Art Focus Oklahoma, November/December 2014 by Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition

ArtOFocus k l a h o m a

O k l a ho ma V i s ual A r ts C oal i t i on

Vo l u m e 2 9 N o . 6

November/December 2014

Art OFocus k l a h o m a from the editor The Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition is excited to have welcomed our new Executive Director Holly Moye, who joined us in October! Most recently, Holly served as Director of Summer and External Programs at ArtsBridge, a Boston-based consultancy connecting students with educational and growth opportunities in the visual and performing arts. Her experience in arts education will help OVAC strengthen our programs and promote enhanced understanding of the arts statewide. Help us welcome Holly at two upcoming receptions where you can meet her and learn more about our upcoming programs. Receptions will be held: Thursday, November 6, 6-8 pm at the Arts & Humanities Council of Tulsa’s Hardesty Arts Center, 101 E Archer St in Tulsa. Thursday, November 13, 6-8 pm at Istvan Gallery, 1218 N Western Ave in Oklahoma City. For more information or to RSVP contact office@ovac-ok.org or 405-879-2400. As 2014 draws to a close, I hope you’ll find ways to incorporate local art and artists in your holiday plans. Many Oklahoma galleries and artists are hosting special holiday art markets and open studios. These events are a wonderful way to meet local artists and purchase handmade gifts. You can find a full list of art events and open studios on our website at ovac-ok.org/calendar. Also keep in mind that OVAC offers gift memberships, a perfect way to encourage the artists in your life. In the new year, OVAC will launch the third iteration of the Oklahoma Art Writing & Curatorial Fellowship. This yearlong program trains promising writers and curators by expanding their professional education and experience. Visiting experts will mentor the Fellows in intimate, hands-on workshops alongside public panel discussions. I hope you’ll take advantage of the opportunity to learn from our guest mentors during the four panel discussions held in 2015. If you’re interested in participating as a Fellow, the deadline to apply is November 17 at 5 pm. Visit www.write-curate-art.org for details. As always, we look forward to what the new year will bring for artists across our state. Please keep us updated on your upcoming events, exhibitions and projects.

Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition 730 W. Wilshire Blvd., Suite 104 Oklahoma City, OK 73116 ph: 405.879.2400 • e: director@ovac-ok.org visit our website at: www.ovac-ok.org Executive Director: Holly Moye director@ovac-ok.org Editor: Kelsey Karper publications@ovac-ok.org Art Director: Anne Richardson speccreative@gmail.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: 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. OVAC Board of Directors July 2014-June 2015: Margo Shultes von Schlageter, MD, Christian Trimble, Edmond; Jon Fisher, Moore; Bob Curtis, Gina Ellis (Treasurer), Hillary Farrell, TiTi Fitzsimmons, Michael Hoffner (Secretary), Stephen Kovash, Travis Mason, Suzanne Mitchell, Renée Porter (President), Oklahoma City; Dean Wyatt, Owasso; Joey Frisillo, Sand Springs; Shelley Cadamy, Jean Ann Fausser, Susan Green (Vice President), Janet Shipley Hawks, Ariana Jakub, 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. © 2014, Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition. All rights reserved. View the online archive at www.ArtFocusOklahoma.org.

Kelsey Karper publications@ovac-ok.org

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On the cover Tommy Ball, Tulsa, Facing West from the Summit Club, Watercolor, 24” x 48”. See page 12.

contents

p ro f i l e s 4 The Wonderful World of Wimmer

A retrospective showcases Mike Wimmer’s prolific career, highlighting some of his best known work in illustration, portraits and collectibles.

6 Lance Hunter’s Luminous Color

Having painted many large-scale outdoor murals, this Tahlequah artist is now focusing more on smaller scale watercolor paintings and the symbolic essence of water.

p re v i e w s 8 Mother Road: Photography and Installation by Jessica Harvey

A Tulsa exhibition shares documentation, artifacts and mysteries of an artist’s trek across Route 66.

10 Alexandre Hogue: An American Visionary – Paintings and Works on Paper

A traveling exhibition makes a stop in Tulsa with a survey of Hogue’s career from student work to his monumental late paintings of Big Bend.

12 Beauty in Structure: Watercolor Cityscapes by Tommy Ball

A solo exhibition treats audiences to evening cityscapes in watercolor, showing Oklahoma cities in a different light.

13 Here and Now with Contemporary Native American Artists

The fine craft work of Oklahoma’s contemporary Native artists is highlighted in a juried exhibition at 108 Contemporary in Tulsa.

14 Dennis Oppenheim: Architecture/Not Architecture, Landscape/Not Landscape

Architectural models, prints and video give insight into the creative mind of internationally known and innovative artist Dennis Oppenheim.

16 The New York Project: James Rosenquist

The first in a series of exhibitions at the Oklahoma State University Museum of Art will shed light on the significance of Rosenquist’s works on paper, print and collage works.

f e a t u re s 18 Inside the Studio: Lisa Rutherford

Writer Molly O’Connor visits Cherokee artist Lisa Rutherford in her studio for a conversation about traditional art forms, the role of mentors in her work, and artistic growth.

22 Reflections on Portraiture

Why would someone be drawn to portraits of people they don’t know? Perhaps they hold a profound meaning and emotional connection beyond representation.

24 Ekphrasis: Art & Poetry

Artist Byron Shen inspires a poem by Timothy Bradford, recalling early humanity, primal urges, and the desire for light and magic.

business of art 26 Ask a Creativity Coach: Making Life Meaningful Through Art

Do you feel like you can never find the time for art making, even though it’s what you really want to do most? The Creativity Coach offers tips for engaging in activities that matter most.

OVAC news 27 OVAC News

(p. 6) Lance Hunter, Tahlequah, Octopi, Oil, 36” x 48” (p.8) Jessica Harvey, Chicago, IL, Mother Road, 2014, Photograph. (p. 18) Lisa Rutherford, Little People’s Visit. This work is handcoiled with incised design and double-fired, first in the kiln and then in a wood fire. It won first place at the Eiteljorg Museum Indian Market in 2014.

27 New and Renewing Members 29 g a l l e r y

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The Wonderful World of Wimmer by Kerry M. Azzarello

Mike Wimmer, Edmond, The Three Bears, Oil on canvas (collectible, Franklin Mint)

To view the art of Mike Wimmer is to be transported. At times historical, at times playful, it is always near perfection— something he demands of himself and tries to instill in his students. Wimmer’s prolific body of work results from years of dedication in crafting his talent while satiating his thirst for knowledge. One can better understand this by visiting Mike Wimmer, A Retrospective, on display at Redlands Community College Gallery from November 24, 2014 to January 23, 2015.

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Even those not familiar with the name of this internationally recognized artist will probably recognize some of his work. His extensive career includes the cover art for Disney’s The Lion King soundtrack; the kinder, gentler Mr. Clean; 39 paintings at the Oklahoma State Capitol; and more than 300 book covers. Mike Wimmer, A Retrospective features artwork from many of Wimmer’s illustrations for children’s books, such as All the Places to Love, Flight: The Journey of Charles Lindbergh,

Summertime, George, Theodore and Stealing Home, as well as some personal portraits, collectibles and advertising pieces. Study sketches that shed light on the creative process are also included. The collection of works highlights his diverse career, one that exemplifies his “puddle philosophy.” By having varied bodies of work, or puddles, such as illustration, commercial art, fine art and portraiture, Wimmer ensures his well-rounded career can continue if any

individual puddle dries up. This diversity makes summarizing Wimmer’s artistic path difficult. Nick Bayer, Redlands Fine Arts Coordinator & Gallery Curator, explains, “With an artist who is so prolific and wellestablished, it was a fun challenge to try and find the right pieces to tell the story of his career.” The gallery’s intimate space allows viewers to spend quality time up close to each of the pieces. According to Wimmer, behind each image is a story, and the details help tell that story. Historic research coupled with countless thumbnail sketches lead to his highly accurate, highly detailed historically based paintings, while a sense of wonder and adventure allow him to disappear into fiction. Visual language has the power to communicate across all levels. Wimmer attests that “each project or commission represents a different need or purpose, so therefore what most visitors will garner through the diverse subject matter is the emotional, cultural, historical ability to communicate an idea.” Wimmer was born and raised in Muskogee, Oklahoma and currently resides in Edmond. He cites the Sooner state and noted illustrators such as Howard Pyle, N.C. Wyeth (one of Pyle’s pupils), and Norman Rockwell as major influences on his work. Wimmer’s formal education includes a BFA from the University of Oklahoma, an MFA from the University of Hartford in Connecticut and an apprenticeship with Don Punchatz at The Sketch Pad Studio in Arlington, Texas. However, he continues his education on a daily basis, as evidenced by his motto: “Learn It, Live It, Teach It.” Although he never expected to become a teacher, his personal journey of lifelong learning has led to teaching experiences ranging from full-time higher education posts to workshops for elementary students. Wimmer taught fashion illustration at the University of Oklahoma and illustration at Oklahoma Christian University and today serves as Oklahoma City University School of Visual Arts Department Chair and Artist in Residence. Wimmer explains, “In the time and process of teaching, of course, I learned more and more, hence incorporating what I’ve learned into my work, garnering acclaim and attention, and therefore being asked to teach again . . . and so the cycle continually repeats itself.” Mike Wimmer, A Retrospective opens November 24, 2014 and runs through January 23, 2015. The public is invited to a closing reception held on January 28 beginning at 2:00 p.m. and continuing with an artist talk at 2:30 p.m. Redlands Community College Gallery is located in the Larry F. Devane Multimedia Lifelong Learning Center at 1300 S. Country Club Road, El Reno, Oklahoma. The Gallery can be reached at 405-422-1485, and it is free and open to the public Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. For more information on Mike Wimmer, visit www.mikewimmer.com. n Kerry M. Azzarello is a writer and artist based in Oklahoma City. She fully endorses the “Learn It, Live It, Teach It” mentality. She can be reached at kerryazzarello@gmail.com. (top) The Wizard of Oz, Oil on canvas. (bottom) Self Portrait, Oil on canvas.

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Lance Hunter’s Luminous Color by Renee Fite

Lance Hunter, Tahlequah, Fish Tales II, Watercolor, 16” x 22”

Does an artist choose a painting medium or does the medium choose the artist? Lance Hunter’s media are like three old friends he is fond of for different reasons. “Each one has positive qualities, unique challenges, appealing characteristics, and they all can be frustrating at times,” Hunter said. “And each has its own personality. Oil has a longer manipulation time and the pigments tend to be more naturalistic in color. Acrylic is my choice for large outdoor murals and the medium I have used the most in terms of square footage. I respond well to the pace and fluidity of watercolor, and it is my favorite medium for capturing the essence of water.”

