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Michelle Martin page 5
ArtOFocus kl a h o m a Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition P.O. Box 1946 • Oklahoma City, OK 73101 ph: 405.232.6991 • e: director@ovac-ok.org visit our website at: www.ovac-ok.org Executive Director: Julia Kirt director@ovac-ok.org Editor: Kelsey Karper publications@ovac-ok.org Art Director: Anne Richardson anne@speccreative.com Art Focus Oklahoma is a bimonthly publication of the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition dedicated to stimulating insight into and providing current information about the visual arts in Oklahoma. Mission: The Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition supports visual artists living and working in Oklahoma and promotes public interest and understanding of the arts. Michelle Martin, 5 Tulsa
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Italian Landscapes
On the Cover: Michelle Martin, Tulsa, Who Owns You?, Serigraph with hand sewing and collage, 20”x15”
contents
13
Helen O’Leary
profiles
3 Regina Murphy 5 Michelle Martin
reviews/previews
7 8 10 11
Italian Landscapes Elia Woods Momentum Tulsa Tulsa Events
13 Helen O’Leary 14 Paul Medina
member agency
features
16 ART 365: Live4This 18 History of OVAC Grants
business of art
20 Contracts This program is supported in part by the Oklahoma Arts Council
View this issue with full color images at www. ArtFocusOklahoma.org.
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OVAC news
New & Renewing Members 21 Round UP 21 At a Glance 22
gallery guide
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 Anonymous letters will not be published.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. Art Focus Committee: Janice McCormick, Bixby; Don Emrick, Tulsa; Susan Grossman, Sue Clancy, Norman; Michael Hoffner, Stephen Kovash, and Sue Moss Sullivan, Oklahoma City. OVAC Board of Directors 2007-2008: Kathleen Rivers, Ada; Richard Pearson, Rick Vermillion, Edmond; Jonathan Hils, Norman; Skip Hill, Stephen Kovash (President), Suzanne Mitchell, John Seward, Carl Shortt, Suzanne Thomas, Sydney Bright Warren, Elia Woods (Secretary), Oklahoma City; Joellen Frisillo, Sand Springs; Cathy Deuschle, Elizabeth Downing, Jean Ann Fausser (Treasurer), RC Morrison, Tulsa; Eunkyung Jeong, Weatherford 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 National Association of Artists’ Organizations. © 2008, Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition. All rights reserved.
profile
Regina Murphy, Oklahoma City, Taos Mountain, Acrylic, 30”x40”
Regina Murphy:
Prolific Artist
by Lori Oden Color is important to painter Regina Murphy. It is what most people notice when they look at her work. With a sparkle in her eye, Murphy says about her painting, “I love putting color together and trying to make it work. I use a lot of complimentary colors, bold and spontaneous. When I was younger I sewed all of mine and my daughters’ clothes. I loved to sew and color was very important. I did other projects such as make bookends and other crafts, but it never satisfied me.” Now with more than thirty years experience as an artist, she has tried her hand at traditional/ realistic painting, monotypes, etchings, watercolor, pastel, some ceramics, mixed media, oil and acrylic; she says, “I have tried it all, and I know I am a painter.” She was born in a small town in Mississippi; Tylertown, to be specific. Murphy has called Oklahoma her home since 1945. Before she settled here, she lived in Washington DC and California. Murphy has three daughters. When her youngest came to live with her briefly as an adult, she talked Murphy into taking some art lessons. She eventually studied under Jean Richardson and Mike Larson, to name a few.
For ten years, Murphy attended workshops and traveled to Louisiana Tech each summer to take college level art courses. These courses were also a part of a travel program; she visited and painted in Italy, Holland, Morocco, China, Mexico and more. Her late husband built her a studio in the backyard, but she recalled that, “After I retired I found myself making excuses not to use it. I think I was so used to getting up and going to work I didn’t know what else to do.” Murphy was invited to be a studio mate with Donna Berryhill on the Paseo at the Design Center in the early 1990s. She jumped at the opportunity. Since 1994 Murphy and three other artists Mary Nickell, Sue Moss Sullivan, and Winnie Hawkins have operated “Studio Six,” a renovated gas station at the corner of 30th and Paseo. Murphy has worked on series’ of paintings throughout her career. She will leave a series for a while, but often returns to it. Probably her most recognized series is her landscapes. Abstract, yellowish, dancing forms represent trees. They are more prominent than any other subject in the work. Rigid, colorful outlines of the trees symbolize a fleeting
sunset or sunrise. Even bulging mountains or a rushing river are muffled by her trees. Murphy says, “Landscapes are my favorite, but I like to create a landscape that doesn’t exist. Like something in a dream.” She continues, “When I paint a landscape my aim is to show the viewer my vision of a special place with lively color, lyrical shapes and bold line, not necessarily what a casual tourist might see. I blend greatly abstracted shapes with realism, sometimes flatten space, use exaggerated or arbitrary color, and often delineate objects. My goal is to produce a painting that is not a ‘postcard’ view, but will intrigue the viewer and prolong interest. ” Murphy accomplishes her goals. Another series that stands out is Murphy’s rooftops. Distorted, angular roofs clutter the canvas. It takes the viewer to the top of a bustling city; the varying colored rooftops bring to life the culture and the diversity one might find in the crowded town below. Mixed media has been a part of Murphy’s artful experiments, but she is far from bookends these days. Collecting odd shaped metal pieces, wire and other objects most of us would discard, Murphy finds potential. A continued page 4
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prof ile continued from page 3 recent group of mixed media pieces include, Global Warming and Iron Gate. Twisted, finger-like metal pieces that form the main gate lean in as if to devour anyone who would dare to enter. Three circular pieces, harsh texture and dark strokes across the top give the sense of an alien sky. Something she is very proud of is that one of her landscape paintings was chosen to be a part of the permanent State Art Collection. Active in several organizations, Murphy also donates at least four paintings each year to fundraising events. She submits, and more often than not, is juried into art shows locally and nationally (which is more than many artists can boast) and her work is collected by private patrons and corporations. Murphy loves a challenge and to experiment; she continues to learn by participating in workshops and travels to paint with friends and visit museums and galleries. Murphy has served as an executive officer for the Oklahoma Watercolor Association, Oklahoma Art Guild, the Paseo Artists Association and the Contemporary Art Gallery. She worked at Cities Service Gas Company as Payroll Supervisor for many years; Murphy has always loved math and continues her love of numbers since retiring from the business world by volunteering to manage the finances for Paseo Artists Association, Contemporary Art Gallery and Studio Six. You can view her work and follow her travels at www.art-by-regina.com. A larger collection of her work is housed at the studio where you can find her five days a week, painting. Although she is protective of her age, all I need to know is that having passion for something is the secret to longevity.
(from top) Regina Murphy, Oklahoma City, Aerial View, Acrylic, 16”x20”
About the Author: Lori Oden is a photographer who specializes in nineteenth century processes; an adjunct professor at Oklahoma City University and Oklahoma State University – Oklahoma City; and the Executive Director for the Paseo Artists Association. She can be contacted at silversun1@cox.net
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profile Michelle Martin, Tulsa Observation #30 Monotype/Mixed Media 38”x25”
Michelle Martin by Janice McCormick Since receiving OVAC’s Award of Excellence in 2003, Michelle Martin has been busy pursuing a dual career as printmaker and associate professor of art at the University of Tulsa’s School of Art. If awards are any indication, she is quite adept in both areas. She explains, “I won two major awards last year - at least they seemed major to me! I won TU’s Henry Kendall College of Arts and Sciences Excellence in Teaching Award through student nominations; and, the Outstanding Achievement in Printmaking Award from the 31st Bradley International Print and Drawing Exhibition, juried by Judith K. Brodsky at Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois.” This last February, Oklahoma City residents had the opportunity to see her solo exhibit Michelle Martin: Recent Observations at the IAO Gallery. She also had a two person show with Whitney Forsyth at City Arts Center in 2003 Elements: Oil and Earth. In conjunction with the Award of Excellence, Martin participated in OVAC’s Artist of Excellence Exhibition, which included other award recipients Heidi Mau, Kristi Lewis Andrew, and Chris Ramsay at the Tulsa Artists’ Coalition Gallery, Tulsa, in 2004. Her work also appeared in Common Ground, the 2005 University of Tulsa Faculty Show. Martin’s art explores the theme of alienation through the symbol of the psychic masks that people wear in social gatherings both to conceal and reveal themselves. In her artist statement, Martin explains: “As a life-long ‘people-watching enthusiast,’ I naturally find social situations extremely fascinating as one’s behavior changes depending on the context, environment, and persons involved (the private vs. public persona.) Watching others is part of our daily lives: we observe the behavior exhibited around us, and then we utilize the information in order to gauge the proper response. This constant (and careful) evaluation of situations when dealing with other human beings is not limited to a specific time or culture, but it is a universal human characteristic that has transcended time. We receive rules concerning social behavior in many forms of cultural conditioning: art, mass media, literature, and observation of our families and friends. In fact, we learn at a very young age of the consequences of not following the general status-quo. These ‘rules’ are never simple black-and-white guidelines, and what might work in one context may have devastating effects in another. It is this multifaceted nature of human emotions and the behavior they cause that I focus on in my work. “My work centers on the recreation of social situations, usually choosing unsettling figure placement, skewed perspective and raking light sources in order to take the viewer on an often disquieting journey through the playground of human interaction. The ‘characters’ involved are inspired by mythology, fairy tales, and religious iconography (as these are all means to hand down ‘social rules’ from one generation to the next). My intent is to create ‘humanist narratives’ which deal with the psychology of being human, in effect constructing the viewer’s dual role as both the voyeur and the object of scrutiny.”
