Rap it up

Drawing MAPS

CITY

Behind the grand projects of Oklahoma City’s MAPS initiatives lies a simple process of submitting ideas. By Nazarene Harris

For the hefty price that it takes to fund a Metropolitan Area Projects (MAPS) plan and for the awe effect that such projects can have on Oklahoma City’s residents, mayor David Holt admits that the process behind choosing a project is fairly simple by comparison.

“Since the inception of MAPS in 1993, the responsibility to spearhead each project has been taken on by the city’s mayor,” Holt said.

Holt was elected mayor in February, and while he is currently helping facilitate completion of MAPS 3, he has already begun work on MAPS 4.

The first step, he said, is to choose a project that should be funded.

In 1993, then-Oklahoma City mayor Ron Norick introduced the idea of MAPS to Oklahoma City Council after he noticed a decline in investments from city outsiders, including the 1992 loss of a bid for a United Airlines maintenance facility to Indianapolis, Indiana. Norick suggested funding projects that would revitalize Oklahoma City with a temporary one-cent sales tax every ten years.

The notion to create capital investments that would improve a city without incurring debt received national praise from organizations like the U.S. Conference of Mayors, which posted the following message on it’s website shortly after the launch of the second MAPS initiative:

“Using a pay-as-you-go structure allowed Oklahoma City to build world class facilities without the burden of debt for future generations and city leaders.”

The sales tax collected for MAPS 1 resulted in $350 million used to renovate the city’s Civic Center Music Hall, Cox Convention Center, Oklahoma State Fairgrounds and Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, and to build Chesapeake Energy Arena.

MAPS 2, also known as MAPS for Kids, focused on improving schools within the Oklahoma City Public Schools district. As a result of the $700 million initiative, all elementary schools within the district received new gymnasiums and repairs were made at all schools.

In 2009, Oklahoma City voters approved funding for MAPS 3. Projects of the current MAPS initiative include the creation of Scissortail Park in downtown, the launch of several senior health and wellness centers built across the metro and the implementation of Oklahoma City’s new streetcars, which are set to launch on Dec. 14.

In the 25 years since its inception, more than $5 billion has been collected for MAPS projects, a sum Holt said has substantially contributed to Oklahoma City’s turnaround.

Solo act

Continuing on with the city’s legacy, Holt announced in October that he and city council would begin accepting project ideas from community members through social media, online submission forms and paper mail.

“This is our time to write the next chapter in Oklahoma City’s story,” Holt

said in a MAPS video posted on the city’s website. “It is time to talk about MAPS 4 and dream big again.”

Since October, Holt said he has received a little over 1,000 ideas from community members, and while an advisory board exists to review MAPS 3 projects, no such board has been created to assess ideas for MAPS 4 so far.

“I will take on that responsibility,” Holt said regarding the initial process of reading through the 1,000 project proposals. “It’s actually kind of fun.”

An open records request by Oklahoma Gazette revealed that ideas range from capital investments to transit improvements and everything in between.

“The city should buy the Gold Dome and convert it to a transportation hub for busses, bikes, etc. with a coffee shop and a newsstand,” reads one submission.

“I would like to see some ideas for tackling addiction and mental health issues in our city,” reads another.

One patron suggested creating a light rail from Edmond and Norman to Oklahoma City, while others discussed creating a new soccer stadium for Oklahoma City’s minor league professional team, the Oklahoma City Energy Football Club. The team currently shares Taft Stadium with area high school teams.

More than a dozen requests have been made so far to create a new soccer stadium, an initiative Holt expressed favor for in an email sent to the city’s chamber members in October.

“It’s important to remember that MAPS has never been for run of the mill needs that could be addressed through other methods,” Holt said in his MAPS promotional video.

Holt said while he will have first glimpse at the proposed ideas, they will be shared with city council members and are free to access by the public as well.

“The public has open access to these ideas,” Holt said. “These are their ideas and ultimately this will be their decision.”

While the voting ballot issued to city taxpayers for MAPS 1 listed the proposed projects that would be included in the measure, recent MAPS ballots do not list project details.

“Voters are voting for MAPS, essentially,” Holt said.

Through public awareness, he said, voters are informed of the project proposals before they hit the ballot. But voting, he said, won’t take place for some time.

Planning ahead

Before MAPS 4 can be kicked off, Holt said, MAPS 3 should be completed, taxes for the city’s Better Streets, Safer City initiative should cease and all new city council members should be well established in their roles.

On Nov. 20, city council voted to appoint city finance director Craig Freeman to the role of city manager beginning on Jan. 2, and Oklahoma City resident and broadcaster Nikki Nice was elected to represent Ward 7 on the city council Nov. 6.

In February, oil and gas business owner Nathaniel Harding will run against city mental health coordinator JoBeth Hamon to represent Ward 6 on Oklahoma City’s city council. Meg Salyer, who currently represents Ward 6, will retire shortly after the start of 2019.

The city’s Better Streets, Safer City initiative launched in 2017 and the temporary sales tax incorporated through the project will expire in Spring 2020, Holt said.

“We’ll dedicate 2019 to planning and 2020 to executing our plans,” Holt said. “2020 is right around the corner.”

A new stadium for Oklahoma City Energy Football Club is one of the proposed initiatives for the fourth Metropolitan Area Projects (MAPS) plan. | Photo Gazette / file

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City man

Oklahoma City council unanimously votes to appoint finance director Craig Freeman as city manager.

By Nazarene Harris

Oklahoma City’s new city manager is receiving a welcome that is remarkably similar to the farewell given to his predecessor.

Newly selected city manager Craig Freeman has received roughly the same level of approval and praise that city employees and Oklahoma City Council gave to Jim Couch in September, when Couch announced his plans to retire from the role after 18 years at the helm.

Few negative words have been spoken publicly of either man and if Freeman has his say, things will stay that way.

“My goal is to be boring,” Freeman said. “I want the most controversial thing about me to be the numbers that I work with.”

Oklahoma City mayor David Holt said that is the kind of mentality he would hope for in a city manager.

“He has a high character, high ethical standard,” Holt said. “If you avoid scandal that makes a lot of things possible in our city.”

On Nov. 20, Oklahoma City’s city council unanimously voted for Freeman, 53, who worked for Oklahoma

City’s municipal government for 26 years, to become the city’s 35th city manager beginning in 2019. Freeman currently serves as the city’s director of finance.

Couch retires as the longest-running city manager in the country. During his time in office, Couch worked on three Metropolitan Area Projects (MAPS) implementations and secured indefinite access to water for the city from lakes Canton and Sardis, among other initiatives. He also served on the airport trust, zoological trust, Central Oklahoma Transportation and Parking Authority, Metropolitan Area Schools Trust, Riverfront Redevelopment Authority, Economic Development Trust and McGee Creek Authority.

While the city could not release the names of applicants for the city manager position, human resource director Dianna Berry said 52 applicants, including Freeman, applied for the job using an application the city posted on its website Oct. 1. Freeman was one of five internal applicants who applied, Berry said. According to sources close to the process, applicants included several out-

Oklahoma where he earned a bachelors degree in political science and a masters degree in urban affairs.

Freeman’s later studies revealed to him a passion for local government, he said.

“There is something remarkable about working on a project behind the scenes and then seeing it become something tangible that affects you and the people around you,” he said.

While college might have been where the seeds of Freeman’s career were planted, it was at city hall, he said, where those seeds took root.

In the early 1990s, Freeman accepted a position with the city as a management and budget analyst, although he had his sights set on a position that ranked higher.

“Being a city manager was kind of the dream,” Freeman said, adding that he applied for the position with a handful of other cities before beginning work in Oklahoma City’s finance department.

“I took the job with Oklahoma City thinking it would be a great place to learn about city management if I ever wanted to apply for a management position again,” he said.

The entry-level role he took, Freeman said, became one that has had the most impact on his life.

of-state candidates, including a veteran city manager for a municipality larger than Oklahoma City.

After 51 days of study and deliberation, the city council chose to appoint Freeman to the position. Holt said Freeman’s resume and his ethics in particular were instrumental in vaulting him to the front.

“We were pleased with the quality of talent that applied, both from internal and external candidates,” Holt said. “Ultimately, we saw in Craig some critical strengths — his financial management skills, his high ethical standards and his collaborative management style. We have a high level of confidence he will build upon our city’s successes.”

While Freeman admits that having a familiar face can help applicants stand out when applying for a new position, he said securing a role like city manager comes down to what you know more than who you know.

Growing together

Born in Oklahoma in 1965 to a father who worked at Oklahoma City’s former Southwestern Bell offices and a stayat-home mother of three, Freeman said his adolescence was peaceful and joyous. He graduated from Oklahoma Baptist College in 1987 with a degree in secondary education after considering careers in education and in ministry, he said.

He went on the teach and coach at Windsor Hills Baptist Schools before enrolling at University of Central

“I loved the people I was working with,” Freeman said. “I learned how unique Oklahoma City is and how unique it is to have such a positive work environment behind a city ‘s government. I ended up not wanting to go anywhere else.”

Freeman went on to serve as the city’s budget director and its finance director, the role he still holds today.

Serving as Oklahoma City’s next city manager is a way for Freeman to give back to a city that helped him become the man that he is today, he said.

Freeman will take on the new role Jan. 2 when Couch will officially retire, Yager said. His new role will consist of overseeing day-to-day operations within the city, managing nearly 5,000 employees and a $1.57 billion-dollarbudget and executing finance resolutions decided upon by city council.

Oklahoma City Council set Freeman’s annual salary at $248,000 during its Nov. 20 meeting.

Freeman lives in Oklahoma City with his wife of 34 years, Rhonda. The couple has two sons and two grandsons.

Over the nearly three decades Freeman spent working for Oklahoma City, he said the city’s renaissance and growth paralleled his own life’s transformation.

“In a lot of ways,” he said, “I owe my development as a professional and just as a person to this city. When you have the support of good people who invest in you, it’s hard not to get better.”

Craig Freeman will become Oklahoma City’s 35th city manager on Jan. 2. | Photo Nazarene Harris

THE HIGH CULTURE

Growing gear

Local businesses plant the seeds for marijuana cultivation. By Matt

Dinger

If you’re looking to take your green thumb to the next level, marijuana might be the crop for you.

Strange Leaf Dispensary, 4700 NW 39th St., currently carries two brands of cannabis seeds. On the low end, one package of three seeds sells for $35, while the female seeds in a five-pack of another brand tops out at $65, manager Caitlyn Truitt said.

“A male cannabis plant produces seeds, and a female is going to yield flowers, so generally, most people want the female plant so that they can see the flower and not get a whole bunch of seeds. However, we do have some people who want to do the newer genetics, so they do get the male plants,” she said.

Strange Leaf orders 200 packages at a time and Truitt said it has already sold out four or five times in the month they’ve had them on shelf.

We’re trying to do our part as an ancillary industry to help support this new infrastructure and economy that’s been allotted through the power of our democratic process.

John Degerness

“We have had a lot of people come in from different areas to pick them, and even some commercial growers have come to pick some up,” Truitt said.

Still considered mostly a niche or novelty product, seed sales are not widespread in the state. Truitt said growing at home is the best bet for people who can’t get around easily, but the plants do require strict attention.

“So many people love their plants. I love it,” she said. “I didn’t have a green thumb before I started working here. When we did have the clones — we don’t have any now, and I don’t think we necessarily will for a while — it was fun to get back there and work on them and see them grow and all that good stuff. ... We aren’t able to have employees back there for the amount of time it takes to maintain them.”

“It is like having a baby at home,” she said. “It’s a lot of work.”

If patients are attempting to cultivate cannabis themselves, Truitt recommends getting all the gear you need to grow before you start.

“They definitely want to have a good

light system,” she said. “Most people do like to have a grow tent, or they could use a closet, but a lot of people do get the grow tents. You want to have your fertilizers and all your nutrients. With the seeds, you do have a little bit of time to spare, but I think it’d be better to have it all prepared so you don’t get in a spot where your plants are dying.”

And that’s where someone like John Degerness at Lucky’s Grow Supply, 7507 Broadway Extension, comes in.

“We are a grow supply store that’s really kind of gotten ourselves intermixed with the creative community at large. We are big supporters of this new cannabis industry. Our tagline is ‘Let’s grow Oklahoma,’ and that’s really what our mission is. We’re trying to do our part as an ancillary industry to help support this new infrastructure and economy that’s been allotted through the power of our democratic process,” Degerness said. “We’re your one-stop shop for the hobbyist grower, the medical patient that can’t afford to go to dispensaries as well as the commercial side.”

Degerness, 41, grew up in the Pacific Northwest. His wife is from Mangum, and they moved to state seven years ago.

“I love living here,” he said. “It’s a totally different thing from what I expected. I’m just about as much of an Oklahoman as anybody, with the exception of actually being born and raised here. All of my employees are.”

Degerness worked in information technology, and his life took a drastic turn when SQ788 passed.

“Oklahoma in general since I’ve lived here over the past decade, it’s going through a renaissance where it didn’t truly surprise me that this had occurred because there’s so many new things going on,” he said.

Degerness is no stranger to weed. He’s actually the third generation of his family that has grown cannabis.

“My mom always had plants growing in the garden,” Degerness said. “My grandmother always had a couple. For me, it’s been a normal thing, and they went about it as if it was a normal thing, so I grew up with a very mild concern about cannabis and people’s consumption of it.”

Lucky’s does not sell seeds or clones or hydroponic growing supplies, but it has everything else covered.

“We didn’t want to be looked at as taking advantage of our wholesale ability to compete with these guys who are looking to us as a vendor,” Degerness said. “We’re sitting in front of a table with a shitload of pie on it. There’s no reason anybody needs to go home with

a stomach ache because they’re trying to eat so much of it.”

Lucky’s offers 10 percent off a purchase with a receipt from a locally owned dispensary where you bought your seeds or plants. In addition to an in-house art gallery, the store also features a large bar in the middle for customer service. But Degerness said that’s mostly just talking shop.

“We want to have conversations, talk to people about what it is they’re doing, educate people on how to grow cannabis. ... At the end of the day, we sell lights and we sell dirt and nutritional systems for that dirt. We’re all here for the same thing. This is the new normal, so let’s just be comfortable in our own skin and talk about it,” he said. “We’ve been so segmented for so long, everyone running their outlaw program this way or that way, looked at as criminals or drug dealers, and now we can actually just take a breath.”

Lucky’s has a 30-seat area in which it offers classes on how to grow cannabis, from beginner to expert levels. It will double for viewings of industryrelated movies and documentaries on Friday nights. After Christmas, it will start putting on monthly events open to the public.

“If we can cover our costs through our business, anything we make beyond that, we want to reinvest in Oklahoma,” Degerness said. “If that means we’re paying for talent to come

out and perform, for chefs to come out and cook or the food from the farmers we do business with to cook for those people, that’s what we want to do.”

And all of it is free.

“It’s important,” he said. “If you want to learn about growing cannabis, you shouldn’t have to be hiding on the internet, getting terrible information. You should be able to come and talk to people. I don’t see any other way to accomplish that if I feel like every time I do something, I’m having to impose a fee.

“It’s bringing Oklahoma back to its agricultural roots, and it’s bringing an economy that the state can sustain itself with and not be dependent on geopolitical motives or national pricing. ... We’re really just trying to build a community within a state that has been so desperate for something like this, and it’s a good time. We’re having a lot of fun with it,” Degerness said. “We’re less motivated to be Richie Rich and counting our money while everybody is trying to scramble around trying to figure out what the fuck we sold them and more into the education and outreach perspective of it. We truly want to grow Oklahoma and its economy, and this industry specifically.”

John Degerness of Lucky’s Grow Supply, 7507 Broadway Extension, said his business is supplying hobbyists, commercial growers and medical marijuana patients. | Photo Alexa Ace

chicken friedNEWS

School’s out

Oklahoma has once again found itself in the national spotlight after a letter from Canadian County Republican Party chairman Andrew Lopez to newly elected Republican lawmakers was leaked to the public in late November, exposing the overweening bonkers mentality of anti-education extremists for all that it is.

Lopez begins his welcome letter by warmly letting the newly elected leaders know that they have been chosen by God to represent their constituents, which is funny because we just went to the polls en masse a month ago and none of the Chicken-Fried News team members ran into God in line.

A paragraph later, Lopez’s tone turns from friendly to damning with the following proclamation:

“If you are a teacher who has entered the Legislature with the sole purpose of increasing funding for education, your representation of your district is compromised by your claim to be a representative of a special interest group.”

Lopez’s anti-public education rhetoric continues with proposals to abolish the state Department of Education and public education altogether.

“A better pathway,” Lopez states in his letter, “would be to abolish public education … and allow the free market to determine pay and funding.”

So, there’s that.

If some rando clickservative nutcracker was rambling off on social media about how public schools were really child clone warehouses in which impressionable minds are fed the evil propaganda of evolution and, God forbid, space exploration, then we at CFN might let this one go without a fight. But when an official who represents the Republican Party reveals these sentiments on official stationery, it’s alarming to say the least, and we’re not the only ones who think so. Local news outlets reported on Lopez’s letter and national media outlets like The Washington Times, The Washington Post and the U.S. News & World Report all published articles regarding it as well.

To make matters worse, Lopez’s anti-public education views seem to be shared by other Oklahoma GOP leaders, including the party’s state chairman, Pam Pollard.

When asked whether Pollard agrees with Lopez’s’ beliefs, she recently told

reporters that she does not. However, commentary Pollard left on one of her social media sites a few years ago all but gives Lopez a fist bump.

“Just an idea,” Pollard wrote on Facebook in 2014. “Let’s do away with public schools and put the responsibility of raising our children back on the family. Mothers can stay home with their chil dren … send the boys to help daddy … and let the girls help mama in the kitchen cook for the family that sits to gether at the dinner table.”