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Deciding what to paint is never the question for Hunter, who is at the enviable place in his art where he has more paintings in his head that he’d like to paint than time to paint them. “If the ideas stay around long enough they get painted, or they evolve into something else,” he said. One subject he has been drawn to for years is the image of a woman underwater. “Water gives you reflections and more luminous color,” Hunter said of the formal appeal, “and water is an ancient symbol for life and femininity.” There is also the dual nature of water. “It’s essential to maintaining human life but prolonged submersion ends it.” Other recurring themes in his art are of the passage of time and the female figure with masks. These images

recognize that interactions in contemporary society allow or expect most of a person to remain under the surface, he explained. “Many of my paintings are layered and juxtaposed with symbolism and allegory accessible from either a cultural, universal or personal level. Enigma and interpretation are certainly part of that process. Then there’s often a personal aspect of the painting I’m not compelled to share.” This April Hunter joined 3 other Oklahomans (Sabine Barnard, Pat Malone and Jay Omeilia) and about 450 artists worldwide in becoming a Signature Member of the American Watercolor Society (AWS). “I was thrilled,” said Hunter. “For a watercolorist, it is like an actor being

picked to perform in the top Broadway show.” He’s been a Signature Member of the National Watercolor Society (NWS), which is based in Southern California, since 2010. AWS is based in New York City and celebrates its 147th anniversary this year. “It’s quite an exclusive group,” said John Patt, Executive Director of the AWS. “Watercolor artists are incredibly passionate about their craft, and AWS Signature Membership is, for many, the ultimate goal. Geting into an AWS exhibition is a highly competitive process. We receive over 1,200 entries each year and select approximately 125 to be shown.” To become a Signature Member, an artist must first be accepted into two exhibitions. “Artists enter year after year and are thrilled when accepted. Getting into a second show seems almost impossible, and in Lance’s case it was 11 years between his first and second acceptances. Sometimes the second acceptance is much longer in coming, but in most cases it does not come at all.” Once accepted into 2 exhibitions, an artist becomes a Signature Candidate. Candidates are judged for the next exhibition by the Jury of Selection separately from regular entrants. If a Candidate is accepted, he or she is awarded AWS Signature Membership. Not all Candidates are successful. This year 27 of 38 candidates were accepted, an unusually high number. Candidates can continue to try in subsequent years. “Lance made it in on his first attempt this year!” Patt said. To learn more about AWS, visit www.americanwatercolorsociety.org. This year Hunter also won the top award in the Missouri Watercolor International Exhibition and the second highest honor in both the Kansas National Watercolor Exhibition and the National Watermedia Oklahoma Exhibition. His work has been selected for international exhibitions in New York City, New Orleans and Houston. He also has two upcoming shows at the Keystone National in Pennsylvania and the Aquarius National in Colorado. In the past 2 years Hunter has worked more in watercolor and has cut back on murals. “Watercolor inspires you to keep going because you still don’t quite have what you envision,” he said. During his career, Hunter has painted more than 20 murals in 5 states, including one on I-35 north of Dallas that is seen by thousands of people every day. In Oklahoma, his mural work can be found in Catoosa, with 3 murals

in Muskogee and 2 in downtown Tahlequah. Hunter said one of the big attractions of murals is their reach to a broader audience. “I like working with a really large scale and adding an element of visual culture to a community. But it is physically more challenging to climb scaffolding all day and moving gallons of paint around. And it’s usually extremely hot.” But people in the community usually embrace a mural: “I have seen murals become an aesthetic catalyst to improve a community, help with revitalization with Main Street and surrounding areas in decline.” Many of the artist’s murals in Oklahoma have been completed with the assistance of his university students. Hunter has been an associate professor of art at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah since 2001. “When I do a mural class, the students are included in the publicity and their names are on the wall. For a lot of them, it’s their first time to be in a newspaper and to work on something of that scale.” Working with students is often interesting and motivating, he said. “You’re guiding the development of their abilities and they are often very appreciative. Many of our students seem to find it very encouraging to work with an artist that is active in their field of study.” Art has always been a part of who Lance Hunter is. A quiet, shy kid, he discovered he had an aptitude at an early age. He studied art in high school, but quit for something “more important” in Texas: football. After shredding his right knee his senior year, his focus was directed towards art in college, and he received a bachelor of fine arts from Lamar University in Texas. His teaching style today reflects what he wanted to know as a student. “I try to give students a strong foundation in basic skills and principles and the freedom to pursue their creative preferences in an eclectic age,” Hunter said. “One of the strengths at NSU is our focus on design and drawing.” After college he worked for an ad agency, and he was an art director for a printing company. He later left to pursue an MFA in painting from Stephen F. Austin State University in Texas, where he had his first experience teaching. “As a teaching assistant, I liked the quality of life, the interaction with the students and of course summers off to work in the studio.”

Lance Hunter, Tahlequah, Skirting Destiny, Oil, 30” x 24”

Hunter is married to Sylvia Nitti, a native of Cyprus and an instructor of art at NSU. Nitti, also an award-winning artist, prefers oil and the mixed media of watercolor and pastel. “One advantage of being an ‘art couple’ is that Lance will go to galleries with me and spend hours there,” said Nitti. Their daughter Brooke, a senior at Tahlequah High School, has won the Congressional District Art Award for their district two years in a row, and her painting is hanging in the Capitol in Washington, D.C. again this year. She plans to pursue art studies in college. “She’s better than I was at her age,” notes the proud papa. Their eighth-grade son Chase is more into computers. “He has a tough job bringing balance to our art household.” See more of Lance Hunter’s work at www.lancehunter.com. n Renee Fite is a freelance writer making her home in Tahlequah. She is the founding president of the new Cherokee County Arts and Humanities Coalition and a graduate of the Oklahoma Arts Council Leadership Arts Class 7. She’s a mom of five and a grandmother of three and is joyfully married to musician John Fite.

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Mother Road: Photography and Installation by Jessica Harvey by Krystle Brewer

Jessica Harvey, Chicago, IL, Mother Road, 2014, Photograph.

Road trips are taken for leisure, necessity and everything in between, but they all have one thing in common: the vastness of the open road. When so much time is spent in the confined space of a car, road trips can lend themselves to solitary contemplation or allow for uninterrupted conversations. Chicago-native artist Jessica Harvey explores concepts of travel, Americana, the significance of Route 66, and most importantly, the personal experience. For her current project, Mother Road, Harvey traveled the historic Route 66 highway from its starting point in Chicago, Illinois to where the 2,451-mile stretch of road ends in Santa Monica, California, and back to Tulsa. Along the way she stopped at tourist attractions, national parks, memorials, museums and other noteworthy sites. During this month-

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long trip she documented her experience through video, photography, blogging and artifact collecting. Once she returned to Tulsa she created an installation of these elements in the Creative Galleries of the Hardesty Arts Center. By assembling her collection of captured moments, she creates a space for thinking about travel, memory and nostalgia. “It’s a commentary on how traveling and the road trip has changed since the conception of that road [Route 66], and with traveling being so costly and gas being so expensive I feel like the road trip has changed. With the highway system being different now than when it started, people do more destination traveling than leisurely traveling,” said Harvey. “People have less vacation, less time and less money to make it a slow adventure... the way it used to be.”

Harvey is also interested in what Route 66 means in the year 2014 and how the current events in the United States are reflected in the stretch of road since its removal from the United States Highway System in 1985. Now that the route has been replaced by the International Highway System, there has been less travel on Route 66, which has inevitably resulted in a notable change in the oncethriving businesses along the route. To broaden the work outside of her own personal attachment to travel and the documentation of her Route 66 adventure, she has interviewed people from Tulsa and invited them to tell their own stories of cross-country travels through conversation and artifacts. The inclusion of local stories makes the exhibition collaborative and broad in perspective. She will continue to incorporate visitor artifacts until

the closing of the exhibition in November. In addition, Harvey conducted research at the Tulsa Historical Society and the Woody Guthrie Center archives to add another layer of individual conversations about Tulsa and its influence on Route 66. Harvey was first drawn to this project when she spent a year in Iceland on a Fulbright scholarship looking for Quonset huts, prefabricated structures left from the United States occupation of Iceland beginning in World War II. She noticed how her travels throughout the southern part of Iceland began to form the work she was creating. When she returned to the States, she wanted to further explore the effects of travel and exploration. The Visual Arts Residency program at the Hardesty Arts Center was a perfect venue, as Tulsa is the birthplace of the Route 66 concept and is the hub where east meets west along the route.

Jessica Harvey received her BA in film and video from Columbia College Chicago and her MFA in photography from the Cranbrook Academy of Art. She has been the recipient of numerous fellowships and has shown her work in nine states. More of her work can be found on her website: www.thejessicaharvey.com. Mother Road remains on view through November 23 at the Arts & Humanities Council of Tulsa Hardesty Arts Center in the Brady Arts District, 101 E. Archer Street. Since Harvey is continuing to change the installation throughout the exhibition, she invites viewers to bring artifacts or memorabilia to the gallery space for her to document and add to her work. You can find more information at www.ahhatulsa.org. n

Mother Road, 2014, Photograph.

Krystle Brewer is the Associate Director at 108 Contemporary. She can be found at www.krystlebrewer.com.

Alexandre Hogue: An American Visionary – Paintings and Works on Paper by Louise Siddons

(left) Alexandre Hogue, (1898-1994), Squaw Creek, 1927, Oil on canvas, 37.5” x 33.5”. (right) Lava-Capped Mesa, Big Bend, 1976, Oil on canvas, 34” x 56”

Alexandre Hogue (1898-1994) is one of the best-known Oklahoma artists of his generation. An ambitious traveling exhibition at Tulsa’s Gilcrease Museum being shown through November 30, curated by the Rockwell Museum in Corning, New York, surveys his career from student work to his monumental late paintings of Big Bend. Earlier versions of the show included almost 200 artworks, and while the Gilcrease reduces that to about 60, the excellent accompanying catalog fills in some of the narrative gaps that result. Whether or not it is intentional, this exhibition can be read as part of a wider trend among Oklahoma museums to reexamine the contributions made by local artists to the history of twentieth-century art. The Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art at the University of Oklahoma is at the forefront of this movement, and it is also reflected in recent and future programming at the Oklahoma State University Museum of Art as well as in the Philbrook Museum’s current exhibition on the history and legacy of the Indian Annual, Impact. In many ways Hogue’s career is paradigmatic of that history, which began

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with Regionalism during the Depression and then exploded into energetic abstraction after the war. Although Hogue’s Regionalist paintings are his most familiar and generally most beloved (a claim that was confirmed as I eavesdropped shamelessly on my fellow gallery-goers), Hogue was a pioneer of abstraction at mid-century—and this exhibition will likely surprise many visitors with that part of his oeuvre. As Susie Kalil writes in Alexandre Hogue: An American Visionary, Hogue was dismayed by the lukewarm public reception of his abstract works, which he called his “nonobjectives,” and expressed frustration about being pigeonholed as a Regionalist after having painted abstractly for two decades. Attentive viewers will notice that many of the Regionalist paintings on view are in public museum collections while the abstract paintings at the center of the exhibition are all on loan from Hogue’s daughter. Collectors are increasingly recognizing the innovation and beauty of Hogue’s work from this period, and this reviewer hopes that museum collections will likewise start to reflect a more complete story of Hogue’s career as a result.

