ArtOFocus k l a h o m a
Ok l aho m a V i s ual A r ts C oal i t i on
Vo l u m e 3 6 N o . 2
Commemorating the Centennial of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre
| Spring 2021
MY SOUL LOOKS BACK AND WONDER HOW I GOT OVER: Skip Hill & Letitia Huckaby APRIL 2–JUNE 20, 2021
Leelee (detail), by Letitia Huckaby Letitia Headshot (detail), by Rambo The Mothers Cook and Clean (detail), by Skip Hill
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.
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Art Focus
Ok l a h o m a
Commemorating the Centennial of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Vo l u m e 3 6 N o . 2
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| Spring 2021
Letter from the Editor - Naima Lowe
5 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Exhibitions, Projects, & Events
ON THE COVER, Top Row: Crystal Z Campbell, I’ve Stayed in the Front Yard All my Life, I Want a Peek at the Back, mixed-media on wood, 30x20 inches, ©2019 Crystal Z Campbell, page 20; Project Hope, Unity, and Compassion at Living Arts Tulsa, page 8. Middle Row: Mural by Jasmine Elizabeth Smith, page 29; Marsh (Faida) Campbell, My Dreamland, artwork submitted to the Greenwood Art Project poster contest, page 7; Antoine Andrews, photo by the artist, page 8. Bottom Row: Black Moon Tulsa Mural, page 30; Don Thompson, Georgola’s Cafe, 1969, silver gelatin, page 17; Yielbonzie Charles Johnson, Lives on the Line, page 22.
G a l l e r y E x h i b i t i o n s a n d C i t y w i d e P ro j e c t s 7
FILLING IN THE GAP: An Overview of the Greenwood Art Project
by Barbara Eikner
10 Project Hope, Unity, and Compassion at Living Arts Tulsa by Kristin Gentry
14 Revisionist Future at ahha Tulsa by Mandy Messina
A r t i s t P ro f i l e s 17 DON THOMPSON: Capturing The Light For Tomorrow by Barbara Eikner
20 CRYSTAL Z CAMPBELL: Notes From Black Wall Street by Crystal Z Campbell
22 YIELBONZIE CHARLES JOHNSON: Are Your Questions Being Answered? by Ayanna Najuma
Removal (Poetry and Photography) Murals, Street Ar t, and Graf fiti around Greenwood Alexxus Browning 26 $36,000,000 Restoration of The Tulsa Club Hotel by Clemonce Heard
27 You Wanna Dig? by Deborah Hunter
28 Greenwood Katherine Mitchell (left) and Dawn Tree (right), two of the Greenwood Art Project artists, page 7.
by Cameron Brewer
29 Bodies Seen at or Disposal Sites: In Lack of Carnations by Jasmine Elizabeth Smith
30 The Earring Snatchers on Greenwood by Gay Pasley
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 Kaye, 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; 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. © 2021, Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition. All rights reserved. View the online archive at ArtFocusOklahoma.org.
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Letter from the guest editor Naima Lowe Dear Art Focus Readers, This special issue of Art Focus represents a small sampling of the exhibitions and projects being created in Tulsa, Oklahoma for the upcoming centennial of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. There are dozens more projects occurring throughout the year, in and around the Historic Greenwood District in Tulsa and across Oklahoma’s galleries and cultural institutions. I think it is safe to say that this commemoration, and its implications, are on everyone’s mind. This moment of remembrance and collective mourning belongs most critically to victims and survivors of the massacre, their descendants and all Tulsans who have fought hard to keep this important story at the forefront of our thinking. At the same time, as this history gains pop cultural notoriety and national attention, we can’t ignore how familiar this story is. Black Wall Street’s prosperity, independence and cultural influence threatened the white dominance of the newly formed state of Oklahoma at the turn of the last century. The white inhabitants of this land, stolen and plundered by a settler colonial state, could not abide Black autonomy and wealth. A mob of white supremacists, supported by the city’s most powerful institutions, destroyed hundreds of businesses, homes, and lives May 30-June 2 1921. The story of Black Wall Street is the story of America. Black people aren’t a monolith, and neither are Black artists responding to the centennial of the Race Massacre. The works profiled in these pages includes elder artists reflecting on multiple waves of displacement experienced by Black Tulsans over the generations, and younger artists grappling with the possibility of an unknowable yet hopeful Black future. There are artists digging deep into the archives of life before, during and after the massacre, and artists capturing the present-day energy of Black street art and youth culture. All of the artists consider the ongoing impact of the massacre itself and the heavily entrenched, decades long silence surrounding the tragedy. I’ve also collaborated with a Tulsa based photographer and several poets to create the special feature Removal (Poetry and Photography). See pages 26-30. My jumping off point for curating this collection was the City of Tulsa’s decision to remove a Black
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Lives Matter mural from Greenwood Avenue. It was profound to see its triumphant arrival, created by a diverse community of artists and community members during the June 2020 uprisings. It was equally profound to see the city pave it over so unceremoniously just a few months later. Admittedly, I was originally unmoved by the presence of that mural, as well as the others that appeared on city streets across the country last summer. As an artist, I should appreciate all forms of exuberant, collaborative, politically engaged visual expression. However, I saw mural after mural pop up, read the solidarity statements of corporation after corporation, and heard politician after politician claim their belief in the value of Black life; all while rarely seeing the substantive changes being demanded by the Black Lives Matter movement. I can’t stand seeing art used as the pretty wrapping around an empty box of insubstantial white platitudes. Black people deserve more than slogans and symbolism. We deserve to see police departments defunded and that money redistributed to grassroots community services. We deserve political and cultural leaders who act with accountability and trust. We deserve concrete monetary reparations given to all survivors of state sanctioned racist violence, including the survivors and descendants of the Tulsa Race Massacre. Artists are often asked to play precarious, divisive roles in the “Urban Renewal” of places like Greenwood and the surrounding areas. The neighborhood directly adjacent to what’s left of Historic Greenwood has been redeveloped into an Arts District filled with high priced luxury apartments, white owned bank and oil company headquarters, and primarily white led museums and arts organizations. Artists’ work is being used to make the site of a massacre into a tourist attraction that brings revenue into a neighborhood that continually disenfranchises Black people. The only artists (of any race) who can afford to actually live and have studios in the Arts District are those who are heavily subsidized by a private philanthropy that owns and manages a significant percentage of the property in the area. As an artist who was once supported by that philanthropy, I can say that political speech and art addressing
gentrification and anti-black racism within the current ecosystem of Tulsa’s Arts District is actively discouraged and even censored. My Black creativity was valued, only so long as it did not “bite the hand that fed me.” My ambivalence towards that original Black Lives Matter mural wasn’t directed at the artists who created it, and certainly not its sentiments. Rather, I was unsettled at the prospect of that sacred phrase being used as cover for powerful people wishing to wash away their complicity in bad deeds. Now, as new murals, graffiti and street art emerge around Greenwood and across the city, I find myself in awe of how Black creativity adapts to these ongoing acts of removal, re-inscription, silencing, co-optation and repetition. I hope that I’ve done this artwork justice, and that anyone reading this special issue takes the time to explore all of the different exhibitions and projects being created for and about the 100 year anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre. I am deeply grateful to the incredible group of artists and arts writers who trusted me with their work. Each contributor came to this project with deep investment in the value of Black art and the importance of celebrating the ingenuity of Black artists in Oklahoma. What a gift they’ve given us.