Sue Clancy, Norman, Dude Descending a Staircase, Dyed paper, Printed paper, Found paper, Ink and Acrylic on Cradled Board, 36”x24”
There is little that can be added to her artist’s statement. The “raking light” she mentions results in colors that can be disconcerting, and a chiaroscuro that intensifies a sense of foreboding from the masked figures. Not everyone is masked, however, and there is a suspenseful concern heightened by the “skewed perspective” and “unsettling figure placement.” In addition to producing works with dramatic effect in their own right, she has achieved success as an artist by making the most out of the network of contacts which academia provides. Of the twenty group exhibitions (both juried and invitational) in which her artwork has been on view, most (sixteen) have been in galleries located on college and university campuses. This brings her art to the attention not only of the public, but also of curators, jurors, gallery directors and her fellow printmakers across the country. Martin makes a concerted effort to apply to as many exhibitions as possible. She states: “I basically pursue any opportunity that seems interesting, whether it be juried or invitational. I have actively applied for more solo and two-person exhibitions over the last few years, and that effort is beginning to payoff. continued to page 6
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Michelle Martin, Tulsa, Where There’s Smoke..., Reductive Linocut, 15”x20”
continued from page 5 “My recent solo exhibitions - recently at IAO gallery in OKC, one the year before in Laredo, TX, and one upcoming this summer in Fargo, ND - have been really important for me professionally, as these types of exhibitions are the hardest to obtain. The invitational exhibitions are always wonderful opportunities, as they have been unsolicited - meaning, someone saw my work in another venue and liked it, which then led to an exhibition opportunity. The most important of these invitational exhibitions have been the Color Print USA Exhibition (in 2006, 2004), the Northern Illinois Print Invitational (2008) and the Contemporary Prints and Artists Books (Murray State, 2006). These exhibitions have meant a great deal to me - personally and professionally - as I was exhibiting with other artists I admire very much.” Particularly noteworthy of the juried exhibitions and competitions are the Bradley International Print and Drawing Exhibition at Bradley University in Peoria, IL (2007, 2003); Los Angeles Printmaking Society 18th National Juried Exhibition, at the Armory Center for the Arts, Pasadena, CA (2005); and, the Boston Printmakers 2005 North American Print Biennial, at the 808 Gallery, Boston University. She has won awards at all three of these prestigious venues. Besides the fore-mentioned Outstanding Achievement in Printmaking Award at the 31st Bradley International, she has won the Juror’s Discretionary Award at the Los Angeles Printmaking Society’s 18th National Exhibition and the 2005 Materials Award at the Boston Printmakers North American Exhibition. Despite her active career as a producing and exhibiting artist, Michelle Martin devotes careful attention to her role of mentoring new artists through her position as Associate Professor of Art at the University of Tulsa. “Teaching is a huge priority, so I try to balance that with my artistic endeavors. In addition to the day-to-day teaching responsibilities, I am always open to having students work on some professional projects (such as trade portfolios) and encourage them to work with visiting artists as much as possible. Sometimes it is tough to balance the demands of teaching with an art career (especially when you really love both), but I seem to have worked out a pretty good system that works well for me.”
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Besides teaching graduate and undergraduate courses in printmaking, she serves as freshman art advisor and organizes various printing workshops for visiting artists. These have included serigraphy with Timothy High, book-making with Bonnie Stahlecker, and lithography with Jenny Schmid and Mike Barnes. Martin also curated exhibits of the latter two artists: The Seven Sisters of Sleep: Prints and Drawings by Jenny Schmid (2007) and Michael Barnes: Recent Prints (2005) at TU’s Alexandre Hogue Gallery. Since 2007 she has taken on the added task of Gallery Director. On top of all these activities, Martin has taken on the role of mother. I asked her the following question, “Has having a child impacted your art, not only in terms of having time to create art while trying to juggle family life, but also whether it has influenced the content and/or style of your art?” She replied, “Having a child has been a profoundly wonderful experience, and I really thought it would slow me down some, at least professionally. The funny thing is, I feel that my activity has picked up to a degree, although I have had to be more selective about what I choose to do. Now, I realize I can’t say yes to every single opportunity that comes along (no matter how much I would like to do it). In fact, even being pregnant did not slow me down much, either - I delivered work to and from Bethel College (North Newton, KS) for an exhibition when I was about eight months pregnant. Jack (my son) hasn’t worked his way into my imagery yet, but he might someday.” As this brief profile illustrates, Martin balances the demands of multiple careers quite well. She succeeds in integrating them so that the academic part provides opportunities for exhibition, which, in turn reinforces her artistic work. She is a fine role model for her students. About the Author: Janice McCormick is an art reviewer who has been writing about art in Tulsa and Oklahoma since 1990. Currently, she teaches philosophy part-time at Tulsa Community College. She can be reached at artreview@olp.net.
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(left) School of Giovanni Antonio Canal, Canaletto (The Tower of Marghera), c. 1740-1750, Oil on Canvas. Collection of the Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy (right) Unknown Florentine Painter, Diana and Callisto, c. 1570-1580, Oil on Copper. Collection of the Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy
The Italian Job Painting the Italian Landscape: Views from the Uffizi by Gretchen Collins In 2006, Florence’s Uffizi Museum gave a Christmas gift to its residents in the form of an art exhibition. It was Painting the Italian Landscape: Views from the Uffizi. We in Oklahoma can consider it a belated holiday present, the kind you expect to find in those velvet boxes from jewelry stores. Painting the Italian Landscape runs through June 1, 2008 at the Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa. Even if you’ve seen only pictures of the Italian countryside, you know it’s beautiful. This exhibition, from one of the top five European museums, traverses both time and space from the early 1500s to the twentieth century, and features artists such as Botticelli, Poussin and Canaletto. This is its inaugural national tour. It was organized by the Trust for Museum Exhibitions in collaboration with Contemporanea Progetti of Florence. Philbrook is one of six venues to host this prestigious collection. It is a perfect choice to showcase this exhibit. The museum itself is an Italianate villa with extensive gardens, donated to the city by its former owners Waite and Genevieve Phillips. The Philbrook Villa is Tulsa’s own little corner of Tuscany. Only recently has the Italian government allowed exhibitions from their high profile museums to visit the United States. “These are not just dusty old paintings from their vaults,” explains James Peck, Ruth G. Hardman Curator of European and American Art, “These were put together by the director (Antonio Natali) for the Florentine people. There are often two- to five-hour lines (in Florence) to get in.” Because these are such valuable works much care is taken in packing and shipping. Each painting is wrapped, padded and shipped in its own crate. It can take 30 minutes to unwrap each piece of precious cargo. “It’s really the only way to ship 500-year-old paintings across the Atlantic,” Peck says. Painting the Italian Landscape depicts the evolution of scenery from mere backdrop in the early Renaissance to subject. “The landscape was secondary to the drama that was unfolding in the foreground,” Peck explains. “It was (added) to give a sense of accurateness and place.” An
example of this is Botticelli’s The Adoration of the Magi, which will be among the first paintings displayed in this exhibit. Botticelli worked during the time the Church commissioned art and had great influence over its creation. Other exceptional works include Claude Lorrain’s Landscape with the Dance of Farmers, (c. 1637); Canaletto’s The Tower of Marghera, (c. 1750) and Poussin’s Theseus Finds the Arms of His Father, (c. 1635). “Over the course of 300 years,” Peck continues, “by the seventeenth century, there is a genre of landscape painters. The background/ foreground has been reversed. The holy family in flight from Egypt might be in the background and hard to distinguish. The whole foreground is this lush beautiful landscape. It’s a real reversal.” By the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, artists were painting pure landscape and had done away with any pretense of subject. Impressionists were knocking at the door. For the artist, this exhibition presents an opportunity to learn composition from master painters. The artists would sketch nature, return to their studios to create their works. “We’ve all taken a snapshot,” Peck says. “It’s hit or miss. These are not hit or miss. These are professional artists who have taken a lot of time, taking elements from nature and arranging them in an esthetically pleasing way. Secondarily, the use of color is really quite brilliant.” The practice of landscape painting endures. “It’s still a living tradition,” Peck says. “There are a great many contemporary landscape painters who could, and probably have, learned a lot from art at this time.” There is a strong sense of place as one views these paintings. “You’ll know that you’re not in France or England,” Peck say. “It is very definitely Italy. Don’t miss it. It’s an opportunity to stay in your backyard and see world-class art.” About the Author: Gretchen Collins has covered the arts in Tulsa for the past 13 years. She is an award-winning writer; including the Society of Professional Journalists award, and was an art major in college.