As I walked through the exhibition, I was struck by the leap it took from the Erosion series of the late ’30s to Hogue’s calligraphic abstractions of the ’60s, with only a single transitional canvas from 1950 on display to explain the artist’s massive visual shift. The effect is one of rupture, but in fact Hogue saw a profound continuity between his landscapes and abstractions. Kalil quotes him as once having said, “A nonobjective has all the elements of a landscape. It’s just the elements of painting that are used, and they are beautiful in their own right.” Many of my fellow visitors to the exhibition, however, seemed skeptical of the abstract paintings. Having long cultivated an audience whose expectations are aesthetically in line with Western art, the Gilcrease should offer their patrons more tools to understand and enjoy work that exceeds those parameters—as Hogue so brilliantly did at mid-century. One way to make those connections might have been to take advantage of the superb group of works on paper—study drawings, prints and finished watercolors—that are grouped together almost as an afterthought in the last gallery of the exhibition. (There

Fine Artist Materials Paints-Brushes-Canvas-Easels Custom Picture Framing Readymade Frames Gifts & Home Decor

are often pragmatic conservation reasons to keep works on paper separate, but if that was the case here, it wasn’t explained in the galleries.) Among these works on paper were several that revealed Hogue’s thought process as he transitioned from representation to abstraction. Moreover, many of the works on paper were directly related to canvases on view elsewhere in the galleries. It would be instructive, for instance, to see the drawing of a rattlesnake (misidentified as a lithograph) next to the painting Drouth Survivors, for which it is a study. I left the Gilcrease energized by the opportunity to see so much of Hogue’s work and its diversity up close and in person. I also left with a lot of questions about Hogue’s career and the broader context in which he was working, so I was thrilled to discover that the catalog for the show is well-illustrated and thoroughly researched and that it was able to answer most of my questions. In its combination of the familiar and the surprising, An American Visionary will more than satisfy long-time Hogue lovers, and I hope it will create some new fans as well. n Louise Siddons is an assistant professor of art history at Oklahoma State University. She is currently writing a book on Oklahoma modernist J. Jay McVicker (1911-2004).

Lucky 13, 1964, Oil on canvas, 42” x 30”

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Beauty in Structure: Watercolor Cityscapes by Tommy Ball by Laura Reese

(right) Tommy Ball, Tulsa, Facing South from the Summit Club, Watercolor, 24” x 48”

Evening cityscapes in watercolors by Tulsabased artist Tommy Lee Ball show Oklahoma cities in a different light. Dynamic scenes and framings of Tulsa will populate Ball’s solo exhibition Watercolors of Tulsa, November 7-29 at Mainline Art Gallery and Bar in downtown Tulsa. After receiving his BFA from the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma in 2007, Ball started his current series, paintings that focus on architecture. Over the course of seven years of depicting cityscapes, Ball has moved away from individual business signs and buildings toward broader, more inclusive views, such as skylines, districts and neighborhoods, particularly from an aerial perspective. His inspiration to paint comes from the profound scenes themselves. “People always try to impart meaning on my work, but really I am just inspired by the beauty I see in the architecture around me,” Ball declares. Ball bicycles through cities at night to see the city differently, and he often photographs these scenes as he becomes inspired. “The colors that come out from the various night lights, dim or shining, create a scene.”

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Ball’s work as a stonemason has influenced the way he works in paint, and vice versa. “My job is to see a surface and detect if it is level. I am training my eyes to see details.” This work has improved his eye for perspective and composition, and it has allowed him to reevaluate and revise the places he views on a daily basis as he transforms them in paint.

churches, businesses and homes. The glowing colors create form and dynamic interactions in architecture, with scenes familiar and new.

Ball tends to paint places he has lived or stayed in for extended periods. He says, “I tend to need to spend time with things; I always see something different a second or third time.” With a careful eye, Ball picks out subtle colors in evening scenes. His acute vision creates brilliant tableaus that ask us to reexamine the everyday architecture we might often take for granted.

Watercolors of Tulsa features three large works: two triptychs, both over seven feet long, and a diptych over six feet long, all featuring familiar scenes of Tulsa. After viewing such dramatic impressions of familiar places, one will surely need to revisit these locations to verify that Ball has indeed captured the essence of these structures and vistas, and has even breathed into them new life.

Ball builds his paintings up in transparent layers of vivid colors. As he works on a triptych of a downtown Tulsa skyline, he builds each third of the picture up equally. Moving between diverse palettes and large papers, Ball is precise with his brush. Each overlay creates clean lines in focus and blurry abstract backgrounds. Bright blood reds and near-white oranges stand out against deep grey purples and blues to form industrial buildings,

For more information on Tommy Lee Ball, visit www.tommyleeball.com. For more information on Mainline Art Bar, visit www.mainlineartok.com. n

Ball’s works are on large, thick sheets of rag paper, and his framing often shows the paper bare and floating, using heavy raw wood that enhances the textural features of his works.

Laura Reese is Event Coordinator for the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition. She is also an artist, curator and writer based in Norman. You can reach her at events@ovac-ok.org.

Here and Now with Contemporary Native American Artists by Mary Kathryn Moeller

(left) Bobby Martin, Tahlequah, Generations Across the Divide, Oil, encaustic, collage, steel, 44” x 68” x 3”. (right) Troy Jackson, Tahlequah, Juggling the Here and Now, Mixed Media, 28” x 9” x 8”

Focusing on the fine craft work of Oklahoma artists, Here and Now: Contemporary Native American Art of Oklahoma, opens on November 7th at 108 Contemporary in Tulsa. The exhibition features multiple works by the 12 selected artists and was curated by a jury of three: heather ahtone (Chickasaw), the James T. Bialac Assistant Curator of Native American & Non-Western Art at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art in Norman; Tom Farris (Otoe), the Supervisor at Exhibit C (a recently opened gallery run by the Chickasaw Nation) in Oklahoma City; and Mickel Yantz, the Museum Curator at Cherokee Heritage Center in Tahlequah. Yantz finds the most exciting aspect of fine craft to be “the juxtaposition of traditional techniques of craft merged and reshaped in a new way. I feel art started with what today is defined as craft and there isn’t a better example of the longevity of producing fine craft than Native American artists.” Molly Murphy Adams is one such artist whose oeuvre includes the use of traditional materials such as beadwork, blended with other media. Here and Now will include Adam’s 2014 work entitled Beaded Hide Robe, Deconstructed in which Adams replicates an identical horizontal pattern of beads on multiple compartments of mounted paper. The nine separate segments are installed vertically on the gallery wall with a nod to Donald Judd’s untitled stacks. The repeating

designs create a visually pleasing meditation on material and detailed craftsmanship. Many of the works in the exhibition are engaging because of the significant questions raised by the artists. Yantz states that the work of Troy Jackson, for example, challenges viewers on topics such as “history, race, the viewer and themselves. To have a piece of artwork that catches your eye with its beauty and then makes you think is powerful.” Jackson’s Juggling the Here and Now depicts a figure dressed as a jester and bent back, ready to begin his juggling act. He balances on a flat rectangle, a sphere, and a square, all of which are colored red on one side with white polka dots and white with red polka dots on the other. This color division also runs the length of his costume and separates the two halves of his face as well. Jackson’s figure is more tragic than comical, struggling against the weight of his performance and the balance he must maintain. Such a work raises questions about cultural divisions and the burden of performative acts that constitute identity. Yantz identifies an overall theme of balance present in many of the exhibition’s works. It is a balance he states, “between the artistic history of their culture and who the artists are today.” As might be expected, this effort often takes on a personal edge as in the case of Bobby Martin’s four-panel installation Generations Across the Divide. Martin incorporates family photographs in his works such as the image of his mother in

the green coat and sunglasses, taken in Berlin in the 1950s, on the upper left panel of this piece. The surface of the mounted photographs, made softly pearlescent through the use of encaustic, contrasts sharply with the hard edges of the central panel made of steel and incised with a vertical row of alphabetized names, last name first. As if drawn from a telephone book, the names paired with the photographs speak of the bonds of family and community. Yantz states that he hopes viewers take away two major themes from the exhibition. First, “that Native art is alive and thriving. It’s not always displayed in the main venues around the world but it grows with each artist’s work. The next thing, I hope, is people realize the amazing level of artwork that is being produced in our own backyard. These are Oklahoma artists, being recognized nationwide for their excellence while being ambassadors for their tribal nations and this state.” Here and Now: Contemporary Native American Art of Oklahoma runs through January 18, 2015. 108 Contemporary is located at 108 East M. Brady Street in Tulsa and can be reached at 918- 895-6302 or at 108contemporary.org. n Mary Kathryn Moeller is an independent curator, writer, and educator. She holds a MA in art history and teaches at Oklahoma State University. She is available via e-mail at mkmoeller77@gmail.com.

