Art Focus Oklahoma Winter 2020

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 5 N o . 1

| Winter 2020

JURIED BY DR. KIRSTEN OLDS December 6, 2019 - January 26, 2020

This project was supported in part by the Oklahoma Arts Council,

Divide (detail), by Beth Downing

which receives support from the State of Oklahoma and the National Endowment for the Arts

SARAH AHMAD COSMIC VEILS February 7 - March 22, 2020

October 4 - November Floating (detail), by Sarah Ahmad

Brady Craft Inc., dba 108|Contemporary, is a charitable organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. 108|Contemporary is an equal opportunity employer committed to principles of the broadest form of diversity. Design by Elisa Vandersloot, Third Floor Design, The University of Tulsa

www.108contemporary.org 108 East Reconciliation Way Tulsa, Oklahoma 74103 918.895.6302

Art Focus

Ok l a h o m a Vo l u m e 3 5 N o . 1

| Winter 2020

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Face Maze: Harold Stevenson’s The Great Society

by Olivia Dailey

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40 Over 40: Women Artists of Oklahoma

by Kristin Gentry

12 Emmersive Remix: Factory Obscura’s Mix-Tape COVER: Cherokee National History Museum tells the story through art and artifacts, page 17. Photo courtesy of VisitCherokeeNation.com.

by Carleigh Foutch

F e a t u re s 14 Concept Focus

by Mandy Messina

17 Cherokee National History Museum: Historic Tahlequah Icon

Transformed into World Class Museum

by Renee Fite

20 A Space to Heal, A Space to Share:

The Black Wall Street’s Healing Series

by Roxanne Beason

22 Performing Death, Celebrating Life

by Lauren Hutson Evita Tezeno, If I Thought for Just One Moment, collage, page 20.

24 EKPHRASIS: Art & Poetry edited by Liz Blood

27 OVAC News 28 Gallery Guide

Support from: Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition PHONE: 405.879.2400 1720 N Shartel Ave, Ste B, Oklahoma City, OK 73103.

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.

2018-2019 Board of Directors: President: John Marshall, OKC; Vice President: Douglas Sorocco, OKC; Treasurer: Dean Wyatt, Owasso; Secretary: Laura Massenat, OKC; Parliamentarian: Jake Yunker, OKC; Susie Marsh Agee, Pauls Valley; Marjorie Atwood, Tulsa; Bob Curtis, OKC; Gina Ellis, OKC; Jon Fisher, OKC; Barbara Gabel, OKC; Saiyida Gardezi, OKC; Susan Green, Tulsa; Drew Knox, OKC Kyle Larson, Alva; Travis Mason, OKC; Kirsten Olds, Tulsa; Diane Salamon, Tulsa; Chris Winland, OKC; Ricco Wright, Tulsa 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. © 2020, Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition. All rights reserved. View the online archive at ArtFocusOklahoma.org.

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Face Maze: Harold Stevenson’s The Great Society

By Olivia Dailey

Last year from October 4th through December 29th, Oklahoma-native Harold Stevenson’s collection of paintings, called The Great Society, was on display at the University of Oklahoma’s Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art in Norman.

The collection was a gift from the artist, an OU art school dropout himself, given to the museum in 2007. This exhibition is the first time the work has been seen together since Stevenson gifted the series. The exhibit follows Stevenson’s death by a year.

The Great Society is an extensive series of portraits of residents living in Idabel, Oklahoma, Stevenson’s hometown, and the surrounding McCurtain County. Stevenson began the project in 1966, after he returned home to Idabel from a successful, artful stint in Paris, France. Composed of 100 large portraits, Stevenson considered The Great Society a single work of art. The collection’s name was a nod to Lyndon B. Johnson’s “Great Society,” the president’s utopian dream, centered around equality and togetherness.

That noble vision inspired Stevenson to document his personal great society—the men and women who made up his life in Oklahoma.

The exhibition features 97 out of the 100 paintings. While the exhibition is impressive, the quantity of paintings isn’t obvious. Seeing the nearly 100 paintings all fit within a single space gives the same feeling of surprise one gets from seeing 100 M&Ms in a jar.

Suddenly a big, important sounding number seems reasonable and digestible. So, while the exhibition doesn’t feel like 97 paintings, seeing these massive portraits surrounding you, like a maze of faces, is completely enveloping.

The paintings are all extreme close-ups of the individuals’ face; many of the paintings cut off the person’s chin and/or forehead, making the framing uncomfortably close. The feeling of intimacy is intensified by the alive, betweenmoments on the faces, captured forever in the paintings: gazes looking off-frame, half-opened eyes, parted mouths, or general expressions of discontent and vulnerability. Hardly any of the paintings from the collection can be considered flattering, but all of the paintings are undeniably human and, therefore, warm.

The collection’s color palette, framing, and level of detail give each individual a vague-enoughto-be-familiar look. Maybe they look familiar because they’re Oklahoma residents, like many of us, unassuming folks who simply got their portraits painted only some fifty years ago. Some of the subjects probably have family members currently attending their host university. What if these large faces were the faces that made up your childhood town, as they were Stevenson’s?

During the first month of the exhibition, the museum hosted Dr. Samuel Watson, an art professor from the University of Wisconsin Green Bay, who presented a talk on Stevenson’s work as it related to his and his peer’s sexuality called Size Queen: Harold Stevenson and the Politics of Looking Lecture. It offered insight into Stevenson’s life as a gay artist in the 20th century. “He was a man who really loved what he painted,” with The Great Society being “a remarkable testament to love,” says Dr. Watson.

Stevenson grew up in Oklahoma but lived and worked all over the world in his lifetime (while always considering Idabel his true home).

However, his first move out of Oklahoma was to New York. Stevenson arrived in New York City to follow his dream of becoming a successful artist in 1949, the same year as Andy Warhol. The two became friends and contemporaries. They were able to fortify each other in owning their homosexuality at a time and place where it was stigmatized as well as criminalized. They remained close friends throughout their careers and lives.

Opposite page and above: Harold Stevenson (U.S., 1929-2018), The Great Society, 1966, Mixed media on paper, 50 ½” x 30”, Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, The University of Oklahoma, Norman, Gift of the artist, 2007.

Dr. Watson links Jackson Pollock’s use of scale as an influence on Stevenson’s “need to blow things up.” Turns out, the framing in The Great Society feels like one big wide shot (continued to page 6)

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(continued from page 5)

Opposite page and above: Harold Stevenson (U.S., 1929-2018), The Great Society, 1966, Mixed media on paper, 50 ½” x 30”, Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, The University of Oklahoma, Norman, Gift of the artist, 2007.

after seeing his earlier nudes (focusing only on areas smaller than the face, like hands or eyes) from the late fifties and on. Whether his art is zoomed in or simply oversized, like his most famous work, The New Adam (originally intended to be wrapped around all four walls of a gallery room), grand use of scale was a signature of Stevenson’s. Harold Stevenson is a world-famous artist and Oklahoma treasure with rich ties to the Pop Art evolution.

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More information about the exhibition may be found on the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art website at ou.edu/fjjma. n Dailey is a production coordinator and freelance writer in Norman, OK. She is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma.

40 OVER 40: Women Artists of Oklahoma

By Kristin Gentry

Michael Wilson, Sam, Bear, Jenna, mixed media

Important dialogs and discussions within the state of Oklahoma surround gender and age for all workforces. It is especially necessary to explore them in the fine arts workspaces. Visual artists identifying as women are showing in this exhibition with their art and voice to be seen and heard in ways that have not always been included in exhibitions for practiced self-identifying women. This shift is needed, relevant, and should illustrate how gender, femininity, and age are explored by the artists selected. The things they find to express are demonstrated through their visual art rather than always expressed by their person. Each artist selected will have one piece for sale on display at MAINSITE Contemporary Art in Norman in a variety of two-dimensional and three-dimensional fine art.