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(left) Elia Woods in the earth chair in the community garden at NW 31st and Shartel, Oklahoma City (right) Elia Woods, Oklahoma City, Eating Out (detail), Photography and Fiber, 30”x36”
Elia Woods: Local Revolutionary by Linnie Craigie
Elia Woods is a revolutionary who has been quietly changing the world one piece of artwork, one garden and one life at a time. Woods is best known as a fiber artist whose unique approach combines photography, gardening and fiber into photo art quilts and three-dimensional photofiber constructions. However, she is also a lifelong environmentalist and community activist who hopes Grounded, her upcoming Individual Artists of Oklahoma solo show, will promote awareness about the environment, community and eating healthier. Grounded is a synthesis of art and Woods’ work for social and environmental change, but with a twist. She has linked the show to an outdoor event at the Central Park Community Gardens at NW 31st and Shartel, near her home in Oklahoma City. Woods and her husband, Allen Parleir, started the community garden project ten years ago. They created the garden as part of their commitment to their neighborhood and the environment. The couple teamed with a group of young people from the neighborhood to reclaim an empty lot and plant a green-artenvironment along with their food garden. The group’s vision is an ongoing, outdoor living art project designed to engage visitors and kindle the knowledge that a healthy earth means healthy food and lives. Their vision was challenged during the first year when the donated land for the community garden was initially found to be laden with toxic chemicals. Parleir took on the work to study biological methods to detoxify the soil, turning it back into clean, healthy soil. The garden has vegetables, scented plants and a perennial border, but the crowning feature is a spiral wildflower path with a sitting area. One of Woods’ more innovative ideas for Grounded is an interactive installation inspired by the spiral wildflower path. To echo the experience in art, Woods printed imagery on large panels of translucent silk to hang so as to recreate the path’s spaces for viewers to walk and sit.
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All of the food featured in her art is grown personally by Woods and she often represents food’s social aspect by photographing the people in her life engaged in the physical activities related to gathering or preparing the food. Woods sometimes even manages to represent the intangible, silent inner processes that accompany sowing, growing, preparing and being nourished. She feels we have lost an important element of our lives and this is part of what her work deftly manages to convey visually. Woods works her message seamlessly into and behind the beautiful surfaces. Her messages engage the viewer, provoke independent thought and issue a personal challenge, making each viewer a part of the artistic end product. One definition of good art might say it should change who we are or how we view the world. Woods’ work does both. By holding concurrent events, Woods not only hopes to urge viewers to look closer at their food and how it is grown, but to also promote community involvement and help deepen the understanding that we are a part of nature despite our best attempts to separate ourselves. Elia Woods is a self taught artist who teaches at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art and the City Arts Center at the Fairgrounds. She has shown in a number of local, statewide and national exhibits and won several awards. Visit her work online at www.eliawoods.com. Grounded will be at the Individual Artists of Oklahoma Gallery at 811 N. Broadway in Oklahoma City, May 2-30, 2008. The opening reception is Saturday May 17, 6-9 pm. The following weekend May 24, will feature an outdoor event at the Central Park Community Gardens on the corner of NW 31st and Shartel in Oklahoma City. About the Author: Linnie Craigie is a fiber artist, gardener and natural foods advocate who lives in Oklahoma City.
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Momentum Tulsa: June 21, 2008 by Kelsey Karper Art doesn’t stand still. Well, at least not at the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition’s annual event Momentum Tulsa: Art Doesn’t Stand Still. Now in its fifth year, the exhibit and party will take place on June 21, 2008 from 8pmMidnight. Once again, it will take over Living Arts and Liggett Studio at 308 & 314 S. Kenosha Ave., as well as the street, creating a block-party atmosphere. Momentum, also held in Oklahoma City each January, is an event created to highlight Oklahoma artists ages 30 and under working in all media including traditional and not-so-traditional painting, photography, sculpture, film, performance and installation. Music on the outdoor stage is provided by local bands. Each year, a committee of young artists and volunteers plans the event. This year, the committee is chaired by Geoffrey Hicks. This group of creative minds never fails to devise new ways to engage the audience with interactive art projects, performances and other surprises. Those who attended the 2007 event will recall a giant lite-brite and a special appearance by Godzilla! To find out what the 2008 Momentum Tulsa has in store and for information about submitting artwork, visit www.MomentumOklahoma.org or call OVAC at 405-232-6991. About the Author: Kelsey Karper is the Editor of Art Focus Oklahoma and a photographer working in historic and alternative processes. She can be reached at publications@ovac-ok.org.
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The Blue Dome Arts Festival Turns 5 by Cathy Deuschle In The Beginning The Blue Dome Arts Festival was conceived out of frustration and born in Virginia Harrison’s backyard. Tired of being unable to depend on getting booth space at Mayfest and needing the income such an opportunity could provide, Harrison created an alternative simultaneous to Mayfest. She named it Clayfest. She invited about twenty other artists to join her and help spread the word that unlike Mayfest, the art at Clayfest was 100% local. Although Mayfest had started out as a venue for and a celebration of local art, it had evolved into an event showcasing artists from across the nation. It was obviously no secret that on fine May days, art loving Tulsans could be quite free with their pocketbooks. This resulted in such stiff competition for booth space that many artists, local or otherwise, didn’t make the cut. Sometime during Clayfest’s two year run the idea was hatched to move the festival downtown. This was prompted, recalls Harrison, by a discussion she had with fellow artist, Joe Staskal. He mentioned that in Madison, Wisconsin a festival of local art peacefully coexists adjacent to a more broadly based art festival. Thinking that the perfect solution, she approached a Mayfest committee member with the idea. Poor communication took it nowhere. She then pitched the festival to Michael Sager, her friend, a known supporter and collector of local art, and a downtown developer. He was working on the Blue Dome district, an area characterized by the iconic Blue Dome, Oklahoma’s first 24 hour service station, situated along route 66 on the northeast fringe of downtown. Believing such an event would give this area the right kind of exposure, a deal was struck. What’s So Funny About Peace, Love and Understanding? Well for starters... Years One and Two It was important to Harrison and Sager that the Blue Dome Arts Festival be free and open to all; that it be, as visualized by Mr. Sager, “promotionally spiritual” (a concept that remains beyond my grasp). The only rules were that the art be locally made, that the artists sell their own work and that everybody get along. The first night of the festival each artist was to serve wine and an appetizer in their area so that patrons could eat, drink, be merry and take art home with them. After an article in the Tulsa World mentioning free food appeared the morning of the event, the health department shut down that idea. This, according to Harrison, was the first loss of freedom. Other losses were to follow. Some artists were not so mindful of one of the cardinal rules of the Blue Dome: everybody needs to get along. Turf wars erupted. Reminiscent of the land run, artists reserved areas, defining boundaries with chalk and spray paint. Harrison vividly remembers one female artist hanging over another artist to deliver these words: “Remember, there are no rules”. Artists, Harrison found, couldn’t handle the freedom. Though unspoken, she felt they clearly wanted and needed more structure.
ut even minimal order, it was soon discovered, comes at a price. B Harrison was surprised to learn that street barriers and street closing applications cost money. Additionally, security guards were needed to safeguard the art through the night and porta johns were an obvious necessity. She had solicited and received some sponsorship money, mainly through Tulsa’s Arts and Humanities Council, but not enough to cover the costs. She and Sager paid the difference. Music was deemed to be integral to the festival so musicians were encouraged to play. Though this first year they passed the hat or played for free, Harrison felt that as artists, musicians deserved the same level of respect and treatment due the visually inclined. She vowed that in the future they would be paid for their efforts. Local was defined the first year as Tulsa based and over 100 visual artists participated. By the second year, the word local had expanded to encompass all of Oklahoma and almost 200 artists participated. The second year also marked the establishment of an emerging artist area with space defined, typically, by a blanket. “Let’s Be Reasonable” Sayeth The Committee, Year Three Since it was becoming clear that the Blue Dome Arts Festival was in danger of becoming a victim of its own popularity, a decision was made by committee (a new development) to limit the number of booths, thereby limiting the size of the event. This was done to keep the event manageable for volunteers and maintain the insurance protection provided by the Tulsa Arts and Humanities Council. Finding the totally free aspect of the festival impossible to maintain, artists were charged $50 to reserve a prime spot on a first come, first serve basis. This was considered the minimal amount necessary to provide basic services including advertising. Participating artists who just showed up continued page 12
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Tulsa ArtCar Weekend by Cathy Deuschle
continued from page 11 and set up shop the day of the event were charged a smaller fee. Though limits were imposed and capacity was reached, maintaining the non-juried and therefore nonjudgmental aspect of the event was crucial to Harrison. The simple first come, first serve criteria addressed the need for limits while setting no limits to freedom of expression. This organizing principle is still in place. The appropriate size for the event and the correct balance of openness versus selectivity, according to Harrison, are subjects of ongoing debate among committee members. The third year also marked a bigger push for music. A stage was set up and musicians were invited to play (though uninvited street performers have always been welcome). Half the costs of the festival now went to music. Living Arts of Tulsa also joined in the fun by staging an Art Car Weekend at the festival complete with parade. The Art Car event will enter its fourth year this May. Embrace Diversity and More Policemen, Year Four The city decided that all festivals needed a police presence to insure public safety and so the price for booth space was upped to $75 to cover the cost of this additional service. The festival organizers also tried to broaden the musical offerings to satisfy a wider range of festival goers. The younger crowd, they discovered, couldn’t get their groove on folk music. Tasty and Nutritious, Year 5 The goals for this year’s festival happily revolve around food and music. Though attendees have always enjoyed good local food from establishments such as Tulsa’s Greek Orthodox Church, a wider range of cuisine will be offered for 2008. Like the music and the art, the food will remain from local sources. Festival goers who need a corndog and some plastic mustard packets handed out a trailer window to feel complete will definitely need to stop by Mayfest. One difficulty in attracting food vendors to the Blue Dome, and an issue for some artists as well, is the lack of electricity; the festival organizers have so far decided against this extra complication. 2008 will also bring more diversity to the stage in general. Poets, dancers and other performers have been encouraged to participate and emerging musician times have been scheduled into the stage lineup. On a first come, first serve basis, emerging musicians will be given fifteen minutes to play. Their time will be unpaid but will be good exposure nonetheless. While I interviewed Virginia for this article at a local coffee shop, several eavesdroppers (hard not to do so given her hearty presence) stopped by the table to pet her puppy and thank her for making this event a reality. While the festival has grown and changed, certain convictions have kept the original spirit intact. Maintaining simple ideals, I’m forever reminded, requires constant vigilance and isn’t so simple. The Blue Dome Arts Festival continues to provide a space where freedom of expression and local art is supported and celebrated. Its existence brings happiness to many. For more information on the Blue Dome Arts Festival go to www.bluedomeartsfestival.com. Through the website one can check available booth space, register and pay. The festival will be taking place May 16, 17 and 18, 2008. When you see the Blue Dome at 2nd and Elgin, you’ll know you’re there. About the Author: Cathy Deuschle is an artist and a teacher living in Tulsa.
