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Fine arts senior Anna Rutherford puts some finishing touches on a mural created under the direction of painter Yatika Fields. During the event outside the Student Union, dozens of student artists joined Fields to complete the 10-panel mural in rhythm to a performance by music students.
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PHIL SHOCKLEY
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OSU’s forays into the visual arts are making a bold statement.
OSU is beginning to paint some vivid strokes in the art world, and STATE magazine is spotlighting the visual arts at the university with this special section. The OSU Museum of Art’s Postal Plaza Gallery will open in October, giving students, faculty and the community more opportunity to connect with the arts. The Doel Reed Center for the Arts in Taos, N.M., is extending OSU’s land-grant mission beyond Oklahoma borders. Artist alumni — such as Benjamin Harjo Jr. and Bradley Chance Hays — have and continue to produce soughtafter work. And visiting artists — such as Yatika Fields and Sonya Terpening — are finding a home at Oklahoma State to create, discuss and interact with students. Welcome to the bright, beautiful and meaningful world of visual art at OSU.
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Studio art seniors Casey Pankey and Randall Barnes clean pieces from the OSU Museum of Art’s permanent collection. PHOTO / KASI KENNEDY
Experiencing Art The OSU Museum of Art’s Postal Plaza Gallery set to open this fall.
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radling the old woven basket in his hands, studio art senior Randall Barnes observes the aged details of a piece from OSU’s permanent art collection. Made of worn reeds, the basket is part of Barnes’ work to find the names, creators and dates of origin for several artworks being catalogued before the Postal Plaza Gallery opens in downtown Stillwater. An intern for the Oklahoma State University Museum of Art, Barnes joined other staff members this summer to gather and research the more than 2,000 artworks that will soon be housed at the new gallery.
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“There’s a certain amount of respect that you have for the art,” Barnes says. “You have to have a certain care and delicacy for it because you are handling a piece of history.” Cataloguing the collection is one of many tasks being done in preparation for the Postal Plaza’s October opening, which will feature an exhibition of portions of the university’s permanent collection. Other events will be scheduled for the months following the gallery’s opening, giving students, faculty, staff and the community the chance to interact with the arts by visiting the Postal Plaza.
Taking Art to Students
Experiences like Barnes’ are just the beginning of programs for students being developed for the OSU Museum of Art. Museum Director Victoria Berry says a student focus distinguishes OSU’s teaching collection from that of a private museum or collector. “We need to take art experiences to the students where they are,” Berry says. “That’s the founding principle of our museum concept.” Working with the permanent collection exposes Barnes and other students to
practical applications that will help pave their career path after graduation. Skills ranging from curating shows to properly storing art are vital for graduates looking to enter the art industry. Graduate students have been working with OSU Curator of Collections Louise Siddons to research and write descriptions for each of the permanent collection’s pieces for the Postal Plaza’s inaugural exhibition catalogue, as well as tracking down artists for copyright approval. “A lot of students feel like artists are untouchable, so to be able to email back and forth with artists has been very exciting for them,” Siddons says. Siddons works closely with students at every stage of the process, allowing them to build skills they can add to their résumés. The 150-page catalogue will also benefit faculty, who can use it for their courses, and gallery visitors, who can use it as a gallery guide.
Faculty in several colleges will incorporate the gallery into their courses, including disciplines like emergency services and veterinarian sciences, which will use students’ observation skills to evaluate art at the Postal Plaza Gallery. With 6,000 square feet of gallery and storage space, the Postal Plaza is nearly three times as big as the existing Gardiner Gallery in the Bartlett Center for the Visual Arts, providing more flexibility for faculty to teach using the permanent art collection housed in the 1930s WPA-era building. “We have this gorgeous flagship gallery downtown, and it’s bigger than anything we’ve had before,” Siddons says. “We’ll be able to show students real objects, which has been a challenge to do before.” Funding, like that from the Fergesons, will let the museum grow and create
Postal Plaza Gallery,” Siddons says. “The students may only visit the gallery once or twice but that experience can stay with them forever.” Volunteers interested in supporting the museum’s daily operations are welcome to share their skills with staff members so they can find a proper fit, Berry says. Through the Postal Plaza Gallery, the museum also offers a secure place to donate art to be utilized in meaningful ways. “The more you collect art, the more you learn that artworks have conversations with each other,” Siddons says. “Donating art to the museum is a way to make sure your pieces have the best possible conversations in perpetuity.” The museum staff is eager to introduce students, like Barnes, as well as faculty and the community to the Postal Plaza Gallery.