Featured artist, Jarica Walsh, said, “The idea for the show began as a discussion where older, women-identifying artists were expressing that they felt invisible, that they felt excluded from opportunities.

Having Ginna and Erinn [curators] see that need and create the exhibition is excellent. I am a champion for artists

creating opportunities for themselves if they feel institutions and organizations aren’t offering what they need. It’s great to see more and more galleries making it a priority to create opportunities for underrepresented populations.”

Her art in the exhibition, By A Thread, is a response to emptiness, to feeling a void.

The sculpture is bisque earthenware with thread. She describes it as “the bisque finish of the clay means that it still has a rawness to it, that it is vulnerable and exposed to the elements. There are a series of holes cut and punctured into the sculpture.

These voids represent the pain that life can present, the vast emptiness that loss can leave behind. This is how recovery is, in my experience. Wounds begin to heal in small ways. The color starts to return to life, little by little. Time passes and the pain eases, but the loss never goes away. The thread is holding us together. Sometimes we are holding on by a thread.” Walsh was born in Pawhuska and is a proud member of the Osage Nation. She lives and works in Oklahoma City, maintaining a studio in the Paseo Arts District.

Alex Emmons, another featured artist, described the importance for this exhibition by saying “There are interesting trends for women across the country that are often met with adversity for speaking their minds. It [40 Over 40] is women identified; inclusion---it’s warranted.

There is also a need for support for middle-aged artists.” Her piece selected for this exhibition, Sooner’s Pink Blanket, is a digital photograph displayed without glass so that the viewer can experience the velvety surface of the print. Emmons works with a range of photo media, from 19th century photographic methods to current digital image-making. Her projects are inspired by memories, intuition, and personal history which she incorporates to connect with her audience.

A recent paper on gender disparities for artists was published in 2019 and showed “that of the permanent collections of eighteen prominent art museums in the United States that out of over 10,000 artists, 87% are male, and 85% are white (Diversity of Artists in Major U.S. Museums, CM Topaz, et al., March 20, 2019, Public (continued to page 8)

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Library of Science). The Norman Arts Council states that this exhibition is created for women artists in Oklahoma over the age of forty to exemplify the “wealth of talent by experienced women artists across the State.” Many times, artists create their bodies of work as an extension and exploration of themselves and their identities. This exhibition will combat the gender disparities for women-identifying artists.

Mary Whitney’s jewelry piece selected for inclusion, She Couple, is about giving voice to women, encouraging women to stand tall, and to present their power with heads held high. Porcelain expresses the feminine quite rightly, in that it is both highly durable and soft to the touch. Each piece of the porcelain clay is fashioned and shaped into curves and spirals with individual identities. The knit elements bring forward traditions of women’s craft that sustained homes and families. She hopes her work generates an exchange of protection and confidence within circles of women. Mary Whitney is the studio administrator for RedHeat Ceramics, a local Tulsa ceramic studio and education facility.

Katy Nickell’s three-piece clay works will be shown for the exhibition. She uses hand-building, throwing and slip-casting for her body of work. For the flower covered series, she creates the base form from slabs or on the pottery wheel. She shapes each piece and applies each flower or petal individually by hand. A continuing theme in her work has been femininity and the use of flowers. Katy Nickell is currently working as a full-time artist and part-time private art teacher.

The opening reception for 40 Over 40: Women Artists of Oklahoma takes place from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday, February 14th at MAINSITE as a part of the 2nd Friday Norman Art Walk. The exhibit will run until Friday, March 13th with a closing reception held from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. that evening.

Top right: Jarica Walsh, By a Thread, ceramic and thread Top left: Mary Whitney, She Couple, clay and felt

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Artists in the Exhibition Natalie Baca Carol Beesley Tracey Bewley Julie Marks Blackstone Amanda Boehm-Garcia Elyse Bogart Deborah Burian Jydonne Bynum Jana Diedrich Ginna Dowling Alex Emmons Janene Evarde Carolyn Faseler Lauren Florence Erinn Gavaghan Almira Hill Grammer Susan Greer Polly Hammett Mary James Ketch Angie LaPaglia Darci Lenker Katherine Liontas-Warren Vicki Maenza Cedar Marie Beatriz Mayorca Erin Merryweather Susan Morrison-Dyke Katy Nickell Kate Rivers Claudia Robertson Liz Roth Barbara Scott Angelika Tietz Kristal Tomshany Audra Urquhart Debra Van Swearingen Jarica Walsh Mary Whitney Shevaun Williams Michael Wilson

Top: Katy Nickell, Porcelain Flourish #1, clay Middle: Alex Emmons, Sooner’s Pink Blanket, digital photography Bottom: Lauren Florence, A Day at the Races, collage

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Kristin Gentry is an artist, writer, and curator working in the areas of painting, printmaking, jewelry, and photography. She is a citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, and lives in Owasso, Oklahoma with her family. kristingentry.com.

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The Love tunnel, Photo: Todd Clark

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IMMERSIVE REMIX: Factory Obscura’s Mix-Tape

By Carleigh Foutch

Audiences eagerly awaiting the Mix-Tape experience, Photo: Todd Clark

Automobile Alley has always been a place for the eclectic, and Factory Obscura’s Mix-Tape immersive art installation is no exception. Located at 25 NW 9th St (a.k.a. the former home of The Womb, the arts center founded by Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne), Mix-Tape is a warehouse of wonders that transports audiences to another world entirely.

Kelsey Karper, co-founder of Factory Obscura, said the idea for Mix-Tape came about in 2017 as a way to honor Factory Obscura’s roots and create a space that would allow Oklahoma Citians to interact with local art while also feeling like they’d entered a playground of sorts.

“As artists, we’ve all been inspired by music,” Karper said. “It’s hard not to be.

We started with the idea that music can communicate things about who we are or how we feel. The universal response to music is that it makes us feel things, no matter who you are, and that is powerful.”

founders wanted to make sure that every kind of art imaginable was represented.

Everything from carpentry, sculptures, visual and textile art, video games, and even trash has been used and transformed to tell a new kind of story that’s meant for connection.

An initial conversation about what songs the Mix-Tape team would put on their own mixtape brought about the discovery that music can be essentially categorized into six different emotions: joy, angst, love, melancholy, hope, and wonder.

These emotions became the impetus of the exhibit, with each of Mix-Tape’s rooms embodying a feeling that exhibit goers are able to interact with in unique ways. The

You enter through an ear straight into Joy, which is a blue and green wonderland bursting with light and sound. Mix-Tape is all about immersion, so everything’s meant to be touched, which Karper said was purposeful. It was important to the five founders of the project that Mix-Tape be something that destroyed the prerequisites that many believe art requires (i.e. that it can’t be touched, only admired, or that (continued to page 12)

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it’s only something that a certain social class is able to enjoy, etc.) and instead be something that’s accessible to everyone of all ages and abilities. “[Accessibility] has been a big emphasis for us,” Karper said. “The immersive, experiential art world is really booming right now, many varying in quality and approaches, but we’ve seen very little emphasis on making sure that those experiences are accessible to everyone.