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Dennis Oppenheim: Architecture/Not Architecture, Landscape/Not Landscape by Jessica Provencher

(left) Dennis Oppenheim (1938-2011), Bus Home, Painted wood, aluminum (design proposal for the Transit Center, Buenaventura, California), 2000, 11 5/8” x 19 1/2” x 16 1/2”. (right) Engagement, Wood, steel, plaster, acrylic (proposal for City of Leoben, Austria), 1997, 30 3/4” x 25 1/8” x 25 3/4”

Prepare to enter the artistic mind of internationally known and innovative artist Dennis Oppenheim (1938-2011) in the upcoming exhibition Dennis Oppenheim: Architecture/Not Architecture, Landscape/ Not Landscape at the University of Tulsa. Oppenheim was known for his work in conceptual and performance art, site-specific practices, and sculpture. His artworks transform reality and spatiality and thus can provoke intense reactions. Curated by the University of Tulsa’s assistant professor of art history Kirsten Olds and her students, the exhibition will be on view in two locations: in the Alexandre Hogue gallery from November 6 to December 5 and at the Sherman Smith Family gallery, located at the Zarrow Center for Art and Education in downtown Tulsa, November 7-30. The exhibition conveys Oppenheim’s belief that viewers and artists should, in Oppenheim’s words, “forget what art can do—how you can apply it,” and should rather “use art to interrogate itself.” Divided between the Zarrow Center and Phillips Hall, the exhibition consists of 28 architectural models, all borrowed from the Dennis Oppenheim collection of the Price Tower Art Center in Bartlesville, as well as

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prints and video. In many of them Oppenheim used architectural materials such as wood, steel, aluminum, plastic, colored glass and acrylic to compose the models and large-scale completed works. The works in this exhibition were selected to reflect Oppenheim’s interest in the tension between architecture and sculpture and the relationship of landscape to art. He often subverted categories, such as what distinguishes the built environment from nature or the seeming stability of viewer and viewed, sometimes using humor to do so. During the ’60s and ’70s Oppenheim experimented with the relationship between the observer and the observed and the confines of the gallery space in works like Arena for: Cockfight, Viewing Station #1 and Bleacher System, all of which demonstrate the importance of framing devices in how we appreciate artwork. This led him to start working with things like bleacher systems, mostly in an outdoor context but still referring back to the gallery site. These works construct the already-existing landscape and nature as not only something to be viewed, but as art. Oppenheim explored this theme in architectural models like Trees for Hard Surface Park Stage #3 and Architectural Cactus.

In the ’90s Oppenheim started to shy away from making museum and gallery objects and turned to installations in the area of public art. Engagement, Blue Shirt and Bus Home are just a few examples of this interest in public art. In these models for larger installations, Oppenheim elevated everyday identifiable things to an architectural scale, transforming a small object into a structure that one could walk through. Bus Home turns the functional—transportation—into art. The artwork became a working bus shelter for the residents of Buenaventura, California. These works of art were some of Oppenheim’s most controversial pieces. Public works like Blue Shirt were seen by residents as a condescending reference to the blue-collar past of Milwaukee, where it was installed, while Bus Home was thought to be a waste of money and an inadequate rain shelter. Quite different from all of the aforementioned works in this exhibition are Oppenheim’s prints. Most of his prints were studies for future sculptures, such as the ones in this exhibition. They epitomize the dualism of the push and pull between architecture and its opposite by combining architectural elements in the construction, but relating to

the intangible inner-thought process of the mind. One of the many examples of this is An Operation for Mining, Elevating, and Converting Memories of a Fifth Season. While it resembles an actual mining operation in construction, the act of mining can be seen as a parallel to the mental process of digging up past memories. Dennis Oppenheim: Architecture/Not Architecture, Landscape/Not Landscape demonstrates the artist’s experimentation in a wide array of art styles, as well as his ability to turn reality into something larger than life. He showed no fear in questioning various institutions, whether social or art institutions, from marriage to the gallery space. Oppenheim was determined to create a conversation about art with his works, one that questioned and challenged the very basis of what art is and what it does. For more about this exhibition, visit gilcrease.utulsa.edu. n Jessica Provencher is a native of Tulsa, Oklahoma. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in art history at Oklahoma State University. Provencher served as assistant curator for the exhibition Dennis Oppenheim: Architecture/Not Architecture, Landscape/Not Landscape. Blue Shirt, 2000, Plastic, acrylic, steel, wood (proposal for the Milwaukee International Airport, Wisconsin), 34” x 40” x 20”.

DECEMBER 12, 2014 THROUGH JANUARY 10, 2015

DON HOLLADAY W I T H N AC I N D I V I D UA L A R T I S T R E B E C C A B R U E H L OPENING RECEPTION: 6-10 P.M. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2014 CLOSING RECEPTION: 6-10 P.M. FRIDAY, JANUARY 9, 2015 OPEN 11 A.M. - 4 P.M. TUESDAY-SATURDAY

122 E. MAIN, NORMAN, OK 4 0 5 . 3 6 0 . 1 1 6 2 NORMANARTS.ORG M A I N S I T E - A R T. C O M

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The New York Project: James Rosenquist

by Emily L. Newman

James Rosenquist, The Geometry of Fire, 2011, Oil on canvas, 11’ x 25’. Collection of the artist.

James Rosenquist has been painting for more than 60 years, and his career spans not only time but also media. He is perhaps best known for his large-scale paintings. The show Illustrious Works on Paper, Illuminating Paintings at the Oklahoma State University Museum of Art’s Postal Plaza Gallery attempts to shed light on the significance of the artist’s works on paper, print and collage works. This show is the first in a series of exhibitions called The New York Project, which will include future shows on Kiki Smith (2016) and Jasper Johns (2017). Spearheaded by museum director Victoria Rowe Berry and OSU alumnus Bill Goldston, now CEO of Universal Limited Art Editions (ULAE), The New York Project works to bring internationally renowned contemporary art and artists to the region. The program emphasizes the importance of education and will incorporate visits from the artists

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themselves and from expert curators, as well as a corresponding catalog. Besides public talks, visitors can expect curatorial lectures and student workshops. Sarah C. Bancroft was brought in to curate the show. She was a smart choice, as she worked with Rosenquist before when she co-curated his career retrospective organized by the Guggenheim Museum in 2003. For this project, Bancroft focused on choosing artworks that epitomized key moments in his long career. Working closely with the artist himself as well as with his galleries, Bancroft put together a show that includes works from as early as 1954 to as recently as 2012. By organizing the show chronologically, the viewer is allowed to chart Rosenquist’s development and see how his painting has changed and progressed over time. Bancroft sees Astor Victoria (1959) as a breakthrough work for Rosenquist, separating his early career as a commercial billboard painter from

his fine arts career. Here he bridges his use of text with a more abstract use of space and the beginning of figuration. He would emerge as one of the most important American painters in the ’60s, and his vivid style and his willingness to engage popular culture often found him aligned with Andy Warhol, Tom Wesselmann and Roy Lichtenstein as important figures in the seminal Pop Art movement. Notably, a number of collages are included, like that of the source for U-Haul-It; U-HaulIt, One Way Anywhere (1968). These are preparatory works that Rosenquist produced as part of his process. Here one can see his source material and how he structures and organizes his paintings. While many collages will be included, Bancroft has made sure that a few of the paintings are accompanied by the collages he created for planning purposes, allowing the visitor to see the process and end result.

James Rosenquist, Source for U-Haul-It; U-Haul-It, One Way Anywhere and For Bandini, 1968, Magazine clippings, color photograph and mixed media on paper, 9 3/8” x 23 ¼”. Collection of the artist. © James Rosenquist/ Licensed by VAGA New York, NY. Image courtesy of the artist.

While Rosenquist’s powerful and well-known painting F-111 (1964-1965) remains in New York, a portfolio of prints he created in 1974 that re-presents the subject and material seen in the original will be a part of the show at OSU. This inclusion allows viewers insight into one of the most memorable works of Pop Art. The prints focus on the F-111 military plane, but as the painting moves forward, Rosenquist also shows a series of imagery that recalls advertising and culture: piles of spaghetti, a young girl with bows in her hair, a light bulb, a tire. But within the bold and brightly colored imagery looms violence. Just beyond the plane itself, Rosenquist has painted a missile head and a mushroom cloud, and even a scuba diver’s bubbles begin to look ominous.

fell off the continental divide and drifted east, which was where he needed to be as an artist to do the work he needed to do.” The work includes imagery of a car and a staircase, combined with nails in groups of fives, and it captures the spirit of time and relocation.

By contrast, Off the Continental Divide (1974) recalls Rosenquist’s midwestern roots, as he grew up in Grand Forks, North Dakota and later Minneapolis. As Bancroft elaborates, “That print really addresses this idea that people flow east or west, and as an artist he

This exhibition is not to be missed. It will be on display from November 10, 2014 to March 14, 2015 at the Postal Plaza Gallery, located at 720 S. Husband Street in Stillwater. The opening reception will be on November 20, followed by a dialogue

In highlighting the diversity in his work, the show will allow the viewer to see the breadth and skill of the artist. One of his massive canvases, The Geometry of Fire (2011), measures 11-x-25 feet. This enormous work is one of his more recent paintings, but it hints at his past career painting billboards. Here one can see his vibrant use of colors: shades of orange and red are paired with areas of black and white, resembling various constellations and shiny metal.

with Rosenquist and Bancroft on the 21st. More information, including details on programming and events, can be found at museum.okstate.edu. To see more of the artist’s work, visit www.jimrosenquist-artist.com. n Emily L. Newman is an assistant professor of art history at Texas A&M University-Commerce. Newman specializes in contemporary art, gender studies and popular culture, and she earned her PhD from The Graduate Center, City University of New York.

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Inside the Studio: Lisa Rutherford by Molly O’Connor

Pottery by Lisa Rutherford glows in the fire, which is built up slowly over a period of hours, exceeding 1300 degrees. The fire dies out naturally and the pots are removed when cool.

Lisa Rutherford is an artist living and working in Tahlequah. Her studio is one of the artist incubator spaces located in the Cherokee Arts Center, a historic WPA building that was restored and renovated by the Cherokee Nation in 2012. I first met Rutherford in 2009 when she was a member of the Oklahoma Arts Council’s Leadership Arts program. She specializes in traditional Cherokee art forms, which require extensive research on the origins of the specific styles, symbols, patterns and techniques of traditional design. While pottery was Rutherford’s first artistic endeavor, she has expanded her artistic practice into other media such as feather capes, painting, beadwork and Cherokee regalia. Rutherford credits her artistic journey to several tribal elders and Cherokee National Treasures who have mentored her and shared their skills and stories with her. In 2004 Rutherford was recruited by Cherokee sculptor Bill Glass to work on a large-scale public art project, The Passage, which memorializes Ross’s Landing (the location where the Trail of Tears began) on the Tennessee River in Chattanooga. Today she travels frequently to participate as an artist in national Native American exhibits and shows.

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You have a great studio space. Tell me what a typical day is like for you in the studio.

It varies. I usually arrive here in the morning between ten and eleven. I take some time to do computer work like social media and reply[ing] to emails. I’ll work on my Etsy store account and do paperwork. Right now I have a fellowship application and art market applications to get done. I stay here maybe until six or seven in the evening. Right now I have a lot to do because I don’t have a lot of inventory. So I often work late into the night, lots of times at home. I will always have some project, like dyeing feathers, sketching designs or working on a net for a cape. When did you first acquire this studio space?