Beyond the blatant sexism, she makes ref erence to the Bible while advocating for the deconstruction of the state’s public schools — the same card Lopez deals in his recent letter.

However, we at CFN have a subtle feeling that Jesus would likely not be in favor of abolishing education for the young, but this feels more like an Ayn Rand thing, to be honest.

As a newsroom, we have but one hope for now: Please do not let these be the viewpoints of all Oklahoma Republican Party leaders. State Republicans of sound mind and heart, here’s a call to action: Let your chair people know how you really feel, or at the very least apply mental health screenings to the next round of applicants.

Silkworm

Meanwhile, as Lopez and Pollard plan to force parents to send their boys to market-driven (re)education facilities while the girls stay home and prepare themselves for servile marriage, State Senator Joseph Silk, R-Broken Arrow, has authored Senate Bill 13, the kind of legislation that indicates many He-Man Woman Haters are using Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale as a how-to book for subjugating women.

Silk, known for his failed anti-LGBTQ+ restroom bill from two years ago, is trying to outlaw all abortions in the state and classify them as homicides, allowing judges to sentence women who have abortions to life in prison and for medical facilities to deny the procedure even if a con tinued pregnancy would be fatal for the patient.

Now, it’s one thing to write a mean bill, but SB13 is also superdumb, as in Silk should have to go cram himself into a tiny desk at a Broken Arrow middle school and repeat eighth-grade civics. To wit, the biggest howler in the bill essentially declares

Oklahoma sovereignty over all federal jurisprudence and statutory law.

“Any federal statute, regulation, executive order or court decision which purports to supersede, stay or overrule this Act is in violation of the Constitution of the State of Oklahoma and the Constitution of the United States of America and is therefore void,” reads one passage, best read aloud like a Warner Bros. cartoon character based on Lennie from Of Mice and Men

Now, Chicken-Fried News could get high and mighty and explain the hierarchy of government to Silk, but since he appears to believe that his little, little bill carries more legal weight than the entirety of the U.S. legal system, including the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Roe v. Wade and the power of executive order, this would likely be fruitless. So we’re just fine with pouring verbal gasoline on this garbage bill and ask Atwood if her new Handmaid’s sequel can feature a villain named “Commander Silk.”

EAT & DRINK

Shiny Scratch

Scratch in the Paseo Arts District serves up food all day but shines during dinner service. By Malory Craft

Scratch Kitchen and Cocktails Paseo

605 NW 28th St. | 405-602-2302

eatatscratch.com

WHAT WORKS: The craft cocktail selection and the vibe of the restaurant are perfect during dinner service.

WHAT NEEDS WORK: Some of the brunch dishes need improvement.

TIP: Ask for bartender Austin’s Spanish Coffee.

For me, there are two schools of thought: old Paseo and new Paseo. Old Paseo includes open mic nights at Galileo’s; colorful, decorative and inviting old buildings; and perusing the baubles inside Craig’s

than the other. Both are satisfying to me, albeit staggering when you examine the differences.

the bottom of the bar features cheetahs on a green-and-gold-patterned background. The bar itself is beautiful, made out of an old wooden basketball court floor. Glasses of fresh herbs, olives, fruits and vegetables are lined up, not only giving a beautiful visual, but also a great aroma when you sit close enough to them.

($10), which are a slight upgrade from the Sonic dish of the same name. They were sweet and also freshly fried, and I enjoyed them as a treat after my meal. I could see myself ordering a plate of them for the table and fighting my brunch pals for the last bit of chocolate hazelnut sauce.

Other brunch items of note: I would be interested to try the kimchi hash ($15), egg in a basket ($14) and Scratch Caesar ($11). The next night, I came back for dinner. I was surprised to see that Scratch has a whole different tone at night during dinner service, one that I much preferred over the brunch crowd. The lighting in the restaurant sets a moody atmosphere and highlights the ceiling-high shelves behind the bar.

I must mention that the beverage program is the real gem of Scratch Paseo. The craft cocktail menu is huge and full of fun, delicious, inventive offerings. The wine list is also progressive — I noted some natural and organic wines that I haven’t seen anywhere else in town. I started with Paper Crane ($11), a scotch cocktail that came with a tiny crane on the edge of the glass. I also tried the Covfefe ($10), a rumand-coffee liqueur cocktail that rivals any after-dinner drink.

Scratch Paseo resides in the new Paseo school of thought. Nestled just behind Dewey Avenue, at 605 NW 28th St., it was one of the first residents of the development, quickly followed by Buttermilk and, more recently, OSO Paseo. However, Scratch is not a new concept; it’s an extension of the Norman restaurant, and there is also a location in Telluride, Colorado. Brady and Jamie Sexton are the owner/ operators of the restaurant, and they are also heavily involved in the revitalization of The Paseo Arts District (new Paseo).

washed buildings shiny on the inside with trendy tile and wallpaper. New Paseo is a CBD store, $9 biscuit sandwiches and gourmet vegetarian tacos. I’m not saying that I love one Paseo more

I chatted with the general manager, Robyn Winters, about the concept of Scratch.

“We opened in February of 2018 with a focus on fresh ingredients in all of our offerings, including our dishes and hand-crafted cocktails.”

Robyn has been with the Scratch family for four years, starting with the Norman location and transferring to the Paseo location along with head chef Levi Hunt.

The restaurant is beautiful in a way that I can’t really fully describe. It’s like if you

I visited Scratch on a Sunday because I was curious about its brunch offerings. When I looked online, I noticed its dinner menu was rather small (about five main entrees) and the brunch menu was rather robust. I stopped in on a colder-than-normal day and was seated right away. The service on that particular day was great, very attentive, but that might have been because I was one of the only patrons in the restaurant. I ordered a Son of a Buch ($14), one of the most expensive cocktails on the menu, because I was feeling really spendy. The cocktail included Hawaiian ginger gin, grapefruit, rose syrup, Pimm’s No. 1 and spicy kombucha. It was good, but not entirely groundbreaking in my eyes. I think I would have had the same experience with a mimosa.

I ordered a few things. I started with smoked portobello botanas, which included eggs, a variety of sauteed peppers, tomatoes, fried potatoes and corn tortillas ($14). The smoked portobello was great, but I was missing a sauce to put on my botanas. I piled my toppings into a corn tortilla (which was a little crispy for my liking; I would have liked them steamed) and took a bite. The smoked mushrooms were great, but everything else needed a little work to make a cohesive meal.

I also ordered Norman’s Favorite Smothered Chicken Biscuit ($16). From the freshly fried chicken to the made-fromscratch biscuit that rivals its next-door neighbors, everything came together with the topping of maple chipotle gravy and fried onions. I have eaten a lot of fried chicken and biscuits in this town, and this one was one of my favorites.

I finished with the French toast sticks

When it came to food, we started with the chimichurri fries ($13), which I was a fan of as a bar snack. The pickled onion separates the dish from any other loaded fries, so make sure to get a bite of the fries, pork cheeks and pink onion all together on your fork. I had the seared pork tenderloin ($18), which came with apple fennel risotto and shaved Brussels sprouts salad and topped with cider gastrique. It was by far my favorite dish. The risotto was perfect cooked, along with the tenderest cut of pork. The Brussels sprouts added the perfect crunch, and the cider gastrique added a hit of acidity that rounded out the dish. I also tried the steak frites ($22), topped with the same inhouse chimichurri that came with our appetizer. The cut of steak (Hanger) shined through and was the star of the meal. We finished the night with seasonal eggnog ice cream that was also made in-house. The service was fantastic.

For a special treat, bartender Austin Stallings made us his Spanish Coffee and burned off a shot of Bacardi 151 to brûlée the sugar rim. It was a fantastic bartending trick and an even more delicious afterdinner cocktail that left us feeling warm and boozy. If you catch Austin, make sure to ask him for his Spanish Coffee; you won’t be disappointed.

Several employees told me Scratch is revamping its dinner menu to include more dishes and will be transitioning its cocktail menu for winter. I look forward to trying all its new dishes to see its new inventions. Scratch is a welcome addition to the new Paseo family. I would recommend visiting for cocktails, dinner service and afterdinner drinks and desserts.

left Son of a Buch right Smoked portobello botanas | Photo Malory Craft

Norman’s Favorite Smothered Chicken Biscuit | Photo Malory Craft

Nic’s Place Nic’s Place

EAT & DRINK

Unique history

Castle Falls provides a connection to pre-Land Run Oklahoma and Oklahoma City’s lost downtown history. By Jacob Threadgill

More than a restaurant and event center, Castle Falls provides a unique link to pre-Land Run Oklahoma history and is a vessel to showcase long-forgotten elements of downtown Oklahoma City.

Nestled on five acres at 820 N. MacArthur Blvd., as a few trees obscure its view from the busy thoroughfare; the driveway acts as a portal to Oklahoma history in an idyllic setting.

Guests can stand under some of the same trees that stood in the 1850s when a portion the property was a meeting place for relocated native tribes to have peaceful meetings in their new home.

Inside the main castle, one of three buildings on the property, which houses multiple dining options ThursdaysSaturdays, meals are eaten surrounded by artifacts of Oklahoma City’s self-

inflicted downtown destruction.

“Everything in the castle is salvaged, and we tried to carry on that tradition because the man who built the castle salvaged things way before anyone salvaged things,” said Amy Rollins, the property’s third owner, who lives in a cottage with her husband Ralph, as she serves as front of the house at the castle’s restaurant and books on-site corporate events and weddings.

Castle construction

As OKC was going through its first phases of urban renewal in the 1960s, historic buildings were torn down and their artifacts were sent to the landfill without regard to their significance.

Oklahoma City native Bill Blecha dreamed of one day building a castle like the ones he saw in Normandy during World War I. When Blecha returned home, he became superintendent for Manhattan Construction Company, which oversaw the demolition sites of downtown Oklahoma City airport and Oklahoma County Courthouse.

Instead of taking all of the items to the landfill, Blecha began storing them as part of his master plan to recreate a French castle in Oklahoma, long before historic preservation was in the zeitgeist’s lexicon. Blecha’s dream was achieved in 1972 after a five-year construction process to build the three-story replica of a castle in Normandy. Blecha lived on-site until his death in 1989. Hilda Vormann purchased the property in 1994 and transformed the castle’s cellar into the German restaurant Keller in the Kastle. The restaurant closed and she put the property up for

Castle Falls owners Ralph and Amy Rollins with chef David Sullivan | Photo Alexa Ace

sale in 2004. Rollins jumped at the opportunity because of the property’s unique historic connection.

New life

Rollins grew up near 68th Street and MacArthur Boulevard, driving by Castle Falls without even knowing it was there. She attempted to purchase the property in 1994 but wasn’t going to miss another chance.

“I talked my husband into coming to look,” she said. “He told me to forget it; we couldn’t afford it. Thinking I would never do this, he said we’d have to sell our home and live here. I said, ‘Okay; I’m in.’”

In order to make the property a viable business venture, the couple overhauled the dining experience, creating a ninetable restaurant on the bottom floor, a chef-driven five-course meal on the Primrose second level and event space for proposals and private dining on the third floor. They completed a 9,000 square-foot Grande Hall that serves as large event space for corporate events and weddings, complete with a bride’s room. The property’s chicken coop was converted to become a groom’s room.

The Grande Hall backs up to a tree grove, which is part of the southeast corner of what is known as Council Grove, a busy meeting place between displaced native American tribes and U.S. soldiers from nearby Fort Reno.

Weddings as small as two people take place under the ancient trees, Rollins said.

“When we bought the property, in order to get on city sewer line, we would’ve had to cut down all of these trees,” Rollins said. “I chose not to because a lot of these trees were here during the [pre-Land Run] time period. It’s a fascinating history that people overlook because of the politics of it. It’s pretty ugly that they took the land away twice [forced relocation on the Trail of Tears and the Land Run].”

Rollins said it is common for a small wedding party to have a ceremony under the trees and follow it up with a meal in the castle. In The Cellar, diners peruse the menu by chef David Sullivan while

surrounded by marble from the original Colcord Hotel. The railings leading to the third level are salvaged from the old Oklahoma County Courthouse. The third floor is made from hardwood from the gym at Capitol Hill High School, and it’s surrounded by mahogany from the curved storefronts of old downtown businesses. Blecha built the castle’s attic with wood saved from Downtown Airpark, which was lost to fire.

“When you open the attic, you can still smell the burn,” Rollins said.

Sullivan cooks everything in the kitchen, whether it’s from the main menu in the cellar, the prix-fixe Primrose menu or a catering event featuring 250 guests.

“The best thing about this place is that I get to do it all,” Sullivan said. “It’s also the worst thing about this place. It’s one of the coolest opportunities I’ve had in my career to have carte blanche on food menu, wine list, beer list and spirits list. Not many chefs actually have the opportunity to write a wine list themselves.”

Though The Cellar has been open for 14 years, it still gets mistaken for serving German food, like the previous restaurant. Sullivan’s menu changes based on the season but is more classic French mixed with American favorites. He takes pride in the charred baby romaine Caesar salad ($8) and 14-ounce rib-eye ($45)

“I’ll put my rib-eye up against anyone else in town at twice the price,” Sullivan said. “It’s the best beef I can lay my hands on with my own dry rub.”

As Sullivan busily prepares food, Rollins greets guests and shows off the property’s unique history, like a giant D carved into the castle’s concrete by Blecha’s daughter when it was poured.

“When you take that history and intertwine it with an excellent chef and someone like me who likes history and bring together a culture of family, it becomes a unique, non-chain experience,” Rollins said. Visit castlefalls.com.

Black & Bleu Bruschetta | Photo Alexa Ace

EAT & DRINK

Paseo possibilities

Rachel Cope’s 84 Hospitality Group is holding a contest to give away retail space in The Paseo Arts District. By

Jo Light

Along the iconic curve of the Paseo, modern visitors can see longstanding art galleries, new restaurants and the neighborhood centerpiece, The Paseo Plunge, in all its salmon-colored glory.

And just south of The Plunge, at the end of the block, they will find an unobtrusive, whitewashed building that is about to get some new life.

Rachel Cope, local restaurateur and founder of 84 Hospitality Group, purchased the property in June. She immediately had big plans for the space.

Nov. 4, Cope announced that 84 Hospitality is holding a contest for an entrepreneur to win part of the recently acquired building. While Cope will develop a restaurant in half of the space, the rest is being offered up to a local businessperson who can impress Cope with a unique idea.

The contest space is at 3004 Paseo St. and is comprised of just over 1,000 square feet. Inside, it’s currently a blank canvas, a wide space with brick walls and exposed ductwork.

In the contest’s announcement video, Cope expressed a willingness to consider diverse business proposals.

“It can be anything,” Cope said in the announcement released Nov. 4. “It could be flower shops, music stores, retail. Literally, if you can dream it, I’m listening.”

The property, constructed in the 1920s, is divided into two units. It once housed a local chapter of the ACLU and curiosity shop Craig’s Emporium. The building sports small architectural details in the neighborhood’s Spanish style, like ornamental ironwork, decorative doorways and a small terracotta awning on its back entry.

Those interested in entering the contest can visit 3004paseo.com to submit their business proposals and

assumption sheets. Cope has provided detailed templates that include helpful tips based on her own experiences as a business owner.

In addition, local mainstay Great Plains Bank has partnered with 84 Hospitality to sponsor the winner and cover rent for the first three months. The winner will operate independently from 84 Hospitality.

“The team at Great Plains has been amazing in supporting us over the years,” Cope said via email. “We often try to find creative ways to work together to showcase their dedication to ‘keeping it local.’ When I reached out, they didn’t hesitate to participate.”

For those who aren’t aware, there is a pleasing symmetry to the whole situation since Cope’s beginnings as a business owner were almost exactly the same.

It could be flower shops, music stores, retail. Literally, if you can dream it, I’m listening.

Rachel Cope

She graduated with a degree in political science and pre-law from Oklahoma City University. After school, she chose not to pursue a career in law and spent several years working as a server in Oklahoma City and Tulsa restaurants. Along the way, she gained valuable experience in food service and the operation of small businesses.

Then, in the summer of 2012, a building in 16th Street Plaza District opened up. It was an old laundromat, and the

landlords were holding a contest to find a business for the space.

Cope called on friend and business partner Avery Cannon, and together, they turned in a proposal for a cafe.

They didn’t win.

Later, Cope traveled to Austin and was eating pizza when inspiration struck. Back in Oklahoma City, the contest winner fell through, and the landlords approached Cope and Cannon again. This time, they were armed with an idea for an edgy, latenight New-York-style pizza joint.

Empire Slice House, 1804 NW 16th St., was born, and its hip slices have become a staple of the Plaza District. Cope went on to found 84 Hospitality in 2013. The group’s restaurant properties have taken OKC by storm and include Easy E Slice Shop, Gorō Ramen, ¡Revolución!, Burger Punk and Ponyboy.

The group’s newest culinary endeavor in the Paseo has not yet been announced, but Cope promised that news on the property would be coming soon.

In the meantime, she wants to provide a chance at success to another enterprising OKC business owner.

“This kind of opportunity is how I got my start!” Cope said via email. “There are so many creative minds and entrepreneurs in the city, and as we continue to grow, this is the time to keep pushing forward — not only in The Paseo Arts District, but in Oklahoma City as a whole.”

Cope’s vision for the area follows a

boom of development and change in one of Oklahoma City’s most unique neighborhoods.

Originally conceived as a commercial district known as “Spanish Village,” developer G.A. Nichols (of Nichols Hills fame) wanted The Paseo Arts District to be a shopping destination for the growing city back in 1929.

But the Great Depression hit, and construction halted. The Spanish revival architecture went untouched for decades. Hippies and artists moved in.

Local developer John Belt was among the first to actively preserve and renovate the Paseo properties, beginning in the 1970s. He ushered in the beginning of the area’s long renaissance.

