Art Focus
O k l aho m a V i s ual A r ts C oal i t i on
Ok l a h o m a Vo l u m e 3 3 N o . 1
| Winter 2018
THE STATE OF CRAFT: OKLAHOMA MEMBERS DECEMBER 1 - JANUARY 21, 2018 Curated by 108|Contemporary OPENING RECEPTION: December 1, 6:00pm-9:00pm
SHELTER: PATRICK DOUGHERTY & RACHEL HAYES FEBRUARY 2 - MARCH 25, 2018 OPENING RECEPTION: February 2, 6:00pm-9:00pm ARTIST TALK WITH RACHEL HAYES: February 3, 1:30pm-3:00pm North Windows (detail), Stephanie Grubbs (top) Tulsa Yards (detail), Rachel Hayes (bottom)
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Art Focus
Ok l a h o m a Vo l u m e 3 3 N o . 1
| Winter 2018
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Kiki Smith and Paper: the Body, the Muse, and the Spirit by Erin Schalk
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From Her Perspective: An Exhibition by Saudi Arabian Women by Karen Paul
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Nature, Fashion and War Questions What We Believe by Lucie Smoker
10 Strange Tides and Trucks by Olivia Biddick
F e a t u re s 12 TGAS & OKCGAS: Advancing Girls in Creativity, Confidence, and Success Through Art by Roxanne Beason
14 Factory Obscura: Shifting Art by Penny Snyder
16 Remembering Samantha Dillehay by Laurence Reese
20 Michelle Martin: Whimsical Printmaker and Professor by Carleigh Foutch
24 EKPHRASIS: Winter 2018
edited by Liz Blood
26 OVAC News (top) On the cover: Factory Obscura, Shift, installation, photo by Brandon Seekins, page 14
28 Gallery Guide
(bottom) OKCGAS with watercolor experiments, page 12 Support from:
Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition 730 W. Wilshire Blvd., Suite 104, Oklahoma City, OK 73116. PHONE: 405.879.2400 WEB: ovac-ok.org Editor: Krystle Brewer, director@ovac-ok.org Art Director: Anne Richardson, speccreative@gmail.com Art Focus Oklahoma is a quarterly publication of the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition dedicated to stimulating insight into and providing current information about the visual arts in Oklahoma. Mission: Supporting Oklahoma’s visual arts and artists and their power to enrich communities. OVAC welcomes article submissions related to artists and art in Oklahoma. Call or email the editor for guidelines. OVAC welcomes your comments. Letters addressed to Art Focus Oklahoma are considered for publication unless otherwise specified. Mail or email comments to the editor at the address above. Letters may be edited for clarity or space reasons. Anonymous letters will not be published. Please include a phone number.
2017-2018 Board of Directors: President: Susan Green, Tulsa; Vice President: John Marshall, Oklahoma City; Treasurer: Gina Ellis, Oklahoma City; Secretary: Laura Massenat, Oklahoma City; Parlimentarian: Douglas Sorocco, Oklahoma City; Marjorie Atwood, Tulsa; Bob Curtis, Oklahoma City; Hillary Farrell, Oklahoma City; Jon Fisher, Oklahoma City; Barbara Gabel, Tulsa; John Hammer, Tulsa; Ariana Jakub, Tulsa; Travis Mason, Oklahoma City; Michael Owens, Oklahoma City; Renee Porter, Oklahoma City; Amy Rockett-Todd, Tulsa; Dana Templeton, Oklahoma City; Chris Winland, Oklahoma City, Dean Wyatt, Tulsa; Jake Yunker, Oklahoma City. The Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition is solely responsible for the contents of Art Focus Oklahoma. However, the views expressed in articles do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Board or OVAC staff. Member Agency of Allied Arts and member of the Americans for the Arts. Š 2017, Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition. All rights reserved. View the online archive at ArtFocusOklahoma.org.
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KIKI SMITH AND PAPER: the Body, the Muse, and the Spirit by Erin Schalk
Kiki Smith, A Man, 1990, Photo by Phil Shockley
The Oklahoma State University Museum of Art proudly featured the work of prominent contemporary artist Kiki Smith in the exhibition Kiki Smith and Paper: The Body, the Muse, and the Spirit, curated by Wendy Weitman. The exhibition’s layout spanned three small rooms, similar in size to private bedrooms, in which works were organized thematically. The first room dedicated to “The Body,” included imagery from external body parts and internal organs. The second room centered around “The Muse” where we are granted access into Smith’s psychological and emotional associations with archetypal female figures from literature and religion. Lastly, the third room revealed aspects of “The Spirit” through intimate glimpses into Smith’s perspectives on mortality and spiritual life. Upon seeing Kiki Smith and Paper: the Body, the Muse, and the Spirit, it is clear that Weitman sought to emulate forms of visual storytelling, including the universal
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to the deeply personal, which remain recurring concerns within Smith’s work. The exhibition’s first section, “The Body,” reveals Smith’s sensitivity to her chosen materials as various types of Japanese and Nepalese handmade papers abound. Their semi-translucency, as well as their fibers that branch organically like the veins of a leaf, possess references to human skin as a protective structure as well as a fragile membrane. These qualities are clearly demonstrated in A Man (1990), a large horizontal scroll with lithographs of internal organs and bodily orifices, as well as The Blue Feet (2003), an etching from one of Smith’s artist books which features two bare feet with networks of veins surrounded by six-pointed stars. These meticulous renderings harken to centuries-old medical illustrations from traditional Eastern and Western medicine, and like Smith’s work as a whole, they are an intricate marriage of the physical and the metaphysical.
The second section of the exhibition was dedicated to “The Muse” and presents Smith’s two and three-dimensional prints, as well as artist’s books, in an installation-like format. Conceptually, this work features references to religious figures and classic children’s stories such as Little Red Riding Hood and Alice in Wonderland, and it visually centers around the ingénue female body as potential prey. As a viewer, it is easy to be immediately struck by Smith’s large-scale works, such as the exquisitely rendered image of St. Geneviève who futilely tries to push away a ravaging wolf, her face revealing expressions of agony and fatalism. Another stunning work is Red Caps (1999), a configuration of four lithographs of young girls who are dressed like Little Red Riding Hood. These images are mounted on board and sit upright, much like stand-up paper dolls. Their presence in the gallery seemed to invite viewers along on their journey through
the woods as their eyes gaze, fixedly, at an inaccessible destination. In the midst of arresting works such as St. Geneviève and Red Caps, what also made “The Muse” section especially effective is its use of subtlety. The room featured a five-track sound piece with haunting and ethereal melodic progressions that were so hushed they initially functioned on a subconscious level. A few wellplaced crescendos began to alert us to the music’s presence, much like the premonitory flares of intuition that signal danger before overt warning signs are present. We positioned ourselves on the periphery of the imagined forests surrounding St. Geneviève and Red Caps, and through the emotional resonances inherent to sound, we momentarily experienced the perspectives of the mythological protagonist — and of the imminently hunted. Lastly, as the exhibition ended with “The Spirit,” we were led into an innermost corner room where the boundaries between interior and exterior spaces of both physical and psychological natures quietly dissolved. The twelve stark, black woodcuts of Mortal (2007) detail the deterioration of Smith’s mother’s health and eventual death. All of the images are uniform in size and were hung in a grid, akin to a multi-paned window. Moreover, Mortal was placed across from and converses with the lithograph Open Window, Chair with Flowers (2008). Visually, the two works are connected through window references. Conceptually, Open Window seems to complete Mortal’s narrative: as Smith’s mother passed to the next life, those she left behind must come to terms with her absence, while simultaneously commemorating the legacy of her life. To learn more about Kiki Smith and Paper: The Body, the Muse, and the Spirit, please visit the OSU Museum of Art website at museum.okstate.edu/kikismith. In addition, the exhibition catalogue may be purchased at the museum or through the museum website. n Erin Schalk is an artist, writer and educator, and she recently graduated with her MFA in studio art from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She may be reached at eschalk@saic.edu.
(top) Kiki Smith, Red Caps, 1999, Photo by Phil Shockley (bottom) Kiki Smith, Blue Feet, 2003, Photo by Erin Schalk
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FROM HER PERSPECTIVE: An Exhibition by Saudi Arabian Women by Karen Paul
(left) Lina Jamjoon, Roundabouts in Jeddah, digital print (right) Malath Alnemari, Books Make You Feel Free, digital print
Are the aspirations of women universal ones that transcend cultures? Do women across cultures have more differences than similarities? To answer those questions, Women’s Point of View from Saudi Arabia focused on a series of classroom projects from students at Dar Al-Hekma University, a private institution of higher learning for women based in Saudi Arabia. This exhibition was a collaborative project between the Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art, located at the St. Gregory’s University campus, and Linda Schaefer, a former photojournalist and American professor at Dar Al-Hekma, who coordinated her students’ projects. While the wide-ranging pieces of art in the exhibition have technically been designed to help build creative portfolios for the women at Dal Al-Hekma, they also offer a glimpse into the often-unseen world of Saudi women. Collectively, the works offer viewers an insight into women’s identities that are strongly shaped by the culture in which they exist. “The exhibition allows us to see what they think their world is like,” said Dane Pollei, the Director and Chief Curator at the Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art.
