Kirkpatrick Annual Report 2024-2025

2024 & 2025 ANNUAL REPORT

2024 & 2025 ANNUAL REPORT

Flying in Formation

Flying in Formation

“It is amazing that in the scheme of nature certain birds should patrol the air, others the fields, others the trees, others the forest-floor, and so on, so that all outdoors is, in a sense, cared for by our feathered friends. It has been said that our very existence depends upon these birds who make it possible for the trees, the flowers, and the grain-fields to grow. And all the while these same creatures are delighting us with their beautiful colors and their cheerful songs.”

GEORGE MIKSCH SUTTON, An Introduction to the Birds of Pennsylvania, 1928

Brant

Flocks of these small sea geese migrate long distances in arctic conditions, symbolizing heroic endurance and triumph.

These birds herald the new hope of spring and symbolize happiness, joy, and good fortune.

Eastern Bluebirds

FROM THE CHAIRMAN

FELLOW ORNITHOLOGISTS AND backyard birders alike treasured Dr. George Miksch Sutton during his lifetime. A keen nature observer, he published his first bird drawing at age eleven, and his enthusiasm for birds never waned.

Thanks to the generosity of our most significant philanthropic partner, Oklahoma City Community Foundation, along with the George Miksch Sutton Avian Research Center, we are shining a new light on Dr. Sutton’s watercolors throughout this report.

A longtime professor, Dr. Sutton enthusiastically taught generations of students and beckoned those he encountered to love nature—and life itself—as much as he did. One of his students, Andrew J. Berger, remembered him as a renaissance man, following his curiosity and caring deeply about people. His kindness to animals, as well as his love of art, literature, history, and music,

align with the values of the Kirkpatrick entities.

As we look back on these past two years, Dr. Sutton is a fitting pairing for our own Louisa McCune, longtime Kirkpatrick Foundation executive director, who passed away in 2024. A journalist by training, she, too, was exceptionally bright, interested in absolutely everything, and enamored with her work. Until the end, she strove with all her being for a better world. Everyone in our organization and the greater philanthropic community embraced Louisa, and she will be greatly missed.

The Kirkpatrick entities carry forward the banners first raised by our forebears: to care for one another and build up community. In everything we do, we seek to improve the quality of life for those in our communities—including animals. We are taking Louisa’s mission, to make Oklahoma the safest and most humane place to be an animal, and keeping it in the forefront of our minds.

Among our philanthropies, Kirkpatrick Family Fund and Kirkpatrick Foundation awarded more than $28 million in grants to hundreds of local nonprofits in their past two fiscal years.

The family fund has concentrated efforts in advancing workforce development through arts education. A growing number of studies in neuroscience and other fields are proving the arts to be a powerful tool for transforming individual lives and entire communities. (I recommend Your Brain on Art by Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross.) Meanwhile, the foundation has rallied behind nonprofit journalism outlets that have lost funding in recent years, supporting this critical element of democracy. We also celebrate Kelley Barnes as the foundation’s new executive director, leading with heart and cheer and moving important work forward.

For a new initiative in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, four organizations related to the Kirkpatrick family and Kirkpatrick philanthropies have formed the Arboretum Collaborative with a significant tree collection, considered a “living museum.” Red Ridge Nature Preserve, Park House, Mollie Spencer Farm, and Campbell Art Park (adjacent to Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center) are dedicated to advancing biodiversity and conservation as part of their work.

I’m proud to share that Kirkpatrick Bank celebrated fifty-five years in 2025 and opened a new full-service branch in the Denver Tech Center, complementing our main Colorado bank in Colorado Springs and a specialized office in Boulder. We at Kirkpatrick hold fast to stability and growth, as we have advanced $396 million to individuals and small businesses in the communities we serve. Kirkpatrick Oil Company, meanwhile, rides the fluctuations of market volatility with aplomb through a diversified portfolio and a strong history of hedging commodity risk. In the past two years, Kirkpatrick Oil has invested $6 million in energy exploration and acquired new opportunities for untapped potential.

These topics brush the surface of our work— read on for more of our recent highlights. Thank you for your interest and partnership in these endeavors, your commitment to the community, and your friendship. I appreciate the confidence that has been placed in me. Together, we are “Flying in Formation.” Join us as we fly forward.

CHRISTIAN KEESEE

Groove-Billed Ani

This social bird is known as an entertainer, moving and singing in amusing yet strategic ways. It values community and cooperation.

We are guided by the values of integrity, leadership, and innovation. We accomplish our mission by supporting organizations with bold, capable leadership and programs that are effective in addressing community needs.

Steller’s Jay

This bold and inquisitive songbird symbolizes resourcefulness, hope, and courage.

An image of a redbud tree at Will Rogers Garden used for the cover of the book Parks of Oklahoma City

FROM THE DIRECTOR

THE 2024–2025 ANNUAL REPORT IS inspired by the beautiful watercolor illustrations of George Miksch Sutton, scientist, artist, and teacher. Kirkpatrick Family Fund selected the Steller’s jay to open our portion of the annual report, seeing the jay as emblematic of our commitment and investments in central Oklahoma and Green Mountain Falls, Colorado. This inquisitive songbird symbolizes resourcefulness, hope, and courage; these qualities, combined with our values of integrity, leadership, and innovation, provide the foundation for our grantmaking and initiatives in arts and arts education, land and animal stewardship, and teen pregnancy prevention.

The following articles and photographs report the results to date of our initiatives, our partnerships, and the work of our grantees. We continue to see a decrease in the teen birth rate in Oklahoma County thanks to the extensive network of providers and their partnership with Honestly: Youth Sexual Health. The boundaries for contemporary art continue to be stretched and explored by Oklahoma Contemporary, Green Box in Green Mountain Falls, Colorado, and our newest initiative to raise awareness for dance, OK Let’s Dance. Kirkpatrick Publishing was established and has produced two publications, Parks of Oklahoma City: A History and A Field Guide to Green Mountain Falls, Colorado. We continue to learn and share information about how to be good stewards of the land and the humane treatment of the animals in our care. The leadership and creative energy of many individuals, nonprofits, trustees, advisers, and nonprofit boards drive the work we do at Kirkpatrick Family Fund.

I am encouraged by the progress we have made and, at the same time, am aware there is always more to be done. Education continues to drive positive changes in how we think about people,

animals, and the land. Kirkpatrick Family Fund is positioned to demonstrate, partner with, and support ideas and programs that educate and engage the community. Despite current obstacles, we can continue to work with our partners to further lower the teen birth rate in Oklahoma County, create arts education opportunities for young people, and demonstrate that kindness combined with vision is the best practice for meaningful stewardship.

The annual report concludes with a list of the trustees who provide guidance and support for the grants and initiatives, plus the staff and advisers who bring knowledge and expertise to keep moving our priorities forward. As a final point, thank you to Christian Keesee, who brings steady leadership and vision that propel our philanthropic work.

ELIZABETH K. EICKMAN

2024 & 2025 HIGHLIGHTS

Kirkpatrick Drive

On November 15, 2024—National Philanthropy Day— Science Museum Oklahoma and the Oklahoma City Zoo announced Kirkpatrick Drive as the new name for the street leading to both attractions. The change honors John and Eleanor Kirkpatrick, whose vision and philanthropic support led to the creation of the Oklahoma Zoological Society in 1954 and the Oklahoma Science and Arts Foundation, now known as Science Museum Oklahoma at the Kirkpatrick Center, in 1958. The organizations are anchored within Oklahoma City’s Adventure District, which draws 3.3 million visitors each year.

The Garde at Oklahoma Contemporary

A night of art and fun for the people who make living in Oklahoma City fun. That was the idea behind the most successful Industry Night yet for service professionals at Oklahoma Contemporary. The Garde, Oklahoma Contemporary’s

young professionals’ society, also expanded its offerings through the first Studio School Takeover in 2024 and Art Market in 2025. These events invited Oklahoma City’s young adults to sample the variety of classes Oklahoma Contemporary has to offer as well as discover and support local artists.

Oklahoma City Repertory Theater

Oklahoma City Repertory Theater presented its best-selling show of all time, What the Constitution Means to Me, in 2025. The production brought together artists from across the country and featured the professional premiers of two local high school students. Bringing together art and civics both on the stage and off, OKC Rep followed one performance with a panel featuring Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt, ACLU Oklahoma Executive Director Tamya Cox-Touré, and political science professor Dr. Emily Stacey from Rose State College.

Mollie Spencer Farm

A celebration of the fall monarch butterfly

migration through Oklahoma, the annual Monarch Festival at the Mollie Spencer Farm continued to grow in 2024 and 2025. This popular event continues to attract butterfly enthusiasts of all ages, who learn about the incredible trek monarch butterflies make from the northern United States to Mexico, where they roost through the winter. The Monarch Festival features presentations by garden experts, demonstrations in the Mollie Spencer Farm pollinator garden, and fun activities for kids, like crafts and face painting.

Central Oklahoma Teen Pregnancy Prevention Collaboration

In 2024, data confirmed that the teen birth rate in Oklahoma County decreased by 27.3 percent from 2019 to 2023, surpassing the goal of 25 percent. Oklahoma shifted from having the fourth- to fifth-highest teen birth rate in the country during that same period. Overall, the county’s teen birth rate decreased by 68.28 percent since the collaboration began in 2006. This impact was driven in large part by the work of the collaboration to convene and listen to community voices, collect and communicate data trends, and implement national best practices.

Installation view of two basketball half-courts titled, Neufs for Oklahoma Autumn, 2025, by Hock E Aye Vi Edgar

CAMPBELL ART PARK

IN 2025, A CONTEMPORARY ART installation by Edgar Heap of Birds and commissioned by Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center took the form of basketball half-courts at Campbell Art Park. The park—along Broadway Avenue in Oklahoma City—provides the public with visible and easy access to art, and the basketball courts took it a step further, inviting interaction.

Campbell Art Park regularly features Oklahoma, national, and international artists through a unique partnership between the City of Oklahoma City, Kirkpatrick Family Fund, and Oklahoma Contemporary. The arts center

is charged with offering stimulating art and hands-on art programs year-round at the park.

The latest outdoor installation was presented in collaboration with Project Backboard, Common Practice, and artist Hock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of Birds, who created Neufs for Oklahoma Autumn as a public art iteration of his “Neuf” painting series (1981–ongoing).

The public’s positive response to the halfcourts was immediate. Oklahoma Contemporary reflected on the impact: “The large-scale, functional versions of his painting series will stand as a powerful testament to the intersection of

sports, culture, and identity in our state, inviting engagement with Campbell Art Park in unprecedented ways.”

Heap of Birds’ spring 2025 exhibition, HONOR SONG, extended to fill Oklahoma Contemporary’s Eleanor Kirkpatrick Main Gallery and celebrate the artist’s forty-year career. Heap of Birds has works in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art and Whitney Museum of American Art and has exhibited at the Venice Biennale, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and others, but the Oklahoma Contemporary exhibit represented his inaugural retrospective.