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Do you know anyone who is obsessive about keeping his car in mint condition? Sure you do. Have you ever accidently plopped down in the driver’s seat of someone else’s car in the parking lot? That happens to me a lot. Now imagine a mall parking lot where every car is a unique moving sculpture. Would you feel frightened or delighted? Indignant or relieved? If the former is the case, anonymity is your friend. If the latter is the case, you need to check out Tulsa’s 4th Annual ArtCar Weekend taking place May 15th through 17th. Get into the spirit on Thursday, May 15th with an art show featuring ArtCar artists at Living Arts, 308 S. Kenosha. Check out the cars on Friday, May 16 at various elementary schools and at the Admiral Twin Drive-In. Spy them Saturday, May 17 as they caravan to various stops in midtown ending at the Blue Dome Arts Festival. Joining the local cars will be those from such far flung locales as California and Massachusetts proving they are indeed worthy of the road. The Tulsa ArtCar Weekend is made possible by the generous support of the Oklahoma Arts Council, The George Kaiser Family Foundation and George Kravis II.
(top) The Toyboata art car at the ArtCar Weekend (bottom) The Radio Flyer art car at the ArtCar Weekend
rev iew Helen O’Leary, Pittsburgh, Untitled (from killilane series), Egg Tempera and Oil Paint on Linen
Helen O’Leary by Sheri Ishmael-Waldrop
“My work has always employed many of the conventions of modernist painting, though I’ve never thought of myself as a ‘modernist’ in the traditional sense,” artist Helen O’Leary said. “A modified kind of geometric abstraction has informed my work for many years.” Painter, installation artist and writer, O’Leary told Oklahoma State University students she will always feel as if she were a still life artist, where her career began, with a little minimalist inside of her. O’Leary’s pieces were on guest exhibit at the Gardiner Art Gallery at OSU in Stillwater from February 6-29. “Helen and her work were well-received and students gained a much better understanding of contemporary art-making practices; especially work that is abstract expressionistic in nature,” art professor and department head Sallie McCorkle said. “While Helen’s work may look unusual to students or people here, in Oklahoma, it is actually indicative of work that is being shown in major art centers such as New York, Chicago, London, etc....” McCorkle feels it is important for students to be aware and understand that there is a “huge revival of abstract painting by women artists.” Where abstract expressionism was mainly a male creation in the 1950s, many women are now “reclaiming” it. As a professor at Penn State University O’Leary, who resides in Pittsburgh, Chicago and her Irish homeland during the summer, feels her art and instruction feed each other. She learns from her students and in turn, she uses the classroom to “gently question where we are now as a culture and deconstruct and examine things we take for granted”. She encourages students to learn to question everything, to not be afraid of “pulling the house of cards down”. “If you take the personal, the cultural, optimism and a healthy dose of doubt, and a belief that for the rest of your life you will continue to rattle things asunder and put things back together, again creating a personal lexicon that, hopefully, will speak about the time and place where you live,” she said. Her installations are in a constant state of flux. She said they evolve as they are taken apart and reconstructed. This evolution may be the avoidance of closure in a work; she likes to keep them open and working. O’Leary considers her installations to be “residue paintings” as they utilize items left behind by life and art that reside on the table or floor and then are copied onto the canvas. The use of found or natural objects, the geometry of life, could be seen in her installation at OSU. “I make the objects out of bits of wood, scraps of paper and then I ‘still life’ them into the paintings,” she said. “I make sketches with the small bits, gluing bits together, and then I make drawings from them.” Some of the bits of stencils, strips or blocks of wood are then silver leafed. Her use of silver leaf within the installations provides a reflective property she desires, which causes the object to disappear. Minimal and yet, excessive, “catholic minimalism” is how she describes its use.
“Geometric abstraction, as a visual language with a very specific set of theoretical tenets, has historically implied a degree of cerebral distancing that feels quite alien to me. Its discourses remove aesthetic experience from the fabric of daily existence, and it’s this odd separation between the theoretical and the specific that my new work seeks to address,” O’Leary said. In the coming year her body of work for exhibition will integrate painting and writing in the gallery spaces, she said. The text will be placed throughout the space in a “non-narrative, nonlinear, non-sequential fashion” between the painted and constructed works. “Together, these will serve as a kind of collage of memory, mirroring the structure of the paintings themselves.” She said, “The simultaneous freedom and frugality of my written words allow my paintings to expand into a peculiarly nuanced materiality, as if the spareness of one calls for greater and greater elaboration in the other.” The opaque quiet finish of her egg oil colors and geometric shapes combine with the subtle texture of the absorbent ground on her canvas to create discreet visual elements that can be traced to the domestic landscape of her childhood in rural Wexford, Ireland, she said. The sea, fields and the daily work of agriculture are transformed into an “abstracted” vision. “I saw the farm, and then the culture, as we knew it, dismantled, picked apart and re-built anew. I became familiar with both postmodernism and feminism before I had an academic name for either,” she said. “The men of the area thought women should not own land, and tried to undermine my mother’s attempt to keep the farm. Land, place and fighting for what is right, became central to my being at an early age.” Her abstract works come from a feminist post modernist point of view, O’Leary said. Her use of the formal graph has a natural or feminine aspect, as it is not precise or confined to a defined sense of space. “In the language of abstract painting,” she said, “the straight lines of the plowed field and the cultivated row become the geometry of the divided picture plane. The waywardness of our attention infringes on this careful orderliness by increments, just as cattle gradually shape the pastures they walk on day after day.” Her early works expanded the notion of the canvas to both the wall and floor. She said she moved from painting still life to the abstract by “mapping or tracing” the paint splattered floors of well known “heroic” male painters in the late eighties and early nineties in the exploration of expanding the canvas from the floor. O’Leary’s resume of solo exhibits, awards and collaborative installations is extensive. Her recent works include a book-in-progress on superstitions or lucky objects and how people cannot define it. Additional examples of her artwork and a complete resume can be found at www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/h/p/hpo1. About the Author: Sheri Ishmael-Waldrop is a freelance writer and photojournalist in the Tulsa area. She can be reached at swaldrop1995@hotmail.com.
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rev iew Paul Medina, Oklahoma City, Hot House Flower, Mixed Media
Paul Medina
at USAO by George Oswalt
The moments of the past do not remain still. They retain in our memory the motion which drew them toward the future which has itself become the past and draw us on their train. -Proust Paul Medina’s new work has a little bit of the Proustian attitude. The portraits in his new work become characters in a personal psychodrama. Magically weaving cathartic images in the service of visual dramas, Medina creates meditations on time, love, faith, doubt, hope and myth-making. Although it might not be readily evident, his current hybrid constructions are like a strange connective tissue, linking the work he was doing years ago. The new work is derived from photographic portraits that he reconstructs into mixed media compositions of words, wood, paint, found furniture, carved and cut forms. Paul’s preoccupation of the arcane goes back to his early works that were ritual in nature. The mask and sculptures of that early work were as much artifacts from fictional performances as objects hanging in a gallery. The exhibition that Medina had at the Oklahoma City Art Museum when it was still at the fairgrounds was an example of his transforming the gallery of objects and masks into a ritual space with religious undertones. Much of his former themes have resurfaced in this new work, with the addition of the photographic element. The photographic portraits of people he knows bring a more intimate and personal message to his imagery.