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Developing Women’s Point of View was unlike any other exhibition the museum had previously done. While the museum knew in general terms the media and style of work they would be receiving, Pollei and the other curators did not know exactly what the final pieces would be until they arrived from overseas. Once the works arrived, curators had to quickly assess what they had and develop the overall concept of the show. As a whole, Women’s Point of View comprehensively looked at Saudi women’s hopes, dreams, challenges, and aspirations in the form of conceptual branding projects, magazine pitches, video concepts, and traditional photojournalism. Several works of art in the exhibition featured theoretical branding projects that re-envision aspects of feminine life in Saudi Arabia. One project outlined a softening of female Arabic characters in video games, while another project detailed improvements that could be made to women’s athletic wear, increasing athletic performance while still conforming to cultural standards. Other conceptual pieces including Roundabouts in Jeddah by Lina Jamjoon shows fashion magazine concepts as they examine how Saudi
fashion could be fused with other Eastern and Western styles to create cutting-edge looks. Books Make You Feel Free by Malath Alnemari campaigns for women’s literacy. While the advertising campaigns show women’s aspirations, the large-scale photographs included in Women’s Point of View richly portray Saudi life from a wide variety of perspectives. These photography projects show both urban and rural images of Saudi Arabia, including desert scenes with camels, picnics, and weather-eroded patterns in Bedouins of the Desert by Bodour Abdullah Alhout. More traditionally-styled photographs show cities, including patterned doors and gates. A theme of family was woven throughout the exhibition across all media from photographs to sample books. These visual elements include scenes of activities associated with pre-wedding culture in Before the Wedding in Traditional Dress by Dina Alhamrani and show the intimate connections that link together multiple generations. Sample storybooks tell stories of students’ grandmothers and grandfathers, while Mother and Child Praying by Sara Bokhary shows Bokhary’s mother teaching her nephew to pray.
(clockwise) Bodour Abdullah Alhout, Bedouins of the Desert, digital print; Dina Alhamrani, Before the Wedding in Traditional Dress, digital print; Sara Bokhary, Mother and Child Praying, digital print; Mariam Baswoud, Workers of Mecca, digital print
Two final photographic projects help the exhibition give visibility to invisible groups in the region. Workers of Mecca by Mariam Baswoud looks at the lives of men who work in construction and sanitation jobs at Mecca, giving us a glimpse into a world that is rarely seen in American mass culture.
While there, the Islamic Society of Oklahoma City provided a cultural learning experience for volunteers.
While Women’s Point of View takes us on a journey of women’s lives, the emotions that ended the exhibition are quite possibly the most universal among women of all cultures. The final series of images by Qurrat Ul Ain Abdul Aleem Akhtar show female survivors of acid attacks in Pakistan. The tone in these images is not one of sorrow or disgrace, but of dignity, strength and resilience as the women bravely face the camera.
“The tradition states, that in the end, we should treat everyone with respect,” Pollei said. “This show demonstrates how close we really are to each other.”
Women’s Point of View did more than open up creative doors between the Middle East and the United States. It has created a community dialog about what divides and unites different cultures. As part of the exhibition, Mabee-Gerrer’s museum staff took a group of docents and volunteers to the Islamic mosque in Oklahoma City.
Karen Paul is an Oklahoma native who has worked with Art Focus Oklahoma since 2009. She has a Master’s degree from the University of Oklahoma’s Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication.
Pollei feels the exhibition and the cultural discussions are a perfect fit for the Benedictine tradition that forms the foundation of the museum.
Women’s Point of View from Saudi Arabia was on display from Sept. 2, 2017 – Nov. 12, 2017, at the MabeeGerrer Museum of Art in Shawnee, Okla. For more information, visit the museum’s web site at mgmoa.org. n
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Nature, Fashion and War Questions What We Believe by Lucie Smoker
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Julie Peppito, Toxic Frock: This Changes Everything by Naomi Klein, 2016, 84” x 156” x 10”, canvas, trim, oil paint, gouache, thread, acrylic paint, found objects, dimensional fabric paint, fabric, grommets
Are we thinking for ourselves or following what others are telling us to follow (fashion)? What is our way of life? Those are some of the many questions behind Julie Peppito’s Nature, Fashion and War opening at Living Arts in Tulsa on April 6. With smashed or bound-together bits of clothing, toys, photographs, paintings, and found objects, Peppito opens a broad conversation about our impact on the planet, women’s creative work, cultural identities, and even President Trump. She extends it with the black-on-white minimalism of charcoal imagery, then invites interpretation.
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Does fashion destroy nature?
Peppito started working from the concept of observing objects as they passed through her life—valued one day, trashed the next. She thought about the craftsmanship in each fashionable object and the impact that discarding it might have on nature. She reflected on the introspective nature of creative “women’s work” such as quilting or beading and decided to bring together these everyday things with stories in threedimensional and relief tapestries. But they only told part of her viewpoint.
As a native Oklahoman living in New York, she wanted to express the conflict of her daily existence. “People have preconceived notions of what I will be like coming from Oklahoma,” she says. On both sides, there are preconceived notions of what the other thinks. Because of these stereotypes, it is hard to see the individual or communicate one-to-one. In the current political climate, the divide is widening. Ironically, it was her very supportive Tulsa working-class upbringing that formed her vision of The American Dream and inspired her to seek opportunity in the Big Apple. She
studied at Cooper Union and the experience opened her mind to new ideas. It also planted her personal life in the middle of the current political divide in our country. Why do you believe what you believe?
Peppito’s newer, charcoal drawings represent a search for truth in this age of deception. When she came to New York, her sense of Oklahoma history changed. She learned of Black Wall Street and the 1921 riot in Tulsa where deputized whites killed more than 300 AfricanAmericans and burned over 1200 homes to the ground. She felt lied to by her upbringing and that catapulted her work into a darker place— minimalist, black-on-white. In these works, Peppito is searching for truth in that tense, no-man’s land between the stereotypes of North and South. She’s striving to find a balance between them—and with the planet. Her thoughtful questions which began in collage, tapestry, and clashing colors now manifest themselves in the simplest, most basic form of drawing. They feel like an urgent call to set aside the distractions and listen to each other. When we go to war to protect our way of life, what are we protecting?
Peppito believes that everyone, everything we encounter is connected in some way. Wars since the beginning of time have broken those connections, isolating us. She sees the current political climate as polarizing and deceptive. It’s hard to figure out what you believe, much less to find common ground with people in other regions of the country. Our shared bonds are getting pushed aside. “There’s so much vitriol and so much lying. I feel like we all need to reflect on our true values and make sure that that’s the way we treat each other,” Peppito says on her work. That need for connection, for rebuilding our bonds leads back to her starting point, the tapestries of everyday objects. They bring out commonalities and highlight the beauty in discord. Taken together, they create an exotic market-stall of ideas rolling off each other instead of going to war. Each object seems to take on new meaning when placed next to something from another context,
(above detail; right full piece) Julie Peppito, Hi! I’m Scott Pruitt, detail, 2017, 72” x 120” x 1”, charcoal on handmade paper, cardboard and gesso composite
another place. Maybe connections change not only our interactions, but also our inner nature. Julie Peppito’s Nature, Fashion and War invites more than brief encounter. The collection of work encourages deep reflection, conversation, and debate: Do we really want to do the work of building understanding? Do we even want to bridge the deep gulf forming between us? Or, is it fashionable to go to war?
Nature, Fashion, and War will be on view at Living Arts in the Tulsa Arts District from April 6 to April 21, 2017. For more information, visit livingarts.org. n
Lucie Smoker is a suspense author, poet, and freelance writer. Check out her latest words at luciesmoker.wordpress.com.
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STRANGE TIDES AND TRUCKS: Artists-in-Residence at [Artspace] by Olivia Biddick
Artists-in-residence Danny Joe Rose III and BJ White showcase the work they made during their time at [Artspace] at Untitled, an art gallery and printmaking studio, in Oklahoma City. Strange Tide, works by Rose, runs from January 13th to February 17th in tandem with I-35 Toy Trucks featuring works from [Artspace]’s first artist-in-residence, BJ White. [Artspace] shares its space with local and visiting artists as well as studio members and high school students enrolled in their mentorship program. The people are truly what make the space so special and supportive of artists and the work they create. There is always a new exhibit, demonstration, class, or workshop unfolding and evolving. Like many of [Artspace]’s former resident artists, Rose is not strictly a printmaker and took this opportunity to develop his printmaking techniques. Many of his resulting prints combine printmaking with painting, similar to the early days of colored film when each frame of film was hand-painted. At first glance the images looks like a pure painting, but a closer look reveals the artist’s hand through the textures in the prints beneath the colors. “My work is deeply rooted in the natural world, combining nature and abstraction… The places that emerge in my work are loosely based on places I have been and places I have created,” says Rose. His prints, like his paintings, use organic shapes which further blurs and breaks down the lines between the rigidness and exactness thought of in printmaking and the human movements found in painting. The majority of his abstract landscapes are 7” x 5” and will be arranged in a long continuous stream across a wall to create a “river of images.” As an artistin-residence, Rose created 40 additions (copies) of a single print, a token from this time of experimenting with the endless printmaking possibilities. “Printmaking is experimenting,” says Laura Warriner, [Artspace]’s Founder and Creative Director, “It’s all discovery.”