Heap of Birds

CAMPBELL

Our Focus ARTS EDUCATION: A POWERFUL FORCE

ARTS EDUCATION IS EMERGING AS a powerful force for workforce development, cultivating critical thinking, collaboration, innovation, and adaptability. Several Kirkpatrick Family Fund grantees in Oklahoma City are helping our community prepare for a technology-driven future through the arts.

ARTSPACE offers its mentorship program to hundreds of Oklahoma City public school students, teaching them art history, theory, and hands-on projects in printmaking, woodblock carving, and digital media. Mentors emphasize problem-solving, creativity, and digital literacy to equip students for future careers.

deadCenter Film expands access to filmmaking through its deadCenter University programs, including an intensive summer camp where students take on every role in creating a short film, from scriptwriting to lighting to cinematography. With the growth of Oklahoma’s film industry following productions such as Killers of the Flower Moon and Reservation Dogs, these experiences provide creative expression along with marketable skills.

Arts educators are also learning and growing. Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center’s Arts Lab: Educator Workshops recharge teachers’ creativity, build professional networks, and help them explore how the arts can support student success across career pathways. Because schools only employ one or two arts teachers, these workshops create valuable space for reflection and connection. Teachers rekindle their own artistic voices and share strategies to help students see the arts as preparation for both life and work.

By supporting arts education at every level, we prepare students and teachers with the creativity, problem-solving ability, and technological fluency our community needs for the future.

deadCenter University program at Oklahoma City Community College

Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park performs at Oklahoma Contemporary’s Arts Sampler in the Te Ata Theater.

Arts education is emerging as a powerful force for workforce development, cultivating critical thinking, collaboration, innovation, and adaptability.

Mentorship Program at ARTSPACE at Untitled

Visual art educators participate in professional development opportunities at Oklahoma Contemporary

GAVYN REDD

Crooked Oak’s Growing Band Strikes a Chord

In 2024, Crooked Oak Public Schools band director Matthew Gregg faced a waiting list of students eager to join band but lacked enough instruments to include them all. Months later, the band’s first concert drew one of the largest parent audiences of any school event—clear proof of community enthusiasm for the district’s only arts program.

Kirkpatrick Family Fund has built a strong partnership with the district through the development of the Variety Care Teen Clinic at Crooked Oak.” Due to this relationship, Gregg was encouraged to apply for a grant for the instruments and equipment needed to expand the fledgling program. Our support enabled him to purchase every item and welcome more students ready to play.

Crooked Oak, a southeast Oklahoma City district with 1,254 students, most of whom qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, plans to expand into a full marching band within three years. The impact is already evident: when Gregg praised one student’s progress, she tearfully said no one had ever told her she was good at something. The Crooked Oak community is rallying behind its growing band and the confidence it inspires.

MOVING TOGETHER

OK LET’S DANCE, FOUNDED BY LARRY KEIGWIN, BRINGS together central Oklahoma’s diverse communities of dancers and the public in a shared celebration of dance and the joy of movement. During its first three years, OK Let’s Dance not only expanded the reach and accessibility of dance but also convened dance artists, instructors, and community partners to share the successes and challenges they face in moving the central Oklahoma dance ecosystem forward.

What connects the inaugural programs to the present and future of OK Let’s Dance is the need to move, together. Studies consistently show

that movement improves physical and mental well-being, and meaningful connections mitigate the impacts of isolation and division. From the seed of a single event, the initiative has grown into new and recurring performances, classes, and workshops.

OK Let’s Dance sustained the Calderón Dance Festival and firmly established the public’s enthusiasm for Oklahoma City Ballet’s Dance Day. In 2024 and 2025, both events expanded the styles they feature, their showcases of traditional dance from across the globe, and classes for every age and ability—with all activities offered for free.

JANA CARSON

Hula ‘O Nani performs at Oklahoma City Ballet’s annual Dance Day

RACE Dance Collective’s Cure-8 mentorship program

The initiative also brought new organizations under the wing of OK Let’s Dance, broadening the styles represented and the audiences reached. In 2024, the program began providing season support for Aspiring Attitudes, a fully integrated studio for both special needs and typically developing students, and Perpetual Motion Dance, which centers on modern and aerial choreography. OK Let’s Dance funding also made possible the first cohort of RACE Dance Collective’s Cure-8 mentorship program, an eight-week intensive that pairs local, emerging choreographers with seasoned professionals to produce new, original works showcased in the Te Ata Theater at Oklahoma

Contemporary Arts Center.

Through conversations with its partners, OK Let’s Dance heard a desire to go deeper. This resulted in a listening session that revealed shared concerns as well as shared strengths and reasons to celebrate. Participants identified potential solutions and resources that would enable them to make a greater and more lasting impact.

As OK Let’s Dance looks forward, it will remain guided by the community’s needs and recommendations and will continue to build new pathways— between individuals and communities, ideas and opportunities.

Calderón Dance Festival

Calderón Dance Festival

GAVYN REDD GAVYN REDD

GAVYN REDD

JANA CARSON

Aspiring Attitudes

A group of Indian Runner and Cayuga ducks by the pond at Mollie Spencer Farm

Mollie Spencer Farm

SAFEGUARDING AND SHARING NATURE

ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION AND conservation have been at the heart of the Mollie Spencer Farm’s mission since the property was donated to Kirkpatrick Family Fund in 2016 by Christian Keesee, Mollie Spencer’s greatgreat-grandson. The transition marked the rare achievement of five generations caring for the farm. In 2024 and 2025, conservation and biodiversity became guiding principles that impacted farm operations and programs.

This is most noticeable in the property’s beautiful pond. After noticing the health of the pond was declining due to significant bank erosion and poor water quality, the farm staff researched several ways to combat the problem. In addition to planting several varieties of aquatic plants along the shoreline, including water lilies and water irises, the staff installed two floating wetland islands in the pond.

The islands have helped improve water quality, as the roots of the aquatic plants grow down and filter sediment and contaminants from stormwater that flows into the pond. The roots also absorb excess agricultural nutrients that can lead to algal blooms. Additionally, the islands provide nesting areas for waterfowl, and the root systems under the islands provide habitat for fish in the pond.

While the pond has always attracted many common Canada geese, in the last couple of years lesser-known waterfowl have been visiting the pond. Those include double-crested cormorants, pied-billed grebes, and black-bellied whistling-ducks. The pond is also seeing more frequent visits from larger birds like the great blue heron, great egret, green heron, and yellowcrowned night heron. This is not just exciting

from an ecological standpoint but also exciting for participants in farm programs, such as the semi-annual Bird Walk for Beginners, presented in partnership with the Oklahoma City Audubon Society.

Birds aren’t the only wildlife visitors who help sell the mission of conservation and biodiversity—

monarch butterflies at the farm’s growing pollinator garden also demonstrate the significance of conserving green spaces and habitats for wildlife. Having completed its fourth year, the annual Monarch Festival continues to grow in popularity and educate even more farm visitors about the importance of native and pollinator plants.

A child at the 2025 Monarch Festival on the Mollie Spencer Farm

A New Barn

Don’t worry—we didn’t forget about the farm animals! A new livestock barn was constructed to better accommodate the family of animals that call the farm home. The new barn allows all of the animals to comfortably shelter together in case of severe weather, and the extra space also makes it easier for farm visitors to engage with the animals during public programs. Sadly, in late 2025, Osa, a Palomino quarter horse (pictured above), passed away at the ripe old age of twenty-five. She came to the farm in 2018 by way of Blaze’s Tribute Equine Rescue in Jones, Oklahoma. She spent the last seven years living a very comfortable life at the Mollie Spencer Farm, and she was particularly loved by her friend Ruby, a paint pony for whom she acted as a companion horse.

OF REDD PHOTOGRAPHY

OF REDD PHOTOGRAPHY

Flowers growing on the bank of the pond at Mollie Spencer Farm

Mallard ducks in the pond at Mollie Spencer Farm

MARIA NAIRN

A woman searches for birds during the Bird Walk for Beginners in spring 2025.

Caption

Historic Green Mountain Falls Foundation

COMMUNITY COMMITMENT

OVER THE COURSE OF 2024 AND 2025, the Historic Green Mountain Falls Foundation expanded its role as a resource to residents of Green Mountain Falls interested in the conservation and preservation of the community’s significant architectural and natural qualities. The foundation’s website, hgmff.org, features A Brief History of Green Mountain Falls by retired Colorado College professor and author Robert D. Loevy and The Green Mountain Falls Architectural & Preservation Handbook, which describes the town’s three predominant architectural styles: late Victorian, rustic, and mid-century rustic. Forty percent

of the 559 parcels surveyed by Anderson Hallas Architects can be identified with one of these three styles. The handbook is available as a resource and provides helpful information to residents seeking solutions to preserve the unique architectural features of their properties.

The Mountain Collective

“The Mountain Collective: Our Shared Story” was launched on the new hgmff.org website. This project is an ongoing living history archive of the Ute Pass region, told by its residents. Visitors to the website can easily upload their own

photos, memories, history, and stories through the “Share Your History” link on the home page. The purpose is to strengthen community engagement while preserving Green Mountain Falls’ shared heritage. Through this initiative, residents and visitors are encouraged to contribute information and photographs that capture historic homes and buildings, everyday life, landscapes, events, and personal stories that might otherwise be lost to time. The growing digital archive will not only preserve these images and stories for future generations to enjoy but invite the public to actively participate in documenting

Highland Lodge represents the rustic architectural style, one of the three most prominent historic styles in Green Mountain Falls.

Lakeview Terrace, built in 1898, is an example of late Victorian architecture. The property is used for Green Box gallery space, events, and programming.

local history. By combining preservation with community storytelling, the initiative reflects the foundation’s mission to safeguard the town’s cultural legacy while creating an accessible, living resource that continues to evolve with each contribution.

Fire Mitigation

To further its role as a resource, the Historic Green Mountain Falls Foundation partnered with the Green Mountain Falls Fire Mitigation Advisory Committee to host Tom Welle, wildfire prevention expert. Fire danger is a significant and costly issue for residents in the Ute Pass area. Welle met with residents of Green Mountain Falls who were interested in learning more about the science of how homes ignite from wildfire and what homeowners can do to reduce their risk. The foundation has adopted many of the fire mitigation practices on its own properties, including reducing forest surface debris next to buildings and, where possible, creating a ten-foot separation between tree and shrub canopies. Additionally, fire-resistant building materials have been used for repairs and improvements to the foundation’s properties. The town’s leaders have worked hard to organize information sessions and implement solutions to reduce fire danger.

Hartsholme, circa 1919. This late Victorian home was built in 1888 by E. E. and Katherine Brown and later owned by the Hart family.

Hartsholme, present day

Green Mountain Falls Horse Wellness Meadow

In summer 2025, Elite Equine Rescue partnered with the Historic Green Mountain Falls Foundation to expand its rescue operation in Colorado Springs to the Green Mountain Falls Horse Wellness Meadow. The volunteer-run nonprofit is one of the few equine athlete rescues that offer sanctuary and specialized care for performance horses. The new facility was purpose-built with Kirkpatrick Family Fund support to provide horses with an environment not available at Elite Equine’s Colorado Springs facility: space, quiet, mountain air, and time, according to Elite Equine. Horses arrive at the meadow when they need to exhale—whether recovering from physical injury,

processing trauma, or learning what it means to live as a herd animal rather than a performance machine. The meadow serves as the critical middle step between rescue and adoption for some horses and as a long-term rehabilitation home for others.