Cope’s contest follows in the spirit of Belt’s work and will continue the area’s revitalization. Contest entrants should focus on ideas that embrace the same ideals.

“I’m looking for a unique concept that adds to the existing feel of The Paseo and creates foot traffic within the district,” she said via email.

Cope added that “being a strong com munity player for the district is really important to [her].”

A contest winner will be selected on Jan. 1, 2019. Visit 3004paseo.com.

3004 Paseo St. is a Spanish-style building in the heart of The Paseo Arts District. | Photo Alexa Ace 84 Hospitality Group’s 3004 Paseo contest offers a 1000 square-foot shop to a local entrepreneur.

Photo Alexa Ace

Toasty toasting

Warm drinks light a fire for holiday festivities.

By Malory Craft

I was on a mission to find a warm cuppa to fit my hands. The height of hygge, in my eyes, is a spiked cocktail. I did the most important work I’ve ever done in my life as I scoured the metro to find the best hot cocktails in bars and restaurants around the city. I pounded the pavement, slightly cold and buzzed, to find the most inventive, classic and boozy warm cocktails.

As I moved from place to place — in Midtown, downtown and The Paseo Arts District — I popped into each bar or restaurant and simply asked, “Do you have any warm cocktails?”

Surprisingly, most of them told me no or “I could whip you up a hot toddy or Irish coffee,” which was an accommodating gesture. Any featured warm cocktails on the menu would be hard to find, and writing about an Irish coffee would be just as exciting about writing about a vodka soda. The cocktails I did find, however, ranged from campy and elaborate to simple and festive.

My first stop on my hot cocktails tour was The Jones Assembly, 901 W. Sheridan Ave. Here’s my warning: They didn’t have any warm drinks, but what they had in flavor and spice can definitely classify as warm. First up was Sweater Weather ($10), which features apple brandy, Amaro Averna, pear eau de vie (a type of brandy), Chinese five spice-infused sorghum and Jerry Thomas’ Own Decanter Bitters. Garnished with a leaf of sage, the aromatics of this drink were insane — spicy, sweet and herbal but also light enough to enjoy a few. This drink screamed fall and definitely made my list of favorite fall cocktails.

The Jones Assembly had another drink that was probably the most ex-

had some heavy theatrics. Offered only in the T-Room, which is the small upstairs bar at The Jones Assembly, the Mother is a riff on a classic Negroni. The ingredients include Sombra Mezcal, Ancho Reyes (a chili liqueur), Suze (another liqueur), Hayman’s Old Tom Gin, Dolin Vermouth de Chambéry Rouge, Hella Smoked Chili Bitters and Hella Orange Bitters. It’s garnished with a Thai chili pepper that I have been told has made brave patrons cry in the past after trying a bite of it.

And that’s not even the elaborate part. The drink is placed on a wooden circle and has a rounded piece of glass placed over it. They pump in cherry wood smoke for an over-the-top effect. But how does it taste? Spicy. Very spicy. I enjoyed all the nuances of the different ingredients, and of course I love a good show, but more than one of these would have me reaching for the Zantac.

My next stop was in The Paseo Arts District at The Other Room, 3009 Paseo St., the small bar next to Picasso Cafe. This bar has gone through many iterations, but I found myself loving the remodel with the new seating, patio and bathroom. It’s also where I had one of my first warm cocktails many years ago, and I returned to see what variations it had.

If you want warm cocktails, The Other Room is the place to go. The bartender pointed me to a list featuring six variations. From a classic hot buttered rum to more kitschy pumpkin spiced cider, I had a hard time choosing which drink I wanted to try. I chose the Cinnamon Toast Crunch Hot Chocolate because I am a millennial after all and if you want to get me to spend my hard-earned money, hit me with the nostalgia. The boozy Cinnamon Toast Crunch

Hatter ($10), this drink was a spiked hot chai tea. It featured a spiced chai tea blend from Urban Teahouse, Townsend’s Bluebird Alpine Liqueur, Tincup Whiskey and a Georgia peach-spiced syrup with ingredients from Savory Spice Shop and was garnished with star anise, lemon and lemon bitters.

“We strive to get all local or close to all local ingredients in our cocktails,” said Schyler Crabtree, bar manager of Pizzeria Gusto.

The Alpine Liqueur balanced out the sharpness and smokiness of the whiskey, and the lemon added a bright acidity. The Georgia peach syrup added a just enough sweetness to round out the most perfect after-dinner drink. What a perfect little surprise.

I was excited to try warm cocktails at Ponyboy, 423 NW 23rd St. Serving KLLR coffee alongside cocktails is one of the bar’s claims to fame in addition to a hopping dance floor and DJs on weekend nights. It has a few warm cocktails on the menu, but I ignored coffee variations at other bars for this location. I had the Uncle Joe’s Coffee (not named after anyone in particular). The drink included KLLR coffee, Plantation Barbados rum, Licor 43 (a Spanish spiced liqueur), a house spice blend, simple syrup and house whipped cream. This drink was great. It seemed to me like a riff on an Irish coffee, but the addition of good rum and the spiced liqueur sent it over the top. I highly recommend it.

I found a few more warm cocktails available around the metro. Pub W (three locations) has a Pub Toddy ($7) made with Maker’s Mark, ginger liqueur, honey, lemon and a Laphroaig rinse. It also has some great happy hour specials, and the 3121 W. Memorial Road location is always popular with the after-work crowd. Another hot tip on warm cocktails pointed me to Lyric on the Plaza’s bar, 1721 NW 16th St. During its production of A Christmas Carol, it serves a drink aptly named The Warm Bishop with cider, Crown Royal Regal Apple whisky and ginger liqueur.

There are tons of great warm cocktail options all over the metro. And it’s cozy season, so drink up, friends.

The Cinnamon Toast Crunch Hot Chocolate at The Other Room, 3009 Paseo St., gets blowtorched and dusted with the popular cereal.

| Photo Malory Craft

The Jones Assembly’s scorching cocktail The Mother of Dragons features several spicy liquors, bitters and liqueurs. | Photo Malory Craft

The Hatter, a signature cocktail at Pizzeria Gusto, 2415 N. Walker Ave., features local ingredients. | Photo Malory Craft

Ponyboy, 423 NW 23rd St., uses KLLR coffee to create its Uncle Joe’s Coffee cocktail. | Photo Malory Craft

Great 2018 EAT & DRINK

This year has seen Oklahoma City’s food scene grow by leaps and bounds with several new restaurants, bars and coffee shops that embrace food diversity, locally sourced ingredients and a uniquely Oklahoman perspective. These seven have been welcome additions to OKC.

By Jo Light | Photos Alexa Ace, Gazette / file and provided

The Press 1610 N. Gatewood Ave. thepressokc.com | 405-208-7739

16th Street Plaza District continues to be a hub of exciting restaurants and retail, and The Press’ down-home cooking fits right in. Housed in a former printing press/ garage, the restaurant and bar offer modern takes on Southern classics. You’ll find its popular chicken-fried rib-eye steak and Buffalo mac and cheese alongside vegan dumpling soup and fresh salads.

Capitals Ice Cream

1006 N. Hudson Ave., Suite 100 capitalsicecream.com | 405-600-9966

Sometimes plain ice cream doesn’t cut it. When Capitals opened this summer, patrons lined out the door for customswirled cones and cups. The owners fully embrace Okie pride with revolving special sundaes like Gorilla Hill (named for the notorious stretch in the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon) or the more recent Sweet Paseo Pie.

HOLIDAY HIGH TEA

DECEMBER 1, 8, & 15

Park Avenue Grill

High Tea » 2:30-4p*

$29.95 adults

$19.95 children ages 3-10 yrs

BREAKFAST WITH SANTA SATURDAY, DECEMBER 15

Skirvin Event Space

Santa’s Breakfast » 9:30-11:30a*

$29.95 adults

$19.95 children ages 3-10 yrs

HOLIDAY LIGHTING CEREMONY

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 12

Hotel Lobby

Complimentary Reception » 5-7p

Meet our new Artist in Residence

CHRISTMAS DAY BRUNCH TUESDAY, DECEMBER 25

Skirvin Grand Ballroom

Skirvin Christmas Day Buffet » 11a-2p*

$49.95 adults

$29.95 children 3-10 yrs Live Entertainment

NEW YEAR’S EVE MONDAY, DECEMBER 31 Park Avenue Grill

Specialty NYE Menu » 6-11p*

$75.00 per person

Stitch 229 E. Sheridan Ave.

stitchokc.com | 405-652-1322

The owners of Stitch have transitioned from their previous coffee shop, Okay Yeah Co., to a new space in Bricktown. It’s still calm and plant-filled, and they’re still making excellent baked goods and strong coffees. Open seven days a week, the cafe is a great place to work and enjoy a light lunch. The High Desert toast is a particularly delicious bite.

Kwan’s Kitchen

3031 W. Memorial Road kwans.kitchen | 405-607-8838

Presented as “Cantonese with a twist,” the food in Kwan’s Kitchen is elevated French-Chinese fusion served in an expansive space where koi fish swim in a tank under the floor and different seating areas represent the five elements of wood, earth, water, fire and metal. The restaurant serves dim sum on weekends, and the regular menu includes Chinese staples with flair, like quail lo mein

Bar Arbolada

637 W. Main St. facebook.com/bararbolada 405-601-8659

This hip bar from native Okies with a California sensibility has become one of the Arts District’s favorite hangouts. Named for a street in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Los Feliz, Bar Arbolada is filled with sun during the day and music and energy at night. Original cocktails can be enjoyed with savory snacks like corn fritters or sweet desserts like buñuelos, small doughnuts with caramel sauce.

The Kitchen at Commonplace Books

1325 N. Walker Ave., Suite 138 commonplacebooksokc.com/kitchen 405-534-4540

The cafe side of Commonplace Books feels more like a casual hangout than a restaurant space, which seems exactly the point. During the day, visitors can sip coffees and enjoy small salads, toasts and polenta while relaxing with friendly shop dog Boz. Family-style dinners are served nightly with new menus each week.

Oso on Paseo

603 NW 28th St. osopaseo.com | 405-309-8226

Opened in October, this taco joint and recent addition to the growing Paseo Arts District is gorgeously decorated and serves fresh spins on Mexican favorites. The street corn topped with Takis chips is delicious, and the ahi tuna tostadas are an inspired mix of flavors. The menu features several vegetarian and vegan options, as well.

UCO School of Music, Musical Theatre:

Whirling Winter Wonderlands

Thursday–Saturday, Dec. 6–8, 13–15, 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 9, 5 p.m.

UCO Jazz Lab Reservations strongly suggested.

ACM@UCO ALIVE!

Monday–Tuesday, Dec. 3–4, 7 p.m.

ACM Performance Lab

329 E. Sheridan Ave

School of Music: Jazz Ensembles Concert

Monday, Dec. 3, 7:30 p.m.

UCO Jazz Lab

School of Music:

Winter Choral Concert

Monday, Dec. 3, 7:30 p.m.

Mitchell Hall Theatre

UCO Art: Senior Capstone Exhibit

Opening Reception

Thursday, Dec. 6, 5:30–7:30 p.m.

Exhibit Dates: Dec. 6–13 Melton Gallery, Art and Design Bldg

School of Music:

Symphony Orchestra Concert

Thursday, Dec. 6, 7:30 p.m.

Mitchell Hall Theatre

Theatre Arts:

Fall Short Play Festival

Thursday–Friday, Dec. 6–7, 7:30 p.m.

Radke Fine Arts Theatre, UCO Center for Transformative

Learning

UCO Dance:

Senior Project Showcase

Thursday, Dec. 13, 7:30pm

Mitchell Hall Theatre

For tickets, more events and other information, visit cfad.uco.edu

ARTS & CULTURE

Beyond borders

Neighbors Project, a large-scale photography exhibit in downtown Oklahoma City, explores the differences and similarities between Americans.

By Jeremy Martin

When photographer John Raymond Mireles moved to a new neighborhood, he thought of a more original way to meet his new neighbors than borrowing a cup of sugar. He photographed several of the people in his community, displayed larger-than-life prints on the fence surrounding his house and hosted an outdoor exhibition.

“I had a big party and invited people from all over the city to come view the work,” Mireles said, “so it was an opportunity to bring people together and to get people to come to a neighborhood they might not otherwise visit and bring people from different communities together. So it started with me taking photos of my neighborhood, but then I quickly used it as an opportunity to unite people and bridge divides that existed where I lived in San Diego. From that, the idea grew, and it was like, ‘Well if I can do this in my backyard, what if I go all across the country and do this?’”

In collaboration with Downtown Oklahoma City Partnership, 35 portraits from Mireles’ Neighbors Project are on display outside the BOK Park Plaza building at the intersection of N. Walker and W. Sheridan avenues through April 15. The portraits, up to 12 feet tall, feature people from Oklahoma and other parts of the United States.

“The idea is that people can see themselves in these photographs and then they can see others as well,” Mireles said. “If it’s all people from some other place, you’re like, ‘Well, those people are different from me; we

don’t share a common bond,’ but when I put people from the area in the photos and people who look like them, they can say, ‘Oh, there’s someone who looks like me,’ or ‘There I am; there’s someone who looks like my son or my daughter.’ And here’s someone from Hawaii, or Alaska or West Virginia, and hopefully people make the connection of … we’re part of this larger group; we’re actually united and it’s not me versus them; it’s all of us together.”

I’ve been to every state in the country, and wherever you go, there’s always people who are willing to open their doors and help out.

John Raymond Mireles

Mireles said he hopes the subjects he has chosen from Oklahoma are characteristic of the state but he has also tried to showcase the diversity of the population here.

“I had a husband and wife who I photographed after a church service, and I think you would look at them and think, ‘Wow! They look like what one might expect from Oklahoma,’” Mireles said. “But then also photographing someone from the Native American Cherokee community as well who might be more

familiar to their local community, but for people outside the area, they may not know there is such a large Native American presence in Oklahoma. It’s a delicate balance, and I know I don’t always do it perfectly, but I try.”

The enlarged size of the portraits, from Mireles’ perspective, is crucial for emphasizing the humanity of their subjects.

“There’s a certain amount of respect that we have toward people that are larger than life,” Mireles said. “I like to have the photos at a certain height also, so they’re elevated. … The viewer is going to look up to that person and see them as larger-than life. They literally can’t look down on that person. It encourages them to look at them as a person, to look at them with a position of respect. With that hopefully comes a sense of ‘Wow! This is a person with feelings, worthy of respect just like everyone else,’ then we can begin to empathize with that person. For me, the size really matters because it creates this physical relationship between the viewer and the subject.”

Whatever feelings these portraits might inspire in their beholder, Mireles said he emphasizes capturing candid moments over taking glamor shots, so sometimes his subjects aren’t fond of the way they look in their photos.

“It’s always challenging to take a portrait of somebody that they’re going to like,” Mireles said. “We all have our idiosyncrasies, our impression of what we think we look like. People will say, ‘Oh, that’s a terrible picture,’ and I say it’s a beautiful photograph. It hasn’t been a problem, but there are people who just got out of bed or are on their way to work and they don’t even want to see their photo. I’m not trying to make people look beautiful either. This isn’t a beauty portrait. It’s a portrait that’s trying to convey a feeling and a sense of who these people are, and sometimes that’s not flattering. Nobody smiles in my photos — I don’t let people smile. If you do that, then everyone’s

trying to look good and put on this artificiality, and I’m trying to move past that to try and get to something real. We all look a little better with a smile and when you take that away, sometimes people will look mean or grumpy when they don’t intend to.”

Discussing his photography methods, Mireles talked more about philosophy than technical details. The minimalist backdrop is the same in every photo to emphasize the equality of his subjects, and he’s more concerned with finding their humanity than their most flattering angles.

“What I try and do, and hopefully it comes through in my photos, is that I really try and connect to my subjects,” Mireles said. “I try to be very present with them and look at them, and touch them, reposition them, so there’s a connection between the two of us and everything I do is very specific. I had one woman write to me and tell me how me photographing her was a healing process for her because she had been traumatized as a child while having her photograph taken. The way I photographed her was a peaceful process, and she felt very connected and very safe. Oftentimes, I’m working very quickly and I don’t have a lot of time to spend with people, but I try and be present with each person and make them feel valued and connect with them.”

Since he started the Neighbors project three years ago, Mireles has traveled across the country in a motor home, photographing strangers from every state. Sometimes his subjects are people at events he has been assigned to photograph such as Oklahoma City’s annual NAACP dinner. Other times, he has just photographed people he has stopped on the street. Despite the much-discussed divides between races, political parties, economic classes and rural and urban mindsets, Mireles said he has discovered similarities everywhere he has been.

“The main thing I’ve learned is that Americans are very friendly people,” Mireles said. “They’re going to put their faith in you. They’re going to try and help. We’re similar in far more ways than we’re different. I’ve been to every state in the country, and wherever you go, there’s always people who are willing to open their doors and help out. It’s a different mentality than in other countries. … When I’m in America, I’m home. No other place will ever be home.” Visit jraymondm.com.

Project by

Portraits from photographer John Raymond Mireles’ Neighbors Project are on display outside the BOK Park Plaza building at the intersection of N. Walker and W. Sheridan avenues until April 15. | Photo John Raymond Mireles / provided

ARTS & CULTURE

Hidden seams

Artist Jason Cytacki has gone from painting scenes inspired by the Westerns he watched on TV as a child to drawing the TV itself.

Cytacki, an assistant professor at University of Oklahoma’s School of Visual Arts, exhibits his oil paintings and multimedia sculptures inspired by childhood memories in Reruns Dec. 14-Jan. 11, 2019, at Mainsite Contemporary Art, 122 E. Main St., in Norman.