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Despite the vast technologies used, printmaking is ultimately a surrender, a leap of faith of the tools used to make the art. Mistakes big and small are inevitable and must be embraced. That is why something perceived as so technical actually made Rose less precise in his work. The setup at [Artspace] allows artists to work in a communal space. For a profession with a reputation of isolation, the chance to collaborate with peers is an appreciated change of pace. The energy of the studio is always abuzz with a new set of eyes and a new way of looking at things. “Ideas multiply quickly in a creative atmosphere,” says White of her time as artist-in-residence. Rose and White were able to work together from time to time, and the results are delightful. Alongside the abstract compositions of Danny Rose, BJ White will showcase select works from her I-35 Toy Trucks series. “The interaction of man and the environment has continually been an influence in my work,” says White. “Eighteen wheelers hauling goods on ant-like highways and interstates. Dump trucks filled with dirt, rock, construction, and demolition debris. Container trucks filled with a variety of liquids. Trucks with flatbed trailers loaded with lumber, pipes, and mysterious tarp covered items. Man’s interaction with the landscape continues with oversize load congestion.” White, like all artists, is an observer. Lately, her attention has been on the backs of trucks while driving up and down I-35. Once while waiting outside in her car during her granddaughter’s half-hour voice lesson, White noticed over sixty industrial trucks drive by and no two were alike. Though the same familiar shapes and colors are repeated throughout her work, each set of truck doors are distinctly their own. These oversized trucks that are worn and covered in dirt from their cross-country ventures, are simplified into small 6” x 6” abstracted compositions of monoprints and paintings, inviting the viewer to look more closely.
BJ White was the first artist-in-residence at [Artspace] at Untitled in 2013 and Danny Joe Rose III was artist-in-residence from August 2017 through November 2017. See both of their exhibitions at [Artspace] at Untitled in January 13th to February 17th, 2018. For more information, visit 1n3.org. n Olivia Biddick has a BA in journalism with an emphasis on broadcasting and electronic media from the University of Oklahoma. Contact her at olivia.biddick@gmail.com.
(left to right) Danny Rose, Strange Tide I, 2017, 7” x 5”, mixed media; Danny Rose, Strange Tide III, 2017, 7” x 5”, mixed media; Danny Rose, Strange Tide IV, 2017, 7” x 5”, mixed media
(left to right) BJ White, I-35 Toy Trucks 014, 2017, 6” x 6”, monoprint with water-based ink; BJ White, I-35 Toy Trucks 013, 2017, 6” x 6”, monoprint with water-based ink; BJ White, I-35 Toy Trucks 005, 2017, 6” x 6”, monoprint with water-based ink
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TGAS & OKCGAS: Advancing Girls in Creativity, Confidence, and Success Through Art by Roxanne Beason
(clockwise left to right) OKCGAS students admiring the work of Dale Chihuly at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art OKCGAS with artist Amanda Zoey Weathers in front of mural, Wind Wall, by Weathers and Erin Cooper OKCGAS students experiencing Modern Family by Krystle Brewer at OVAC’s Momentum OKC 2017
Public schools have taken a hard hit due to the heavy budget cuts in Oklahoma’s education department. Perhaps the most troubling thing about our dwindling funding for our public schools is the rapidly disappearing availability of performing and visual arts programs. This issue is particularly noticeable in some of the lower-income zip codes within Tulsa and Oklahoma City public school systems. These schools receive the least funding for extracurriculars outside of athletics and vocational skills training. Despite Oklahoma’s ongoing budget crisis, providing funding for
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athletics has never seemed to be an issue, and that automatically gives boys an advantage to train for sports that could potentially become successful careers. While girls are still awarded similar opportunities in athletics, girls still need something meaningful and fulfilling that’s just for them, and having such an activity and a place to make that happen was the initial motivation behind establishing the non-profit organizations, Tulsa Girl’s Art School and Oklahoma City Girl’s Art School. TGAS and OKCGAS have become havens where underserved girls have a chance to learn
a variety of skills and build friendships by exploring and making art. Having previous experience teaching art and raising money for programming in Tulsa Public Schools, Matt Moffett was approached by Mona Pittanger to start an afterschool art program for just girls. In 2007, TGAS was founded with $300,000 and the mission of giving girls their own extracurricular outlet. Ever since, TGAS has successfully operated on donations and earned revenue, and enrollment continues to increase. Enrollment selection
(left to right) TGAS student Frances working on a drawing; TGAS student Kyla with her abstract painting; TGAS student Citlhaly learning to blend colors; TGAS student Natalie working in her sketch book; TGAS student Taniah adding details to her landscape painting
starts when the girls are 8 years-old and they are picked from a school in North or West Tulsa, where teachers are approached and asked to recommend a talented art student for the program. Once admitted to the program, the girls remain for the duration of their high school career and receive assistance to seek higher education afterwards. The girls start out in a beginner’s level class their first year and learn the learn basics of drawing and painting. When they move up to the advanced level class, the girls get to explore working with other mediums of their choosing including ceramics, glass blowing, and welding. The advanced class frequently goes on field trips to explore art in other places like Chicago, San Francisco, and St. Louis, among others. Not only are the girls learning skills in art making, but they are also learning how to sell and market their work. TGAS now has over 70 students and hosts several shows a year to showcase and sell the girls’ work. What the girls earn from their sold art is kept in their own savings account which teaches them the value of their work as well as how to manage money. As the girls hone their artistic abilities and learn fiscal responsibility after school, it is not surprising Moffett’s students go on to higher education to continue their studies in art. “Watching girls build confidence, expand artistic skills, and become strong leaders within their peer groups is what drives us [at TGAS],” says Moffett.
Modeling after Moffett’s TGAS program, teaching artist and executive director, Kiona Millirons, has been gaining momentum for growing the OKGAS program. After only three years, Millirons has expanded the program into a permanent space behind the IAO (Individual Artists of Oklahoma) Gallery in downtown OKC with 30 students in total. I visited with Millirons (or “Miss Kiona” as her students refer to her) and second-year students. They had previously learned about Wassily Kandinsky by painting pieces inspired by his synesthetic way in which he painted colors and shapes based on sound. They had listened to two songs, a jazz and a classical piece, and then sketched how the music made them feel and were working on a painting based on their own synesthetic experience. While encouraging the girls’ imaginations to run rampant, Millirons is fueling creativity while still helping her students with formal compositional elements and pushing their techniques similarly to any upper-level art school. Making them really think about their creations, Millirons pushes them to finish each project and write about their critical thought processes in their art journal. Having the school inside IAO Gallery serves as a place for the students to sell their work periodically while also allowing for the girls to meet interact with local artists and their works that show within the same space. Millirons explained that the school operates as a “safe space and a positive atmosphere” for the girls, and for her, the most rewarding aspect
of her work is, “seeing students get a sense of accomplishment after doing something that seemed so challenging.” The girls at OKCGAS are recruited in the same way as TGAS and are also allotted their own savings account for the earnings of their work. For many of the participating students, these schools become a refuge and a place where they feel comfortable expressing themselves. TGAS and OKCGAS are a chance for girls to see the world from a creative perspective while simultaneously unlocking their potential as artists and entrepreneurs. While Moffett and Millirons are doing inspiring work for these girls, they teach and provide transportation for the girls to get to and from the facility, and while they do so much to support these girls, they still need your support too. There are several ways in which you can help and support both TGAS and OKCGAS, you can visit tulsagirlsartschool.org or okcgirlsartschool. org and donate through their websites. Be sure to check the events calendar on their websites or follow them on Facebook to find out where and when to attend future fundraisers or visit student exhibitions. n Roxanne Beason is an artist, activist, writer and researcher with a BA in art history from Oklahoma State University. Her research is focused on contemporary American art based on gender, sexuality, ethnicity and racial identities. She can be reached at roxanne.beason@gmail.com.