Trails

Green Mountain Falls is known for its great hiking trails populated by works of art. In 2024 and 2025, the Historic Green Mountain Falls Foundation built and maintained trails and supported extensive trail education with the assistance of Friends of Ute Pass Trails, Mile High Youth Corps, Ute Pass Elementary School, and the Green Mountain Falls Parks, Recreation, and Trails Advisory Committee. The Pittman and Anderson Trails on

the foundation’s Red Butte property were added to the list of trails. Along those two trails, hikers can view permanent art installations, including brooke smiley’s EARTH.SPEAKS and Yaacov Agam’s Communication X9. The northeastern Red Butte Recreation Area trail system also serves as an alternative route to the Green Mountain Falls Skyspace by James Turrell.

In 2025, Green Mountain Falls received the Gold Standard Site Designation from the Leave No Trace organization. This designation honors sites and organizations that are exemplary, training staff and volunteers, providing education, and practicing Leave No Trace principles to protect and preserve parks, trails, and natural landscapes.

Green Mountain Falls Horse Wellness Meadow, home to the horse rescue program Elite Equine BUFFALO

Mile High Youth Corps volunteer working on the Anderson Trail

Ute Pass Elementary students participate in Leave No Trace trail cleanup.

Rescue horses are cared for and rehabilitated by Elite Equine Rescue.

GREEN BOX ARTS FESTIVAL

THE HISTORY AND PICTURESQUE SETTING OF GREEN Mountain Falls provide the backdrop for Green Box, its annual festival, and year-round arts programs that celebrate art and artists. What began as a weekend of live performances has grown into a two-week festival showcasing performing and visual art by contemporary artists for residents and visitors to Green Mountain Falls and the Ute Pass area. The artists-in-res-

idence program provides artists from diverse disciplines at any stage in their career with the opportunity to create new work while living in and engaging with community members. Kirkpatrick Family Fund has nurtured the vision of Green Box founders Christian Keesee and Larry Keigwin, and today its mission and programs are embraced by numerous donors and Ute Pass communities.

JEFF KEARNEY / TDC PHOTOGRAPHY

Off the Beaten Path by Patrick Shearn of Poetic Kinetics, the Green Box 2025 summer art installation over the lake

Honestly: Youth Sexual Health THE POWER OF PARTNERSHIPS

training

FIVE YEARS AGO, FORTY ORGANIZATIONS and eighty individuals committed to lowering central Oklahoma’s teen birth rate by an additional 25 percent by 2025. They hit the goal a full year early. Since the collaboration began in 2006, the teen birth rate in Oklahoma County has dropped 68.3 percent.

The Central Oklahoma Teen Pregnancy Prevention Collaboration was created to reduce the teen birth rate using a collective impact model. Those involved set shared goals with shared measurement tools, coordinating efforts and pooling resources to provide evidence-based programs and services, including youth sexual health education and access to age-appropriate health care.

Every five years, the collaboration’s backbone organization, Honestly, releases a comprehensive

plan outlining collective goals and the steps to achieve them. In 2024, Honestly held listening sessions and interviewed dozens of partners and community leaders to inform the next comprehensive plan. In spring 2025, it released Forward Together, which promised to “doubl[e] down on the values that brought us here—youth leadership, the power of the collective, and the importance of listening first.”

Two partners leading the way on youth education and leadership are Kirkpatrick Family Fund grantees Teen Empower and Variety Care. Through Teen Empower’s SHAPE program, high school students receive training on an evidence-based health curriculum for middle schoolers. As the school year progresses, those high school students then present to

younger students on peer pressure, healthy relationships, and communication. Meanwhile, at Variety Care’s Crooked Oak Teen Clinic, tenth- through twelfth-grade peer advocates connect fellow students with health services.

Nearly two decades after its founding, the collaboration led by Honestly stands as proof that sustained partnerships using age-appropriate and evidence-based strategies can transform community health outcomes. By uniting health care providers, public and private organizations, educators, and young leaders, it has built a culture of openness and empowerment that reaches beyond teen pregnancy prevention. The work ahead will keep drawing strength from the community’s shared commitment to listen, learn, and lead.

Teen Empower 2024 Sexual Health and Peer Education

COLLECTED HISTORY

MAKING ITS DEBUT, KIRKPATRICK PUBLISHING, a subsidiary of Kirkpatrick Family Fund, has released two books in the past two years.

In 2024, A Field Guide to Green Mountain Falls, Colorado, welcomed visitors into the idyllic, artistic mountain town with a slim volume easy to stow in a hiking knapsack. The guide offers an in-depth exploration of Green Mountain Falls, blending historical insights, natural history, and practical information about the town and the Ute Pass area.

In 2025, Parks of Oklahoma City: A History launched at OKC Beautiful’s annual awards luncheon, in which Kirkpatrick Publishing Chairman Christian Keesee received the Pendleton Woods Lifetime Achievement Award. Sales at the event benefited Kirkpatrick Family Fund grantee OKC Beautiful, a nonprofit contributing to local beautification and environmental stewardship.

Following the kickoff, Parks authors Bob Blackburn and Brian Dougherty gave interviews for television segments, news articles, and podcasts. The linen-covered hardback boasts full-color archival and contemporary photos

and a meticulously researched history of the city’s parks since its founding in 1889. The authors spoke about their research to audiences at Full Circle Bookstore, Scissortail Park, and Urban Land Institute Oklahoma, as well as other gatherings. Parks of Oklahoma City made the Oklahoma bestsellers list in April 2025.

The book highlights parks and public spaces, why they matter, and the triumphs and challenges of developing and sustaining them.

“If we understand what’s in this book, it will encourage us to work together, to invest in our resources and our time, improving the quality of our community—not just for our own family or our own property—but for everybody. We’re in this together,” Blackburn told Rotary Club 29 members in downtown Oklahoma City. “If we see how that has been accomplished with the leaders, planning, and sustainability of Oklahoma City’s past, then this book will be a success.”

The Kirkpatrick Family Archive, Oklahoma Historical Society, Oklahoma City Community Foundation, and the Kirkpatrick Family Fund archives contributed to the robust historical account and images included in the book.

Authors Brian Dougherty and Bob Blackburn speak about Parks of Oklahoma City at Full Circle Bookstore in Oklahoma City.

In this historic photo included in Parks of Oklahoma City, John Kirkpatrick and urban forestry consultant Bob Birchell work on an extensive landscaping project at Kirkpatrick Center.

A Field Guide to Green Mountain Falls, Colorado

KIRKPATRICK PUBLISH -

ing’s first publication, A Field Guide to Green Mountain Falls, Colorado, launched at the 2024 Green Box Arts Festival. The field guide provides information on the history of the Ute Pass area, flora and fauna, and the unique character of the town, along with a fold-out map of public and community hiking trails. Art, nature, and people come together in Green Mountain Falls. When you

visit, stop by the Green Box Workshop and pick up a copy of the field guide.

Field Guide author Douglas Schnitzspahn writes: Green Mountain Falls holds on to you. It held on to people who came here generations ago—their families still living in their summer homes on these steep, wooded hills. It holds on to visitors who stare up to the light and clouds of its ever-changing sky and to dancers, visual artists, and other creatives looking for new spaces and inspiration for

their work. It speaks to those who wandered in from service in the Air Force, fled unfulfilling lives in the East, or simply passed through and realized they could stay. It calls to forest bathers, solitude seekers, birdwatchers, wide-eyed kids, and those who can see the silhouettes of the past in structures of the present. It holds on to a deep history of geological uplifts, and the path of water, and people who once called this town, and this land, their own. Visit once and it’s not nearly enough: This is truly a charmed spot.

GUIDING LIGHT

FOR MORE THAN THIRTY-FIVE YEARS, THE KIRKPATRICK Family Fund grants program has supported organizations whose missions and work reflect the interests of founders John and Eleanor Kirkpatrick. They believed that strong cultural and service organizations could improve quality of life across their community for current and future generations.

To this day, the fund’s leadership and staff return to the founders’ words for guidance. In a 1994 memo, Mr. Kirkpatrick outlined key practices that he and Mrs. Kirkpatrick followed in their charitable giving. These included investing in

Grantee List

ANIMAL WELL-BEING

American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

Best Friends Animal Society

Cheyenne Mountain Zoological Society

Elite Equine Rescue

Farm Sanctuary

Morris Animal Foundation Nexus Animals

Wildlife Conservation Society

bold leadership, emphasizing arts education, encouraging long-term sustainability through endowments, and supporting programs that foster self-reliance and curiosity. Under a dedicated board of trustees led by President Christian Keesee, the Kirkpatrick Family Fund continues to stand by these principles and strengthen partnerships with nonprofits that exemplify them.

The Kirkpatrick Family Fund awarded $10,623,000 in grants in fiscal year 2024 and $12,588,122 in fiscal year 2025, supporting 236 organizations and endowment funds.

Carpenter Square Theatre Humane Society

L’Alliance Francaise d’ Oklahoma

Allied Arts of Oklahoma

American Ballet Theatre

Arts Council Oklahoma City

ARTSPACE at Untitled

Brightmusic Society of Oklahoma

Campbell Art Park Visual Art Fund

Chamber Orchestra of the Springs

Church in the Wildwood United Church of Christ

Cimarron Opera

Colorado Springs Philharmonic Orchestra

Cultural Office of the Pikes Peak Region

Love’s Labour’s Lost at Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park

PIPER STEPHENSON

Dance Alliance of the Pikes Peak Region

deadCenter Film

Edmond History Museum

Fine Arts Institute of Edmond

First Americans Museum

Frick Collection

Friends of the Mansion

Friends of the Oklahoma Arts Council

Green Box

Harding Fine Arts Academy

Hofstra University Department of Drama and Dance

Jazz in June

Kids in Motion

Kirkpatrick Family Archives Fund

Kristin Chenoweth Arts & Education Fund

Menil Foundation

Metro Youth Theatre of Oklahoma

Metropolitan Opera

Mid-America Arts Alliance

National Museum of World War II

Aviation

National World War II Museum

Norman Firehouse Art Center

Norman High School Band Association

OK Let’s Dance Fund

Oklahoma Children’s Theatre

Oklahoma City Ballet

Oklahoma City National Memorial Foundation

Oklahoma City Philharmonic

Oklahoma City Repertory Theatre

Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center

Oklahoma Historical Society

Oklahoma Humanities Council

Oklahoma Indian Territory Museum of Black Creek Freedmen History

Oklahoma Military Hall of Fame Foundation

Oklahoma Museums Association

Oklahoma Senior Follies

Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park

Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition

Oklahomans for the Arts

Ormao Dance Company

Painted Sky Opera

Paseo Artists Association

Pikes Peak Bulletin Newspaper

Red Earth

Santa Fe Opera

Southern Plains Productions

Spark! Creative Lab

St. Thomas Choir School

Sustainable Journalism Foundation (NonDoc)

Tate Americas Foundation

Theatre Facility Study Fund

University of Central Oklahoma Department of Dance

Ute Pass Historical Society

William Fremont Harn Gardens

Yukon High School

Band Boosters Club

CHILDREN, YOUTH & FAMILIES

Autism Oklahoma

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Oklahoma

Boy Scouts of America

Last Frontier Council No. 480

Boys and Girls Club of Oklahoma County

Calm Waters Center for Children and Families

The CARE Center

CASA of Oklahoma County

Center for Children and Families

Children’s Health Foundation

Citizens Caring for Children

Cut It Forward

Down Syndrome Association of Central Oklahoma

El Reno Blessing Baskets

Fields and Futures

Focus on Home

Foster Care Association of Oklahoma

Freedom City

Genesis Project

Girl Scouts Western Oklahoma

Inside Out Youth Services

Lilyfield

Make-A-Wish Foundation of Oklahoma

Mary Abbott Children’s House

Oklahoma Energy Football Club

Oklahoma Family Network

Oklahoma Genealogical Society

Oklahoma Guardian Ad Litem Institute

A student at Sunbeam Family Services makes art.