Many of Cytacki’s works are almost photo-realistic oil paintings of miniature dioramas he has constructed from cardboard, action figures and other found objects. He said he first developed the technique out of boredom with conventional subjects while an art student at Indiana University South Bend.

“Comic books were sort of my first artistic inspiration,” Cytacki said. “I studied at a place that was very traditional in terms of learning to paint observationally from still-life figures. I got a little burned out on apples and flowers and the traditional kind of still-life figures, but I still wanted to practice that skill of observation, so instead of using photographic references, I started building little scenes with toys of mine, which is really not unlike the comic books. I would create a scene between Mr. Potato Head and some other toy I had.”

His landscape paintings of the American West emphasize the artificiality of the dioramas they depict, detailing the seams in the blankets used to recreate water or desert sand and the corrugated grooves in the cardboard trees and mountain ranges. When he moved to Oklahoma in 2012 after receiv-

becomes part of us as not just an accurate snapshot of the world, but they’re filtered through a bunch of systems of beliefs and ideas from our own upbringing and the places we lived and the people we’ve interacted with and the shows we’ve watched,” he said.

The difference when Cytacki applies his style to more mundane scenes is the seams can be harder to spot unless one looks very carefully.

“The sense of constructed reality comes in the way I paint them with the cardboard being visible and the sculptures with the way they’re constructed so you can see how they’re built,” Cytacki said. “I feel like most people realize that the view of the American West shown in John Ford movies is somewhat exaggerated or hyped up, but I feel like with the interiors of suburban homes from childhood, it’s perhaps a little less obvious.”

Fantastic images

The effect Cytacki wants to achieve with his newest works is deliberately subtler.

By

Jeremy Martin

ing a master of fine arts degree from University of Notre Dame, Cytacki said his closer proximity to his subject matter made it less artistically inspiring.

“When I was in Indiana, the West seemed like a really far-off place, different from where I was, and it was something that’d I’d really only seen very much in movies and a road trip or two my family took when I was younger,” Cytacki said. “It had a mythological quality in my brain still that I tried to deconstruct and play with. When I moved to Oklahoma, the imagery and iconography was a lot more pervasive, and so it just sort of wasn’t intriguing in the way I was interested in.”

Cytacki’s interest moved to science fiction scenes inspired by the comic books he read as a kid, but with his latest work in Reruns, he has chosen to recreate moments from his own childhood.

“It’s definitely somewhat of a shift from the older paintings in terms of at least the subject of what I’m depicting,” Cytacki said. “I was really wanting to pursue the idea of the places and the experiences that I’ve had up until today. The actual places that I’ve lived and experienced, everything goes into that, including what’s going on in the world today in putting such a focus on quoteunquote ‘flyover states.’”

The methodology Cytacki used to depict these childhood scenes is still the same, however, because memories, like movies and comic books, can also be constructed mythologies.

“The way we view the world as a child, the ways in which the world is shown to us or the way we perceive it,

idea is in another medium and the scale changes, the meaning also sort of shifts.”

Each sculpture is titled “Capriccio” after an Italian painting method of depicting real architecture in fantastical ways. Cytacki said he was inspired to create the sculptures while sightseeing in Rome.

“I was thinking about pieces and fragments of ruins,” Cytacki said. “They’re deconstructed also in a way because they’re found by excavators and then somebody restores them, and they’re positioned in a certain way to tell some kind of story about the people who lived there. I started thinking about some of the ideas of myself at home and the way we associate the same kind of ideas with Middle America.”

Parts can signify a whole, but because the whole is reconstructed in the mind of the beholder, the meaning might vary.

“The American West’s mythology is an easy target, I guess, because it’s so overinflated and exaggerated,” Cytacki said. “I really wanted to show that these pieces are constructed and in some sense show that this mythology is maybe not as true as we’d like to believe. But with [Reruns], I’m trying to put less of a direct message on top of the work … to make the narrative and settings a little more ambiguous. One person might look at it and find a different conclusion or have a different experience with that painting than somebody else with different experiences might come to. … There is still some question of exactly what is occurring in these images as opposed to hitting somebody over the head with exactly what my thoughts are when I’m making them.”

In addition to oil paintings, Reruns also features sculptures Cytacki constructed in a fashion similar to his dioramas. But where his dioramas are typically smallscale and made from cardboard, which he often recuts and reuses for other dioramas, the sculptures are made from plywood two-by-fours with detailed pencil drawings adhered to the surface.

“I wanted to play with that idea with places that were significant to me in terms of my personal life but also were representative of this larger idea of Midwestern America,” Cytacki said. “Things that are specific to me, small details that give a sense of specificity, but also a lot of those popular culture items that were meaningful to me. I’m sure hundreds of other people have the experience of going to Pizza Hut on the weekends and playing ‘Zelda’ on the Nintendo.” Visit mainsitecontemporaryart.com.

“They’re definitely in the same headspace,” Cytacki said. “Obviously when an

“The High Life” by Jason Cytacki | Image provided

“Out of the Blue” by Jason Cytacki | Image provided

ARTS & CULTURE

Holiday party

Christmas at The Elms closes out a year of art at Art at The Elms and provides perfect gifts for the holiday season. By

Daniel Bokemper

This December, JRB Art at The Elms commemorates the 15th year of one of Oklahoma City’s most illustrious holiday traditions, Christmas at The Elms. Opening during The Paseo Arts District’s First Friday Gallery Walk, the outing continues its trend of showcasing beautiful, local work across a myriad of mediums. Additionally, Christmas at The Elms features two solo shows by Sohail Shehada and Stella Thomas within the adjacent galleries of JRB.

Conjured out of the principles of camaraderie and the power of art, gallery founder Joy Reed Belt found the event offers a unique opportunity to celebrate one of the most rewarding gifts. A confluence of large, small, stationary and wearable art, the exhibit and sale strikes an aesthetic chord for everyone. From the previously unseen work of Michi Susan to the rustic and lifelike illustration of Jeff Dodd, Christmas at The Elms alludes to nearly every artistic movement.

“It’s very eclectic,” Belt said with little hesitation. “Christmas in an inclusive time of the year in every sense of the word, and we seek to feature something that both everyone can relate to and highlights a number of our artists.”

For this year’s event, Belt chose to focus on

a connection to Oklahoma either through theme, proximity or education. For instance, the work of Bert Seabourn combines echoes of Salvador Dalí with Native American figures to posit something surreal and unquestionably familiar. On the other hand, Robert Peterson frames contemporary icons in a fashion that is raw, harrowing and beautiful.

Stella Thomas, one of the artists featured, brings many visually stunning pieces to the gallery with her collection of jewelry and accessories. An inventive designer from Kuantan, Malaysia, Thomas derives her craft from raw materials ranging from natural stones to the horn bones of water buffalo. Her art has been commissioned by celebrities, royalty and diplomats alike.

“Our mission is to exhibit all forms of contemporary art,” Belt said. “We seek to begin a dialogue with the public with and about art. I think that’s what this work does. Her work is stunning and very unusual. It’s popular with our customers; you can buy a pair of earrings and a bracelet at a modest price point. Jewelry is a traditional Christmas gift, and this work makes such a statement about it.”

The alternate solo show exhibits the imagery of Sohail Shehada, an assistant professor of figurative sculpture and drawing at University of Oklahoma. Spending much of his early life in Australia, Shehada channels the Aboriginal appreciation of art and culture throughout his work. Pieces upwards of six feet high emphasize grandeur and have become a trademark of Shehada throughout his career.

It proves difficult to attach a unifying theme or idea to the work collectively.

However, despite a thorough medley of different concepts and subjects, Belt’s consideration for an artist to be featured in

Christmas at The Elms is straightforward.

“I have to like their work,” Belt said. “Christmas at The Elms is about putting forth a good representation of art. It’s about establishing contrasts. I often ask myself who would show well with what and who’s really different. How do you craft a puzzle that will make the best exhibit possible? You do it with a heightened amount of variety, perhaps more so than any other time of the year.”

JRB Art is a beacon against an oftentired shopping season. In the era of big box stores and bombastic Black Friday ventures, Christmas at The Elms cultivates something a bit more personal and nostalgic.

“Our space takes you back in almost a noncommercial world,” Belt said. “The architecture of our building brings you into this very warm environment with huge fireplaces and a lot of wood. A lot of the general trappings of commerce are not here, no charge to enter and refreshments readily available. I think of our environment as more akin to an old, gracious home.”

In many ways, the final show of JRB’s year often proves to be the most definitive. Christmas at The Elms is an opportunity to purchase and preserve the work of the most intriguing artists Belt herself has curated. Each year, Christmas at The Elms is a culminating glimpse of JRB’s legacy in retrospect and moving forward. With it comes

what Belt described as “another dimension” of gifting.

For Belt, there are few objects that parallel the gift of art. No television evokes a sense of wonder like a fine piece of art, and very few gourmet pies resonate longer than a few moments. Art provides something consistent and returning. It is an aspect of the individual who places it within their home and a manifestation of the ideas that empower them.

“I would like to encourage people to think about gifting art,” Belt said. “My reason for that is that it’s a perfect gift. In fact, it brings you a gift every time you look at it. Every time you look at a painting or drawing or poster in your house, it’s evidence of something you love and cherish. You don’t have to change the oil, you never have to defrost it; it’s just there, and it communicates with you unquestionably. I think that kind of spiritual exchange art provides is important at this time of the year.”

Visit jrbartgallery.com.

Christmas at The Elms

Friday-Dec. 22

JRB Art at The Elms 2810 N. Walker Ave. jrbartgallery.com | 405-528-6336

Free

“The Red Dress (Dorothy Dandridge)” by Robert Peterson | Image JRB Art at The Elms / provided “Pour”

Plum roles

Married Oklahoma City Ballet dancers Courtney Connor Jones and Sam Jones prepare for The Nutcracker. By Jeremy

Martin

Oklahoma City Ballet dancers Courtney Connor Jones and Sam Jones don’t remember the first time they saw The Nutcracker, but they have a daily reminder of a performance three years ago: their daughter, Gwyn.

“She’s a Nutcracker baby,” Sam Jones said. “I was doing a guest performance of Nutcracker, and it was scheduled the same time as Courtney was due. So she went into labor, and after the baby was born, I went straight from the hospital to the theater and performed Nutcracker It was not my best performance.”

He might have been a little distracted.

“Poor guy,” said Courtney Connor Jones.

The Joneses joined OKC Ballet in 2017 after several years with Cincinnati Ballet. While Courtney Connor Jones and Sam Jones estimate they’ve danced in about 10 productions each of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s classic Christmas ballet since the ages of 6 and 7 respectively, this year will mark their second appearance in OKC Ballet’s annual performance.

Scheduled for six performances Dec. 14-23 at Civic Center Music Hall, 201 N. Walker Ave., The Nutcracker features staging by artistic director Robert Mills with a score performed by Oklahoma City Philharmonic and appearances by students from OKC Ballet’s Yvonne Chouteau School along with the ballet’s regular company of dancers.

Courtney Connor Jones, a principal dancer, and Sam Jones, a member of the corps de ballet, will perform the pas de deux duet for the Sugar Plum Fairy and Her Cavalier together as well as in the ballet’s Arabian and Russian dances, respectively. After Gwyn was born, rehearsing for major productions like Nutcracker, which requires the Joneses to train and practice as a full-time job, became more difficult.

“In the very beginning, sleep was an issue,” Courtney Connor Jones said. “We were really tired. I was so tired. I couldn’t learn any combinations because I was just so tired.”

But as they began to adjust to their new sleep schedule, or lack thereof, Gwyn became an energizing source of renewed motivation.

“Probably most people say this about their children, but they make you better because it gives you perspective on life,” Courtney Connor Jones said. “Obviously, she’s the most important thing, so it helps me, and I think both of us, just kind of relax a little bit. If you don’t do your pirouette perfectly, it’s not the end of the world like it was when you don’t have a child. At least that’s how it’s been for me, but she also does give me the drive, I think, especially because she does love ballet way too much. All she wants to do is watch ballet videos and dance all day long. So it actually is really inspiring me to be a better ballerina. I don’t know. It’s just given me almost like a childlike excitement about the ballets we do and even just doing Nutcracker again, I’m so excited because I know that she loves it. All the kids out there love it.”

Annual tradition

The Nutcracker, which follows young Clara from her parents’ Christmas party to a fantastic dream world where anthropomorphic wooden soldiers battle giant mice and sugar plum fairies really do dance, premiered in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in 1892, but it gradually evolved into a worldwide phenomenon in the 20th century.

“It’s become a holiday tradition,” Sam Jones said. “It gets kind of put on people’s lists around this season like getting together the family and having a big meal, like decorating the Christmas tree, all of these holiday traditions. It kind of worked its way into those, and I think that’s sort

of why it’s taken off the way it has.”

The Nutcracker is also an annual tradition for dance companies, with some mounting more than one production a year. OKC Ballet recently returned from performing The Nutcracker in Colorado Springs, Colorado, over Thanksgiving weekend. The ballet’s five performances with Colorado Springs Philharmonic abbreviated the rehearsal schedule for OKC Ballet’s own production at home to two weeks, but the dancers’ familiarity with the material makes a shortened prep time workable.

“There is definitely a comfort in Nutcracker because you’ve been doing the steps already,” Courtney Connor Jones said. “This year, it was really nice having already performed it. Actually having only two weeks of rehearsal wasn’t that big of a deal because I was like, ‘Oh, I’ve done this before.’ I remember my corrections from last year, so I can already start off applying those right away. I know what it feels like onstage, so it’s not as scary.”

However, the familiarity with the material can sometimes lead to boredom.

“There’s both sides to the coin because it’s comfortable because you know it, but it’s not quite as exciting as doing something new,” Courtney Connor Jones said. “We know it’s there every year. It’s never going to not be there. But I have to say, now that I’m not doing some of the corps things like the snowflake and the flower dances and things like that, now that I’m removed from those rehearsals, I love watching it. I think it’s so beautiful and the music is so gorgeous. Sometimes when you’re in it, it just kind of feels like drudge work.

You don’t appreciate it as much.”

Many dance companies add their own embellishments to the ballet in an attempt to modernize it.

“They get real creative,” Courtney Connor Jones said. “Our former company, they had a poodle, and it was more of a star. It was a child playing a poodle, and she was a bigger deal than the actual nutcracker.”

When the Joneses came to OKC last year, they were pleased to discover Mills’ staging was a more traditional version of the ballet.

“The version here is very unironic, which is nice,” Sam Jones said. “There’s no sort of winking at the audience and being like, ‘Oh, look at how silly this is.’ It’s just ballet, and there’s nothing wrong with that. There’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

The widespread familiarity with The Nutcracker and its simple storyline make it more accessible to audiences who aren’t as well versed in ballet, offering a less intimidating introduction to the art form.

“I feel like every year, someone tells me, ‘Oh, this is my first ballet,’” Courtney Connor Jones said. “It’s the holidays, so people give it as a gift or it’s a family tradition. … So I think it holds a special place in a lot of people’s hearts because it’s the first one they saw.”

Like Mother Ginger’s children, drawn out from beneath her massive hoopskirt to dance to Tchaikovsky’s timeless score in Act 2, new ballet fans are created every Christmastime, and for the Joneses’ Nutcracker baby Gwyn, the magic isn’t just confined to the holiday season.

“Last year, we listened to ‘Mother Ginger’ until about March or April,” Courtney Connor Jones said, “daily and on repeat. That was a little rough.”

Visit okcballet.org.

Courtney Connor Jones in Swan Lake | Photo by Kate Luber / provided

The Snowflakes dance in The Nutcracker | Photo by Jana Carson / provided

ARTS & CULTURE

Night notes

Painted Sky Opera stages the first opera written specifically for television that tells a classic tale from a different perspective.

By Charles Martin

On a chilled winter night, Molly Johnson guided travelers toward a barricaded side door of a darkened church in north Oklahoma City. Inside, opera singers oohed, yummed and ha-ha’ed their way through vocal exercises, took costume measurements and then launched into a fittingly humble rehearsal for the classic American opera Amahl and the Night Visitors

This is the first time Painted Sky Opera has produced Amahl and the Night Visitors, which Johnson, the stage director, said is part of the company’s efforts to foster growing interest in opera within Oklahoma. By presenting approachable and relevant productions, Painted Sky can disrupt the somewhat intimidating aura that can surround the genre.

“We want people to realize that it’s not all about slipping into your nicest gown, putting on all your jewels then taking a limousine to the opera house,” Johnson said. “There are so many Americans that came to love opera because they went to Amahl and the Night Visitors. It’s a beautiful introductory piece because it’s in English, but also because it’s short. Some of the grand operas can be two to three hours, longer if it’s Wagner.”

Composed by Gian-Carlo Menotti, the opera premiered on NBC in 1951 and was aimed at younger, mainstream American audiences. Johnson said that it was the first opera written specifically for television as an experiment to see if a short, simple, unique take on a familiar story could win new fans.

“Because he was so intentional about writing it for children, all the musical

numbers are short,” Johnson said.

Panned away from the humble manger of Christmas lore, the opera focuses on a poor widow and her crippled son burning the last of their lamp oil.

“In that day and age, the widow was marginalized; there was not a good fallback system, so they are one day away from being beggars,” Johnson said. “Amahl has a physical handicap that makes him need to walk with a crutch, so he can’t work as a shepherd. They had to sell their sheep.”

Along come the Three Kings equipped with gifts and the tale of a divine birth.

“They have stopped on their way to see the Christ child in the manger,” Johnson said. “Though she has nothing, she invites them in. The village residents bring food from their stores to provide hospitality. The Three Kings are carrying the gifts for the child, including gold. The mother is tempted, in her desperation.”

The television performance became a mainstay of the holidays through 1966 in the same way that Snoopy; The Grinch; and a Red Ryder, carbine action, 200-shot range model air rifle continue to be icons of modern holiday entertainment. Though the intended audience veers young, Johnson said the material is not simple.