I lost my job in 2012, so I started making art full-time then. I rented this studio, which has been a wonderful opportunity for me. The Cherokee Nation operates the space through the Cherokee Tourism Department. The rates are really reasonable. It’s great that the Spider Gallery is just across the parking lot. It seems like that gallery has been an excellent

resource for many of the Cherokee artists in Tahlequah.

Yes, it’s been a huge asset. I can finish my work and take it directly over there. The sales are pretty steady, and oftentimes they are usually small items like jewelry and small gift items. But it has helped, especially in the winter when things slow down. The art markets start up in the spring. Do you get a lot of visitors at your studio?

Every now and then. I think it’s nice for people to see the space where the work is created, not just displayed. People say they feel like they are seeing things from the artist’s perspective. Do you ever get creatively blocked? What helps you stay inspired?

I do get stuck. When that happens, I sometimes switch art forms. That’s another thing—you are skilled in several different art forms, including the beautiful feathered capes. Will you elaborate on that?

Yes, it’s all related. People think I’m very scattered, but it’s all tied in together. The

old pottery, which is very traditional, has twined textiles imprinted into it. When I was doing research for a book on Cherokee art, I went to Cherokee, North Carolina and met a lot of the Eastern Band Cherokees. I was immediately at home there. I fell in love with North Carolina and now I go there several times a year. I met some of the people there that shared information about the traditional Cherokee clothing, which goes back to the eighteenth century. Some of my friends in North Carolina and the museum education director there helped me make my own outfit, so when I do living history, I can share the traditional arts of clothing and eighteenthcentury clothing. The feathered capes and mantles were worn by the Southeastern tribes. They’re made on a hand-tied net base. They were actually described by de Soto in 1540. We know that he came into the southern edge of Cherokee country. . . . A friend of mine and I got together to study the capes and see how they were made. We met with a lady from the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh, and she showed us some of the handmade capes from the Eastern Band. We decided that our ancestors had figured this out on their own and we were pretty hard-headed. Certainly we could figure out the technique! We were determined, and it took us six days, but we finally figured it out. I made one, which is now on exhibit at the Cherokee Casino West Siloam Springs. When do you feel like you really emerged as an artist?

Back in 2004, Bill Glass and the Gadugi team from Locust Grove were working on the installation project for Chattanooga. They were creating ceramic pieces featuring Cherokee symbols, which would be installed at Ross’s Landing, a trailhead for the Trail of Tears. I worked with a guy named Ken Foster who took me to Bill’s studio to introduce me to him. I was really curious about what they were doing. Bill shook my hand, handed me some unfired clay and a brush and said, “Here, put on five coats.” At that point, I hadn’t touched clay in probably thirty-five years, since college. I sat down and started working on it, and I knew my family had been through Ross’s Landing during the removal. So for four months, Ken and I would carpool to Locust Grove every chance we got

to work on that project. That was a time in my life when I was feeling like I was in a rut. I just was bored and not happy with my job and there was something missing. I had decided I needed to be around creative and positive people. So, working on that project . . . for me, it was a real turning point. It took an entire year for the Gadugi team to complete. That’s amazing. This is a public work on the river in Chattanooga?

Yes. We created seven ceramic disks that depicted Mississippian imagery. The images are things that were found on mound sites in that area. They were ceramic pieces set in a stainless steel frame. And the disks are installed into the river park space. Every time I showed up at the studio it was a different process. It would be carving one day. Then the next day it would be glazing or some type of sculpting. The late Robby McMurtry sculpted stick-ball players out of metal for the space. I think the largest of those is 14 feet tall, and they are all at the wall at the waterfront. The passage is between the John Ross Bridge and the Tennessee Aquarium. It’s a series of stair steps, and there is a large reflecting pool at the bottom with Demos Glass’s stainless steel water spider. The street passes over it. The water flows down the step and people can play in the water. Then they can go around the corner and see the stickball installation. Later on they added [the] Cherokee syllabary. There’s a big plaque at the top that basically says, “We’re still here.” It includes the names of artists and volunteers who created the art installation with a statement about our families being removed from here, or passing through here, but that today we are still a viable, vibrant society. It was a very emotional project. We all really bonded. When it was over, we were sort of lost. We were so passionate about this project, so then it was like, “Now what do we do?” So what did you do then?

Jane Osti, a well-known Cherokee potter, advertised a traditional clay class. I enrolled in her class. I realized I had missed working in clay so much. I thought I would just take a two-week class and be done with it. Jane

thought I had an aptitude for it, so I worked in her studio for about a year. She taught me more than just how to make pottery. She taught me how to market myself. She taught me how to get ready for my first art market. Eiteljorg Museum Indian Art Market in Indianapolis was the first major market I had ever been to. I had never been involved with anything on that large of a scale. I ended up winning third place. You’ve received a lot of recognition for your work, including several prominent awards.

Yes. Last summer was one of the most exciting times for me. It was at the Eiteljorg show. I had skipped that show for about five years because sales fell, partly due to the economy. I decided to give that show a try again to get out and get exposure. My work has changed quite a bit in the last year or so since I really have a lot of time to dedicate to each piece. When I used to work full-time, I would start something and had to rush to finish the piece before it got to dry. So I really wasn’t doing my best work. I entered two pieces of pottery and a feathered cape into the exhibit. We got to the awards ceremony and I found out I had won two “Best in Division” awards. One was for the feathered cape in Cultural Items and another one in Pottery. I was just floored! It seems like you have had a lot of guidance and support from the Cherokee elders who passed on traditional art techniques to you.

Yeah . . . you can’t talk about pottery without talking about Anna Mitchell. She was a huge influence on me, and she also taught Jane Osti, who was my mentor. I have been very fortunate to have some of the best Cherokee artists available to teach me: Bill Glass, Anna Mitchell, Joel Queen and Jane Osti. I learned shell carving from Knokovtee Scott. Martha Berry taught me the beadwork. I have been fortunate to know and learn from several of the Cherokee National Treasures. Can you define Cherokee National Treasure?

A Cherokee National Treasure is someone who has been recognized by the tribe for preserving the lost arts. It grew out of a Lost Arts Project back in the ’70s. The

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Cherokee tribe went out to Kenwood and met with several basket weavers who were creating these huge buckbrush baskets... just unbelievable baskets. Eventually, in the ’90s, Cherokee legislation was passed to create this designation. At that time it was Cherokee National Living Treasure, but they included Cherokee National Treasures for people who had already passed on. Eventually they added in contemporary arts and not just the traditional arts. There is also a language category. Most of them are elders. I have been fortunate to work with many of them. A group of them formed the Cherokee National Treasures Association, a nonprofit that is not administered by the tribe. We enjoy getting to work with the elders. They tell stories. They teach us important things. I have been so fortunate. Getting back to Anna . . . the summer before she passed, there was an event at Jane’s studio. Anna started telling me about pottery and about digging the clay, processing it, firing it. She told me about how she learned to market the work and deal with people. She fought really hard to get our work accepted at the Indian Market in Santa Fe. She started telling me—and she was shaking her finger at me— “You have to teach! I opened the door for you and now it’s your turn. You have to open that door for the next generation.” She was a little woman, but she was pretty intimidating. One of those Indian grannies where when they talk, you jump! And she was telling me, “You make them do good work, because when you or any of your students show that work, it’s not just about them. They are representing all Cherokees. That is Cherokee work. You make them do good work!” What do you wish to convey through your artwork?

I want people to know where we came from. I don’t just want to create old art forms. I want to use the techniques and I want to carry on the meaning of symbols and design elements. I want to pass on that knowledge to people. I also want to learn more. If you could go back in time and offer your younger self some advice, what would it be?

Change schools! [laughs] I would have gone to art school. I took ceramics and sculpture

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classes in college, and the professor told me that I needed to change my major, since I didn’t want to teach and he said I wasn’t good enough to be an artist. I was an art major in college, but I eventually changed my major to office administration because my family wanted me to be a secretary. I worked many different administrative jobs, but I never felt a passion for it. I ended up not doing art for almost 30 years! I didn’t go to art shows. I would have loved to have been at IAIA, the Institute of American Indian Arts, in the ’70s. I would tell my younger self to keep trying, keep learning, and don’t let others discourage you. n Molly O’Connor is a multidisciplinary artist from Oklahoma City. She also serves as the Cultural Development Director for the Oklahoma Arts Council. She can be contacted at moconnor1122@yahoo.com.

Lisa Rutherford’s goose feather capes on a hand-tied hemp net base. Rutherford also made the freshwater pearl and copper necklace. Both the cape and necklace were presented to Miss Cherokee 2013-14 Julie Thornton.

The Oklahoma City University School of Visual Arts presents

“indosso i miei sentimenti..”

by larry dean pickering

Dec. 5, 2014 - Jan. 16, 2015 Opening reception: Dec. 5

Nona Jean Hulsey Gallery, 1601 N.W. 26th St., Oklahoma City

OCUSchoolofVisualArts

OCUSchoolofArt

For more information, call (405) 208-5226

HERE & NOW

CONTEMPORARY NATIVE AMERICAN ART OF OKLAHOMA November 7, 2014 - January 18, 2015 Opening Reception: November 7th, 6-9 pm This juried exhibition features contemporary work by Native American artists based in traditional craft materials who live or have lived in Oklahoma.