It can be hard to make something that’s meant to be climbed on, or get into, or touch, accessible for someone who may be in a wheelchair, or who has vision or hearing loss, or someone with autism. So, the question really became ‘How are all these different people going to experience [Mix-Tape] and how can we make it a good experience for everyone?’”

The Mix-Tape team works with a group of local consultants called Crossing the Chasm, who work with cultural institutions to help improve public experiences for those with disabilities. (For example, their recent work with Martin Nature Park resulted in wider walking trails, newly paved walkways and larger fonts on trail signs in order to make the park more accessible.)

Mix-Tape’s work with Crossing the Chasm has caused the team to rethink how everyone who enters the installation has an equitable experience rather than an equal one. This means that for those who are wheelchair-bound, there are pieces of art that can be interacted with at certain heights or those with autism can forego an overly stimulating room by choosing something that’s more calming. The list goes on.

“It’s something that’s very important to us personally, but I also think it really sets us apart from some of the other immersive experiences around the world,” said Karper.

From there, it’s a choose-your-ownadventure situation into the other emotions. You can travel through Angst (where everything is just a bit disproportionate and jutting out at all

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Top: Exhibit goers taking in Joy, the first room of Mix-Tape, Photo: Justice Smithers Bottom: Mix-Tape is an immersive experience before you even walk inside! Photo: Josh Vaughn

Presents Art 365 Exhibition

angles) into Melancholy’s blue room, or through the lovestruck tunnel that explores the light and airy, nostalgic and dark, passionate forms of Love.

There are plenty of nooks and crannies to explore, as well as transitional rooms with surprises that won’t be given away in this article because they should absolutely be enjoyed in person.

Whichever way you choose to go, you’ll end up in Hope and Wonder, where you can climb cactuses as tall as skyscrapers and even interact with exhibit goers in the Meow Wolf collaboration, which is another immersive art exhibit in Santa Fe, NM, and, perhaps, one of the coolest things about MixTape. (Again, no spoilers here!)

While Mix-Tape may be something that’s new to Oklahoma City, immersive art exhibits are taking the nation by storm. Meow Wolf is one of the more well-known art collectives, with locations in Santa Fe, Las Vegas (coming 2020), and Denver (coming 2021). Factory Obscura founders met with Meow Wolf as the idea for Mix-Tape was taking shape. The group has seen incredible success and was a huge help in bringing the exhibit to fruition.

Mix-Tape opened to the public on September 21, 2019, and saw 20,000 visitors in its first three months; some were even waiting outside for hours just to get a ticket! This was an exciting revelation for the Factory Obscura team, who saw that OKC was hungry for experiential art. The installation has continued to thrive since its opening and will continue to bring new and exciting opportunities to the city in the new year, so simply flip the tape to the other side in your stereo, ‘cause there’s more to hear.

To stay updated on the latest from Factory Obscura, follow them on Facebook (Factory Obscura), Instagram or Twitter (@factoryobscura).

Tickets for Mix-Tape can be purchased online at factoryobscura.com/mixtape or at the door. n Carleigh Foutch is a writer and activist living in Oklahoma City. She received her BA in Journalism from the University of Oklahoma and continues to write stories of all kinds in her spare time (although her favorite thing to write is fiction), and she works as a full-time copywriter in Edmond. To learn more about Carleigh and her work, visit carleighfoutch. weebly.com.

CALL FOR ARTISTS

DEADLINE: MARCH 1, 2019 1 CURATOR / 5 PROJECTS / 365 DAYS The five awarded artists each receive a $12,000 honorarium. Once selected, the artists work with the curator over one year to create a body of original artwork for the exhibition, meeting with the curator multiple times throughout the exhibition preparation.

Through studio visits and regular communications, the artists and curator discuss direction, examine progress and finalize the concept and presentation.

Visual artists working in all media are eligible to submit, including traditional studio art media as well as film and new media.

ELIGIBILITY: / visual artists working in all media / must be a current OVAC member / must be 21 years or older / must have resided in OK for the last year and through the duration of the program / collaborative proposals welcomed / past Art 365 artists are not eligible to apply

FOR MORE INFO: ART365.ORG

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Out of Context/In Focus

By Mandy Messina

Sarah Ahmad, Fractured Cosmos II (detail), ink, 36” x 58”

Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition (OVAC) organizes the program, Concept, with a regional partner every three years.

They appoint a curator, who juries the applications from artists in Oklahoma and the regional partner city (Wichita, Kansas, this year). The curator selects four artists from each state, to highlight together in the Concept: Focussection of the exhibition. Concept: Survey is the survey component of the exhibition that is only open to Oklahoma artists and gives a general indication of the types of artwork being made in the state. The exhibition has two iterations—one in Oklahoma with both the Focus and Survey components of the show (ahha, Tulsa, OK, Feb 7, 2020) and one in the regional partner location with the Focus artists (Harvester Arts, Wichita KS, May 1, 2020).

Despite the physical paintings, photographic prints, and 3D elements

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Geoffrey Hicks, Tall Grasses, temporary public art installation

in installations, the Focus artists selected have a fair amount of time-based media among them. What I find novel, is that it’s not always used as the final media for the work. Some artists use it as a natural extension of photographic documentation.

Wichita-based artist, Kevin Kelly, utilizes a unique process to create his “paint skin” layered paintings. If you follow him on Instagram, you can watch his videos (major ASMR vibes) where you can see his colorful compositions are in fact collages made from dissected “paint skins.” He first paints outlines onto a plastic board, adds layers of paint over those initial outlines, adheres a layer of gauze as reinforcement, lets it all dry and then satisfyingly peels off the unified layers. Which means, in order to retain any images on the surface of the “paint skins”, the process is the opposite of painting, and more like printmaking—it’s painting backwards.

With artists like Oklahoma’s Geoffrey Hicks, documentation is necessary for posterity. In the event of an ephemeral experience such as Trace (a collaboration with artist Grace Grothaus) where interactive LED bricks where installed on a pedestrian bridge, to the interactive delight of night-time pedestrians, documentation is key. Hicks is a photographer who writes programs for interactive light installations. In Hicks’ Focus project Mirrors, a series of wallmounted flat panel monitors, each with a small video camera, will project viewers on many screens at once, but at different moments over the previous few minutes. The interactive installation speaks to both the ever-present surveillance and simultaneous obsession with selfies in our society.

Amanda Pfister (Wichita, KS) is a photographer who has extended the scope of her lens to moving images. In the video Untie, Unfasten, Undo (2011) she and collaborator

Manda Remmen utilize slip-dresses as the main instrument of their narrative.

In She… (2014) the slippery undergarment is presented as an empty vessel, molded to the shape of a human, against equally empty sunset landscapes. For her project What We Leave Behind, she steps back to photography and looks at how though we take more photographs than ever, they are all kept as only digital files. What would we leave behind if our technology were to fail or become obsolete without saving the files in a way that could be preserved? To bring these digital images back to the physical, she creates memory books created from events in both Wichita and Tulsa communities.

Fellow Wichita artist, Micala Gingrich Gaylord’s textile wrappings do however contain physical object. In her project, Heavy Soft Arts a Warm Collective Body, delicate lace, thin linens, boiled felt, and twine cover bricks. The heavy weight of the bricks are a metaphor for the emotional weight we carry with us, where the soft textiles mend, shield, and comfort these weights. While some of the bricks are the weights she carries, others are donated from people in the community, sharing their own stories of loss, grief, illness, and trauma. By collecting and wrapping the bricks, She provides a platform for collective healing.

