Art Focus Oklahoma, September/October 2011

ArtOFocus k l a h o m a

Ok l a ho m a V i s u al A r ts C o al i t i on

Vo l u m e 2 6 N o . 5

September/October 2011

Drawing by Emma Ann Robertson.

Art OFocus k l a h o m a from the editor If you are reading this magazine, chances are you already have an interest in the arts. At some point in your life, you’ve probably had an arts experience that changed the way you see the world, helped you understand something in a new way, or taught you something you never expected to learn. Perhaps you are an artist or arts leader yourself, making and working to bring those kinds of experiences to others. You have an intuitive and nuanced understanding of why art matters.

Unfortunately, there are many people who have never had those experiences. They don’t know the power that the arts have to enrich individual lives, as well as the wellbeing of communities.

It is up to those of us who understand that power to share with others how the arts have impacted our own lives.

In this issue, you’ll read about Christopher Hunt at MIDWESTMEDIA in Oklahoma City (p. 10). In addition to having their office located in a burgeoning arts district, MIDWESTMEDIA has made a conscious effort to use their skills to help bring artists and the community together. We also visit John David Wolf at Wolf Productions in Claremore (p. 20), who took a risk by opening an art gallery in his small town, unsure of how it would be received. Four years later, the gallery is providing a diverse arts experience for their community.

If you are interested in learning more about how the arts can impact a community, or how you can better articulate why the arts matter, I encourage you to attend the Oklahoma Arts Conference in Tulsa October 26-27 (see p. 25). The conference will offer three tracks: 1.) Visual and Performing Artist Track, emphasizing marketing skills to help build an artist’s career, 2.)

Community Development Track, giving advice and knowledge about building up a community around the arts, and 3.) Arts Management Track, with information for arts managers about building support for the arts amongst donors, the media and legislators.

More information about the Oklahoma Arts Conference is at arts.ok.gov. I hope to see you there and look forward to hearing your story of why art matters to you.

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: Julia Kirt 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.

Art Focus Committee: Janice McCormick, Bixby; Don Emrick, Claremore; Susan Grossman, Norman; MJ Alexander, Stephen Kovash, Sue Moss Sullivan, and Christian Trimble, Oklahoma City.

OVAC Board of Directors July 2011-June 2012: R.C. Morrison, Bixby; Patrick Kamann, Margo Shultes von Schlageter, MD (Treasurer), Christian Trimble, Rick Vermillion, Edmond; Eric Wright, El Reno; Traci Layton (Secretary), Enid; Suzanne Mitchell (President), Norman; Jennifer Barron (Vice President), Susan Beaty, Gina Ellis, Hillary Farrell, Michael Hoffner, Stephen Kovash, Paul Mays, Carl Shortt, Oklahoma City; Joey Frisillo, Sand Springs; Bradley Jessop, Sulphur; Beth Downing, Jean Ann Fausser, Susan Green, Janet Shipley Hawks, Kathy McRuiz, Sandy Sober, 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.

Kelsey Karper publications@ovac-ok.org

Member Agency of Allied Arts and member of the Americans for the Arts. © 2011, Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition.

All rights reserved.

View this issue online at www.ArtFocusOklahoma.org.

May Yang, Tulsa, Foreign Languages, Screen print and acrylic on Mylar, 60” x 40” at @1614 during the month of December. See page 10.

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contents

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Lauren Ross: First Contemporary Arts Curator for the Philbrook

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Tulsa’s Philbrook museum expands its collection and programming with a new emphasis on modern and contemporary art.

Pushing Borders, Stretching Form: The ceramics of Birthe Flexner

In preparation for an upcoming exhibition, Norman ceramicist Birthe Flexner favors form over function while stretching the limits of her materials.

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Moving Target: Cell Phone Photography on Display at Untitled

An exhibition of photographs made on phones contributes to the ongoing debate about the place of cellphone photography in contemporary art.

10 Art Through Moving Images

Making use of their location in a growing arts district, MIDWESTMEDIA showcases local artists through a series of monthly exhibitions and short films featuring the artists.

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12 Newest wing of Fred Jones Jr Museum of Art slated for October opening

An expansion of the University of Oklahoma’s museum makes space for displaying the museum’s recent acquisitions of American Indian art.

14 Painting a Dream

The art of Josh Heilaman gives glimpse into dreamscapes and fantasy in his October show at DNA Galleries.

16 Momentum Tulsa: Making a Connection

The three artists selected for Momentum Spotlight are exploring the ideas of connections and relationships through their ambitious individual projects.

18 Connecting to the Infinite through Nature: Michael A. McRuiz’s Into the West

An upcoming photography exhibition at Tulsa Artists’ Coalition gallery captures the natural beauty of the western U.S. landscape.

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f e a t u re s 20 On the Map: Wolf Productions, A Gallery of the Arts, Claremore, OK

Following a whim, a Claremore couple has created a destination for eclectic art in their small town.

22 An Interview with Robert Storr

On the occasion of his visit to Oklahoma City for City Arts Center’s Lecture Series, Robert Storr sat down with OVAC for a brief interview about his work with artists.

business of art 24 Promote Your Art with a Facebook Page

Alyson B. Stanfield of ArtBizCoach.com shares the reasons and steps for beginning a Facebook page for your art. Learn more from Stanfield at the Oklahoma Arts Conference in Tulsa this October, where she will be the keynote speaker.

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25 Oklahoma Arts Conference 2011 26

OVAC news

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gallery guide (p. 14) Josh Heilaman, Oklahoma City, Three Rules, Acrylic on wood, 36” x 24” (p. 16) Jacquelyn Sparks is piecing together clues from her grandfather’s life to create her Momentum Spotlight project Reconstructing Charles Proctor. Pictured is a collection of love letters between her grandfather and grandmother written 30 years after their divorce. (p. 20) Clay masks by Yusuf Etudaiye on display at Wolf Productions: A Gallery of the Arts. (p. 22) An interview with Robert Storr.

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Lauren Ross: First Contemporary Arts Curator for the Philbrook

by Allison C. Meier

Richard Galpin, Viewing Station, 2010. Photo by Jason Mandella. Courtesy Friends of the High Line.

After launching groundbreaking installations and performances in one of the most unique parks in New York City, Lauren Ross is joining the Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa as its first Nancy E. Meinig Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art. “I believe that my hire, along with the new satellite space planned for downtown Tulsa, are indicators that the museum is writing a new chapter with a greater emphasis on modern and contemporary art in its

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programming and collection,” she said. “It’s a very exciting moment in the institution’s history to join its staff and contribute to that.”

For two years, Ross has served as the first Donald R. Mullen, Jr. Curator & Director of Arts Programs for the High Line, a park running along Manhattan’s Lower West Side from 30th Street in the Meatpacking District down through Chelsea. Until it reopened in 2009 as an urban green space, the High Line was an abandoned freight railroad track

that had been left to deteriorate. The narrow, elevated space was transformed by James Corner Field Operations with Diller Scofidio + Renfro into an oasis above the busy streets that incorporates panoramic views of the skyline and Hudson River.

“The job at the High Line offered me a novel opportunity to work with public art and build a new program from the ground up, and I think it is crucial to take on new challenges,” Ross said. “But now I am very excited about

returning to a museum, and particularly one where I will be able to collaborate with colleagues who are doing work in areas other than my own.”

Born in New York City and raised in a nearby suburb, Lauren Ross has worked as a curator, writer and arts administrator for 18 years. She started her career at the Whitney Museum of American Art as a curatorial assistant to two permanent collection curators, both of whom were primarily focused on early 20th-century art. Her years there fueled her passion for American and modern art, but she wanted the experience of working with living artists.

After one year at a commercial art gallery, she was hired at the nonprofit art space White Columns, where she remained for seven years, first as Assistant Director and then as Director/ Chief Curator. Curating over a dozen group exhibitions and about 30 solo project room shows, she cultivated a devotion to emerging artists. After graduate school, she returned to the museum world in a six month stint as an interim curator at the Brooklyn Museum before joining the High Line in 2009.

“As the first curator for the High Line, I played a critical role in defining and shaping what the High Line’s public art program would be,” she said. “My main charge was to commission artists to make new, site-specific, temporary artworks for display in the park.”

Working with the atypical outdoor space, she commissioned ten site-specific installations through High Line Art, ranging from sound art to photography to performance to sculpture that responded to the park’s history and structure.

As she shifts from the frenetic landscape of New York City and the heights of the High Line to the calmer urbanity of Tulsa and its serene Philbrook, she plans to continue her innovative work with contemporary art in response to the new challenges of the museum.

In 2009, the High Line debuted a painting/ sculpture hybrid by Valerie Hegarty resembling a Hudson River School landscape painting, but with exposed stretcher bars that looked to be growing into tree branches and an overall appearance of decay.

“The Philbrook has stunning outdoor space, including both gardens and sculpture areas, and I really hope to be able to use it as a site for artwork,” she said. “I think when most people think of outdoor art, they think of sculpture for a good reason, but one of my goals at the High Line was to work with other media as well, including performance, sound, photography and video. I would like to do the same at the museum.”

“That blurring of the line between what is truly wild and what is a manmade experience of nature seemed appropriate for the High Line, as the gardens have a wild look, but in fact are carefully cultivated,” she said.

Another piece in 2010 by Richard Galpin included a viewing device that abstracted the neighboring buildings, playing with the High Line’s perspective on the surrounding architecture, 30 feet above that of a pedestrian on the street.

In June of this year, the Section 2 expansion of the High Line opened and Ross debuted a sound piece by Julianne Swartz entitled Digital Empathy. Visitors to the park are greeted with computer-generated voices in unexpected locations, including the elevators, bathrooms and water fountains. Some welcome park goers and provide them with information, both practical and not, while others state support, flattery or concern.

Learn more about the Philbrook Museum of Art at www.philbrook.org and the High Line at www.thehighline.org. n

Allison C. Meier is a freelance writer based in Brooklyn. She works in communications at the Cooper Union and has covered visual arts in Oklahoma for several years. She can be reached at allisoncmeier@gmail.com.

“It’s definitely an unexpected experience to go for a drink of water and have the fountain speak to you,” Ross said. “The piece is very funny and a touch disconcerting.”

Also in June 2011, the High Line debuted an installation by Sarah Sze consisting of a network of vertical, horizontal and diagonal metal elements reflecting the design of the park’s walking path, while framing its views of New York. The lattice integrates elements providing food, water and shelter for birds and other animals, like a micro-city for wildlife.

Lauren Ross

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Pushing Borders, Stretching Form The ceramics of Birthe Flexner

by Sarah Atlee

Before I was born, my father, John Atlee, took on Birthe Flexner as an apprentice potter for a year. My family moved away from Oklahoma in 1981, and for the two-and-a-half decades that followed, I ate from Birthe’s handmade dishes every day. It’s only since I returned to Oklahoma in 2006 that I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know Birthe as a fellow artist. Recently I visited her studio in Norman.

Standing amidst shelves of handmade teapots and tureens, Birthe Flexner shows me a vessel encircled by gently undulating lines. I compare it to several of her new Moebius-band-like sculptures, which suggest wet clay thrown into the air and suspended there. I ask where this spiraling shape comes from, and she replies simply that “I love to make it, and it pleases me.”

Never content to rest on past successes, Flexner is constantly evolving through her work, exploring the possibilities of form.

Familiar objects like vases or platters are warped, pinched, and attenuated, straining the idea of function. “I kind of stretch things to their outer limit,” she tells me, even when that means taking, say, a teapot far beyond its traditional appearance.

Though it’s important to Flexner that her pieces be used in everyday life, she experiments with form because it keeps the process interesting. “It’s a stretch, a lot of it, for people to like. But I’m past that. ...It’s more important to me to have a good time.”

Flexner grew up near Copenhagen, Denmark, and was influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement of the 1950s and 60s. She also benefited from learning about art as a young child. “When I was in school as a little girl, we had an amazing art department. I was introduced to clay and painting and all of that early in my life.” Flexner did not take the direct route to an art career, however. She trained as a clinical pathologist and worked in hospitals. This was not an ideal situation.

“I don’t like the structure in a permanent job where you only are able to be creative on the weekends.” In the late 1960s, Flexner moved to Israel, where she met her husband, Bob. They relocated to Oklahoma

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after their first son was born.

Flexner met potter John Atlee in Norman, and worked as his studio assistant while learning to use clay. “I made a million glaze tests, and helped him stack the kiln, and stuff like that.” Over the next year, “that gave me the continuous learning process that’s so important when you want to learn something.” She’s been a ceramicist ever since.

I ask about a stack of materials in the studio - wire mesh, plastic mats, and scraps of cardboard. These, she tells me, are textures she has collected. “I’m always looking for textures. I really like dots and stripes, more than anything.” She presses these patterns into slabs of wet clay, then shapes the slabs into forms. “I like movement,” she says. “I don’t like things to be too tight, too controlled.” Another improvised tool is a piece of wire that looks as if it was pulled from a spiral notebook.

“You pull the wire through a piece of clay, and then you separate [the pieces] like a book, and you don’t know what you’ll get.”

Flexner enjoys showing the natural textures of the clay itself. “I like the clay speaking through, rather than a flat glaze. And I like to work with grog-y kind of clay, where you can really see what it is.” She also welcomes the sometimes unexpected results of the firing process. Many of her pieces are covered with glazes that have melted, and bled together. Flexner works in partnership with her materials, rather than attempting to exert total control over the results. If a piece isn’t working, she won’t force it to conform to her idea. “So many times, something you make is not what you

Birthe Flexner, Norman, Noodle Knot, Ceramic, 12” x 13”. Photo by Bob Flexner.

expected, and you reject it. ...You don’t see it, really; you need to put it aside and not see it for a while. You need to forget what it was that you had in mind. Then you can see it with fresh eyes.”

Since 1983, Flexner has been holding open house events in her studio. Like many working artists, she sometimes struggles with the choice to either try something new, or repeat what has sold in the past. Gallery exhibits are a chance for her to show more experimental work.

Preparing for a gallery show “helps me being motivated and pushing my borders. I don’t want to show the same old thing over again, because what’s the point in that?”

Birthe Flexner’s next exhibition, with Michi Susan and Patrick Riley, opens October 7th at JRB Art at the Elms in Oklahoma City. For more information, visit www.jrbartgallery.com. n Sarah Atlee is a painter living in Oklahoma City.

1218 N Western Oklahoma City 405.831.2874

U N I V E R SI T Y C O L L E G E

O F

O F

C ENTR AL

F I N E

A R T S

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O KL AHO M A A N D

D E S I G N

Alive Alive “Flight” by Christopher Domanski

“Shakespeare” by Gary Lee Price

Where Public Art Comes

“Breath” by David Thummel

For more information, contact Susan Parks at (405) 974-3774

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Moving Target: Cell Phone Photography on Display at Untitled

by Jennifer Barron

Carl Shortt, Oklahoma City, Six Photographers, iPhone

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With its exhibition Can You See Me Now?, [Artspace] at Untitled is exploring a current movement in photography that is familiar to most of us, although perhaps controversial to some as a part of contemporary art. Recently, through the shows Lynn Stern: Seen/Unseen and The Print, Untitled has taken a close look at current and historical experimentation within photography. Can You See Me Now? continues this exploration by looking at a different contemporary trend: images captured on cell phones.

tints, or scratched edges are features, not flaws. These applications go so far as to create square images instead of rectangles, just as the Polaroid and Holga cameras that they emulate.

In some ways, cell phone photography is breathing new air into a traditional debate for photographers: does increased accessibility help the art form- by allowing more points of view to the table- or hurt- by sidestepping the need for skillfully processed film images? Several of the participating photographers expressed different points of view.

Many artists wholeheartedly embrace the increased popularity of photography that camera phones foster. “I think it’s a great thing!” states Chad Mount, CYSMN? photographer and artist who typically works in mixed media. “Some of the best Hipstamatic shots I’ve seen are often captured by non-professionals.”

Photographer and new media artist Sarah Hearn describes the criticism that has come along with different advancements in the medium: “It was believed that [photography] would mark the end of painting...

Now, we’ve experienced transitions from analog to digital, and from digital to images that exist on the web with no real physical form...

There is always visible residue of what came before,” she states. A striking example of the ways in which photography shows the evidence of its own evolution is the creation of smartphone applications such as Instagram, Swankolab, and perhaps most notably, Hipstamatic. These programs allow users to create images that simulate older cameras and film processes: here, idiosyncrasies such as light leaks, yellow or red

Certainly, many crucial elements of great photography- such as instinct and timing- are not the sole propriety of those with an art degree.

“It’s a new medium for me, but I really enjoy it,” says Kyle Lankford, Oklahoma City resident and a newcomer as a photography artist.

“Using the camera in my phone means I can capture an image when and wherever I am. My phone is always with me.” Lankford’s thoughts echo a repeated sentiment: cellphone photography means that more people are taking more images, and experimenting with accessible photography.

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Invented in 1994, camera phone technology has been widely available since around 2000, but it was the development of smartphones- with their ability to instantly share images through social media platformsthat truly raised this technology to a part of the cultural landscape.

Photography artist Romy Owens believes that this accessibility has

always been inherent to the medium: “I believe even before the prevalence of the cell phone camera, photography has always been the artistic medium of the masses.... I mean, I had a 110 camera at age six.”

Expressing a somewhat different perspective is Carl Shortt, photographer and wood turner. He is enthusiastic about producing the high quality images, and he notes that while camera phone technology is continually improving, these devices cannot yet truly compare to traditional film methods. “Will they produce Ansel Adams quality images? Not at the current time. Will they capture moments in time that people enjoy seeing and sharing? Absolutely.”

While Ansel Adams’ work is revered by many as a gold standard of technical skill, does a comparison between this work and camera phone photography tell us much about the quality or importance of either? Do both film photography and cellphone photography have a place in contemporary art? These are some of the questions that viewers to this show may consider for themselves.

Owens stresses that the changes that cellphones bring to photography are just that- changes- and should not be seen as symbols of declining quality, diminishing value or the downfall of the art form. “A compelling image is a compelling image,” she notes, “whether it is able to be printed wall size from an 8x10 glass plate negative or wallet size from a 1 MB digital jpeg.”

Still, the direction photography will head in the future is anything but clear, and the prevalence of cell phone cameras will certainly affect its trajectory. As Hearn stated, it is becoming “more difficult to distinguish the boundaries between the real and the embellished, art and document, photography and life.” It is a development she finds “endlessly interesting.”

[Artspace] at Untitled offers a show that is accessible yet challenging, a view of the world that is personal and familiar at the same time. Cellphone photography adds immediacy, connectivity, and accessibility to an evolving art form. Does the possibility for powerful, cohesive images exist equally with cellphone cameras as with film cameras? The answer is a clear yes, although technical advances at times race to catch up with artistic skill. As technology continues to progress and more people find themselves in the role of artists, whether intended or unintended, the only thing certain about the future of photography is its ability to evolve accordingly, embracing changes as they come.

The exhibition continues through October 1. For more information visit www.artspaceatuntitled.org. n Jennifer Barron is an Oklahoma City based artist and arts administrator who believes firmly in the power of art to enhance lives, build communities and push us forward from our comfort zones.

(top) Sarah Hearn, Oklahoma City, Diorama, American Museum of Natural History, iPhone 3G (bottom) Romy Owens, Oklahoma City, Wisdom, iPhone 3 with Hipstamatic App

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Art Through Moving Images

by Sasha Spielman

For over 50 years now, films have captivated audiences, helped shape societies, engaged in political commentary, and helped people fall in love. It comes as no surprise that filmmaking has also invaded the art world.

Mini art documentary films have become an essential communication tool used by artists and galleries to attract a wide audience. What started as a smart PR strategy quickly is catching up and turning into an art form of its own genre.

One such emerging art filmmaker is Christopher Hunt, the owner of MIDWESTMEDIA and @1614 in Oklahoma City’s growing Plaza District.

“I wanted to focus on beautiful imagery, all while I am trying to tell a human story,” Hunt said.

Hunt started MIDWESTMEDIA with his mother Kay five years ago. The idea behind the company is to provide Oklahoma businesses with high-quality, cutting edge video packages, while also offering them fullservice marketing and public relations. Some of their clients include Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma, Citizens Caring for Children, and the Plaza District.

“It’s so awesome when we get a client who trusts us and our experience,” Hunt said. “It allows me to produce, in my opinion, some really smart creative work.”

Christopher Hunt, owner of MIDWESTMEDIA and @1614 in Oklahoma City. Photo by Bryce Bandy. Background artwork by Michael Kirby.

The creative vibe is all around Hunt and his team. Housed in the heart of the Plaza District, one of Oklahoma City’s most art-full and colorful neighborhoods, MIDWESTMEDIA decided to spread the word about Oklahoma’s talents through film. “…I just wanted to get the word out,” Hunt said. “I honestly felt it was my duty.”

Surrounded by the booming art scene, Hunt realized the potential the Plaza District has as a driving vehicle to attract more customers and new businesses. An activist by heart, Hunt opened his business space to artists to showcase their artwork and help them gain exposure and experience for future gallery exhibitions. @1614, named after the building’s address

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at 1614 N. Gatewood Ave., soon became the new “it gallery” for young talents eager to put on a show for a wide audience. Though most people spend their time gazing into the paintings on the walls, Hunt wanted something more. He became deeply curious about who the artists are as people, in addition to the art they produce.

Artists, who can appear as hidden and mysterious creatures who only communicate with the public through their paintings, have now candidly let Hunt and his camera into their private lives to be documented.

“I love being surrounded by people more talented than me,” Hunt said. “I get inspired by the artists and hopefully bring that inspiration to my own work.”

Watching the mini art documentaries produced by Hunt for each @1614 exhibition, the viewer sees the artists as a constantly evolving work of art, but instead of color, personal experiences serve as the palette.

To make the films more raw and uncut, Hunt uses a handheld camera. This technique has been favored by a new generation of independent filmmakers. Often in watching Hunt’s short films, the viewer’s attention is directed on a specific object, such as an eye or a hand, with the rest of the image blurred out or distorted. Artists use the same method to catch the viewers’ attention and redirect it to an object important to the work’s composition.

Hunt was not satisfied with just seeing the artists as they create, however. He pushed boundaries.

“I take them out of their element,” Hunt said. “For example, I take them out on the street, out of their comfort zone of the studio,” he continued. “To me it is important to know who they are as people.”

Hunt received his Recording Industry Degree from Middle Tennessee State University and moved to New York City, where he worked in a recording studio producing kid’s music for PBS and Nickelodeon. His mentor Gary Nadeau, a film director producing shorts for Dwell Magazine, has encouraged Hunt to

seek his creative voice by diving into the art community and exploring the human side of art.

“I think the artists have picked up on my sincere desire to help them achieve their goals,” Hunt said.

Currently, @1614 showcases a new artist every month. Upcoming artists include Dylan Bradway in September, Desmond Mason in October, and May Yang in December.

During exhibition openings, Hunt offers locally brewed beer and homemade salsa to gallery guests. Unusual choice, even Hunt notes.

“I love great beer (especially local) and I am a salsa addict, so that is why we choose not to serve cheese and wine,” Hunt said.

A happy end for this movie, MIDWESTMEDIA and @1614 have won over the hearts of the artists and the people of Oklahoma City. However, Hunt says this is just the beginning and more “out of the box” shorts are to come.

To view the series of @1614 films and for more information on upcoming exhibitions and film screenings, visit www.at1614.com. n Sasha Spielman is a freelance writer, who has covered a variety of stories from entertainment to hard news. She currently hosts an online travel show and in her spare time writes for magazines.

Dylan Bradway, Oklahoma City, Flight Spirit, Acrylic, brushed ink, charcoal, graphite, 22” x 17”. Bradway’s work will be on exhibit at @1614 during the month of September.

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Newest wing of Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art slated for October opening

by Susan Grossman

A rendering of the newly completed Stuart Wing at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art at the University of Oklahoma in Norman.

All that’s left is the fine tuning as The Stuart Wing for the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art gets ready to roll out the red carpet this fall.

It’s a facelift for the original University of Oklahoma museum that has stood watch for 40 years at the corner of Boyd and Elm streets in Norman. Spaces have been renovated and a new gallery level added to house the Eugene B. Adkins Collection of American Indian art, which includes works by artists from Taos, N.M. “The construction is finished, but we are setting up and organizing galleries, displaying the art, tuning the lighting and getting ready for opening weekend,” said Ghislain d’Humieres, director and chief curator of the museum. “This culminates with the opening celebration on Sunday, October 23.”

The $13 million project features a new gallery level on the east side of the museum, adding 19,500 square feet to the current 61,000 square feet of space. The project includes a grand staircase and gallery space for new acquisitions, as well as the Adkins

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Collection. The Nancy Johnston Records Gallery also has been upgraded and so-called back-of-the-house spaces for building display items and care for artworks.

During his lifetime, Adkins, who was a member of Tulsa’s pioneering Brady family, amassed an impressive collection which includes 3,300 objects – 1,100 twodimensional works, 370 pieces of pottery, more than 1,600 examples of jewelry and silverwork, and almost 250 pieces of assorted Native arts. It is considered one of the nation’s most important private collections of works by the Taos artists and by Native American artists.

it provided the perfect opportunity to completely renovate the original portions of the museum during the construction.

Oklahoma City architect Rand Elliott designed The Stuart Wing and accompanying renovated spaces. His style perfectly complements the minimalist Lester Wing which was designed by Washington D.C. architect Hugh Newell Jacobsen. This 34,000 square-foot-wing with its distinctive pyramid-style composition was named for benefactors Mary and Howard Lester of San Francisco and made its debut in 2005.

The new gallery space is the result of an agreement made when the Adkins Foundation awarded the collection to the University of Oklahoma and the Philbrook Museum in Tulsa, a partnership that prevailed in a competition among leading art museums in the country to obtain the collection.

“Visually, Rand Elliot’s expansion unified the beauty of the Lester Wing and the sheer size of the large, brick School of Art building with a nice, proportionate green-gray glass box,” d’Humieres said. “Rand also managed to visually link both buildings on the inside by giving visitors a stylized view of mountains to the west when viewing the exterior tops of the Lester Wing.”

While the expansion is due to the acquisition of the Adkins Collection, d’Humieres said

D’Humieres adds that the addition of The Stuart Wing, as well as the renovation of

the original building affords the museum the opportunity to showcase other parts of its Western and Native American art collection, in addition to the Adkins Collection. With the expansion, collections of Adeline and Richard Fleischaker, William H. and Roxanne Thams, Priscilla C. and Joseph N. Tate, Jerome M. Westheimer, Sr. and Rennard Strickland can, and will, be displayed.

“This installation also offers a preview of the recent 2010 gift of the James T. Bialac Collection of Native American Art, as well as major works from the School of Taos and a large variety of Native American ceramics from the Southwest,” he said.

Bialac, of Arizona, donated his 3,500-piece Native American collection to the university last year. Museum curator Mark White said at the time, Bialac’s gift is a comprehensive survey of 20th century Native American art and elevates the university to premier status for modern Native American art.

D’Humieres said the renovation of the Nancy Johnston Records gallery on the lower level of the building enables the museum to display traveling exhibitions and rotating art several times each year. In addition, a new education library will facilitate interaction with art for faculty, students and researchers.

A grand staircase, just behind the west wall of the original building, leads visitors from the first floor and the level below to the 8,300-square-foot Adkins Gallery. After viewing the Adkins Collection, visitors can move up to the mezzanine level to view a new 4,500-square-foot gallery for photography.

OU Regent Jon R. Stuart and his wife, Dee Dee gave a $3 million lead gift from the Stuart Family Foundation to help fund the $13 million expansion. In appreciation, the new addition is called The Stuart Wing.

“Our permanent collection spans nearly 16,000 works, but we will now be able to showcase highlights from nearly every medium and period in order to fulfill our mission of teaching students and the public of Oklahoma,” d’Humieres said of the new spaces. “Several galleries will be regularly

Walter Ufer; (U.S., 1876-1936), Going East, Oil on canvas, 50” x 50”. The Eugene B. Adkins Collection at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, the University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma and the Philbrook Museum of Art, Tulsa, Oklahoma

rotating, such as the Records Gallery, Bialac Gallery, photo gallery and more.”

The Stuart Wing Grand Opening Celebration will be held Sunday, October 23 from Noon5 pm. The event is free and open to the public. Visit www.ou.edu/fjjma for more information. n Susan Grossman is a lifelong journalist and public relations specialist who currently works as a development officer. Her hobby job is freelance writing for a variety of local, regional and national publications covering everything from art and architecture to sports. Reach her at susangrossman@cox.net.

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PAINTING A DREAM The art of Josh Heilaman gives glimpse into dreamscapes, fantasy in October art show

by Heide Brandes Walking through the imagination of Josh Heilaman is like walking through a dream full of strange animal characters, swirling landscapes and slightly off-kilter personalities. With bright colors born of childhood art supplies and a slew of creatures never seen before, Heilaman’s artwork is adventurous. However, when his solo show opens at DNA Galleries this October, even he has no idea what pieces will be on display.

“To be honest, I’m still fine-tuning what I will present,” Heilaman said. “So far, I really don’t have a theme or a fully focused direction, but I work best under pressure.”

One thing for sure, however, is that Heilaman will bring his dream creatures and psychedelic landscapes out of the canvas into a three-dimensional world. For those familiar with his art, the DNA Galleries show will unveil a new facet to the local artist’s talent.

“Josh has been showing his work for years, and it has this huge mass appeal that I don’t even understand,” said Amanda Bradway, who owns DNA Galleries with her husband.

“So many people connect with the works we have hanging here from our private collection. I feel it is a bit rare to see his work

in a solo exhibit nowadays since he has been busy with school, so we had to grab him when he was available. His last show with us was in 2009 and was probably one of the best openings we’ve had at our gallery.”

Besides being a fan of his art, Bradway says the artist is also a friend. She met Heilaman when he was working at Warehouse Music.

“I found out he did art when we hung out at his apartment and was absolutely blown away by the brilliance and originality. I had never seen anything like it, especially in Oklahoma,” she said.

Josh Heilaman’s talents go beyond visual art; he is also a graphic designer and musician specializing in beat, sound and video manipulation. For more than 15 years, his artwork and music has been seen and heard throughout the United States. One of his musical projects – an entirely improvisational group called Esthing – will perform at his show opening on October 14.

Heilaman said his art now is much like the art he created as a kid, full of child-like wonder and imagination.

“I started out drawing as a kid to pass the

time. I spent a lot of time by myself, so I drew pictures all the time,” he said. “Before I knew it, 30 years have passed, and I’m still drawing. I realize the core of my art is still the exact same, but I continue to try to perfect it.”

His characters, which range from pink octopi to weird-eyed girls, are based in emotion, he said. The characters all represent the feeling behind someone the artist knows or the emotions he feels himself.

“The physical appearance is what I’m into at the time – wombats or pandas or sea creatures. I try to combine all elements to create a chimera of sorts,” he said.

Bradway agrees, finding a fantasy element in his work. “(His art) has ethereal, dreamy, imaginative characters with a sort of Asian influence.

They seem to be alive, but something you would see in a dream,” Bradway says. “His backgrounds are brightly colored waves that often have metallic or sparkly paint mixed in, which creates a setting for his characters to live and breathe.”

This show, however, will reveal the three-dimensional aspects of Heilaman’s imagination.

“I’ll be unveiling a number of 3-D works.

I’m taking the paintings into the 3-D realm, and I think it will have the same effects as

(left) Josh Heilaman, Oklahoma City, Saru to Hebi, Acrylic and pencil on wood, 8” x 12” opposite page: (top left) Josh Heilaman, Oklahoma City, Udon, Acrylic on vinyl record, 12” (top right) Josh Heilaman, Oklahoma City, Towards a Pleasant Reprieve, Acrylic on wood, 24” x 24” (bottom right) Josh Heilaman, Oklahoma City, Lady Thoravian’s Solution, Acrylic on wood, 36” x 24”

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my painting,” Heilaman said. “I’ll still have some paintings involved, but I feel like it’s time to show something new to the public. I’ve been doing 3-D art for a while, but I’ve never shown it. I think ultimately, people will have the same kind of reaction as they do with the paintings – whatever that reaction may be.”

The Heilaman collection is also perfect for Oklahoma City’s gallery.

Bradway and her husband opened DNA Galleries in October 2008 with the mission to promote local artists and the gallery itself. As owners of DNA Galleries, the Bradway’s were in the position to choose art they were drawn to or handmade items that were unique.

“We thought it would be great to bring it all together in one place.

We feel strongly that urban contemporary art is under-represented in Oklahoma and there wasn’t really a store that focused specifically on all handmade wares and the things people made locally,” Bradway said.

From October 14-26, Heilaman’s signature work will be featured at DNA Galleries in Oklahoma City’s Plaza District. An opening for the exhibit is set for 7 - 11 p.m. on October 14 during the Plaza District’s Second Friday art walk. DNA Galleries is located at 1705 B NW 16th St in Oklahoma City. Visit www.dnagalleries.com for more information. n Heide Brandes is an Oklahoma City writer with more than 15 years experience as a writer and journalist for a variety of publications. She is a writer, editor, adventure hound, professional bellydancer and kind of a quirky chick.

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Momentum Tulsa: Making a Connection

by Elizabeth Downing

This year at Momentum Tulsa, it’s all about the connection.

Connection is the thread that weaves through Momentum Spotlight this year, whether it’s the tenuous relationship with others when living in a rural setting (Brian Letzig), finding the truths and untruths about a wayward relative (Jacquelyn Sparks), or figuring out just how central social media is to our everyday lives (Jessica Tankersley).

Once again, art imitates life: it’s all about the connections, it’s all about the relationships. The way we relate to each other is fascinating, frustrating, ever-changing, and difficult at its very core – artists will recognize that these things are inherent to the creation of art as well.

So it’s appropriate that the Momentum Spotlight projects will explore connections in three visually different ways.

Of this year’s entries, Emerging Curator Waylon Summers says that he thinks the audience “will be most struck by the complexity of the Spotlight projects, some narrative and some technical.” He sees Spotlight contributing to Momentum in giving “something for next year’s applicants to strive for.” Here are this year’s Momentum Spotlight projects: The World We Live In “Living a country life, having glimpses of small town Americana, and traveling to larger cities on weekends and summers, left Brian with many varying views on what life should be and how we, as a human race, should experience it. Never a full participant in the typical developmental cliques that most people grow up in, Brian became a voyeur of the human condition instead of an actor in these traditional roles.”

Brian Letzig is embarking on a journey into the depths of Oklahoma to capture footage for his multimedia project. He’s going to construct 16 “home forms” (appropriate, given his architecture degree) onto which he will project imagery that juxtaposes the urban and the rural. He even has a few spots picked out: water towers mimicking smokestacks, windmills, and some places in downtown Tulsa. There will be atmospheric sounds and noises plucked from the filming and he’s already said that he will carefully crop and time the images in post-production.

Letzig grew up in a rural setting and has some mixed feelings about it. “When your closest neighbor or friend is a minimum of a five minute drive away it affects the way an individual grows up and socializes. It was a great childhood, but one that relied on others to be able to participate in group activities,” he says. About urban spaces, he says that they “allow for individuals to participate in more public situations, such as parks, theaters, community centers, etc. In comparison rural spaces emphasize the private secluded activities, the green spaces are not shared, and only on occasion do these individuals drive into town for shared common spaces.”

Our relationship with our spaces is complicated: this piece will visually present a juxtaposition between urban and rural that has been churning in the back of Letzig’s mind for some time. But out of this dilemma came the idea for this multimedia project – probably one night when the quiet of the country or the din of the city was lulling him to sleep.

He says that most of his ideas are generated in that in-between; “it is in that state of mind where reality begins to blur with the imagination when the lights are off and all external stimuli have stopped that the really good ideas seem to come.”

Reconstructing Charles Proctor “Charles Proctor, my grandfather, left behind more than a movie-worthy career, he also had at least ten children and as many failed marriages - none of whom knew about each other until after his death. I am integrating physical artifacts with projections of images of ephemera and ephemeral ideas, such as letter excerpts and photographs. The types of projections will also progress with time - layers of black and white photographs and line drawings representing his earliest years, 35mm color slides in the 1960s through early 1980s, and glimpses of digital technology near his death in 1992. I hope to address not only Charles’ personal story but use his narrative as a way to personify major events in the 20th century.”

Jacquelyn Sparks is taking a journey of an entirely different sort than Letzig’s: into the recent history of her family. Specifically, her grandfather, who led a colorful and wayfaring life that she began to explore a few years ago after picking up her mother’s work on the family geneology.

Sparks is going to create “combines of physical objects and multiple projected images” that she has found in the archives of her family. She will also use some images from “re-photography” of the places where family photographs were taken “to better understand the mythologies that have accompanied [the] images over time.” In piecing this history together, she found old letters - one set where Charles Proctor had corresponded with her grandmother after being divorced for thirty years. In following his footsteps, her research has taken her from university archives, to NASA, to the National Archives, showing just how much distance her grandfather covered during his life.

A digital sketch of Brian Letzig’s multi-media installation The World We Live In.

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(left) Jacquelyn Sparks is piecing together clues from her grandfather’s life to create her Momentum Spotlight project Reconstructing Charles Proctor. Pictured is a collection of love letters between her grandfather and grandmother written 30 years after their divorce.

On researching a relative, which could be unnerving to some, she says that she doesn’t “think of him so much as ‘my grandfather’ but as someone who I’m compiling a biography about.” In fact, she found that they shared at least a skin-deep connection: after receiving his veterans record, she discovered that they have the same fingerprint pattern.

She asks in her artist statement, “When an individual leaves their community, either through death or choice, does their presence remain?” For Jacquelyn, and all the spectators at Momentum, the answer is yes – and in a form that she says makes us “no longer onlooker[s] but active participant[s].”

Twitter Heart “Twitter Heart is an electronic sculpture that represents a symbolic mainframe for the social network Twitter. Composed of twelve individual square sections, the largest frame is 18 inches tall, with each frame successively smaller. Each section frames a set of latex ribbons stretched taut between the edges, and two motors that move the latex. The sculpture is wirelessly connected to a computer, where computer code searches Twitter for the keyword “heart.” The Twitter search is repeated on a loop every second, as long as the Twitter search finds the word “heart” the Twitter Heart continues to beat.”

Nowhere are the connections, or sometimes the lack of them, more evident than online. Twitter’s particular call-and-response format means that people put their opinions out there and hoping others will value it enough to read it, respond, or relay it to their network of connections. On the positive side, this web of interaction connects those that might never have met face-to-face. On the negative side, reviewing and opining and re-tweeting such a volume of information can take over your life.

Enter Jessica Tankersley. She was one of those users that spent hours online, as she says, “Besides this being a very time consuming

(right) Jessica Tankersley, Norman, Twitter Heart Prototype, Electronic sculpture with wood, latex, string and electronic components, 8.5” x 11” x 8.5”

endeavor, I began over time to see just how phony it all was. I had developed an online persona that represented the very “best” version of myself. I did this by making sure only the best photos, funniest punch lines, and most interesting items were posted. Here I was, spending all this time managing an online identity that didn’t even represent reality.” So she decided to take a three month “sabbatical” from her online life in order to disconnect from the negative effects and reconnect with her real world friends. During that time, she found that some of her relationships changed drastically (and not always for the better).

For Momentum Spotlight, she is creating the electronic sculpture whose latex ribbons and motors will create a “beat” when the computer detects the word “heart” on Twitter. She chose this structure because “The heart is a vital organ, and recently social networks have evolved into the vital framework of our daily lives.

When our heart stops beating we die, when our social networking ceases we tend to feel a sense of loss, confusion, and displacement.”

Momentum Tulsa will open October 8, 2011 at Living Arts, 307 E. Brady, Tulsa, from 8 pm – Midnight. The exhibition features Oklahoma artists ages 30 and younger working in all media.

These three artists were selected from a call for proposals to receive an honorarium and several months of curatorial guidance in preparation for the exhibition.

For more information, visit www.MomentumOklahoma.org.

n

Elizabeth Downing is not an art critic, but a photographer of the urban landscape and a technical writer who lives in Tulsa. She can be reached at beth@bethdowning.com.

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Connecting to the Infinite through Nature: Michael A. McRuiz’s Into the West

by Janice McCormick

Capturing the natural beauty of the western U.S. landscape through color digital photographs, the exhibit Into the West: Recent Work by Michael A. McRuiz will be on display at the Tulsa Artists’ Coalition gallery, 9 East Brady in Tulsa. This exhibit runs from October 7 - 29, 2011.

In his artist’s statement, McRuiz says, “The human desire to form connections with the infinite through nature is the unifying theme in this exhibit. This is manifested in the use of images of Anasazi petroglyphs and the ancestral lands of that ancient culture, the use of ethereal lighting, and in the use of sensual forms and hues.”

All the works are color digital photographs that he has manipulated with Adobe Photoshop software. A number of the images show the influence of the late naturalist photographer Eliot Porter, with an emphasis on pristine landscapes with no evidence of the hand of man. Many of the photographs were taken in Antelope Canyon, near Page, Arizona, and depict sandstone formations with sensuous forms, colors, and lighting. Others originated in Zion, Canyonlands, Capital Reef, and Yellowstone National Parks as well as in surrounding areas.

A number of the photographs are composite images made of two or more separate photographs merged into one and depict objects and scenery that do not exist in the natural world, but evoke emotions associated with prehistoric Native American culture of the southwest.

This recent body of work is a departure from the surrealistic imagery* for which McRuiz is known, though there is a connection to that work through the use of the compositing techniques employed.

McRuiz is an assistant professor of digital media at Tulsa Community College’s Metro campus. He earned his BFA in painting (1976) and his MA in painting (1986) from the University of Tulsa. He has participated in art shows around the country, including Altered Images Photography Exhibition in the Allen Street Gallery in Dallas; the 32nd Chautauqua National Exhibition of American Art in Chautauqua, New York; the Art USA National Juried Art Competition, Grand Junction, Colorado; and the Kansas City Artists Coalition Seventh Annual Juried Exhibition, where he received a Juror’s Award.

(opposite page) Michael McRuiz, Tulsa, Antelope Canyon #1, Digital photograph, 20” x 30” (top) Michael McRuiz, Tulsa, Petroglyphs #1, Digital photograph, 10” x 14” (bottom) Michael McRuiz, Tulsa, Heart of the Earth, Digital photograph, 12” x 18”

*Note: See the review of McRuiz’s surreal exhibit Deus ex Machina published in the January/February 2006 issue of Art Focus Oklahoma. 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.

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Wolf Productions, A Gallery of the Arts Claremore, OK

by Don Emrick

ON THE Eclectic.

That’s how John David Wolf describes Wolf Productions: A Gallery of the Arts in Claremore. David, as he likes to be called, along with his wife Anita, own and operate this unusual mixture of art and artists that opened on Valentine’s day in 2007.

The gallery is located at 510 Will Rogers Blvd, just a half block east of Rt. 66 and features over 50 Northeastern Oklahoma artists. The artistic media are nearly as diverse as the artists themselves: paintings (oil, acrylic, watercolor), ceramics, African masks, turned wood ranging from bowls to decorative ornaments, gourds, mosaics, stained glass, photography (traditional and digital), printmaking, mixed media, jewelry, stained and blown glasswork, fiber art, and beadwork.

A sampling of the artists include: Cathy Leigh Lamb, Karen Greenawalt, Cindy Swanson, Mary Jane Porter, Valerie Gunter, Chris Cameris, Linda Scudder, Leigh Standingbear, Yusuf Etudaiye and more.

Wolf sees the gallery bringing fine art to a town that straddles the line between its rural past and emerging present. “That’s one thing I like to do is to encourage people who might not like, or are intimidated by, a gallery to come in and find out that art is to be enjoyed and you don’t need a master’s degree or be a collector to enjoy art,” said Wolf.

Although he dabbles in digital photography, Wolf doesn’t consider himself an artist. It was his lifelong interest in art that led him to start a gallery - a venture founded on a combination of location, hard work and a bit of luck.

Wolf, a former horticulturalist for the City of Tulsa, neared retirement.

He had been commuting to Tulsa from his home near Lake Oologah.

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As he described it: “It was kind of a whim. One day we were in downtown [Claremore] and we noticed this building was for sale.

We decided to give it a try.” Later he adds: “Because of Rogers State University, Rt. 66, Will Rogers and the tourist draw I saw potential.”

They made a bid on the building, and to their surprise got it. Next came three years of renovations - removing a drop ceiling installed sometime in the 1950’s, restoring the original decorative tin ceiling tiles and fixing the walls to give it the right atmosphere.

“We like to travel a lot,” Wolf explained. “Taos, the Southwest….and this space was perfect, it had that feel…. It would be eclectic in its collection and would appeal to tourists and locals.”

Initially the 4,000 square foot building had been divided into two sections, separated by arches. Over the years, and many incarnations - including a grocery store, butcher shop, tailor shop, hardware store, and years of vacancy – the arches were sealed off and the building is now two separate 2,000 square foot structures. One side houses the gallery and the other side is rented out to supplement the gallery’s income. Currently, that side is used as an event center for weddings and special occasions.

The entrance is through a recessed glass doorway displaying stained glass by Sam Ward. Easels in the front windows change art and media depending on the featured artist.

Once inside, the variety and styles of art are overwhelming at first.

Straight ahead are hand crafted wooden tables by Ken and Doree Broostein, backed by partitions with medium size paintings and prints.

Large paintings by Virgil Lampton and Gary Moeller balance the brick and plaster walls on either side of the gallery, and are surrounded by

smaller works of oil, clay, and fabric. Overhead ceiling fans turn slowly below the ornate ceiling. Progressing further inside, paintings and drawings fill the walls. Waist high glass and wood cabinets run nearly the length of the gallery. Turned wood, jewelry, pottery and small sculptures rest on the tops or fill the open shelves beneath.

“I like pretty much everything,” Wolf said about the eclectic variety of artwork. “There is no one set style. We have artists who are known nationally and artists who are hobbyists or are just starting out. I like to be able to give the whole range.”

Wolf envisions the gallery, and Claremore, as an art destination in the future, not just a stop along historic Rt. 66. “Hopefully we’ll get another couple galleries so that we become an art destination, not just an antique and historical one.”

Considering Claremore’s growth, the expansion of Rogers State University, and the recent announcement to turn Claremore’s old Franklin Hospital building into artist studios and a gallery, that destination may not be too far away.

More information can be found online at www.wolfproductionsagallery.com, including a short video with more information about the gallery. Gallery hours are Tuesday and Wednesday 10-5, Thursday and Friday 10-7, and Saturday 10-5. n Don Emrick is a Fine Art photographer with a M.A. in Journalism and Mass Communication from OU. He currently teaches photography, both film and digital, at Tulsa Community College and also works with various non-profit art organizations. He can be reached at donemrick@att.net.

(top left) Wolf Productions: A Gallery of the Arts is located at 510 Will Rogers Blvd in Claremore, OK. (top right) John David Wolf, owner of Wolf Productions: A Gallery of the Arts. (bottom right) A cedar post urn and table by Jerry Emanuel on display at Wolf Productions: A Gallery of the Arts.

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An Interview with Robert Storr

by Julia Kirt and Kelsey Karper

Note: This interview was conducted in March 2011 on the occasion of Robert Storr’s visit to Oklahoma City as a part of City Arts Center’s Lecture Series. See the sidebar for more about the Lecture Series program.

Despite being in the heart of the art world for many years, Robert Storr expressed matter-of-fact surprise at his career path. First of all, Storr asserted, he is an artist.

Storr serves as Dean of the Yale School of Art, one of the most respected art programs in the country. He helped build the Museum of Modern Art’s collection and organized renowned exhibitions as past curator of Painting and Sculpture.

Besides, he was the first American commissioner of the Venice Biennale. He has been a long-time contributing editor for Art in America and contributor to other venerable publications like Artforum and Frieze.

Regardless of the standing of his assorted roles in the art world as curator, critic, scholar, and artist, he insisted he really would have preferred more time in the studio.

“In many ways, it’s simply a matter of luck and necessity… When I had offers of jobs for work I could do and I thought was interesting, I took them,” he said. He added, “You use your talents to the best of your ability to survive as best you can.”

OVAC: What engages you with new artwork?

Storr: Freshness. Work that gives me difficulty and I come away not sure what I’m seeing and not quite sure why it exists. That is usually a good thing for me. Art that immediately confirms things I’m comfortable with is probably on the second or third level.

OVAC: Do you see a thread among the new artists that are interesting now?

Storr: It’s a very wide open field. I think it will be a wide open field for the foreseeable future. There will be moments when a lot of the attention goes toward a few things, but those moments will be of particularly finite duration. If the art that you’re doing doesn’t belong to a category that’s being paid attention to, do not despair. The attention will shift.

Robert Storr, Dean of the Yale School of Art.

Beautifully made things that are devoid of ideas will not fly. Ideas that have no room for space and form will not fly. Generally, art that is made to second guess the way history will finally turn out is mostly a doomed cause. If you can make something that is compelling now and has complicated dynamics, that’s as good as it could get. I think this is a very good time to make a lot of different kinds of art.

OVAC: Some artists fear knowing too much about the art world or other artists because it will somehow devalue their own individuality.

Storr: It’s the worst thing an artist can do to themselves. Sure, there are times when you go to the studio and turn it off, but the idea that other peoples creativity will diminish yours is one of the first ways artists begin to reduce the scope of their potential. Great artists are competitive with other great artists. They don’t step away from them, they go after them. They say, “Oh yeah, not bad. I’m going to do better.”

OVAC: In an arts community that prefers being supportive of everyone rather than competitive, how do you create a place for dialogue and criticism?

Storr: It’s like a family. Sometimes you yell at your sisters and brothers, sometimes you’re incredibly supportive of them, sometimes you envy them. As long as you understand there’s a bond in any of those movements. Being competitive is

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The City Arts Center Lecture Series brings a wide variety of individuals from an assortment of art-related backgrounds world-wide to speak in Oklahoma City.

Speakers include curators, artists, academics, museum directors, architects and more.

“As a dedicated globalist, I aim to entice people who are visiting other destinations in the USA, to break their journeys here,” said Mary Ann Prior, executive director of City Arts Center. “Or, if they are coming here for other purposes such as (and this is true!) the Morgan Horse Show or to teach at the Oklahoma Arts Institute we can defray some of the costs by sharing expenses. Our aim is to keep the talks free to the public.”

Angela Conner, Poise (Wind mobile), White marble dust, resin and stainless steel, 9’ diameter.

absolutely a part of it. Artists don’t do all of this stuff in order to be ignored.

Pick some work of art you admire and think: if I put my work up next to it could it stay there? Sometimes it could and sometimes it couldn’t, but you’ve learned something about your work in the process.

OVAC: Please talk about the curator/artist relationship and what is valuable about it.

Storr: [It’s] similar to a literary editor/writer relationship. [The editor] considers whether a writer’s intention is getting through. In the same way, curators set the parameters for the artist, not restricting an artist’s freedom, but communicating what needs to be considered.

A lot of artists don’t know they’re not good at presenting their work. They find out by error. A good curator doesn’t overreach. Curators are not artists. The stakes are different for an artist than they are for a curator. Recently curators have been elevated to the level of artists. (Artists are creating work for the curator to put together a show.) A focus on either the curator or the artist is to the detriment of the artwork. What really matters is the artwork.

OVAC: How do you approach visiting an artist’s studio?

Storr: I simply look. There are a wide range of things to consider. I want to make up my mind in the presence of real things. I go to a studio in order to learn, see, make sure there aren’t things I’m NOT seeing. (A lot of art being made doesn’t make it into exhibitions.) A visit to a studio is an expression of serious interest.

It is not a commitment to do anything. As a curator, there are many artists I’m interested in but a finite number of opportunities to do something. I do tell other curators, and other people who might have a use for it, about it. n Julia Kirt has directed the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition since 1999.

Kelsey Karper is Associate Director of the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition and editor of Art Focus Oklahoma. Reach her at publications@ovac-ok.org.

U pco m in g L e ctur e Angela Conner October 6, 11:30 am

McAlpine Center, 400 W California, OKC Free and open to the public.

RSVP to 405-951-0000 or brooke@cityartscenter.org Angela Conner has considerable international experience, accumulated over many years, in kinetic sculpture, often in public places. Conner’s work is tranquil in expression and relates closely to environmental issues and forces. Her sculpture utilizes natural elements like water, sun, gravity or wind to create mobiles that entice the viewers to stop and watch their gentle movement. To date, Conner’s sculptures have withstood their public use without damage, an unusual record.

Visit www.cityartscenter.org for more details.

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Business of art Promote Your Art with a Facebook Page

by Alyson B. Stanfield There are at least six reasons why artists should have a professional page (a.k.a. “fan page”) on Facebook.

• Facebook has over 700,000,000 users. SEVEN HUNDRED MILLION. But . . .

• You don’t have to be a member of Facebook to view a business page. They are public. Therefore . . .

• Facebook pages are indexed by Google and appear near the top of search engine results.

• Facebook allows you only 5,000 friends, but you can have unlimited fans on your page (Likes).

• You can comment on other pages AS your page, thereby leaving your professional footprint all over Facebook.

• Facebook pages are free!

Create Your Page To create your page, click on “Create a Page” at the very bottom right side of any page on Facebook. Next, select “Artist, Band, or Public Figure.” Further refine your identity by selecting “Artist” from the drop-down menu.

Finally, you’ll be asked to name your page. Presumably you have thought about this before you get to this point, but the name you select is very important. You cannot change the name of your page after you have received 25 likes on your page.

I advise a page name that includes your name + an art modifier.

These are some examples of actual artist pages on Facebook: Elaine Callahan Fine Art Tony Patterson / Photography

Accept the terms and get started.

Show Off Your Art To promote your art on Facebook – regardless of your media – you have to have images: images of art or performances. While you want to use an image of yourself for your personal profile on Facebook, you should feature your art in the profile image on your fan page.

You should also create albums of your art on your page. To do this, click on Edit Page and add the Photos application. The Photos link will appear in the left sidebar of your page and you can start posting images. Group images on Facebook into albums with consistent themes such as: images from a recent performance or opening, 2011 artwork, or works in progress. Don’t stray from the theme of the album, but you can edit your album images and titles later.

Add a credit line for every image in the description area. The credit line includes your name, copyright, title of work, media, and anything else that is critical to understanding the piece. This is a necessary step because your images might appear on someone else’s wall – out of the safe confines of your own page. You want to be sure that full credit shows up next to any image.

Update your images frequently. Whenever you add new images, they appear on the image strip that is on top of your page’s wall. While you can control the order of the images on your personal profile, Facebook rotates your five most recent images on your fan page.

Write something brief about your art every day on your page. This isn’t the place for baby pictures, pets, jokes, or complaints. You want to project professionalism and confidence.

Remember that Facebook is a form of social media. When people write on your wall, they are starting a dialogue with you. Don’t leave them hanging! Show them you’re listening and that you care. Respond to comments on your page, even if it’s only “liking” them. n

Melissa Walker, artist Beth Palmer Studio James McClure Wood Art The reason you add a modifier (art, fine art, studio, paintings, sculpture, etc.) is to distinguish the name of your page from the name of your profile. The reason you use your name is because we know artists by name, not necessarily by business name.

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Alyson B. Stanfield is the founder of ArtBizCoach.com and ArtBizBlog. com and is the author of I’d Rather Be in the Studio! The Artist’s NoExcuse Guide to Self-Promotion. She will be leading the Artist Track at the Oklahoma Statewide Arts Conference in Tulsa October 26-27, 2011.

Visit arts.ok.gov for more details.

Oklahoma Arts Conference 2011 Greater than the Sum: Sharing a United Vision for the Arts

October 26-27, 2011 Hyatt Regency, Tulsa, OK Registration: $50 per person (made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts)

The Oklahoma Arts Council programs and sponsors the annual Oklahoma Arts Conference to cultivate and strengthen the state’s arts and cultural industry. The statewide conference provides professional development and networking opportunities for arts managers, artists (performing and visual), arts presenters, city and community development professionals, students, educators, and others working or interested in the arts in Oklahoma.

The annual conference includes tracks led by industry experts focusing on nonprofit management, professional development for artists, and community development through the arts.

Attendees can expect a variety of presentations, workshops, panel discussions, and performances. Planned evening events allow participants to experience the arts in the host community.

Each year the Oklahoma Arts Conference brings together several hundred members of the state arts community in one location where participants get equipped for success, share ideas and success stories, and celebrate the vibrant and growing Oklahoma arts industry.

For more information, visit: arts.ok.gov or call 405-521-2931.

Greater Than the Sum: Sharing a United Vision for the Arts

-27, 2011 6 2 r e b o t c Tulsa • O d Oklahomans for the Arts • y c n e g e R ouncil an Hyatt oma Arts C by: Oklah

» to register r o n o ti a form For more in

Presented

arts.ok.gov

business of art

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OVAC Round Up

SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2011

The June OVAC Annual Members buzzed with excitement as artists passed around artist trading cards and volunteer leaders presented reports on our fiscal year programs. Thanks to Istvan Gallery for hosting and Jennifer Barron for organizing the meeting.

We are pleased that the membership voted in five new OVAC Board members. All have been involved with OVAC and supported the organization in various ways already. New members are: Gina Ellis, Oklahoma City, works with banks as a regulatory compliance consultant for ABS Consulting Services, LLC. In 2003 she earned the Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager certification from the Institute of Certified Bankers. She became an art fan and collector by volunteering for various fundraisers associated with City Arts Center, the Oklahoma City Museum of Art and OVAC. Hillary Farrell, Oklahoma City, is the Chief Operating Officer of Ackerman McQueen and managing director of Branded News Worldwide. She earned a BS from East Central University in Ada. Farrell is an active member of the community, serving organizations such as the Junior League of Oklahoma City, United Way of Central Oklahoma Board of Directors, Allied Arts and more.

Susan Green, Tulsa, is a Museum Educator at the Philbrook Museum of Art overseeing adult programming and classes as well as an outreach program for elementary students in Tulsa Public Schools. Susan graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a MA in Art History and from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas with a BA in Art History and German.

Michael Hoffner, Oklahoma City, is an architect with Elliott+ Associates Architects who received his degree from the University of Oklahoma. He has been a past board member of Individual Artists of Oklahoma and Edgemere Park Neighborhood Association. He said he “occasionally dabbles in fine art.”

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OVAC news

Patrick Kamann, Edmond, is senior geologist with Devon Energy.

He earned a MS in Geology from Oklahoma State University, a MS in Geological Sciences from Wright State University in 2004, and a BS in Environmental Safety and Occupational Health Management from the University of Findlay. He has been actively involved in Momentum OKC over the last 5 years.

Art People

Lauren Ross has been named the first Nancy E. Meinig Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Philbrook Museum of Art. See her profile on page #.

Suzanne Tate, executive director of the Oklahoma Arts Council, has announced her retirement effective November 1.

Tate joined the state agency in 1991 as deputy director and was selected to take over as executive director in 2007. With Tate’s guidance, the agency has initiated programs such as Leadership Arts and the statewide Oklahoma Arts Conference to provide professional development for nonprofit arts organizations, community development professionals, artists and others.

Thanks for your service to our state Suzanne!

The Norman Arts Council has moved to MAINSITE Contemporary Art and will lead the gallery’s programs. The public is welcome to visit the gallery during regular hours of 11:30am – 5:00pm Wednesday through Saturday or during the 2nd Friday Circuit of Art. www.normanarts.org The Brady Craft Alliance seeks its first full time Executive Director. See www.bradycraftalliance.org for more information. n

Thank you to our New and Renewing Members from May and June 2011 Jo Ann Adams M.J. Alexander Ann Simmons Alspaugh Randy Anderson Eileen Anderson Narciso Arg端elles Sarah Atlee Paul Bagley Kelly Barber Betsy Barnum Michael W. Benton Diann Berry M. Tim Blake Bill Boettcher Patricia Brant Patti R. Bray Steven L. Brown Christine Brown Erica Burns Brenda Calahan Pattie Calfy Gayle Canada Madison Carey Eliseo Casiano Cale Chadwick Trayson Conner Bryan Cook

Mikey Coy Betty Dalsing Mireille Damicone T端nde Darvay Brian Dehart Dan and Alicia Diehl Ginna Dowling Chelsea Dudek Kyle Duncan Gina Ellis Don Emrick Jeanie Etris Yusuf Etudaiye Ellen Etzler Jennifer Lynn Farrar Ken Fergeson, NBC Bank Michelle Ferguson James and Yiren Gallagher Andrea Gardner Susan Green Stephanie Grubbs Eyakem Gulilat Dustin Hamby Susan Hammond Isla Harris J. Diane Trout Harwood Brian and Sarah Hearn

Geoffrey Hicks Don Holladay JJ Holley Paula Howell Geneva Hudson Eric Humphries Christen Humphries Claudia Hunter Frances Hymes Cynthia Janssen JUURI Courtney Kegans Margaret Kinkeade Joseph K. Kirk Alexander Knight Carol Koss Samantha Lamb Tina Layman Jason Leisering Susan Linde Rebecca Lowber-Collins Kelley Lunsford Angela Mabray Vicki Maenza Phyllis Mantik Sharon and David Mantor Marilyn Mason

Jim McCue Michelle Metcalfe Ella Moore JP Morrison Vicki and R.C. Morrison Deanna Norris Anne Northam Erin Oldfield Jasmine Ong Christopher M. Owens and Sharla Owens Caroline Patton Scott Perkins Nancy Peterson Kris Piersall Cacky Poarch Gregory Potts Raphael Pozos Michelle Firment Reid Laurel Reynolds Brent Richardson Harold and Audrey Ripper Abe Rucker Timothy Ryan Sherry Schoenfeldt Carl and Beth Shortt Margo and Ray Von

Schlageter Patric Shurden Silver Joe Slack Lynn Barnett Sparks Anne Spoon William R. Struby Shirley Sutterfield Jessica Tankersley Glen Thomas Alex True Kristen Vails Terri Wagner Kay Wall Blair Waltman Carla Waugh B. J. White Dawn Williams Lee Williams Michael J. Wilson Cherra June Wilson John David Wolf John Wolfe Candis Woolpert John Young

ARTUS & HADLEY SHOW OPENS OCTOBER 14!

WWW.NORMANARTS.ORG OVAC news

27

12x12 Art Fundraiser 2011: Supporting Oklahoma Artists

Carl Shortt, Oklahoma City, Straight and Narrow, Wood.

Attendees admire the artwork at the 12x12 Art Fundraiser 2010. Photo by Peter Dolese.

A one-night only event, the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition’s 12x12 Art Fundraiser combines artwork by 150 of Oklahoma’s finest artists with local restaurants and live music to create an unforgettable night.

To be held on Saturday, October 1, 7:00 pm, at 50 Penn Place, 1900 NW Expressway in Oklahoma City, the event supports the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition’s (OVAC) programs that enable the success of artists across the state of Oklahoma.

“OVAC recognizes the important role artists play in enriching our lives and communities,” said Executive Director Julia Kirt. “Our organization supports artists by rewarding excellence in their work, introducing them to audiences, and encouraging them to take initiative in their communities. The 12x12 Art Fundraiser helps to make all of this possible.”

This isn’t your ordinary art auction, however. Each artist must create a work that conforms to the dimensions of twelve-by-twelve inches.

The artwork is sold in a surprising silent and blind auction, meaning bidders will not know what others have bid. Bids for each piece begin at $168. Collectors who fear losing a piece of art in the auction may “Buy It Now” to trump the auction. New this year, attendees can also purchase $5 chances to win prize packages.

“The 12x12 is a great opportunity for Oklahomans to directly support working artists in our state, even in times when government support is not always available,” said event co-chair Margo Shultes von Schlageter.

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ovac news

“This event offers a real chance to give back to the community and see artists produce work as a result of the money raised.”

Catch a preview of the art at www.12x12okc.org. To see the exhibition in its entirety, art lovers will have to attend the one-night event.

The 2010 12x12 raised over $65,000 through sponsorships and art sales with more than 1,000 in attendance. This year Margo Shultes von Schlageter and Steve Boyd chair the volunteer 12x12 Committee.

Tickets to the 12x12 Art Show & Sale are available by phone at 405879-2400, online at www.12x12okc.org, or at ticket outlets. Tickets are $30 in advance and $35 at the door.

Dress for the party is evening casual and drinks will be served from a cash bar. Food is provided by 30 area restaurants.

Chesapeake Energy is the headline sponsor. For more information, please visit www.12x12okc.org or call OVAC at 405-879-2400. n

Jean Ann Fausser, Tulsa, Poppy, Wet felted and embellished.

Alan Atkinson, Norman, Carpet Battleship #9, Wood and enamel paint.

Romy Owens, Oklahoma City, Hang On To Yourself, Photos, thread.

Bryan Dahlvang, Tuttle, Deer Can, Acrylic and found objects on canvas.

Carol Beesley, Norman, Home of the Kingfisher, Oil on canvas.

Michi Susan, Oklahoma City, Poem #104-11, Mixed media.

Micheal Jones, Broken Arrow, Iris, Acrylic on canvas.

Sarah Atlee, Oklahoma City, Beside the Ironing Board, Acrylic on canvas.

Stacey Miller, Oklahoma City, Different Planes of Existence (From the Evanescence series), Monotype in oil ink.

ovac news

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Gallery Listings & Exhibition Schedule

Ada

Lawton

Oklahoma City

Paul Heaston Through September 30 David Phelps October 3-31 The Pogue Gallery Hallie Brown Ford Fine Arts Center 900 Centennial Plaza (580) 559-5353 ecok.edu

Tracy Harris: Oil on Canvas, Kim Fonder: Paintings Opens September 10 The Leslie Powell Foundation and Gallery 620 D Avenue (580) 357-9526 lpgallery.org

Eric Humphries Opening September 2 Kelly Mudge Opening October 7 aka gallery 3001 Paseo (405) 606-2522 akagallery.net

Ardmore Jimmy Dodson: Metal Art Exhibition August 30 – October 12 Ed Freeman: Photography August 30-November 11 Chance Dunlap: Metal Sculpture Exhibition October 14 – November 12 The Goddard Center 401 First Avenue SW (580) 226-0909 goddardcenter.org

Bartlesville Once Upon an Island: Twin Towers Rising Through September 11 Price Tower Arts Center 510 Dewey Ave. (918) 336-4949 pricetower.org

Chickasha Seven State Biennial October 1 – November 7 University of Sciences and Arts of Oklahoma Gallery-Davis Hall 1806 17th Street (405) 574-1344 usao.edu/gallery/

Durham Quilt Show September 1 - November 30 Metcalfe Museum Rt. 1 Box 25 (580) 655-4467 metcalfemuseum.org

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gallery guide

Norman Downtown Arts Market October 15 Dreamer Concepts Studio & Foundation 324 East Main (405) 701-0048 dreamerconcepts.org Robert Rauschenberg: Prints from Universal Limited Art Editions, 1962-2008 September 24-December 30 Opening of the Stuart Wing:Installation of the Eugene B. Adkins Collection October 22 No Heaven Awaits Us: Contemporary Chinese Photography & Video October 22-December 30 Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art 555 Elm Ave. (405) 325-4938 ou.edu/fjjma Sara Scneckloth Through September 1 Artist Talk, September 1, 1:30 Closing reception, September 1, 5-7 Lightwell Gallery, University of Oklahoma 520 Parrington Oval (405) 325-2691 art.ou.edu Marilyn Artus and John Hadley October 14 - November 19 Mainsite Contemporary Art Gallery 122 East Main (405) 360-1162 normanarts.org

Can You See Me Now: Photos Made On Phones Through October 1 Untitled Monothon September 16 - October 1 In Design: The Art of JohnPaul Philippe’ October 14-January 7 [ArtSpace] at Untitled 1 NE 3rd St. (405) 815-9995 artspaceatuntitled.org Tessa Traeger: Voices of the Vivarais Through December 17 Jen Stark: Tunnel Vision Through December 17 City Arts Center 3000 General Pershing Blvd.

(405) 951-0000 cityartscenter.org Mizzo (Switzerland) Opens September 9 Josh Heilaman Opens October 14 DNA Galleries 1705 B NW 16th (405) 371-2460 dnagalleries.com JP Morrison: paintings, Jonathan Hils: sculpture Opens September 2 Michi Susan: paintings, Birthe Flexner: ceramics, Patrick Riley: masks Opens October 7 JRB Art at the Elms 2810 North Walker (405) 528-6336 jrbartgallery.com

Pure Color by the Oklahoma Society of Impressionists Through October 1 Marking Time: Voyage to Vietnam by the Vietnam Graffiti Project October 13 - January 6 Gaylord-Pickens Oklahoma Heritage Museum 1400 Classen Dr. (405) 235-4458 oklahomaheritage.com

Faded Elegance: Photographs of Havana by Michael Eastman September 8 – December 31 Poodles and Pastries - and Other Important Matters New Paintings by Franco Mondini-Ruiz September 8 – December 31 Oklahoma City Museum of Art 415 Couch Drive (405) 236-3100 okcmoa.com

Ghost Ranch and the Faraway Nearby September 23 – January 8 Cowboy Artists of America 46th Annual Exhibition and Sale October 14 – November 27 Traditional Cowboy Arts Association 13th Annual Exhibition and Sale October 14 – January 8 National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum 1700 NE 63rd (405) 478-2250 nationalcowboymuseum.org

2011 Photo Fest on Paseo: Juried Photography Exhibit September 2 – October 1 Paseo Art Space 3022 Paseo (405) 525-2688 thepaseo.com

Holly Wilson (Governor’s Gallery) Through October 2 Tünde Darvay (Governor’s Gallery) October 10 - December 11 Jean Ann Fausser (East Gallery) Through September 25 Chris Small (East Gallery) October 3 - December 4 GiGi Renee’ Webb (North Gallery) September 23 - November 27 Oklahoma State Capitol Galleries 2300 N. Lincoln Blvd (405) 521-2931 arts.ok.gov

Stillwater

Park Hill 16th Annual Cherokee Homecoming Art Show Through October 2 Cherokee National Historical Society, Inc. 21192 S. Keeler Drive (918) 456-6007 cherokeeheritage.org

Divided Vision: David Morrison and Bonnie Stahlecker Through September 23 OSU Department of Art Faculty Exhibition September 26 – October 7 Displacements October 12 – November 4 Gardiner Art Gallery Oklahoma State University 108 Bartlett University (405) 744-6016 okstate.edu

Tonkawa 24 Works on Paper Through September 30 Eleanor Hays Gallery Performing Arts Center Northern Oklahoma College 1220 East Grand (580) 628-6670 north-ok.edu

Michael Eastman, Green Dining Room, Digital C-Print, 90” x 72” at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art September 8 – December 31.

Tulsa America: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of a Nation Through January Gilcrease Museum 1400 Gilcrease Road (918) 596-2700 gilcrease.org Romy Owens: Sine Qua Non October 10-22 Holliman Gallery Holland Hall 5666 East 81st Street (918) 481-1111 hollandhall.org James Andrew Smith: Fiat Lux September 15 – October 15 Joseph Gierek Fine Art 1512 E. 15th St (918) 592-5432 gierek.com

CIPHER: Contemporary African-American Artists Group Show September 2 – 23 Momentum Tulsa October 8- 27 Living Artspace 307 E. Brady (918) 585-1234 livingarts.org War and Rumors of War: Combat and Commemoration in Native Art Through October 9 Magnificent Vision: Two Centuries of European Masterworks from the Speed Art Museum October 9 – January 8 About Face: Crafting the Modern Portrait October 16 – January 1 Rauschenberg at Gemini Through September 11 Magnificent Vision: Two

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.

Sustaining $250 -Listing on signage at events -Invitation to private reception with visiting curators -All of below

Patron $100 -Acknowledgement in the Resource Guide and Art Focus Oklahoma -Copy of each OVAC exhibition catalog -All of below

Family $55 -Same benefits as Individual for two people in household

Individual $35 -Subscription to Art Focus Oklahoma -Inclusion in online Virtual Gallery -Monthly e-newsletter of visual art events statewide -Monthly e-newsletter of opportunities for artists -Receive all mailed OVAC call for entries and invitations -Artist entry fees waived for OVAC sponsored exhibitions -Listing in Annual Resource Guide and Member Directory -Copy of Annual Resource Guide and Member Directory -Access to “Members Only” area on OVAC website -Up to 50% discount on Artist Survival Kit workshops -Invitation to Annual Meeting

Student $20 -Valid student ID required. Same benefits as Individual level.

Centuries of European Masterworks from the Speed Art Museum October 9 – January 8 The Philbrook Museum of Art 2727 South Rockford Road (918) 749-7941 Philbrook.org COMPENDIUM 25: TAC’s Members’ Show September 2-24 Into the West: Recent Photography of Michael A. McRuiz October 7-29 Tulsa Artists Coalition Gallery 9 East Brady (918) 592-0041 tacgallery.org Finding Tulsa: Photography

by Carl Logan Through September 25

Anke Dodson: Woods and Prairies October 1 – 30 Tulsa Performing Arts Center Gallery Third and Cincinnati (918) 596-2368 tulsapac.com

Woodward

Anne Mondro: Reconstruct Through September 22 Alexandre Hogue Gallery Phillips Hall, The University of Tulsa 2930 E. 5th St. (918) 631-2739 cas.utulsa.edu/art

Plains Indians and Pioneers Museum Photography Contest Through October 29 Plains Indians and Pioneers Museum 2009 Williams Ave (580) 256-6136 pipm1.com

GET INVOLVED

MEMBER FORM ¨ Sustaining

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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 membership to the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition.

730 W. Wilshire Blvd, Suite 104 Oklahoma City, OK 73116

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

The Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition supports Oklahoma’s visual arts and artists and their power to enrich communities.

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

U pcoming Events Sept 12: Momentum Tulsa Art

Entry Deadline Sept 23: OK Art Writing & Curatorial

Fellowship Application Deadline Oct 1: 12x12 Art Fundraiser Oct 8: Momentum Tulsa Oct 15: OVAC Grants for

Artists Deadline Oct 26-27: Oklahoma Arts Conference

September Jonathan Hils JP Morrison Opening Reception: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2 6 - 10 P.M.

October Michi Susan Birthe Flexner Opening Reception: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7 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