The Fergeson Visiting Artist program, established by Mary Ann and Ken Fergeson, is also connecting students with art. Stillwater native Yatika Fields was the OSU Museum of Art’s first visiting artist. In April, he participated in a painting event outside the Student Union, where the community and campus watched the creation of art. Fine arts senior Anna Rutherford says the experience was challenging and eyeopening. Fields orchestrated the event, giving subtle advice such as “this needs more black” and “more geometric shapes here.” “A lot of us were really nervous at first because it’s like working with a famous person,” Rutherford says. “But it was really humbling, and he taught us so much about a different style of art and getting to travel and a lot about art with public groups.” Space to Teach, Grow The Postal Plaza Gallery’s reach will extend beyond studio art and art history majors.
PHOTO / KASI KENNEDY
Artistic Interaction
Artwork from the OSU Museum of Art’s permanent collection will be on display in October when the Postal Plaza Gallery opens in downtown Stillwater.
programs. Museum staff members have identified a variety of ways to participate in elevating the arts, including gifts of art, volunteering and joining the Friends of Art — a recognition group for those who give to the OSU Museum of Art. “You only have to talk to students for a few minutes to see them light up when it comes to the museum experience and the
“The ability to touch art and hang pictures doesn’t seem like that big of a deal,” Barnes says. “But learning these elements is exciting and helps me determine what I want to do after I graduate.” CHELSEA T WIETMEYER
For more information about the OSU Museum of Art, the Postal Plaza Gallery and the Friends of Art, visit museum.okstate.edu. You can also contact OSU Museum of Art Director Victoria Rowe Berry at 405-744-2780 or OSU Foundation Senior Consultant Debra Engle at 405-385-5600.
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tillwater native Yatika Fields, the OSU Museum of Art’s first visiting artist, orchestrated a live painting event outside the Student Union in April. Art students finished painting a large horizontal mural made of 10 smaller canvases while matching their strokes to the rhythm of music students performing Terry Riley’s 1964 composition, In C. The finished mural is hanging in the Seretean Center for the Performing Arts on OSU’s main campus. Fields, a member of the Cherokee, Creek and Osage tribes, is a contemporary artist based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. His work combines influences of street art, abstract expressionism and surrealism with traditional and contemporary imagery of American Indian culture.
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Yatika Fields
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Equal Parts
PHOTO / JEFF HAESSLER
Cowboy and Artist Alumnus is selling OSU-inspired art to support the Postal Plaza Gallery.
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nstead of choosing between his passions for rodeo and art, Bradley Chance Hays is building successful careers in both. Hays, 27, was recognized for his talent in each field at January’s International Finals Rodeo, where he qualified to compete for the first time. The OSU graduate placed ninth in tie-down roping to finish fifth in the season standings. The annual Oklahoma City event also featured his painting, 8-Second Ride, on its official poster, passes and program. Hays then donated the watercolor to an auction benefitting the Miss Rodeo USA Association. He had previously donated pieces to benefit other organizations such as the Make-A-Wish Foundation and his first alma mater, Oklahoma Panhandle State University in Goodwell. Now he is donating to OSU by creating art to support art. Hays painted three OSU-themed pieces and is selling 250 giclee prints of each as well as the originals, with 50 percent of each sale going to the university.