Can the content of a brain (neural networks) be a doppelganger for the cosmic web? Tulsa Artist Fellow, Sarah Ahmed expands on this eerie similarity with Cosmic Identity. The series began as ink drawings but have now been translated through the laser cutting process, as delicate paper cuttings that drift across the boundaries of the installation.

Dendrite-like clusters merge and flow out of the structured geometric patterns used in Islamic architecture in South Asia. The project is an inquiry into a universal identity and ways of reconnecting with our core human identity that transcends borders.

Top: Rachel Foster, The Shed, oil on canvas, 4’ x 5’.

Bottom: Naima Lowe, Glaciers (1), digital photograph, 13” x 23”

Geometric patterns provides a familiar landmark in the oil portraits Rachel Foster (Wichita, KS) paints. They emerge from wallpaper, and furniture in these time slices (continued to page 16)

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Kevin Kelly, ESSOBEE, acrylic on acrylic paint skin on canvas, 48” X 36”

of Middle American family life. The subjects are the artists’ family members in intimate, domestic spaces. The consistency of subjects and setting, means she’s also capturing their subtle changes through time—how her children are growing, as she and her partner age. The children are represented as either multiples of themselves (creating energetic movement in the domestic scenes) or simply looking eerily similar (even for siblings). Recognizing the same wallpaper pattern, or the same bunk bed view, evokes a familiar voyeurism of participating in others’ social media and seeing new iterations of recognizable parts of their lives (the same places in their house, the same people in their lives). Repetition of these

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Andy Mattern, Average Subject Medium Distance #4200 (Correct), 25.75” x 17.75”, pigment ink print

patterns makes it familiar, and that process becomes oddly satisfying as one views all the portraits together.

As a way of contextualizing her name, Tulsa Artist Fellow, Naima Lowe utilizes portraiture in the video, Do I Know This Tune Because You Told It To Me, Or Do I Know It Because You’re My Father? (2019).

Pink flowers at the bottom of a glass vessel, are slowly covered by water pouring in. The spoken word narration is captioned in text that appears alongside the moving image.

The viewer can visually follow along with her words as they appear on screen. In her installation Ropes, Pinks (2019) she removes the context we ascribe to the title

nouns. By hybridizing the conflicting connotations of ropes (implied violence), and pink (feminine, nurturing). The “body” consists of 200 feet of dyed cotton and hemp ropes, and are governed by a set of installation rules that nonetheless, still allow for a variety of visual iterations. For her Focus project, Strange Old Black Men I Have Known and Loved, Lowe uses writing, drawing, and video about “loving and being loved by black men whose queerness, vulnerability and capacity for nurturance can offer insight into how to self determine one’s identity in the face of perniciously narrow expectations of race and gender.” The project includes ekphrastic, autobiographical poems on the music of

Sun Ra and John Coltrane transformed into large scale text drawings, abstract mixed media works on paper, and a series of video interviews of queer black folk from Tulsa of various genders discussing men/masculine figures in their lives that have influenced them.

Stillwater based artist Andy Mattern physically removes the associated context of commercial photo-paper boxes. He censors all visual language by taping over text, or ripping off imagery (Standard Size, 2014). He then photographs the edited packaging. Similarly in Average Subject/ Medium Distance (2018-19), he abstracts arcane paper guides previously used to determine exposure times. He does through again, removing the example imagery that would otherwise have provided context. The result is a series of bright, pops of color in pleasing but nonsensical geometric arrangements. Scant text left behind such as “flower” and “desire” further disorient the viewer from any safe assumption as to the original context of the guides. In rethinking contemporary photography for his Focus project, he built a 20 x 24 inch giant camera to create one-of-a-kind black and white prints where subjects have to remain still for 10 second. By photographing in this large format, he shifts the familiar into the iconic, with a sense of uncommon drama infused in the everyday.

While seemingly out of context when brought together, the projects have subtle themes of identity, memory, and technology throughout each of them bringing each concept into focus. These projects, as well as the Survey artworks will come together Feb. 7 at ahha in Tulsa, OK, and then the Focus projects travel to Wichita, KS for the May 1 opening at Harvester Arts. n Mandy Messina is a non-binary, South African artist, writer and educator living in Oklahoma City. Their art practice can be further explored at mandymessina.com.

Top: Micala Gingrich Gaylord, Grandmother’s Split, 2019, brick, gold leaf, linen thread, cotton, 7” x 6“.

Middle: Amanda Pfister, Absence of You/Existence of Me, archival inkjet print, 36” x 48”

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Cherokee National History Museum: Historic Tahlequah Icon Transformed into World Class Museum

By Renee Fite

Recently opened Cherokee National History Museum tells the story through art and artifacts, Photo courtesy of VisitCherokeeNation.com.

History is not always pretty, but it is beautiful at the Cherokee National History Museum in Tahlequah. The crown jewel of the tribe’s museums, it is a world class collection of cultural art and artifacts displayed to create a visual story of the tribe, in one of the oldest buildings in the state, the Cherokee National Capitol, built in 1869.

In August 2019, the museum opened its doors to the public. The 101 S. Muskogee Avenue address is in the heart of the cultural downtown district, where two more Cherokee museums are nestled among eclectic architecture, Seminary Hall on the Northeastern State University campus and Victorian Thompson House weave strands of the ambiance of history still visible and viable.

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“As one of the tribe’s most iconic structures, preservation has been a priority,” said Krystan Moser, Cultural Collections and Exhibits Manager. “It has served an important role throughout our history, making it the perfect place for us to share that history with the world. It is designed in a way that provides an immersive timeline from pre-European contact through the Trail of Tears and the revitalization of the tribe after the American Civil War. The exhibits do more than just provide a history lesson; they showcase the perseverance and tenacity that have defined our people for generations and led to the evolution of the Cherokee Nation as the largest federally recognized tribe in the United States.”

Four thousand square feet of permanent exhibit space and 1,000 square feet of rotating gallery space include items on loan from the Smithsonian Institute, Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, Heard Museum in Arizona, and Oklahoma Historical Society. “These institutions are the repositories for artifacts and archives that directly relate to our history,” Moser said. “Working together, we are able to bring those items back to the Cherokee Nation where we can use them to tell our story in our own words. These partners each have a vested interest in the preservation of our collective history, but there is nothing more empowering than us sharing our story with our own narrative. We value our longstanding partnerships with each organization and

appreciate their dedication and commitment to the preservation and promotion of Cherokee culture.”

Attention to detail is evident in every view.

The visual elements are enhanced by audio of a Cherokee elder sharing the origins story in both Cherokee and English. The Trail of Tears exhibit is a powerful combination of history, art and design with everything from the color of the walls, placement of quotes, lighting and audio elements carefully selected to evoke an emotional response. The narrow passageway features walls that slant in and drive guests forward through the exhibit to signify the oppressive forced removal experienced on the Trail of Tears. More context surrounding the events that led to removal and personal accounts from eye witnesses as the tragedy unfolded are provided to personalize the story and reach guests on a deeper level.

“Some say to truly know someone you have to know where they came from.” Moser said.

“Our origins story does just that, and it is one of the displays I am most in awe of. The exhibit showcases one of our origin stories through a collaborative installation that makes great use of space often overlooked within museums. The story unfolds through our stairwell and landing to provide an immersive experience that is both powerful and poetic.”

A team of five artists worked together to create a vision for the project, three Cherokee National Treasures, Bill Glass Jr., Dan Mink, and Demos Glass, along with Marybeth Timothy and David Chaudoin. “Overall the museum is really a place that every Cherokee and every Oklahoman needs to see,” said Glass, team lead. “It’s our story from beginning to now and the cultural tourism team did an amazing job putting everything together.