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Factory Obscura: Shifting Art by Penny Snyder
Factory Obscura, Shift, installation, photos by Brandon Seekins
Current Studio’s unassuming brick storefront painted in bands of greens, teals, and pinks gives only the slightest indication that its doorway is a portal to a new world. Inside dwells a lush and fantastical realm, the experience of which can be likened to walking through a human-sized psychedelic terrarium or jumping into the pages of a Dr. Seuss book. A giant wire head adorned with stained glass acrylic, a softly lit cloudscape made from unassuming milk-jugs, an infinity-mirrored bathroom posing as an aquarium, a billowing forest, and other visual and tactile treats make up Factory Obscura’s first installation, Shift, which opened this November at Current Studio. A Sea Change
Founded only seven months ago, Factory Obscura is an artist collective that creates experiential and immersive installations that delight, stun, challenge, and transform. Hosted by Current Studio this fall as an artist-in-residence, Factory Obscura is working to create an utterly new kind of art space in Oklahoma City. A trip to St. Louis’ City Museum, a museum for all ages that displays permanent
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installations built from repurposed architectural and industrial materials, inspired Laura and Laurent Massenat and Thomas Thompson to kick off a project in Oklahoma City that would support artists and engage the public in an interactive, educational, and artistic experience. With guidance from the artistic and curatorial brains behind Current Studio, Kelsey Karper and romy owens, the team created an interdisciplinary team of 17 artists with a range of backgrounds from painting to sculpting to construction to media and video art to collectively imagine and implement an unprecedented art installation. Using their residency at Current Studio as a chance to incubate the project on a small scale in terms of producing a sprawling interactive, experiential installation, gave the team the opportunity to test out the business model behind the project. This first installation, Shift, marks a sea change in both the creation and the experience of art in Oklahoma and beyond. Urban Forest Meets Adult Playground
Shattering the model of art display and consumption as one of static and solitary contemplation, Shift is a multi-faceted
and immersive experience that beckons its audience to duck, crawl, climb, touch, and explore art with gusto and glee. The installation is an expansive exploration of the different levels and realms of consciousness such as temporality, selfawareness, and humanity’s evolving collective consciousness. The experience of the installation evokes the mysteries and triumphs of our own consciousness as well as our physical awareness of our bodies. It begins with the colorful mural on the Current Studio’s exterior, the colors of which symbolize the different levels consciousness, and concludes with giant resting pods clad in Spanish moss and knotted yarn that visitors can huddle under. Everything in between is up to exploration and interpretation. With an “adult playground” as their model, Factory Obscura designed an engaging physical trek through tunnels, stairs, and nooks. Pathways through the installation are deliberately numerous and no maps are provided, making art explorers of everyone who enters. Part of Factory Obscura’s inspiration was the idea of an indoor urban forest where people could have an unstructured and engaging
experience. “We wanted to let people freely explore and come away inspired,” noted Kelsey Karper. And although the colorful and tactile installations are certainly Instagram-able, the engaging nature of the installation encourages visitors to wait until after they climb, touch, and feel their way through the installation to pull out their phones. Creating the Space to Make Art
Factory Obscura joins a growing movement of arts institutions that are upending the financial models long associated with artistic creation. Following the lead of Meow Wolf, an arts collective in Santa Fe, NM known equally for the trippy art experiences they facilitate as their financial model, Factory Obscura is pioneering an approach that pays artists for their labor as they work, rather than for a finished piece of artwork. Massenat explained that Meow Wolf has provided a business model and guidance to the nascent collective. “It’s really exciting that there is a model case, that it’s working, and they’re employing a lot of artists that are making work that they love to make. And the audience loves it as well.” The collective’s name, Factory Obscura, represents the group’s vision of creative and innovative artistic production through collective means. While the word “factory” suggests endless, uniform production, “obscura” references camera obscura, a pre-cursor to the modern camera, which produced reversed and inverted images. Factory Obscura wants to “Flip the factory model on its head. Instead of producing conformity and efficiency, we’re producing creativity,” explained Karper. Laura Massenat slyly added, “We’re exactly like a factory, except upside down and backwards.” Catalyzing OKC’s Creativity
In addition to a focus on supporting local artists, Factory Obscura’s installations are designed to reach and engage a broad audience of arts lovers and newcomers alike.
Factory Obscura, planning sketches by Cassie Stover, photo by Charlie Molleur
“We were definitely interested in filling a gap in Oklahoma City. There’s a lack of spaces where humans of all ages and backgrounds can interact, experience, move physically, and come out changed,” explained Massenat. Factory Obscura hopes that the immersive and experiential nature of their installations can pique their audience’s curiosity and launch them on a path towards creative fulfillment. The collective believes that, “We as people have a creativity that’s inherent within us all, but a lot people lose touch with that by the time they reach adulthood,” expressed Massenat. Building from the successes and lessons learned from the Shift installation, the collective hopes to offer more expansive programming and educational opportunities such as mentorships, internship programs, and partnerships with local schools in the future.
space near downtown OKC, allowing Factory Obscura to become a force in sustaining, catalyzing, and enlarging the city’s creative community. The collective sees untapped potential for new audiences as well as a talented and sophisticated arts community already in Oklahoma City waiting to be engaged in Factory Obscura’s multi-faceted and innovative work. As Massenat declared, “Our city is ready for this.” n Penny Snyder is an avid museum-goer, urban explorer, and writer. She graduated from Wesleyan University in 2016, and is joining the staff of the Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, Texas this winter. Read more of her writing at penny-snyder-writes.squarespace.com.
They also plan to open a permanent location with over 40,000 square feet of installation
f e a t u re 15
REMEMBERING SAMANTHA DILLEHAY: Reflections on the Impact and Legacy of an Oklahoma Artist by Laurence Reese
Samantha Dillehay, Private Life, 2012, 10’ x 2.5’ x 1’, metal clothing hangers
Samantha Dillehay was an artist living in Ada, Oklahoma. This fall in September 2017, she passed away from a short battle with an acute form of cancer. Almost every article or memorial tribute on the internet to Samantha Dillehay mentions that she was an artist, an educator, local community leader, and a huge Dolly Parton fan. I’d add her love for karaoke, campy art-house films a la John Waters, and, most importantly, the distinct and powerful quietude of her art work, even as it tackled difficult subjects.
lettering, and everyday objects. These became early prototypes of what would be major commissioned works in her post-grad career.
an immediate language,” she said. “When it’s paired with visual elements anyone can take away a different experience or idea.”
“I always saw Sam’s work as an unfiltered expression of courage and honesty,” says Curtis Jones, Graduate Coordinator for OU’s School of Visual Arts. “She used her art to reveal in detail some of the incredibly painful and damaging abuses she had endured in her life. It often seemed ... like I was seeing something so deeply personal that I should probably not be looking at it.”
“I have always tried to entice the audience’s inner voyeur,” Dillehay once said of her work. “I think as humans we are naturally curious about other people’s lives. What are their struggles? What are their secrets? My work is a way to communicate ... my life story to a stranger.”
Born in Defeated, Tennessee, Samantha Dillehay was “raised on a healthy diet of country music and Jesus,” as her artist bio says. After receiving her BFA in media arts from the University of Tennessee in 2007, Dillehay moved to Norman, and earned her MFA in film and video at the University of Oklahoma (OU) in 2011.
Indeed, Samantha’s work was private. She continually kept a journal and would take components of journal entries, “converting them into visual experiences,” in her words. Her works took from her experiences with sexual trauma, the tension between her and her family, and the contrast between her conservative, Appalachian upbringing and her present day life as a queer woman.
Despite its privacy and intimacy, her work often had an element of playfulness, employing visual puns that drew on the materials and objects she used. Her piece Private Life spells the word “HUSH” using hundreds of coat hangers protruding from a wall. The soft-sounding word is transformed by the jagged texture of the materials. The word is a silencing, oppressive command, yet the everyday objects invite the viewer to inspect the installation up close.
