for film to be incubated and supported.” •

ABOVE:

Ethan Hawke gives Tulsa a thumbs-up at the pre-release screening of Wildcat at Tulsa’s Circle Cinema.

OPPOSITE

From left to right: Shagah Zakerion, Jessica McEver, Ethan Hawke, Charles Elmore and Sterlin Harjo at Circle Cinema for the pre-release screening of Hawke’s new film Wildcat by Flannery O’Connor.

DENTISTRY REIMAGINEDTM

Perfecting the Patient Experience

Reinventing dental care doesn’t mean doing things the easy way. It means doing things the right way. Earning our patients’ trust is a journey, privilege, and the foundation for everything we do.

BRYAN SORGEN, DDS

‘IT’S NOT A DYE

HOUSE,

IT’S A DYE HOME’

Meet Micah John, the one-man show behind Zeal Clothing Co.

BY ANDREA SCHULTZ PHOTOGRAPHY BY RYAN “FIVISH” CASS

From collaborating with brands like Mountain Dew, earning Instagram shout-outs from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and having artists such as Chandler Moore wearing full Zeal outfits on tour, Micah John has amassed a staunch and growing following in Oklahoma and beyond.

John launched Zeal Clothing Co. in 2017, finally realizing a dream he’s had since childhood. “It was accepted really well,” says John. “My initial designs started more experimental, making what I could with limited resources.” The intentionality behind John’s designs struck a chord with the local fashion community, and began to gain attention from larger audiences.

Zeal Clothing Co. founder Micah John

In 2019, John was working at 1032 Space in Oklahoma City when the store received a call from a Mountain Dew representative wanting to partner on an upcoming campaign called “Dew Time Off.” This phone call resulted in a Zeal x Mountain Dew collaboration and a video shoot with Russell Westbrook, who took John’s place at the shop for the day to give him “due time off” to focus on his clothing brand, Zeal.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, a weekend back in his hometown of Hillsboro, Missouri, turned into an extended two-month stay. Having this space proved to be significant for the trajectory of the brand, because it was during this window that John created three collections that have rolled out since, plus even more yet to be released. These unforeseen life circumstances resulted in John eventually relocating to Tulsa to focus on Zeal full-time. It was the push he needed to finally make the jump.

In 2021, an email from Rolling Stone found itself in the Zeal inbox, requesting product for an upcoming photoshoot. Out of all of the racks filled with pieces curated by the magazine’s team of stylists, rapper Isaiah Rashad had picked one of Zeal’s latest hoodies to wear in his video trailer of “The House Is Burning Experience” that came out in August of 2021.

Even though Zeal pieces have been worn by a strong cast of fashion characters, John is still most inspired by the emails or direct messages from those who have a connection to his pieces in a meaningful way. “It could be anyone from a 13- or 30-year-old reaching out to tell me to keep going that really amps me up.”

“We are all just putting out by-products of who we are.”

MICAH JOHN

PARTS OF THE PROCESS

“Design is just color, shape and space,” John says. “Color is one of my favorite ways to experiment with design. Most of the time earth tones describe neutral colors, but the earth is very colorful. I have found a color palette that is inspired by nature, and see these as ‘earth tones.’”

Many of the Zeal gradient dyes are named “Oklahoma sunsets.” Handdyed by John in his backyard, they’re the results of a process he has developed that is hard to replicate.

And even though there are elements of text and shape incorporated throughout his collections, he emphasizes how blank garments can still connect with people through the coloring: “You don’t always need text or shape to convey a strong message.”

Durability is also a design factor. John says, “Recently I was at a thrift store and saw a hoodie that had a glitter print that you could tell had aged over time and looked so cool. Many brands purposely distress pieces to recreate that kind of age and wear in their new designs, but I want to focus on creating pieces that are of high quality so it will last over the next 30 years.”

These elements have become core to the brand identity of Zeal. The purpose behind each capsule collection remains relevant regardless of what may or may not be trending at the moment. “Tie dye has been in and out of style, and certain colors too.”

Staying true to the integrity of the brand also results in the pieces resonating with those who are drawn to the designs naturally.

“We are all just putting out by-products of who we are,” he says.

After a surge of growth, releasing collections almost every month in 2022, John took a step back in 2023 to navigate the wave of creative burnout that was bound to come with this level of output.