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Two of the paintings are watercolors with 22-by-30-inch prints available for $750. The other is an oil painting with hand-embellished 30-by-48-inch prints on gallery-wrapped canvas for $900. Framing is optional on all three. Discounts are available for purchasing multiple prints: $1,400 for both watercolors, $1,500 for the oil and one watercolor, or $2,200 for all three. The original watercolors are $6,500 each while the oil is $15,000. “I love OSU and thought it made a lot of sense to help the university by using my talent and partnering with buyers who love OSU,” Hays says. “This is the first time I’ve ever made prints of my work, and I want to use those to support the Postal Plaza Gallery. We didn’t have anything like that in Stillwater when I was there, and we really need that.” All three paintings feature horses branded with the OSU logo on the shoulder. The oil, Strength of the Bullet, and a watercolor, Power of the Steed, show lone stallions. In the other watercolor, Leading the Pack, a cowboy rides a white horse.
Bradley Chance Hays creates the OSU watercolor, Power of the Steed, in Vail, Colo., where he spent the summer.
The paintings exhibit his signature contemporary Western style, which features vibrant colors and iconic images such as horses, cowboys, Native Americans, buffaloes and eagles. “I focus on the imagery of the American West as a solid place, and I want to protect it for the next generation,” says Hays, of Bristow, Okla. “When I think about painting, that is the only thing I get motivated to do.” Hays’ love of art came from his mother, an art teacher who gave him his first pencil and paper set when he was 5. As he grew, she provided daily instruction and encouragement but never a coloring
book. Instead, she expected him to draw and color his own stories. That led to Dragonfly, a children’s book he wrote and illustrated at age 12. The story of a boy and his dragon won a national contest to earn publication in 1997. That was when he decided to pursue art as a career rather than a hobby. But he also wanted to become a rodeo cowboy like his father, who gave Hays his first rope when he was 6. He started practicing daily, focusing on tie-down roping, team roping, and steer wrestling. Now Hays competes 50-60 times annually. He also spent the summer working at Vail Stables in Colorado. “I feel that I’m just a hybrid of a cowboy and an artist,” Hays say. “Every day I work in the studio in the mornings and then go rope calves after lunch.”
“He knew exactly what he wanted to do, and he had a lot of natural ability,” Titus says. “We really focused on helping him grow technically, and his work really expanded and became much stronger.” Titus praises Hays’ talent, especially his ability to work “out of his head.” “He creates a lot of these images of horses, cowboys and things without even using a model,” Titus says. “His memory of what a horse looks like in motion is astonishing.” Hays achieved a rarity at OSU by selling all of his senior-exhibition pieces. That was the precursor to many subsequent shows, such as the 20-piece exhibition he held in Vail on July 27. He estimates it featured between $50,000 and $100,000 of his work. He prefers painting over sculpting for a simple and practical reason.
“It takes four walls to build a house,” Hays says. “Every business and every home has wall space, so there are lots of places where people could put my art. I feel like, ‘Why can’t there be a Hays original on every wall?’” That is part of his motivation for these fundraising prints. He calls it a win-win situation when a cowboy artist helps fellow Cowboys and Cowgirls show their OSU pride while supporting the university. “I would like to do new pieces every year to raise money for Oklahoma State,” Hays says. “These are so specific to our alumni, and I hope the prints become established items that people start collecting. For me and the buyers, this is a cool way to be part of the incredible things that donors are doing at OSU.” JAC O B L O N G A N
“I feel t hat I’m just a hybrid of a cowboy and an art ist. Every day I work in t he studio in t he mornings and t hen go rope calves after lunch.” — Bradley Chance Hays His rodeo skills earned him a scholarship to Panhandle State. He also competed for OSU, where he transferred to complete a 2009 bachelor of fine arts. He added a master of fine arts at West Texas A&M in 2012. “I spent a lot of time working with different colors and visiting different parts of the world for research,” Hays says. “I use a lot of abstract parts, but I also go realistic and combine them to create my own thing.” Jack Titus, interim head of the OSU Department of Art, Graphic Design and Art History, was Hays’ watercolor professor in Stillwater. He says Hays already had a strong affinity for Western imagery when they met.
Bradley Chance Hays is selling prints of his original watercolor, Leading the Pack, and donating half of each sale to OSU.
Those interested in purchasing a piece can visit ChanceHays.com or contact Bradley Chance Hays at bradleychancehays@gmail.com or 620-205-9355. To view a video feature about Hays, visit OSUgiving.com/Hays.