Yours Truly,
Naima
Naima Lowe comes from 4 generations of Black people who made things. As musicians, fashion designers, teachers, waitresses, and farm laborers, they were steeped Black cultural production characterized by alchemic survival. She earned her BA from Brown University and MFA from Temple University and has exhibited at Anthology Film Archive, Wing Luke Museum, MiX Experimental Film Festival, and was a featured artist in Concept, the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition’s triennial exhibition of contemporary art. Naima has been an artist in residence at Millay Colony, Vermont Studio Center, Jack Straw Cultural Center and the Bemis Center for Contemporary Art. She’s currently living and working in Tulsa, OK where she’s developing a design business and working on a commission for the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition’s triennial Art 365 exhibition.
1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Exhibitions, Projects, and Events My Soul Looks Back and Wonder How I Got Over: Skip Hill & Letitia Huckaby Apr 2 – Jun 20 May 13, Panel Discussion, 7p May 27, Talk with Alaina Roberts, 7p Jun 3, Artist Talk: Letitia Huckaby, 7p Jun 17, Loc Shop Demo, 7p 108|Contemporary 108contemporary.org May 26, Greenwood Art Project Unveiling May 26-29, John Hope Franklin National Symposium May 28, Dedication of Historic Landmarks 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission Revisionist Future Mar 5 – Apr 24 Crystal Z Campbell: Notes from Black Wall Street (Or How To Project Yourself Into The Future) May 7 – Jul 25 SLICK May 7 – 31 ahha Tulsa ahhatulsa.org Fire in Little Africa fireinlittleafrica.com Greenwood Art Project Greenwoodartproject.org 1921 Black Wall Street: An Artistic Reflection May 21, 7:30-10p Greenwood Cultural Center greenwoodculturalcenter.com The Future of Tulsa’s Past: The Centennial of the Tulsa Race Massacre and Beyond May 26 – May 29, 2021 National Symposium, 9a-7p John Hope Franklin Center for Reconciliation jhfnationalsymposium.org Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Project Exhibition May 7 – Jun 19 May 15, Signature Quilt Workshop May 21 – 22, TRM Symposium May 29, Greenwood Imagine May 30, “RELEASE ME, the Spirits of Greenwood Speak” Book Release May 31 – Jun 1, TRM 100 Year Anniversary Jun 4 – 5, Signature Quilt Workshop Jun 8 – 12, Transcend Documentary & Art Therapy Jun 19, Zili Misik Performance Living Arts of Tulsa Livingarts.org
The Unvarnished Truth – Black Local Artists Give Their Impressions on the 1921 Massacre May 7 – Jun 1 May 7, Opening Reception, 6-9p Liggett Studio Liggettstudio.com Views from Greenwood Mar 14 – Sep 5 From The Limitations of Now March 14 – Sept 5 philbrook.org Philbrook Museum of Art Greenwood, Black Wall Street, and the 1921 Race Massacre: Through The Eyes of Children Submissions Due: May 20th May 31, Grand Opening, 9a Jun 19, Juneteenth Jubilee, 9a Jul 4, Fourth of July Celebration, 9a tulsachildrensmuseumofart.org Greenwood Overcomes Concert May 1 – 31, Virtual May 1, 7:30p, In-Person May 2, 2:30p, In-Person Tulsa Opera tulsaopera.com Songs of Conscience, Sounds of Freedom May 21 – Oct 10 May 20, Opening program, featuring Guy Davis, Virtual woodyguthriecenter.org Greenwood Joy Experience May 5, Exhibition, 3-8p May 22, Exhibition, 3-8p May 29, Facebook Live Exhibition, 12p May 31, Massacre Commemoration, 12-7p June 19, Juneteenth, 12-7p Underground Tree Studios Utreep.com/greenwood-joy/
For more events and information, visit the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission at tulsa2021.org.
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Hawley Design Studio + Gallery 1416 East 5th Court Tulsa, OK 74120 918.587.0510
hawleydesignstudio.com
G.A.P. Van with poster exhibition
We are a community arts center, located in the heart of the historical Deep Deuce District. Art exhibitions
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Live music
Steamroller Print Fest
Community Spirit evenings
Art workshops / Classes
The HIVE gift shop
FILLING IN THE GAP: Art for All People by B. L. Eikner
Webster Wortham, June Riot, artwork submitted to the Greenwood Art Project poster contest
Tulsa’s Historic Greenwood District was one of the recipients in January 2019 of a million-dollar Bloomberg Philanthropies Public Art Challenge Grant. The Challenge is being transformed into a real and living art experience as it works along with the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission on its 2021 Commemoration. The Greenwood Art Project management staff consists of Rick Lowe (2014 MacArthur Fellow, artist, professor), Lead Artist; William Cordova (artist, cultural practitioner, sculptor), Lead Artist; Jerica Wortham (poet, owner of J’Parle’ LLC) Project Director; Jeff Van Haken (Professor, film maker), Project Coordinator; Marlon Hall (Tulsa Arts Fellow, anthropologist), Social Media Archivist; and Kode Ransom (community activist, artist), Minister of Travel.