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The photographic image is a benchmark of reality in our society; the sense of us all watching ourselves. Watching ourselves in ads, fictional dramas and news information becomes its own fiction. Information overload takes place and worship of the image takes hold of us. Medina subverts the purity of the photograph for analysis. He examines our zeitgeist. Riding the waves of change armed with the knowledge of past he formulates a response and constructs a multi-referential metaphor. The people in Medina’s new work are performers in a miniature theatre that act as visual catechisms. Question and answers are played out in compositions that juxtapose words, objects and the gestural body language of the characters. A modern mannerism method is used as a device to convey his message. The body language of the participants is formal and many times devotional and meditative. There is a sense that these characters are looking for salvation and find a deliverance from dangers of the world in a stop motion limbo. In many of the works, words are included not only as titles but also as subtext to the image. Many artists with strong Catholic backgrounds have become obsessed with the mysticism of the word, having derived their own private iconographies to supplant the Catholic one they rejected. Ed Ruscha has made a career out of reacting to his Catholic background. Medina has done the same but in a more obvious churchy way. In much of the work, the structure and construction of framing the images refers to a strong reliquary component of the church. In All For a Bit of Sky there are wooden offering bowls and carved candles that are eternally lit
with rose red flames. Dramatic processions of roses accentuate the feet of a model that might just be an angel. There is a window that one can look out and see the clouds. Icons depicting personal saints are hanging on either side of the angel-like figure. The angel figure is holding a bloody homemade crown. You can almost smell the aroma of incense in the images. Incased in early 1950s furniture styling, the piece is vaporous, cloudy and sensual. This strange hybrid or post modern approach of using old furniture with the photograph has more of a feel of folk art than David Salle style of appropriated styles. The compositions are simple and direct but there seems to be material traces that have to be unearthed. Sometimes the photograph is so integrated in the composition it becomes more of a ghost that has fused into the wood and pigment. Acting as archaeologists we are working with what remains. Sharpening our forensic sensibilities, we connect places and events in order to determine the true meaning of these relics. Time Goes By is one of the stronger works. The central figure in this composition is a young girl in anguish, her hands covering her face, slightly distorting her forehead into wrinkles. She stands in a field of bright red color that happens to be part of an old baby bed frame. This is a free standing relief image with carved wooden birds, bells, chimes and bowls. The two 3D bowls are placed one above and one below the girl. Blue carved liquid is pouring out of the top bowl into the lower bowl acting as a metaphoric hour glass. Because this is a free standing structure, the back of the bed reveals the original baby motif illustration.
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Paul Medina, Oklahoma City, Second to None, Mixed Media
Something has been left behind, decayed and disappeared and the remains become a stop motion metaphor for our interpretation. Is she the baby remembering the past or was the baby hers, that no longer is alive? A drop of liquid is perpetually stopped, never reaching that second bowl. Stop motion only exists in video editing and not in the movement of time that we experience unless the Buddhists are correct about life being an illusion. Another favorite is Embrace and Escape. In the left side of the composition a young black male nude looking downward is seen from a profile position from his knees up. He appears to be levitating in a stationary position looking earth bound. The bottom end of a ladder is behind him hovering upward, levitating out of the picture plane. To the far right, a bouquet of flowers span top to bottom that seems to grow like a bean stalk in a fairy tale. The figure appears to be contemplating a decision. The figure might be looking at his own denials and truths, feeling the only escape is to that fairy tale. The feeling of ambiguity that inhabits many of our lives is being illustrated. To flee or to commit to the unknown is that test we all face, and this character is considering his options. There is an existential pause with the dilemma in his sight. Paul Medina has built psychological cathedrals to illustrate the harsh winds of change. He struggles with the same insecurities that we all share in the brave new world. Since we as humans are becoming more inclined to inhabit the Orwellian Church of the Mass Media we are spinning into an epistemological rat’s nest. We need the ambiguous clarity of an artist that is asking the right questions. The work is beautiful and thoughtful. A new exhibition of Paul Medina’s work can be seen at the GaylordPickens Oklahoma Heritage Museum May 10 – July 3, 2008. An opening reception will be held May 15, 5-7 pm. The Gaylord-Pickens Oklahoma Heritage Museum is located at 1400 Classen Dr. in Oklahoma City. Visit www.oklahomaheritage.com. About the Author: George Oswalt is a visual artist that has written art critiques for Art Focus and the Gazette over the years. He can be reached at geooswalt@hotmail.com
Paul Medina, Oklahoma City, Time Goes By, Mixed Media
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SPECIAL SERIES:
ART 365
Article 6 of a six part series highlighting one of the six artists selected for Art 365
Artist Live4This by Stephen Kovash Artists are an interesting bunch. As a subset, graphic designers are also pretty dear. “Live4This” is a collaborative multidisciplinary design studio consisting of Aaron Whisner, Darshon Phillips, Nic Trent, Rob Gungor and Herb Claudfelter. They chose the name “Live4This” because the collaborative art and design they produce is “what they live for.” Artists Whisner and Phillips, continuing to operate under the name “Live4This” are participating in the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition’s (OVAC) Art 365 project, under which selected artists are given a $10,000 stipend and work one-on-one with a curator over the course of 365 days. The guest curator chosen for the exhibition is Diane Barber. Barber serves as Co-Executive Director and Visual Arts Curator of DiverseWorks in Houston. She is responsible for developing and implementing the organization’s visual arts, curating exhibitions and organizing educational projects. DiverseWorks houses two on-site galleries featuring a combined fourteen to sixteen exhibitions a year. Reviewing the proposals, Barber found many artists defining and exploring American identity, whether they named it literally or not. According to Barber, the selected
Aaron Whisner, of Live4This, working on their Art 365 project.
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proposals consider aspects of the American identity through icons, introspective explorations, symbolic natural worlds, and consumerism. Barber has made four studio visits with the participating artists over the project year. The other selected artists are Sarah Atlee, Norman; Betsy Barnum, Edmond; Ashley Griffith, Oklahoma City; Liz Roth, Stillwater and Joe Daun, Oklahoma City. Their work represents painting, printmaking, mixed media, sculpture and modified technologies. These artists have been profiled in previous editions of Art Focus Oklahoma. (To view past issues, visit the Art Focus archive at www.ArtFocusOklahoma.org.) According to their minimalist biographies, Whisner and Phillips are designers, artists, photographers and illustrators and apparently share an affinity for the movie “Dumb and Dumber.” Their work is far from minimal though, embracing the iconic “Americana” symbolism with paintings largely on oversized wood panels. At the time of this writing, the artists were still in the planning stage, with the general thought that the panels would be installed with some interactive aspects and other objects that tie the entire installation
Darshan Phillips, of Live4This, paints in the GI Joe in a new painting in the Elements of Childhood series for Art 365
together. The main elements of the installation include images that people might identify with their childhood, including Tonka toys, Barbies, G.I. Joes and ice cream. The artists’ intention is to provide imagery with which people can make a personal connection, possibly triggering memories from a time when everything was about imagination, possibilities, freedom and fun. The artists described working with the curator as a great experience. According to Phillips, “It was nice to get pushed. When we normally do shows, if there is any pushing, it is us pushing the gallery owner to let us go crazy.” In their original proposal, the artists planned on doing oversized screen prints to display the iconic images. Based on the curatorial pushing, they switched to wood panels and are happy with the change. There will be four eight foot panels and several panels decreasing in size down to 8.5-x-11 inches. The panels are indeed decorated with colorful, expressive images redolent of a childhood in the 1980s. The interactive aspects include a basketball goal, lockers and a working Ms. Pac Man game. The pieces are displayed in a mural fashion. The images are well executed, fun and are a treat to look at. While the icons might not be immediately familiar to some older
Darshan Phillips, of Live4This, working on their Art 365 project
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Artist L ive4T his
viewers, the artists hope that things like ice cream, Barbie and G.I. Joe have been around long enough to connect with most of the viewers. The Art 365 experience was interesting to the artists. The stipend helped pay the rent and the cost of the Ms. Pac Man machine, but the curatorial oversight and time frame were sometimes a challenge. “We normally get notification of our shows at least a couple of months ahead of time and normally don’t get started until the month before the show,” states Phillips. “With Art 365, we were closely monitored by the curator and (OVAC). They were making sure we were getting things done. But it was still difficult to work so far ahead of schedule for us.” By the time of publication of this article, the Art 365 exhibit will have completed its run at the Untitled [ArtSpace] in Oklahoma City. The exhibition can be viewed in Tulsa during May and June with portions of the exhibition running concurrently at the Alexandre Hogue Gallery at the University of Tulsa and the Liggett Studio at 314 S Kenosha Avenue. The schedule is as follows: Alexandre Hogue Gallery: May 29-June 27, 2008 and Liggett Studio: May 19-June 14, 2008. On May 29 there will be an opening reception at both venues from 5-7 p.m. Also on May 29 at 7 p.m., the Circle Cinema at 10 S. Lewis Avenue will be screening a documentary of the Art 365 project. Following the Tulsa exhibition, the show will travel to Legion Arts at CSPS in Cedar Rapids, Iowa October 15-November 23, 2008 and beginning in September 2009, each artist will have a solo show at DiverseWorks in Houston, Texas. This will be the first time an OVAC exhibit has traveled outside the state of Oklahoma. The Art 365 project is funded in part by the Oklahoma Humanities Council, the National Endowment for the Humanities, Oklahoma Arts Council, Allied Arts, Kirkpatrick Foundation, and Jean Ann Fausser. About the Author: Stephen Kovash owns the Istvan Gallery at Urban Art, is an OVAC Board Member and has a day job with the Environmental Protection Agency. He can be reached at urbanartokc@gmail.com
A digital study for Live4This’ Art 365 project.