“It’s got some interesting harmonies,” Johnson said. “It’s beautiful on the ear, but it’s tricky for some of the singers to work with those tonalities, some of the intervals. The chorus has

Mezzo-soprano Catherine McDaniel plays Mother in Painted Sky Opera’s production of Amahl and the Night Visitors. | Photo provided

a big a capella section, so we’re really working on a multipart. I once sang the role of the mother, and it took some time to learn it, but it was worth it.”

Johnson’s interest in opera came at an early age, and she remembers seeing a television production of Amahl and the Night Visitors, though she narrowly missed out on an opportunity to see it live.

“Legend has it that my church did a production when I was 3,” Johnson said. “My father told me that I could come back from the nursery to see the opera, so he snuck me in the back door and, with my already very loud voice, I called out, ‘I’m here, Amahl! Sing!’ and he took me right back to the nursery.”

There are so many Americans that came to love opera because they went to Amahl and the Night Visitors

Johnson has been performing opera since she was 12. Her first production was within the chorus of La Bohème during the Oklahoma City stop of a touring company. Since that time, she has seen multiple companies try to build an opera following but stall.

“When I was growing up, there were lots of attempts, but nothing lasted more than a year,” Johnson said. “Painted Sky is now on its third year, and interest is growing. We want opera to become a regular fixture in Oklahoma City. As Amahl was designed to be approachable and to appeal, Painted Sky has done a great job of staging works that will draw audiences in, both the great standards and other works that are a bit more unusual.”

Oklahoma is not short on Christmas productions this holiday season, but Johnson believes that Amahl and the

Night Visitors stands out on the calendar because metro audiences are hungrier for opera now thanks to an ambitious programming calendar and nontraditional performances such as Opera on Tap, which stages informal opera in bars. The last two shows for the Painted Sky season include Trouble in Tahiti, a dark comedy in a 1950s nuclear family, and a pared-down interpretation of the opera classic La Tragédie de Carmen Johnson’s hope is that by ensuring that every performance feels relevant to OKC audiences, Painted Sky can continue expanding its audience and expose the next generation to her beloved art form. The story of Amahl, Johnson said, is a perfect fit for the state’s holiday temperament.

“In the hustle and bustle of a busy holiday season, this gets down to the core of the story of giving and what it means to have a generous spirit,”

Johnson said. “Even out of nothing, there is something to give, and it can create miracles great and small.”

Visit paintedskyopera.org.

Amahl and

GALLERY WALK Friday, December 7, 2018 • 6-9pm

Trucks: Mission In-Pasta-Bowl Rolling Café In the Paseo Art Space at 3022 Paseo: SmallArt Show – Annual juried show featuring small original work. Great as gifts or for your art collection! Dec. 7-21

Local and national art, great food, art classes and plenty of shopping!

Buy This! HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE

unique and local ideas for holiday gifts

POINSETTIA BASKETS

Make this holiday fabulous! Select from a wide assortment of arrangements for home, family and friends to deck the halls. Add a touch of color with poinsettias, garland, mini holiday trees and more! They’re sure to look great and add a special touch to every holiday gathering.

Tony Foss Flowers 7610 N. May Ave. tonyfossflowers.com | 405.302.8845

HOLIDAY SCULPTURE ART

Tin Lizzie’s has a large selection of holiday accessories guaranteed to add just the right touch to your holiday home or office festivities. Dress your table, yard, body or find a unique gift for the hard-to-shop-for person in your life all under one roof!

Tin Lizzie’s 905 N. Broadway Ave. 405.228-1014

HAND CRAFTED ORNAMENTS

Hand crafted holiday ornaments now in store! Visit CMG Art Gallery to find unique works from over 20 artists specializing in clay, metal, glass, wood and more.

CMG Art Gallery 1104 NW 30th St. cmgartgallery.com | 405. 256.3465

COMMEMORATIVE POSTER

Commemorative Poster made in 1989

marking the Centennial of the 1889 Oklahoma Land Run as a joint project of Pratt Foods & Oklahoma TODAY Magazine. Mural by Charles Banks Wilson. Shrink wrapped. Price $25

The Junkyard Diva

116 S. Rock Island, El Reno 1423 Manvel Ave., Chandler 405. 345.8076

C.C. BEANIES, SCARVES AND GLOVES

Staying warm has never been cuter! Shop today to find a wide selection of C.C. beanies, scarves and gloves. We offer a wide variety of colors, styles and sizes sure to please you and the ones on your holiday list!

Lush Fashion Lounge 14101 N. May Ave. #114 lushfashionlounge.com | 405. 936.0680

SOLO 24 HEATED TOWEL RACK

The Solo 24 freestanding heated towel rack from Amba features 10 cylindrical bars, and a no-fuss installation design— Screw legs on and plug it in to a standard outlet for a light weight and portable heated towel rack solution. $232 Perfect for: Someone who’s always cold!

Expressions Home Gallery 501 NE 122nd St., Suite C expressionshomegallery.com | 405.752.0142

CIDER ’N CHILL LOCALLY HANDMADE SOY CANDLE 8 OZ

Netflix ‘n chill? We prefer to sip a hot mug of apple cider and chill. Sweet apple and spicy cinnamon pair perfectly with a little binge watching of your favorite show. Top: Apple Mid: Cinnamon, Clove Base:Tonka. Responsibly sustainable soy. High-grade fragrance oils. Phthalate free. Cotton lead-free wick. All of our soy candles are made by hand in our Oklahoma City home studio. $18 (3 sizes ranging from $12-32)

OKcollective Candle Co. 14 NW Ninth St., Automobile Alley weareokcollective.com | 405.548.5374

OLD ADAGE WALL SIGNS

You know you’re always thinking it, so why not hang it on the wall? These hang easily on almost any surface, especially in areas where moms are needed! Tons more gifts in-store during our liquidation sale! $7 Perfect for: That mom who finds everything Mistletoe Mercantile

|

Evolving wheels

An after-school job to pay for a broken BMX wheel extended into a three-decade career in bike shops.

By Charles Martin

Steve Schlegel of Schlegel Bicycles found his calling back in 1980 when he was a bruised-up kid pushing his busted BMX bike across northside Oklahoma City. A nearby bike shop named House of Wheels was still under construction, but Schlegel needed to get mobile again as soon as possible. Twelve at the time and an expert rider in the 12-16 age range, Schlegel had bent his front wheel while propelling himself over dirt mound after dirt mound as he prepped for a run at Grand Nationals. This was three years before fellow Okie Mat Hoffman would begin his revolutionary career and six years before the movie Rad would cement BMX as one of the decade’s mainstream legacies.

“I, arguably, had the first quarter pipe in the city for bikes,” Schlegel said with a wry smile. “I remember that, right as we were pulling that portable ramp out of our driveway, our mailman showed up with the newest issue of BMX Action magazine, and on the cover was the first image I’d ever seen of bikes on a quarter pipe.”

So young Schlegel was ahead of the curve but also down a wheel. When he finally arrived at House of Wheels, he peered inside for signs of life, knocked on the door and was startled when a gruff and imposing figure emerged: Jim Mueller, Schlegel’s future mentor.

“I was nervous, and my hands were shaking. He took the wheel from me and said, ‘Come back in a couple days,’” Schlegel said. “When I went back to pick up the wheel, I realized I’d been a bit naïve about how much it was gonna cost. I asked if I could work it out, and he said, ‘Show up after school tomorrow.’ I’ve worked full-time in a bike shop ever since.”

Schlegel’s career took him from

plaining the shop’s Fit First Philosophy. “When I hear from people who tried cycling but didn’t stick with it, I ask them what got them out of it. Generally, it is they didn’t feel comfortable on the bike or didn’t feel safe.”

Schlegel said that customers at a bike shop can have a conversation with the staff about the kind of bike they need, how frequently they’ll be using it and how they’ll be using it, which will then narrow the options, making the decision more manageable. If someone is just looking to pedal around the lake a few times a month, they don’t need a bike designed for a completely different purpose, say screaming down a mountainside at 80 miles per hour.

Schlegel’s promotion of cycling extends beyond the store and to helping with organizations and events across the state, including DNA Racing and the Oklahoma City Pro Am Classic that takes over downtown in early June. Schlegel said that the Pro Am is meant to pair up with the Tulsa Tough, which is three days of races, including Cry Baby Hill, which he describes as one of the biggest races in the country in terms of fanfare.

House of Wheels to The Bicycle Store on the north side to opening Bicycle Store Too on the south side in partnership with Mueller. Schlegel Bicycles, 900 N. Broadway Ave., opened in Automobile Alley in 2007, and Schlegel will celebrate his 38th year of fixing busted wheels for other ambitious racers of all disciplines, whether road, mountain or track.

He said the move downtown was to appease the clientele he’d collected across the metro and beyond.

“You get these different mentalities from the north-siders and the south-siders; there is this distinct dislike they have of each other, so when we moved downtown, it was this neutral ground between them,” Schlegel said. “The average bike shop usually draws the bulk of their business from a five-mile radius. We proved ourselves to be a destination. Customers were driving in from Tulsa, Lawton, sometimes even Texas and Kansas for some of our high-end business.”

A lot has changed in the sport since Schlegel started fixing flats in 1980, and it’s now driven by technology and highend accessories.

“There are so many electronics that go along with bikes now like Garmin cycling computers and multisport running watches that go for $500,” Schlegel said. “They are going for about what people used to spend on an entire bike.”

And like all retailers in the modern era, online shopping has shifted Schlegel Bicycles’ focus so it relies on service rather than just volume selling. That service begins with the first step of finding the right bike.

“People don’t come out of cookiecutters, which is why quality bikes come in an array of sizes,” Schlegel said, ex-

“It’s gotten kind of bad, like an out-ofcontrol frat party,” Schlegel said, laughing. “Tons of people show up just for the party but don’t really care about the race.”

Though Schlegel has continued competing in various forms of cycling over the years and wants to continue promoting the development of sport within Oklahoma, BMX remains his first love. He said the shop looks for opportunities to try to support BMX but is also dependent on local support.

“You’ve gotta have people doing it,” Schlegel said, noting that the sport is susceptible to ebbs and flows in popularity because of the higher risk of injury. “You name it, I’ve touched it, but BMX was the foundation. Bike-handling skills and sprinting are difficult to teach older people, so I’m fortunate to have that background. I revisited BMX two or three times but realized I don’t heal quite as well so had to back away, but you see that a lot. It becomes more of a transition. Us old BMX guys don’t really quit; we just become mountain bikers or road racers.”

Visit schlegelbicycles.com.

ARTS & CULTURE

Seasonal shopping

Holiday shopping — it’s the best of times when it means finding the perfect gifts for your friends and family and the worst of times when it involves trudging around a crowded mall or scouring dozens of websites, looking fruitlessly for ideas.

This year’s inaugural Holly Jolly Shops feature a selection of goods from dozens of local vendors and make holiday shopping more fun and festive than ever. The two-day extravaganza with free admission will take place noon–7 p.m. Saturday and noon-5:30 p.m. Sunday on the concourse of Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, 2 S. Mickey Mantle Drive.

Produced by the mother-and-son event management team at Revolve Productions, Tobi and Justin Coleman, Holly Jolly Shops have been in the making for a while.

“We’ve been wanting to do something in the downtown area that was a super fun family thing, where we could be part of the Downtown in December events,” said Tobi Coleman.

Holly Jolly Shops are a part of Devon Energy’s Downtown in December series, which also includes tree lightings, Santa visits, ice skating and, of course, shopping. Revolve has partnered with several other local initiatives, such as Curbside Chronicle

“They will be there, as well, selling their wrapping paper that was designed by local artists,” Coleman said of The Curbside Chronicle ’s Wrap Up Homelessness program. The wrapping paper packages cost $10-$20, and all sales directly benefit homeless individuals in the Oklahoma City area.

Other initiatives will bring social consciousness to holiday shopping. ReFuse, Inc., a nonprofit that focuses on the intersections between upcycling, recycling and teaching and arts instruction, is hosting ornament-making sessions for kids. Another program, through Green Tree Project OKC, offers living Christmas tree rentals, which Coleman

said could be especially practical for those living downtown or in apartments.

“They actually grow Christmas trees all year long, and you can rent them during the holiday season and then return them at the end of the holiday season,” Coleman said. “It’s sustainable.”

Festive fun

For those seeking even more Christmas magic, Holly Jolly Shops are bringing in two live reindeer 3-7 p.m. Saturday and noon-5:30 p.m. Sunday.

“Donner and Blitzen are the ones who are coming to spend a few days with us,” Coleman said.

While they’re officially on loan “from Santa,” the reindeer (caribou) will be traveling from Bristow to the event, where people can take photos of them, but not with them.

“I just thought it would be really cool for kids and alike to see some reindeer,” Coleman said.

Other festive touches include facepainting for children and a photo kiosk set up by the ballpark, featuring free photos that shoppers can email to themselves. In addition, Christmas movies will be playing all day on the ballpark’s closed-circuit TV system, giving shoppers and non-shoppers some holiday entertainment.

When they’re in need of refreshment, attendees can enjoy concessions, including caramel corn and adult hot chocolate, as well as other holidaythemed food and drink.

Holly Jolly Shops features 40 local vendors, including boutiques, wineries, clothiers, soap makers and handmade crafters.

“It will have everything from homemade crocheted items to Christmas ornaments and things for sale as well as homemade jellies and jams and stocking stuffers,” Coleman said.

Revolve Productions has been planning Holly Jolly Shops since early this year, according to Coleman. In addition to Revolve Production’s other holidaythemed events, such as Sleigh Bells Market, the Colemans’ wish to establish

an event with a downtown presence meant looking for locations in the area. In August, Revolve met with the ballpark.

“We went and visited with them and found out how much it was going to cost us to rent the concourse, and we just proceeded after that. We thought that was a good place to have it,” Coleman said. “It was a really quick deal, as far as event planning goes.”

According to Coleman, the ballpark’s concourse area is covered and will have heaters, providing comfort for shoppers. The concourse will be decorated for the event, as well.

Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark will also be selling merchandise and season tickets.

Once a location had been established, Revolve began the process of reaching out to potential vendors who had previously worked at their events or those whose wares would do well in a holiday shopping context. After reaching out to these vendors, Revolve opened up the event to the public.

“Since it’s been open to the public, probably 40 percent of our vendors are not people that we sought out, but people that ended up becoming vendors at the event and bringing some unique items,” Coleman said.

Although this is the debut year for Holly Jolly Shops, Coleman said goals for next year’s event have already been set.

“This year, we’ll fill up half of the concourse, and next year, hopefully, the full concourse,” she said.

In addition to doubling the event in size for next year, Coleman said Revolve Productions hopes also to add new layers to Holly Jolly Shops each year in order to make it even better.

“It ought to be a really fun, festive event,” Coleman said. “There’s plenty to do, plenty to see.”

Visit revolve-productions.com.

Holly Jolly Shops

Warmth needed

While Oklahoma City coat drives are in full force, nonprofit leaders say the need is still great.

By Nazarene Harris

On a sunny but chilly afternoon in late November, 49-year-old mother of four Linda Debard said what so many of us say during this time of year.

“I’m cold,” she said.

But Debard didn’t confess to the sensation with a smile on her face, gloves on her hands or a coat on her back. She is one of 350 homeless Oklahomans who pass through the day shelter at The Homeless Alliance of Oklahoma City on any given day, spokeswoman Kinsey Crocker said.

Crocker said it’s difficult to determine a hierarchy of needs for the city’s homeless population, especially when temperatures drop.

“Our first priority is to get our guests off the streets,” Crocker said. “Research

has shown that once people have a safe and secure place to live, they are more likely to be successful in achieving other goals like getting sober or attaining employment.”

Last year, the organization secured housing for 715 of the city’s estimated 5,000 homeless individuals. Homeless Alliance accepts donations to ensure that other needs are met as well.

Like other nonprofit organizations within the city limits, Homeless Alliance is in need of winter coats.

Forty-year-old Darrell Smith said that while he’s thankful for the organization’s day shelter, it’s the night that’s on his mind.

Having been homeless since his grandmother’s death in 2012, Smith

said OKC streets have served as his bed on many nights. While he currently resides in a 24-hour shelter operated by The Salvation Army Central Oklahoma Area Command, he said his stay could expire soon due to the organization’s term limits.

Salvation Army spokeswoman Traci Jinkens said like many other shelters, The Salvation Army allows individuals to stay within its overnight shelter for 60 days while occupants work with a case manager to secure housing or employment.

“Their stay period is determined on a case-by-case basis,” Jinkens said. “If they have shown improvement and cooperation, they can certainly stay longer.”

Jinkens said The Salvation Army of Central Oklahoma has teamed up with local news station KFOR Channel 4’s Brad Edwards Warmth 4 Winter Coat Drive and will be accepting coat donations until the spring.

Memories of cold nights on the streets of OKC are enough motivation for Smith to keep a roof over his head.

On especially cold nights, he said, a winter coat was a godsend.

“This is the best one I’ve ever had,” he said of his black, wool, button-up peacoat. Smith, who stands four feet, five inches tall, said his height came in handy after his friend accidently shrunk his coat in the dryer.

“He gave it to me when he realized it didn’t fit him anymore,” he said.

Crocker said Homeless Alliance doesn’t have a goal of meeting a certain amount of coats donated but it can never receive too many.

The Curbside Chronicle, the organization’s employment service, partnered

When making a donation to The Salvation Army of Central Oklahoma through KFOR’s Brad Edwards Warmth 4 Winter Coat Drive, new or gently used coats can be dropped off at the following locations:

KFOR-TV News 4

444 E. Britton Road 405-424-4444

The Salvation Army – Oklahoma City

1001 N. Pennsylvania 405-246-1060

Cultivar Mexican Kitchen 714 N. Broadway Ave.