Oklahoma City Beautiful teaches tree planting during a community education workshop.

Students study the local ecology through Ute Pass Elementary School’s Arts and Sciences program.

Oklahoma Single Parent

Scholarship Program

Our Neighborhood Empowered

Parent Promise

Peppers Ranch

Positive Tomorrows

Special Care

Sunbeam Family Services

Whiz Kids of Oklahoma

Willow Springs Boys Ranch

COMMUNITY ENHANCEMENT

Association of Fundraising Professionals

Barr Camp

Calle Dos Cinco

Chisholm Trail Historical Preservation Society

Crown Heights-Edgemere Heights Improvement

Empower

Friends of the Battleship

North Carolina

Friends of Ute Pass Trails

Friends of Will Rogers Gardens Foundation

Golden Gate National Parks

Conservancy

Impact Oklahoma

Let’s Fix This

Mile High Youth Corps

Mollie Spencer Farm

Myriad Gardens Foundation

National Forest Foundation

National Geographic Society

National Society of Colonial Dames of America in Oklahoma

The Nature Conservancy in Oklahoma

Neighborhood Alliance of Central Oklahoma

Northeast OKC Renaissance

Oklahoma Alliance on Aging

Oklahoma Center for Community and Justice

Oklahoma Center for Nonprofits

Oklahoma City Beautiful

Oklahoma City Navy League

Oklahoma Horticultural Society

Oklahoma Pride Alliance

Positively Paseo

Possibilities

Red Ridge Nature Preserve

Scissortail Park Foundation

Special Olympics Oklahoma

Stirling Celtic Company

StitchCrew

Town of Green Mountain Falls

Wings, A Special Needs Community World Neighbors

Yukon Community Support Foundation

EDUCATION

Alpha Omicron Chapter of Kappa Alpha Theta Educational Fund

Ann Johnstone Community Foundation Scholarship Fund

Bethany Public Schools

Foundation

Casady School

Community Literacy Centers

Crooked Oak Public Schools

Deer Creek Community

Enrichment Foundation

Edmond Public Schools Foundation

Friends of Libraries in Oklahoma

Friends of the Mustang Public Library

Gunston Hall Regents Fund

Junior Achievement of Oklahoma

Kent School Fund

Keystone Adventure School and Farm

Langston University Development

Library Endowment Trust

Madeira School

Menlo College

Oklahoma City University

Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics Foundation

Payne Education Center

Science Museum Oklahoma

St. David’s School

Thick Descriptions

University of Central Oklahoma

University of Oklahoma Foundation

U.S. Air Force Academy

U.S. Military Academy

U.S. Naval Academy

Ute Pass Elementary School

HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES

5207 Western Foundation

A Chance to Change

American Friends of Magen David Adom

American Red Cross of Central Oklahoma

Amplify

Center for Reproductive Rights

Center of Family Love

City Care

City of Oklahoma City

Daily Living Centers

D-DENT

Dean McGee Eye Institute

Doctors Without Borders

The Dragonfly Home

Edmond Mobile Meals

Firstep-OKC Metro Alliance

Goodwill Industries of Central Oklahoma

Health Alliance for the Uninsured HeartLine

Hearts for Hearing

Homeless Alliance

Honestly

Hunger Free Oklahoma

Jim Holloman Memorial Fund

Key to Home Partnership Fund

Mental Health Association Oklahoma

Metropolitan Better Living Center

Neighborhood Services Organization

NewView Oklahoma

Norman Meals on Wheels

Oklahoma Access to Justice Foundation

The Oklahoma Caring Foundation

Oklahoma Dental Foundation

Oklahoma Parkinson’s Alliance

Oklahoma Project Woman

Outrageous Love

Palestine Children’s Relief Fund

Palomar

Pivot

Planned Parenthood Great Plains

Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma

ReMerge

Sisu Youth Services

Skyline Urban Outreach

St. Anthony Hospital Foundation

Take Control Initiative

Teen Empower

United Way of Central Oklahoma

University of Oklahoma College of Dentistry

Upward Transitions

Variety Care

YWCA of Oklahoma City

MILES GROTH

Coyote’s den in First Americans Museum’s FAMily Discovery Center

Endowment Grants for Sustainable Futures

Trustees of the Kirkpatrick Family Fund made a bold commitment to create and build endowment funds for seven organizations whose work aligns closely with the Kirkpatrick family’s historical and contemporary ties. The organizations span the arts, education, and human services. The four-year, $5.5 million commitment is already impacting lives for the better.

The Larry Keigwin Endowed Scholarship Fund was established to benefit Hofstra University undergraduate dance majors who have demonstrated academic achievement and financial need. Abdul Sanz is an early recipient of this scholarship, pursuing a dual major in civil engineering and dance.

Whether by supporting arts education, art acquisitions, or dental care, each of these endowments will contribute to long-term, institutional sustainability and improve quality of life for those they serve.

Key to Home Partnership

In 2024, Kirkpatrick Family Fund trustees approved $300,000 to support the City of Oklahoma City’s Key to Home Partnership. This collaboration brings together more than fifty organizations working to ensure that homelessness is rare, brief, and non-recurring in Oklahoma City. The Kirkpatrick Family Fund’s grant helped Key to Home staff coordinate placements, trainings, and communication with landlords and other stakeholders. With a focus on prevention, funds also supported directservice nonprofits like Pivot and Sisu to focus on youth diversion from homelessness.

KIRKPATRICK FAMILY FUND BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Christian Keesee, President

George Drew, Vice President

Christina Adcox, Secretary/Treasurer

Leigh Ann Albers

David Harlow

Leslie Hudson

Ann Johnstone

Larry Keigwin

Rev. Dr. Robin Meyers

James A. Pickel

George Records

Jane Sutter

Nancy B. Anthony, Adviser

Kelley Barnes, Adviser

DIRECTOR

Elizabeth K. Eickman

CAMPBELL ART PARK, LLC

Christian Keesee, President

Christina Adcox, Secretary/Treasurer

Nancy B. Anthony

Elizabeth K. Eickman

Ann Johnstone

James A. Pickel

Lanc Gross, Adviser

Melinda McMillan-Miller, Adviser

Trent Riley, Adviser

HISTORIC GREEN MOUNTAIN FALLS FOUNDATION, LLC

Christian Keesee, President

Christina Adcox, Secretary/Treasurer

Nancy B. Anthony

Elizabeth K. Eickman

Carol Blackwood

Linda Carpenter

Larry Keigwin

Elizabeth Mee Payne

Rev. Dr. Robin Meyers

Jesse Stroope, Adviser

KIRKPATRICK PUBLISHING, LLC

Christian Keesee, President

Christina Adcox, Secretary/Treasurer

Kelley Barnes

Julie Burrage

Elizabeth K. Eickman

Nancy B. Anthony, Adviser

April Marciszewski, Adviser

KIRKPATRICK REAL ESTATE, LLC

Christian Keesee, President

Christina Adcox, Secretary/Treasurer

Nancy B. Anthony

Elizabeth K. Eickman

Leslie Hudson

Ann Johnstone

James A. Pickel

Kelley Barnes, Adviser

Lance Swearengin, Adviser

Jesse Stroope, Property Manager

KIRKPATRICK FAMILY FUND STAFF

Elizabeth K. Eickman, Director

Jennifer Thurman, Senior Programs Officer

Sara Maynard Moehle, Operations Manager

Emma Newberry-Davis, Program Manager, Oklahoma

Dolores Davis, Program Manager, Colorado

Julia Witcher, Grants Manager

Cindy Biera, Program and Administrative Assistant

Lauren Schlepp, Archivist

KIRKPATRICK FAMILY ARCHIVE

In partnership with the Oklahoma Historical Society, the archive preserves the original photographs, letters, and historical artifacts that tell the story of the Kirkpatrick family and their role in shaping Oklahoma’s business and cultural history.

David Hull, Archival Director

We envision a community in which every individual enjoys a high quality of life, access to new opportunities, the space to be curious and innovative, and the means to transform their environment for the better.

We support arts, culture, education, animal wellbeing, environmental conservation, and historic preservation, primarily in central Oklahoma.

White-Eared Hummingbird

The hummingbird symbolizes joy, adaptability, hope, and wonder.

Daffodils at Red Ridge Nature Preserve

FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

THE BENEFITS OF “FLYING IN Formation” include efficiency, effective communication, and advanced navigation. It requires awareness, careful flight, and a leader who sets the course and pace. Christian Keesee, our leader, embodies the Kirkpatrick family motto, I mak sikkar “I’ll make sure.” His reputation as a visionary is well earned. He leads with encouragement, a keen intellect, a drive to make things better, humor, and care for the work and those around him.

True to the spirit of our founders, John and Eleanor Kirkpatrick, carried forward by Joan Kirkpatrick and continued today, the Scottish ideals of loyalty, hard work, and honesty remain at the forefront of the foundation’s work.

In August 2024, the foundation’s visionary executive director and our friend, Louisa McCune, took her sunset flight after a long illness with cancer. I was warmly welcomed, but one thing was clear—there was important and pressing work to do. And so, with a reconfigured formation, the team came together—with laser-like focus, committed to staying the course.

As you will read in the pages that follow, we work in the areas defined by our founders: animal wellbeing, historic preservation, arts and culture, education, and environmental conservation. These focus areas experienced drastic cuts in federal funding in 2025. While neither Kirkpatrick Foundation nor the broader philanthropic community can fill the gaps, we can support brave leaders, foster innovation, and encourage collaboration.

Our initiatives, partnerships, and grantmaking are strengthened by our internal programs: Red Ridge Nature Preserve, ArtDesk magazine,

the ANIMAL Conference, and, most recently, the Kirkpatrick Medal, which honors individuals who have created meaningful change aligned with the foundation’s mission.

Through our grantmaking, programs, research, and publications, we call attention to the disregard for animal care in industrial production systems, as well as the importance of environmental conservation and the protection of wildlife and their habitats. Locally, we established a collaboration with the City of Oklahoma City to engage partners in planning and taking decisive action to reduce pet overpopulation. These efforts will help ensure that the city’s new municipal shelter, slated to open in 2027, is positioned for success.