It was at OU that Dillehay began creating work that addressed challenging subjects, by the unassuming mediums of text,
Dillehay used familiar objects to mine these dangerously sensitive topics, and text became a way to communicate those ideas. “Text is
Her work often drew in people who had dealt with similar issues. “We were both survivors of sexual violence,” says former colleague
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Kendall Brown. For Brown, Dillehay’s 2011 thesis show about the subject “was what gave me the courage to finally tell someone what I had experienced.” “All of Sam’s work was [authentic],” she states, “because that’s what Samantha was: authentic. Nothing about her was ever pretense.” Samantha Dillehay’s artistic accomplishments speak for themselves. After graduating with her MFA, she received OVAC’s Momentum Spotlight award, a commission to create new work for Momentum Tulsa in 2012. In the years following, Samantha showed locally and nationally, and was able to take her art to the Art Video International Film Festival in Cannes, France, and the Miden Video Art Festival in Kalamata, Greece. I met Samantha in 2010 when I was newly transferred to the University of Oklahoma, and struggling to make new friends and colleagues in the School of Art and Art History. Sam, as so many of her friends called her, saw something in me when we met, more than I saw of myself, and helped me connect to the arts and queer community, before I knew how much I needed the peers to whom I was connecting. I was fortunate to work with Sam, not just as a fellow student at OU, but as someone who became a mentor and guiding figure. In 2012, Samantha and I worked together in reversed roles, as I became her curator in Momentum Spotlight for OVAC’s Momentum Tulsa 2012, alongside Lead Curator Raechell Smith, of The H&R Block Art Space at the Kansas City Art Institute. Since I lived in Norman, I served as somewhat of a “local contact.” Sam and I held studio visits in between the official visits organized by OVAC to discuss the progress of her work and the process of creation. I will always be grateful for how Samantha, despite having already become a professor at East Central University in Ada, with more knowledgeable in art through her training and age, trusted me to guide her during my first curatorial endeavor. “Samantha was a force and was highly regarded by artists in her community,” says Raechell Smith. “I always take this as a sign of a remarkable and generous spirit.” Momentum had a continuing role in Sam’s life. In 2014, she went on to curate Momentum OKC as the Emerging Curator. On this experience of curating, Samantha said “Momentum gave me the opportunity to network with so many local artists, and arts advocates across the state. When I was a spotlight artist, it allowed me to create a body of work that had lived in my sketch book for months. Now it is giving me the experience to know both sides of the field, from creating to curating.” Working alongside Nathan Lee, Samantha had the opportunity to also work as a curator to one of her cohorts from school, Katy Seals, who was selected for a Spotlight award in 2014. (continued to page 18)
f e a t u re 17
(continued from page 17)
Katy Seals, Honky Tonk Ennui, 2014, 6’x11’x4’, fabric, concrete, and steel
Katy met Samantha in fall 2009 during her first week of graduate school at OU, becoming both cohorts and close friends. “We soon earned reputations as being feral and swarthy,” she says, “we prided ourselves in the motto ‘work hard, play harder.’” While there they became, Katy said, “inseparable as teammates.” Samantha, Katy, and their other cohort, Alexandra Knox, were always seen about the art studios of OU, going to karaoke and having intense discussions of theory and art in dive bars. “Studying art and creating alongside one another forged our bond as friends, and often I considered Sam to be a family member to me.” After graduating from OU, Seals, Dillehay, and Knox were hired as professors at East Central University (ECU), where they worked hard together to create meaningful interactions with students, as they pushed each other to create work.
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Thus, it is no surprise that Samantha inspired the work of those around her. Katy Seal’s 2014 Momentum OKC Spotlight project, Honky Tonk Ennui, is a large-scale installation using text on larger-thanlife underwear. This collaboration and paradigm shift from coworker-to-coworker to curator-to-artist encouraged Seals, who was working in printmaking, to expand and experiment into text and fiber installation. Seals embroidered country music lyrics on oversized undergarments to comment on the recent divorce of her friends, revealing deep inner secrets, yet obscured by popular culture and recognizable lyrics. Samantha inspired my art making in text as well, and even inspired me to curate a whole exhibition themed around the subject matter of text-based work. This exhibition from fall of 2015 at Individual Artists of Oklahoma was titled Passwords and included new work by both Samantha Dillehay and Katy Seals.
One of Dillehay’s two new works in the exhibition was a video loop of an envelope with an address being rubbed by her fingers. The other was a large tattered quilt, spray painted with the words “AND I’M NOT HAPPY ABOUT IT.” These works were directly about her confrontation with her parents, coming out as gay. The phrase “I’m not happy about it” says as much as her forced decision to do so, as much as it is about the reaction of her grandmother, who created the quilt for her in her childhood. Dillehay’s work, in which she drew on personal experiences that spoke to broader issues, continued to grow. Her goals were not just to create art, but also to be an active educator and community organizer. At ECU, Samantha Dillehay was a professor in the Mass Communications department. At her memorial service, students played video tributes to her, and several of them came up and talked about their experiences with her both in class and out. She was more than a
professor to many. In a small town with few resources, she was an advocate for her queer students, and a mentor to any students needing help understanding career paths and options beyond college. So much of this comes full circle. In spring this year, 2017, Samantha was one of the lead curators for Momentum Ada, a project she helped lead and champion at East Central University. Based on OVAC’s Momentum program for artists 30 and younger, this special program was film and new media specific, and featured guest speaker John Waters. Sam was a huge John Waters fan, and bringing a queer, cult icon to a smaller Oklahoma community was a major feat, beyond the hard work curating an exhibition. I was lucky that Samantha and co-curator Bryan Cardinale-Powell selected me as one of the spotlight artists, for which I produced a video installation, all themed around the queer experience. By coincidence, my coproducer, filmmaker Keeva Danielle Lough, had met Samantha at OU in 2007. Despite not having seen each other since, they both remembered the other. “Sam saw through my surly exterior and pushed me to bring my personal experiences into my art in a way that was honest and direct,” Lough recalls. “She was an advocate for me before I could admit I needed one.” Julius Dickinson was granted the other Spotlight Artist award for their project Pink Hell, an experiential pink-themed video installation. Dickinson worked closest with Dillehay during the spotlight projects, and received one-on-one curatorial mentorship from her. They remarked that at the time they met Dillehay, they weren’t aware of all that she imparted on them. “I am currently shifting into a new phase in my life,” Dickinson said. “I cannot thank her enough for her support and belief in my work, but also for seeing me for who I am and allowing me to investigate my identity as a queer artist in a space where she knew it was needed.” This endeavor, besides having an immediate effect on the artists, had a major impact on the community. With Dillehay’s help, Momentum Ada brought a large crowd
to Ada to see director John Waters speak, experience video art, and engage with the local community. The economic impact of the event brought over $60,000 to the community of Ada, no small endeavor. And Dillehay was a major part of that effort, through both her curation and her hands on coordination of the event through her work with ECU, OVAC and her community involvement in Ada. The videos made by her students for her memorial service made poignantly clear how much she touched their lives. On the program for her service was a quote by her: “I would like to be remembered as that teacher where students ask, ‘Man, do y’all remember that crazy teacher we had in college? She was crazy, but I learned a lot in her class.’ Even if it’s just one little piece of knowledge that students would always remember, then my work here is done.” Samantha, the person, not just the community organizer, was a people’s person. She was a gregarious person with a tenacious spirit. I watched Sam stand up for individuals’ rights, serve on boards, and do community projects when she was needed, even when she could have used a vacation. But this article is not just to remind those who knew her how accomplished she was. I want to convey her deeper legacy. She leaves behind a lasting imprint in the hearts of so many who knew her, and a legacy that impacts the community beyond those who called her colleague or friend. Through her artwork, but also through involvement in community efforts, and her dedication to making Oklahoma a better place to live.
Samantha Dillehay, A Love Letter to My Former Self, 2012, 5.5’ x 6’, lipstick on mirror tiles
Laurence Myers Reese is an artist in Norman, OK. Their work can be found at lmyersreese.com
As I write these words on the eve of her 35th birthday, I remember what a spectacular friend, ally, and colleague Samantha was to me and many others in Oklahoma and beyond. We were lucky to know her, and Oklahoma was privileged to have her for as long as we did. Samantha Dillehay’s work can be found online on the OVAC Virtual Gallery or at samanthadillehay.com. In Memory, Samantha Dillehay, November 13, 1982-September 28, 2017 n
f e a t u re 19
20 f e a t u re
Michelle Martin: Whimsical Printmaker and Professor by Carleigh Foutch
As artists and storytellers, we all have that one mentor or teacher whose support has spurred us on in our creative endeavors. Michelle Martin, who has been teaching at The University of Tulsa as a professor of printmaking since 1997, and who has risen through the ranks as both an assistant and associate professor, has experienced both sides of the coin as the inspired and the inspiree.
social interactions--evoke a sense of ethereal timelessness that suspends the viewer in a realm somewhere between reality and fantasy. Martin says the ideas for her work come from various places. “Sometimes pieces are based on personal experience--other times it could be based on something I have read. All of the work does have a fairy tale or dream-like quality, which is by design,” she said. “I have always had a fondness for Victorian era clip art, and that has served as a starting point for all of the newer work.”