The Greenwood Art Project has a wide assortment of projects scheduled for the Tulsa and Oklahoma communities starting in March 2021 and running through December 2021. Greenwood Art Project has provided funding for thirty-three artists and teams which has resulted in twenty-seven art projects. The projects range from a parade, online directory, anthology of poetry and essays, HipHop Album, Jazz Performance, Theatrical production and many more. Some of the venues that will host the events include ahha, Greenwood Cultural Center, First Baptist North Tulsa, OSU Tulsa, Church of the Restoration. The ever-shifting safety concerns brought about by the COVID-19 Pandemic will determine the final dates of many of the activities and exhibitions.
A few of the Greenwood Art Project artists include: Chuck Cissel, former Broadway actor, recording artist, producer, director, choreographer, and former CEO of the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame. Cissel is a Tulsa native and graduate of the University of Oklahoma. His project is entitled, ‘All that Jazz and Blues in Greenwood.’ Katherine Mitchell is a jeweler and owner of Beads Please LLC as well as an author, former adjunct professor, graduate of Southern Nazarene University and college administrator. Her project is entitled, ‘Greenwood A Trilogy in Reflection.’ Dawn Tree is a professional abstract surrealist, author, graduate of the University of Oklahoma and owner of Underground Tree Studios, a creative marketing agency. Her project is entitled, ‘The Greenwood Joy Experience’. For a full listing of artists, projects, and dates, see their website at www.greenwoodartproject.org (continued to page 8)
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“The artists participating in the Greenwood Art Project will acquire skills as subject matter experts in their fields, expand community partnerships and the ability to increase relationship building, increase their circle of influence, and see an increase for many of them of visibility in the community and on national levels.” — Jerica Wortham, Project Director
William Cordova, Lead Artist, made the following comments on the economic and educational impacts of the Greenwood Art Project in the community: All the projects have economic impact already. Most projects require financial exchange with Tulsa businesses, carpenters, contractors, filmmakers, musicians, artists, artisans, writers, print houses, culinary artists. The wonderful thing and most misinformed aspect of art is that it can creatively alter an entire community without it even realizing it is happening. This (educational impact) is all relative (to) each person in the community. We believe all the projects will have a profound effect on the community. Some will prompt quick impressions and others will be more subtle but equally as effective. Selecting a diverse group of projects was key in achieving this type of outcome. We tried to steer away from streamlining the projects for them to appeal to a wide range of people in Tulsa. Anything can be educational; it all depends on execution and perspective. We think all the participants are doing this in their own unique way.
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G.A.P. Van with poster exhibition
The Greenwood Art Project initiative will create a formal catalogue and it will be made available to the public. The name of the catalogue has not been finalized as of this printing. The catalogue will have twenty-two nationally known writers such as Edwidge Danticat, Christiana Beatty and Gean Moreno who will develop essays on their impressions of the projects and their value to the community. Greenwood Art Project has hosted a Public Poster Contest and the entries will spread over four exhibitions around the city. There will be a judging to determine the three top winners and monetary prizes will be awarded. The Greenwood Art Project has created the
G.A.P. Van to ensure the posters are viewed throughout the community. William Cordova tells us that, The G.A.P. Van is a multi-use, collaborative, mobile art exhibition, workshop space, and poster project that will engage residents of Tulsa, Oklahoma as the city approaches the centennial of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. This project is led by artist Rick Lowe, a 2014 MacArthur Fellow, known for reinventing community revitalization as an art form, and artist William Cordova, an interdisciplinary cultural practitioner. The acronym “G.A.P VAN” is a reference to the R&B group GAP BAND. It also stands for Greenwood/Archer and
Pine, the boundary streets of historic Greenwood, which was historically known as America’s “Black Wall Street” and the site of the most devastating racial massacre in the country’s history. The G.A.P. Van will officially launch the Greenwood Art Project with a team of Tulsa natives, activist Kode Ransom, poet Jerica Wortham, filmmaker Jeff Van Haken, and visual-anthropologist, Marlon Hall, traveling throughout Tulsa, engaging community residents in creating posters that share stories about the massacre and reflect their voices to advance a powerful, healing approach to the commemoration of the Tulsa Race Massacre and the history of the Greenwood neighborhood. The residents will also be encouraged to participate by uploading their personal stories to the PBS American Portrait. The G.A.P. VAN will feature ongoing exhibitions of the posters on the exterior of the van, and will also host pop-up art workshops, poetry and music events, films, and other activities. Jerica Wortham, Project Director, tells us: The artists participating in the Greenwood Art Project will acquire skills as subject matter experts in their fields, expand community partnerships and the ability to increase relationship building, increase their circle of influence, and see an increase for many of them of visibility in the community and on national levels. The community is waiting to see the universe unfold and be filled with the stars of the Greenwood Art Project. Greenwood Art Project can be reached at 918-619-2295, Email: j.wortham@greenwoodartproject.org or greenwoodartproject.org n B. L. Eikner is an author, journalist, poet, and art consultant. She is owner of Trabar & Associates and a regular contributor to Art Focus Oklahoma. She has published two books, Dirt and Hardwood Floors and How Do You Love …When?. She can be reached at Trabar@windstream.net or on Twitter @trabar1
Marsh (Faida) Campbell, My Dreamland, artwork submitted to the Greenwood Art Project poster contest
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Project Hope, Unity, and Compassion by Kristin Gentry
Artist Greg Stivers painting on the boards of Vintage Wine Bar, photo by Tyler Huffman
Tulsa, Oklahoma’s rich history includes the numerous overlapping stories of its citizens of color within the African American and Native American populations. Tragically, one of the most horrific historical events in the cities’ history was the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre in the Greenwood District; also known as Black Wall Street. The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre destroyed African-American homes and businesses, and the number of people murdered and injured is still unknown, one hundred years later in 2021. Even today, racial, cultural, and political turmoil have all persisted within the Tulsa area stemming
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not just from this incident alone, though the Tulsa Race Massacre is certainly one of the most significant. The revitalization of the downtown Tulsa Arts District and Greenwood District over the last 15-20 years have given new avenues to artists, businesses, and the community to create a way forward towards rebuilding and repair by coming together through the arts. The indigenous history of Tulsa is important beyond a simple land acknowledgement in understanding the specific area the art for Tulsa: Project Hope, Unity, and Compassion