“I want to keep doing some aspect of clothing, photography and collaborations forever,” he says. “This has been my dream since I was a kid, so it was difficult to take a break.”

John has been making his return based on authentic inspiration and creative conviction, releasing his most recent collection titled “Shadow Chapel” in April of 2024. By taking time to relieve the pressure to constantly be producing creative work, he has gained renewed clarity to keep pushing Zeal forward. Only this time, he’s moving according to a timeline that is sustainable for both him and the brand in the long run.

“I’m still staining my hands with dye, sewing on tags and screen printing in the garage,” John says. Being a one-man show, he pours himself into each aspect of every design, and that energy comes through to the buyer.

As John would say, “When you’re Zeal, you’re family.” Be on the lookout for more exciting collaborations and new collections coming soon. •

To follow John’s journey through Zeal, follow him on Instagram @zealclothing.co or shop online at zealclothing.co.

REGIER COX & ASSOCIATES

Founded in 1996, Regier Cox and Associates is a public accounting firm comprised of approximately twenty professionals from various backgrounds who bring a wealth of knowledge and experience from public accounting and other professions. Our firm provides tax compliance and planning services, in addition to bookkeeping, compilations, reviews, and other attestation projects. We strive to provide personalized services with the highest level of quality to our clients.

THE POWER OF THE PAGE

Bestselling author Scarlett St. Clair turns reading into community building

BY ALEXANDRA BOHANNON

Lines out the door, a global premiere, attendees in costume as their favorite characters. Are we talking about Comic-Con? A blockbuster superhero movie? No, this is another successful book tour for Oklahoma City-based romance and fantasy author Scarlett St. Clair.

St. Clair’s latest book, A Touch of Chaos, is the final installment in her romantasy series reimagining the story of Hades and Persephone, and broke through just about every bestseller’s list when it debuted — New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, The Globe — plus it’s topping physical and digital lists for retailers like Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Apple Books and Kindle.

But St. Clair doesn’t measure success based on bestseller charts. She said what truly matters to her is that, for many of her fans, her books got them back into reading.

Author Scarlett St. Clair

St. Clair (the author’s nom de plume) said her first foray into selfpublishing under her given name in 2014 wasn’t all she had hoped. After introspection on her first publication effort and becoming a librarian at Pioneer Library in Oklahoma City, she changed her approach to publishing her work. Her time at the library taught her how readers approach a written work and how they search for information.

“I knew friends only read what their friends were reading. And I think in my head I was like, ‘How do you cultivate that? How do you ensure people are recommending your books to their friends?’” says St. Clair.

“Part of that to me is feeling like I know that author or feeling like I understand those characters. So, I did whatever I could do to illustrate, ‘We have this connection. We’re not alone.’”

THE POWER OF MYTH

So after deciding to change her approach and selecting Scarlett as her pen name — one of the names her mother had picked out for her as an infant — she began working on her first book as Scarlett in 2018. This time her aim was to build connections with her readers, and build a community after it was published. After she found more success with her first book under her new name, her next effort was a modernization and retelling of the Greek myth of Hades and Persephone.

As a former English Writing major at the University of Oklahoma, St. Clair had read many Greek epics and found them fascinating. One reason for the interest was the fact that, despite these myths being written thousands of years ago, humanity largely doesn’t change — making retellings all the more important and poignant. And with her Hades x Persephone series, St. Clair joins a wave of reimaginings and retellings that have captured the cultural consciousness in the past decade across mediums such as books, musicals, comics and video games.

When asked why she selected the myth of Hades and Persephone, she muses, “I always wanted [the myth] to be a love story — knowing it wasn’t, but I wanted it to be for the women involved. And I think that’s why it’s so nice to retell it, because that’s a point of power for the women who were silenced consistently in the original.”

Celebrating female agency and sex positivity is a cornerstone of St. Clair’s work — and as an author creating romance novels for adults, she is no stranger to writing steamy scenes and depicting sex in her work. But in her books, St. Clair always centers on the woman’s experience when writing these moments, as an intentional act of sex positivity. St. Clair pointed to how literature can help educate women in sexually repressed cultures about unhealthy and healthy sexual dynamics.

“There’s just so many negative repercussions for not openly talking about sex. It just cultivates this fear around sex that’s more detrimental to women, in particular, than anyone else,” she says. “There’s power in women embracing sex, and I think that’s scary for society.”