38th Annual
ART SHOW at Acme Brick Park
June 7, 2008 • Clinton, Oklahoma 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
$6,000 in Awards Best of Show – $1,000
First – $500
Second – $250 Third – $100
Above prizes awarded in the following categories: Oil & Acrylic, Watercolor, Sculpture & Pottery, Graphics & Pastel, Photography
Crafts Awards: First – $125 Second – $75 Third – $50 For information or entry form please contact us:
ARTS COUNCIL
P.O. Box 241 • Clinton, OK 73601
CLINTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 580-323-2222 • www.clintonokla.org OKL AHOM A
linton Hub City of Western Oklahoma
COUNCIL
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feat u re
HISTORY
OVAC Grants and Awards Programs by Debby Williams Have you and some of your friends ever sat around a café table discussing how you would cure the world of some social ill, perhaps even sketching some ideas on a napkin only to have forgotten that brilliant plan the next day? Well, in 1988 John McNeese, Laura Warriner and a cadre of equally exceptional people got together one evening after work at the Classen Grill in Oklahoma City to talk about art. Their conversation was more specifically aimed at figuring out how to get money to artists. Exceptional people because they didn’t allow the valuable results of their conversation to simply fade away or be usurped the next day by their many other responsibilities; the vision born that night became the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition. The purpose of creating such an organization was to help Oklahoma artists financially and the fellowships given by a number of groups including the National
Endowment for the Arts were to be models. OVAC was founded for this purpose in August, 1988 and the grant and award programs were intended to recognize and reward excellence in work by Oklahoma artists and to foster their artistic growth. In June, 1989 the first Artist Award of Excellence, in the amount of $1,000, was awarded to James Seitz. It had been a basic tenant of the program to have jurors for the awards come from out-of-state. The inaugural juror in 1989 was Murray Smither of Delahunty Gallery, Dallas, Texas. Mr. Smither became the first of a long, very impressive list of well-respected, knowledgeable jurors from all over the United States including Don Bacigalupi, Director, San Diego Museum of Art in 1999 and in 2005, Mark Pascale, Associate Curator of Prints and Drawings, The Art Institute of Chicago.
Interestingly, in 1990 the program consisted of two parts: the Artist Award of Excellence and the Media Award of Excellence. The Artist Award of Excellence was an annual award open to visual artists in all media, including painting, drawing, sculpture, printmaking, photography, ceramics, film and video, fiber and jewelry. This fellowship is still given today; however, it is an award of $5,000. The Media Award of Excellence, a category added in 1990, was a specialty award and the program guidelines provided that the highlighted medium was to change every year. In that first year, two awards were given---one in Film and Video and one in Photography. Since July 1, 1998, the Awards of Excellence have given Oklahoma artists $37,500; there have been $25,000 in fellowships awarded and $1,850 given for Student Awards of Excellence. 2000: Dennis Martin
1994: Maxine Richard 1989: James Seitz
1991: David Gill 1993: Paul Medina
1990: Laurie Spencer
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1993: Edgar Heap of Birds
1989 Artist Award of Excellence, $1,000: James Seitz Juror: Murray Smither, Dallas, TX
1991 Artist Award of Excellence, $1,000: David Gill Juror: Myra Morgan, Kansas City, MO
1990 Artist Award of Excellence, $1,000: Laurie Spencer Juror: Barry Whistler, Dallas, TX Media Award of Excellence in Film and Video, $1,000: Cathey Edwards Media Award of Excellence in Photography, $1,000: Carla Cain Juror: Tom Southall, Fort Worth, TX
1992 Media Award of Excellence in Fiber, $1,000: Stephanie Grubbs Juror: Morgan Clifford, St. Paul, MN 1993 Artist Award of Excellence, $2,000: Edgar Heap of Birds Media Award of Excellence in Sculpture, $1,500: Paul Medina Juror: Betty Moody, Houston, TX
2000: Kreg Kallenberger
1994: DJ Lafon 1994 Artist Award of Excellence, $2,000: Maxine Richard Media Award of Excellence in Drawing and Printmaking, $1,500: DJ Lafon Juror: Jesús Bautista Moroles, Rockport, TX 1995 Artist Award of Excellence, $1,500 each: Gloria Abella De Duncan, Don Longcrier, Sunni Mercer Juror: Mia McEldowney, Seattle, WA
2000: Don Thompson 1996 Artist Awards of Excellence, $1,500 each: Marty Avrett, Jennifer Gerard Cocoma, Dawna Wallis Jurors: Kaleta Doolin and Alan Govenar, Dallas TX 1997 Artist Awards of Excellence, $1,500 each: John Riley Hood, Randy Wallace, Corazon S. Watkins Juror: Donald E. Knaub, Wichita, KS
feat u re th A N N I V E R S A R Y 1
O Soon after establishing the Awards of Excellence, the Sudden Opportunity Fund was set up to be a revolving fund of grants and loans of up to $250 to assist artists wishing to take advantage of opportunities to advance their careers. This program was designed to support activities relevant to an artist’s work and/or career and that were only available for a limited time. The Sudden Opportunity Fund was administered by a committee appointed by the Board. Today that fund has evolved into a grants program that has remained steadfast in helping artists with basic needs such as education, framing, crating and documenting their work but has also responded well to the changing needs of Oklahoma artists in today’s world, creating grants for encouraging and enabling artists to reach their creative potential.
Since 1998, OVAC has given Oklahoma artists $45,825 in grants. However, not only do these grants help artists financially but there are many other benefits as well. The process of applying for a grant helps an artist solidify their vision, either specifically for a project or more broadly for their career. Participating in the application process can also help artists learn to articulate their vision and plan for feasible budgets and timelines. When the Grants Committee reviews applications, notes are made of the committee members’ comments so the applicant can look at those notes and, hopefully, that insight will help them in writing applications in the future. The purpose of OVAC grants, including the application process itself, is to help artists as much as possible and this is all good experience especially when applying to more competitive programs.
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John McNeese has said that, “the grant programs for Oklahoma artists are OVAC’s exceptional legacy. Nothing has given me more pleasure than seeing the continued growth of these programs since I left OVAC at the end of 1996.” Exceptional people with a vision have given us an exceptional legacy. To honor that legacy, we need to take full advantage of the opportunity we have been given. “OVAC strives to have a grant program that effectively responds to artists’ needs because we want it to continue to have a significant impact on Oklahoma artists,” stated Julia Kirt, Executive Director, “and it is our hope that more and more artists will take advantage of the program and benefit from it.” About the Author: Debby Williams is the Director of the Oklahoma Art in Public Places Program, is a past OVAC Board member and has been chair of the Grants Committee for four years.
2003: Chris Ramsay 2002: Brandon Reese
2006: Glenn Herbert Davis
2003: Kristy Lewis Andrew 2004: Gary Hickerson
2002: Robert Dorlac
2007: Brandon Reese
2007: Marwin Begaye
2002: Steven L. Brown 2003: Michelle Martin 1998 Artist Awards of Excellence, $1,500 each: Rebecca Friedman, Dortha Killian, Clint Shore Juror: Robert McClain, Houston, TX
2000 Artist Awards of Excellence, $1,500 each: Kreg Kallenberger, Dennis James Martin, Don Thompson Juror: Nancy Hoffman, New York City, NY
1999 Artist Awards of Excellence, $1,500 each: P.S. Gordon, Burt Harbison, Mark Lewis Juror: Don Bacigalupi, San Diego, CA
2002 Artist Awards of Excellence, $2,000 each: Steven L. Brown, Robert Dorlac, Brandon Reese Juror: Betsy Senior, New York City, NY
2006: Kjelshus HC 2003 Oklahoma Visual Arts Fellowship, $5,000: Heidi Mau Artist Awards of Excellence, $2,000 each: Kristy Lewis Andrew, Michelle Martin, Chris Ramsey Juror: Patricia C. Phillips, NY
2006 Oklahoma Visual Arts Fellowship, $5,000: Glenn Herbert Davis Artist Awards of Excellence, $2,000: Martha Avrett, Kjelshus HC, Sarah Williams Hearn Juror: Bill Goldston, New York City, NY
2004 Oklahoma Visual Arts Fellowship, $5,000: Jonathan Hils Artist Awards of Excellence, $2,000 each: Joseph Daun, Laura A. Guth, Gary Hickerson Juror: Mark Pascale, Chicago, IL
2007 Oklahoma Visual Arts Fellowship, $5,000 each: Brandon Reese, Marwin Begaye Juror: Jed Dodds, Baltimore, MD
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business of ar t
A Certain Uncertainty As artists, we all work with a certain amount of uncertainty. The process of creating artwork isn’t fool-proof technically or creatively. Then there’s the business side of the artistic life. What artwork to submit where? How to keep track of things? How to make a living? There are a million issues to deal with when you’re a self-employed artist and very little seems certain, certainly not money. Self-employed artists (whether being an artist is a primary job, or a second job) are able to resolve uncertain finances by becoming better at the various aspects of the business of art. We learn to love contracts, budgeting, marketing and time management. Not the sexiest parts of living the artistic life I’ll admit. If I had to pick one issue, the thing that has most helped my financial health as an artist was learning to get contracts in writing from whatever gallery, non-profit organization or publisher that I intended to work with. This has helped my finances because contracts simplify everything and provide some degree of certainty. Contracts (more popularly known as “agreements”) and why I love them (now): A good contract, hereafter referred to as an agreement, describes what is to be expected of each party. It says who is to do what when. As an artist this means I have a timeline that I can put on my calendar. If it is an exhibit agreement, it tells me the date I am to send in my artist statement and other documents. It states what kind of images of my artwork I’m to send – and when I’m to send them. The contract will also tell me when I’m to deliver my artwork! It will also tell me what the gallery or organization will be doing on my behalf. The gallery may do the publicity and promotions, mail the invitations, handle the shipping, provide insurance and take care of the refreshments at the opening. An agreement will also outline when I can expect to be paid. Whatever the terms are, it will all be outlined in the agreement. This is clear communication and it helps keep things simple so that I, the artist, can concentrate on making the artwork and the gallery director can focus on the gallery. This minimizes fuss and bother on both sides. I love that! Isn’t getting an agreement a lot of fuss and bother? NO! If nothing is written down in a formal way and only verbal ‘agreements’ are made then the chances for a miscommunication increase dramatically. You may think that you’re to bring the artwork on a certain day while the gallery owner may think you’ll be bringing it on a different day. The gallery owner may be very disappointed when you don’t show up and you may be disappointed if the gallery owner isn’t there to receive your artwork when you deliver it! Most importantly, without a written agreement you have no way of knowing for sure when you’ll be paid. The lack of a written agreement makes for even more uncertainty.