was created within. The land that Tulsa was founded on was established by the Mvskoke (Muscogee/Creek) and Lochapoka tribes. The Greenwood District is well known for its roots in the African American communities, but it was also built together with the indigenous tribal communities. Many tribal citizens hold both indigenous and African American ancestry. The Muscogee Creek Nation’s website shows that “from 1836 to 1896, the [Mvskoke] Nation conducted business around the [Council Oak] tree, and had a significant influence on the surrounding area that would later be known as the City of Tulsa, deriving
from the Creek word, ‘Tallasi’ or ‘Tvlvhasse’, meaning ‘old town’.” As of today, Tulsa now sits on the three sovereign nations of the Mvskoke, CWY, Tsa La Gi, (Cherokee) and , Wazhaze (Osage). In the summer of 2020 during the lead up to Donald Trump’s rally in downtown Tulsa, businesses began boarding up their glass windows and doors. This move came amid fears founded on racist historical events, high tensions within the political climate of the country, and the loss of normalcy due to the global pandemic. In response, Tulsa’s artists and collectives stepped up to create murals on the wooden panels throughout the city. The panels reflected the multi-cultural experiences of the citizens of Tulsa. In 2021, Living Arts of Tulsa held an art exhibition displaying the art created on the panels. From curator Tina Henley, “Project Hope, Unity, and Compassion showcased a range of artistic expression from artists at a very crucial and tense time in Tulsa’s recent history.” The painted art panels were relocated into Living Arts of Tulsa for the exhibition, and Black Lives Matter was painted on the gallery floor. “Throughout history, downtowns and town squares have served as the foundation of society’s freedom
(top) Mural by Chris Sker, photo by Keegan Sandusky (bottom) Framed photos by Tyler Huffman, mural by Clean Hands, photo by Keegan Sandusky
(continued to page 12)
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Mural by Annie Jones and Black Lives Matter floor mural, photo by Tyler Huffman
of expression and the center of community discourse. Downtown Tulsa is certainly no different. At an incredibly tense time in our community, and in the midst of planning for unprecedented events, we found an opportunity to showcase Downtown Tulsa’s core values on temporary canvases throughout Downtown,” states Living Arts of Tulsa. This exhibition showcased many artists and businesses all over Downtown. DGX featured the art of Chris Sker, Vast Bank Parking Garage featured the art of Terren Zinbi. Vast Bank featured the art of Clean Hands, Juniper featured the art of Krystie Bunch, Amelia’s Wood Fired Cuisine featured the art of Cody Edwards and Lucas Wisner, Bank of Oklahoma ATM featured the art of Antonio Andrews, PRHYME: Downtown Steakhouse featured the art of Annie Kate Jones, David Reed James, Amanda January and Mark
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Southerland. Vintage Wine Bar featured the art of Greg Stivers, DECOPOLIS featured the art of Todd Edwards, Tania Garza, Andrea Pemberton, and Brandi Ross on behalf of the TYPROS Arts & Entertainment Crew. From curator Tina Henley, “With downtown Tulsa businesses boarded up in preparation for the Trump rally taking place during a pandemic, and the unknown in anticipation of large groups gathering and/or rioting, plywood boards became canvases for messages of encouragement and to inspire a higher consciousness in what the city should truly stand for. To come together.” Greg Strivers is pictured painting his piece at Vintage Wine Bar. Henley also stated, “not in a cliché way, but a reckoning in Tulsa as a city on a global stage and the posture towards its citizens. That unity is found not by choosing sides in opposition to be right or wrong, but to remind
Tulsans of the value we have in each other as a community. To actively listen, correct and change for the better, and to respect each other as human beings.” Chris Sker created the graffiti artwork that was on the panels at the DGX. He is a Tulsa-born African American artist with a passion for community engagement. His work can be seen on and inside numerous businesses around the city of Tulsa. Sker said, “that particular weekend saw our whole city in a state of tension, having built up for weeks. My piece said HOPE, and I just wanted to put that little positive message out to the public. I try to keep a hopeful mindset in life.” More of his work can be seen on his Instagram: @Sker_Creative. This exhibition was made possible by Living Arts of Tulsa, the National Endowment for
“ In any given class or program with Krall, a student may find themself pitching an idea to a local arts organization, meeting the staff and touring behind the scenes.” The 100% job placement of Arts, Culture, and Entertainment (ACE) Management majors stems from a personalized curriculum, robust experiential learning, and tailored mentorship, all of which are core values of ACE Management’s Applied Assistant Professor, Samuel Krall. In any given class or program with Krall, a student may find themself pitching an idea to a local arts organization, meeting the staff and touring behind the scenes of an institution such as Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, developing a new business alongside community entrepreneurs at a local incubator, or obtaining professional credentials through the major’s five real-world work experiences. Throughout, Krall works with each ACE Management major to help them reflect on these experiences, develop their career goals, and then successfully apply for positions or graduate study. “Our field has such an array of exciting professional opportunities,” Krall says, “that we tailor our approach to help students find the path that is just right for them.” Krall’s mentorship has led to him twice being selected as an MVP (“Most Valuable Professor”).
(top) Mural by Todd Edwards, Tania Garza, Andrea Pemberton, and Brandi Ross on behalf of the TYPROS Arts & Entertainment Crew, photo by Tyler Huffman (bottom) Mural by Antonio Andrews on the Bank of America ATM
the Arts, the Oklahoma Arts Council, the City of Tulsa, and the Kathleen Patton Westby Foundation. Special thanks to Jarica Walsh, , and Jordan Harmon, Mvskoke, for their help with their tribal language spellings. n Kristin Gentry, M.S., B.F.A., is an artist, writer, & curator. She is a citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. She was born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
ACE Management majors specialize in one of the following areas: Visual Arts; Performing Arts; Entertainment and Commercial Arts; or Cultural and Public Administration. A conservatory-trained musician, now Director of TU’s Alexandre Hogue Gallery, Krall lives out the interdisciplinary nature of ACE Management. He observes, “Exchanging ideas is key to our field. How the museum approaches fundraising may help the ballet; how the concert arena approaches marketing may help the community art school; how the local foundation makes its case to the state may help the freelancing filmmaker; and how we all work together may help transform a community.” 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 •
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PREVIEW: Revisionist Future by Mandy Messina
Alexander Tamahn mural on side of Fulton Street Books, image by the artist
One hundred years after an American tragedy, two local artists are presenting viewers with a provocative challenge: Imagine Greenwood 2121. Artist Antoine Andrews puts it succinctly, “I feel like I’m living my life backwards right now—what do I want people to think of me 100 years from now?” He and collaborating artist, Alexander Tamahn, want to acknowledge the people living in their community, Greenwood.“We are the change we’ve been waiting for,” elaborates Tamahn, echoing a former president as he unpacks the concept of Revisionist Futures. “As opposed to waiting for institutions, organizations, systems outside of ourselves to elevate us, amplify us, mobilize us, we’ve seen time and time again that grassroot efforts make a major difference.” The artists
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shared hope for the exhibition is that it can help viewers take ownership of their future. In that spirit, “the purpose of this show is to highlight our peers,” Andrews says.
include us and involve us. That’s great, but we’re by no means the only group of Black and brown artists in Tulsa even,” says Tamahn, a founding member.