By choosing to retell ancient stories that weren’t kind to women in a genre that many literary institutions have historically interpreted as lesser, St. Clair hopes to explore society’s relationship to sex, love and power, which is why she writes the way she does.

INDIE AND TRADITIONAL PUBLISHING

For her second attempt at being a professional author, St. Clair decided to set better goals for herself.

“The problem with the goals I set when I was that young is that they were too big. I think I placed the wrong value on things, like for example, The New York Times list,” she says. “What you don’t realize when you’re that young is that you feel like you need to be authenticated; you need the approval of an agent or a publisher and The New York Times. Yeah, well, none of those things are true.”

And it turns out St. Clair was right: She didn’t need a publisher or New York Times approval to have the success she wanted. With smaller goals under her belt (her first 50 reviews on Amazon, her first fan art, 100 Kindle highlights), she self-published her first book in the Hades x Persephone saga, A Touch of Darkness, in May of 2019 while still working full-time at the library, and it had a great reception with her growing reader base.

After working on additional books and publishing A Touch of Ruin in 2020, she realized she could “take a chance” on herself and be a self-published author full-time with what she was making. She quit her job at the library, even though publishing community members told her that it was impossible to earn a substantial income from what she was doing.

Those naysayers were also proven wrong, after she published A Touch of Malice in 2021. This was the turning point for St. Clair who, though she didn’t know it, was blowing up on TikTok when users started recommending her books as part of the BookTok community.

“I started to notice right about when Malice was coming out that my physical book sales exceeded my ebook sales, which is unheard of in the indie space, as you’re usually heavily ebook. Then my book started getting into Barnes & Noble stores,” says St. Clair.

After visiting various Barnes & Noble locations in Oklahoma and across the country to sign their book stock (which all sold out fairly quickly), she visited the B&N location at The Grove in Los Angeles. This fateful visit led to a meeting with leadership at a Sourcebooks imprint named Bloom Books — the publisher behind Fifty Shades of Grey. St. Clair recalled the meeting with the leadership at Bloom fondly.

“The first thing I told them when we got on the phone was I wanted to take over the world, and they didn’t laugh at me,” St. Clair says. “They said they wanted it too, and said, ‘Here’s all your opportunity.’”

TAKING OVER THE WORLD

It turns out the idea of “taking over the world” for St. Clair wasn’t all that farfetched. A whirlwind few years later, her books are published in 18 languages, she has international book signing events and her creations have conquered almost every bestselling chart.

But even as her success has become apparent, St. Clair still emphasized how much the power of connection means to her. Her book signing events often take hours due to making a personal moment with every one of her hundreds of readers in line.

In these lines, she hears personal stories about how her books have changed her readers’ lives. St. Clair hears their stories and shares her own stories of triumphs, traumas and tears.

And as much as her readers give their support for her books, St. Clair makes a point of giving back, too — generously backing the Pioneer Library System’s high school completion program and other reading programs, spontaneously fulfilling GoFundMe campaigns and maintaining her donor advised fund at the Oklahoma City Community Foundation.

“My dad said, ‘You have to help people.’ But my dad would help people with nothing,” St. Clair recalls. “And now that I have something, if I don’t help people with it, what’s the point?”

St. Clair had set herself a goal of being a famous author when she read Lord of the Rings for the first time at 13. Now that she’s achieved that dream it’s her community that sustains and empowers her to keep sharing her art. •

Scarlett St. Clair’s next book, Apples Dipped In Gold, will be released in ebook on July 16 and trade paperback on Oct. 29. To learn more about Scarlett St. Clair or where to buy her books, visit her website at scarlettstclair.com or follow her on Instagram at @authorscarlettstclair.

St. Clair with an impressive gathering of her loyal readership

PHOTOGRAPH

BY LEXI CAMPBELL

PHOTOGRAPH

BY LEXI CAMPBELL

DOING THE JOB

Chaya Pennington’s groundbreaking career and love of community

BY GREG HORTON

By the time Robert Irvine showed up to do an episode of “Restaurant: Impossible” at Urban Roots in OKC’s Deep Deuce, Chaya and Michael Fletcher’s restaurant was roughly a year away from closing. The episode aired in 2014, and the restaurant, which opened in 2010, shuttered in 2015. It was the last Black-owned business in the historic Black neighborhood, once famous for a thriving jazz scene. In fact, Chaya’s uncle played jazz in the building, a venue with a history that goes back to the 1920s and includes performances from Count Basie, Billie Holliday and Duke Ellington, among others.