I’m honored that we were chosen to be the first team of artists to create an installation for a Cherokee Nation public facility.”

“We had a huge advantage because we were brought in at the ground level and given the opportunity to shape the concept and design for the origins exhibit,” he said. The exhibit took approximately seven months to complete and presented challenges such as very tall ceilings, a tight enclosure, stairs, and lighting. “The artwork needed

Photos courtesy of VisitCherokeeNation.com.

(continued to page 20)

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(continued from page 19)

to be something that would get people’s attention and pull them in and share the story in a way that could be easily understood without any additional context or audio elements.” As artists, “we are always working to preserve our history and culture and this project allowed us to do so on a large scale. Marybeth’s painting of Turtle Island helped define the theme and Dan’s wall wraps created flow and movement up the stairs with 12 canoes featured at the beginning of the story and the seven remaining.

My son, Demos, was responsible for the hanging walnut canoes over the stairwell landing. This helped us interpret the storm our ancestors encountered and signify where five canoes were lost. The seven canoes that remained are what lead to our seven clans. Together we achieved a beautiful and powerful interpretation.”

Technology enhances the experience. In the changing gallery downstairs, the inaugural exhibit features Cecil Dick, considered the father of traditional Cherokee art.

“IPads and augmented reality can expand content and create a fun and engaging environment for people to learn what makes Cherokee culture so unique,” Moser said. On the second floor, guests will find a small replica of a council house, “we obviously didn’t have the space to showcase the council house in full scale but by using the iPads they can experience a 360-degree view as though standing within the council house located at the Cherokee Heritage Center.” And, which is up the road from Hunter’s Home, the states only antebellum mansion.

Dr’s Tom and Terri Baker, of Tahlequah, were visiting the museum. Terri said, “This building has had so many iterations over the years. I’m impressed with the workmanship in all the interior to all the displays and the thought that went into the process. I like the chronological format of the origin story and how you travel through time. This is really splendid, it’s up there with all the other museums I’ve seen around the world.”

“Incredible and beautiful,” she continued, “This exhibit talks of Cherokees as living people with lots of artifacts from everyday lives. The museum did a really good job interpreting; it has a good balance of pictures and stories of real activities of the community like stick ball. This Anna Mitchell display is terrific. Here’s Jane Osti’s cooking pot.” She told me these designs on the side are so they won’t slip out of your hands. A white suit Chief Wilma Mankiller wore when she met with President Ronald Regan and pearl jewelry display inspired fond memories. “Wilma had some clay beads she wore very often that looked like this; she wore mussel shell Mankiller pearl beads Knokovtee Scott made. This reminds me of her.” n

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Photo courtesy of VisitCherokeeNation.com.

A Space to Heal, A Space to Share: The Black Wall Street’s Healing Series

By Roxanne Beason

It is an enormous task to confront the aftermath of historical trauma. The Tulsa Race Riots of May 31 - June 1, 1921 marked the end of an era—the destruction of the prosperous black business community on Greenwood that was known then as “The Black Wall Street.” A 19-year-old black shoeshine named Dick Rowland was accused of assaulting a 17-year-old Sarah Page, an elevator operator at the Drexel Building in Tulsa. As tensions rose over talks of lynching Rowland, a small shootout at the courthouse erupted a massive attack and the destruction of the black community of Tulsa. Around 300 people were massacred, and 10,000 African Americans were left homeless as their homes and businesses were burned away. Only in recent years within a more aware political climate has Tulsa been called into acknowledging this horrendous moment in history. Using The Black Wall Street as the title of his art gallery, Ricco Wright takes the trauma of the past and the dystopia of the present to create a space where open lines of communications are created for the Tulsa community to engage in racial discourse about the past, present, and the future.

In the upcoming series of exhibitions entitled, Healing Series, Wright envisions art as a bridge for all Tulsa citizens to come together and have open discussions about racial understanding.

“Healing Series is part of a four-fold socio-racial philosophy that is the precursor to what the city of Tulsa has decided to label as reconciliation,” he states. Furthermore, Wright emphasizes how the community of Tulsa cannot truly reach reconciliation without the fundamental basis of conciliation—that no one can re-establish a racial connection that had never existed in the first place. The Healing Series, or the act of healing itself, is one of four psychological elements meant to guide the city to a place conciliation. The four complete components of the Conciliation Series—Conciliation, Healing, Unity, and Love, each will be its own featured series leading up to the day that marks the centennial year since the Tulsa Race Riots in May of 2021.

The Healing Series will rotate artists monthly over nine consecutive months beginning January 3, 2020. The exhibition features monthly solo artists as well as group shows that will highlight black artists from near and far. Each artists’ participation will pose intriguing narratives intended to explore the personal perspectives of black minority artists. Wright’s focus is to affirm Conciliation, Healing, Unity, and Love—as a way for art to inspire the community to repair and make amends. In keeping with the healing and reaching conciliation, The Black Wall Street aims to reach that point through sharing and discussing issues that affect everyone.

In disagreement with Greenwood Chamber of Commerce, the presiding property owners of the gallery’s previous location at the Northeast corner of Greenwood and Archer, Wright’s defeat in small claims court over increased rent rates nearly closed the gallery’s doors for good. However, despite the bad news, the Black Wall Street Gallery has received an overwhelming amount of support and has moved to its new location next door to Lefty’s on

(L-R) Evita Tezeno, Sun Flower Girl, collage. Evita Tezeno, Bus Stop Chat, collage.

Greenwood. The new location will be a much larger space with high ceilings that completely expands the possibilities and variability of The Black Wall Street Gallery’s potential. Wright wishes to keep the arts in the Greenwood district.

Every month the gallery will rotate exhibitions by individual black artists that create works that will resonate with the Tulsa community; the series will also have a few months of group shows dedicated to grievances felt with recent events. To start the Healing Series off in January 2020, Texan multimedia artist, Evita Tezeno, show her whimsical collage portrait work. Tezeno’s show entitled, When Memories Visit My Doorway, will kick off the grand opening of Black Wall Street’s new location at 6 pm on January 3, 2020.

In Wright’s words, “Conciliation means that healing, unity, and love will lead to oneness.” Through each thematic series, the mission is to create oneness between people from different racial and cultural backgrounds and perspectives that exist in the diverse community that is the city of Tulsa. The future for the Black Wall Street Gallery looks bright, as shared love and support match Wright’s ambitions to keep the local arts community a reflection of all diverse cultures that make Tulsa the city we know and love. n Roxanne Beason is an art history graduate student at Oklahoma State University. Her studies are focused on contemporary art, the art of the American West, and indigenous art. You can reach her at roxanne. beason@gmail.com.

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Performing Death, Celebrating Life

By Lauren Hutson

Jessica Harvey, St. Maria Goretti, archival pigment print

How do we create meaning from our history?

How can we tackle tragedy with humor?

How can we untangle the fantastical myths from the facts? In MARIA, a Half Bath installation, Tulsa Artist Fellow Jessica Harvey explores “the absurdity of legacy and the performance of the afterlife for the living” through the story of Saint Maria Goretti.

Half Bath is a curatorial project stationed in a small bathroom in a Tulsa, Oklahoma house, supported and run by Liz Blood and Will Eagleton. It offers an intimate and unique space for local artists to highlight their latest work. The current installation, MARIA, is open now through January 25, 2020.

Jessica Harvey’s work investigates and reevaluates people, places, and their histories, both factual and fabricated.