Considering the effects of the current pandemic, Tamahn acknowledges that a lot can happen in a year, but emphasizes how this exercise can impact one’s focus. “If you start fleshing out what you want for yourself 50 years from now, you’re more inclined to function with an intention that helps sustain that vision. What changes do you have to make now, so that your (vision) is attainable?”
While he’s an interdisciplinary artist, Tamahn is currently focused on mural work because of the impact on a community’s visual landscape. “Public art is something that no one needs permission to access and engage with.” He says the importance of exposure to art is significant because institutions that exhibit art have historically been exclusionary of BIPOC. “There’s a reason we’re underrepresented in those spaces—they weren’t created for us.”
Black Moon Collective is a Tulsa artist cohort in its third year of operation. “In our first year as a collective we had between 30 - 35 showings just because so many people were wanting to
For Andrews that point hits home in a big way when friends affirm him as an artist.
Antoine Andrews, photo by the artist
Alexander Tamahn in front of Fulton Street Books mural, photo by Alexxus Browning (@pholexx)
It’s a humbling experience precisely because growing up he and his peers weren’t exposed to visual arts. Andrews went on to become a hip-hop musician, but says he felt something missing when it came to music, around 2016. He kept at it though, drawing and painting to fill the waiting between gigs and recording sessions. This habit started small, but satisfied a creative itch, and as time went on he found his art practice taking over his music practice. Soon after, he found that he needed a studio space. “No Parking Studios is a hub for Black men to create paintings,” Andrews tells me. He and longtime collaborators Tyler James, Deren Walker and Cruz, officially formed the collective in March 2020. Their initial space was the former residence of KKK clansman
and founder of Tulsa, Tate Brady. The mansion is also where Brady died by suicide. When asked if they had any unsettling experiences in their old studios Andrews said, “I really feel like the work that me and my community are doing with music, art ...we really drove that out of that house”. His current studio space is shared with another collective he’s a part of, Clean Hands Army. Surrounding himself with artists that he can learn from, Andrews says, “At the stage I’m in as an artist, I couldn’t be in a better space— learning from this great group of guys. That’s why it feels like I’m on a purposeful journey.” Andrews gives as well as he gets when it comes to radiating influence to his peers. When friends visit him in the studio he tells them, “You’re not going to come over and do nothing! They start painting and go, Bro,
we see why you do this! ” He explains that painting is a lot like journaling—after a bad day he can get everything off his chest and transform it into a painting. “There’s no space for Black men to express themselves freely like that—at least nowhere in my city, in Tulsa.” Andrews paintings feature not only efficient linework, and effervescent, tangy colours, but he often adds phrases, opting to work with a stream-of-conscious approach. One element that pops up often are the playfully crafted nonsense-rhymes his father would often share. “He would say something like, bump your head on a piece of cornbread. It’s crazy how it comes to me, because none of my stuff is premeditated”. (continued to page 16)
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Tamahn is trained as a counselor and often facilitates workshops where he uses art as a means for self-care. “There are so many ways to express oneself, to process an idea, to unpack something that often times it comes out sub-consciously.” He sees selfcare as an integral component of people’s success, and eventual thriving. “A lot of times it’s tough to name things - we either don’t have the words to name them or don’t want to name them,” says Tamahn. Many lifelong Okies were, until recently, quite unaware of the Tulsa Race Massacre. In the span of 48 hours, a white mob from Tulsa pillaged and razed the segregated Black district, leaving damages equivalent to $32.5 million (in contemporary estimates) in real estate and personal property. It was only included in the state’s curriculum in 2020, and will be taught across the state for the first time in 2021. The work featured in Revisionist Future celebrates Black Tulsan entrepreneurship 100 years after the Tulsa Race Massacre. Tamahn’s murals can be found across the district and city, highlighting local Black owned businesses with their bright, optimistic colours. When asked about these murals, such as the triptych of radical women (Frida Kahlo, Audre Lorde, and Nina Simone) on Fulton Street Books, the artist emphasizes how these partnerships have been collective endeavors.
Alexander Tamahn at work, photo by James Wayne (@jwaynephoto)
“I’ve known and engaged with these (entrepreneurs) before Fulton Street became a brick and mortar, or before Silhouette became a tangible space, so there’s a certain degree of pride and connections in knowing the person behind the vision”, he says. “It’s a beautiful thing to open up any number of press releases, articles, exposés and read about a friend that is doing something magnanimous and awe-inspiring because they saw a need in our community instead of just talking about it.” Revisitonist Future was exhibited at ahha from March 5 - April 24. n Mandy Messina is a non-binary, South African artist and writer living in Oklahoma.