“My grandmother and mother waited tables in the building,” says Chaya, who has reassumed her birth name, Pennington. “We knew we were going in undercapitalized, but that’s what a lot of Black-owned businesses do. It was a point of pride to invest in the community, to put a Black space for Black people in a historically Black neighborhood. It was important to us to invest in our community.”

Chaya Pennington

PHOTOGRAPH BY DYLAN JOHNSON

Pennington’s bar Kindred Spirits, located at 1726 NE 23rd Street in Oklahoma City.

“I’m a third generation East Side resident. I grew up here, went to school here, raised my family here, am an educator here, own a business here. It’s a point of pride.”

CHAYA PENNINGTON

Pennington is the daughter, granddaughter, great-granddaughter, etc., of generations of educators and chefs. In her role as bar owner, restaurant professional and culinary coordinator at Metro Tech, she represents both sides in the nature vs. nurture argument — and at 45, she said she still hasn’t decided if she’s committed to a career in food.

She catered her first event at 13, helping her teacher mother who had a side gig as a party bartender. From that point on, the opportunities seemed to line up in a way that lit a path straight to hospitality. There were early jobs with two large companies wellknown at the time — Dub Adams Catering and Harry’s Gourmet To Go — but things really began to gel when Chef Kurt Fleischfresser invited her to be a part of his Coach House apprenticeship program, a structured education that eventually graduated 45 trained chefs.

“Kurt was the first person I’d call a chef who hired me, and also the first who fired me,” Pennington says. She was 19 when she joined the program, motivated to make a decision about her future by her experience at Oklahoma State University. “I was failing. I’d chosen the old hotel-restaurant management program because I had to pick a major, but I was failing out, and I didn’t enjoy school.”

Fleischfresser said he brought Pennington into the program because he was impressed with her spunk and drive. “I never had more than a few women in the program, and I was always looking for good candidates, because I believed they made the program better.”

When Fleischfresser fired her from the program — causes related to youth that many of us have experienced along the way — she was already working back of house at The Metro Wine Bar & Bistro. Pennington said she found “her people” in the back of house environment.

“Because they were educators, my family pressured me to go to school, but I felt validated in kitchens, but I still felt like I needed to do more,” she says. “(Metro owner) LaVeryl Lower and I bonded over many things, including the Wanda Jean Allen case, and that made it easier to be the first Black woman in the kitchen.”

It’s a subject that is lurking around the edges: Pennington has a list of firsts, especially first Black woman in Nichols Hills restaurant kitchens, first Black woman in the Coach House apprenticeship program, first Black woman in the kitchen at what is now A Good Egg Dining Group … and she hasn’t stopped living into the list. Wanda Jean Allen was a Black woman convicted of murder and sentenced to death in 1989. Many Oklahomans no longer remember the case, but Pennington’s maternal grandmother was part of the

statewide, grassroots anti-death penalty movement. Finding kindred spirits in kitchens made it easier to work in those spaces, especially in that time when the industry was incredibly white and male.

“The apprenticeship program still provided an education of sorts for me,” Pennington says. “I learned patience. I learned how to build and foster relationships across differences. I learned that to change a city, you have to commit to your craft and your neighborhood. There were very few chefs in Oklahoma City then, but there were people like Donna Ragozzino making dope-ass food at Terra Luna, and I wanted to do that kind of thing.”

The rest of her curriculum vitae is full of front and back of house jobs, management, catering, co-owner of Kindred Spirits, completing Platt College’s program — “because my teacher mother believed that the piece of paper is how you measure success” — and now mother to three, educator, bar owner, event organizer and an even longer list.

“I don’t regret doing what my mother wanted,” she says. “I learned things at Platt. But I believe now, and teach my students, that the best education comes from doing the job, especially with a variety of chefs who can teach you different things. I’d rather do the job every day than learn about it in school.”

Her students at Metro Tech “win whenever we show up,” as Pennington puts it. “We’ve built a strong culinary team of educators.” The students have been to FCCLA nationals three years in a row, and won multiple awards at the state competition this year. The team is solid, but Pennington’s determination and broad-based experience drive the machine. Her three sons have all worked in and around hospitality. The oldest, Mekhi, is an aspiring chef; the twins, Mason and Michael, just graduated high school, and are both headed for college.