First United Bank 512 N. Broadway Ave.

Kamp’s 1910 Café 10 NE 10th St.

Schlegel Bicycles 900 N. Broadway Ave.

Twisted Spike Brewing Company 1 NW 10th St.

Waters Edge Winery-OKC 712 N. Broadway Ave.

Legacy Cleaners

4917 N. Western Ave., Oklahoma City 1531 E. Second St., Edmond

1201 NW 178th St., Suite 125, Edmond 1208 S. Broadway Ave., Edmond 805 W. Covell St., Edmond 16504 N. May Ave., Edmond

Midwest City YMCA 2817 N. Woodcrest Drive, Midwest City

Earlywine Park YMCA 11801 S. May Ave.

Mitch Park YMCA 2901 Marilyn Williams Drive, Edmond

Rankin YMCA 1220 S. Rankin St., Edmond

North Side YMCA 10000 N. Pennsylvania Ave.

Bethany YMCA 3400 N. Mueller Ave., Bethany

Rockwell Plaza YMCA 8300 Glade Ave.

Venturis Clinic 7917 N. May Ave.

Akin’s Natural Foods 2370 W. Memorial Road 2924 NW 63rd St.

with Insight Creative Group to host a coat drive for The Chronicle ’s 100 vendors. Coats can be donated in the store or placed outside the company’s building during weekends and evening hours.

“People ask me all the time, ‘What if someone steals a coat that’s been donated?’” Insight Creative Group content manager Lisha Dunlap said. “I tell them that if someone steals a coat, that means they needed it and eventually, hopefully, a coat would have made its way to them anyways. These coats are there for the taking.”

Dunlap said all extra coats go to Homeless Alliance.

Big need

The need for winter coats is felt even by Oklahoma’s youngest, Oklahoma City public school advocate Mary Mélon said.

Mélon serves as the president of the nonprofit organization The Foundation for Oklahoma City Public Schools, which supports the city’s students through corporate and private donations. The foundations Coat-A-Kid program supplies new coats for Oklahoma City Public Schools students through monetary donations that can be made online.

Donations begin with a $20 contribution to cover the cost of one coat, Mélon said.

With 90 percent of Oklahoma City public school students living in poverty, Mélon said it’s critical that donations are made to ensure that each child has a winter coat that will keep them warm when temperatures drop and the children have to wait at bus stops, walk home from school or play outside.

Despite raising more than $50,000 already, Mélon said $18,000 is still needed to meet the foundation’s goal of $130,000. A thousand students are still in need of winter coats.

Visit okckids.com/donate.

Coats can be picked up by anyone with a photo ID and proof of residency. Homeless individuals are encouraged only to show a H.NET ID card. Pick-up times are 9-11:30 a.m. and 1-3:30 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays, 9-11:30 a.m. and 1-4 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays and 9-11:30 a.m. Fridays at The Salvation Army of Central Oklahoma, 1001 N. Pennsylvania Ave. Call 405-246-1100. Donations to The Homeless Alliance of Oklahoma City can be made with monetary contributions given on the organization’s website, homelessalliance.org, or through coat donations. Coats can be dropped off at Insight Creative Group, 19 NE Ninth St. during business hours (8 a.m.-5 p.m.) or left on the rack outside.

To give a monetary contribution that will go toward the purchase of a new coat for an Oklahoma City Public Schools student, visit okckids.com/donate.

left Forty-year-old Darrell Smith poses with his favorite winter coat at The Homeless Alliance of Oklahoma City. right Forty-nine-year-old Linda Debard visits the day shelter at The Homeless Alliance of Oklahoma City. She is in need of a new winter coat. | Photo Alexa Ace

CALENDAR

are events recommended by Oklahoma Gazette editorial staff members For full calendar listings, go to okgazette.com.

BOOKS

Brunching with Books a book club meeting every other week, with reading selections chosen by group preference, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays. Buttermilk Paseo, 605 NW 28th St., 405-605-6660, buttermilkokc.com. SAT

Jane Jayroe Gamble book signing the author and former Miss America will autograph copies of her book Practice: Unleashing the Power of Faith, 6-7:30 p.m. Best of Books, 1313 E. Danforth Road, 405-340-9202, bestofbooksok.com. THU

Jim Ross book signing the author will autograph copies of Secret Route 66: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure, 2-4 p.m. Dec. 8. Barnes & Noble, 13800 N. May Ave., 405-755-1155, stores. barnesandnoble.com/store/2725. SAT

Mary Coley book signing the author will sign copies of her mystery novel Chrysalis, centered around at the Ponca City Grand Prix races held at Lake Ponca from the late 1960s to the 1990s, 2-3 p.m. Dec. 9. Full Circle Bookstore, 1900 Northwest Expressway, 405842-2900, fullcirclebooks.com. SUN

Mid-Oklahoma Writers a meetup for local writers featuring guest speakers and literary discussions, 7-9 p.m. the second Tuesday of the month. Eastside Church of Christ, 916 S. Douglas Blvd., 405-732-0393. TUE

Second Sunday Poetry hear the works of a variety of local poets, 2 p.m. second Sunday of every month. Norman Santa Fe Depot, 200 S. Jones Ave., 405-307-9320, pasnorman.org. SUN

FILM

Art Moves a screening of short films hosted by Arts Council Oklahoma City and deadCenter Film Festival, noon-1 p.m. Dec. 6. The Paramount Room, 701 W. Sheridan Ave., 405-887-3327, theparamountroom.com. THU

Brian Regan Whenever someone contends that it’s possible for standup comics to be just as funny without all the swears and dirty talk, they must mean Brian Regan. His incidentally family friendly and delightfully oddball brand of observational comedy made him a household name in fun houses long before he went to get coffee in Jerry Seinfeld’s car. The all-ages show starts 7 p.m. Sunday at The Criterion, 500 E. Sheridan Ave. Tickets are $42.50-$48.50. Call 405840-5500 or visit criterionokc.com.

SUNDAY Photo Friedman Bergman / provided

Museo (2018, Mexico, Alonso Ruizpalacios) two veterinary students plan and execute a Christmastime heist at the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City in this film based on a true story, Dec. 7-13, Fri., Dec. 7 and Sat., Dec. 8. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-236-3100, okcmoa.com. FRI-THU

VHS & Chill Presents Fantasy Rewind watch a selection of vintage sci-fi, fantasy, and animation TV shows, with onsite concessions and beverages, 8-10:30 p.m. The Paramount Room, 701 W. Sheridan Ave., 405-887-3327, theparamountroom.com. WED

HAPPENINGS

Artist Forum: Big Table Art Talk learn how to better manage the business of art at this discussion with Alyson B. Stanfield hosted by Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition, 6-8 p.m. Dec. 12. Paseo Art Space, 3022 Paseo St., 405-525-2688, thepaseo.com. WED

Cheering Away the Holiday Blues learn skills for coping with holiday stress at this four-week group counseling session, 5:30 p.m. Mondays through Dec. 17. Access to Counseling, 3035 NW 63rd St., Suite 200, 405-242-2242, access2counseling.com. MON

Factory Obscura Artist Mixer: A Collaboration Conversation musicians, dancers, actors, writers, performers and visual artists are invited to this networking event and panel discussion, 6-8 p.m. Dec. 8. Factory Obscura, 1522 S. Robinson Ave. SAT Get Organized: Stress Less learn how to prioritize responsibilities and organize information for a more productive workflow and less stressful life, 9:30-11 a.m. Dec. 5. Pioneer Library System, 225 N. Webster Ave., Norman 405-701-2600, pioneerlibrarysystem.org/norman. WED

Griswold Family Ugly X-Mas Sweater Party compete to see who’s wearing the most unsightly outerwear at this dance party with free games, 8 p.m.2 a.m. Dec. 8. FlashBack RetroPub, 814 W. Sheridan Ave., 405-633-3604, flashbackretropub.com. SAT

Growing a Bouquet Garden learn which flowers grow best in central Oklahoma and the best ways to plant them at this workshop led by Elia Woods from CommonWealth Urban Farms, 2-4 p.m. Dec. 8. SixTwelve, 612 NW 29th St., 405-208-8291, sixtwelve.org. SAT

Holiday Lights Spectacular see more than 100 animated lights displays and a 118-foot Christmas tree on a 1.5-mile drive soundtracked by classic holiday songs, through Dec. 25. Joe B. Barnes Regional Park, 8700 E. Reno Ave., Midwest City 405-739-1293, midwestcityok.org. FRI-TUE

Inspiring Conversations W\with Jeff Krisman the podcaster interviews singer/songwriter Darren Cipponeri and artist Mark Gilmore about their creative processes and life stories, 6-7:30 p.m. Dec. 12. [Artspace] at Untitled, 1 NE Third St., 405-815-6665, 1ne3.org. WED

Jingle Mingle a holiday meetup for marketing, advertising and communications professionals, 5-8 p.m. Dec. 6. IAO Gallery, 706 W. Sheridan Ave., 405232-6060, iaogallery.org. THU

Norman Innovation Challenge teams of students from the University of Oklahoma and Moore Norman Technology Center pitch business concepts at this community entrepreneurship event, 4:30-6 p.m. Dec. 6. The Studio at Sooner Theater, 110 E. Main St., 405-321-9600, soonertheatre.org. THU

Open Fiber Night a weekly crafting meet-up for knitters, crocheters, spinners and weavers, 5-8 p.m. Thursdays. Yarnatopia, 8407 S. Western Ave., 405601-9995, yarnatopia.com. THU

Pecha Kucha Night local creatives race to complete timed slide presentations at this recurring event, 6-8 p.m. Dec. 5. Plenty Mercantile, 807 N. Broadway Ave., 405-888-7470, plentymercantile.com. WED

See You Saturdays take a free tour of the museum and the Oklahoma Hall of Fame, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. second Saturday of the month. Gaylord-Pickens Oklahoma Heritage Museum, 1400 Classen Drive, 405-235-4458, oklahomaheritage.com. SAT

SixTwelve Holiday Dance Party a seasonal celebration featuring the Brothers Griin and raising funds to benefit The Curbside Chronicle, 8:30-11 p.m. Dec. 7. SixTwelve, 612 NW 29th St., 405-208-8291, sixtwelve.org. FRI

SoonerCon Festivus celebrate Frank Costanza’s holiday for the rest of us with the traditional airing of grievances and other seasonal games and activities, 6-9 p.m. Dec. 8. Wiley Post Park, 2021 S. Robinson Ave., 405-297-2756, okc.gov. SAT

Territorial Christmas Celebration take a tour of Guthrie’s Victorian-inspired architecture in a horse-drawn carriage and enjoy holiday light displays, through Dec. 24. Downtown Guthrie, Wentz and Oklahoma avenues, 405-282-0197, offbeatoklahoma.com. SAT-MON

Together Oklahoma: Holiday Mingle and Jingle enjoy holiday activities, drinks and door prizes and make wish lists for state legislators to be delivered in the New Year, 7-8:30 p.m. Dec. 6. The Paseo Plunge, 3010 Paseo Plunge, 405-315-6224, paseoplunge.org. THU

Illuminations: A Northern Lights Experience To paraphrase Superintendent Chalmers’ inquiry to Principal Skinner in The Simpsons’ much-remixed “steamed hams” vignette: “Aurora borealis? At this time of year, at this time of day, in this part of the country, localized entirely within [Myriad Botanical Gardens]?” The answer is yes, and unlike Chalmers you can see this northern lights-inspired light show designed by international production company Lightswitch. It’s less walking in a winter wonderland and more being uploaded into the movie Tron. Light it up 6-9 p.m. Tuesdays-Sundays through Jan. 1, 2019, at Myriad Botanical Gardens, 301 W. Reno Ave. Admission is $5-$7. Call 405-445-7080 or visit myriadgardens.org. THROUGH JAN. 1 Photo Doug Hoke / provided

Trans Empowerment: A Resource Fair an informational event for members of the transgender community, spouses, parents, and allies hosted by Free Mom Hugs and YesLove, 1-4 p.m. Dec. 9. The Diversity Center, 2242 NW 39th Street, 405-252-0372. SUN

FOOD

Surf and Turf this weekly all-you-can-eat feast in the Bricktown Brewery features prime rib, snow crab legs, shrimp and more, 4-10 p.m. Thursdays. Remington Park, 1 Remington Place, 405-424-9000, remingtonpark.com. THU

YOUTH

Christmas Express take a train ride with Santa Claus with holiday carols, stories, cocoa and cookies, Dec. 8-22, Dec. 8-22. Oklahoma Railway Museum, 3400 NE Grand Blvd., 405-424-8222, oklahomarailwaymuseum.org. SAT

OKC Drag Queen Story Hour children and their families are invited to a story and craft time lead by Ms. Shantel and followed by a dance party, 4 p.m. second Saturday of every month. Sunnyside Diner, 916 NW Sixth St., 405.778.8861. SAT

Polar Express PJ, Pancake & Ice Skating Party wear your pajamas to this holiday celebration with treats, activities and story time with Santa Claus, 9:3011:30 a.m. Dec. 9. Myriad Botanical Gardens, 301 W. Reno Ave., 405-445-7080, myriadgardens.com. SUN

Santa Delivers Saint Nicholas makes an appearance to deliver presents and tasty treats to the zoo’s animals followed by photo ops with the zoo’s human visitors, 10:30-11:30 a.m. Dec. 7. The Oklahoma City Zoo, 2000 Remington Place, 405-424-3344, okczoo.com. FRI

Sesame Street Live: Make Your Magic see Elmo, Cookie Monster, Big Bird and other favorite characters learn about the importance of believing in yourself, Dec. 8-9. Cox Convention Center, 1 Myriad Gardens, 405-602-8500, coxconventioncenter.com. SAT-SUN

Storyland Christmas a visual and performing arts event featuring live music, costumed characters, holiday murals and visits from Santa Claus, through Dec. 16. Charles J. Johnson Central Park, 7209 SE 29th St., Midwest City 405-739-1293, midwestcity.org. FRI-SUN

Storytime Science the museum invites children age 6 and younger to hear a story and participate in a related scientific activity, 10:30 a.m. Tuesdays. Science Museum Oklahoma, 2020 Remington Place, 405-602-6664, sciencemuseumok.org. TUE

PERFORMING ARTS

Blue Sunday a monthly blues tribute show hosted by Powerhouse Blues Project,6-8 p.m. the second Sunday of every month. Friends Restaurant & Club, 3705 W. Memorial road, 405-751-4057, friendsbarokc.com. SUN

Christmas Around the World Oklahoma Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra performs “Christmas Concerto” by Arcangelo Corelli and other holiday classics, 6-7:30 p.m. Dec. 9. 21c Museum Hotel, 900 W. Main St., 405-982-6900, 21cmuseumhotels.com. SUN

A Christmas Story: The Musical all young Ralphie wants for Christmas is a Red Ryder BB gun in the stage adaptation of the cult holiday classic, Dec. 7-16. Sooner Theatre, 101 E. Main St., Norman 405-321-9600, soonertheatre.com. FRI-SUN

Christmas Vespers more than 250 instrumentalists and choral singers from Oklahoma City University’s music department perform traditional carols and selections from The Many Moods of Christmas by Robert Shaw and Richard Rodney Bennett, Dec. 7-8. First Presbyterian Church OKC, 1001 NW 25th St., 4055256584, fpcokc.org. FRI-SAT

An Empty Plate in the Café du Grand Boeuf a millionaire decides to commit suicide by starving himself to death in his own private Parisian restaurant in this dark comedy, through Dec. 15. Carpenter Square Theatre, 806 W. Main St., 405-232-6500, carpentersquare.com. FRI-SAT

The Gravest Showman figure out the culprit in this interactive murder mystery dinner theater production set at a circus, Dec. 7. Cattlemen’s Steakhouse, 1309 S. Agnew Ave., 405-236-0416, cattlemensrestaurant.com. FRI

Hip Hop Nutcracker RACE Dance Company joins students from several local high schools to perform a modern-day take on Tchaikovsky’s classic Christmas ballet, Dec. 8-9. OCCC Visual and Performing Arts Center Theater, 7777 S. May Ave., 405-682-7579, tickets. occc.edu. SAT-SUN

Home for the Holidays an annual performance featuring dancers from the American Spirit Dance Company, Dec. 6-9. Oklahoma City University Campus, Kirkpatrick Auditorium, 2501 N. Blackwelder Ave., 405-208-5000, okcu.edu. THU-SUN

It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play Frank Capra’s classic holiday film is presented as a mock radio broadcast in this play adaptation, through Dec. 23. The Pollard Theatre, 120 W. Harrison Ave., Guthrie 405-282-2800, thepollard.org. FRI-SUN

Jim Brickman: Joyful Christmas the pianist performs holiday songs , 7:30-10:30 p.m. Dec. 11. OCCC Visual and Performing Arts Center Theater, 7777 S. May Ave., 405-682-7579, tickets.occc.edu. TUE

Lewis Black the Daily Show correspondent and comic performs standup on his The Joke’s on US Tour, 8-11 p.m. Dec. 6. Rose State College, 6420 SE 15th St., 405-733-7673, rose.edu. THU

Lit Xmas Benefit Concert hip-hop artists Guerrilla Breed, Soufwessdes, Trip G and more perform at this fundraiser presented by the Lifelines Initiative, 8:30p.m. Dec. 8. 51st Street Speakeasy, 1114 NW 51st St., 405-463-0470, 51stspeakeasy.com. SAT

Lyric’s A Christmas Carol the annual production of Charles Dickens’ holiday classic returns, through Dec. 24. Lyric Theatre, 1727 NW 16th St., 405-5249310, lyrictheatreokc.com. FRI-MON

Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberly a stage production written as a sequel to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice set two years after the novel ends, Dec. 6-9. Oklahoma City University campus, Kirkpatrick Auditorium, 2501 N. Blackwelder Ave., 405-208-5000, okcu.edu. THU-SUN