“I think I get the most joy out of watching my students succeed,” Martin said, of being a professor. “Whether it’s getting into the graduate program they have always dreamed of or winning an award for their work.” An accomplished artist herself, Martin began teaching a year out of graduate school at the age of 26 after receiving her MFA in Printmaking from The Ohio State University. “I was younger than most of our grad students at the time,” she said. Martin also received her BFA in 1993 from Texas Tech University. She works in all drawing and print media, and her work has been shown in 170 national and international locations since 1995 including New Zealand, Venezuela, Iceland, and Bulgaria. Her work can also be found in public and private university collections across the United States, and her award credentials are even more impressive. They include the 2003 Oklahoma Artist of Excellence Award, the 2008 OVAC Oklahoma Visual Arts Fellowship, the 2005 Materials Award from The Boston Printmakers North American Print Exhibition, and the 2013 and 2014 Brackett-Krennerich Purchase Award for the Delta National Small Prints Exhibition. But Martin’s success didn’t happen overnight. It took years of tenacity and talent for her to reach these lofty goals, and it all paid off. “I think the most important lesson I have learned over the years is perseverance-meaning, always keep working to refine (opposite page) Michelle Martin, Tethers, 2016, 18” x 15”, photopolymer etching
Michelle Martin, Communion, 2017, 21.5” x 15.5”, photopolymer etching
the work. When I was younger, I always took failure to heart, and I would often be tempted to abandon an idea or series too quickly,” she said. “I was a bit of a perfectionist, so if I could not find a ‘perfect’ solution to a problem, I would often get very down, scaring myself into inactivity.” How did Martin get out of this slump? “Finally, one of my professors sat down with me and told me that failure was okay as long as you made an effort to learn from it—and the only way to do that was to keep at it.” It’s a good thing she took the advice to heart, because her professional career as an artist flourished. Martin considers becoming a professor and being elected the Treasurer of the Southern Graphics Council International two of her proudest accomplishments thus far (she said she still wants to keep working and improving, so this isn’t the last you’ve heard from her). Martin’s images—whimsical, steampunkesque prints paired with her sensual and somewhat frightening drawings of observed
Martin says she draws inspiration from a variety of artists, from Old Masters to more contemporary folk. She’s fond of Albrecht Durer (who served as one of the sources for her Mystorical Constructions prints), Gustave Dore, Hendrik Goltzius, Michael Barnes, Erica Walker, and Jenny Robinson, to name a few. Her portfolio pieces, called Mystorical Constructions and Social Observations respectively, delve into the depiction of historical commentary and social interactions, mixing the contemporary and Victorian with fantastical elements. Mystorical Constructions began as a spin-off from Social Observations, and are intended to prompt viewers to wonder: are they historical artifacts or contemporary fictions? “Mysterious, open-ended narratives interest me,” Martin said. “I enjoy creating images that make the viewer stop to think about them for a while. Most of the images [in the portfolios] do have a bit of an edge to them– they can contain environments or characters that seem to be dangerous in some way.” Martin’s career as an artist has been closely intertwined with her tenure as a professor. When it comes to imparting wisdom as a mentor to her students, there are a few things Martin wants them to know. “I want my students to be nimble in terms of balancing technical proficiency, or ability, with a strong conceptual idea. Both are (continued to page 22)
f e a t u re 21
Michelle Martin, Passage, 2015, 15” x 20”, photopolymer etching
extremely important, necessary ingredients to making work that is successful.” Martin teaches many classes at the University of Tulsa, including Arts Experiences, Drawing I and II, Printmaking I, Advanced Drawing, a variety of independent study and research courses and Intro to Studio Arts and Intro to Etching for non-art majors. If you’re a
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student, be sure to grab a seat in one of her classes. If you’re just a lover or admirer of art (like myself ) be on the lookout for more of Martin’s work throughout the United States. To learn more about Michelle Martin and her career, visit her website at michellemartinprintmaker.com. n
Carleigh Foutch is a writer and activist living in Oklahoma City. She received her BA in Journalism from the University of Oklahoma in May and continues to write stories of all kinds in her spare time, although her favorite thing to write is fiction. To learn more about Carleigh and her work, visit carleighfoutch. weebly.com.
iversity
ART HISTORY The M.A. Program in
at Oklahoma State University
Program Description The M.A. Program in Art History at OSU differs from most traditional art history programs through its prioritization of intercultural connections, globalism and transnationalism. The program, with six full-time faculty members, offers significant historical and geographical breadth, including Europe, the United States, East Asia, Latin America, and the Islamic world from the Middle Ages to today. Issues engaged in courses include gender, globalism, propaganda, and modernity.
Museum Studies A new curatorial studies trajectory within the program is supported by museum and gallery internships, hands-on curatorial opportunities, and classes on the history and theory of museums and curatorial practice. In addition, a graduate certificate in museum and curatorial studies is in development.
Funding Opportunities OSU’s M.A. program in art history is also unique because we are able to fully fund many of our students. We have a number of Graduate Teaching Assistantships and Research Assistantships, which include a stipend, a waiver for tuition, and health insurance.
Contact Graduate Coordinator: artgraddir@okstate.edu Department of Art, Graphic Design and Art History Oklahoma State University 108 Bartlett Center Stillwater, OK 74078 art.okstate.edu
Application deadline February 2, 2018
Yatika Starr Fields (Cherokee, Creek, and Osage, 1980) Connecting roads from past to present, 2013 Acrylic, gold leaf on canvas 60 x 144 in.
Funded by the generous donation of Ann Holmes Parker 2013.005.001
f e a t u re 23
24
ekphrasis
EKPHRASIS: Winter 2018 edited by Liz Blood
Ekphrasis is a place for poets to respond to a visual work of art. Here, Ken Hada considers how the artist, Rena Detrixhe,
More than … It cannot last, nothing does except the way we make ourselves
must feel as she makes her
in dusty moments, sketches
work—and both are created
we fail to see, something
anew in the process.
in soil waiting something that comes when we least expect to be more than – more than dirt, more than dust-clinging flesh – the chance to decorate
Poet Bio: Ken Hada’s two most recent
volumes of poetry are “Bring an Extry Mule” and “Persimmon Sunday” (Purple Flag Press, 2017 and 2015). His work has been featured on The Writer’s Almanac, received the SCMLA Poetry Prize and The Western Heritage Award, and was a finalist for the Western Writers of America Spur Award and Oklahoma Book Awards.
what we overlook
Artist bio: Rena Detrixhe combines
even as we create.
repetitive process and collected or scavenged materials to investigate the relationship between humans and the natural world. She recently completed a 1,000 square-foot Red Dirt Rug installation at West Michigan University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Detrixhe received her BFA from the University of Kansas in 2013 and is currently in her second year of the Tulsa Artist Fellowship.
to make and then remake ourselves in the glory of the common – being created
Rena Detrixhe, Red Dirt Rug, 2016, installed at Current Studio in Oklahoma City, loose red Oklahoma soil, 9’ x 6’
e k p h r a s i s 25
OVAC NEWS
March brings back around Momentum, our exhibition exclusively for artists 30 and under. In addition to the energy-packed weekend with performances and live music that Momentum has become known for, there will also be a satellite show of the Spotlight projects following the opening weekend in partnership with the University of Central Oklahoma. The exhibition will be shown on UCO’s campus, inside the new Mitchell Education Center, giving the public another chance to check out these incredible projects. This year we are vamping up our ASK Workshops with a lineup of both new and favorite topics. A few in the works so far include how to be exhibition ready with Trent Lawson, how to write about and document your work with Brandon Seekins, and everything you need to know about artists residencies with Liz Roth. Keep an eye out for more to come!
Krystle Brewer, Executive Director
January 15th is the next deadline for all OVAC Grants. OVAC offers grants for buying new equipment, the creation of a large new body of work, tuition and supplies for workshops and professional development, and artist partnerships with community organizations. Visit our website for more information and don’t hesitate to call the office with questions. We are here to help! Next up in the works is the Oklahoma Art Writing & Curatorial Fellowship. The Fellowship aims to train promising writers and curators by expanding their professional education and experiences.
26 o v a c n e w s
WINTER 2018
This distinctive, yearlong program awards 12 fellows the opportunity to participate in a structured and innovative curriculum designed to encourage new writing and curatorial projects. The 2018 application for fellows will be opening in the spring with the program beginning in the fall. Visit our website for more information. For 2018, we are announcing two new exciting resources for our artists. First, we have launched a new Members Only Facebook Page where artists can post what they are working on, share resources, and have conversations with other members. Second, and open to the public, is our new series Artist Forums. Each Forum will be centered around a topic important to Oklahoma artists and led by either OVAC staff or individuals from the community. The mission of both of these is to help artists connect with one another and share resources- we learn the most from each other. We are thrilled and looking forward to these new conversations!
Sincerely,
Krystle Brewer Executive Director
Thank you to our new and renewing members from May through Aug-Oct 2017 Beverly Fentress Ann & Chuck Neal
M.J. Alexander &
Harold Porterfield
Jime & Mike Wimmer
Narciso ArgĂźelles
Shane Hemberger
Joan Frimberger
Kerry Billington
Paul Bagley
Cindy Mason
Kika Dressler
Christie & Jim Hackler
Susan Linde
Virginia Sitzes
David Phelps
Mariah Addis
Carla Waugh
Michele Lasker
Kathy Buttry &
Lisa Zarrow
David Branch & Bill Renner
Cheri Tatum
Noel Torrey
Alexander Knight
Janene Evard
Jane Morgan
Sharon Smith Caudle
Michelle Himes-McCrory
Brandi Downham
Austin Munson
Connie Seabourn
Harolyn Long
Sandra Wallace
Kelley Queen
Linda Guenther
Janice Yeary
Theresa Riemer
Hillary & Peter Farrell
Tina Layman
Amanda Lawrence
Steve Hicks
Whitney Forsyth
Brandon Rottmayer
Karin Susan Cermak
Alexis Hazel
Michelle Junkin
Don C. Narcomey &
Lynda Smith Schick
Diane U. Coady
Vicki VanStavern
Shauna Henry
School of Visual Arts University of Oklahoma
The School of Visual Arts at the
Our enduring mission is to cultivate
We hope you’ll agree that our new
University of Oklahoma is proud
a vibrant intellectual community that
look matches our reputation for
to introduce a new visual identity.