Fleischfresser, who regularly hosted Pennington’s students when he was at Vast, says he’s proud of who she has become: “I’m amazed how she’s everywhere, doing so many things. I’m happy that I got to be a minuscule part of what she’s done for her students.”

As for her accomplishments, Pennington has a surprising list of what she’s most proud. “I’m a third generation East Side resident,” she says. “I grew up here, went to school here, raised my family here, am an educator here, own a business here. It’s a point of pride. It’s critical to invest in the community you want to be a part of, point of origin or not. I’m proud of that failed business (Urban Roots) because we go into every opportunity undercapitalized, but we do it anyway because we love our community.” •

Dr. Miles is Expanding Her Team

When you find two outstanding, like-minded individuals who have a passion for functional medicine, you build an A-Team!

PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT

Throughout the course of Audra’s practice experience, nothing has fueled her passion more for helping patients than functional medicine. She has seen first-hand the rewarding effects of combining both her conventional and functional training to bring about the long awaited answers that patients deserve.

Maggie Allen

Maggie believes wellness is a balance of identifying illness, as well as feeling good about oneself overall. Her goal is to help provide this experience every time she interacts with a patient. Her passion for functional medicine has grown, having taken a natural approach in caring for her own family.

Audra Ball

NURSE PRACTITIONER

FRESHLY BAKED MAGIC

Country Bird’s ode to the bliss of bread

BY GREG HORTON

“

Iwould do it just for the smell.” That’s Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma and co-creator of the Netflix series “Cooked,” and he’s talking about bread. Walking into Cat Cox’s bakery Country Bird at 1644 E. 3rd St. in Tulsa, it’s hard not to be reminded of Pollan’s comment because the aromas evoke a wave of positive sense memories related to baking, especially bread.

From a technical standpoint, this is the Maillard reaction — the reason why bread smells so lovely and toasty. Truthfully, all bakers are some degree of scientists, even though because many learn to bake alongside a family member or via trial and error in their own kitchen, they don’t have the process demystified until they go to culinary school or read an explanation of the process of baking.

Cox, a Tulsa native, came to baking first as a hobby and then as a profession. But not until after she left the art world, where she had created textile and fiber art, especially papers, and earned her degree at the Kansas City Art Institute. She was looking to open a studio in Marfa, Texas, after leaving a studio job in New York City. While that didn’t work out, the food service job she’d taken to pay the bills did usher her into a new-to-her world.

“I’d always loved baking as a hobby, but the process of production work resonated with me,” she says. “I love learning new things, and if I don’t feel like I’m growing, I lose interest and move on. Working with products like stone-milled flours and bread is very humbling because there is always something new to learn, something to keep me engaged.”

Rather than science being the inspiration, for Cox it was art, and then science, and then (like many who bake bread) mythology. Bread has been with us for roughly 6,000 years, and for a brief moment in the mid-20th century, we lost our collective minds and took something that worked beautifully — converting three simple ingredients into a life-sustaining product — and mechanized the baking of bread, stripping it of nutrients and its most important component, fermentation.

In that latter respect, Cox follows after her food mentors Sarah Owens and Richard Bourdon, two bakers who have been evangelists for fermentation and sourdough breads. Bourdon is the primary inspiration behind one episode — “Air” — of Pollan’s documentary series on Netflix. All agree that fermentation is key to doing bread properly, which is to say, in a way that it doesn’t negatively affect our health in ways that modern bread making has.

Country Bird owner Cat Cox serves up some freshly baked goodness to her customers.

But that’s science again. The mythology of bread is what inspires us: bread of life, bread basket, staff of life, eucharist, the Body of Christ, harvest, beginning and end and, for Cox, dust. Dust?

“I was working harvest at John’s Farm in Fairview, Oklahoma, riding a combine,” Cox says. “It was mesmerizing; ‘amber waves’ is really a thing. John (Gosney) called it ‘making dust,’ and that phrase stuck with me. The harvest kicks up so much dust, and when we grind grain, we make dust. It’s a cyclical thing; the end is the beginning, and new life comes from the death of something else in this beautiful process.”