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CAPTURING THE LIGHT FOR TOMORROW: The Photography of Don Thompson by B. L. Eikner
Don Thompson, Baltimore Barbershop, 1970, Silver Gelatin
Capturing the light, the shadow, the reflection, the stillness, the emotions seen, and unseen was the mission of the saddened heart, the strained focus of the eye through the Rolleiflex Medium Format and finger on the shutter button for photographer Don Thompson in the
Greenwood District in 1970. The images must last a lifetime. The Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma was founded in 1901 by O. W. Gurley. Booker T. Washington visited this community in 1905 and was impressed
with its hotels, restaurants, and many other businesses. He named it the Negro Wall Street, which since has been known as the Black Wall Street. This community was destroyed, and hundreds of citizens killed by deputized white terrorists and city officials on May 31, 1921 and June 1, 1921 based (continued to page 18)
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Don Thompson, So Near So Far, 1969, silver gelatin
on false allegations that a black man, Dick Rowland, had attacked a white woman, Sarah Page, in a downtown elevator. The citizens who remained rebuilt the community. However, this community was destroyed a second time by the construction of a highway that ran through the heart of the community that displaced and destroyed thousands through Urban Renewal. This narrative is the background for the four images and others captured by Don Thompson in 1969 and 1970. Baltimore Barbershop expresses the emotions and feelings of owner, Mr. David Gardner, peering out of the window at the bulldozers destroying homes, businesses, churches, libraries of the Greenwood District. The day after this photo was taken, Baltimore Barbershop was leveled, and the owner was never seen again. Lost forever under a city and county process called Urban Renewal, but this would not be so. “I did not take images of the bulldozers destroying the foundation of people’s livelihoods, I wanted to save the images of the people, places, and spaces of Greenwood as much as I could. The bulldozers were swift and since I was doing
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Don Thompson, Hope, silver gelatin
photographs after work, a lot of possible images were lost.” says Thompson. Georgola’s Café was located at the corner of Archer and Greenwood Avenue and was saved. It now houses the Greenwood Chamber of Commerce Welcome Center. Like many surviving businesses during that period, it went out of business. Thompson captures the coming of the End in the dark shadows in the café at the counter. So Near So Far is a photo of the old Katy Railroad that no longer exists. The feel of hopelessness becomes a reality for this railroad track that once was a central transportation route in the community. Like many railroad tracks it has been removed along with the energy and life it once brought to the area. George Monroe, a survivor of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre in Tulsa, remembers hiding under the bed with his two sisters the day four white men broke into his family’s home. “One of them stepped on my finger as they set the house on fire. I started to scream-my sister put her hand over my mouth. I guess she saved our lives.” Mr. Monroe is part of the Race Riot Survival story documented by historian, Mrs. Eddie Faye Gates.
Don Thompson has over 50 years of photographic experience which began in the US Army. Don is a photojournalist, author, historian, painter, presenter, former educator, and graduate of Northeastern State University. His work is on exhibit at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American Culture and History, in Washington, D.C. Thompson published Hush Somebody’s Callin’ My Name in 2009, and, And My Spirit Said, Yes! The African American Experience: Visions of the Past and Present in 2013. Don is most proud of having received the National Endowment for The Arts Fellowship Award in 1993 for Photography. Thompson’s cultural and artistic impact in Tulsa is wide reaching, and his work is featured in a wide variety of exhibitions and permanent collections. The Oklahoma State University Tulsa campus houses Thompson’s permanent photographic exhibit, entitled Black Settlers, In Search for the Promised Land, on which he collaborated with Mrs. Eddie Faye Gates in 1994-95. With photographers Gaylord Oscar Hernan and Eyakem Gulilat, he’s featured in the exhibition Views of Greenwood at the
Don Thompson photo by Trabar & Associates
Philbrook Museum, 2727 South Rockford Avenue, Tulsa, Ok from March 14, 2021 through September 5, 2021. Contact the museum at 918-749-7941 for museum hours. Reaching Back and Going Forward: Learning Our History So We Can Build a Better Future and World at the Tulsa Artist Coalition, 9 East Reconciliation Way, Tulsa, OK from May 24, 2021 - June 30, 2021. Contact the gallery at 918-592-0041 for gallery hours. The Unvarnished Truth at Liggett Studio, 314 South Kenosha Avenue, Tulsa, OK, from May 7, 2021 - June 1, 2021. Contact gallery at 918-694-5719 for gallery hours. Contact information for Don Thompson is donthompsonimages.com, email: dthompsonk@att.net, and telephone: 918-645-4508. n B. L. Eikner is an author, journalist, poet, and art consultant. She is owner of Trabar & Associates and a regular contributor to Art Focus Oklahoma. She has published two books, Dirt and Hardwood Floors and How Do You Love …When?. She can be reached at Trabar@windstream.net or on Twitter @trabar1
Don Thompson, George Monroe, 1995, silver gelatin
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Crystal Z Campbell: Notes From Black Wall Street by Crystal Z Campbell
Notes from Black Street is an ongoing series by Oklahoma-based artist, Crystal Z Campbell. Culled from institutional archives, these highly textured painted collages abstract and fabulate Black life in Greenwood (Tulsa, Oklahoma) before, during, and after the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. Riffing on the role of Black portraiture in photography and painting in broader questions of representation, the use of these images foreground the desire for self-fashioning and self-determination precisely one hundred years after the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. The narrative is always at stake: will justice enter the frame upon a century? Crystal Z Campbell, A Bird in the Hand, Mixed-Media on Wood, 20x30 inches, ©2019Crystal Z Campbell
Crystal Z Campbell is a visual artist, writer and current Harvard Radcliffe Film Study Center & David and Roberta Logie Fellow (2020-2021), living and working in Oklahoma.
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Crystal Z Campbell, Soft, Receptive, and Absolute, Mixed-Media on Wood, 30x20 inches, ©2019Crystal Z Campbell
Crystal Z Campbell, I’ve Stayed in the Front Yard All my Life, I Want a Peek at the Back, Mixed-Media on Wood, 30x20 inches, ©2019Crystal Z Campbell
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ARE YOUR QUESTIONS BEING ANSWERED? Listening to the Ancestors with Artist Yielbonzie Charles Johnson by Ayanna Najuma
Yielbonzie Charles Johnson,Greenwood Rising - Variations on a Theme
Who is prepared to tell the story of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, the mass graves, the destruction of property and most of all to express the fear associated with reparations? This is a question that artist, pastor, and community organizer Yielbonzie Charles Johnson continues to ask.