Red Ridge Nature Preserve, one of our portfolio’s largest and most ambitious projects, reflects the Kirkpatrick Foundation’s vision of connecting people to nature while fostering conservation and environmental stewardship. Located at the edge of the Cross Timbers, where the forest meets the prairie, the preserve serves as a living classroom and sanctuary for wildlife, offering opportunities for education and research. Red Ridge protects habitats and biodiversity and fosters a culture of care and responsibility for Oklahoma’s environment and wildlife, ensuring that the preserve’s impact remains lasting and meaningful.

Guided by the vision of our founders and strengthened by the dedication of our partners, grantees, trustees, and staff, Kirkpatrick Foundation remains committed to supporting the people and ideas shaping a strong and vibrant Oklahoma.

for what can be accomplished together. For more than seventy years, Kirkpatrick Foundation has championed bold ideas, encouraged creativity, and worked to improve the quality of life in central Oklahoma.

I look forward to leading and building upon a foundation of partnership and purpose, continuing the work our founders began, supporting the vision of our chairman, and ensuring that what we do is forward-thinking and meaningful for the communities we serve.

As we look ahead, we do so with gratitude for those who work alongside us and with optimism KELLEY BARNES

SHEVAUN WILLIAMS

HONORING CHANGE-MAKERS

IN 2024, KIRKPATRICK FOUNDATION UNVEILED the Kirkpatrick Medal awards and celebrated the inaugural recipients, each representing outstanding contributions to the foundation’s focus areas of arts and culture, education, animal wellbeing, environmental conservation, and historic preservation.

Kirkpatrick Foundation Chairman Christian Keesee summarized the medal awards when he said, “It’s so nice to celebrate exceptional people and their outstanding contributions in a meaningful way. The work our partners do can be challenging, and we find so much joy in supporting and encouraging them.”

The awards were inspired by the foundation’s co-founder, Eleanor Kirkpatrick, and her daughter, Joan Kirkpatrick, who led the foundation in various capacities—from board member to president to board chair—between 1976 and 2008.

Recipients have a track record of passion, innovation, bravery, collaboration, and, perhaps most essentially, hard work and the desire to make things better. Each received a medal designed by sculptor Eugene Daub, a $2,500 honorarium, and a $50,000 endowment gift to the nonprofit of their choice at the Oklahoma City Community Foundation. In November 2024, we recognized this exceptional group of change-makers at a dinner at Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center in Oklahoma City.

ANIMAL WELLBEING

Harvey Payne

Wildlife Photographer

Images by wildlife and nature photographer Harvey Payne have appeared in hundreds of newspapers, magazines, and books, including The New York Times and National Geographic. Payne was crucial to the development of the Nature Conservancy’s Joseph H. Williams Tallgrass Prairie Preserve in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, where he served as director for eighteen years. Payne is a retired attorney and municipal judge, and he coordinates communications at the Tall Grass Prairie.

ARTS

Nan Sheets (Posthumously)

Painter, Printmaker, Museum Director

Artist, teacher, and arts advocate, Nannine Jane “Nan” Quick Sheets established the Oklahoma Art Center, a key predecessor of the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. At the art center, she sourced and displayed as many as thirty exhibits a year. Her Oklahoma City home, the Elms, served as a salon for visiting artists and later became the commercial art gallery JRB Art at the Elms in the Paseo Arts District.

EDUCATION

Angela McKenna

Choral Director, Classen School of Advanced Studies

Vocal music teacher Angela McKenna has devoted over twenty years to helping young students find their voices. More than two hundred of McKenna’s students have earned places in All-Region and All-State Choirs in recent years, and she directs one hundred-plus additional students at the Studio J Performing Arts Center in Edmond. McKenna holds National Board Certification.

Foundation Chairman Christian Keesee honors Chickasaw Nation Governor Bill Anoatubby

ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION

Ed Brocksmith

Co-founder, Save the Illinois River

Ed Brocksmith co-founded Save the Illinois River in the early 1980s to protect northeast Oklahoma’s Flint Creek, Barren Fork Creek, and Lake Tenkiller, along with their tributaries. He was inspired to act after a permit allowed Fayetteville, Arkansas, to discharge treated sewage into the Illinois River watershed. This action led to a US Supreme Court decision in 1992, Oklahoma v. EPA, which established water quality rules to protect Oklahoma rivers from interstate water pollution.

HISTORIC PRESERVATION

Melvena Heisch

Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer, State Historic Preservation Office (Retired)

Melvena Heisch drafted legislation that created the state’s historic rehabilitation tax credit and led to the resurrection of the Skirvin Hotel. Heisch and her team oversaw programs ranging from assisting local governments with rehabilitation tax credits to working with the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture to recognize families who have farmed or ranched for at least one hundred years.

CULTURE

Bill Anoatubby

Governor, Chickasaw Nation

Bill Anoatubby has worked to preserve and share Chickasaw culture through artistic and educational programs and a world-renowned cultural center. Anoatubby has overseen the creation of businesses in a variety of industries, which fund Chickasaw programs that address aging, education, health care, and housing. The nation employs nearly fourteen thousand people, and the Chickasaw Foundation funds dozens of Oklahoma nonprofit organizations.

Left to right: Payne, Anoatubby, Heisch, Brocksmith, and McKenna

The historic Red Ridge Mansion at the nature preserve

Red Ridge Nature Preserve

A REFUGE IN THE URBAN CORE

RED RIDGE NATURE PRESERVE, a unique historical and botanical property in the heart of Oklahoma City, is a rare Cross Timbers ecosystem that has captured the hearts of Oklahoma City residents and propelled local conservation and stewardship efforts.

In August 2023, Kirkpatrick Family Fund Real Estate purchased 133 acres at NE 50th Street and Lincoln Boulevard from the Commissioners of the Land Office. Kirkpatrick Foundation, along with the Kirkpatrick Family Fund and the Christian Keesee Charitable Trust, is ensuring this distinctive corridor is safeguarded for nature now and for future generations.

Nature preserves are quiet landscapes where conservation is paramount. Studies confirm that large urban green spaces, with minimal human disturbance, pay dividends to their surroundings—improving air and water quality, lowering temperatures, and mitigating the urban heat island effect. Protected habitats safeguard ecosystems, provide a home for wildlife, and create opportunities for scientific research.

Meet the Deputy Director

Lance Swearengin was hired as deputy director of Red Ridge in May 2024. He has worked to preserve and protect the property while growing the nonprofit organization. Red Ridge’s new logo features a geometric yellow daffodil as a nod to the heirloom daffodils planted across the property by homesteader Sadie Cason Edwards, wife of R. J. Edwards.

The Kirkpatrick philanthropies have safeguarded the land from development and are working to restore the native habitat and reduce invasive species.

Rendering of a planned gate at Red Ridge Nature Preserve

Red Ridge luncheon

Red Ridge luncheon

Conservation Partners

Conservation partners are essential to our mission of preserving plants, animals, and habitats. The Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden assists with our annual spring bioblitz, and the Oklahoma Ornithological Society and Oklahoma Audubon Society help count bird species to document Red Ridge’s biodiversity. Other key partners, such as the Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts, are developing a conservation and grazing plan to restore habitat and manage invasive species, including Chinese privet, eastern red cedar, and Johnson grass.

Stewardship Center

Over the past year, our strategic plan has begun to take shape, laying the groundwork to minimize the developed footprint and protect nature to the greatest extent possible. We introduced our plans for a stewardship center at our inaugural spring luncheon in April 2025. The center will house operations and nature education, as well as provide opportunities for scientific research. Our guiding principle stands strong: nature comes first at Red Ridge.

Sadie’s Daffodils

After the Red Ridge Mansion was built in 1933, Sadie Cason Edwards would ride in her opentop car, driven by her chauffeur, throwing daffodil bulbs out the top along the long, winding roads and driveway. Her chauffeur returned to plant the bulbs where they landed. Her gloriously unorthodox methodology yielded vibrant fields of naturalized daffodils blanketing areas along the roadway, in pastures, and around the homes on the property. Her sunny legacy blooms to this day.

Daffodils at Red Ridge

Red Ridge luncheon

Millwood High School band at the inaugural Red Ridge luncheon

A TWENTY-YEAR PLAN FOR ANIMALS

SAFE & HUMANE IS AN ANIMAL wellbeing initiative launched by Kirkpatrick Foundation in 2012. Our focus is to improve the lives of animals in our state, making Oklahoma the safest and most humane place to be an animal by 2032. Significant milestones for Oklahoma animals in the past two years include an eye-opening publication on the negative effects of pigs living in extreme confinement, a new volunteer-driven advocacy group uniting animal welfare proponents, and the fourth ANIMAL Conference, which welcomed 150 passionate champions. We also collaborated with the City of Oklahoma City to bring together animal welfare organizations and launch an initiative to address the overpopulation of cats and dogs. In 2024, the Oklahoma Animal Coalition was established as a volunteer-driven advocacy group, bringing together animal welfare leaders from across the state.

The Way Forward

In June 2024, the foundation released The Way Forward, a fifty-page booklet revealing the grim reality of the more than 450,000 pregnant pigs confined in small gestation crates across Oklahoma. Distributed in The Oklahoman and The New York Times, the report exposed an industry stuck in the past. While 40 percent of US sows live in humane group housing, Oklahoma’s farms remain dominated by foreign-owned companies still using gestation crates. With demand from major food companies such as McDonald’s, Target, Wendy’s, and Burger King, hundreds of large-scale pig operations across the Midwest have successfully moved to group sow housing. The report made it clear: moving away from intensive confinement operations is not only good for the pigs but also good for Oklahoma’s economy and people.

Buddy Clements of Clinton, Oklahoma, in 1956

Oklahomans have a long history of caring for pigs and sheep on family-owned farms. That all changed with the arrival of industrial-scale agriculture in the 1990s. It’s time for Oklahoma pork producers to free the pigs and end the inhumane treatment of animals.

With The Way Forward, the Kirkpatrick Foundation calls for pigs to be raised outside of cramped gestation crates, where they don’t even have room to turn around.

The Oklahoma City Louisa McCune Animal Welfare Center

A new Oklahoma City animal welfare center, named for Louisa McCune, Kirkpatrick Foundation’s executive director who died in 2024, will significantly strengthen the work of OKC Together for Pets. When Oklahoma City broke ground in February 2025, Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt recalled McCune’s bold 2018 campaign, “Paws for MAPS 4,” to secure funding for the shelter. Replacing the outdated 2001 facility, the center will expand space for adoptions, kennels, and veterinary care—enabling staff to better serve the city’s animals and their owners.

Architect’s rendering of the Oklahoma City Louisa McCune Animal Welfare Center

Joan Kirkpatrick Animal Hospital, Celebrating Ten Years

In 2015, Kirkpatrick Foundation donated $1 million to help establish the Joan Kirkpatrick Animal Hospital at the Oklahoma City Zoo in honor of the late Joan Kirkpatrick, who led the foundation as board member, president, and board chair. Since then, the twenty-thousandsquare-foot facility has become the heart of animal health at the zoo.