108 East M.B. Brady Street, Tulsa, OK 74103 www. 108contemporary.org Detail: Generations Across the Divide, oil, encaustic collage, & steel Bobby C. Martin, Muscogee (Creek)

Reflections on Portraiture by Janice McCormick

“Who is it?” my daughter asked about a sepia photograph on the wall. “I don’t know,” I replied. She repeated my answer, obviously incredulous. Next she asked, “Why do you have it, then?” Good question. Why would someone buy a portrait of an unknown person? After all, how can I judge that it truly captures what that woman looked like? I don’t have a memory of her upon which to draw. What then does a portrait do, if not simply give us a realistic depiction? One clue can be found in the obituaries in newspapers. Often there will be a photograph of a young woman, but the text describes the full life of an elderly person. Why? Perhaps that cherished photograph harkens the living back to the deep emotional bond with the mother, grandmother or sweetheart. Thus it is an emotional connection that proves to be the clue to the significance of portraits, not how well they capture the external likeness of a person. An example of this is Scott Raffe’s photograph of a clown, Cecil, in his Circus Flora series. The clown’s greasepaint stands in the way of knowing exactly what her face looks like, yet through Scott’s artistry we know who she is. We couldn’t pick her out on the street, but we know her character. As I put it in an article in the November/ December 2005 issue of Art Focus, “Here Cecil reveals, rather than conceals, herself by putting on the clown mask of the wistful dreamer (perhaps Pierrette). And Raffe’s art captures that subtle revelation.” As to the unknown woman hanging on my wall, I’ve no way of judging how faithful the photograph is to her physiognomy. Yet she does speak to me on an emotional level; I get a feel for who she was, her character, her way of being human. I use the word speak not just metaphorically. What I as viewer am hearing is a dialogue that took place between the photographer and the sitter. Such a dialogue is an emotionally charged, personal interaction. See for yourself. Hold a camera up to another person’s face for more time than a quick snapshot requires. You’ll realize just how quickly a person’s facial expressions change in subtle ways in a matter of seconds under such scrutiny. Portraying

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another human being can be intimidating for both parties. Maxine Richard’s portrait Helen, which I reviewed long ago for Cross Currents, proves this point. I wrote, “What emerges is a portrait of a somewhat wary, selfcontained person whose self-assurance masks her vulnerability. This vulnerability is based on a fear of being rejected and a desire to be loved in spite of sagging breasts, heavy thighs and bulging waistline. Yet this work is more than a portrait of Helen; it is a portrait of a trusting relation between the sitter and the artist, a portrait of a friendship based upon an open dialogue which we are privileged to witness. The artist admires and respects this proud, wary, prickly personality. Despite the sitter’s uncertainty, she trusts the artist and that trust is not violated.” The public eye is implied. She gazes straight at the artist and thus straight at us, the viewers. She is aware not only of the artist scrutinizing her but of the public who will do so as well. Why vulnerability? Why talk of trust? What all is involved in this concept of dialogue? What does it mean to describe it as “a portrait of a friendship”? As in all interpersonal relationships, there are many psychological pitfalls, fears such as being misunderstood, stereotyped, judged negatively, rejected or reduced to a mere object. In all relationships, there is a mutual awareness of the other. Ideally, each freely shares themselves with the other, creating mutual respect. What I find so appealing about Helen is that it’s a genuine collaboration: each is willing to share who they are with the other. The artist does not impose her vision onto the sitter, nor is the sitter hiding behind an impassive facade. Of course, not all dialogues between portraitist and sitter are so open and trusting. As in all interpersonal relationships, things get complicated and downright messy. Ansel Adams’ Trailer Camp Children illustrates three different responses. The youngest child, about two years old, innocently stares at the camera. Her mouth is slightly open as if she is trying to figure out what is going on. The older girl is totally distracted by something outside the picture frame; you are sure she’ll jump up and escape as soon as the camera clicks. The older boy acknowledges the camera’s eye by refusing to engage with it. He directs his gaze

A portrait of Helen by Maxine Richard.

down and to the side, past Adams. He does not wish to be scrutinized. The viewer not only reads his body language of discomfort but also shares it, feeling like an intruder. I venture to say that Adams likely felt the same way. A portrait—whether it is a formal picture, a snapshot, or a selfie— holds profound meaning. Why else would people dig through the remains of their tornado-torn homes, seeking them? Even complete strangers who find them miles away from the destruction try to return them to their owners. True, they help us to remember past events and people. But most importantly, they put us in touch with our fellow human beings. And the woman in my sepia photograph? Whoever she was, she’s a close friend. n 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.

UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL OKLAHOMA C O L L E G E

O F

F I N E

A R T S

Opening Reception: Melton Legacy Collection 4-7pm, Nov. 13, 2014, Melton Gallery, UCO Art & Design Bldg.

A N D

D E S I G N

For information: (405) 974-2432 www.uco.edu/cfad

Donated to UCO in 2002, the impressive Melton Legacy Collection contains more than 60 paintings and drawings that survey the last 500 years of European and American art, with pieces by Thomas Moran and Peter Paul Rubens, among others. Exhibit continues through Dec. 13.

OKC

125

a photography exhibitio

125 artists | 125 disposab le came celebrating the 125th an ras | 125 minutes niversary of okc

opening reception: 12.5 | 4-6pm

| through 2.27.15 | the undergr ound, downtown

Ekphrasis: Art & Poetry edited by Liz Blood

Timothy Bradford’s poem “RED YOU SO” recalls early humanity, our primal urges, broken speech and the desire for light and magic. It begs the question, how far have we really come? Inspired by artist Byron Shen’s painting The Fire Within, Bradford’s poem is the third installment of Ekphrasis, a place for poets to express imaginative understanding of a piece of visual art. Byron Shen is an award-winning artist who lives just outside of Tulsa and who has shown nationally and internationally. He holds an MFA degree in painting from Cranbrook Academy of Art and currently teaches art at the Upper School at Holland Hall in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Timothy Bradford is the author of the poetry collection Nomads with Samsonite (BlazeVOX [books], 2011) and the introduction to Sadhus (Cuerpos Pintados, 2003), a photography book on the ascetics of South Asia. Currently he is a visiting assistant professor at Oklahoma State University. n

RED YOU SO by Timothy Bradford In the grey mist of us rises

jib of slaughtered light.

Red you so beautiful

over

desire’s dark column, survival’s power pillar of smoke, sideways parentheses of life in three. The fire within, origin. Who was first human? One, an Abyssinian in the Afar Depression circa 3.2 million years ago—

Illumination of everything is sorcery of light. To be human, did it mean to say fire did it mean to say within, did they have a word for fire and within, to be human, did it mean to say with votre langue fire within fire for human fire for meat fire for woman fire for man fire for child warm keep the beasts away! Cirrus-bottomed abyss Fertile yellow field 40 days at sea Cobalt night midi Train of dawn’s wedding dress Ejaculation of red, of fir Fear of brush stroke Fur of brush, stroked A piece of pigment shows humans were working with color 165,000 years ago. Angel wrestled Israel Kowtow to Krakow Gaza gauze gaze Airstrike #672 Wounded sky Jouissance arm sling But genii picnic here, tumescent with light. Red you so sun in us

to the word, to the gauze of cutting illusions in every direction.

(left) Byron Shen, Tulsa, The Fire Within, Oil and mixed media, 36” x 48”

f e a t u re

Ask a Creativity Coach: Got Talent? Motivation Matters More by Romney Nesbitt

Ask a Creativity Coach:

Making Life Meaningful Through Art

by Romney Nesbitt

What is the meaning of life? You might say love or family or purpose. I’ll ask the question another way: what gives your life meaning? Would you say your creative work gives your life meaning? Could art be that important?

My coaching clients often say they can’t “find the time” to paint or write, even though they say that’s what they want most to do. Is it possible to passionately want to do something and at the same time simply never get around to doing it? In my book Secrets from a Creativity Coach, I share the story of a student with a mattering problem (see the chapter titled, “Make it Matter, Make it Happen.”). A young man said he wanted to write a novel, but he admitted he spent his free time doing yard work or playing video games. When I asked him why he didn’t write, he said, “I don’t have enough time to make any progress, so I do what shows. Mowing shows.”

“Mowing makes sense, unless what you really want to do is write,” I said. Are you courageous enough to change your routine to do what really matters to you, or do you choose to do what shows? Doing what shows (chores, committee work, organizing your studio, etc.) is the easy choice that will provide a feeling of accomplishment, but it will not bring the satisfaction that comes from doing what you really want to do. Creating is intellectually and emotionally demanding and often filled with anxiety and fear. These feelings are temporary. Once you submerge yourself in your creative work, you’ll fall in love with the process and lose yourself in the activity. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls this flow. Eric Maisel, author of Coaching the Artist Within (2005) and The Atheist’s Way (2009), uses the term meaning-making. I call it mattering. When you engage in a mattering activity, you: • Realize that what you are doing matters and has deep meaning for you • Gain a sense of purpose and order in your life • Lose awareness about the passage of time while engaging in the process • Gain an enlarging knowledge of yourself • Achieve a sense of self-actualization or “becoming” • Feel unique • Feel a connection to something “bigger” than yourself • Attain a feeling of deep contentment Activate your creative license and do what gives your life meaning! Choose to give your life meaning through creative work that matters and enjoy the flow. You have one life and you’re the only one who can live it. Meaning-making matters! n

Rediscover the Historic Paseo! Shopping, Dining & Learning!

Romney Nesbitt is a creativity coach and the author of Secrets from a Creativity Coach. She welcomes your comments and questions at romneynesbitt@gmail.com. Book her to speak to your group through OVAC’s ARTiculate Speakers Bureau.

20 Galleries, 75 Artists, Restaurants, Boutiques, Art and Education For more information about Educational Programs contact:

ARTS DISTRICT

405.525.2688 www.thepaseo.com #FirstFridayPaseo

business of art

First Friday Gallery Walks every month FRI 6-10 PM & SAT 12-5 PM

OVAC NEWS

NovEMBER | DecemBER 2014

OVAC Announces New Executive Director The Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition is pleased to announce the selection of Holly Moye as the organization’s new Executive Director. A summa cum laude graduate from the University of Massachusetts Boston with a BA in Art and Art History, Moye holds a MA from Boston University in Art History. Most recently, she served as the Director of Summer and External Programs at ArtsBridge, a Boston-based multidisciplinary consultancy connecting students and performers with educational and growth opportunities in the visual and performing arts. Previously, Moye worked with a political campaign consulting firm. “Holly’s vision regarding the strategic direction and growth plans to expand opportunities for Oklahoma’s visual artists resonated with the Selection Committee, and our entire board. She immediately embraced our role as a statewide organization and was in Tulsa on her first day,” said Renee Porter, OVAC Board President. In her role as Executive Director, Moye will lead the growth of the organization and ensure success in programming, finances, and operations. Her experience in arts education will help OVAC to enhance programs for artists and the public. OVAC members and supporters are invited to attend receptions to meet Moye and learn about upcoming OVAC programs. Receptions will be held:

Thursday, November 6, 6-8 pm at the Arts & Humanities Council of Tulsa’s Hardesty Arts Center, 101 E Archer St in Tulsa. Thursday, November 13, 6-8 pm at Istvan Gallery, 1218 N Western Ave in Oklahoma City. For more information or to RSVP contact office@ovac-ok.org or 405-879-2400. The Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition’s 12x12 Art Fundraiser welcomed over 1,300 enthusiastic arts supporters in September. As OVAC’s only annual fundraiser, we rely on this event to raise vital funds for artist grants, awards, and services throughout the year. The event saw an increase over last year in many areas including attendance, sponsorships, and art sales. Huge thanks go to the Committee Cochairs Gina Ellis and John Marshall, Honorary Chairs Jonna Kauger Kirschner and Jay Michael Kauger Scambler, and all the volunteer leaders. Special thanks also to the participating artists, Headline Sponsor Kirkpatrick Bank, and Premiere Sponsors Ackerman McQueen and Chesapeake Energy. www.12x12okc.org Momentum Tulsa was held in October at Living Arts, featuring Oklahoma artists ages 30 and younger. The exhibition included a new emphasis this year on community engagement, particularly in the work made by the selected Spotlight artists Kerri Shadid of Oklahoma City, Dillon Votaw of Norman and BJ Zorn Sneed of Norman. Guest curator Sean