Oklahoma City Handbell Ensemble Winter Concert an evening of live handbell and hand chime music accompanying a retelling of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, 7:30 p.m. Dec. 8. First United Methodist Church of Piedmont, 2525 Piedmont Road N., Piedmont 405-373-2298, piedmontumc.org. SAT

Scrooge in the Rouge a naughty retelling of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, through Dec. 23. The Boom, 2218 NW 39th St., 405-601-7200, theboomokc.com. FRI-SUN

The Skirvin Jazz Club a weekly live jazz show presented by OK Sessions, 7:30 p.m. Fridays. Park Avenue Grill, 1 Park Avenue, 405-702-8444, ParkAveGrill.com. FRI

Those Who Lie Beyond an immersive, interactive performance art piece requiring viewer participation, through Dec. 16. Factory Obscura, 1522 S. Robinson Ave. FRI-SUN

Tribute to Woody Guthrie a celebration of the Okemah singer/songwriter featuring performances by John Fullbright, Terry Ware, Greg Standridge, Miss Brown to You, Peggy Johnson and more, 7 p.m. Dec. 9. The Blue Door, 2805 N. McKinley Ave., 405524-0738, bluedoorokc.com. SUN

Twilight OCU Christmas Vespers Concert featuring more than 250 choral singers and orchestral musicians, this candlelit holiday tradition is celebrating its 40th year, 8-10 p.m. Dec. 7. Oklahoma City University, 2501 N. Blackwelder Ave, 405-208-5000. FRI

The Unusual Tale of Mary & Joseph’s Baby a folk-rock comedy musical based on the biblical nativity story, through Dec. 9. Civic Center Music Hall, 201 N. Walker Ave., 405-297-2264, okcciviccenter.com. THU-SUN

ACTIVE

Learn-to-Swim Program Giving residents of all ages and financial situations the opportunity to learn to swim with proper technique and basic water safety at their own pace offered by the King Marlin Swim Club, ongoing, through Dec. 31. Lighthouse Fitness (Front), 3333 W. Hefner Road, 405-8455672, marlinswimamerica.com. SAT-MON

Monday Night Group Ride meet up for a weekly 25-30 minute bicycle ride at about 18 miles per hour through east Oklahoma City, 6 p.m. Mondays. The Bike Lab OKC, 2200 W. Hefner Road, 405-603-7655. MON

SandRidge Santa Run a 5K race and 1-mile fun run with prizes for best holiday costume, 7:30 a.m. Dec. 8. SandRidge Energy, 123 Robert S. Kerr Ave., 405-429-5500, sandridgeenergy.com. SAT

Wheeler Criterium a weekly nighttime cycling event with criterium races, food trucks and family activities, 5-8 p.m. Tuesdays. Wheeler Park, 1120 S. Western Ave., 405-297-2211, okc.gov. TUE

VISUAL ARTS

Alexis Austin: See-Through Women in Secret Kitchens an exhibition of the latest works from the experimental abstract painter, through Dec. 19. IAO Gallery, 706 W. Sheridan Ave., 405-232-6060, iaogallery.org. FRI-WED

Battle of Art local artists create live onstage, incorporating a theme chosen by the audience, which also chooses the winner, 9-11 p.m. Sundays. Hubbly Bubbly Hookah & Café, 2900 N Classen Blvd. Ste K, 405-609-2930. SUN

Beautiful Minds: Dyslexia and the Creative Advantage an exhibition of artworks created by people with dyslexia including students from Oklahoma City’s Trinity School, through July 14, 2019. Science Museum Oklahoma, 2020 Remington Place, 405-602-6664, sciencemuseumok.org. FRI-THU

Ceramics Sale view works by local artists, teachers and students at this showcase exhibition and fundraising event, through Dec. 23. Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center, 3000 General Pershing Blvd., 405-951-0000, oklahomacontemporary.org. FRI-SUN

Cowboys in Khaki: Westerners in the Great War learn about the ways Westerners contributed to the US effort in World War I at this exhibit featuring military, rodeo and other historical memorabilia from the time period, through May 12, 2019. National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63rd St., 405-478-2250, nationalcowboymuseum.org. SAT-THU

Daren Kendall: Threshold With Me view seven sculptural thresholds based on the seven terraces of Dante’s purgatory, through Dec. 30. Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, 555 Elm Ave., Norman 405-3253272, ou.edu/fjjma. FRI-SUN

Greg Burns: A Collection of Contemporary Watercolors the Oklahoma artist displays works inspired by trips to New Mexico and Florida, Dec. 6-Jan. 19, 2019. [Artspace] at Untitled, 1 NE Third St., 405-815-6665, 1ne3.org. THU-SAT

John Brand view works by painter/photographer

John Brand, through Dec. 31. 50 Penn Place Gallery, 1900 Northwest Expressway, 405-848-5567, 50pennplacegallery.com. SUN-MON

Josette Simon-Gestin view paintings by the French artist alongside works by Oklahoma artist Marc Baker, through Dec. 30. Nault Gallery, 816 N. Walker Ave., 405-642-4414, naultfineart.com. FRI-SUN

National Geographic Photo Ark a collection of images captured by National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore to preserve current species for future generations, through Dec. 16. The Oklahoma City Zoo, 2000 Remington Place, 405-424-3344, okczoo.com. WED-SUN

Paseo Arts District’s First Friday Gallery Walk peruse art from over 80 artists with 25 participating business for a night of special themed exhibits, refreshments and a variety of entertainment opportunities, 6-10 p.m. first Friday of every month. Paseo Arts District, 3022 Paseo St., 405-525-2688, thepaseo.org. FRI

Seeds of Being curated by students enrolled in the university’s Native American Art & Museum Studies Seminar, this exhibition examines the impact of art in indigenous communities, through Dec. 30. Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, 555 Elm Ave., Norman 405-325-3272, ou.edu/fjjma. TUE-SUN

Victorian Radicals: From the Pre-Raphaelites to the Arts & Crafts Movement an exhibit exploring the revolutionary artworks of Victorian

White Christmas World War II vets turned successful song-and-dance duo (Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye) hope to bring some holiday magic to their former commanding officer’s snowless ski lodge by putting on a Vaudevillestyle extravaganza in this 1954 favorite featuring classic songs by Irving Berlin. May all our Christmases be white with snow, and may all our veterans’ problems someday be so easily solved. Showtimes are 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday and Dec. 12 at Tinseltown USA, 6001 N. Martin Luther King Blvd., and AMC Quail Springs 24, 2501 W. Memorial Road. Tickets are $4.25-$10.85. Visit fathomevents.com. SUNDAY-DEC. 12 Photo provided

Inclusion in Art Featuring works by more than 20 racially and culturally diverse Oklahoma artists, this curated group show aims to increase the variety of perspectives on display in the state’s visual arts scene. The opening reception 6-9 p.m. Friday will also feature a variety of locally crafted beer and hors d’oeuvres and author Julia Fresonke, who’ll be signing her book Seven Months in Brazil . The exhibit runs FridayMarch 15, 2019, at The Art Hall, 519 NW 23rd St. Admission is free. Call 405-626-0191 or visit arthallokc.com.

FRIDAY-MARCH 15, 2019 “Roger That” by Rhiana Deck / provided

Engliand featuring many works not previously seen outside the UK, through Jan. 6, 2019. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, 405-236-3100, okcmoa.com. SAT-SUN

Whiteout at Campbell Art Park an outdoor artwork made by hundreds of transparent white spheres embedded with white LED lights and animated in large-scale patterns,through March 31, 2019. Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center, 3000 General Pershing Blvd., 405-951-000, oklahomacontemporary.org. WED-THU

Submissions must be received by Oklahoma Gazette no later than noon on Wednesday seven days before the desired publication date. Late submissions will not be included in the listings. Submissions run as space allows, although we strive to make the listings as inclusive as possible.

Submissions must be received by Oklahoma Gazette no later than noon on Wednesday seven days before the desired publication date. Late submissions will not be included in the listings. Submissions run as space allows, although we strive to make the listings as inclusive as possible. Fax your listings to 528-4600 or e-mail them to listings@okgazette.com. Sorry, but phone submissions cannot be accepted.

For OKG live music see page 37

e-mail them to

Sorry, but phone submissions cannot be accepted.

MUSIC

Dope hope

Jabee rallies Oklahoma City’s hip-hop community to support the state’s homeless population just in time for the holidays.

By Charles Martin

Jabee Williams started off his day at 6 a.m. with no wallet, no license and no place to sleep that night. Even armed with an Emmy award and a strong fan base, the hip-hop performer struggled to follow the winding path trod by the city’s homeless population every day as they just try to survive the elements and a labyrinth of government bureaucracy.

“People will say, ‘Well, why don’t they just get a job?’ but being homeless is a full-time job,” Williams said. “I met this guy who spent the night sleeping in a tent. It rained, so he slept in this puddle of water but still had to get up to go to work at Sonic. This life is hard.”

By 6 p.m., he still hadn’t been able to get a new license, nor did he find shelter. Had he been actually homeless instead of filming a documentary titled OKC Odyssey, Jabee would have had to sleep on the streets that night despite putting in a full 12 hours of work. This journey was just an affirmation of the struggle Williams said his mother faced as she fought to keep a roof over their family’s heads and further reason for Williams to keep growing the annual Gift Raps, a multi-city hip-hop tour collecting donations for the homeless.

Now in its fifth year, Gift Raps will visit Shawnee, El Reno, Norman, Tulsa and Oklahoma City with a packed list of entertainers donating their time to help

raise awareness and accept donations for families struggling to survive the holidays. The event is specifically calling for toys, socks, gloves and nonperishable food items. Gift Raps will partner with City Care Day Shelter, Skyline Urban Ministries and DD Audio, which will be helping organize car donations.

“For a lot of people, the holidays are the happiest time of the year, but for other people, it is the roughest time of year,” Jabee said. “It’s hard to be happy and joyous when you are suffering. I wanted to help people who were like me, people who were struggling during this time.”

During the brief bouts of homelessness he experienced as a child, he only really remembers spending lots of time in cars and receiving gifts from the community trying to keep their family afloat. Even when they had a home, Jabee said that money was always tight. Every year, their family stood in long lines to get turkeys from shelters and churches. As a child, he never sensed that the family was ever teetering and assumed that everyone else in the city was out there waiting in a line somewhere for a free turkey.

“It’s just what you did every year,” Jabee said. “My mom did a really good job of not letting us know how bad it was. She would do things like, ‘Make a list of 10 things and circle the two you most want for Christmas.’ Sometimes we’d get the top two; sometimes we wouldn’t get nothing from that list.”

Since he started Gift Raps , the hip-hop community has responded by

encouraging Jabee to expand the reach of the program. Even promoters as far as Dallas have reached out to see what it would take to get him to include an extra Gift Raps tour stop, but Jabee decided to stay focused on Oklahoma, where he said he can do the most good.

“I like being able to branch out to other cities in Oklahoma, but my mom told me that charity starts at home,” Jabee said. “We’re not doing this because we just want to have a cool rap show; it’s about doing something intentional. If we can’t make an impact on the community, there isn’t a reason to do any of the things we’re doing.”

Venues will begin accepting donations the week of the event. In the past, there have been venues packed full with donations even before the day of the show, all given by members of the community who might or might not even attend Gift Raps. Many of those donations will end up in the hands of people who couldn’t pick Jabee out of a crowd or even know that he’s a rapper, which is fine by him.

“The past two years, I didn’t even perform because it’s not about me; it’s about being there for the community,” he said. “Ten years from now, we want to still be doing the same thing, bringing in bigger audiences. My goal for next year is to do it at the Tower and make it big for the city, have tons and tons of foods and socks and clothes.”

Gift Raps is another of Jabee’s legion of side projects as he diversifies beyond music. He’s working on a development called EastPoint with other investors to lure new businesses east of the Oklahoma Capitol. EastPoint will feature two restaurants he’s planning to help open in July and a third restaurant down the line elsewhere in the city. He’s a partner at Tower Theatre and also joined the associate board for Oklahoma City Philharmonic to help draw in a more diverse crowd.

“When I got to the board, I thought it was going to be a lot of old white people, but it was a lot of young people,” Jabee said. “That’s what we (the black community) think, but I want to open up the Philharmonic for other people to under-

stand and enjoy classical music.”

Jabee attributes his drive to his impoverished roots and his mother’s struggle to keep the family intact when every day was a hustle for survival. He considers himself fortunate to have resources and opportunities that his mother didn’t to overcome the innumerable roadblocks faced by the city’s poorest residents.

“I’m so afraid to be back where I was growing up and to have my children in that place, so I know I have to do a million different things to keep that from happening,” he said. “I know that all these things I’m doing started with rapping, but I’m getting older and want that, 10 years down the line, for people to think of me as more than just a rapper. I’ll probably still be rapping until I’m 100, but I’m doing all these other things too. I’m not only defined by rap. Every day, I get to be a part of something new. People can’t say I don’t work; that’s all I know.”

Visit facebook.com/jabeemusic.

Gift Raps w/ Jabee, Steph Simon, Trip G, Worm, Kadence MBK and Bacanomics; hosted by Bezel

9 p.m. Dec. 15 Opolis 113 N. Crawford Ave., Norman opolis.org | 405-673-4931 Donation of toys, socks, gloves and nonperishable food Gift Raps w/ Jabee, Steph Simon, Rayjune, LTZ, Bambi and Trip G; hosted by Bezel

9

This year, hip-hop performer Jabee expanded his annual Gift Raps event to five Oklahoma locations. | Photo Alexa Ace

Jabee started Gift Raps to help bring warmth and comfort to the homeless. | Photo Alexa Ace

Socks rocks

JD McPherson delivers an all-original Christmas album free of jingle bells and holiday cheese.

By Jeremy Martin

JD McPherson knows you might not like Christmas music, or at least that you pretend not to.

“People say that a lot, but there’s a reason why they still play Bing Crosby’s stuff on the radio,” McPherson said.

“People like to play that character of, ‘Oh, I hate Christmas. I hate Christmas music,’ but come on. … [“Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” by] Darlene Love? I could hear that stuff year ’round. That’s great stuff.”

McPherson, a former Tulsa teacher turned Nashville-based musician, is scheduled to perform with his band Dec. 14 at Tower Theatre, 425 NW 23rd St., in support of his Christmas album, Socks , released last month. When McPherson told other musicians about Socks, his fourth full-length release, he heard a few bah-humbugs.

“For the listening public, it’s not that big of a deal,” McPherson said. “It doesn’t seem out of the ordinary that someone is making holiday-themed material during that time of year, but in bands, I guess it’s almost like a dirty little secret that it’s something that some bands do just to have something to do in between albums or it’s like their label sort of pressured them, saying, ‘Hey, let’s get some McDonald’s commercials.’ For one reason or another, it’s not the highest order of albummaking in some people’s eyes.”

According to the press material for Socks, McPherson started thinking about recording a Christmas album after British pub-rock legend and Elvis Costello associate Nick Lowe, working on 2013’s Quality Street: A Seasonal Selection for All the Family, asked for holiday song recommendations. McPherson said Socks is influenced by the work of songwriting team Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who wrote the Elvis Presley holiday hit “Santa Claus

Is Back in Town,” along with “Hound Dog,” “Jailhouse Rock” and hits recorded by The Coasters (“Yakety Yak,” “Charlie Brown”) and The Drifters (“There Goes My Baby,” “Fools Fall In Love”). McPherson said recording a Christmas album inspired him to return to the ’50s style that characterized his debut album, Signs & Signifiers

“The language or the vocabulary of early rock ’n’ roll lends itself to that type of material,” McPherson said. “It just works better. We could’ve done a psychrock Christmas album, but I don’t really think I would’ve wanted to listen to it afterwards.”

Instead of trying to recreate the sounds of his favorite Christmas songs, McPherson said he spent more time trying not to duplicate the tropes that make some holiday songs sound corny and trite.

“I think I thought more of what not to do than what would make a good thing,” McPherson said. “I think we gain some thing by excluding because there are a lot of clichés within holiday music, as you can imagine. I think most people are like, ‘Let’s do a Christmas track together, and let’s go to the website where all the Christmas vocabulary is and try to make it all rhyme.’ … And also, ‘Well, we’ve got the song done. Let’s do an overdub of jingle bells.’ The ‘bling bling bling bling bling bling’ that’s on everything. Those are the two things I wanted to avoid.”

Socks

lyrics present unconventional takes on the holidays in songs such as “Hey Skinny Santa” (encouraging Old Saint Nick to tour the U.S. fattening up on regional cuisines including crawfish New Orleans and Polish sausage in Chicago to expand his 32-inch waistline before the big day), “Holly, Carol, Candy and Joy” (about “a lucky boy” spending the holidays with four seasonally named women) and “Claus vs. Claus” (a duet with UK singer/songwriter Lucie Silvas de scribing an argument over household chores between Santa and his wife).

“I have a thin veneer of cynicism, but I’m ul timately a romantic at heart,” McPherson said. “I really do love it every year, and I really enjoy it more now than I ever have. It’s the same with the record. Ultimately, it’s a feel-good record, but there is a bit of sarcasm and snarkiness in it.”

“Bad Kid” is told from the point of view of a juvenile delinquent with a “stocking full of kerosene, matches and wood” and a “permanent spot on the naughty list” who intimidates a department store Santa into running and hiding. “Santa’s Got a Mean Machine” lauds Santa’s slick new transportation in ’50s hotrod slang, while “Ugly Sweater Blues” laments the questionable fashion choices forced upon a child by his mother (“Mama, why can’t you see I feel like a fool? / Green elves with snowflakes and scratchy alpaca wool”). McPherson said getting into the Christmas spirit encouraged him to revert to a more childish mindset.