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Ask a by Sue Clancy
Thorny miscommunications aside, having a written agreement protects you, the artist. Not every gallery is reputable. Early on in my career I was ‘represented’ by one gallery which suddenly disappeared along with the owner and eight of my paintings. Without a written agreement I had no proof that I’d ever had artwork in that gallery. I had no recourse, no way to get my paintings back or get paid for them. Certainly I’ve never seen those paintings again. As a result, I quickly learned to value written agreements. Of course having a written agreement also protects the gallery, too. As an artist it reassures me when a gallery cares enough about the artwork in its space and its clients to make certain the artists represented by that gallery are dependable. Just having an agreement makes it more likely that both the artist and the gallery will each hold up their ends of the bargain. This makes success much more likely; another reason why I love agreements. If the organization or gallery does NOT offer a written agreement after the initial verbal conversation I’m wary. It may be that the gallery simply forgot. People aren’t perfect. So, if I haven’t been shown a written agreement requesting my signature, I’ll ask for one. If the gallery or organization doesn’t have an agreement prepared (this is a red flag, danger signal) then I, as the artist, can offer THEM one! If they hem and haw about “putting it in writing” I take my artwork and go home. There are plenty of other galleries in the world. As artists we have something that the gallery wants and needs. We are the suppliers. This doesn’t mean artists have a license to be divas or anything of the sort. It does mean that if we have a concern about an agreement we are well within our rights as professionals to ask about it. We can even negotiate. Some good books with tips on good “win-win” artist/gallery agreements are: How To Survive and Prosper as an Artist by Caroll Michels; Taking The Leap by Cay Lang; The Business of Art by Lee Caplin; Art Marketing 101 by Constance Smith Two books which should be on every artist’s shelf for use as reference are: Business and Legal Forms for Fine Artists by Tad Crawford; Legal Guide For The Visual Artist by Tad Crawford While nothing is absolute except death and taxes formal written agreements are a major way to increase the amount of certainty regarding certain things, like money, in an artistic life. About the Author: Sue Clancy is a full-time professional artist whose artwork can be seen internationally - and locally at Joseph Gierek Fine Art gallery in Tulsa OK (www.gierek.com) or at Downtown Art & Frame in Norman OK. She checks her email artist@telepath.com occasionally, too.
Creativity Coach by Romney Nesbitt Dear Romney,
Can you give me some suggestions on how to find time to focus on my art work while I’m at work? - Bored at work Dear Bored, Take your creativity to work with you. Here are eight ways to build in time for “creative” thinking. • Get to work early. Write, sketch or plot your next PR campaign at your desk. • Stay at work a half-hour later and avoid the rush hour. Use the time to work on your creative projects. Miss the bumper to bumper traffic and arrive home less stressed and mentally prepared to be creative. • Use break time to read a book or magazine article about your creative field. Take that stack of magazines to the office. I can also recommend Robert Henri’s The Art Spirit or Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art. • Pack a lunch and work on sketches at your desk. Save money for art supplies. • Decorate your work space with samples of your artwork or prints of your favorite artist. You are more than the job you perform, you are also who you are becoming as an artist. • Your co-workers can enrich your creative life. Artists in the workplace are surrounded by potential models. Practice your figure drawing. • Listen to CD’s and books on tape that address your creative interests while you drive. Driving often frees up creative solutions too. Jot down your ideas on a spiral notebook page or use your cell phone to call and leave yourself a message on your home phone. • Begin the night before. Write three goals for the next day such as “think about my compositional problem,” “order art supplies,” or “design a logo for my new business card.” Your brain will work on your goals while you’re sleeping and during the next day. About the Author: Romney Nesbitt is a creativity coach, artist, teacher and writer living in Tulsa. She welcomes your coaching questions for future columns. Contact her at RomneyN@cox.net.
business of ar t
Round Up
At a Glance
May/June 2008
OVAC has a blog. Watch for artist business tips, timely opportunity listings, At a Glance exhibition reviews and more: ovac.blogspot.com.
by Gretchen Collins Geoffrey Hicks’ Art 2.0 is an interactive sensory experience, fun, but clearly makes statements. The exhibit was hosted by the Tulsa Artists’ Coalition as a part of Living Art’s New Genre XV.
Momentum Tulsa is June 21 at Living Arts & Liggett Studios. Expect art, music, performance and interactive fun for all ages. Watch www.momentumoklahoma.org for calls to artists and event facts. The Art 365 exhibition opens at the Alexandre Hogue Gallery at the University of Tulsa and Liggett Studio in Tulsa on May 29, 5-7 pm. A documentary film about the Art 365 artists will debut at Circle Cinema at 7 pm. All events are free and open to the public. OVAC’s Annual Member Meeting will take place June 14. Watch your mailboxes for the location and more details. Jim Eldridge, OVAC’s AmeriCorps member, is surveying high school artists and art teachers for their resources and opinions. He is also sending a regular email newsletter pertinent to high school aged artists. Please email jim@ovac-ok.org to sign up or give feedback. Art People The Oklahoma Arts Council has named Suzanne Tate as Executive Director. Since 1992, she has served as deputy director overseeing all of the agency’s programs and budgets and managing the day-to-day activities of this 16-person operation. A native Oklahoman, Tate earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with a major in accounting and a minor in art from the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond. She also studied at Bellas Artes Art Institute, San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico. Price Tower Arts Center has named Timothy L. Boruff as its Executive Director. Mr. Boruff was most recently a non-profit consultant with his own firm, Boruff Consulting Services and an adjunct professor at IUPU teaching Leadership in the Non-profit Sector. He was formerly the deputy director for administration, finance and planning at Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA).
Playground combined technology and childlike voyeurism. A yellow ball on a pole activates a screen on the wall. Visitors to the gallery, with the enthusiasm of children, enjoyed tossing the ball. The greater its velocity, the more passionate the kiss by the couple on screen. Spamscape begins with pastoral scenes, but stepping in front of this screen unleashes an onslaught of internet spam. Using spam sent to his computer, Spamscape effectively demonstrates the space junk that floats through the World Wide Web. Art 2.0 is inventive high-tech art without being pushy or pretentious. Hicks says, “It’s my belief that a lot of art will be like this in five or ten years.” His work can be seen at www.geoph.com. About the Author: Gretchen Collins has covered the arts in Tulsa for the past 13 years. She is an awardwinning writer; including the Society for Professional Journalists award, and was an art major in college.
