TOP: SPRING AZALEAS BLOOM IN FRONT OF THE GILCREASE MUSEUM. BOTTOM: FIRST FRIDAY AT THE ZARROW CENTER IS A POPULAR TULSA EVENT WHERE ARTISTS CAN BE RECOGNIZED FOR THEIR TALENTS.
TOP: STUDENTS VISIT AND ENJOY THE KRAVIS DISCOVERY CENTER.
Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa
Visitors to the Thomas Gilcrease Institute of American History and Art are greeted by one of the state’s most iconic sculptures. Allan Houser’s “Sacred Rain Arrow,” an image captured on millions of Oklahoma license plates, waits at the entrance to one of the most famous homes of American art in the United States. The museum opened in 1949 in Thomas Gilcrease’s personal home, and its estate now encompasses some 460 acres, including 23 acres of renowned gardens in the Osage Hills just outside downtown Tulsa. Even with past expansions to the facilities, only 6 percent of the museum’s vast collections are on display at any given time. “Gilcrease Museum has long been known to have one of the best collections in the country,” says Melani Hamilton, communications manager for the museum. “It is the city of Tulsa’s most valuable asset. Vision Tulsa, which provides for the Gilcrease expansion, finally affords the opportunity to enable Gil
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OKLAHOMA MAGAZINE | AUGUST 2016
crease Museum to reach its full potential as one of the top museums by giving its worldclass collection a facility to match.” The expansion Hamilton refers to is the $65 million renovation approved as part of the Vision initiative in Tulsa, which will create a 100,000-square-foot expansion for new permanent collection spaces, a grand entry atrium and entertainment area, dining and parking expansions, and renovated spaces to attract more big-name traveling exhibitions to complement the impressive permanent collections. The museum is currently displaying photographs from Nickolas Muray of his lover and friend, Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, in West Mexico: Ritual and Identity, among other exhibits. Although only a few minutes’ drive from downtown Tulsa, Gilcrease recently set up a presence in the thriving Brady Arts District with the Henry Zarrow Center for Art and Education, an 18,000-square-foot gallery space for exhibitions and art education.
PHOTOS BY ERIK CAMPOS
BOTTOM: GUESTS ATTEND THE FIRST FRIDAY ART CRAWL AT THE ZARROW CENTER.