OVAC new Executive Director, Holly Moye Starowitz, an artist from Kansas City, worked with Emerging Curator Libby Williams as these three artists created new work for the exhibition. Thanks to our sponsors who supported these young artists and helped make the exhibition free to the public: George Kaiser Family Foundation, Mid-America Arts Alliance, the National Endowment for the Arts and Tom Craft of Northwestern Mutual. www.MomentumOklahoma.org The 24 Works on Paper exhibition is wrapping up its eighteen month, eleven venue tour of the state with a final exhibition in Lawton at the Leslie Powell Foundation & Gallery November 8, 2014-January 17, 2015. 24 Works is a partnership with Individual Artists of Oklahoma Gallery featuring Oklahoma (OVAC News, continued to page 28)

Thank you to our new and renewing members from September and October 2014 Lynette Atchley Paul Bagley Sara Banta Gary and Donna Bennett Joshua Benson Kyle Blair Donna Brown Kristen Brown Eliseo Casiano Jeremy Dylan Cavin Julianne Clark Diane U. Coady

Sheridan Conrad Ken Crowder and Audrey Schmitz Jason Cytacki and Haley Prestifilippo Charica Daugherty Marcia Davis and Sandi Seale Erin Dvorett Ellen Etzler Beverly K. Fentress Edward Flick Denise Ford

Jacob Gillette Melinda Glasgow Susan Green Tony Grider Darby Heard Heather Clark Hilliard Jaryd Hinch Helen F. Howerton Cybele Hsu Jody Karr Traci Layton Marvin Lee and

DaOnne Olson Keith Lenington Ellen Lisle Lori Ann Lyon Chris McDaniel Jay McMillen John Mesa Sylvia Miller Martin Mireles Steve Monroe Gregory Motto Chad Mount Holly Moye

Regina Murphy Matthew Murray Debbie Musick Khanh Nguyen Karen and Roy D Orr Jennifer Pardee Anthony Pego Harold Porterfield Erin Qualls Marissa Raglin Chris Ramsay Deborah Ross

Cathy J. Rowten L.A. Scott Bert D. Seabourn Sandi Seale Matt Seikel and Denise Duong Amanda Christine Shelton Byron Shen Patric Shurden and Donna Brown Nicole Sine Joe Slack

Diana J. Smith Cheryl J Smith Courtney Struttmann Craig Swan Dax Thomas Kathryn Thomas Joshua Vaught Terri Wagner Samuel Wargin Kay West Emily WoodOldham and Luke Oldham

ovac news

(OVAC News, continued from page 27) artists’ work. Many thanks to our exhibition sponsors: the Oklahoma Arts Council, Allied Arts, Red River Photo Services, Toothbrusher’s Dental and Pirate’s Alley. www.24works.org OVAC invested $4,775 in artist project grants in July. Daniel Farnum of Tulsa received a Creative Projects Grant for a new photographic project documenting adolescents in urban Tulsa. Anna Thomas of Tulsa received an Education Grant for an artist residency at CAMAC-Centre d’Art Marnay Art Centre in France. Professional Basics Grants were awarded to Randall Barnes of Midwest City for building a portable printing press, Angie Piehl of Stillwater for framing work in preparation for two upcoming exhibits, and AK Westerman of Edmond for an upgrade to her photo equipment. Upcoming grant deadlines are January 15 and April 15. See www.ovacgrants.org for details. ART PEOPLE

Gretchen Wagner was appointed Artistic Director and Chief Curator of the Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center in Oklahoma City. Most recently Wagner held the position of Curator of the Pulitzer Arts Foundation. Previously she served as Assistant Curator in the Department of Drawings and Prints at The Museum of Modern Art. Welcome, Gretchen! Carie Benton has been named Executive Director of Individual Artists of Oklahoma (IAO). Benton has provided leadership for a number of organizations, and advocacy for nonprofit organizations, for more than fifteen years. Before joining IAO, Benton served as the Executive Director of the State Association for Veteran Empowerment (SAVE OK Vets). In addition, she served as the Chief Operating Officer of a nationwide real estate marketing firm for nearly a decade. Congratulations, Carie!

One Exhibition. One Artist. Two Sites. Many Spaces. Dennis Oppenheim: Architecture/Not Architecture, Landscape/Not Landscape Curator, Dr. Kirsten Olds, Assistant Professor of Art History Anna Thomas, Tulsa, Take or Give, Bent and welded iron rod, plaster, oil paint, twine, 7” x 30” x 28”. Thomas received an OVAC Education Grant to attend a residency in France.

Children & Adult Art Classes Monthly Art Exhibits Theatre Performances Community Programs Facility Rentals Special Events

30 years g n i t a r Celeb ity! of creativ

Consisting primarily of models for large public sculptures from the Price Tower Arts Center’s Oppenheim collection, this show explores the relationship of the body to the built and natural environment, and probes the boundaries between architecture and sculpture, inside and outside, humor and horror, and security and fear. The exhibition occurs in the University of Tulsa’s two galleries: Alexandre Hogue Gallery, School of Art, November 6–December 5, 2014. Sherman Smith Family Gallery, Henry Zarrow Center for Art and Education, November 7–30, 2014.

www.edmondfinearts.com 405.340.4481 27 E Edwards | Edmond, OK North of the Downtown Post Office

ovac news

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

Gallery Listings & Exhibition Schedule Ada

Durham

Macrocosm/Microcosm: Abstract Expressionism in the American Southwest Through January 4, 2015 Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art 555 Elm Ave (405) 325-4938 ou.edu/fjjma

Connection Through January 3, 2015 Gaylord-Pickens Oklahoma Heritage Museum 1400 Classen Dr (405) 235-4458 oklahomaheritage.com

Renewed Through November 6 Vance Wingate Rob Goddard Mary L Parkes and Gilberto Through November 25 Through November 30 Quintero Senior Exhibits Metcalfe Museum November 12-December 8 November 26-December 12 8647 N. 1745 Rd Holiday Art Extravaganza The Pogue Gallery (580) 655-4467 November 12-December 25 Hallie Brown Ford Fine Arts metcalfemuseum.org Opening November 14, Center Neon Ouroboris Printmaking Intersession Show 7-11 pm 900 Centennial Plaza Edmond November 14-15 December 11-23 Kasum Contemporary Fine Art (580) 559-5353 ecok.edu Arni Anderson Lightwell Gallery, University Graphite Elements and Design 1706 NW 16th St November 6-26 (405) 604-6602 1751 NW 16th St of Oklahoma Alva Opening November 6, 5-7pm (405) 831-7212 kasumcontemporary.com 520 Parrington Oval Natural in November FAI Faculty Exhibition popalchemy.com (405) 325-2691 art.ou.edu November 7 – 28 December 4-26 Deluxe Winter Market Opening November 7, Opening December 4, 5-7pm November 29-30 Art of Santa Fe Can You Hear Me Now: Holly 6-8:30 pm Fine Arts Institute of Edmond Leadership Square November 6-25 Wilson Spirit of Christmas Show 27 E Edwards St Opening November 6, 5-7 pm 211 N Robinson Ave Through November 14 and Sale (405) 340-4481 deluxeok.net Howell Gallery Artist Talk and Reception December 5-31 edmondfinearts.com 6432 N Western Ave November 14, 5-10 pm Opening December 5, Cowboy Artists of America 49th Dialogos E Interpretaciones II: The (405) 840-4437 6-8:30pm A Fragile Existence Annual Exhibition howellgallery.com Americas Graceful Arts Gallery and Through November 2 Through January 4 Through November 14 Studios Melton Gallery, University of Traditional Cowboy Arts MAINSITE Contemporary Art Art Connections 523 Barnes St Central Oklahoma Association 16th Annual November 7-29 Gallery (580) 327-ARTS 100 University Dr Exhibition Opening November 7, 6-10 122 E Main (405) 974-2432 uco.edu/cfad gracefulartscenter.org Through January 4 pm (405) 360-1162 Small Works, Great Wonders Celebrations normanarts.org Ardmore El Reno November 14-30 December 5-27 Halloween Exhibition American Indian Realism Opening December 5, 6-10 pm National Cowboy & Western Oklahoma City Through November 23 Through November 14 In Your Eye Studio & Gallery Heritage Museum Fringe The Goddard Center Mike Wimmer, A Retrospective 1700 NE 63rd 3005 Paseo #A 401 First Avenue SW November 24-January 23, 2015 November 7-29 (405) 478-2250 (405) 521-5161 (580) 226-0909 Redlands Community College Opening November 7, 6-9 pm nationalcowboymuseum.org inyoureyegallery.com Watch Out for the Under Toad goddardcenter.org 1300 S Country Club Rd (405) 262-2552 redlandscc.edu December 5-January 10, 2015 Oklahoma High School Print and Opening December 5, 6-9 pm The Dragoman, A Guide Chickasha Drawing Exhibition Through Mysteries aka gallery Christmas Past Guymon November 2-16 Through November 11 3001 Paseo November 7-December 5 Miniature Art Show Opening November 2, 2-5 pm Red Dot (405) 606-2522 University of Sciences and Arts November 18-December 27 espongo i miei sentimenti.. November 15, 7-11 pm aka-gallery.com Oklahoma Gallery-Nesbitt Opening November 18, 6-9 December 5-January 16, 2015 Goddess/Anti-Goddess Gallery pm Opening December 5, 6-9 pm November 21-January 2 th Holiday Showcase of Art 1806 17 St All Fired Up Nona Hulsey Gallery, Norick Opening November 21, November 7-December 28 (405) 574-1344 usao.edu/ 421 N Main Art Center 6-10 pm Opening November 7, 6-9 pm gallery/schedule (580) 338-4278 Individual Artists of Oklahoma Oklahoma City University Contemporary Art Gallery artistincubation.com 1600 NW 26th 706 W Sheridan Ave 2928 Paseo Davis (405) 208-5226 okcu.edu (405) 232-6060 (405) 601-7474 Doug Strickland Idabel individualartists.org contemporaryartgalleryokc.com November 1-Februry 28, 2015 Native Art Traditions of the My Generation: Young Chinese Chickasaw Nation Welcome Southeast Artists Art of Toys Anniversary Art Show Center Through November 9 Through January 18, 2015 November 14-January 31 November 14-December 6 35 N Colbert Rd Museum of the Red River Oklahoma City Museum of Art Opening November 14, Opening November 14, 7-11 (580) 369-4222 812 E Lincoln Rd 415 Couch Dr 6-10 pm pm chickasawcountry.com/explore/ (580) 286-3616 (405) 236-3100 okcmoa.com Istvan Gallery at Urban Art Bjorn Bauer view/Chickasaw-nation-welcome- museumoftheredriver.org 1218 N Western Ave December 12-January 3, 2015 center K. Yoland: Border Land Other (405) 831-2874 Opening December 12, Lawton Through December 19 istvangallery.com 7-11 pm Duncan 24 Works on Paper Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Okie Eclectic: The Art of Mikel November 8-January 17, 2015 DNA Galleries Center Denise Duong and Timothy th St 1705 B NW 16 Davison Opening November 8, 7-9 pm 3000 General Pershing Blvd Chapman (405) 371-2460 Through January 3, 2015 The Leslie Powell Foundation (405) 951-0000 November 3 – 30 dnagalleries.com Chisholm Trail Heritage and Gallery oklahomacontemporary.org Opening November 7, Center 620 D Avenue 6-10 pm Bill Hensley 1000 Chisholm Trail Pkwy (580) 357-9526 lpgallery.org Fourth Annual Art in Recycled Works on Paper November 1-February 28, (580) 252-6692 Trash (ART) Show December 5-28 2015 onthechisholmtrail.com Norman December 5-31 Opening December 5, Exhibit C Firehouse Art Center Holiday Opening December 5, 6-9 pm 6-10 pm 1 E Sheridan Ave, Ste 100 Gift Gallery Oklahoma Shakespeare in the JRB Art at the Elms (405) 767-8900 November 7-December 24 Park 2810 N Walker Ave chickasawcountry.com Firehouse Art Center 3010 Paseo (405) 528-6336 444 S Flood oklahomashakespeare.org jrbartgallery.com (405) 329-4523 normanfirehouse.com