fosters excellence in the visual arts,
quality in research, creative activity,
For more information: art.ou.edu
design and art history.
teaching and student experience.
o v a c n e w s 27
Gallery Listings & Exhibition Schedule Ada
Chickasha
Durham
Guymon
Morgan Page “Las Capas” January 11 to March 14, 2018 The Pogue Gallery East Central University 900 Centennial Plaza (580) 559-5353 ecok.edu
Nesbitt Gallery University of Science and Arts Oklahoma 1806 17th St (405) 574-1344 usao.edu/gallery/schedule
Metcalfe Museum 8647 N 1745 Rd (580) 655-4467 metcalfemuseum.org
All Fired Up Art Gallery 421 N Main (580) 338-4278 allfiredupok.com
Altus Wigwam Gallery 117 W Commerce St (580) 481-3150
Alva Christmas Show and Sale December 1 – January 2 Oklahoma Printmakers Exchange Traveling Exhibit January 4 – January 30 Fabrics of the Heartland February 2 – February 27th Glass with a Past March 2 – April 3 Graceful Arts Gallery and Studios 523 Barnes St (580) 327-ARTS (2787) gracefulartscenter.org
Ardmore
Calamitous Cowgirls: Donna Howell-Sickles November 29 – January 5 Open-Impressionism: Erin Hanson January 9 – February 24 Annual All Schools Exhibit March 1 – March 17 (Middle & High Schools) March 27 – April 4 (Elementary Schools) The Goddard Center 401 First Avenue SW (580) 226-0909 goddardcenter.org
Bartlesville Price Tower Arts Center 510 Dewey Ave (918) 336-4949 pricetower.org
28 g a l l e r y g u i d e
Claremore Laurie Spencer Art Show January 25 – February 16 Chris Ramsay Art Show February 22 – March 16 Student Art Show March 29 – April 2018 Foundations Gallery Rogers State University 1701 W Will Rogers Blvd (918) 343-7740 rsu.edu
Davis Unique Artifacts on Display: Ashley Wallace and Jeremy Wallace November 1 – February 28 Chickasaw Nation Welcome Center 35 N Colbert Rd (580) 369-4222 chickasawcountry.com
Duncan Nathan Brown: Journals and Photographs January 2 – February 22 Youth Art Month: Building Community Through Art March 1 – March 31 Chisholm Trail Heritage Center 1000 Chisholm Trail Pkwy (580) 252-6692 onthechisholmtrail.com
Durant StuFac: Student Faculty Exhibition January 23 – February 22 The 14th Annual Great Plains Juried Exhibition March 1 – April 10 Centre Gallery Southeastern OK State University 1405 N 4th PMB 4231 (580) 745-2000 se.edu
Edmond Donna Nigh Gallery University of Central Oklahoma 100 University Dr (405) 974-2432 uco.edu/cfad Once Upon a Playground Opens January 30, 2018 Edmond Historical Society & Museum 431 S Boulevard (405) 340-0078 edmondhistory.org Connie Seabourn Opens January 11 2018 StatewideYouth Impressions Juried Art Show January 20 – January 25 Brad McNeill February David Pagdett March Fine Arts Institute of Edmond 27 E Edwards St (405) 340-4481 edmondfinearts.com Melton Gallery University of Central Oklahoma 100 University Dr (405) 974-2432 uco.edu/cfad University Gallery Oklahoma Christian University 2501 E Memorial Rd (800) 877-5010 oc.edu El Reno Redlands Community College 1300 S Country Club Rd (405) 262-2552 redlandscc.edu
Guthrie Hancock Creative Shop 116 S 2nd St (405) 471-1951 hancockcreativeshop.com Owens Arts Place Museum 1202 E Harrison Ave (405) 260-0204 owensmuseum.com
Idabel As culturas Amozônicas exhibit: October 17 – January 14 Museum of the Red River 812 E Lincoln Rd (580) 286-3616 museumoftheredriver.org
Lawton
The Leslie Powell Foundation and Gallery 620 D Avenue (580) 357-9526 lpgallery.org Museum of the Great Plains 601 NW Ferris Ave (580) 581-3460 discovermgp.org
Norman Downtown Art and Frame 115 S Santa Fe (405) 329-0309 Firehouse Art Center 444 S Flood (405) 329-4523 n normanfirehouse.com Jacobson House 609 Chautauqua (405) 366-1667 jacobsonhouse.org Fred Jones Jr Museum of Art 555 Elm Ave (405) 325-4938 ou.edu/fjjma Lightwell Gallery University of Oklahoma 520 Parrington Oval (405) 325-2691 art.ou.edu Sarah Clough December 8 – January 12 MAINSITE Contemporary Art Gallery 122 E Main (405) 360-1162 mainsite-art.com
Holiday Traditions of the Pioneer Era December - January Moore-Lindsey House Historical Museum 508 N Peters (405) 321-0156 normanmuseum.org The Depot Gallery 200 S Jones (405) 307-9320 pasnorman.org
Oklahoma City Acosta Strong Fine Art 6420 N Western Ave (405) 453-1825 johnbstrong.com Strange Tide by Danny Joe Rose III January 13 – February 17 I-35 Toy Trucks January 13 – February 17 Oklahoma Arts Council Archive February 22 – March 17 2nd Annual Mentorship Exhibition March 22 – April 20 [ArtSpace] at Untitled 1 NE 3rd St (405) 815-9995 1ne3.org Brass Bell Studios 2500 NW 33rd (405) 361-3481 facebook.com/BrassBellStudios Contemporary Art Gallery 2928 Paseo (405) 601-7474 contemporaryartgalleryokc.com Factory Obscura Presents SHIFT November 9 – February 25, 2018 Current Studio 1218 N Penn Ave (405) 673-1218 currentstudio.org
Ceramics+Embroidery+Encaustics December 7 – January 7 Resolutions // Group Show January 11 – February 4 Tawnya Corrente + Sarah Day-Short February 8 – March 4 Anthony Freeman March 8 – April 8 DNA Galleries 1705 B NW 16th St (405) 371-2460 dnagalleries.com
Two Solo March Featured Artists: Haley Prestifilippo, Christie Owen Hackler March 3 – March 25 JRB Art at The Elms 2810 N Walker Ave (405) 528-6336 jrbartgallery.com
Art Now 2018 December 15 – January 19 Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center 3000 General Pershing Blvd (405) 951-0000 oklahomacontemporary.org
Kasum Contemporary Fine Art 1706 NW 16th St (405) 604-6602 kasumcontemporary.com
Oklahoma State Capitol Galleries 2300 N Lincoln Blvd (405) 521-2931 arts.ok.gov
In Their Element: A Showcase of Native Photographers November 1, 2017 – end of February 2018 Exhibit C 1 E Sheridan Ave Ste 100 (405) 767-8900 exhibitcgallery.com
Cowboy Crossings October 5, 2017 - January 7, 2018 Unlocking the Vault: Mysteries and Marvels of the Museum February 9 – May 13 Do You See What I See? Painted Conversations by Theodore Waddell February 9 – May 13 National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum 1700 NE 63rd (405) 478-2250 nationalcowboymuseum.org
24 Works on Paper
December 1 – January 13 American Fire February 8 – May 26 Gaylord-Pickens Museum, home of the Oklahoma Hall of Fame 1400 Classen Dr (405) 235-4458 oklahomahof.com Grapevine Gallery 1933 NW 39 (405) 528-3739 grapevinegalleryokc.com New works by M.Burton Hands, Kelli Folsom, Kenny McKenna, Wes Newton, Tom Perkinson, & Linda Tuma Robertson Howell Gallery 6432 N Western Ave (405) 840-4437 howellgallery.com In Your Eye Studio and Gallery 3005A Paseo (405) 525-2161 inyoureyegallery.com Individual Artists of Oklahoma 706 W Sheridan Ave (405) 232-6060 individualartists.org Christmas at the Elms, Denise Duong & Karam Past, Present & Future January 5 – January 28 Two Solo February Featured Artists: Behnaz Sohrabian, Stella Thomas February 2 – February 25
Nault Gallery 816 N Walker Ave (405) 642-4414 naultfineart.com Nona Hulsey Gallery, Norick Art Center Oklahoma City University 1600 NW 26th (405) 208-5226 okcu.edu Inasmuch Foundation Gallery Oklahoma City Community College Gallery 7777 S May Ave (405) 682-7576 occc.edu The Question of Beauty October 13 – February 11 Master Strokes: Dutch and Flemish Drawings from the Golden Age October 28 – January 21 The Art of Oklahoma November 16, 2017 – September 2, 2018 The New Art: A Controversial Collection Fifty Years Later February 17 – May 13 Apichatpong Weerasethakul: The Serenity of Madness March 31 – June 10 Oklahoma City Museum of Art 415 Couch Dr (405) 236-3100 okcmoa.com
Paseo Art Space 3022 Paseo (405) 525-2688 thepaseo.org Red Earth 6 Santa Fe Plaza (405) 427-5228 redearth.org smART Space Science Museum Oklahoma 2100 NE 52nd St (405) 602-6664 sciencemuseumok.org