Without the aroma and experience of freshly baked bread at a family table, convenience and “modernization” robbed us of something primal and essential, something comforting and grounding. Cox is trying to restore our faith in bread, not as a commodity, but as something unifying and nourishing.

Country Bird wars against another reality that Pollan addresses: homogenization into a least common denominator of edible. All things begin to taste more and more like the one thing, a metabread, if you will, but the meta-bread is related to Cox’s bread like a shadow is to our physical form. Country Bird features a dizzying number of options, making it impossible to leave with one thing, and everything tastes distinctly not like everything else. So many wonderful aromas are filling your head that exploration becomes the only sane option, so of course we’re buying 12 things that should last us a few days, but that we’ll mostly eat by day’s end, and then wait with growing impatience for next Saturday.

It’s true: Cox is only open on Saturdays, with an occasional Thursday thrown in like an unexpected bonus at work. Making bread is a three-day process at Country Bird that begins with

mixing on Tuesday and baking on Saturday at 3 a.m. Of course she’s only open on Saturdays. “People ask me why I’m not open more days, but with this process, there is no way to do it right if we’re open all the time,” she says.

To facilitate a program that includes dozens of breads, pastries, cookies and phenomenal egg salad, Cox relies on the skill of two full-time bakers, Abby Burton (egg salad genius) and Courtney Scwhamb (sandwich genius).

“We’re not trying to create something new,” Cox says. “We’re taking traditional pastry techniques and asking, ‘How can we make that unique to Oklahoma?’”

The short answer to her question is by working with local producers. James Beard Award nominated chef Lisa Becklund (Living Kitchen, Farm Bar, Il Seme) said she’s never worked with someone who is so committed to building relationships with local producers and thinking so hard about ingredients and flavors.

“I’ve seen her drive to the middle of nowhere to talk to farmers, to build relationships, and she’s so intentional about every ingredient,” Becklund says. “She inspired me to think more about flavors and textures.”

Cox is quick to praise Becklund, too. “She taught me ‘what grows together goes together,’” Cox says. “And that has definitely affected my three-pronged approach: ingredients from the actual producers, pairing ingredients properly and contrasting textures.” The end results are breads and pastries made with focused intentionality, love for the process, concern for sustainability and human thriving and a voracious curiosity that leads her to keep creating, experimenting and offering us brilliant and delicious baked magic. •

PHOTOGRAPH

Cox got her start in the business by teaching classes, and she still enjoys sharing the creative process with others in her workshops.

NAVIGATING NATURE’S MAJESTY

A Seabourn Pursuit trek through the Chilean fjords

WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHY BY LEIGH ANN LANE

Imagine embarking on a journey through a realm where nature’s majesty knows no bounds, and you’re enveloped in comfort and luxury as you discover what treasures the far reaches of the globe can offer. This is exactly what the Seabourn Pursuit delivered as we sailed the Chilean fjords this spring.

This magical journey from the edge of the world through the beauty of Patagonia was full of breathtaking sights and experiences. It fulfilled our wanderlust and quenched our thirst for adventure and spontaneity while we enjoyed the first-class accommodations, service and amenities that put Seabourn at the forefront of luxury expedition cruising.

OPPOSITE: The Bernal Glacier at Fiordo de las Montanas (Fjord of the Mountains)

We began our journey in the beautiful city of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and could feel its vibrant, vital energy as we walked avenues filled with stunning architecture, boutique shopping and unique dining. We explored La Recoleta Cemetery, resting place of Eva Peron and other notable historical figures of Argentinian history, then strolled the vast outdoor market for handmade goods crafted by local artisans. Authentic empanadas were on the menu at local restaurant El Sanjuanino, a short walk from the historic Alvear Palace Hotel. Designated as a member of the Leading Hotels of the World since 1993, this was our resting place for the night and included in our Seabourn experience. Buenos Aires is full of history, culinary delights and wonderful people; an extended stay here would enhance anyone’s vacation to this region.

From Buenos Aires, Seabourn privately chartered a plane to take us and the rest of the guests to Ushuaia, Argentina, to embark on our adventure. Landing among the mountains in the quaint village at what felt like the edge of the world, we knew we were just beginning to experience the wonder this trip would bring.