PHOTO / GREG QUINN
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Fine arts senior Ashley Farrier paints on the mural created under Yatika Fields’ direction.
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PHIL SHOCKLEY
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Alison Fields
Moving Forward Doel Reed Center for the Arts expands into the future.
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omentum continues to build for the Doel Reed Center for the Arts in Taos, N.M., as donor support has extended programming, rejuvenated the property and created an Oklahoma State presence in the Southwest. During the summer, the center hosted its first visiting scholar as well as the return of its first visiting artist. A public event also celebrated the ongoing restoration, renovation and furnishing of the facilities. “This is a really exciting time,” says Director Ed Walkiewicz. “Part of our long-term vision is to become a center for scholarly activity and creativity. Bringing
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in acclaimed artists and scholars is an important aspect of that. What we’ve done with the facilities is also key.” Scholarly Visits Alison Fields served as the first Jim and Linda Burke Visiting Scholar in Literature. Fields is the Mary Lou Milner Carver Professor of Art of the American West at the University of Oklahoma. In June, she participated in the two-week course, “Readings in the American Experience: The Nuclear Bomb and the Land of Enchantment.” Fields is writing a book about memories of the atomic bomb in New Mexico and Japan.
Doel Reed Center visiting artist Sonya Terpening with Jim Vallion, who sponsors the visiting artist program. Terpening was the inagural visiting artist in 2010 and returned this year.
She delivered a public lecture on the topic at the Taos Art Museum, where Doel Reed Center students participated in the Q&A session. The discussion spilled over to the next class period. “It was a great group with both graduate students and undergraduates,” Fields says. “They had a lot of different backgrounds. It’s a pretty diverse group of interests, so it’s led to some good discussion. I’ve made so many connections that I hadn’t thought about before, which really benefits me as a scholar.” Kate Strum, a creative writing graduate student, says she learned a lot from English professor Martin Wallen and the contributions of Fields and Walkiewicz. “You had a class taught by three experts, so they really covered the topic,” Strum says. “Even just interacting with Dr. Fields in a casual setting and hearing what someone with her expertise had to say during the class was another layer of a great experience.” Strum had previously participated in a study abroad course, as had Andrew Romans, a senior in psychology, marketing and management.
“I had previously spent two weeks at the University of Cambridge in England, sponsored by the Henry Bellmon Office of Scholar Development and Recognition,” Romans says. “This is very similar because New Mexico, especially this part, is like another country. Even though it’s not that far from Oklahoma, the landscape, culture and history are all so different.” Romans and Strum encourage other students to take a course in Taos. For them, scholarships made it too good a deal to pass up. “I’m from New York and came to OSU partially because of the funding I was offered as a student and graduate assistant,” Strum says. “I wouldn’t have been able to afford this if not for the scholarship.” Romans adds, “I’ve had an amazing experience. I think more people should take advantage of this tremendous opportunity. I’d encourage anyone who can to do it.” Artist Returns Award-winning Western watercolor and oil painter Sonya Terpening returned in July as the Smelser-Vallion Visiting Artist, funded by Jim Vallion of Oklahoma City. She was the inaugural visiting artist in 2010.
The OSU alumna presented “Stories Without Words,” a discussion followed by a painting demonstration, at the Taos Art Museum. She also interacted with the students studying digital art and textile surface design. “I really enjoyed working alongside the students and giving them the perspective of a professional artist,” Terpening says. “I love sharing some of the things I have learned the hard way that they may not be getting exposed to in the classroom. Unlike a lot of disciplines, most young artists don’t get a chance to participate in an internship and learn by working with people in their field.” Walkiewicz says Fields and Terpening greatly benefited the students — Fields through expanding their understanding of history and Terpening through teaching the craft of art. “The students love that the Doel Reed Center provides experiential learning opportunities,” Walkiewicz says. “They are out doing and seeing different things and interacting with the environment, which is a lot different than sitting in a classroom.”