Collaborative Self Through November 30 Portraits of Courage and Culture Through December 7 Oklahoma State Capitol Galleries 2300 N Lincoln Blvd (405) 521-2931 arts.ok.gov Journey of a Self-Taught Artist: Joallen Gibson December 5-31 Opening December 5, 6-9 pm Paseo Art Space 3022 Paseo (405) 525-2688 thepaseo.com Neal Robinson Opening November 6, 5-7 pm Picasso’s Café 2009 Paseo (405) 602-2002 picassosonpaseo.com Betty and Rose Refour November 7-30 Opening November 7, 6-9 pm Laura Reese: Spiritual Hunger December 5-27 Opening December 5, 6-9 pm The Project Box 3003 Paseo (405) 609-3969 theprojectboxokc.com Horsehair Pottery Exhibition November 1-30 Opening November 7, 6-10 pm The Animal Kingdom December 5-30 Opening December 5, 6-10 pm Summer Wine Art Gallery 2928 B Paseo (405) 831-3279 summerwinegallery.com OKC125 December 5-February 27, 2015 Opening December 5, 4-6 pm The Underground 211 N Robinson downtownokc.com/map/ underground

Shawnee Authors to Artists: 2014 MGMoA Regional Art November 8-23 Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art 1900 W Macarthur (405) 878-5300 mgmoa.org

gallery guide

Stillwater

Tulsa

Graphic Design Senior Portfolio Exhibition Through November 14 Senior Studio Capstone Exhibition November 19-December 5 Gardiner Gallery OSU 108 Bartlett Center for the Visual Arts (405) 744-4143 museum.okstate.edu

Here & Now: Contemporary Native American Art of Oklahoma November 7-January 18, 2015 Opening November 7, 6-9 pm 108 Contemporary 108 E Brady (918) 895-6302 108contemporary.org

Dennis Oppenheim: Architecture/Not Architecture, Landscape/Not Landscape November 6 – December 5 Chris Ramsay: Meditations in Stillwater Opening and Artist Talk November Through January 17, 2015 6, 5-7 pm Artist Talk December 4, 6 pm Alexandre Hogue Gallery The New York Project: James Rosenquist: Phillips Hall, The University of Tulsa Illustrious Works on Paper, Illuminating 2930 E. 5th St. (918) 631-2739 Paintings cas.utulsa.edu/art November 11-March 14, 2015 Postal Plaza Gallery Oklahoma State University Museum Susan Hamilton November 6 – 30 of Art Opening November 6, 6-9 pm 720 S Husband St SAGE Tulsa Vaudeville Exhibition (405) 744-2780 December 4-31 museum.okstate.edu Opening December 4, 6-9 pm Dennis R Neil Equality Center Sulphur 621 E 4th St Lisa Hudson (918) 743-4297 okeq.org November 1-February 28, 2015 Chickasaw Visitor Center Collectors’ Reserve: Small Works 901 W 1st St (580) 622-8050 chickasawcountry.com/ Exhibition and Sale Through November 9 explore/view/Chickasaw-visitor-center Alexandre Hogue: An American Visionary Through November 30 Gilcrease Museum 1400 Gilcrease Road (918) 596-2700 gilcrease.utulsa.edu

Mother Road Through November 23 Artist Talk November 6, 6:30 pm Relationships: Societal + Environmental Through November 23 Indie Emporium November 28-29 Hardesty Arts Center 101 E Archer St (918) 584-3333 ahhatulsa.org The Hidden Room in the House: Printmakers and the Art of Sublimation Through November 2 Henry Zarrow Center for Art and Education 124 E Brady St (918) 631-4400 gilcrease.utulsa.edu/Explore/Zarrow ArtWorks with Sara Matson Westover Through November 25 Holliman Gallery Holland Hall 5666 East 81st Street (918) 481-1111 hollandhall.org The Mystery Queens Through November 22 Joseph Gierek Fine Art 1342 E. 11th St (918) 592-5432 gierek.com

Become a member of the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition. Join today to begin enjoying the benefits of membership, including a subscription to Art Focus Oklahoma. PATRON - $250

-Listing of self or business on signage at events -Invitation for two people to private reception with visiting curators -$210 of this membership is tax deductible. -All of below

FELLOW - $125

-Acknowledgement in the Resource Guide and Art Focus Oklahoma -Copy of each OVAC exhibition catalog -$85 of this membership is tax deductible. -All of below

FAMILY - $60

Allan Houser: A Celebration Through November 2 The Philbrook Museum of Art 2727 S Rockford Rd (918) 749-7941 philbrook.org

Tommy Ball November 7-29 DJ Lafon Through November 29 Opening November 7, 6-9pm Mainline 111 N Main, Ste C (918) 629-0342 mainlineartok.com

Solitary Kingdom November 7-29 Opening November 7, 6-9 pm Lumens December 5-20 Opening December 5, 6-9 pm Tulsa Artists’ Coalition 9 East Brady (918) 592-0041 tacgallery.org

Vignettes Through November 29 Small Works Show December 1-31 M.A. Doran Gallery 3509 S. Peoria (918) 748-8700 madorangallery.com

Tulsa Young Professionals Group Art Exhibition Through November 3 Tulsa Performing Arts Center Gallery Third & Cincinnati (918) 596-2368 tulsapac.com

The Wild Bunch November 8-December 8 Opening and Demo November 8, 10 am-5 pm Lovetts Gallery 6528 E 51st St (918) 664-4732 lovettsgallery.com

Spaces of Otherness: Art as UtopiaHeterotopia November 14-December 3 Southwestern Oklahoma State University Art Building 100 Campus Dr (580) 744-3756

Fifth Annual Alliday December 12-13 Retro Den 1216 S Harvard Ave (918) 671-1390 theallidayshow.com

Weatherford

MEMBER FORM ¨ Patron

¨ Fellow

¨ Family

¨ Individual

Name Street Address City, State, Zip Email

INDIVIDUAL - $40

Website

Phone

Credit card #

Exp. Date

STUDENT - $20

-Valid student ID required. Same benefits as Individual level.

¨ Student

-Same benefits as Individual level for two people in household -Subscription to Art Focus Oklahoma -Monthly e-newsletter of Oklahoma art events and opportunities -Receive all OVAC mailings -Listing in and copy of Annual Resource Guide & Member Directory -Access to “Members Only” area on OVAC website -Invitation to Annual Meeting Plus, artists receive: -Inclusion in online Artist Gallery -Artist entry fees waived for OVAC sponsored exhibitions -Up to 50% discount on Artist Survival Kit workshops -Discounted registration for Artist INC Online Course -Affiliate benefits with National Alliance of Media Arts and Culture, Fractured Atlas, and Artwork Archive

NPN/VAN Installations November 7-27 The Tulsa Contingent November 7-22 Opening November 7, 6-10 pm Champagne and Chocolate Exhibition December 5-20 Gala December 4, 7-10 pm Opening December 5, 6-10 pm Living Arts 307 E. Brady (918) 585-1234 livingarts.org

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?

Comments:

Detach and mail form along with payment to: OVAC, 730 W. Wilshire Blvd, Suite 104, Oklahoma City, OK 73116 Or join online at www.ovac-ok.org

ArtOFocus k l a h o m a Annual Subscriptions to Art Focus Oklahoma are free with OVAC membership. Nov 6:

Meet OVAC’s New Executive Director, Tulsa

Nov 8-Jan 17: 24 Works on Paper, Lawton Nov 8:

Artist Survival Kit Workshop: Grant Writing Basics, Stillwater

Nov 9:

Refreshing the Palette, OKC

Nov 10:

Momentum OKC 2015 Spotlight Proposal Deadline

Nov 13:

Meet OVAC’s New Executive Director, OKC

Nov 17:

Oklahoma Art Writing & Curatorial Fellowship Application Deadline

Dec 31:

OVAC Spring Internship Application Deadline

730 W. Wilshire Blvd, Suite 104 Oklahoma City, OK 73116 The Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition supports Oklahoma’s visual arts and artists and their power to enrich communities.

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

Visit www.ovac-ok.org to learn more.

View the full Oklahoma visual arts calendar at ovac-ok.org/calendar.

NOVEMBER Denis Duong Tim Chapman Opening Reception: FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 7 6 - 10 P.M.

DECEMBER CHRISTMAS AT THE ELMS Opening Reception: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5 6 - 10 P.M. Gallery Hours: Mon - Sat 10 am - 6 pm Sun 1 pm - 5 pm

2810 North Walker Phone: 405.528.6336 www.jrbartgallery.com

JRB

ART

AT THE ELMS