Thank you to our New and Renewing Members from May and June 2008 Gil Adams Jo Ann Adams Raquel Adams Laurie Allard Bobby Anderson MK Barnes Justin and Betsy Barnum Thomas Batista Linda Bayard William L. Beasley Russell Bellamy Mike Blackard Lily Boettcher Jay Bonifield Josh Buss Shelly Bynum Chris Cameris Raven Capps-Crowl Eleanor Davy Carmack Marsha Carman Faith Childress Kobe JM Cohen Candace Coker Gretchen Collins
Chris Corbett Linda and Ian Coward John L. Cox Ken Crowder Cynthia Curry Gayle Curry Keith and Hanna Curtis Sarah Davison Joanne DeShong Bill and Janie Deupree Cathy Deuschle Ana Maria Diaz Claudia Doyle Tony Dyke and Susan Morrison-Dyke Janene Evard Carolyn Faseler Ken Fergeson Phil Fitzgerald Kimberly Fonder James and Yiren Gallagher Andrea Gardner Robert Garfinkel Darlene Garmaker
Darnell Gepford Erin Gilliland Patricia Gobbel Kyle and Cher Golding John Green Mary Lou Gresham Pamela Husky Kate Johnson Curtis Jones Deborah Kaspari Lisa Keel Jim Keffer Nicole Kelly Bob Kenworthy Masood Khan Linda Koebelen Stephen and Christina Kovash Erin Latham Art and Betsy LeFrancois Vincent B. Leitch P. Keith Lenington Katherine Liontas-Warren Ruth Loucks
Greg Main Kristen Martin Nancy Masters Joan Matzdorf Debora McCarty Anthony McDermid, AIA Elizabeth Mellor Gilda Meyers Tiffany Michelle Nicole Moan Francis Moran Elizabeth L. Muller Teresa Murphy Dana Niblett Oklahoma State Univ, Art Dept Tomoaki Orikasa Ray Payn Patty Plummer Tom and Babs Richardson Denise Rinkovsky Nancy Roper Liz Roth Audrey Schmitz and Ken
Crowder C. Elizabeth Smathers Geoffrey L. Smith Sandy and Bob Sober Laurie Spencer Leigh Victoria Standingbear Shelley R Starnes Jansen Sterba Doris Swanson The Art Basket Gallery Tulsa Glassblowing Studio Valerie Wade John Brooks Walton Laura and Joe Warriner Cynthia Wolf Dakota Wolf Betty Wood Craig Wood Leonard Charles Wright III Ashley Young
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Gallery Listings Ardmore
Edmond
Goddard Center Permanent Collection May 6 - 24 The Goddard Center Annual Juried Exhibit June 10 - 27 Opening June 14, 2-4 pm The Goddard Center 401 First Avenue SW (580) 226-0909 goddardcenter.org
Dick Evans Opening June 5, 5-7 pm Shadid Fine Art 19 N. Broadway (405) 341-9023 shadidfineart.com
Bartlesville Setting the Table: Designs in MidCentury Dinnerware Through August 3 Price Tower Arts Center 510 Dewey Ave. (918) 336-4949 pricetower.org
Broken Bow 100 Wooden Objects: Design, Form & Function Through May 2 Kiamichi Owa-Chito June 20 - 22 Forest Heritage Center Beaver’s Bend Resort (580) 494-6497 beaversbend.com
Chickasha Selections from the Permanent Collection Through August University of Sciences and Arts of Oklahoma Gallery-Davis Hall 1806 17th Street (405) 574-1344 usao.edu/gallery/
Durham Nature Beckons: Landscape Paintings by Augusta Metcalfe Memories as Heirlooms: Fine Art by Peggy Carr The World Through My Eyes: Photo Collages by Sarah Jrab Through May 27 Joss Buss: Roger Mills County Earl Crammer: The New Ol’ West June 6 – August 30 Metcalfe Museum Rt. 1 Box 25 (580) 655-4467 metcalfemuseum.org
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El Reno El Reno Heritage & Arts Festival April 12, 10-5 RCC Student Show and Showcase Through May 16 RCC 3rd Annual Fine Arts Faculty Show May 29 – August 1 Redlands Community College (405) 262-2552 redlandscc.edu
Lawton Kathy Liontas-Warren, Shelly Starnes and Elizabeth Helm Melon Opening May 10, 7-9 pm The Leslie Powell Foundation and Gallery 620 D Avenue (580) 357-9526 lpgallery.org
Norman ArtWalk: Sue Clancy, Tünde Darvay, Michael J. Wilson, Bonnie Amspacher, Patrick Riley, Bob Wilson Opening May 2, 6-10 Downtown Art and Frame Gallery 115 S. Santa Fe (405) 329-0309 Dreamer 9: Migration... the Origami Experience Through May 2 OU Student Exhibit May 2 – May 10 Opening May 2, 6-10 Dreamer Concepts Studio & Foundation 324 East Main (405) 701-0048 dreamerconcepts.org University of Oklahoma American Indian Artists Exhibition Through June 29 Indian Art Market May 3 - 4 Jacobson House 609 Chautauqua (405) 366-1667 jacobsonhouse.com
Exhibition Schedule Hung Liu: Now and Then Through July 6 China: Insights Through July 17 Tradition in Transition: Russian Icons from the Hillwood Collection Through August 24 Highlights from the Adkins Collection Through December 28 Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art 555 Elm Ave. (405) 325-4938 ou.edu/fjjma David Phelps, Michael Almaguer & Jose Rodriguez May 2 – June 5 Opening May 2, 6-10 Mainsite Contemporary Art Gallery 122 East Main (405) 292-8095 mainsite-art.com
Oklahoma City
Under the Influence 2: Music and Art Through May 24 HandsOn 2008 June 16 - August 16, 2008 City Arts Center 3000 General Pershing Blvd. (800) 951-0000 cityartscenter.org Contemporary Crafts May 2 – 31 Opening May 2, 6-10 pm Invitational Glass & Ernesto Sanchez Paintings June 6 – 29 Opening June 6, 6-10 pm JRB Art at the Elms 2810 North Walker (405) 528-6336 jrbartgallery.com SIMPATICO: New Works by Paul Medina May 10 – July 3 Opening May 15, 5-7 pm Gaylord-Pickens Oklahoma Heritage Museum 1400 Classen Dr. (405) 235-4458 o oklahomaheritage.com Elia Woods & Whitney Forsyth May 2 – 30 Opening May 17, 6-9 pm
Fiberworks 2008 June 6 – 27 Opening June 6, 6-9 pm Individual Artists of Oklahoma 811 N. Broadway (405) 232-6060 iaogallery.org Michael Wilson and Romy Owens May 9 – July 31 Opening May 9, 6-10 Istvan Gallery at Urban Art 1218 N. Western Ave. (405) 831-2874 istvangallery.com Stomp Dance and Stickball Real Western Wear The Rodeo Photography of Louise Serpa Through May 4 Being Buffalo Bill: Man, Myth and Media Through July 6 Prix de West June 13 – September 7 National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum 1700 NE 63rd (405) 478-2250 nationalcowboymuseum.org Paul McEntire May 12 – July 6 Mark Lewis May 19 – July 13 Corazon Watkins May 26 – July 27 Oklahoma State Capital Galleries 2300 N. Lincoln Blvd (405) 521-2931 state.ok.us/~arts The Tilghman Print Collection Through May 4 Brett Weston: Out of the Shadow Through May 18 Roman Art from the Louvre June 19 – October 12 Oklahoma City Museum of Art 415 Couch Drive (405) 236-3100 okcmoa.com Pastel Group May 2 – 21 Opening May 2, 6-10 pm Paul Wingo May 22 – May 31
galler y gu ide Josh Buss, Moore, Yellow House, C-Print, 16”x20” on display at the Metcalfe Museum in Durham June 6 – August 30.
Skiatook
Paseo Arts Festival May 24 - 26 Annette Sinesio and Jean Keil June 6 – 28 Opening June 6, 6-10 pm Paseo Art Space 3022 Paseo (405) 525-2688 thepaseo.com Narciso Argüelles May 9 – June 28 Opening May 9, 5-8 pm Untitled [ArtSpace] 1 NE 3rd St. (405) 815-9995 1ne3.org
Ponca City Jack Allred & Ann Powell May 4 – 25 Opening May 4, 1:30-4:30 Ponca City Art Center 819 East Central (580) 765-9746 poncacity.com
Shawnee Form and Function Through June 29 Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art 1900 West Macarthur (405) 878-5300 mgmoa.org
Monthly Art Walk May 2, 5-7 pm Beginnings Through May 31 National Treasure June 4 – July 26 Monthly Art Walk June 6, 5-7 pm Prairie’s Edge Art Gallery 100 E. Rogers Blvd. (918) 384-9104 prairiesedgeart.com
Tulsa 8th Invitational: Woman and Men May 1 – 29 Lana Taylor June 5 – July 3 Apertures Gallery 1936 South Harvard (918) 742-0500 aperturesphoto.com First Friday Opening, May 2 & June 6 Color Connection Gallery 2050 Utica Square (918) 742-0515 colorconnectiongallery.com 1776-1876: A Century of American History in Art Through May 25 Gilcrease Museum 1400 Gilcrease Road (918) 596-2700 gilcrease.org ArtCar Outsider Artists May 15 – 18 Momentum Tulsa June 21, 8-Midnight Liggett Studio
314 S. Kenosha (918) 694-5719 liggettstudio.com
9 East Brady (918) 592-0041 tacgallery.org
Yiren Gallagher: Constructing a Restorative Space May 1 – 22 Tulsa ArtCar Weekend IV May 15 – 18 Art 365 May 29 – June 12 Opening May 29, 5-7 pm Momentum Tulsa June 21, 8-Midnight Living Arts 308 S. Kenosha (918) 585-1234 livingarts.org
Color and Serenity: The Paintings by Michio Takayama June 5 – July 13 Tulsa Performing Arts Center Gallery Third and Cincinnati (918) 596-2368 tulsapac.com
Waite Philips: The Man and his Legacy Through May 4 Painting the Italian Landscape: Views from the Uffizi Through June 1 The Object Project: Common Subjects, Uncommon Results. June 29 – September 21 The Eugene B. Adkins Collection Through December 31 The Philbrook Museum of Art 2727 South Rockford Road (918) 749-7941 Philbrook.org 5x5 Annual Fundraiser May 5 – 24 Opening May 5, 5 pm Annual Members’ Show June 6 - 28 Tulsa Artists Coalition Gallery
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Senior Exhibition May 1 – 23 Opening May 1, 5-7 pm Art 365 May 29 – June 27 Opening May 29, 5-7 pm Alexandre Hogue Gallery Phillips Hall, The University of Tulsa 2930 E. 5th St. (918) 631-2739 cas.utulsa.edu/art
Woodward Guess Whoooo’s Baccckkkk? Through May 31 Carolyn Johnson: Southwest Light June 1 – 30 Plains Indians and Pioneers Museum 2009 Williams Ave (580) 256-6136 pipm1.com Contact editor for information about submitting listings at publications@ ovac-ok.org. For a more complete list of Oklahoma galleries, visit www.ovac-ok.org.
N T E R N A T I O N A L
May 15th – 18th, 2008 Tulsa’s Premiere Arts Festival Great Art! Great Music! Great Food! Hours: Thursday, May 15th Friday, May 16th Saturday, May 17th Sunday, May 18th
11am – 11pm 11am – 11pm 11am – 11pm 11am – 6pm
Location: Downtown Tulsa between Third and Sixth on Main Admission: Free!
Mayfest is an outdoor tribute to the arts and to music that is a family-oriented event. It was created to promote a broader knowledge of and appreciation for arts and humanities among serious, as well as casual, art lovers.
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