Bright Golden Haze

By Penny Snyder

The new Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center was ten years, 16,800 aluminum fins, 19-recently installed luminous and immersive works of art, and 92 staff members in the making, when, on March 12, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the ascendant arts organization to temporarily cancel all of their opening events. With only a small celebration for special guests behind them, the staff was left with a brand new 53,916 square feet building with no visitors to see it.

In a state known for dust bowls, booms, busts, tornadoes, and tragedy, it seems almost unsurprising that one of the biggest cultural moments in the state’s history would not go off without a hitch. As Executive Director, Eddie Walker commented, “It’s hard to not feel like we were left alone at the altar.”

Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center

care for their neighbors and community. Even their cancellation (after a Utah Jazz player tested positive for COVID-19 scheduled to play against the Thunder) made out of concern for the health of the 10,000 people they anticipated taking part in opening weekend festivities, came before those of major museums and art centers across the country.

Although the staff felt the overwhelming impact of closing right as things were planned to take off, Oklahoma Contemporary moved quickly to ramp up their digital presence through an online content hub called New Light. At the same time, they worked to devise a phased re-opening plan that would be able to safely allow some visitation to the new complex, albeit a fraction of the 100,000 visits that the team had initially predicted. Although a final date hasn’t been announced yet, Oklahoma Contemporary’s flexible plan will allow them to invite the public to see their exhibitions and space, and participate in some educational programming, as soon as it is safe.

“I look forward to the day when we can operate at full capacity. Certainly, I can’t wait to see the excited faces of our visitors as they experience, explore, and create,” remarked director Eddie Walker. “But more so, I want to see our team in action. I want to see them fulfill their individual and our collective destinies. We have really talented people, capable of so much, and they deserve the chance to shine.”

During this surreal interim period, the Contemporary’s staff is continuing to work—while taking a much needed moment for recognition and respite; Walker and the rest of the leadership team declared May as staff appreciation month—and waiting to welcome the public back to a truly special and comprehensive art space for Oklahoma City and beyond.

As the first purpose-built arts center of its size in Oklahoma City, the complex includes a four-story building with exhibition space, a flexible theater space, a dance studio, and nine classroom studio. Adjacent is a renovated historic warehouse with ceramics, fiber, metal, and wood sculpture studios, as well as a three-block art park. The centerpiece is Rand Elliott’s luminous new building, with a façade of attached fins covered in aluminum.

Taken together, the soft glow of the metal façade, the decorative brise soleil, angular footprint, and crenellated roofline that is reminiscent of Gio Ponti’s original Denver Art Museum, evoke the sleekness often associated with contemporary art. However, the sheen of their new building only complements the care that Oklahoma Contemporary took in planning their program.

In the last decade, the organization’s staff engaged thousands of central Oklahoma residents in surveys to understand their needs. And as their attendance at the State Fairgrounds location increased and their exhibition offerings matured under the curatorial guidance of Jennifer Scanlan, they began building and strengthening partnerships across the city. Many of those partnerships came to the fore in their newest exhibitions, which featured companion art installations or activations at cultural institutions and sites across the city including the Oklahoma History Center, Scissortail Park, and more.

Likewise, Oklahoma Contemporary’s commitment to Oklahoma artists is remarkable. The new building has dedicated gallery space for artist from or living in Oklahoma, or for work that substantially engages with issues relevant to the state. The major exhibition for the new building Bright Golden Haze, which explores light-based works, includes works by blue-chip artists like James Turrell, Olafur Eliasson, and Teresita Fernández alongside a commissioned work by Oklahoma artist Yatika Fields. And of course, the studio spaces, dance studio, and classrooms in the

Installation view of Bright Golden Haze at Oklahoma Contemporary, Photo: Alex Marks. Tavares Strachan, I Belong Here (White), 2012, Blocked out neon and glass, 24” x 61”

Installation view of Bright Golden Haze at Oklahoma Contemporary. Photo: Alex Marks. Olafur Eliasson, Black glass eclipse, 2017, Convex mirrors, monofrequency light, stainless steel, paint (white), motor, control unit 47 1/4” x 47 1/4” x 4”