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When Maria Goretti, one of the youngest canonized saints in the Catholic Church, was toured through the United States, Harvey embarked on a month-long road trip to witness the spectacle firsthand. In the zine accompanying MARIA, Wax Tomb/ Lilies in Flame, Harvey chronicles the rockstar-like tour of Saint Maria with zesty humor and introspection. The ensuing stories were intriguing and enlightening, especially that of Saint Maria herself. In the early 1900s, after an attempted sexual assault, the tween was fatally stabbed fourteen times. The supposed sanctity with which Goretti handled her tragic end informed her future patron saint status. While on the tour, Harvey learned of Maria’s enduring legacy and impact.

Attendants sang to the saint’s memory and shared lore surrounding her–like the time she supposedly appeared to her murderer in prison, presenting him with a bouquet of lilies, one flower for each time he had stabbed her. On the tour stops, Saint Maria themed merchandise booths were erected and one location went as far as to celebrate the anniversary of her birth with the presentation of a cake and other festivities.

The entanglement of kitsch and sentiment was amplified by Harvey’s inclusion of personal tales relating to the ideas of relic and celebration. Her mother shared with her a small box containing her long-forgotten baby teeth that had been collected over the years; a mother’s relic of her beloved child.

Harvey mixed these personal curiosities

with the spiritual histories she had learned on the road to create the graceful, intimate installation MARIA. The installation itself is enclosed in a small bathroom, adjacent to a kitchen.

A keen eye can spot a dainty baby tooth adhered to the exterior of the bathroom door. Behind the door is a black curtain, dividing the outside world and the bijou Half Bath installation. Gentle light, mild fog, and ambient music greet the senses as one enters the quaint bathroom. The cabinet acts as a frame for elegant lilies and a wax partial form of a face. Leaving the full bodily form omitted creates an air of holy mystery around the segments we are allowed to see, much like a fragmented but blessed relic. The soft smoke in the cabinet gives the overhead light an angelic, peaceful quality as it showers on the face and flowers.

On the opposite wall of the small bathroom, an archival print of Saint Maria’s tomb is framed and illuminated by gentle lights.

The combination of photography, sculpture, light, and sound work to highlight Maria Goretti’s story while creating conversation around the spectacle and performance of death and remembrance.

Humans have a myriad of rituals tied to death and the afterlife; some are intimate while others are performative. Through MARIA, Jessica Harvey untangles the history of a beloved virgin-martyr while exploring the importance our culture places on dying and its ensuing ties to ritual and celebration. It can be difficult to separate the sincerity from the spectacle, but through MARIA, Harvey is able to blend the two with delicacy, creating a beautiful and enthralling conversation from our conflicted histories. n

The University of Tulsa’s School of Art, Design and Art History is an intimate school where students are encouraged to thrive as an individual with their own goals, talents and vision.

TU fine arts senior, Emily Hammond describes the act of creating art in one word—brave. “Practicing art is a daily battle that forces the artist to examine themselves and the world around them. Because of this, I think practicing art is the most existentially gratifying thing one can do.”

At TU, Hammond is grounded in traditional art-making practices while exploring the innovative and interdisciplinary artistic techniques that make viewing her work compelling. She uses her art to delve into the heart of humanity. “It’s important to study art because it encourages an appreciation of and sensitivity to the human condition,” Hammond added.

The faculty in the art program have cultivated Hammond’s passion and talent and even challenged her outside of the classroom. “I’ve had lots of opportunities to travel nationally and internationally with my classmates to study art firsthand,” she added. Hammond hopes to return the favor by developing the next generation of artists. “I’d like to work as an art handler, curator and perhaps even teach later on in life.”

Lauren Hutson is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the University of Tulsa and is a summertime instructor at WaterWorks Art Center in Tulsa.

Please Follow us on Facebook. www.facebook.com/utulsaschoolofart/

For more information, visit www.cas.utulsa/edu/art/ or call 918.631.2739 • TU is an EEO/AA institution

f e a t u re 23

EKPHRASIS: Art & Poetry Edited by Liz Blood

Ekphrasis is an ongoing series joining verse and visual art. Here, poet Iliana Rocha responds to Alexis Austin’s abstract work.

Cities & Desire

after Calvino after Alexis Austin, “By the Time”

Policemen redirect traffic in the name of God in this city, a city which has taken more care crafting violence than history, traffic cones bright in their incremental warnings, & if you run your hands across the post office’s walls, you will feel the texture of the city’s past in the certainty of bullets. There are four guns for every person in this city, but the least amount of desire per capita, & when the Ferris wheel spoke, its phantoms were let loose like pink light, shifted the calibration between want versus need. My own body is like that particular intersection where the streetlamps are out & have been for years, those abandoned buildings no one wanted until they wanted them, & isn’t that desire? The city keeps itself to itself. Sells wine in grocery stores now, calls it progress. What to do with this rage spinning at a pace slow enough so as not to draw attention, but that over time will require emergency funds the state government has refused. All the ways the bomb has dropped, all the ways the city closes itself in the name of opening. What was that old joke about the city—something about being twenty minutes away from each misery?

Iliana Rocha’s second book, The Many Deaths of Inocencio Rodriguez, won the Berkshire Prize for a First or Second Book of Poetry and is forthcoming from Tupelo Press. Karankawa, her debut, was the recipient of the AWP Donald Hall Prize for Poetry. She teaches creative writing at the University of Central Oklahoma and lives with her chihuahuas Nilla, Beans, and Migo.

24

ekphrasis

Alexis Austin is from Oklahoma City.

She studied studio art at Oklahoma City University and fashion design at Columbia College in Chicago.

Textiles play an important role in her work and the fabric used frequently determines the techniques employed and the content, which is often dark or sardonic. In addition to painting, she is a photographer and a personal chef.

Alexis Austin, By the Time I Got To the Cliff so Had the Sun, 2017, bleach and acrylic on cotton muslin, 36” x 45”

e k p h r a s i s 25

LEARN IN A NEW LIGHT

Ignite your creativity and hone your skills at our new Studio School.

26 e k p h r a s i s

STUDIO SCHOOL REGISTRATION OPENS FEB. 24

oklahomacontemporary.org/studioschool Classes | Workshops | Artist demonstrations NW 11th and Broadway, Oklahoma City

OVAC NEWS

WINTER 2020

In October 2019, the OVAC Board of Directors adopted a new three-year strategic plan. To summarize, the plan divides the state into six regions and sets goals for those regions in areas of outreach, programming, marketing, fundraising, and board leadership. While we have always been statewide, the new plan ensures we are serving all corners of the state to a fuller extent. I would encourage you to visit our website to view the full plan under the Who We Are tab.

Last month we opened the call for Art 365.

This program provides $12,000 to fund five new projects with support from our guest curator. The artists have 12 months to create their work, which culminates in an exhibition in Oklahoma City that travels to Tulsa. For more information and to apply, visit art365.org.

Krystle Brewer, Executive Director

Next month, our exhibition, Concept, opens at ahha Tulsa on February 7th during the Tulsa Arts District’s First Friday Art Walk. The First Friday in March, we will hold the catalogue release party, which will feature a talk by our guest curator, Heather

Pesanti, from the Contemporary Austin.

Following, the Focus component of the show will move to our partner city of Wichita and open at Harvest Arts on May 5th.

The call for our next iteration of 24 Works on Paper also opens next month on February 1st and closes on May 1st.

Our guest curator, heather ahtone, from First Americans Museum, will select 24 works of art to travel the state for the next 18 months. For more information and to apply, visit 24worksonpaper.org.