The Seabourn Pursuit, purposely designed to travel to some of the most remote and coveted destinations in the world, did not disappoint. With only 264 suites, and a nearly 1:1 guest to crew ratio, the ship felt intimate and opulent, with plenty of thoughtfully designed spaces to watch the world sail by. Gourmet cuisine, premium wines and spirits and artisan coffees kept us fueled and pampered. Our veranda suite was spacious and comfortable, with luxury appointments and amenities that enhanced and personalized our experience. Always operating purposely to fulfill our every want and need, the crew performed their duties to perfection. The biggest highlight onboard was the 24-person expedition team, all experts in their fields, who led us in exploration with their knowledge and passion each day. By Zodiac boat and by land, we were immersed into the heart of this untamed wilderness. Among the abundant waterfalls, glaciers, rainbows and mountains, the scenery would take anyone’s breath away.

With a mixture of exploratory excursions and visits to distinctive ports, we were enveloped in an atmosphere that felt customized and unique. A cookie-cutter itinerary is not what Seabourn delivers; this is a truly once-in-a-lifetime experience that cannot be replicated. We witnessed multiple blue whales spouting as they traveled parallel to our ship one day, and the captain and crew stopped everything to let us rush back and forth from stern to bow to witness the majesty of these beautiful creatures. Hours were dedicated to observing them, and it never failed to excite each time we saw the mist hit the air and their backs arch through the waves. Our captain, with over 20 years of sailing experience, had only witnessed blue whales once in all his journeys. This is what expedition is all about: a thoughtfully designed adventure with a structure that allows for spontaneous moments such as these.

The calving of a glacier is a glorious sight, especially when you’re watching from a short distance away in your Zodiac, hearing the thunderous crash and watching the ripples of the displaced water move towards you. The nearly luminous blue ice bursts across the landscape, providing an otherworldly feeling. We visited several glaciers on our journey through the fjords, and each was a revelation in itself.

The small coastal village Caleta Tortel is famous for its boardwalks made of cypress wood.

The charming town of Puerto Montt, a gateway to a myriad of outdoor adventures.

Most exciting were the opportunities to walk the land, where we felt the remoteness, the stillness, as we set foot where very few may have. We stopped and took stock of the quiet beauty, with not a powerline or cell tower in sight, and breathed in the crisp, clean air. Here is where you feel most like you’re walking the paths of the explorers of history, seeing what Magellan may have seen.

Small, boutique ports gave us a taste of the local culture, with no crowds and the feeling that we were getting an insider’s view of the Chilean way of life. We made port in the small village of Caleta Tortel, where the locals greeted us with fresh empanadas, lively music and dancing. We walked its boardwalks, made entirely of cypress, which serve as the major means of transportation and connect the houses to the village. We then took a Zodiac ride to the Isla De Los Muertos, The Island of the Dead, an island steeped in mystery where Chilote workers died mysteriously and were buried over a century ago. Isla Chiloe was a delight with its rich folklore, historic churches and picturesque palafitos (houses raised on stilts). Each port engaged us thoroughly with its cultural relevance and uniqueness.

Chile is a destination steeped in beauty. Nature lovers will more than get their fill of breathtaking scenery and be immersed in the local culture. On the Seabourn Pursuit, we experienced this amazing country in luxurious comfort, a beautiful balance of exploration and indulgence that left us saddened to say goodbye to both the wonderful country and to the beautiful ship and crew that made our cruise feel like a wonderfilled home away from home. •

THE LUXIERE LIST

LUXURY EXPEDITION CRUISING

A luxury expedition cruise is a great combination of the key elements of a high-end travel experience with a laid-back atmosphere that does not sacrifice the refined luxury you expect. Here are some tips and tricks to make the most out of your vacation:

Build in some time in the arrival city of your itinerary. Travel time to remote destinations can be lengthy and exhausting, so give yourself a day or two to allow for delays, shake off the jet lag and do a little exploring of your own. Your mind and body will thank you.

Flexibility is the name of the game. Expect the unexpected, be open to change and embrace whatever the day brings.

Waterproof pants are a must, and are usually not provided. Make sure they have wide legs to go over boots. I would also highly recommend purchasing a quality pair of waterproof gloves if you’re traveling to a cold destination, and a waterproof pouch for your smartphone.

Dress up or dress down, but formal wear is not typically required on an expedition cruise. Casual resort-style or high-quality athleisure wear is appropriate for the daytime, and elegant casual attire is perfect for evenings onboard. Layering is highly recommended for expedition outings.