The outstanding care provided by the zoo has translated into a remarkable baby boom. In 2024 and 2025, newborn animals included an endangered François’ langur, an Asian elephant, an okapi, a zebra, and a giraffe. These new residents bring energy, hope, and a spotlight on the zoo’s mission to protect species and the habitats they call home.

ANIMAL Conference

The fourth ANIMAL Conference at the Oklahoma City Zoo in October 2024 united advocates, leaders, and volunteers from across the state in a shared commitment to animal welfare. Speakers included Katie Hawk from the Oklahoma Monarch Society and former Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson. Sessions addressed urgent issues, including the condition of Oklahoma’s animal shelters and the ethical implications of gestation crates for female pigs. The conference culminated with a keynote from biologist Doug Smith, renowned for leading the Yellowstone National Park wolf reintroduction project. Attendees drew inspiration from one another’s work and returned to their communities motivated to continue making a difference for animals.

While networking at the conference, representatives from the Oklahoma City Zoo, WildCare Oklahoma, and animal advocacy organizations from across Oklahoma discussed unifying animal welfare efforts statewide. The Oklahoma Animal Coalition later held its first official meeting and collaborated on two significant initiatives in 2025. The group contributed to an interim legislative study that examined the operational challenges and capacities of Oklahoma’s animal shelters. It also spearheaded Lights Out Oklahoma, a campaign to reduce nighttime artificial lighting to make the environment safer for migrating birds. The coalition continues to foster cross-sector collaboration and evidence-based approaches to improve the lives of animals.

OKC Together for Pets

The City of Oklahoma City and Kirkpatrick Foundation launched a collective impact effort in 2025 to create lasting change for animals, their people, and the organizations that serve them. OKC Together for Pets is working to reduce pet homelessness through early and equitable intervention, keep pets and families together without relying solely on shelters, foster collaboration through shared infrastructure and data, and improve both animal and human wellbeing by recognizing their deep interdependence. The result will be a movement toward a compassionate, coordinated, and effective approach to animal welfare.

Inger Giuffrida, WildCare Oklahoma executive director, at an Oklahoma Animal Coalition meeting

Katie Hawk, executive director of Oklahoma Monarch Society, speaks at ANIMAL 2024.

MEETING THE MOMENT

FOR MORE THAN TWELVE YEARS, CHANGE and growth are two concepts that ArtDesk magazine has embraced. The editorial board and staff regularly ask, What else can we do?, What makes this interesting?, and What would be better?

Initially envisioned on a park bench in Marfa, Texas, in a conversation between Louisa McCune and Christian Keesee, ArtDesk was born with a simple phrase, “Let’s make contemporary art accessible to everybody.”

Over the past two years, the magazine has introduced new ideas while never straying from our ideals. In 2025, the magazine’s editorial scope expanded to include investigative news stories through partnerships with nonprofit news outlets The Frontier and Investigate Midwest . These stories are in-depth features on subjects ranging from the lack of arts funding in Oklahoma public schools to pollution from poultry factory farms

in the Illinois River to foreign ownership of land in rural Oklahoma.

ArtDesk has taken its readership global with features on American Mississippi Choctaw Cherokee painter and sculptor Jeffrey Gibson at the Venice Biennale and contemporary land artist James Tapscott, whose work Arc ZERO appeared at Green Box Arts Festival. Covers have included major contemporary artist Jenny Holzer’s blockbuster exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum, Gillian Murphy’s final bow after twenty-nine years onstage for American Ballet Theatre, and the artwork of Hock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of Birds, whose first major retrospective at Oklahoma Contemporary drew record crowds.

ArtDesk Conversations, our ongoing series of panel discussions, artist talks, and gatherings curated to spark dialogue and connection, also expanded. In 2024, Pulitzer Prize-winning

television critic Emily Nussbaum and novelist Andrew Krivak participated in ArtDesk Conversations at the annual Green Box Arts Festival in Green Mountain Falls, Colorado. The magazine, in conjunction with National Public Radio affiliate KOSU, hosted a sold-out conversation in November 2025 with All Things Considered co-host Mary Louise Kelly. The conversation series has evolved to feature gatherings of contemporary artists, performers, and thinkers, with a July 2025 luncheon at the Santa Fe Opera with Robert Meya, general director, and Oklahoma City artists and friends, and a reception in December 2025 in South Beach, celebrating Miami Art Week.

ArtDesk prints eighty-two thousand copies each quarter and has added more than forty new distribution points, including museums in Arkansas, Colorado, and Texas, and four new school districts in the Oklahoma City area.

SHANE BEVEL

ANDREA JOHNSON

ArtDesk debuted its collaboration with Oklahoma nonprofit news organization The Frontier in 2025 with a report titled “Ill River, ” about contamination of the Illinois River by poultry farms.

An Oklahoma City Zoo grizzly bear featured in a community volunteer highlight

CLYFFORD STILL

PH-272 (1950)

The Clyfford Still Museum in Denver, Colorado

BOLSTERING THE FOURTH ESTATE

AT KIRKPATRICK FOUNDATION, WE believe a healthy, free, and independent press is foundational to an informed citizenry, ensuring a free exchange of ideas, strengthening democratic participation, creating accountability for public and elected officials, and serving the public interest.

As traditional revenue models continue to erode, combined with the recent elimination of federal funding for public broadcasting, philanthropy has become an increasingly important source of support for nonprofit journalism organizations.

During the last two years, Kirkpatrick Foundation has invested in investigative and watchdog reporting, pro bono legal support for journalists, infrastructure improvements for public radio, collaborative efforts to create new models of production and distribution, and internships for student journalists. In ArtDesk magazine, our quarterly publication dedicated to contemporary arts, performance, and thought, we have initiated collaborative partnerships with Oklahoma online news organizations that have reported on environmental issues, lack of arts funding in public schools, and foreign ownership of state lands.

“As media corporations consolidate—diminishing the independent voices of writers and

reporters—strengthening local, regional, and national reporting is more important than ever,” said Kelley Barnes, Kirkpatrick Foundation executive director. “We will continue to support media outlets whose primary mission is public service with a commitment to avoiding political and commercial influence.”

Grants to Nonprofit

Journalism Organizations in 2024–2025

• Frontier Media Group

• KGOU

• KOSU

• Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting

• Oklahoma Media Center

• Oklahoma Newspaper Foundation

• Oklahoma Watch

• Reporters’ Committee for Freedom of the Press

• Sustainable Journalism Foundation

dba NonDoc Media

• The Independent View

NPR All Things Considered co-host Mary Louise Kelly speaks with KOSU Executive Director Rachel Hubbard in an ArtDesk Conversation at Oklahoma City Community College in 2025.

MITCH

Environment and science reporter Chloe Bennett-Steele at KOSU Radio

Mary Louise Kelly of NPR

Oklahoma Newspaper Foundation

Founded in 1959, the Oklahoma Newspaper Foundation is dedicated to strengthening the state’s newspaper industry and quality of journalism. Through its annual internship program, the foundation promotes the value of working in Oklahoma news organizations while fostering college students beginning their professional careers. Support from Kirkpatrick Foundation made it possible to place summer interns in Oklahoma newsrooms where they received mentorship, constructive feedback, and hands-on experience from professional journalists. In smaller community news outlets, interns not only gain invaluable training but also help preserve resources while ensuring critical news coverage.

Reporters’ Committee for Freedom of the Press

With the sole purpose of providing pro bono legal services to journalists, the Reporters’ Committee for Freedom of the Press safeguards the right to gather and report news. Our grant funds supported the organization’s work to hold government accountable and protect access to public records, meetings, and courtrooms. By defending the principles of free speech and unfettered press, as guaranteed by the First Amendment, the committee ensures journalists in Oklahoma can pursue enterprise and investigative reporting without unnecessary obstruction. Legal action has been undertaken on behalf of Oklahoma news organizations to ensure transparency as they seek access to public records to conduct their work.

Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting

As an independent nonprofit newsroom, the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting serves the public as an independent watchdog dedicated to covering powerful agribusinesses through investigative, data-driven journalism. With a focus on the animal agriculture industry, including the impacts of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) and meatpacking plants, the center produces stories to inform the public, amplify underrepresented voices, and advance the importance of building a more humane and sustainable food system.

GIVING WITH PURPOSE

SINCE ITS BEGINNING IN 1955, KIRKPATRICK FOUNDATION HAS worked to improve the quality of life in our community and create lasting impact. During the past two years, grants totaling $5,011,323 supported 207 projects. As a result of strategic and sound financial investments—and a focus on the long term—our grant portfolio has increased over time. Founders John and Eleanor Kirkpatrick centered the work on a clear directive: improving life for people and animals and fostering care for natural and built environments. We remain dedicated to their principles.

Kirkpatrick Foundation grantmaking addresses five areas: arts and culture, education, animal wellbeing, environmental conservation, and historic preservation. Recent federal cuts have affected our areas of interest. While philanthropy alone cannot bridge these monumental funding gaps, we will continue consistent support, standing alongside partners and emboldening leaders.

We are pleased to share a sample of our investments made through grantmaking.

Unwanted, small senior dogs with chronic health conditions live their days in the best way possible at Happy Dog Farm in Jones, Oklahoma.

HOPE Crew

Hands-On Preservation Experience (HOPE) Crew, a program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, seeks to deepen historic preservation education by having youth learn the specific trades and craftsmanship required to restore historic sites. With support from Kirkpatrick Foundation, twenty students from Mid-Del Technology Center and Guthrie Job Corps acquired hands-on experience in preservation masonry while working on the W. H. Slaughter House in northeast Oklahoma City.

Paseo Artists Association

As the historic heart of the Oklahoma City arts community, the Paseo Arts District has a long and colorful history. Paseo Artists Association is telling that story in a forthcoming book. From dairy farm to failed shopping center to the arts district that it is today, documenting the history of this unique area preserves the cultural heritage and identity of this community. Recognizing the legacy of the Paseo Arts District provides educational insight while inspiring future generations of artists and creators.

ANIMAL WELLBEING EDUCATION

Center for a Humane Economy

Kirkpatrick Foundation support for animals extends beyond the world of shelters, rescues, and sanctuaries. From animal cruelty law enforcement to ending the extreme confinement of pigs and egg-laying hens, a grant to the Center for a Humane Economy will help support grassroots efforts to end cruelty to animals, which occurs in many forms, including cockfighting, testing, puppy mills, greyhound racing, and trophy hunting.

OK Messages Project and Friends for Folks

OK Messages Project, a literacy initiative, alleviates the adverse effect of parental incarceration. In the Friends for Folks program, Oklahoma correctional inmates train abandoned and abused dogs as companions for special needs owners. The two groups teamed up to provide four hundred copies of the bestselling children’s book Sarge: The Veteran’s Best Friend, by John Otto, DVM, and Payton Otto of Norman, for a reading at Mabel Bassett Correctional Center as a Christmas gift to children of incarcerated parents.

Alpha Community Foundation

In 2022, Alpha Community Foundation transformed a vacant elementary school in northeast Oklahoma City into the Garden Oaks Community Center. Hundreds of nearby students now have access to after-school tutoring, mentoring, STEAM camps, and more. A grant from Kirkpatrick Foundation helped launch the learning initiatives, which are offered to improve health outcomes, expand educational opportunities, promote civic engagement, and provide direct support to those in need.