For more OVAC news and calls for entry, visit our website at ovac-ok.org and follow us on social media on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!

Sincerely,

Krystle Brewer Executive Director

Thank you to our new and renewing members from August through October 2019 Royce Myers Gallery and Showroom Ponca City Library Mariah Addis Nicole Adkisson Lynn Anderson Narciso Arguelles Lynette Atchley Alan Atkinson Evan Beasley Ryan Bowman Brent Brander Jack Bryant Martha Burger Gayle Canada Karin Cermak Caroline Cohenour

Jason Cytacki Titian Dahlvang Erin Daugherty April Dawes Sarah Day-Short Isolete De Almeida Becky Deed Shenandoah Del Rio Griselda Delgado Kika Dressler Alana Embry Janene Evard Cynthia Fletcher Lauren Florence Joan Frimberger Joey Frisillo Penni Gage

Matt Goad Taylor Graham Susan Green Linda Guenther John Hayes Shauna Henry Medeia Herndon Steve Hicks Cybele Yanez Hsu Audrey Huffman Pamela Husky Lucinda Jones Michelle Junkin Lauren Kerr Kristi Kohl Carol Koss Alyona Kostina

Judy Laine Brian Leffler Susan Linde Jean Longo Chelsea Marr Nathan McCullough Lisa McIlroy Suzanne Wallace Mears Faye Miller Madison Moody Jane Morgan Kristen Olds Ann Barker Ong Dustin Oswald George Oswalt Kim Pagonis

Addie Roanhorse Bianca Roland Diane Salamon L.A. Scott Gail Sloop William Struby Cheri Tatum Cathryn Thomas Verdean Thompson Patricia Triplett Sandy Wallace BJ White

o v a c n e w s 27 27

Gallery Listings & Exhibition Schedule Ada

Claremore

The Pogue Gallery East Central University 900 Centennial Plaza (580) 559-5353 ecok.edu

Foundations Gallery Rogers State University 1701 W Will Rogers Blvd (918) 343-7740 rsu.edu

Altus

Davis

Nov 1, 2019 – Feb 1, 2020 Changing of the Season Wigwam Gallery 117 W Commerce St (580) 481-3150

Chickasaw Nation Welcome Center 35 N Colbert Rd (580) 369-4222 chickasawcountry.com/explore/ view/Chickasaw-nationwelcome-center

Alva Jan 2020 Post-Modern Eclectic Feb 2020 Fabrics of the Heartland Mar 2020 Pathways and Passages Graceful Art Center 523 Barnes St (580) 327-ARTS gracefulartscenter.org

Ardmore

Jan 7 – Feb 20, 2020 Arkansas Territory Juried Show Mar 5 – 28 Annual All Schools Exhibit The Goddard Center 401 First Avenue SW (580) 226-0909 goddardcenter.org

Bartlesville Nov 8, 2019 – Jan 5, 2020 Witness to Faith Price Tower Arts Center 510 Dewey Ave (918) 336-4949 pricetower.org

Broken Bow Forest Heritage Center Beaver’s Bend Resort (580) 494-6497 beaversbend.com

Chickasha Nesbitt Gallery University of Science and Arts Oklahoma 1806 17th St (405) 574-1344 usao.edu/gallery/schedule

28 g a l l e r y g u i d e

Duncan Oct 1, 2019 – Jan 6, 2020 Designed by Nature: Sarah Rodefeld Chisholm Trail Heritage Center 1000 Chisholm Trail Pkwy (580) 252-6692 onthechisholmtrail.com

Durant Centre Gallery Southeastern Oklahoma State University 1405 N 4th PMB 4231 se.edu

Durham Metcalfe Museum 8647 N 1745 Rd (580) 655-4467 metcalfemuseum.org

Edmond Donna Nigh Gallery University of Central Oklahoma 100 University Dr (405) 974-2432 uco.edu/cfad Feb 2019 – Jan 2020 1920s Edmond: Ain’t We Got Fun? Edmond Historical Society & Museum 431 S Boulevard (405) 340-0078 edmondhistory.org 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 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.wordpress. com Owens Arts Place Museum 1202 E Harrison (405) 260-0204 owensmuseum.com

Guymon

All Fired Up Art Gallery 421 N Main (580) 338-4278 artistincubation.com

Idabel 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 discovermpg.org

Norman

Oklahoma City

The Crucible Gallery 110 E Tonhawa (405) 579-2700 thecruciblellc.com

Artspace at Untitled 1 NE 3rd St (405) 815-9995 artspaceatuntitled.org

Downtown Art and Frame 115 S Santa Fe (405) 329-0309

Contemporary Art Gallery 2928 Paseo (405) 601-7474 contemporaryartgalleryokc.com

Firehouse Art Center 444 S Flood (405) 329-4523 normanfirehouse.com Jacobson House 609 Chautauqua (405) 366-1667 jacobsonhouse.com 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 Dec 13, 2019 – Jan 10, 2020 I, Dopplegänger: Alexis Austin and Mary James Ketch Greer Inez Concrete / Visual Poetry in the 21st Century Feb 14 – Mar 13, 2020 40 Over 40: Women Artists of Oklahoma MAINSITE Contemporary Art Gallery 122 E Main (405) 360-1162 normanarts.org Moore-Lindsey House Historical Museum 508 N Peters (405) 321-0156 normanhistorichouse.org The Depot Gallery 200 S Jones (405) 307-9320 pasnorman.org

DNA Galleries 1705 B NW 16th St (405) 371-2460 dnagalleries.com Nov 1, 2019 – Feb 29, 2020 The Frybread Factory: NDN Pop Art Exhibit C 1 E Sheridan Ave Ste 100 (405) 767-8900 chickasawcountry.com Mixtape Factory Obscura 25 NW 9th St factoryobscura.com Gaylord-Pickens Oklahoma Heritage Museum 1400 Classen Dr (405) 235-4458 oklahomaheritage.com Grapevine Gallery 1933 NW 39th (405) 528-3739 grapevinegalleryokc.com 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 1900 Linwood, Suite 100 (405) 232-6060 iaogallery.org

JRB Art at the Elms 2810 N Walker Ave (405) 528-6336 jrbartgallery.com Nov 15, 2019 – May 10, 2020 Two Grits: A Peek Behind the Eyepatch Dec 14, 2019 – May 10, 2020 Find Your Western Jan 31 – May 10, 2020 Warhol and the West Feb 12 – May 16, 2020 Spiro and the Art of the Mississippian World Feb 14 – May 10, 2020 Dorothea Lange: Politics of Seeing National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum 1700 NE 63rd (405) 478-2250 nationalcowboymuseum.org Nov 16 - Dec 30, 2020 Feeling Blue Nault Gallery 816 N Walker Ave www.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 7777 S May Ave (405) 682-7576 occc.edu Nov 2, 2019 – Apr 26, 2020 Renewing the American Spirit: The Art of the Great Depression Jun 22, 2019 – Mar 1, 2020 Photographing the Street Jun 22, 2019 – Dec 31, 2020 Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s “Fireworks (Archives)” Apr 19, 2019 – Dec 31, 2020 Postwar Abstraction: Variations Mar 1, 2019 – Dec 31, 2020 From the Golden Age to the Moving Image: The Changing Face of the Permanent Collection Oklahoma City Museum of Art 415 Couch Dr (405) 236-3100 okcmoa.com

Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center 3000 General Pershing Blvd (405) 951-0000 oklahomacontemporary.org