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Twenty years ago this horrific event started to creep into the newspapers and was discussed over cocktails. Believe it or not, this event was not published in Oklahoma history books and even today a curriculum is not presented to students. Johnson believes that there is a level of mystery preventing the residents in Tulsa today
from being able to accept the truth surrounding this historic event. Many African Americans settled in Tulsa prior to Oklahoma becoming a state in 1907. By 1921, because of the law and white racism, the African American residents were compelled to
develop Greenwood (aka Black Wall Street) out of necessity. It ultimately became a vibrant, wealthy, and prosperous neighborhood. May 30 - June 2, 1921 a violent white mob destroyed 35 blocks of businesses, schools, residences and churches in a segregated community. The massacre was provoked by an article published by the Tulsa Tribune and the mob received aid from the local police force. Today, the Greenwood Art Project (GAP) has partnered with the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission to give artists grants and a platform to tell stories about the massacre and its ongoing impact in the city of Tulsa. Johnson, with his group Black Art Collaborating, is creating one such project. He is passionate about facilitating this collaborative community-driven exhibition, but he also has trepidations about the overall intentions of the Greenwood Art Project. Johnson’s painting of a human figure in their natural state of nakedness, symbolizes the reality of the massacre. As they rise from the water a process of cleansing has been completed now symbolizing reconciliation in dissolving the discord. As a lifelong Unitarian minister who grew up in Greenwood, Johnson has counseled hundreds of people on the importance of selfreflection, self-examination, and self-realization, which is critical in addressing trauma and pain. Johnson believes that one must be able to accept and understand the essence of every chapter in this story before being able to start the healing process. He agrees with Toni Morrison’s philosophy that “The past is more infinite than the future… It’s avoiding it, deceiving ourselves about it that paralyzes growth. “ Johnson’s practice weaves storytelling and community organizing together with his paintings and sculptures. He reminds us that the ancestors are looking closely and they are always asking questions: How will we be remembered, how will the mindset of the residents of Tulsa change and how will the City of Tulsa return Greenwood back to its original composition for those that lived there? Is the City of Tulsa deceiving itself by believing that the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission will heal the wounds that have been lying dormant for so many years?
Who is taking responsibility for this travesty and when? Where is the integrity in the process? Johnson asks questions that may seem dangerous to pose to the power brokers doling out funding and exhibition opportunities within Tulsa. Is the $25M being spent to build the new Greenwood Rising Museum going to help the community heal, rise up, be empowered or is that going to be multiplied by ten, with additional revenue going into the City’s coffers as people from around the world come as tourists to visit Tulsa? Were Black contractors and consultants used to plan, construct and design the exhibits? Will Black businesses, artists, and activists with deep roots in Tulsa be in positions of power? Has the City of Tulsa paid reparations to their families, to the family members of those who owned businesses and churches that were left devastated? OR Is the pain felt by Black Tulsans a spectacle for sale to the highest bidder? Lives on the Line brings forth the collective body of work developed by Black Artist Collaborating presenting what was called “The Section line.” This line designated the end of the Greenwood district going north from Archer. The initial neighborhood of Greenwood was developed with a sense of being connected and supportive to each other socially and economically. The nooses around the necks of the figures present the elimination of life that had been taken from them so many years ago. Johnson uses his art to connect the living to the dead, and seeks connection with others on a similar path. Johnson believed initially that participating in the Greenwood Art Project would provide an opportunity to start a conversation, to pull back the veil of pain and the wounds that people have been carrying for so long, possibly to start fresh. However, for Johnson, the GAP process is flawed at its core, and lacking in a clarity of vision. Is the project to celebrate the Greenwood community? Is the goal to acknowledge 1921 as a place in history
Yielbonzie Charles, Beneath the Veil, ceramic mask
that massacred a group of law abiding people? Will the project contribute to creating a plan of action and advance a new voice for equity and equality in Tulsa? Can the trauma and pain of the residents in Tulsa be eliminated with the $1M grant from an out-of-state philanthropist? Needless to say, it will provide an opportunity to share the talent of Tulsa’s artists, however, will the artists contributions of visual art, music, and literature repair what was broken? In some regard, it reminds one of the slave owners allowing the slaves to dance and sing on a Saturday night or go to church on Sunday even though we all know that African Americans were enslaved under the guise of Christianity and money. “Our group understood the importance of participating in GAP, but it is too much to expect us to take on this level of responsibility for the psychologically and emotionally wounded,” said Johnson. Why are artists being asked to work as healers, when the massacre victims and their descendents are demanding reparations for what was stolen from them? Johnson’s ceramic mask shows the transformation of one’s spirit, the channeling and description of the man’s soul. Johnson reminds us in this piece that we can rush to reconciliation without the grief. As we examine the negative, the pain and the trauma of the massacre, we must also strive and desire for transformation. We must each look back to our deathbed and then wake up after the (continued to page 24) 23
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Yielbonzie Charles Johnson, Born of Fire
Yielbonzie Charles Johnson, Lives on the Line
massacre. We cannot make Tulsa a tourist destination or a place where young people are recruited to add value to Tulsa’s brand of expansion in the world. As you look at the eyes of the mask we must also remember that the Greenwood community was a part of the intimacy of one’s self. Johnson leaves us with one final thought, “Art is a means of communicating that is hard to express in language, symbolism or images. It is all your individual interpretation.” He has asked a series of questions, as a resident of Tulsa, as a spiritual person, and as an artist—now what do you think? Yielbonzie Charles Johnson and Black Art Collaborating will present their exhibition Lives on the Line April 4-June 30 at Church of The Restoration, 1314 N. Greenwood Ave., Tulsa, OK 74106-4854 n Ayanna Najuma is an art advisor, curator and journalist. She is a civil rights icon and sat in at the age of seven at Katz Drug Store in Oklahoma City, two years before Greensboro, North Carolina. She is the founder of I HAVE A VOICE NOW! a movement to educate and empower youth on the importance of advocacy and activism and WHAT LIES BETWEEN US with Ayanna Najuma, a conversational platform on social justice.
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REMOVAL (POETRY AND PHOTOGRAPHY)
Murals, Street Art, and Graffiti around Greenwood by Alexxus Browning
$36,000,000 Restoration of the Tulsa Club Hotel “Back in the ’20s when they built these buildings, they were solid. So the bones were always good, and that’s what made this project viable.” —Pete Patel “Tulsa World”
found bats
T h e y
in the building
They found water but the floors intact The homeless
made it
a torn umbrella Alexxus Browning, BLM Mural - Tulsa OK Series
They burned it
d o w n without a match
They rubbed their
hands together
one winter
&
the world
w h o l e caught fire
—Clemonce Heard
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REMOVAL (POETRY AND PHOTOGRAPHY) (continued from page 25)
You Wanna Dig? Greenwood land theft called “gentrification” When WE start digging down, YOU dig in; Dig in your heels; Grip tightly to lies; Pile on layers of dirt. You wanna dig foundations for condos and retail? You wanna dig for ball parks And parking lots? Dig this: Digging uncovers graves that hold truths and bones that rattle we will dig dig down to the bones bones of stolen lives buried under dollars and manufactured numbers. Spirits have been whispering whispering on the wind whispering for decades but bones are not soft they rattle rattle and click in raspy notes shake loose your lies bones are not meant to be silent You wanna dig?
Alexxus Browning, BLM Mural - Tulsa OK Series
Dig this: Nothing stays buried forever.
—Deborah J. Hunter
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Alexxus Browning, BLM Mural - Tulsa OK Series
Greenwood The ancestors are loud in Greenwood, Tulsa. They shout and sing with the rapture of deliverance. They remember bondage. They remember death. They dug the graves. They watched it burn. They still built it up again. The sound of their hope is deafening, Like First Baptist on Sundays. It drowns out the gunshots, The bombs, A mother’s breathless sobs. Listen carefully, You might just hear the choir. They sang of freedom. They should still be singing. —Cameron Brewer (continued to page 28)
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REMOVAL (POETRY AND PHOTOGRAPHY) (continued from page 27)
Bodies Seen at or Disposal Sites: In Lack of Carnations after Computations as to the Deaths from the 1921 Tulsa Race Riot by Richard “Dick” Warner In Newblock Park City Incinerator on the East & West Ends. Buried in Booker T. Washington, Rose Hill, Oaklawn & Black Perryman Cemeteries— Somewhere in Jenks, tossed in a river & buried in a sandbar. Under the railroad bridge over the Arkansas River. In Standpipe Hill, Reservoir Hill, North Cinnati Hill— Mohawk and Chandler Park areas. On the 11th Street bridge, burned. On the Katy Railroad tracks. Burned as well. Hidden in the Brady Theater basement, on East 36th and South Peoria, between South Peoria and Riverside Drive on 41st Street, between East 31st & East 41st Street, and South Lewis. Entombed in the mines: on NW corner of East 21st Street and South Sheridan, on NE corner of East 21st Street and South Yale, on SW corner of East 21st Street and South Harvard, and all along East Apache. Placed under other rail-road tracks, in the fairgrounds under the Reserve building on East 15st Street. In a hole. Alexxus Browning, BLM Mural - Tulsa OK Series
Tossed in other mines—the ones in West Tulsa, south of Collinsville, between Catoosa and Claremore. Bodies seen passing Oneta on the Katy Rail-Road train and along the railroad tracks west of Oakland Cemetery. Disposed on the pier west of Tulsa on West 3rd, between Tulsa and Sand Springs in the ground. Rumors of mass graves near Crystal City in Red Fork, on way to Sapulpa, Tracy Park across from South West corner of Oaklawn, under the Traffic Circle at Mingo Road & East Admiral… All disposed in mass graves of non-histories. —Jasmine Elizabeth Smith 28 28
Alexxus Browning, BLM Mural - Tulsa OK Series, mural by Black Moon Tulsa
Give me back what you stole from me’ or The Earring Snatchers Now, now you must understand that when Black women yank earrings from white women on Greenwood It was never about the earrings, it was about what they stole from us in the fire. —Gay Pasley
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REMOVAL (POETRY AND PHOTOGRAPHY) (continued from page 29)
ABOUT THE ARTISTS Deborah J. Hunter, Tulsa poet, writer, teaching artist, workshop facilitator, and social justice activist, received a Greenwood Art Project grant to produce her original play, Porches, set in Tulsa’s Greenwood District in the decades following the massacre. She received a Woman of the Year Pinnacle Award in 2018, Jingle Feldman Artist Award in 2000, and was a 2013 Oklahoma Poet Laureate finalist. Gay Pasley is a social justice nurse, writer, and photographer living in Oklahoma. “I am black. I am female and I am an immigrant. It is this sense of displacement in the diaspora and desire to magnify my witness that drives my art.”
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Cameron Brewer is an activist, poet, comedian, and writer originally from Oklahoma. For nearly a decade, Cameron has been writing and performing poetry addressing themes of race, pop culture, and American trauma. He currently lives in Maine where he is continuing the work of promoting art and activism. Clemonce Heard is the winner of the 2020 Anhinga-Robert Dana Poetry Prize, selected by Major Jackson. His collection Tragic City investigates the events of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and how it impedes the city’s progress to this day. It is forthcoming from Anhinga Press in October of 2021.
Jasmine Elizabeth Smith (she/her) is a Black poet from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. She received her MFA in Poetry from the University of California in Riverside. Her poetic work is invested in the diaspora of Black Americans in various historical contexts. It has been featured in POETRY and World Literature Today among others. She is the 2021 winner of the Georgia Poetry Prize and her collection South Flight is forthcoming with the University of Georgia Press fall of 2021. Alexxus Browning is a 25 year old, biracial, self-taught photographer and filmmaker born and raised in Tulsa, OK. Learn more about her work at pholexx.com
Moving Vision Open Wednesday-Sunday
Op and Kinetic Art from the 1960s and 1970s Open Wednesday to Sunday. Now open late on Friday! Reserve your timed ticket today.
Julio Le Parc (Argentine, b. 1928) Untitled (detail), 1972, Acrylic on canvas. © 2021 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris, courtesy of the Carl & Marilynn Thoma Art Foundation, photo by Jamie Stukenberg.
Art Focus
Ok l a h o m a
UPCOMING EVENTS May 3- June 11:
24 Works on Paper at Cherokee Strip Regional Heritage Center in Enid, OK
May 6:
Thrive Grants Info Session
May 12:
Virtual ASK Workshop: Video Editing 101
May 12:
Creative Exchange Happy Hour
May 15:
Priority deadline for new artists to apply for 12x12
May 21:
Thrive Grants Office Hours
May 26:
Thrive Grants Office Hours
1720 N Shartel Ave, Suite B Oklahoma City, OK 73103 The Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition supports Oklahoma’s visual arts and artists and their power to enrich communities. Visit ovac-ok.org to learn more.
June 26-27: Tulsa Art Studio Tour
Living Arts is proud to present this important exhibition
May 7 - June 19, 2021 Please visit livingarts.org for exhibition and programming details!
Non Profit Org. US POSTAGE PAID Oklahoma City, OK Permit No. 113