Park Hill Cherokee National Historical Society, Inc. 21192 S Keeler Dr (918) 456-6007 cherokeeheritage.org
Ponca City Ponca City Art Center 819 E Central (580) 765-9746 poncacityartcenter.com
Shawnee Saints and Sinners II: Prints from the 16th through the 20th Centuries December 16 – January 28 Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art 1900 W Macarthur (405) 878-5300 mgmoa.org
Stillwater Gardiner Gallery of Art Oklahoma State University 108 Bartlett Center for the Visual Arts (405) 744-4143 art.okstate.edu Maxine Warren: The Universe in a Monotype November 14 – February 3
Impressionist to Modernist January 16 – April 7 Metal Works January 30 – June 9 Oklahoma State University Museum of Art 720 S Husband St (405) 744-2780 museum.okstate.edu
Sulphur Unique Artifacts on Display: Chickasaw Visitor Center, Sulphur November 1 – February 28 Chickasaw Visitor Center 901 W 1st St (580) 622-8050 chickasawcountry.com/explore/view/ Chickasaw-visitor-center
Tahlequah Spider Gallery Cherokee Arts Center 212 S Water Ave (918) 453-5728 cherokeeartscenter.com
Tonkawa Eleanor Hays Gallery Northern Oklahoma College 1220 E Grand (580) 628-6670 noc.edu
Tulsa Members Only: The State of Craft December 1 – January 21 Shelter: Patrick Dougherty & Rachel Hayes February 2 - March 25 108|Contemporary 108 E MB Brady St (918) 895-6302 108contemporary.org Aberson’s Exhibits 3624 S Peoria (918) 740-1054 abersonexhibits.com Hidden in Plain Sight: Unexpected Views of Gilcrease Museum August 28, 2017 - April 1, 2018 The Essence of Place: Celebrating the Photography of David Halpern November 22, 2016 - April 1, 2018 After Removal: Rebuilding the Cherokee Nation August 25 – January 21
Kay WalkingStick: An American Artist October 6 – January 7 To Endure in Bronze December 1, 2017 – December 31, 2018 Norman Rockwell: Behind the Camera February 17, 2018 - June 10, 2018 Gilcrease Museum 1400 Gilcrease Road (918) 596-2700 gilcrease.utulsa.edu Margi Weir: Bearing Witness December 1 – January 21 Hardesty Arts Center 101 E Archer St (918) 584-3333 ahhatulsa.org Henry Zarrow Center for Art and Education 124 E MB Brady St (918) 631-4400 gilcrease.utulsa.edu/Explore/ Zarrow Alexandre Hogue Gallery University of Tulsa 2930 E 5th St. (918) 631-2739 utulsa.edu/art Holliman Gallery Holland Hall 5666 E 81st Street (918) 481-1111 hollandhall.org Joseph Gierek Fine Art 1342 E 11th St (918) 592-5432 gierek.com Living Arts 307 E MB Brady St (918) 585-1234 livingarts.org Mainline 111 N Main Ste C (918) 629-0342 mainlineartok.com M.A. Doran Gallery 3509 S Peoria (918) 748-8700 madorangallery.com
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Clue February 10 – end of February Lovetts Gallery 6528 E 51st St (918) 664-4732 lovettsgallery.com Game On! May 6, 2017 – February 4, 2018 Philbrook Downtown Museum Confidential October 14, 2017 – May 6, 2018 Rotunda Series: Rachel Hayes February 1 – November 1 Rena Detrixhe: Red Dirt Rug March 3 – June 3 Philbrook Downtown 116 E MB Brady St (918) 749-7941 philbrook.org
Philbrook Museum of Art 2727 S Rockford Rd (918) 749-7941 philbrook.org
Tulsa Artists’ Coalition 9 E MB Brady St (918) 592-0041 tacgallery.org
Pierson Gallery 1307-1311 E 15th St (918) 584-2440 piersongallery.com 2nd Thursday Art Crawl: Sponsored by Association of Kendall Whitter Arts December 2 – March 2nd Urban Art Lab Studios 2312 E Admiral Blvd (918) 747-0510 urbanartlabstudios.com
Tulsa Performing Arts Center Gallery 110 E 2nd St (918) 596-2368 tulsapac.com
Yatika Fields January 2018 Bordello – Alisa Inglett February 2018 The Art of the Tattoo March 2018
2 original and quality pieces of art by Oklahoma artists 2 tickets to CSA Launch Events twice a year 2 tickets to 12x12 Art Fundraiser $400 of this membership is tax deductible All of below
Listing of self or business on signage at events Invitation for 2 people to private reception with visiting curator 2 tickets each to Momentum OKC & Momentum Tulsa $200 of this membership is tax deductible. All of below
FELLOW $150
Acknowledgement in Resource Guide and Art Focus Oklahoma Copy of each OVAC exhibition catalog 2 tickets to Tulsa Art Studio Tour $100 of this membership is tax deductible. All of below
FAMILY $75
· Same benefits as Individual, for 2 people in household
INDIVIDUAL $45 · · · · ·
Subscription to Art Focus Oklahoma magazine Monthly e-newsletter of Oklahoma art events & artist opportunities Receive all OVAC mailings Listing in and copy of annual Resource Guide & Member Directory Invitation to Annual Members’ Meeting
Plus, artists receive: · Inclusion in online Artist Gallery, ovacgallery.com · Artist entry fees waived for OVAC exhibitions · Up to 50% discount on Artist Survival Kit workshops · Affiliate benefits with Fractured Atlas, Artist INC Online, Artwork Archive, and the National Alliance for Media Arts & Culture.
STUDENT $25
· Same benefits as Individual level. All Student members are automatically enrolled in Green Membership program (receive all benefits digitally).
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Plains Indians and Pioneers Museum 2009 Williams Ave (580) 256-6136 nwok-pipm.org
SWOSU Art Gallery 100 Campus Drive (580) 774-3756 s wosu.edu
PATRON $250
· · · · ·
Woodward
Weatherford
Collector Level + Community Supported Art (CSA) Program $1,000 ($85 a month option)
· · · · ·
The Gallery at Wilburton 108 W Main St (918) 465-9669
WaterWorks Art Center 1710 Charles Page Blvd (918) 596-2440 waterworksartcenter.com
Become a member of the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition. Join today to begin enjoying the benefits of membership, including a subscription to Art Focus Oklahoma.
· · · · ·
Wilburton
MEMBER FORM ¨ Collector Level + Community Supported Art Program ¨ Patron ¨ Fellow ¨ Family ¨ Individual ¨ Student ¨ Optional: Make my membership green! Email only. No printed materials will be mailed. Name Street Address City, State, Zip Email Website
Phone
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Exp. Date
Are you an artist? Y N Medium?________________________ Would you like to be included in the Membership Directory? Y N
Would you like us to share your information for other arts-related events?
Y
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Detach and mail form along with payment to: OVAC 730 W. Wilshire Blvd, Ste 104, Oklahoma City, OK 73116 Or join online at ovac-ok.org
Sam Gilliam (American, b. 1933). Khufu (detail), 1965. Acrylic on canvas. Oklahoma City Museum of Art. Museum purchase, Washington Gallery of Modern Art Collection, 1968.145. Photo: Joseph Mills
Art Focus
Ok l a h o m a
Jan 11:
Artist Forum
Jan 15:
Grants Application Deadline
Jan 24: Momentum Application Deadline Jan 27:
ASK Workshop: Artist Residencies
Feb 17:
ASK Workshop: Exhibition Ready
730 W. Wilshire Blvd, Suite 104 Oklahoma City, OK 73116 The Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition supports Oklahoma’s visual arts and artists and their power to enrich communities.
Non Profit Org. US POSTAGE PAID Oklahoma City, OK Permit No. 113
Visit ovac-ok.org to learn more.
March 1: 24 Works on Paper Application Opens March 9-10: Momentum
OPENING RECEPTION FEB 2 | 6 — 8 PM FEATURED ARTISTS: AUTUMN BROWN W/ VAN NGUYEN & ABBIE SEARS ADAM LANMAN W/ LEONDRE LATTIMORE, NOELLE MOON, COURTNEY SEGREST, JEANENE SMITH & MATTHEW WAKEHAM STEFFANIE HALLEY W/ KYLA BRUEGEL & EMILY SPALDING DAN HARRIS W/ REVA KASHIKAR & BJ STEPP MANDY MESSINA W/ SIDNEY BERNBAUM & SHAKURAH MAYNARD MARISSA RAGLIN W/ HEATH BUDIG & JASMINE JONES ROMY OWENS W/ REBECCA CURTIS, ALYSSA HOWERY, JAKE JONES & SARAH LANGE
HULSEY GALLERY | NORICK ART CENTER MONDAY — FRIDAY | 9 TO 5 PM | 1609 NW 26TH STREET, OKC 73106