Shawnee

Oklahoma State Capitol Galleries 2300 N Lincoln Blvd (405) 521-2931 arts.ok.gov

Stillwater

Paseo Art Space 3022 Paseo (405) 525-2688 thepaseo.com Red Earth 6 Santa Fe Plaza (405) 427-5228 redearth.org Oct 7, 2019 – Mar 29, 2020 Cosmic Culture: Intersections of Art and Outer Space Nov 24, 2019 – Oct 25, 2020 Tom Shannon: Universe in the Mind | Mind in the Universe smART Space Science Museum Oklahoma 2100 NE 52nd St (405) 602-6664 sciencemuseumok.org

Park Hill

Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art 1900 W Macarthur (405) 878-5300 mgmoa.org

Gardiner Gallery of Art Oklahoma State University 108 Bartlett Center for the Visual Arts (405) 744-4143 museum.okstate.edu Jan 14 – Jul 18, 2020 In the Mind of a Collector Postal Plaza Gallery Oklahoma State University Museum of Art 720 S Husband St (405) 744-2780 museum.okstate.edu Modella Art Gallery 721 S Main Modellaartgallery.org

Sulphur Chickasaw Visitor Center 901 W 1st St (580) 622-8050 chickasawcountry.com/explore/ view/Chickasaw-visitor-center

Cherokee National Historical Society, Inc. 21192 S Keeler Dr (918) 456-6007 cherokeeheritage.org

Tahlequah

Pauls Valley

Tonkawa

Jan 31 Pauls Valley Arts Council 5th Friday Art Walk Feb – Mar Backroads The Vault Art Space and Gathering Place 111 East Paul Ave, Suite 2 (405) 343-6610

Ponca City Ponca City Art Center 819 E Central (580) 765-9746 poncacityartcenter.com

Cherokee Arts Center 212 S Water Ave (918) 453-5728 Cherokeenationart.com

Eleanor Hays Gallery Northern Oklahoma College 1220 E Grand (580) 628-6670 north-ok.edu

Tulsa Dec 6, 2019 – Jan 26, 2020 State of Craft 2019 Feb 7 – Mar 22, 2020 Cosmic Veils 108|Contemporary 108 E Reconciliation Way (918) 895-6302 108contemporary.org

Aberson Exhibits 3624 S Peoria (918) 740-1054 abersonexhibits.com

M.A. Doran Gallery 3509 S Peoria (918) 748-8700 madorangallery.com

Dec 6, 2019 - Jan 26, 2020 Creative Cabal Ahha 101 E Archer St (918) 584-3333 ahhatulsa.org

Jan 10 – Feb 8, 2020 Tiny Pricks Project: The Material Record of Trump’s Presidency Doublespeak: Artists Respond to this Administration!

Feb 14 – Mar 7, 2020 Pragmatic Views of Mankind We Are All “Related” Mar 13 – Apr 4, 2020 Fireflies: A Crone’s Tale Liggett Studio 314 S Kenosha Ave (918) 694-5719 liggettstudio.com

Aug 29, 2019 - Aug 30, 2020 Mexican Modernism: Revolution & Reckoning Sep 13, 2019 - Jan 5, 2020 Dorothea Lange’s America Nov 15, 2019 - Mar 15, 2020 Recall/Respond: Tulsa Artist Fellowship and Gilcrease Museum Collaboration (Phase II) Gilcrease Museum 1400 Gilcrease Road (918) 596-2700 gilcrease.utulsa.edu Henry Zarrow Center for Art and Education 124 E Reconciliation Way (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 Reconciliation Way (918) 585-1234 livingarts.org Mainline 111 N Main Ste C (918) 629-0342 mainlineartok.com

Lovetts Gallery 6528 E 51st St (918) 664-4732 lovettsgallery.com Philbrook Downtown 116 E Reconciliation Way (918) 749-7941 philbrook.org Nov 10, 2019 - Feb 16, 2020 Shadow of Time: Anila Quayyum Agha Jan 10 - Apr 12, 2020 The Current: Eric Sall Mar 15 - May 24, 2020 Tulsa Treasures: Private Collections in Public Philbrook Museum of Art 2727 S Rockford Rd (918) 749-7941 philbrook.org Pierson Gallery 1307-1311 E 15th St (918) 584-2440 piersongallery.com Jan 2020 Amber DuBoise Feb 2020 Summer Zah Tulsa Artists’ Coalition 9 E MB Brady St (918) 592-0041 tacgallery.org Tulsa Performing Arts Center Gallery 110 E 2nd St (918) 596-2368 tulsapac.com (continued to page 30)

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(continued from page 29)

Urban Art Lab Studios 1130 S Harvard Ave (918) 625-0777 urbanartlabstudios.com

Wilburton

Waterworks Art Studio 1710 Charles Page Blvd (918) 596-2440 cityoftulsa.org

Woodward

Weatherford SWOSU Art Gallery 100 Campus Drive (580) 774-3756 swosu.edu

The Gallery at Wilburton 108 W Main St (918) 465-9669

Plains Indians and Pioneers Museum 2009 Williams Ave (580) 256-6136 nwok-pipm.org

The recently opened Cherokee National History Museum in Tahlequah is a world class collection of cultural art and artifacts displayed to create a visual story of the tribe, in one of the oldest buildings in the state, the Cherokee National Capitol, built in 1869. Photo courtesy of VisitCherokeeNation.com. Read more on page 18.

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.

Collector Level + Community Supported Art (CSA) Program $1,000 ($85 a month option) · · · · ·

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

PATRON $250 · · · · ·

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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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

Credit card #

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

N

Detach and mail form along with payment to: OVAC 1720 N Shartel Ave, Ste B, Oklahoma City, OK 73103 Or join online at ovac-ok.org

Gardner Hale (American, 1894–1931).

Triumph of Washington (detail), 1931.

Oil on canvas. Oklahoma City Museum of Art. Gift of D. Wigmore Fine Art, 2017.070

Art Focus

Ok l a h o m a

UPCOMING EVENTS Jan 8:

OVAC Art Administration Internship Deadline

Non Profit Org. US POSTAGE PAID Oklahoma City, OK Permit No. 113

1720 N Shartel Ave, Suite B Oklahoma City, OK 73103 Visit ovac-ok.org to learn more.

Jan 15: Grants for Artists

Application Deadline Jan 17: Momentum Bands

Application Deadline Jan 23: Momentum Survey

Application Deadline Jan 30: Art 365 Application Workshop, OKC Jan 25: ASK: Building a Portfolio and

Photo Studio, Ada Feb 1:

24 Works on Paper Application Opens

Feb 6: Art 365 Application Workshop, Tulsa Feb 22: ASK: Exhibition Ready, OKC Feb 24: Momentum Spotlight Preview, OKC Mar 1: Art 365 Application Deadline Mar 20-22: Momentum Oklahoma, OKC

The M.A. Program in

Art History at Oklahoma State University

Pursuing A Career In The Art World?

Get your graduate degree in the supportive, collegial environment of the M.A. program in Art History at OSU. Our graduates find jobs in Oklahoma and across the country, and we offer full funding to many students in the program.

More Information Visit Our Website :

Art History at Oklahoma State differs from most traditional art history programs by emphasizing circuits of exchange and intercultural networks.

Faculty consider broad themes such as gender, globalization, transnationalism, propaganda, and modernity from a wide range of theoretical and historical perspectives.

art.okstate.edu/academics /art-history/ma Graduate Coordinator :

artgraddir@okstate.edu

Application Deadline: Feb 15, 2020