“I guess I didn’t think about it much, but there’s a very youth-centric point of view on the record,” McPherson said. “I think it’s because we all have these sort of deeply ingrained memories as kids. What’s a more simultaneously exuberant and disappointing time of the year than Christmas? Everybody’s

said. “I always ask for socks. That’s the time of year when I can get somebody to spend $20 on a pair of socks. I love socks.”

Though children are more readily enchanted by the season’s traditions, McPherson said he also enjoys the grownup’s perspective of Christmas.

“When you’re a kid, you don’t really think about how weird everything is,” McPherson said. “You don’t think about how strange [it is] that suddenly there’s a tree in your living room, and you also don’t think twice that there’s an oversized elfin figure that is in your house in the middle of the night. You sort of expect all this weird magic that is happening, and then as an adult, you figure out that it’s actually adults cultivating all of that atmosphere, and it’s cool to be a part of it.”

Visit towertheatreokc.com.

JD McPherson

8 p.m. Dec. 14

Tower Theatre 425 NW 23rd St. towertheatreokc.com | 405-708-6937 $17-$20

JD McPherson is scheduled to perform with his band 8 p.m. Dec. 14 at Tower Theatre, 425 NW 23rd St. | Photo Joshua Black Wilkins / provided

Socks, McPherson’s fourth album, was released in November. | Image provided

MUSIC

Venue venture

The Jones Assembly partners will bring Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy to The Auditorium at The Douglass.

By Jeremy Martin

A partnership between The Jones Assembly and The Auditorium at The Douglass is set to bring Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy to the former high school auditorium in March.

“I’m personally just an enormous Wilco fan, and we’re, of course, always begging for a Wilco show to come to Oklahoma City,” said Graham Colton, a partner at The Jones Assembly. “We were subsequently asked to put on a show for Jeff Tweedy. After some dialogue about the vibe of the event, we at The Jones Assembly had the idea to bring it to The Douglass. Even though we think The Jones would be a great environment also, we just thought it was a very picturesque, intimate space. … This one just felt like a perfect collaboration.”

Tweedy, singer/songwriter for altrock act Wilco, is currently touring North America in support of WARM, his solo acoustic album released Nov. 30.

The Auditorium, 600 N. High Ave., once served as an assembly space for Frederick Douglass High School, an allblack high school opened in 1933, later renamed Page Woodson School. After the school closed in 1994, it sat vacant for nearly 20 years. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2007, and in 2017, 60 apartments were constructed in the former high school. According to a press release from The Social Order, a dining collective that includes The Jones Assembly, recent renovations to the auditorium’s 723-seat performance space include installing a high-fidelity sound system and LED lighting on a stage that once hosted legendary musicians such as Charlie Christian and Duke Ellington as well as Olympic athletes and historic figures including Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.

Colton said he rediscovered the auditorium when Page Woodson won Urban Land Institute Oklahoma’s Impact Award for Large Scale Rehab and

Restoration in 2017, an honor for which The Jones Assembly was also nominated. Hosting Tweedy’s show at the auditorium will offer “a great impression for Oklahoma City as a whole,” he said.

“We have such a respect for that project and what it represents in our community,” Colton said. “It just felt like a really great environment for this type of show — really intimate, all seated. … A place that historic and that beautiful always fills a niche. There’s always a need for an amazing space like that.”

While the concert is scheduled to take place March 1 at the auditorium, Colton said The Jones Assembly will be running the show, so concertgoers can anticipate similar accommodations to those at Jones.

“Guests can really expect the same experience that they get at The Jones Assembly … because we will be operating the entire venue that night,” Colton said. “It’s going to be really cool.”

While no official business partnership between the venues has been announced, Colton said he would like to collaborate to bring similar shows to the auditorium in the future.

“I could see The Jones Assembly doing more things at The Douglass because it’s a little bit of a different flavor,” Colton said. “It’s definitely a great space for the city for different types of acts and music. … Maybe the way to communicate it is The Jones Assembly is excited about the relationship that we’ve formed with the auditorium at The Douglass, and we look forward to bringing more stuff in there. We don’t have a deal in place, and there’s nothing formal, but we definitely support what they’re doing, and we think it’s important for our city to support great projects like Page Woodson and The Auditorium at the Douglass.”

The Auditorium at The Douglass served Frederick Douglass High School and was recently renovated as part of the Page Woodson restoration. | Photo The Social Order / provided

LIVE MUSIC

These are events recommended by Oklahoma Gazette editorial staff members. For full calendar listings, go to okgazette.com.

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 5

Kurt Vile & the Violators/Jessica Pratt, The Jones Assembly. ROCK

Maurice Johnson, The R & J Lounge and Supper Club. JAZZ

Maggie McClure & Shane Henry, Bin 73. POP

Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Chesapeake Energy Arena. CLASSICAL/ROCK

THURSDAY, DEC. 6

Beau Jennings & The Tigers/Doug Burr/Lord Buffalo, Tower Theatre. ROCK

Joey Cool/Sativa Prophets/Apeks, Main Street Event Center. HIP-HOP

Koolie High & the Tap Band, Ice Event Center & Grill. JAZZ

Ramblin’ Jack Elliot/Michael Fracasso, The Blue Door. FOLK

Saving Abel, Oklahoma City Limits. ROCK

Ubiquitous/The Palmer Squares/Joey Cool, Main Street Event Center. HIP-HOP

FRIDAY, DEC. 7

Cody Canada & the Departed/Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers, Tower Theatre. COUNTRY/ROCK

Combsy/Henna Roso, ACM @ UCO Performance Lab. ROCK

MXMS Calling their darkly infective sound “funeral pop,” vocalist Ariel Levitan and multi-instrumentalist

Jeremy Dawson (Shiny Toy Guns keyboardist and former Shawnee resident) separate themselves from the current glut of vocalist/multiinstrumentalist dream-pop/trip-hop duos with sheer morbidity. The latest MXMS (short for Me and My Shadow) single “Gravedigger” mixes equal parts Kelis and, well, Gravediggaz, pairing jump-rope couplets with horrorcore imagery like a Nightmare on Elm Street nursery rhyme you can dance to. Blackened industrial metal act Psyclon Nine headlines and The Guidance, Striplicker and OKC-based “cybergoth” DJ Biohazard share the bill 8 p.m. Tuesday at 89th StreetOKC, 8911 N. Western Ave. Tickets are $12-$15. Visit ticketstorm.com.

TUESDAY Photo provided

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY

Homework: Imagine that one of your heroes comes to you and says, “Teach me the most important things you know.” What do you say? FreeWillAstrology.com.

ARIES (March 21-April 19)

When I write a horoscope for you, I focus on one or two questions because I don’t have room to cover every single aspect of your life. The theme I’ve chosen this time may seem a bit impractical, but if you take it to heart, I guarantee you it will have practical benefits. It comes from Italian author Umberto Eco. He wrote, “Perhaps the mission of those who love humanity is to make people laugh at the truth, to make truth laugh, because the only truth lies in learning to free ourselves from insane passion for the truth.” I swear to you, Aries, that if you laugh at the truth and make the truth laugh in the coming days, you will be guided to do all the right and necessary things.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)

You have a cosmic mandate and a poetic license to stir up far more erotic fantasies than usual. It’ll be healthy for you to unleash many new thoughts about sexual experiments that would be fun to try and novel feelings you’d like to explore and people whose naked flesh you’d be interested to experience sliding and gliding against yours. But please note that the cosmic mandate and poetic license do not necessarily extend to you acting out your fantasies. The important thing is to let your imagination run wild. That will catalyze a psychic healing you didn’t even realize you needed.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20)

In my continuing efforts to help you want what you need and need what you want, I’ve collected four wise quotes that address your looming opportunities. 1. “What are you willing to give up, in order to become who you really need to be?” —author Elizabeth Gilbert 2. “Leave the door open for the unknown, the door into the dark. That’s where the most important things come from.” —Rebecca Solnit 3. “You enter the extraordinary by way of the ordinary.” —Frederick Buechner 4. “Happiness is like a butterfly which, when pursued, is

Hyborian/Bummer, 89th Street-OKC. METAL

Jessica Tate & John Rouse, Bossa Nova Caipirinha Lounge. JAZZ

John Fullbright, The Blue Door. SINGER/ SONGWRITER

Judith, Full Circle Bookstore. ACOUSTIC MAW, The Root. FOLK

Pancho Barraza, The Criterion. SINGER/SONGWRITER

Scott Keeton, Remington Park. BLUES/ROCK

Spinster/Swim Fan/Mad Honey, Opolis. ROCK

SATURDAY, DEC. 8

Buddy South, McClintock Saloon & Chop House. COUNTRY/ROCK

Colter Wall, Tower Theatre. SINGER/ SONGWRITER

Janice Francis-Smith, Full Circle Bookstore. SINGER/SONGWRITER

John Fullbright, The Blue Door. SINGER/SONGWRITER

Kayai/Kuda/Queen Caution, ACM @ UCO. HIP-HOP

New Tribe/Helen Kelter Skelter/Astral Planes, Opolis. ROCK

Tracy Thomas/Justin Joslin/Keith Manns, Rodeo Opry. COUNTRY

SUNDAY, DEC. 9

Downtown Brown/The Big News, Red Brick Bar. PUNK/SKA

Robert Cray, Tower Theatre. BLUES

Wild Pink/Anvil Salute, Resonator. ROCK

Johnsmith, Norman Santa Fe Depot. SINGER/ SONGWRITER

MONDAY, DEC. 10

Jason Hunt, Sean Cumming’s Irish Restaurant. FOLK

Elizabeth Wise/Wess McMichael/The Ravens, Othello’s Italian Restaurant. BLUES

Warren G, Tower Theatre. HIP-HOP

TUESDAY, DEC. 11

Jason Eady Band, The Blue Door. COUNTRY

Kyle Reid, Scratch Kitchen & Cocktails. SINGER/ SONGWRITER

Psyclon Nine/MXMS/The Guidance, Your Mom’s Place. POP

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 12

Good Morning Bedlam/Black Powder Charlies, The Root. ROCK

Katie & the Elements, The R & J Lounge and Supper Club. JAZZ

Live music submissions must be received by Oklahoma Gazette no later than noon on Wednesday seven days before the desired publication date. Late submissions will not be included in the listings. Submissions run as space allows, although we strive to make the listings as inclusive as possible. Fax your listings to 528-4600 or e-mail to listings@okgazette.com. Sorry, but phone submissions cannot be accepted.

always beyond our grasp, but, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.” —Nathaniel Hawthorne

CANCER (June 21-July 22)

I’ve called on author Robert Heinlein to provide your horoscope. According to my astrological analysis, his insights are exactly what you need to focus on right now. “Do not confuse ‘duty’ with what other people expect of you,” he wrote. “They are utterly different. Duty is a debt you owe to yourself to fulfill obligations you have assumed voluntarily. Paying that debt can entail anything from years of patient work to instant willingness to die. Difficult it may be, but the reward is self-respect. But there is no reward at all for doing what other people expect of you, and to do so is not merely difficult, but impossible.”

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22)

What does “beauty” mean to you? What sights, sounds, images, qualities, thoughts, and behavior do you regard as beautiful? Whatever your answers might be to those questions right now, I suggest you expand and deepen your definitions in the coming weeks. You’re at a perfect pivot point to invite more gorgeous, lyrical grace into your life; to seek out more elegance and charm and artistry; to cultivate more alluring, delightful magic.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

You know the expiration dates that appear on the labels of the prescription drugs you buy? They don’t mean that the drugs lose their potency after that date. In fact, most drugs are still quite effective for at least another ten years. Let’s use this fact as a metaphor for a certain resource or influence in your life that you fear is used up or defunct. I’m guessing it still has a lot to offer you, although you will have to shift your thinking in order to make its reserves fully available.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)

Libran rapper Eminem is renowned for his verbal skill. It may be best exemplified in his song “Rap God,” in which he delivers 1,560 words in six minutes and four seconds, or 4.28 words per second. In one stretch, he crams in 97 words in 15 seconds, achieving a pace of 6.5

words per second. I suspect that in the coming weeks, you will also be unusually adept at using words, although your forte will be potent profundity rather than sheer speed. I encourage you to prepare by making a list of the situations where your enhanced powers of persuasion will be most useful.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)

In May of 1883, the newly built Brooklyn Bridge opened for traffic. Spanning the East River to link Manhattan and Brooklyn, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world. But almost immediately people spread rumors that it was unstable. There was a growing fear that it might even crumble and fall. That’s when charismatic showman P. T. Barnum stepped in. He arranged to march 21 elephants across the bridge. There was no collapse, and so the rumors quickly died. I regard the coming weeks as a time when you should take inspiration from Barnum. Provide proof that will dispel gossipy doubt. Drive away superstitious fear with dramatic gestures. Demonstrate how strong and viable your improvements really are.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)

Robert Louis Stevenson published his gothic novel Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde in 1886. It was a bestseller, and quickly got turned into a theatrical production. In the ensuing 132 years, there have been well over a hundred further adaptations of the story into film and stage productions. Here’s the funny thing about this influential work: Stevenson wrote it fast. It took him three feverish days to get the gist of it, and just another six weeks to revise. Some biographers say he was high on drugs during the initial burst, perhaps cocaine. I suspect you could also produce some robust and interesting creation in the coming weeks, Sagittarius— and you won’t even need cocaine to fuel you.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

A blogger on Tumblr named Ffsshh composed a set of guidelines that I think will be apt and useful for you to draw on in the coming weeks. Please study these suggestions and adapt them for your healing process. “Draw stick figures. Sing off-key. Write bad poems. Sew

ugly clothes. Run slowly. Flirt clumsily. Play video games on ‘easy.’ OK? You do not need to be good at something to enjoy it. Sometimes talent is overrated. Do things you like doing just because you like doing them. It’s OK to suck.”

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)

Aquarian athlete Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player who ever lived. He was also the first to become a billionaire. But when he was growing up, he didn’t foresee the glory that awaited him. For example, in high school he took a home economics class so as to acquire cooking abilities. Why? He imagined that as an adult he might have to prepare all of his own meals. His ears were so huge and ungainly, he reasoned, that no woman would want to be his wife. So the bad news was that he suffered from a delusion. The good news was that because of his delusion, he learned a useful skill. I foresee a similar progression for you, Aquarius. Something you did that was motivated by misguided or irrelevant ideas may yield positive results.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20)

The Bible does not say that Mary Magdalene was a prostitute or even a “sinner.” There’s no mention of her sexual proclivities at all. Delusional ideas about her arose in the Middle Ages, instigated by priests who confused her with other women in the Bible. The truth is that the Bible names her as a key ally to Christ, and the crucial witness to his resurrection. Fortunately, a number of scholars and church leaders have in recent years been working to correct her reputation. I invite you to be motivated and inspired by this transformation as you take steps to adjust and polish your own image during the coming weeks. It’s time to get your public and private selves into closer alignment.

Go to RealAstrology.com to check out Rob Brezsny’s expanded weekly audio horoscopes /daily text message horoscopes.

The audio horoscopes are also available by phone at 1-877-873-4888 or 1-900-950-7700.

PUZZLES

By Paul Coulter | Puzzles Edited by Will Shortz | 1202

____ avis

Garden parties?

Children’s author Blyton

Abbr. that rhymes with “bill,” appropriately 54 Woodworking tool

57 Catbird seat?

58 “At Seventeen” singer Janis

59 He wore No. 6 for the Sixers 63 Like some clean energy 64 Ones place 67 Boiling blood

Baseball’s Garciaparra

Long haul 79 Durable yellow cotton cloth 80 Darlings 81 Grassy expanse

82 Boy king in Shakespeare’s “Richard III”

83 Atlanta-to-Miami dir.

85 Transmission part

86 Groceries holder

87 Genetic-info carrier

90 What all people are, per the Bible

92 Cardinal letters

95 “____, My God, to Thee” (hymn)

96 Sings the blues

97 Funds

68 “Ask ____ …” 69 Flag 70 Satellite connection 71 Eldest Stark son on “Game of Thrones” 72 Manhattan Project creation

98 Discordant

Stumped? Call 1-900-285-5656 to get the answers to any three clues by phone ($1.20 a minute).

SUDOKU EASY | N°100014084

Fill in the grid so that every row, column and 3-by-3 box contains the numbers 1 through 9. www.printmysudoku.com

100 Hank who voices Moe and Chief Wiggum 103 Lyric poem 105 German port in Lower Saxony 106 Two in the hand 107 Knight who co-founded Nike

108 What obsidian forms from 109 Partner of aid

110 Lion’s share

111 “Cómo ____ usted?”

114 Norwegian P.M. Stoltenberg 115 Sibyl

118 “Despicable Me” supervillain

Payne Farms and Cattle Company, Inc. is seeking a Crop and Livestock Production Specialist in Thomas, Oklahoma. Applicant must be able to travel to additional worksites in Oklahoma and deliver hay, cattle, goats, chickens, eggs, wheat, milo and soybeans. Overnight travel will be required. The position requires a high school diploma or GED and 24 months experience in cattle, goat and farm crop production. Applicant must also possess or be able to obtain a Certified Private Applicator license, driver’s license, Pipeline Safety training and Power Line Safety training. Duties to include: crop spraying, sprayer maintenance, welding and assembly, chemical mixing and measuring, maintaining applicator records, field pass records with GPS, crop planting, planter and drill maintenance, calibration of planting and drilling equipment, fertilizer application with planter drills and sprayer/ spreader, cattle and goat checking, chicken keeping, fence building and maintenance, various veterinary duties, various hay production procedures, combine harvesting, general maintenance and service work, crop binning, scaling and transportation trucking and delivery. Other special requirements include: relevant farming experience including plumbing, electrical, machinery maintenance and husbandry. Applicants should send résumés to: rickpaynecpa@yahoo.com

Bands of Glenn Miller and Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey