Art Focus
O k l aho m a V i s ual A r ts C oal i t i on
Ok l a h o m a Vo l u m e 3 5 N o . 4
| Fall 2020
Celebrating 100 Years of Life: Bob Hawks AUGUST 7–OCTOBER 18, 2020 Untitled (detail), by Bob Hawks
Art & Archeology: Diane Savona NOVEMBER 6, 2020– JANUARY 17, 2021 Fossil Garment #6 (detail), by Diane Savona
www.108contemporary.org 108 East Reconciliation Way, Tulsa, Oklahoma 74103 | 918.895.6302 Brady Craft Inc., dba 108|Contemporary, is a charitable organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. 108|Contemporary is an equal opportunity employer committed to principles of the broadest form of diversity. Design by Naomi Dunn, Third Floor Design, The University of Tulsa.
Art Focus
Ok l a h o m a Vo l u m e 3 5 N o . 4
| Fall 2020
R e v i e w s a n d P re v i e w s 4
Celebrating a Century of Life: BOB HAWKS By Zack Reeves
6
Expressions of Indigeneity: MIKE LARSEN By Roxanne Beason
8
The State We’re In Water: Constructing a Sense of Place in the Hydrosphere By Skylar Smith
10 Speak: Hearing the Stories from Yesterday in Yesterday’s Tongue Kindra Swafford, Caadi 2, watercolor, 17” x 13.25”. Page 18.
By B.L. Eikner
12 One Year Of Change By Carleigh Foutch
F e a t u re s 15 The Art 365 Show Will Go On By Carleigh Foutch
18 In the Studio with Kindra Swafford By Renee Fite
21 In the Studio with Amber DuBoise-Shepherd By Kristin Gentry
24 EKPHRASIS: Art & Poetry edited by Liz Blood
27 OVAC News Blue River Sturgeon Mandela – The Gallery The Weather Report features similar multi-media work by Robin Lasser. Lasser used repetitive and reflective patterns of imagery representing water to create kaleidoscopic visuals, creating a meditative ambience. Image provided by Robin Lasser. Page 8.
28 Gallery Guide
Support from:
Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition PHONE: 405.879.2400 1720 N Shartel Ave, Ste B, Oklahoma City, OK 73103. WEB: ovac-ok.org Editor: Krystle Brewer, director@ovac-ok.org Art Director: Anne Richardson, speccreative@gmail.com
The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts
Art Focus Oklahoma is a quarterly publication of the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition dedicated to stimulating insight into and providing current information about the visual arts in Oklahoma. Mission: Growing and developing Oklahoma’s visual arts through education, promotion, connection, and funding. 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.
2020-2021 Board of Directors: President: Douglas Sorocco, OKC; Vice President: Kirsten Olds, Tulsa; Treasurer: Diane Salamon, Tulsa; Secretary: Kyle Larson, Alva; Parliamentarian: Jon Fisher, OKC; Past President: John Marshall; Susan Agee, Pauls Valley; Marjorie Atwood, Tulsa; Bob Curtis, OKC; Barbara Gabel, OKC; Anna Inhofe, Tulsa; Farooq Karim, OKC; Kathryn Kenney, Tulsa; Drew Knox; Heather Lunsford, OKC; Laura Massenat, OKC; Chris Rogers, Tulsa; Chris Winland, OKC. The Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition is solely responsible for the contents of Art Focus Oklahoma. However, the views expressed in articles do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Board or OVAC staff. Member Agency of Allied Arts and member of the Americans for the Arts. © 2020, Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition. All rights reserved. View the online archive at ArtFocusOklahoma.org.
3
Bob Hawks, Bois d’Arc 7, Bois d’Arc (Osage Orange), 4.5” x 5”
4
re v i e w
Bob Hawks, Train Depot, Tulsa, 1949, mounted print, 11“ x 14“
Celebrating a Century of Life: BOB HAWKS By Zack Reeves
From the moment the visitor walks into Celebrating a Century of Life: Bob Hawks in Tulsa’s 108|Contemporary, they’ll notice a sharp dichotomy at play, almost as if the show was put together by two separate artists. The exhibition is dedicated to two very different types of art: photography and woodturning. The viewer may have trouble making up their mind on which aspect to focus. Along the walls are mounted prints of photographs spanning multiple decades, styles, and uses. A spare, journalistic shot of sailors standing at attention hangs next to a highly stylized shot of donuts and cider for a cookbook. One wall is dedicated to nature shots—swans, spiders, deserts—while another hosts agricultural shots: a corn planter, a crop duster, a harvester tractor. Conversely, displayed on podiums throughout the space are wood sculptures: urns, bowls, and platters. These wooden pieces, variously shaped and styled, allow for a more tangible exploration of the gallery, and force the viewer’s eye to consider a very different type of space than the flat photography prints. The effect of the two styles together, while admittedly a little jarring, speaks to the diversity of scope that Bob Hawks has brought to bear during a long career of both commercial and hobby art-making. Hawks operated a commercial photography business in Tulsa for 40 years, and after retirement, began woodturning as a hobby. Some of the most interesting photographs to me are those of Tulsa in the late 40s, 50s, and 60s. A surprising shot of a passenger train’s ticket-taker stands out. While the shots of skylines and sprawl depict a world which still exists for present-day Tulsans, Train Depot, Tulsa, 1949 depicts a world in which most Tulsans have never known—passenger trains stopping in Tulsa. Nurse and Child is by far the most tender of the photographs. A heavily-shadowed backdrop brings forward the two subjects: a child curling into the caress of a nurse, wearing a traditional nurse’s apron and cap, who reads to the child from a book. The affection that emanates from the photo is
warm and quiet; we are witnessing, it seems, a private act, a transmission of knowledge from adult to child—though the nurse looks like she is barely an adult herself. Train Depot, Tulsa, 1949 and Nurse and Child both function nostalgically for the viewer: they point towards the past and we are given to understand that times have indeed changed. Passenger trains no longer stop here. Nurses no longer dress this way. The changing world is a well-trodden subject for Hawks, pointing out new technologies (the Golden Driller, farming equipment) and urban landscapes. While the photographs are interesting in their own right, it is the stunning wood-turned pieces that are the star of the show. Some are obviously made for potential use, such as the platters and salad bowls. Others, however, are obviously art objects in and of themselves, like the egg-shaped objects whose tops look artfully shattered—large, intricate pieces you couldn’t use in your kitchen if you wanted to. Standing out all the more among these large works are Hawks’ smaller, more fanciful pieces: a trio of vessels the width of compact discs hold their own kind of intimate space between a platter and a bowl. These delicate pieces could barely hold a helping of soup and yet they’d be an appropriate vessel for one’s ashes to travel in.
While the distinction between the photographs and the sculptures may seem like a disjunction, the overall effect eventually coheres into one of appreciation for a life well-lived with a variety of interests, each one turned into pieces of art by Hawks’ skillful hand. What we see here is not an artist who could not make up his mind, but an artist who made up his mind many times, and followed his interests wherever they led him. Celebrating 100 Years of Life is a charming, respectful, and well-rounded exhibition, worth a visit for anyone interested in what an artist with a variety of artistic talents can accomplish. Bob Hawks: Celebrating 100 Years of Life runs through October 18. For more information, visit 108contemporary.org. n Zack Reeves is a writer and poet living on the banks of the Arkansas River in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He received his BA in English from Oklahoma State University and his MFA in Fiction from The New School in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. To learn more about Zack and his work, visit zackreeves.com.
One thing I wished for from this show was a little more context: with the exception of a few years in the titles, none of these pieces are dated. And besides an introductory wall text explaining—in two short paragraphs—Hawk’s work in his own words, the viewer is given very little guidance with which to consider the artworks. These considerations aside, however, I really enjoyed spending time inside this peaceful and varied show. Bob Hawks, Nurse & Child, mounted print, 14“ x 11“
re v i e w
5
Expressions of Indigeneity: MIKE LARSEN By Roxanne Beason
Having painted for over 50 years, Mike Larsen has retained his drive to create works that highlight a lifetime of personal innovation. In his adolescence, Larsen knew he had always gravitated towards making art, having always drawn as a kid. Not until exploring and expanding in different art mediums in college at Amarillo Community College and the University of Houston did he decide to major in art and make painting and sculpture as a definitive career choice. Spending time at the Art Institute at New York inspired his self-determination to paint every day and make art a full-time business. He explained that influence on his style came from spending hours at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and analyzing works by impressionist painters, particularly Van Gogh, for capturing the subtly in gesture rather than detail. He stated, “Not that it shows up in my work …but sometimes I think I learned [how to paint] more at the museum.” As a proud member of the Chickasaw Nation, Mike Larsen utilizes painterly expressionism to capture Indigeneity in Oklahoma and beyond. Larsen explains that, throughout his career, his paintings have become less crowded with detail and more streamlined in design. As an example, instead of capturing every single bead on his model’s traditional Native clothing, Larsen impressively captures the light and movement with gestural paint strokes. He states, “Over the years, I have discovered that you can do much more with a brushstroke than you can with a lot of detail.” Much of his work focuses on Indigenous people, particularly plains tribes. Larsen’s models are from several different tribes, and he poses them in their most impressive traditional
attire. Fellow artist Harvey Pratt (Cheyenne/ Arapaho) has made a repeated appearance as a model in Larsen’s paintings. Additionally, since 2005, Larsen has been a significant part of a project that includes painting and interviewing 72 living Chickasaw elders as a mode of cultural preservation and resilience. Larsen further explained, “art serves that purpose…to preserve history.” Much of his work has been an effort to make expressive accounts for Chickasaw traditions that existed before removal. One of his paintings, entitled, The Council, shows how his style focuses on the models and their subtle expressions over placement and context. Leaving the background white, four men in their traditional dress sit on a bench together and gaze toward the viewer in their conference. Sitting in wide-leg positions, all the men seem to present their tribal leadership with masculine inclination. The figure furthest on the right has placed down a stick that creates a clear barrier between the viewer and this gathering of men. Us, as viewers, have interrupted, and we are uninvited to this meeting. Yet the juxtaposition of the figures does not seem to allude that they are convening with each other either. This work is a perfect example of
how Larsen has “simplified” his paintings— using a stark, blank background, but focusing on the expressions of the depicted figures instead. Another piece that shows Larsen’s talent for both skyscapes and movement is seen in his work, Chasing the Dawn. Three Indigenous men ride galloping horses through a field right as the sun is rising. The man leading the party is pointing forward, which signals that they have a clear mission for the morning hour. Larsen beautifully captures the bright pink clouds reflecting the sun against the dark periwinkle sky. As the sun rises, colorful hues gleam from the rider’s faces as well as the shine of their horses. This work especially shows Larsen’s talent for subtle expression with light and color in his painting style, though still retaining the integrity of the scene and traditions of Indigenous people. Showcasing Mike Larsen’s incredible career, the Goddard Center in Ardmore, Oklahoma, will display around 70 of his paintings. Curated by Cory Blankenship, the show will have a diverse mix of subjects that Larsen has painted throughout his career, including portraits of Indigenous people, skyscapes, imagery featuring horses and buffalo, as well as other still life works. Mike Larsen’s showcase exhibition at the Goddard Center will be on view from September 1st through October 30th. For more information, visit goddardcenter.org. n Roxanne Beason is an art history graduate student at Oklahoma State University. Her studies are focused in contemporary art, art of the American West, and indigenous art. You can reach her at roxanne.beason@gmail.com
Mike Larson, The Council, 2020, acrylic on canvas, 40”x 60”
6
re v i e w
TOP: Mike Larson, After Glow, 2020, acrylic on canvas, 8” x 10” BOTTOM LEFT: Mike Larson, Lovely Chickasaw Girl, 2020, acrylic on panel, 20” x 16” BOTTOM RIGHT: Mike Larson, Early Morning Light, 2019, acrylic on panel, 12” x 16”
re v i e w
7
THE STATE WE’RE IN WATER: Constructing a Sense of Space in the Hydrosphere By Skylar Smith
Mixed media installation by Marguerite Perret with porcelain slip cast, molded and ceramic burnout specimens of debris found along fresh waterways and lakes. Photo credit: Phil Shockley
Definition of fluid: 1a: having particles that easily move and change their relative position without a separation of the mass and that easily yield to pressure: capable of flowing b: subject to change or movement 2: characterized by or employing a smooth easy style 3a: available for various uses Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, s.v. “fluid,” accessed September 1, 2020, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fluid
8
p ew rere v ivei w
The State We’re In Water: Constructing a Sense of Space in the Hydrosphere, is not only an exhibition opening August 24, at the Oklahoma State University Museum of Art in Stillwater, but a new, interdisciplinary foray into building connections between art and science, students and professionals, and a museum with its local community through a medium that affects all life on Earth: water. The topic itself is broad and nimble, representative of global challenges while firmly grounded in examples found in the region and presented through a multi-media model that is equally fluid. Installation elements on display are as diverse as artfully adapted-scientific models, photographs of water in kaleidoscopic detail or shots taken by drones flying above that capture people immersed in lakes printed on metallic panels that glitter, glint, and brim
with life, to video content captured and edited with the desire to maximize a viewer’s selfreflective relationship with water. From its inception, this exhibition has been a multi-layered, communal effort. The OSUMA staff contacted a trio of artists whose works focus on socially- and scientifically-engaged topics: Marguerite Perret, who has served as lead artist on the project, Robin Lasser, a featured artist working in multimedia and photography, and Bruce Scherting, an exhibition designer. This threesome then worked to create surveys and lead a town hall meeting in order to hear what faculty, students, and local community members wanted to know more about. This initial ask led to a smaller exhibition in 2019 Katherine Hair’s whimsical, deerthe sculptures entitled, Washed Up. Latertowering that year, are made from discarded and recycled branches.
Installation by Perret and Scherting featuring diatoms, a major group of algae found in oceans, waterways and soils, generating 20-50% of the earth’s oxygen.
Inflatable raft cast in porcelain with coral like features emerging. Perret creates a contradiction between organic and man-made and poses reflection on humanity’s impact on water. Photo credit: Phil Shockley
OSUMA received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) to envision a second exhibit. The State We’re in Water, touches on similar themes and materials as the first show, but with the help of NEA funding, this next presentation allowed the artists and their partners to go deeper into the subject, theme, and medium of water.
organizations, and levels of learning. By focusing on a theme and allowing artists to drive the development process without a defined end goal, the exhibition was able to evolve and develop as more was learned about the lifecycles of water through individual interviews and scientific investigations.
Perret, Lasser, and Scherting, who do not reside in Oklahoma, took part in residencies where they traveled regularly to Stillwater and worked to develop the exhibition with museum staff, community partners like the Wastewater Treatment Plant for the City of Stillwater, The Prairie Arts Center, The Lake McMurtry Foundation, and Oka’ Yanahli Preserve to name merely a few, as well as faculty and students in the arts programs, environmental science programs, and architecture programs. A portion of the exhibition intended to recreate a segment of boardwalk was even designed by students of Professor Paolo Sanza of the OSU School of Architecture as part of his course. Each aspect of this exhibition exemplifies the ripple effects of a talented team of artists asking questions and incorporating information from across disciplines,
The participants of this project were thrilled to have their three-year project come to fruition this August. However, due to challenges brought on by COVID-19, the opening and impact of the show was called into question. Through the extreme resourcefulness of the artists, the museum staff, and the generosity of a second, NEA grant (through the CARES Act), the artists and museum staff were able to re-tool their goals, ship materials to the Museum, and create even more supportive content than initially planned. The exhibit, by virtue of its focus on a medium that is often overlooked, but integral to everyone, is universal in its appeal. The museum staffers had already mirrored that universality by creating educational content geared toward students aged K-12, college students, and community members. With the assistance of the second
grant, the OSUMA team pushed their engagement to the next level by investing in more distanced-learning options, like a three-dimensional, 360 tour of the exhibit that can be found online, pick-up bags filled with crafts and activities for young learners at home, and through STEAM segments and design challenges available through the Museum’s social media platforms. Though the exhibition itself was slightly delayed and opened late August, it will run through May of 2021 so that viewers can enjoy the show over time and do so safely while social distancing. Designed to be immersive and engaging, whether viewed online or in person, The State We’re In Water: Constructing a Sense of Space in the Hydrosphere, is a refreshing sea change in the way art, science, and community come together in the museum. For more information, visit museum.okstate.edu. n Skylar is a curator, writer, and artist living in Tulsa, OK. She is a graduate of Oklahoma State University, Dartmouth College, and Bard Graduate Center and a Fellow for the Norman Rockwell Center for American Visual Culture. sketchesbyskylar.com
re v i e w
9
SPEAK: Hearing the Stories from Yesterday in Yesterday’s Tongue By B. L. Eikner
As the Living Arts staff, exhibition curators, and participating artists prepare to put this show together for the September 4, 2020 opening, the famed Cherokee National Treasure, linguist, author, scholar, teacher, ordain minister, and veteran passed from this earth to the next life: Durbin Feeling (1946-2020). We honor you and your gifts to us. “The works in this exhibition make clear that our languages are still—and will always be—an integral part of our identity as Native peoples. Equally important is the reality that time is not on our side—fluent tribal speakers are passing on, and the race is on to ensure the survival of these heart languages for future generations. As the title Speak: Speak While You Can makes clear, these artists have an urgent message: that we must speak up with our art, proclaiming with visual voices the message that our languages are the lifeblood of our cultures.” —Curators Tony A. Tiger (Sac & Fox/Seminole/Muscogee) and Bobby C. Martin (Muscogee/Creek) This exhibition, Speak: Speak While You Can, consists of twenty-five artists, representing twenty-one Tribes of various lineages. The exhibition contains paintings, ceramics, mixed media, sculptures, and photography, all focused on preserving Native languages and history. Capturing one’s ancestry with the naked eye is hard and sending the message on canvas in one’s native tongue is even harder. People across the globe have embraced men and women with certain hair textures and position of cheek bones and have slaughtered families because of nose sizes and skin color, political posturing, and land ownership. They call them Explorers, Invaders, and Strangers from other worlds. Some civilizations perish never to be heard of again and some quietly at the evening meetings of survivors, tell the stories from the elders passed down to descendants and capture by the hand, soul, and mind of the artist lives created through an image on a cave wall or the organized efforts of Elders committed to keeping their culture alive. And so, it is, at Living Arts of Tulsa.
10 re v i e w
In Bobby C. Martin’s work, But You Don’t Look Indian…, the artist captures the portrait of a Native woman. But, this woman does not respond. Her eyes say it all, I do not have to respond. What does an Indian really look like? Where is the evidence of the actual people, on the license tag on ones’ car, in the small piece of cloth tucked in a child’s hand and passed down for generations, in the fragile doilies left my one’s grandmother or in the story she is about to tell? In Muscogee Creek Ribbon Dance by Tom Fields, you can almost hear the song and feel the vibrations of the chords as the young ladies move in the circle. Singing in Native tongue for all the world to hear. The texture of this black and white image gives the photograph a feel that it has survived many ages. Another work, Turtle, by Kindra Swafford, uses vibrant colors in its rendering of the animal. This very regal turtle has the letters in the Cherokee language spelling out ‘turtle’ stacked on its shell. The artist has ensured its beauty by decorating its legs and head. Slow but sure, lasting for always. This is a show that you and all your friends, families and communities must see and it is appearing at the right time in the universe when all eyes are on Oklahoma. The show, Speak: Speak While You Can runs from September 4, 2020 through October 16, 2020. Check the website for opening hours due to current Covid-19 conditions. Living Arts of Tulsa is located at 307 East Reconciliation Way, Tulsa, Ok 74120. For more information, visit www.livingarts.org. B. L. Eikner is author, journalist, poet, and event planner. She is owner of Trabar & Associates, regular contributor to Art Focus Oklahoma, and The Oklahoma Eagle, has published two books, ‘How Do You Love… When? and ‘Dirt and Hardwood Floors’ and can be reached at Trabar@windstream.net or Twitter @trabar1.
FEATURED ARTISTS Marwin Begaye (Diné), Antonia Belindo (Kiowa, Diné, Pani, Chahta), Jay Benham (Kiowa), Roy Boney, Jr. (Cherokee), Maggie Boyett (Shawnee, Delaware, Kiowa), Leslie Deer (Mvskoke), Chase Kahwinhut Earles (Caddo), Michael Elizondo Jr. (Cheyenne, Kaw, Chumash), Anita Fields (Osage, Muscogee (Creek)), Tom Fields (Muscogee (Creek), Cherokee), Kristin Gentry (Choctaw), Keli Gonzales (Cherokee), Brent Greenwood (Chickasaw, Ponca), Lester Harragarra (Kiowa), Lokosh (Joshua D. Hinson) (Chickasaw, Choctaw, Mvskoke Creek, Cherokee, Euro-American, enrolled citizen of the Chickasaw Nation), Ruthe Blalock Jones (Peoria, Shawnee, Delaware), Bobby C. Martin (Muscogee (Creek)), America Meredith (Cherokee Nation), Melinda Schwakhofer (Muscogee (Creek)), Amber DuBoiseShepherd (Diné, Sac & Fox, Prairie Band Potawatomi), Kindra Swafford (Cherokee), Candessa Tehee (Cherokee), Tony A. Tiger (Sac and Fox, Seminole, Muscogee Creek), Randi Narcomey Watson (Muscogee (Creek)), and Margaret Roach Wheeler (Chickasaw, Choctaw).
ABOVE: Tom Fields (Muscogee (Creek), Cherokee), Muscogee Creek Ribbon Dance, Hoktak Pvnkv Nettv (Muscogee Creek Language), photography, black & white digital print on archival paper, 16” x 20” LEFT: Bobby Martin (Muscogee Creek), But You Don’t Look Indian…, oil, encaustic, paper, cloth, license plate, teeth, grandma’s crocheted doilies mounted on birch panel, 68” x 51”
ABOVE: Tony Tiger (Sac and Fox, Seminole, Muscogee Creek), Borders and Boundaries: Muscogee Creek to Seminole, etching, serigraph, hand-tinted stencil on Rives BFK, 22” x 30” LEFT: Maggie Boyett (Shawnee, Delaware, Kiowa), M’kaweeletamaakwe, woodblock, oil-based ink, Akua ink, mud, pastel on paper, 45.5” x 41.5”
re v i e w 11
One Year of Change By Carleigh Foutch
kionawootonmillirons
•••
70 likes kionawootonmillirons #grieving Day 16 Laundry Laundry seems to be the only thing that I can focus on and accomplish. So I’ve done a lot of laundry. I went to the studios today for the first time. I only lasted two hours. Work seems too overwhelming right now. So I picked out aprons, rags and drop cloths to wash. I’ve always said how grateful I’ve been to be close to my cousins. We grew up together. Fawn and Maggie were six days apart and very close. Farris and I were the older sister and brother that would spy, torture and pester Fawn and Maggie. We all share similar childhood experiences (good and bad) which seems to have tied us together. We are all hurting so much but I’m thankful that we have each other. Cousins really are the best friends you could ever have. I feel like my voice has been yanked away today. I don’t have the energy to project my voice. But I also feel as if no one can hear me. I need to get me voice back because I need to scream as loud as I can about what happened to my sister. It is not ok. I need to fight for her. I feel so tiny ad helpless right ow. I hope my voice comes back...for Fawn. #justiceforamberfawnclark View all 13 comments mandisue3810 I love you. I’m sending you all the love and light. kindtstevenmyers Sending you love and light. Nobody else’s timeline applies here. Just remember to breathe in and breathe out.
��❤
caroladams1509 Your voice will come back, loud and strong, for Fawn denisemccallister211 Sending you so much love and comfort and strength right now December 27, 2018
An incredibly moving and timely conversation surrounding gun violence is coming to Oklahoma City University’s Nona Jean Hulsey gallery in 2021. One Year, a visualization of Kiona Millirons’ raw and personal experience with grief, may change the way we see and think about social media being a form of documentation, storytelling, and art. A terrible tragedy befell Millirons and her family when her sister, Amber Clark, was shot and killed in 2018. “My Instagram diary became a way to work through my grief,” Millirons
12 p re v i e w
said. “It began for myself, then for my family and close friends. Then I began hearing from others who knew my sister from all over the country. It created a connection that has become so important for my journey through grief. People told stories that I’d never heard, I saw photographs that I’d never seen, and I felt closer to my sister. Opening myself up publicly has opened the door for others to express their grief. I feel connected to people more than I ever have.” While Millirons didn’t start her Instagram diary with the intention of it becoming art, it caught the eye of friend, OCU professor, and now One Year curator, Heather Lunsford.
❤
One Year, Day 16, Kiona shares her story about dealing with her grief
“In curating this show, I was reflecting on the intersection of art and social media—how those worlds interact and inform each other, and sometimes even overlap,” Lunsford said. “It really fascinated me because people use social media for social interaction, stress relief, and thinking about the world—things art also does.” Millirons approached Lunsford with the notion of exploring the idea of an art show about gun violence and how it impacts both communities and individuals on a searingly visceral level. Working in tandem, Millirons and Lunsford selected 36 reconstructed Instagram posts from
kionawootonmillirons
•••
kionawootonmillirons
•••
49 likes kionawootonmillirons #grieving Day 49 Words
One Year, Day 49, Amber “Fawn” Clark’s love of writing is shared
This is Fawn’s typewritter. Fawn loved the written word. She lived in books as a kid and has always been an extraordinary writer. She was always who I asked for book recommendations. I was reading a book she recommended when we got the news. I haven’t been able to pick it up. I have been writing a little which isn’t something I normally do. I think I’m wiriting to try to figure out what has happened, why it happened and how it’s physically and mentally affected me. Maybe Fawn is trying to help me. My cousin and I had a conversation tonight about “what would Fawn do”? She’d be suffering just like us. The Wooton girls are a highly sensitive, tender-hearted and emotional group that has walls of bricks and boulders holding it all in. #justiceforamberfawnclark View all 4 comments January 28, 2019
86 likes kionawootonmillirons #grieving Day 181 Today, I #WearOrange for my sister, Amber Fawn Wooton-Clark. I wear orange for the nearly 100 Americans who die each & every day as a result of gun violence. I also wear my sister’s ashes around my neck every day as a reminder to fight for her and all the other people who have lost their lives to senseless gun violence. Join me today at The Myriad Gardens for OKC Wear Orange Day at 10:00am. I’ll be walking from my office to the gardens at 9:40am. #justiceforamberfawnclark
������
View 9 comments
One Year, Day 181, Kiona advocates for her sister and others affected by gun violence
June 8, 2019
Millirons social media diary to put on display. The result is a beautiful encapsulation of one year in a family’s life that, yes, documents a tragic situation, but ends up revealing so much more. “My hope is that people will feel a connection to my sister, me, my family, and hopefully a connection to all victims of gun violence,” Millirons said. “I hope that people leave with a yearning to learn and understand the deep impacts gun violence has on each of us and then use this new understanding to use their voice to make change.”
She goes on to say, “The pain of grief is lonely. This experience is lonely. Not because I am not surrounded by people who love and support me but because I am terrified that this trauma will go unnoticed just like all of the other tragic and senseless gun deaths that happen in our country. We choose to move on. We choose to forget. We think it doesn’t happen to us. NO ONE will ever NOT be affected by gun violence. And that makes me feel alone. This is too big for one person or one family.” The national conversations surrounding gun violence have reached a fever pitch and left many
activists and families alike reeling at the ease with which perpetrators are able to carry out violence against their loved ones. From groups like Moms Demand Action to the March For Our Lives movement, it’s clear that gun violence is something that affects everyone on levels we may not completely grasp, and Millirons hopes to change that. “Gun laws in this country are extremely complicated. We have to be willing to educate ourselves. It is up to us as individuals to make changes. It is our moral (continued to page 14)
p re v i e w 13
responsibility as human beings,” she said. “My sister died a violent death by a man who should have never had access to a gun. My government’s laws did not protect my sister or my family. The ripple effect will continue for a long time. Those ripples touch you in some way. Imagine all the ripples of all the victims of gun violence. We’re all connected by it whether we want to accept it or not.”
kionawootonmillirons Sacramento, California
“You go to so many art shows...and people are kind of there to eat cheese and chat,” Lunsford said. “This is a show that you will start at point one, and you will chronologically read [the diary] as you go around the room. It really gives you kind of a snapshot of what she felt. Some of them are funny, some of them are sad, some of them are angry, and some of them are very passionate.” The show will run from January 6 to February 19, 2021, pending any unforeseen coronavirus complications. “This exhibition is about so much more than gun violence,” Millirons said. “This exhibition is about grief. This exhibition was planned before the COVID pandemic, and it seems we are all grieving right now. Grieving the loss of someone we loved, the loss of a job, the loss of ‘normality’, the loss of human connection. We need to openly talk about grief. And, hopefully, we can feel more connected through our shared grief.” Lunsford agrees and hopes that One Year allows people to come to a common understanding. “I think this will help us all have a really open, honest conversation about [gun violence]. Sometimes I feel like our conversations get so polarized, that we aren’t even having conversations anymore, and I think that’s what concerns me so much about our society as a whole, and especially in Oklahoma.” n Carleigh Foutch is a writer and activist living in Oklahoma City. She received her BA in Journalism from the University of Oklahoma and continues to write stories of all kinds in her spare time (although her favorite things to write are screenplays). To learn more about Carleigh and her work, visit carleighfoutch.weebly.com.
14 p re v i e w
77 likes kionawootonmillirons #grieving One year I created this altar for Fawn alongside my students as they created their own altars for someone or something we wanted to honor. I surrounded my sister with things that she loved and were a bog part of her life: books, all her animals, poetry, flowers and bright colors. Today will be busy with dedications and a candlelight vigil. It will be a hard day. #justiceforamberfawnclark View all 16 comments December 11, 2019
One Year, One Year, One year of remembering Amber Clark
•••
The Art 365 Show Will Go On by Carleigh Foutch
Naima Lowe, Aren’t They All Just Love Songs Anyway?, five channel installation, shown as part of a featured exhibition in the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition triennial exhibition Concept.
The next iteration of OVAC’s Art 365 is offering five lucky Oklahoma artists the opportunity to create meaningful pieces that impact and inspire the local art community. Ginnie Baer, Crystal Z Campbell, Naima Lowe, Mirella Martinez, along with artist duo Maggie Boyett and Marwin Begaye will all be receiving an honorarium of $12,000 to complete their respective projects. “It is amazing to be able to offer this career-altering program during such a tumultuous time. Providing this type of financial support will hopefully give the artists flexibility in creating new ambitious work–especially by relieving some of the pressures related to supply/equipment costs,” said OVAC’s Associate Director, Alexa Goetzinger.
The five artists will work in tandem with guest curator Grace Deveney to create a show that challenges audiences worldviews while simultaneously stretching the limits of what art can (safely) be, given the coronavirus pandemic. “I am so grateful that we are able to continue forward, even in the midst of so much uncertainty,” Goetzinger said. “Working on a long-term project like this gives me hope that the future of the Oklahoma arts community is something spectacular.” Deveney, who’s based out of New Orleans and is the Associate Curator of Prospect.5, is familiar with the Oklahoma art scene and the different artists that make it thrive so vibrantly. Each artist explores various facets of culture,
humanity, and expression. One artist, Ginnie Baer, is creating a series of paintings entitled Silver Valley that she hopes offers a whimsical and temporary relief from the pain and loss that nearly everyone has experienced at one point or another (and, one could even argue is feeling right now amidst the pandemic). “I’m interested in building a world within my paintings that feels comforting and peaceful, offering relief, at least temporarily, from conflict and pain,” Baer said. “I often incorporate glitter and colorful Washi tape into my paintings. Glitter serves both as a nod to a nostalgia for childhood as well as a visual celebration of negative ions—molecules that exist in lush landscapes and have been found to contribute to feelings of well-being. The Washi tape functions to break up the space
f e a t u re 15
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Ginnie Baer, Sparkling Valley Ridge, 2018, acrylic, watercolor and glitter on wood panel, 24” x 24” Maggie Boyett and Marwin Begaye, Dance Flooring sample design pattern, woodblock, 12’ x 15’ Crystal Z Campbell, MODEL CITIZEN: HERE I STAND, 2018-2019, sculpture installation: five dual-sided Banners (each banner is 24” wide and between 180” to 360” long), paint, three digital looping videos, three projectors, speakers with looping stereo sound, wood, drywall, live performance, 75 minutes, 3 performers and interpretative score of “Ol’ Man River” by James G Williams, 2018-2019 Mirella Martinez, Mexico I, II, III, 2019, handmade set of zines, 5” x 2”
and indicates a more man-made presence. Silver Valley will be a place for introspection, comfort, connection, and love—for ourselves and one another. I hope viewers might feel that these are places to rest, to ease their anxieties for a bit.” As for the other artists, the worlds they’re planning to create offer additional insight and perspectives into the things that shape the world around us into a collective, collaborative viewing experience through a variety of mediums. Crystal Z Campbell, a multidisciplinary artist, is creating a piece called Hi, Hi, Hi, Highway, which will be a performance-driven project merging histories, fantasies, and policies of the automobile, the street, and the highway in relation to Americana and displacement. “Beyond the ability to develop research and produce work for a year, what I consider the gift of Art 365, is being able to work closely with curator Grace Deveney—having ongoing
16
f e a t u re
conversation with a contemporary art curator who lends a thoughtful and critical lens to the project at every stage,” Campbell said. “Through research, I hope to learn more about the long-term effects of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, and the strategies and policies that have maintained the damage done nearly a 100 years ago.” Naima Lowe’s piece, Aren’t They All Just Love Songs Anyway?, explores the ubiquity, complexity, and intimacy of Black expression through a series of videos; Mariella Martinez’s Payne. will explore the ever growing Mexican/ Latinx community of the state by bringing together the imagery with other sourced material into a beautiful hand-bound book to tell the subjects’ stories of what it means to live in Oklahoma as a Latinx person; and Maggie Boyett and Marwin Begaye’s collective work, Body Acknowledgement: The Body as Land, will explore the cultural disparities between Indigenous and American social customs from the perspective of two Native Americans in a collaborative movement piece.
“By incorporating the layers of Indigenous knowledge, personal-cultural narratives with physical movement and performance to my visual art vocabulary, it is pushing me beyond my comfort zone. I’m excited by the potential of developing different technical strategies while intuitively responding to the performance aspect of the collaboration,” Begaye said. “Community and collaboration are two of my biggest motivators when I’m working creatively,” Boyett said. “The only downfall of collaboration is that sometimes you can get to a place where it feels like there are ‘too many cooks in the kitchen,’ but in the short time that Marwin and I have gotten to converse with Grace and the other artists on the show, I have this strong sense in my gut that their feedback and questions and suggestions are going to be so beneficial to the work we’re making this year.” Each piece gives an intimate, yet universal, look at the diverse, countless lives in the state
Marwin Begaye
Maggie Boyett
Crystal Z Campbell
Mirella Martinez
while transcending language and giving life to a visual representation of what it means to be an Oklahoman. With so much time and creative freedom to complete these pieces, these five artists are ready to hit the ground running to bring a truly unforgettable experience to life. While audiences have an inkling of what to expect come 2021, nothing can prepare them for just how inspiring the culmination of these exhibitions is going to be. “I am most looking forward to making the work,” Baer said. “I’m also looking forward to working with Grace and communicating with the other artists involved—they are fantastic. OVAC is amazing. Specifically, Krystle Brewer and Alexa Goetzinger’s efforts toward this program, especially during such a challenging time.” Martinez agrees: “I’m so honored and excited to participate in this program. It’s such a great opportunity to connect and grow with other Oklahoma artists and our curator, Grace. It’ll be a killer show, I know it.”
Ginnie Baer
Naima Lowe
For Goetzinger and the other OVAC staff, the excitement and gratitude of being able to put on a new Art 365 show is leaving everyone feeling the immense influence of just how important art is, and always has been. “One day we will be on the other side of this pandemic, and we can get there by working together,” Goetzinger said. “The fact that Art 365 is still happening this year is a testament to OVAC’s core beliefs: Art is essential. Art provides value. Art raises the quality of life and creates a positive economic impact.” OVAC congratulates the selected artists on this esteemed award and looks forward to watching their projects unfold over the next year. Additionally, OVAC would like to thank all of their generous sponsors who have made this incredible opportunity possible for these artists. This program is supported by MidAmerica Arts Alliance, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, the Oklahoma Arts Council, George Kaiser Family Foundation,
Kirkpatrick Family Fund, and Allied Arts. Right now, this iteration of Art 365 will be on display in Tulsa from July 2 through August 6, 2021 at Living Arts, and in Oklahoma Cirty from August 19 through September 18, 2021 at Artspace at Untitled. If you’re looking to stay updated, or just looking for more information regarding Art 365, visit ovac-ok.org/art-365. n Carleigh Foutch is a writer and activist living in Oklahoma City. She received her BA in Journalism from the University of Oklahoma and continues to write stories of all kinds in her spare time (although her favorite things to write are screenplays). To learn more about Carleigh and her work, visit carleighfoutch.weebly.com.
f e a t u re 17
Flock Solo Show Opening 2019 at Arts Council of Tahlequah Gallery, photo by Renee Fite Kindra Swafford, ᏧᎳ - Fox, acrylic on watercolor paper, 15” x 11”, and ᏯᎾᏌ - Buffalo, acrylic on watercolor paper, 15” x 11”, photo by Renee Fite
18 f e a t u re
In the Studio with Kindra Swafford By Renee Fite
1. Your name, art mediums, and degree? What art groups are you affiliated? Tahlequah seems fertile ground for artists, what makes it a creative hub?
My name is Kindra Swafford and I like to think of myself as a 2D artist. I received my Bachelor of Fine Arts from Northeastern State University (NSU) in Tahlequah, OK. I work mostly in watercolor but find solace in picking up other mediums. I have started using acrylics again recently and seem to reinvent my style almost yearly. I’m an active member of OVAC, South East Indian Art Association, Arts Council of Tahlequah, and Inkslingers of Tulsa. When looking at Tahlequah from the outside, you wouldn’t think it was so full of creative people. From fine art, humanities, music, education— Tahlequah has it all. 2. Why an art degree? What did you learn from Northeastern State University Art department instructors?
I always enjoyed making art when I attended Salina Middle and High School. I chose to pursue an art degree after taking Drawing I my first semester at NSU. The professors at NSU always pushed me to do my best work. They helped me understand multiple mediums, and guided me to deepen my knowledge not only with a wide range of techniques but also the history behind the art. The art history classes kept me inspired and yearning for more knowledge. 3. Your art has been in several shows and in galleries. Your first solo show was impressive and interesting in presentation with the fiber art hanging piece in the center, and large painting peeking around it. How did you decide to incorporate both mediums in the show?
I was very honored to be able to have a solo show, Flock, in the ACT Gallery in August 2019. The largest watercolor I’ve ever created was hanging in that show. That piece alone taught me
passion and patience go hand in hand. I remember sitting down that summer and transferring, Still Here, the 77.5” x 38.5” watercolor onto a large roll of watercolor paper. I couldn’t even stand it up inside the house because it would’ve poked a hole in the ceiling. So, I spent weeks laying on the watercolor itself, color matching these oversaturated glitched tones depicting a modern Cherokee woman, holding a war club, wearing a ribbon skirt, and Vans shoes. The piece was so large, the first time I saw it upright was on a wall at the show itself. That piece was the heart of the show. The yarn centerpiece was put together with the assistance of the curator, Callie Chunestudy, to tie in the colors of the handwoven pieces and watercolors that helped unify the theme of Flock. 4. How would you describe yourself as an artist? Why do you make art?
Honestly, I’m still trying to figure out who I am as an artist. I always want to push my techniques and create artwork that makes you feel a certain way. For the people that have been following my growth, they know every year they’re going to see me kick into a new medium or combined set of mediums. I know that I want to keep creating artwork that helps me further my knowledge of my culture and interests.
Kindra Swafford, Justice, watercolor (Judge’s Choice at Cherokee Art Market 2019), photo by Christopher Murphy
5. American and Graphic Art designs and themes are found in much of your artwork. Where is your inspiration found?
This year I’ve been using more acrylics and working on learning Cherokee. Not growing up in a traditional home, I can only hope to learn and grow with the guidance of friends in my community. The new series combines building blocks and shapes as the focal points balancing around different animals. My earlier inspirations drew from pop culture and nerd culture. (continued to page 20)
f e a t u re 19
(continued from page 19)
Kindra Swafford, Still Here, watercolor on watercolor paper, 77.5” x 38.5”
6. Are you a full-time artist or also employed? What have you been doing with art through the pandemic? Have you learned a new skill or talent?
I’m an artist and work full time. The pandemic at first was hard. I was so stressed I couldn’t paint my intricate portraits or animals. So, I decided to try a different style and started randomly painting lines and circles on a piece of watercolor paper with acrylic paint. It felt so nice to be able to express an idea. I took it so far that I painted those shapes on a door in my studio. It made me happy. My creativity took off from there. 7. What are your art goals near and far?
For the meantime, I’m looking to keep painting and stay active in my community. Most of my friends are artists, and inspiring ones at that. For the long term, I’m hoping to further my education and get an MFA. But for now, I’ll keep painting and posting my work to social media platforms in hopes of spreading inspiration to anyone that is scrolling by. n
Patrick Blackwell Joe Goode Jerry McMillan Ed Ruscha Paul Ruscha Mason Williams Sept. 10, 2020 – March 7, 2021 at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art
Fred Jones Jr Museum of Art The University of Oklahoma 555 Elm Ave., Norman, OK 73019 fjjma.ou.edu | @fjjma | Always Free! This exhibition is possible through grants from the Norman Arts Council, and the Kirkpatrick Family Fund. For accommodations, please call Visitor Services at (405) 325-4938. The University of Oklahoma is an equal opportunity institution. www.ou.edu/eoo
Renee Fite is Editor of Stilwell Democrat Journal and Westville Reporter, President of the Arts Council of Tahlequah, and a watercolor and stained-glass artist.
20 f e a t u re
Jerry McMillan, U.S. b. 1936, Spontaneous Happening in Jerry’s Studio. Mason Williams, Thelma Camacho, Ed, Archival ink jet print,1969, Loan courtesy of the artist.
In the Studio with Amber DuBoise-Shepherd By Kristin Gentry
Amber DuBoise-Shepherd, Sunday Morning with Chei (Grandpa), 2020, watercolor, pen & ink, Copic markers, 21.5” x 26.5”
How does your tribal culture influence the content of your work?
Growing up, my brothers and I experienced and were immersed in our various Native cultures. I grew up in a what I consider a traditional Native household here in Oklahoma. My mother is Navajo and she grew up on the Navajo reservation. I remember participating in ceremonies on the Navajo reservations as a child. My late great-grandmother, Louise Begay, was very traditional. She created Navajo rugs. She spoke mostly Navajo and some English.
I have very fond memories of her. My father is Sac & Fox and Prairie Band Potawatomi and grew up here in Oklahoma. He took my brothers and me as children to our traditional Sac & Fox feast where we were given our Indian names. My Sauk name is Mohkehmehshe, meaning “One That Suddenly Appears.” I also have a Navajo name, but as Navajo people we keep our names to ourselves. My father also learned traditional ceremonial doings from the Midewin society, which is a medicine society up near the Great Lakes area.
Can you describe your professional arts practice?
I tend to keep a busy art schedule. I try to be sure to spend time in the studio and I schedule out that time. I also try to spend time updating my website and social media throughout the week. This way I am engaging with my audience. I try to be on top of updating my paperwork for my artwork. For myself, I spend more time marketing, writing about myself, and (continued to page 22)
f e a t u re 21
Amber DuBoise-Shepherd, All My Relations, Pyêchiwîthenino! (Come and Eat), 2019, watercolor, pen & ink, Copic markers, 18” x 30”
my artwork for potential shows and exhibitions. My biggest resource for potential art shows is through social media. I spend probably about 40% - 50% [of my time] working on actual artwork and the other is spent on writing and marketing. I do enjoy creating my art and it feels great when I finish a piece. I spend time taking photos and then posting them to my social media and website to share to followers. Do you work as a full-time artist?
I used to for about 2 years until I began working at the Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art (MGMoA). Now I am the Manager of Education and Outreach at the museum. I believe many artists can be a full-time artist, but it takes a lot of work…like a lot of work. I learned a lot in the two years I was a full-time artist. I still feel like a full-time artist though! I am constantly working. I try to take breaks in between projects. Self-care is important and I am still learning on when I need to take a step back and take a break. Your work depicts your experiences from a multi-tribal background. Are there ways you create works differently depending on which part of your cultures that you’re exemplifying?
In my artwork I am trying to create narratives based on the experiences I have had in my life. I am drawn to our ceremonial doings and I enjoy creating narratives of them with spiritual beings interacting with people. As a young child, my elders would explain the importance of our ceremonies and talk about the spirits that reside with us in the moment. I have always
22 f e a t u re
had a vivid imagination, so I always pictured them there in my head. I do have to make the decision on whether I want to create it using oil paints or another 2D medium I work in. It all depends on what the idea is. And, sometimes halfway through a piece I may make a big change…but no one knows but myself on which pieces I made those changes. What mediums do you work in outside of your current paintings you exhibit?
I also have skills in Native American finger weaving, some Navajo weaving, ceramics, and sewing. I have knowledge about Navajo silver smith making because my Navajo grandparents used to create jewelry. Many of the traditional Native arts I mentioned were taught to me by my family from both sides. I learned finger weaving from a Kickapoo relative. One summer when I was young, my late Navajo greatgrandmother came to Oklahoma to visit for a summer (this was the farthest and furthest east she had ever been from the Navajo reservation). She set up [a] loom in our living room and she helped me weave my first rug. I would love to finish learning how to weave. I like ceramics and made pieces that have won awards in the past; I would love to just create ceramics for fun! I also learned sewing from my late Navajo great-grandmother & my late Potawatomi and Sac & Fox grandmother. My grandmother Adeline Ketcheshawno DuBoise taught me to sew ribbon skirts and how to create woodland applique designs on shawls. I have used my grandmother Adeline’s designs in certain art works.
Where do you see your work going in the next few years?
I would like my artwork to start venturing into more galleries across Oklahoma. In the future, I am looking forward to start showing my artwork outside of the state. I have attended Santa Fe Indian Market in 2018 and 2019, which is in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Santa Fe is one of my favorite places to visit. Since becoming the educator at the MGMoA, I have learned a lot about various art education programs and their importance. I also have become more comfortable with teaching children about the arts. In the future, I would like to participate [in] and lead educational art opportunities for children and adults that encompass Native Art. Are there any topics you would like to discuss or to be included or thar you want Art Focus readers to know?
I work with old and new in various ways to create a bridge for viewers to see these traditions differently in a visual way. I want to invite the viewer to be a part of my world and see the traditions the way I see them in my everyday life. Our ancestors were survivors and hard workers. I also want to educate others about Native American culture and I find the best way to do so is through the arts. I want my artwork to reach out and connect with others; to let them know we may be different, but to know we are all human beings. This is what it looks like to be a Native [American] in America and in Oklahoma today. n
ABOVE: Artist Amber DuBoise-Shepherd in her home studio. RIGHT: Artist Amber DuBoise-Shepherd at her booth at the 2018 Red Earth Festival as their first of two Emerging Artists Winners
Kristin Gentry was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and is a Choctaw artist, writer, educator, and curator. She creates her work to continually perserve her traditional culture. Kristin can be found at kristingentry.com.
NOW OPEN
Image courtesy Andy Arkley
ahhatulsa.org/the-experience-imagine
Pictured: Andy Arkley's Together is a collaborative interactive installation that combines sculpture, animation, music and light.
f e a t u re
23
EKPHRASIS: Art & Poetry Edited by Liz Blood
Ekphrasis is an ongoing series joining verse and visual art. Here, poet Najah-Amatullah responds to Kalyn Fay Barnoski’s weaving.
Boxes and Quilts to warm the body to warm the heart so the mind is able to flex into multiple consciousnesses to cover the bed before the hearth to unfold a home anywhere we’ve never weaved together the green of our Native prairie grass with the green of our Southern cotton fields never threaded the blue of a Pacific Island sky to the hue of an African canopy never sewn Aztec maize around Arab gold coins to patch the hole of the ocean
Najah-Amatullah is a lifelong writer and performer. She teaches secondary English language arts in Oklahoma City and is pursuing a master’s in literature from the University of Central Oklahoma. She is working on a social media- and poetryenhanced secondary curriculum and a video podcast about teaching. Kalyn Fay Barnoski is a Cherokee artist and musician from Tulsa. She received her BFA from Rogers State University in 2012, an MA from The University of Tulsa in 2016, and is in her final year of an MFA in Printmaking at the University of Arkansas School of Art. Her work focuses on the intersections of Cherokee/Indigenous epistemologies within her personal experiences and the experiences of broader community.
24
ekphrasis
never braided an orange sunrise to a violet sunset There has always been enough thread. square crates for holding hearts captive for containing scrolls that would contaminate voice boxes transporting what had been out of the way of what would be unable to see through cardboard that what would be only boxed in what might be what might be a quilt to join holy bodies to align like minds to bond a team that works to protect the rest of those who protect the rest
Kalyn Fay Barnoski, hope, a life., 2020, woven broadsheets (broadsheet 1: A system in which Black bodies, Brown bodies, any Person of Color is vilified and murdered is inherently wrong evil.; broadsheet 2: KEEP HOPE ALIVE!), acrylic, waterbased spray paint, 48” x 40”
e k p h r a s i s 25
SEPT 4 - OCT 16
At The University of Tulsa’s School of Art, Design and Art History, students thrive as individuals. Our aim is to help them discover and express their unique goals, talents and visions. A triple major in English, creative writing, and graphic design, TU senior, Emma Palmer likes to keep busy with extracurricular at school. “I love TU’s size. There are so many opportunities that wouldn’t be available to me at a larger institution.” Her love for both the visual arts and writing led to an interest in comics and their creation. Thanks to the University’s ties to the Tulsa Artist Fellowship, Palmer has been able to work with cartoonists who not only make a living in the field, but are successful names in their own right. Another highlight in Palmer’s time at TU was working with poster artist Luba Lukova, who had a workshop with a class of Palmer’s. The student’s finished posters were displayed in a mini gallery to the side of Lukova’s work at the Zarrow Center for Art and Education. Palmer is thankful for her time at TU and hopes to attend graduate school after her Senior year, something that she didn’t know was in reach before her schooling, “Being a part of the Tulsa art community has gifted me with connections and knowledge. It showed me a world I didn’t know existed, and how that world is achievable.”
Concept//Focus projects are still on view by appointment at Harvester Arts in Wichita, KS for a second showing. More info: concept-ok.org & harvesterarts.org
OCT 5 - NOV 13 24 Works on Paper heads to The Wigwam Gallery in Altus for its second stop in the 18-month tour. More info: 24works.org
OVAC'S GRANTS FOR ARTISTS DEADLINE: OCT 15 Get funding for your next project! Need help with your application? Sign up for Office Hours with OVAC's Hayley Olson on October 7th. More info: ovacgrants.org
EMERGING CURATOR - NOV 5 SPOTLIGHT ARTISTS - NOV 19 Applications are open for both Emerging Curator and Spotlight Artists! Apply to be a part of next year's Momentum!
Please Follow us on Facebook: facebook.com/utulsaschoolofart Instagram: @utulsaart
For more information, visit http://www.utulsa.edu/art or call 918.631.2739 • TU is an EEO/AA institution •
26 f e a t u re
More info: momentumoklahoma.org
FOR MORE INFO: OVAC-OK.ORG
OVAC NEWS Thank you to all who participated in our 12x12 Virtual Fundraiser—the artists, sponsors, and art buyers. We truly appreciate your contributions to make this event a great success. Of course, we would have rather seen all of you in person, but we sincerely value your continued support despite the shift to a digital party. These funds are crucial in supporting Oklahoma’s visual artists through our Grants for Artists program as well as our annual Fellowship Awards. Starting in October, we are offering free grant writing support for artists through Office Hours with OVAC’s Membership & Outreach Coordinator, Hayley Olson. These time slots will be one week before the grant deadline so artists may have their application reviewed and get all of their questions answered before submitting. Since OVAC staff doesn’t make the granting decisions, but are a part of the Grant Committee conversations, Hayley is a valuable resource and we hope artists will take advantage of this opportunity. To sign up, visit ovacgrants.org.
FALL 2020 We are gearing up for Momentum 2021 with our calls for Emerging Curator and Spotlight Artists! We are anticipating this iteration will still be impacted by the pandemic, so we are planning ahead to switch things up in a way that will give the community plenty of time to view the artwork safely. Instead of only a weekend-long party, the exhibition will be up for the month of March in Norman at Mainsite before heading to Tulsa’s Living Arts for the month of April. For more information and to apply, visit momentumoklahoma.org. To keep up with the latest OVAC news, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Sincerely,
Krystle K. Brewer Executive Director
Krystle Brewer, Executive Director
Thank you to our new and renewing members from May 2020 to July 2020 Sharon Allred Kristy Andrew Heather Ariyeh Alan Atkinson Robin Baker Rea Baldridge Mattie Barlow Jerry Baumeister Stephen Beall Robert Beatley Shannon Bell John & Susanne Blake Eric Bloemers Greg Bloxom Amanda Boehm Garcia Elyse Bogart Bryan Boone Daniel Bottoms Tracey Brauer Krystle Brewer John Bruce Tammy Brummell Jenna Bryan Zach Burns Rebecca Burroughs Pattie Calfy Gayle Canada
Stan Carroll Claudia Carroll-Phelps Jessica Chavez Julianne Clark Michael Clark Valarie Clayton Jo Clow Amanda Cole Tony Corbell Rick Cotter Aleise Cowsert Jessica Crow Jason Cytacki Bryan Dahlvang Janet Fadler Davie Sarah Day-Short Becky Deed Cady Carlson Dill Kortny Dylewski Douglas Eaton Michael Elizondo Ellen Etzler Lauren Florence Kira Frisby Janet Funk Barbara Gabel Andrea Gardner
Dan Garrett Kristin Gentry Irmgard Geul Joeallen Gibson Kristen & Dusty Gilpin Kevin Gleason Eleanor Goetzinger Stephanie Grubbs Kristina Haden Steffanie Halley Jessica Harjo Patricia Harper Joshua Harris William Hawk Savannah Hays Walt & Jean Hendrickson Shelly Henry David Holland Jan Holzbauer Helen Howerton Pamela Husky Cecelia Hussein Jennifer Hustis Sam Hyden Sandy Ingram Sarah Iselin Sheri Ishmael-Waldrop
Robert James J. Jann Jeffrey Alena Jennings Kelsey Karper Yvonne Kauger Joel Kelley Kelsey Kirk Sharyl Landis Brian Landreth Patsy Lane Adam Lanman Leondre Lattimore Trent Lawson Lania Lee Cayla Lewis Mark Lewis William Livingston Rebecca Lucht Joe Machado Cynthia Marcoux Brandon Marlow Dru Marseilles Leslie Martin Debra Martin-Barber Janice Mathews-Gordon Andy Mattern Mark Maxted
Cortney McConnell Deina McIntosh Janette Meetze Michelle (Mikie) Metcalfe Susan Miller Sue Moss Sullivan Lawrence Naff Andrea Nielsen Kirsten Olds Taylor Painter-Wolfe Caroline Patton Karen Paul Laurel Payne Thumy Phan Nicole Poole Patty S. Porter Marissa Raglin Angela Reaves Elizabeth Richards Amy Rockett-Todd Kathy Rodgers Brandi Ross Rita Rowe Lauren Rucker Tim Ryan Tiffani Nicole Sanders Audrey Schmitz
Joan Seay Carl & Beth Shortt David Smith Diana J. Smith Iryna Snizhenko Laura Story William Struby Debbie Sullivan E. Dee Tabor Scott Taylor Jim Terrell Tony Tiger Kelly Tompkins M. Teresa Valero Elyssa Wallace Debbie Weed Micah Wesley BJ White John Wolfe Keith Wolfe May Yang Janice Yeary Stephen Yochum Rhonda Young Candie Yount Summer Zah Lisa Zarrow
o v a c n e w s 27 27
Gallery Listings & Exhibition Schedule Ada
Chickasha
Edmond
Guymon
The Pogue Gallery East Central University 900 Centennial Plaza (580) 559-5353 ecok.edu
Nesbitt Gallery University of Science and Arts Oklahoma 1806 17th St (405) 574-1344 usao.edu/gallery/schedule
Donna Nigh Gallery University of Central Oklahoma 100 University Dr (405) 974-2432 uco.edu/cfad
All Fired Up Art Gallery 421 N Main (580) 338-4278 artistincubation.com
Edmond Historical Society & Museum 431 S Boulevard (405) 340-0078 edmondhistory.org
Museum of the Red River 812 E Lincoln Rd (580) 286-3616 museumoftheredriver.org
Altus Wigwam Gallery Oct 5 – Nov 14 24 Works Nov 23 – Jan 15 Stitch by Stitch 117 W Commerce St (580) 481-3150
Alva Graceful Art Center November The Graceful Arts Gallery and Studios Regional Biennial Juried Show 2020 December Christmas Show and Sale 523 Barnes St (580) 327-ARTS gracefulartscenter.org
Ardmore
The Goddard Center Sep 1 - Oct 30 Mike Larsen Exhibit 401 First Avenue SW (580) 226-0909 goddardcenter.org
Bartlesville Price Tower Arts Center 510 Dewey Ave (918) 336-4949 pricetower.org
Broken Bow Forest Heritage Center Sep 11 – Oct 18 Masters at Work: Woodturning Workshop & Exhibit Beaver’s Bend Resort (580) 494-6497 beaversbend.com
28 g a l l e r y g u i d e
Claremore Foundations Gallery Rogers State University 1701 W Will Rogers Blvd (918) 343-7740 rsu.edu
Davis Chickasaw Nation Welcome Center 35 N Colbert Rd (580) 369-4222 chickasawcountry.com/explore/ view/Chickasaw-nationwelcome-center
Duncan Chisholm Trail Heritage Center 1000 Chisholm Trail Pkwy (580) 252-6692 onthechisholmtrail.com
Durant Centre Gallery The Visual Performing Arts Center Southeastern Oklahoma State University 1614 N. First Street (580) 745-2735 se.edu/act/centre-gallery
Durham Metcalfe Museum 8647 N 1745 Rd (580) 655-4467 metcalfemuseum.org
Fine Arts Institute of Edmond October David Padgett November Sheryl McClain December Heather Porter 27 E Edwards St (405) 340-4481 edmondfinearts.com Melton Gallery University of Central Oklahoma 100 University Dr (405) 974-2432 uco.edu/cfad University Gallery Oklahoma Christian University 2501 E Memorial Rd oc.edu
El Reno Redlands Community College 1300 S Country Club Rd (405) 262-2552 redlandscc.edu
Guthrie Hancock Creative Shop 116 S 2nd St (405) 471-1951 hancockcreativeshop. wordpress.com Owens Arts Place Museum 1202 E Harrison (405) 260-0204 owensmuseum.com
Idabel
Lawton The Leslie Powell Foundation and Gallery 620 D Avenue (580) 357-9526 lpgallery.org Museum of the Great Plains 601 NW Ferris Ave (580) 581-3460 discovermpg.org
Norman The Crucible Gallery 110 E Tonhawa (405) 579-2700 thecruciblellc.com Downtown Art and Frame 115 S Santa Fe (405) 329-0309 Firehouse Art Center 444 S Flood (405) 329-4523 normanfirehouse.com Jacobson House 609 Chautauqua (405) 366-1667 jacobsonhouse.art Fred Jones Jr Museum of Art Sep 10 – Mar 7 OK/LA Oct 1 – Jan 17 Kiowa Agency 555 Elm Ave (405) 325-4938 ou.edu/fjjma
Lightwell Gallery University of Oklahoma 520 Parrington Oval (405) 325-2691 art.ou.edu MAINSITE Contemporary Art Gallery 122 E Main (405) 360-1162 normanarts.org Moore-Lindsey House Historical Museum Aug 21 – Oct 17 Quilts and Handicrafts Show Oct 1 – Oct 31 Halloween Display Nov 17 – Jan 9 Victorian Christmas 508 N Peters (405) 321-0156 normanmuseum.org The Depot Gallery 200 S Jones (405) 307-9320 pasnorman.org
Oklahoma City [ArtSpace] at Untitled Nov – Dec Postcard Perspectives Fundraiser and Exhibition 1 NE 3rd St (405) 815-9995 1ne3.org Contemporary Art Gallery 2928 Paseo (405) 601-7474 thepaseo.org DNA Galleries Sep 10 – Oct 4 Unified // Juried Group Show Oct 8 - Nov 8 Kathleen Neeley + Marcus Eakers + Simphiwe Mbunyuza Nov 12 – Dec 6 Fiber Show Dec 3 – Jan 3 Support Local Art Show 1705 B NW 16th St (405) 371-2460 dnagalleries.com
Due to changes caused by COVID-19, please check the individual institution’s website for current information.
Exhibit C 1 E Sheridan Ave Ste 100 (405) 767-8900 chickasawcountry.com Factory Obscura 25 NW 9th St factoryobscura.com Gaylord-Pickens Oklahoma Heritage Museum Jul 7 – Nov 28 Oklahoma Hall of Fame Service Members Jul 22 – Nov 22 Twice Around the World: Oklahoma’s Wiley Post Oct 1 – Jan 21 The Art of DG Smalling and Nicole Moan 1400 Classen Dr (405) 235-4458 oklahomahof.com Grapevine Gallery November Winter Festival Show 1933 NW 39th (405) 528-3739 grapevinegalleryokc.com Howell Gallery 6432 N Western Ave (405) 840-4437 howellgallery.com In Your Eye Studio and Gallery 3005A Paseo (405) 525-2161 inyoureyegallery.com Individual Artists of Oklahoma 1900 Linwood Blvd, Ste 100 (405) 232-6060 iaogallery.org JRB Art at the Elms Sep 3 – Oct 31 Continuum: The Indefinite Progress of Existence 2810 N Walker Ave (405) 528-6336 jrbartgallery.com
National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum May 18 – Oct 18 Girls of the Golden West Mar 21 – Nov 15 Storytellers and Sellers: Artist Illustrators Oct 2 – Jan 3 Tucker Smith: A Celebration of Nature Oct 17 – Dec 13 West: The American Cowboy Nov 21 – May 16 Blazing a Trail Nov 25 – Jul 11 Close Encounters: Western Wildlife Dec 12 – May 16 Find Her West 1700 NE 63rd (405) 478-2250 nationalcowboymuseum.org Nault Gallery 816 N Walker Ave www.naultfineart.com Nona Hulsey Gallery, Norick Art Center Oklahoma City University 1600 NW 26th (405) 208-5226 okcu.edu Inasmuch Foundation Gallery Oklahoma City Community College 7777 S May Ave (405) 682-7576 occc.edu Oklahoma City Museum of Art Jun 17 – Nov 29 Art with a History Oct 17 – Jan 10 Shared Lives, Distant Places: Recent Acquisitions in Photography Nov 7 – Apr 25 Beau Arts at 75 415 Couch Dr (405) 236-3100 okcmoa.com Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center Now – Jan 4 Bright Golden Haze Aug 6 – Oct 19 Aqueous Now – Nov 30 Shadow on the Glare NW 11th St. (405) 951-0000 oklahomacontemporary.org Oklahoma State Capitol Galleries 2300 N Lincoln Blvd (405) 521-2931 arts.ok.gov
Paseo Art Space 3022 Paseo (405) 525-2688 thepaseo.com Red Earth 6 Santa Fe Plaza (405) 427-5228 redearth.org smART Space Science Museum Oklahoma Now – Oct 25 Tom Shannon: Universe in the Mind | Mind in the Universe 2100 NE 52nd St (405) 602-6664 sciencemuseumok.org
Park Hill Cherokee National Historical Society, Inc. 21192 S Keeler Dr (918) 456-6007 cherokeeheritage.org
Pauls Valley The Vault Art Space and Gathering Place Aug 24 – Nov 30 Convergence Dec 4-7 Christmas Art Market 111 East Paul Ave, Suite 2 (405) 343-6610 thevaultpaulsvalley.com
Ponca City The Doodle Academy 103 East Grand Ponca City Oklahoma 74604 (580) 309-1582 thedoodleacademy.com Ponca City Art Center 819 E Central (580) 765-9746 poncacityartassociation.org
Shawnee Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art Sep 11 – Nov 1 Salvador Dali’s Stairway to Heaven: Illustrations for Les Chants de Maldoror and the Divine Comedy 1900 W Macarthur (405) 878-5300 mgmoa.org
Stillwater Gardiner Gallery of Art Oklahoma State University 108 Bartlett Center for the Visual Arts (405) 744-4143 museum.okstate.edu Postal Plaza Gallery Oklahoma State University Museum of Art 720 S Husband St (405) 744-2780 museum.okstate.edu Modella Art Gallery 721 S Main Modellaartgallery.org
Sulphur Chickasaw Visitor Center 901 W 1st St (580) 622-8050 chickasawcountry.com/explore/ view/Chickasaw-visitor-center
Tahlequah Cherokee Arts Center 212 S Water Ave (918) 453-5728 Cherokeenationart.com
Tonkawa Eleanor Hays Gallery Northern Oklahoma College 1220 E Grand (580) 628-6670 noc.edu
Tulsa 108|Contemporary Aug 7 – Oct 18 Celebrating a Century of Life: Bob Hawks Nov 6 - Jan 17 Art & Archeology 108 E Reconciliation Way (918) 895-6302 108contemporary.org Aberson Exhibits 3624 S Peoria (918) 740-1054 abersonexhibits.com Ahha 101 E Archer St (918) 584-3333 ahhatulsa.org
Gilcrease Museum Feb 8 – Jan 17 I-Witness Culture: Frank Buffalo Hyde Aug 7 – Feb 21 Landscapes on Fire: Paintings by Michael Scott Aug 29 – Dec 6 Mexican Modernism: Revolution & Reckoning Oct 9 – Mar 28 Weaving History into Art: The Enduring Legacy of Shan Goshorn 1400 Gilcrease Road (918) 596-2700 gilcrease.utulsa.edu Henry Zarrow Center for Art and Education 124 E Reconciliation Way (918) 631-4400 gilcrease.utulsa.edu/Explore/ Zarrow Alexandre Hogue Gallery University of Tulsa 2930 E 5th St. (918) 631-2739 utulsa.edu/art Holliman Gallery Aug 19 – Oct 14 Ben Edwin ‘10 Oct 26 – Nov 30 2020 ARTworks featuring Eric Tippeconnic Holland Hall 5666 E 81st Street (918) 481-1111 hollandhall.org Joseph Gierek Fine Art 1342 E 11th St (918) 592-5432 gierek.com Living Arts Aug 10 – Sep 16 Speak: Speak While You Can 307 E Reconciliation Way (918) 585-1234 livingarts.org M.A. Doran Gallery Aug 21 - Sep 30 Outside the Lines 3509 S Peoria (918) 748-8700 madorangallery.com Liggett Studio Sep 11 – Oct 3 Elements 314 S Kenosha Ave (918) 694-5719 liggettstudio.com (continued to page 30)
g a l l e r y g u i d e 29
(continued from page 29)
Due to changes caused by COVID-19, please check the individual institution’s website for current information. Lovetts Gallery Oct 24 Bones 6528 E 51st St (918) 664-4732 lovettsgallery.com Philbrook Museum of Art Oct 7 – Jan 3 Hearts of Our People: Native Women Artists 2727 S Rockford Rd (918) 749-7941 philbrook.org Pierson Gallery 1307-1311 E 15th St (918) 584-2440 piersongallery.com
Tulsa Artists’ Coalition Nov 27 - 29 The 5×5 Show and Sale 9 E MB Brady St (918) 592-0041 tacgallery.org
Weatherford
Tulsa Performing Arts Center Gallery 110 E 2nd St (918) 596-2368 tulsapac.com
Wilburton
Urban Art Lab Studios 1130 S Harvard Ave (918) 625-0777 urbanartlabstudios.com
Woodward
Waterworks Art Center 1710 Charles Page Blvd (918) 596-2440 waterworksartcenter.com
SWOSU Art Gallery 100 Campus Drive (580) 774-3756 swosu.edu
The Gallery at Wilburton 108 W Main St (918) 465-9669
Plains Indians and Pioneers Museum 2009 Williams Ave (580) 256-6136 pipm1.info
Become a member of the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition. Join today to begin enjoying the benefits of membership, including a subscription to Art Focus Oklahoma. Collector Level + Community Supported Art (CSA) Program $1,000 ($85 a month option) · · · · ·
2 original and quality pieces of art by Oklahoma artists 2 tickets to CSA Launch Events twice a year 2 tickets to 12x12 Art Fundraiser $400 of this membership is tax deductible All of below
PATRON $250 · · · · ·
Listing of self or business on signage at events Invitation for 2 people to private reception with visiting curator 2 tickets each to Momentum OKC & Momentum Tulsa $200 of this membership is tax deductible. All of below
FELLOW $150 · · · · ·
Acknowledgement in Resource Guide and Art Focus Oklahoma Copy of each OVAC exhibition catalog 2 tickets to Tulsa Art Studio Tour $100 of this membership is tax deductible. All of below
FAMILY $75
· Same benefits as Individual, for 2 people in household
INDIVIDUAL $45 · · · · ·
Subscription to Art Focus Oklahoma magazine Monthly e-newsletter of Oklahoma art events & artist opportunities Receive all OVAC mailings Listing in and copy of annual Resource Guide & Member Directory Invitation to Annual Members’ Meeting
Plus, artists receive: · Inclusion in online Artist Gallery, ovacgallery.com · Artist entry fees waived for OVAC exhibitions · Up to 50% discount on Artist Survival Kit workshops · Affiliate benefits with Fractured Atlas, Artist INC Online, Artwork Archive, and the National Alliance for Media Arts & Culture.
STUDENT $25
· Same benefits as Individual level. All Student members are automatically enrolled in Green Membership program (receive all benefits digitally).
30
Tony Tiger (Sac and Fox, Seminole, Muscogee Creek), A Contemplative Thought: My Grandmother’s People, acrylic on canvas, 48” x 36”. The show, Speak: Speak While You Can runs from September 4, 2020 (6pm - 8pm) through October 16, 2020. See page 10.
MEMBER FORM ¨ Collector Level + Community Supported Art Program ¨ Patron ¨ Fellow ¨ Family ¨ Individual ¨ Student ¨ Optional: Make my membership green! Email only. No printed materials will be mailed. Name Street Address City, State, Zip Email Website
Phone
Credit card #
Exp. Date
Are you an artist? Y N Medium?________________________ Would you like to be included in the Membership Directory? Y N
Would you like us to share your information for other arts-related events?
Y
N
Detach and mail form along with payment to: OVAC 1720 N Shartel Ave, Ste B, Oklahoma City, OK 73103 Or join online at ovac-ok.org
Shared Lives, Distant Places
Recent Acquisitions in Photography
See this work and more in person at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. Opening October 17! Peter Turnley (American, b. 1955) The Fall of the Berlin Wall, Berlin, Germany, November (detail), 1989, Archival pigment print, 20 x 24 in. (sheet) Oklahoma City Museum of Art, Gift of Ryon and Lauren Beyer in honor of the Museum’s 75th anniversary, 2019.173 Š Peter Turnley
Art Focus
Ok l a h o m a
UPCOMING EVENTS Oct 5- Nov 13
24 Works at The Wigwam Gallery, Altus
Oct 7
Office Hours: OVAC Grants Support
Oct 9
OVAC Photo Studio
Oct 16
Concept Focus Closes at Harvester
Nov 5
Momentum Emerging Curator Application Deadline
Nov 6
Spring Internship Application Opens
Nov 13
OVAC Photo Studio
Nov 19
Momentum Spotlight Application Deadline
Dec 7- Jan 15
24 Works on Paper at Forest Heritage Center Museum, Broken Bow
Dec 11
OVAC Photo Studio
Non Profit Org. US POSTAGE PAID Oklahoma City, OK Permit No. 113
1720 N Shartel Ave, Suite B Oklahoma City, OK 73103 Visit ovac-ok.org to learn more.
The M.A. Program in
Art History at Oklahoma State University
Pursuing A Career In The Art World? Get your graduate degree in the supportive, collegial environment of the M.A. program in Art History at OSU. Our graduates find jobs in Oklahoma and across the country, and we offer full funding to many students in the program.
More Information Visit Our Website :
Art History at Oklahoma State differs from most traditional art history programs by emphasizing circuits of exchange and intercultural networks. Faculty consider broad themes such as gender, globalization, transnationalism, propaganda, and modernity from a wide range of theoretical and historical perspectives.
art.okstate.edu/academics /art-history/ma Graduate Coordinator :
artgraddir@okstate.edu
Application Deadline: Feb 15