Oklahoma City Public Schools Foundation

Kirkpatrick Foundation supports two initiatives benefiting Oklahoma City Public Schools. The Teacher Pipeline Program helps paraprofessionals and recent district graduates earn their degrees and become certified classroom teachers. ReadOKC On the Go! Book Buses visit each school in the district, and each student chooses a book to take home.

University of Oklahoma Hudson College of Public Health

A research team from the Departments of Occupational and Environmental Health and Biostatistics and Epidemiology is assessing the environmental and public health impacts of extreme animal confinement to quantify the effects of this practice on the air, water, and soil quality of the surrounding areas. They are sampling surface water, as well as municipal wastewater, through partnerships with approximately fifteen poultry and swine operations representing Oklahoma farms.

The Nature Conservancy

The Oklahoma chapter manages more than 120,000 acres on fifteen preserves throughout the state. Kirkpatrick Foundation supports infrastructural improvements and conservation easements with private landowners for Pearl Jackson Crosstimbers Preserve, a 12,000-acre mosaic of tall grass prairie and oak woodlands, and the Flint Hills Initiative, a project to conserve 165,000 acres of this bountiful wildlife habitat.

ARTS & CULTURE

Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Reference Library

This collection in the downtown Oklahoma City branch of the Metropolitan Library System features artist biographies, exhibit catalogs, overviews of art history, and highlights of specific movements in art history. The materials are gifted to the library by Kirkpatrick Foundation on an ongoing basis and supported by a grant to the Library Endowment Trust to expand the collection and offer programming to the community.

Santa Fe Opera

Kirkpatrick Foundation’s grant to the Santa Fe Opera helps to increase audiences through Opera in the Park and Opera on Screen, which provides a cinematic experience of opera performances in rural areas of New Mexico. The opera will expand beyond New Mexico for the first time in 2026, taking its broadcast of La bohème to the annual summer arts festival Green Box, in Green Mountain Falls, Colorado.

Music Will teaches students to play, perform, improvise, and compose using popular music that students choose.

KIRKPATRICK FOUNDATION GRANTS

In 2024–2025, Kirkpatrick Foundation granted $5,011,323, supporting 207 projects.

ANIMAL WELLBEING

1 Day Ranch Rescue

A Lab for Life

The Accountability Board

All Paws Rescue

Altus Animal Welfare Association

Americans for Oxford Animal Grantmakers

Animal Legal Defense Fund

Bella Foundation SPCA

Best Friends Animal Society

Center for a Humane Economy City Care

Crisis Control Center

Dogs on Deployment

Faunalytics

Free t o Live

Friends for Folks

Friends of the Shelter Foundation

Friends with Four Paws

Good Dogma

Greater Good

Happy Dog Farm Foundation

Horse and Hound Rescue

Foundation

House of Healing

The Humane League

Humane Society of Tulsa

King of Kings Lutheran

Church LCMS

Luvin Pawz Rescue

Meals on Wheels of Metro Tulsa

Misfits of Oz Farm Sanctuary

Morris Animal Foundation

Nexus Equine

Oklahoma Engineering Foundation

Oklahoma Humane Society

Oklahoma Primate Sanctuary

Oklahoma Zoological Society

Oliver and Friends

Farm Sanctuary

OU Medicine

Patrons of the Oklahoma City Animal Shelter

Pets and People Humane Society

Savannah Station Therapeutic Riding Program

Saving Pets at Risk

Second Chance

Thoroughbred Athletes

Tiny Paws Kitten Rescue

University of Oklahoma Foundation

WildCare Foundation

ARTS & CULTURE

A to Z Productions

Aalim Dance Academy

Austin Hartel Dance Company

Boys & Girls Club of Oklahoma County

Canterbury Voices

Central Oklahoma Dance Company

Cimarron Circuit Opera Company

Collective Arts Productions

Friends of the Upper East Side

Jazz in June

KCSC Classical Radio Foundation

Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma

Metro Youth Theatre of Oklahoma

Metropolitan School of Dance

MPT Foundation

Namron Players Theatre

NewView Oklahoma

Norman Arts and Humanities Council

Norman Ballet Company

Norman Cultural Connection

Oklahoma Arts Institute

Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center

Oklahoma Music Educators Association

Oklahoma Philharmonic Society

Opry Heritage Foundation of Oklahoma

The Performing Arts Studio

Pollard Theatre Company

Prairie Dance Theatre

RACE Dance Collective

Santa Fe Opera

Scissortail Park Foundation

Scissortail Productions

Southern Plains Productions

Southmoore Theatre Foundation

Southwestern Oklahoma State

University Foundation

Techlahoma Foundation

Teen Recovery Solutions

United Scottish Clans of Oklahoma

Watonga Community Theatre

EDUCATION

Alpha Community Foundation of Oklahoma

American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma Foundation

The Arc of Oklahoma

Association of Zoo Veterinary Technicians

Autism Foundation of Oklahoma

Beta Eta Lambda Scholarship Foundation

Black Liberated Arts Center

Chisholm Trail Heritage Center Association

Class Matters

Communities Foundation of Oklahoma

Criminal Justice and Mercy Ministries of Oklahoma

Cristo Rey Oklahoma City

Catholic High School

Dove Schools

El Sistema Oklahoma

Frontier Media Group

Generation Citizen

Goddard Youth Foundation

Great Expectations Foundation

Guide Dogs of the Desert

Harding Fine Arts Academy Foundation

Human Animal Link of Oklahoma Foundation

Jubilee Partners Association

Leadership Oklahoma League of Women Voters of Oklahoma

Library Endowment Trust of the Metropolitan Library System of Oklahoma County

Lilyfield

Loveworks Leadership

Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting

Millwood Public Schools

Music Will

Myriad Gardens Foundation

National Inventors Hall of Fame

OK Alliance for Arts

OK Music Educators

Oklahoma City Community College Foundation

Oklahoma City Police Athletic League

Oklahoma City Public Schools Foundation

Oklahoma City University

Oklahoma Lawyers for Children

Oklahoma Media Center

Oklahoma Newspaper Foundation

Oklahoma Romance Writers Guild

Oklahoma School of Science & Mathematics Foundation

Oklahoma State University Foundation

Oklahoma Watch

Opportunities Industrialization Center of Oklahoma County

Pets Helping People

Piedmont Public Schools

Education Foundation

Putnam City Public Schools Foundation

Raising a Reader

Redeeming the Family

Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press

RestoreOKC

Seas the Day Mobile Library

Sustainable Journalism Foundation dba NonDoc Media

Trinity School

University of Science & Arts of Oklahoma Foundation

ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION

Colorado Reptile Humane Society

The Nature Conservancy

Oklahoma Association for

Environmental Education

Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts

Oklahoma Clean Lakes and Watershed Association

Oklahoma Monarch Society

Spring Creek Coalition

University of Arkansas Foundation

Warriors to Bees

YMCA of Greater Oklahoma

HISTORIC PRESERVATION

Edmond Historical Society

Episcopal Diocese of Oklahoma

National Trust for Historic Preservation

Paseo Artists Association

Prague Historical Society

Weavers Guild of Oklahoma City

At Camp Invention from the National Inventors Hall of Fame, local teachers directed STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) activities for students in kindergarten through sixth grade.

KIRKPATRICK FOUNDATION

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Christian Keesee, Chairman

Max Weitzenhoffer, President

Rebecca McCubbin, Vice President

Joy Reed Belt, Secretary

Robert Clements, Treasurer

Robert Anthony

Aimee Harlow

Henry Hood

Amanda Kirkpatrick-Lawler

George Records

Glenna Tanenbaum

Elizabeth K. Eickman, Adviser

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Kelley Barnes

RED RIDGE BOARD OF GOVERNORS

Christian Keesee, Chairman

Elizabeth K. Eickman, Secretary

Kelley Barnes, Treasurer

RED RIDGE DEPUTY DIRECTOR

Lance Swearengin

KIRKPATRICK FOUNDATION STAFF

Kelley Barnes, Executive Director

Paris Burris, Editorial Assistant, ArtDesk

Brian Craven, Accountant

Susan Grossman, Senior Program Officer

Manda Overturf Shank, Program Officer

April Marciszewski, Kirkpatrick Senior Editor

Alana Ruiz de la Peña, Managing Editor, ArtDesk

Senka Stevenson, Executive Assistant and Office Manager

Owen Weitzenhoffer, Arts and Culture Associate

“At Kirkpatrick Foundation, we are actively going out and seeking change in the way animals are treated in Oklahoma. We should all be kind to each other and to our fellow earthlings. As philosopher Peter Singer said: ‘There’s no reason to say humans have more worth or moral status than animals. We have to speak up on behalf of those who cannot speak for themselves.’”

—Christian Keesee, Chairman

Christian Keesee Charitable Trust

Focusing on music, dance, opera, and architectural integrity in Oklahoma City, New York, and London, we work to help create moments of artistic beauty.

Collared Forest Falcon

This bird acts with precision and symbolizes vision, focus, and forward thinking.

Christian Keesee Charitable Trust

FROM THE FOUNDER

SUPPORTING WONDERFUL CAUSES brings so much joy. The Christian Keesee Charitable Trust was designed for philanthropy beyond the focus areas of the Kirkpatrick Foundation and Kirkpatrick Family Fund. As time marches on, however, we find the three philanthropies entering into a harmonious conversation, with our grantees working together for even greater artistic and cultural impact.

These past two years, it has been satisfying to see and support the outstanding work of the Tate galleries and Garsington Opera in England, Oklahoma City University’s art gallery, KEIGWIN + COMPANY at Hudson River Park in Manhattan, and the new Arboretum Collaborative across four sites in Oklahoma City.

The charitable trust works to amplify the impact of these organizations for their audiences. Each of them exemplifies values the trust holds dear: artistic excellence and deep community ties. We invest in the cultural lives of communities we know and love, and we approach our philanthropy with purpose, care, and a deep respect for our long-term responsibility.

I hope our work inspires you to stand up for the causes you believe in. It makes a difference.

CHRISTIAN KEESEE

STEWARDING THE ECOSYSTEM

BUR OAKS SOAR MORE THAN SIXTY feet into the air at Red Ridge Nature Preserve in Oklahoma City. Oaks, elms, and Chinese pistaches frame a pastoral setting at Mollie Spencer Farm in Yukon, Oklahoma. Red oaks and pecans line Broadway Avenue in Campbell Art Park in downtown Oklahoma City, adjacent to Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center, and an American elm stands sentry to a garden oasis at Park House in Nichols Hills, Oklahoma.

Together, these four interconnected (but not attached) Oklahoma City metropolitan-area properties constitute the Arboretum Collaborative, which achieved Level 1 accreditation from ArbNet in 2025 based on a number of factors. Only four other organizations in Oklahoma held accredited status from ArbNet’s worldwide accreditation program as of March 2026. The prestigious Morton Arboretum—just west of Chicago, Illinois—established the accreditation process.