Top Facilities Even the classrooms are different in Taos because they include the historic facilities that make up the Doel Reed Center. In August, an event celebrated the completion of the Vallion Gathering Place and the renovation and furnishing of Casa Sutherland. The Vallion Gathering Place incorporates an outdoor patio as well as portals on both houses. The smaller home was named Casa Sutherland in appreciation for the support of Ann and David Sutherland of Dallas. At the event, OSU President Burns Hargis also announced that Doel Reed’s studio is being renovated and will honor the contributions of James and Linda Parker of Albuquerque, N.M. “Everything is coming together,” Walkiewicz says. “I’m starting to meet more and more people in the local community who want to be a part of what we’re doing. These are just the latest signs that OSU’s academic programming at the center is really starting to bloom. The Doel Reed Center for the Arts is turning its vast potential into an amazing reality.” JAC O B L O N G A N
The Doel Reed Center for t he Arts The center is named for Doel Reed, who was hired to head and develop OSU’s Department of Art in 1924 and directed it until retiring to the family’s Taos, N.M., estate in 1959. The property, donated by his daughter, Martha, is the site of three historic adobe structures that now serve as an inspiring setting for teaching, research and outreach related to the Southwest for OSU students, faculty, alumni, friends and lifelong learners in north central New Mexico. The center also honors the legacy of the Reeds, whose artistic contributions influenced fashion and fine art around the world.
This house is one of the historic structures on the Doel Reed Center for the Arts property. PHOTO PROVIDED BY ANDREW ROMANS
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Oklahoma Native Artists Collection In 2010, the Oklahoma Oral History Research Program began documenting the lives and work of Native American artists with ties to the 46th state.
BARBOUR
Artists interviewed for the Oklahoma Native Artists collection spoke to Julie Pearson-Little Thunder about their training, influences, creative processes, Native American identity and the importance of cultural heritage to their work. Several of the artists are Oklahoma State University alumni, including Jeannie Barbour, Les Berryhill, Anita Fields, Benjamin Harjo Jr. and Tony Tiger. OSU affected their art careers in many ways, most notably by providing them with wellregarded instructors and the ability to try different formats and techniques. It didn’t start smoothly for all of them. After graduating high school, Harjo trained for two years at the well-known Institute for American Indian Art in Santa Fe, N.M. While many of his counterparts went directly into art careers, Harjo enrolled at OSU on the advice of his mentor. His first meeting with department chair J.J. McVicker, an acclaimed painter and printmaker, was not an auspicious one.
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“I remember going to OSU and meeting J.J. McVicker for the first time, and I told him that I didn’t think his art department was up to snuff. I had no idea who he was at that time, and he turned to me, and he said, ‘Well, we are not exactly an art school.’ He knew I had come fresh out of an art school.” In spite of that awkward early introduction, Harjo finished his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at OSU in 1974, after the Vietnam War temporarily interrupted his college career. Barbour and Fields said art department professor Marty Avrett had a big influence on them. When her husband got a job in Stillwater, Fields returned to school at OSU after having taken courses elsewhere. “I had this hodgepodge of classes and different degrees of advanced painting, but not what they required over here… Marty helped me get through what I needed to take in order to graduate.” Barbour, who ultimately received a bachelor’s in graphic and 3-D design, recalled Avrett’s influence. “Painting and drawing was really [my] first love, and my paint-
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ing teacher at that time was Marty Avrett. Just love him to death. He
The Oklahoma Oral History Research Program at the Edmon Low Library documents the culture and history of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University. Interviews are available online at www.library.okstate.edu/oralhistory. For more information about the program, or for assistance with searching, contact the Oklahoma Oral History Research Program at 405-744-7685.
was always concerned with your artistic integrity.”
Earlier this year, the Oklahoma Oral History Research Program unveiled a new Oklahoma Native Artists website. It includes full transcripts, audio, video excerpts, a rotating gallery, exhibit and show listings, and links to external resources. To read or listen to the interviews, browse the collection at www.library.okstate.edu/oralhistory/ona.
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PHIL SHOCKLEY
Yatika Fields works on the 10-panel mural he completed with art and music students in April. Artists like Fields and such interaction with students and the public are bringing visual arts to the forefront at OSU.
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