Don’t forget the caviar! Most luxury expedition vessels have 24hour room service, including a delightful caviar setup, and a glass of champagne tops off the experience quite nicely.

The expedition lounge bar is the perfect location for before dinner drinks.

Pio Xi Glacier, the longest glacier in the southern hemisphere outside of Antarctica.

A New Cosmopolitan Way of Life

A New Cosmopolitan Way of Life is Here! Welcome to 6100 Grand, where architecture is made memorable with exceptional scale, rhythm, and detail. From the moment you enter through the intricately designed facade, you are greeted by a sense of grandeur and sophistication. The interior spaces, meticulously curated to evoke a sense of timeless elegance, feature soaring ceilings, a grand staircase, and opulent finishes that exude luxury at every turn. These bespoke properties feature large, light filled rooms, Waterworks fixtures throughout, a La Cornue range, antique fireplaces from French chateaus, custom iron railings, and custom finishes throughout. In addition to its exquisite interior spaces, these homes offer residents access to a host of premium amenities designed to elevate the living experience to new heights. The development boasts a state-of-the-art workout center equipped with the latest fitness equipment, conference center, and private pool. The story behind 6100 Grand is one of homage and reverence for architectural heritage. Inspired by the visionary dreams of Ogden Codman, Jr., a renowned American architect of the Beaux Arts era, the developer embarked on a journey to bring Codman’s unfinished project to life in the heart of Oklahoma City. Codman, known for his collaboration with author Edith Wharton on “The Decoration of Houses,” envisioned a grand estate in New York City that blended classical elegance with modern sensibilities. However, Codman’s dream was left unrealized upon his passing. Drawing from Codman’s exact specifications and guided by his principles of architectural harmony and proportion, 6100 Grand is a timeless masterpiece that pays homage to the past while embracing the future of luxury living. 6100 Grand is for those seeking a residence that transcends the ordinary and embraces the extraordinary.

THE NEW 6100 GRAND IN OKLAHOMA CITY NEW TOWNHOMES STARTING AT $1,820,000

PHASE 1

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Residence 6101 3378 SQFT $1,820,000

Residence 6103 4153 SQFT CONTRACT PENDING

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PHASE 3 (UNDER CONSTRUCTION)

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Welcome to a one-of-a-kind property in Downtown Oklahoma City overlooking Bicentennial Park & the Civic Center. This investment property boasts an owner’s residential suite worthy of Architectural Digest and two additional 2nd floor loft style residential units. The building spans the block between Colcord Dr. and West Main St., with storefronts on both sides. This is a special property—one of only a handful of mixed-use private residence opportunities.

LIVE. WORK. PLAY.

MODERN URBAN LIVING

Discover the epitome of contemporary living at Wilshire Point Residences, an exclusive urban gated enclave in East Nichols Hills, North Oklahoma City. Introducing a limited collection of 24 custom-designed homes that seamlessly blend modern aesthetics with natural beauty.

DAVID BOHANON JD, DEVELOPER-BROKER

DBOHANON@BLACKSTONECOM.COM

405.850.0987

FEATURES

Architectural Masterpieces Each home is uniquely crafted with innovative designs and premium finishes.

Serene Water Features Enjoy the tranquility of our private pond, fountain, and waterfall, creating a serene ambiance.

Scenic Walking Trails Stroll through beautifully landscaped green spaces and walking trails, perfect for relaxation and outdoor activities.

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Elevate your lifestyle at Wilshire Point Residences, where modern elegance and sophistication meet natural beauty.

Schedule a tour today and experience urban living redefined.

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THE WORLD

IS YOUR OYSTER

This is our Oyster case, the world’s first waterproof wristwatch case, conceived by Rolex in 1926 and patented. A one-of-a-kind feature, which holds within it an intricate world of cogs and minutely crafted parts. Made of some of the most refined alloys, the Oyster case is incomparably resistant to all sorts of external aggressions. Yet no object so hermetic, so immovable, has ever opened the door to so many

possibilities. With its original patented design consisting of a bezel, a case back and a winding crown screwed down against the middle case, it profoundly changed the course of watchmaking history and set new standards of waterproofness for all wristwatches. To this day, the Oyster case continues to protect our watches and our movements within them. It stands as undeniable proof of our constant quest for reliability.