The designation marks the properties’ commitment to protecting and studying Oklahoma native trees, along with professionally documenting the Kirkpatrick Tree Collection. Accreditation also makes it easier to share knowledge and collaborate with fellow aboreta.

The Arboretum Collaborative boasts seventynine species of trees, far surpassing the minimum of twenty-five required for accreditation. This “living museum” is dedicated to increasing its tree collection and advancing biodiversity. Through common association with the Kirkpatrick family, each property shares the common values of animal well-being and historic preservation. Each is open to the public from time to time during the year.

In 2028, we look forward to the Eleanor Kirkpatrick Garden and Great Lawn at SSM Health St. Anthony Hospital in downtown Oklahoma City joining our efforts.

As the properties add to the tree collection, they will make use of native species to provide food and shelter for local wildlife. For example, one native oak tree can host more than 500 species of butterflies and moths, which serve as pollinators—and as critical food for songbirds.

Additional trees will also decrease the surrounding temperature, providing a thermal refuge in Oklahoma City, and generate oxygen. Lance Swearengin, deputy director of Red Ridge Nature Preserve, sees visitors marvel at the old-growth post oaks and blackjack oaks, which have grown undisturbed for decades, right in the middle of the city.

“My hope,” he said, “is that it will inspire people to conserve the trees we have now, plant trees for the next generation, and see trees as living organisms worth protecting. When you look at a tree, you see birds, caterpillars, bugs—the whole habitat is alive and functioning.”

American elm at Park House

Red Ridge bur oak

Mollie Spencer Farm

LET’S MAKE A DANCE

LARRY KEIGWIN IMAGINES A WORLD where everyone dances joyfully and builds community along the way.

In fall 2025, KEIGWIN + COMPANY invited the public to create Sundown Dances together for free at Hudson River Park in Manhattan, continuing the dance company’s ethos of community-based work.

Several dozen community members—anyone who wanted in—embarked on a several-week “playful choreographic process” for Rhapsody The original Rhapsody debuted in 2022 at

Rhapsody in Domino Park

Domino Park in Brooklyn, where K+C Producer Andrea Lodico said the dance “took on a roving quality” because the park was long and narrow.

“Each dance is inspired by the participants and what’s unique about their community,” Lodico said. “Each time we do this, I feel newly affirmed about the impact of this kind of work, where participants step into an experience where they might feel a little bit nervous. They take a risk, and then they go on to have this extraordinary experience where they’re performing alongside professional dancers and doing something creative.”

Keigwin described the 2025 iteration—K+C’s fifth version—of Rhapsody as rhythmic, borrowing beats from Africa, Brazil, and Latin America.

“This Rhapsody is more endurance: sweaty, smiling, and sure,” he said.

On performance days, movement kicked off with an all-ages Let’s Make a Dance class. Then 2nd Best Dance Company and Brooklyn United Marching Band performed, Rhapsody premiered to live music from percussion trio CHAIN, and the community celebrated with a dance party.

“There is something I find completely capti-

vating about seeing other people’s joy,” Keigwin said. “We are rooted in the joy of dance.”

K+C recognizes the mental and physical health benefits of dance and believes anyone can dance, Keigwin and Lodico said. Sundown Dances, in particular, also celebrated parks.

“We bring folks together in a celebration of shared space and shared experience,” Lodico said. “It’s so valuable to have an experience where you get to be creative and get to revel in the joy of dancing. The community remains after the project has wrapped up.”

Rhapsody in Domino Park

Rhapsody in Brooklyn Bridge Park

OPERA IN STYLE

AN HOUR FROM LONDON IN THE rolling Chiltern Hills, a largely transparent opera pavilion of hardwood, steel, and fabric nestles into the grounds at Wormsley, a Getty family private residence. The award-winning, lightweight pavilion was designed to be packed away at the conclusion of each Garsington Opera summer festival, but fans loved it so much that it

has stayed—and the opera’s footprint at Wormsley has expanded.

In 2024, Garsington Studios opened, ushering in on-site community workshops, rehearsal and recording spaces, and new opportunities for community to build around the arts. “We provide a bold and ambitious participatory program” for adults, young people, schools,

and professionals, according to the opera. “We use opera as a medium to improve emotional well-being and to champion the vital benefit of musical engagement.”

In December 2025, the opera debuted its winter concert series, presented at Garsington Studios in partnership with London’s Wigmore Hall. One month prior, the opera welcomed new

Garsington Opera’s pavilion

Eighteenth-century walled garden

L’elisir d’amore

Executive Director Ben Weston, a seasoned arts and classical music television producer.

The United Kingdom’s The i Paper reported in 2024 that “Garsington has established itself as the most stylish and adventurous of Britain’s country-house opera companies.”

Each performance begins with the grounds opening to guests several hours in advance. Dressed in black tie, they can enjoy high tea, take in the cricket field, and walk the gardens, designed to evoke the opera’s original setting in Oxfordshire. Leonard and Rosalind Ingrams founded the opera in 1989 at their home, Garsington Manor. They hosted “popular and experimental opera, accompanied by picnic and tea tents,” according to the

UK’s Architects’ Journal. Following Mr. Ingrams’s death, the opera moved to Wormsley in 2011.

Snell Associates architects elevated the opera pavilion so it appears to float, and the structure features Japanese-inspired external sliding screens. Verandas and a bridge link the pavilion to the landscape, with woodlands and a lake embracing the performance hall.

The opera has partnered with Philharmonia Orchestra and the English Concert, as well as working with high-profile performers and the Garsington Opera Chorus, largely filled with singers just out of music conservatories. The summer lineup often includes a Mozart opera. Each performance includes a dinner interval,

with options including a fine-dining restaurant, catered picnic hampers, private dining locations, and bring-your-own picnic spots.

In 2024, Garsington allocated 11 percent of tickets to young people and those experiencing barriers to attendance, believing that “opera should be accessible to all ages and backgrounds.”

Weston, having experienced Garsington Opera as a guest for more than twenty years, told the UK publication Classical Music he was “delighted … to help shape the future of the company: presenting exceptional opera, increasing opportunities to nurture the UK’s artistic and technical workforce, and inspiring the widest possible audience through this great art form.”

THE LIGHT FANTASTIC

THE HALOGENS FLIP ON, SMOKE DRIFTS IN, AND THE artwork emerges: a perfect one-meter cube framed by light. Reflections visually lift the piece in space, while the mechanism—metal light fixtures— complete the artwork with shadows on surrounding walls.

1m3 light by Olafur Eliasson speaks to the artist’s use of light, water, geometry, and science in public and installation art. This piece exhibited at Oklahoma City University’s Nona Jean Hulsey Art Gallery in fall 2025 after having previously shown in Green Mountain Falls, Colorado; the Museum of Modern Art PS1 in Queens, New York; and art centers in Germany.

In 1m3 light, lights delineate the cube, resulting in a minimal and conceptual—yet beautiful—piece. As the haze rolls in and dissipates, the clarity of the cube waxes and wanes.

For the opening reception, musicians Christina Giacona and Patrick Conlon, with their ensemble Onyx Lane, performed a truncated version of their album inspired by Eliasson’s artwork. Kirkpatrick Family Fund supported the collaborative music project through the University of Central Oklahoma, where Conlon teaches, and the 2020 pandemic provided the

musicians with a much longer timeline, allowing them to expand their originally planned soundscape for 1m3 light into the full-length album Cube of Light.

Giacona and Conlon were inspired by the early twentieth century avantgarde Italian Futurist cinema manifesto and developed three short films, also shown at the OCU gallery, to accompany Eliasson’s work.

OCU hosted four packed events during the exhibition, Obscured Images. The show also featured the platinum prints of Stillwater, Oklahoma, artist Andy Mattern, whose photography works are held in the permanent collections of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and others.

“1m3 is, in its own way, a performance piece,” said Heather Lunsford, OCU gallery director. Combined with Mattern’s static images, the Onyx Lane videos, and the live musical performances, the show offered a range of ways to engage with and understand the art.

1m3 light “is a very serious piece and almost stoic in its own way,” Lunsford said. “The music disarms people and makes it so relatable and so human.”

1m3 light by Olafur Eliasson, exhibited at Oklahoma City University’s Nona Jean Hulsey Art Gallery in fall 2025.

Installation photography of Anthony McCall: Solid Light exhibition at Tate Modern, June 27, 2024–June 29, 2025.

© Anthony McCall

ARTISTIC OPPORTUNITIES

OKLAHOMA WELCOMED THE TATE Americas Foundation in February 2025, as its North American Acquisitions Committee conducted site visits and research into art and opportunities in Oklahoma and Arkansas.

Tate consists of four major United Kingdom galleries and additional exhibits showcasing British art from the sixteenth century to the present, along with international modern and contemporary art. Tate Americas Foundation supports the work of Tate in the UK, and the committee helps Tate acquire major works of art by American and Canadian artists.

The committee had an in-depth visit to Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center, solidifying Tate Modern’s upcoming loan of the Anthony McCall exhibit Solid Light to Oklahoma Contemporary. The Oklahoma show is planned for March 13–July 27, 2026. It recently showed at Tate Modern in 2024 and 2025.

While in Oklahoma, the committee also visited sculptor Raven Halfmoon’s studio in Norman. In Arkansas, the group experienced James Turrell’s SkySpace, The Way of Color and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Bachman-Wilson House, both on the grounds of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville.

Capping the visit, the group had a celebratory dinner at Park House in Nichols Hills, Oklahoma.

Tate is committed to art of the past, present, and future—and helping the public enjoy and understand it.

Members of the Tate Americas Foundation enjoy a celebratory dinner at Park House.

To provide attentive and personalized services to a diverse customer base, provide meaningful employment to our employees, enhance the economic viability of the communities we serve, and consistently provide above-peer returns to our shareholders.

Abeille’s Oriole

The oriole is often seen as a symbol of hope, good fortune, and transformation.

The new Kirkpatrick Bank location, which opened in 2025 at the Denver Tech Center

FROM THE PRESIDENT & CEO

KIRKPATRICK BANK EXPERIENCED two solid years in 2024 and 2025, advancing our standards of stability and growth. For 2025, assets climbed 4.5 percent to finish the year at $1.038 billion. Since year-end 2023, total assets have grown $67.5 million.

In keeping with our commitment to further economic growth within our markets of Oklahoma and Colorado, we provided new loans to businesses and individuals totaling over $150 million during 2025, with total loans outstanding growing $90 million over the past two years.

Earnings for 2025 were up just under 9 percent, driven by higher net interest income. Capitalization remains stout, with total capital ranking in the top 70 percent of peer banks, and asset quality is healthy, ranking in the top 5 percent of peers.

This past year, we expanded our footprint in Colorado, opening a new loan and deposit production office in north Colorado Springs, opening a new loan production office in Boulder, and relocating our full-service Denver branch from the north side of downtown Denver to the Denver Tech Center.

Kirkpatrick Bank celebrated fifty-five years of business in 2025. Looking back at my three-plus decades at Kirkpatrick Bank, I am so grateful for and so proud of our past and present board of directors and staff for their continuous commitment to our core values of integrity, respect,

credibility, urgency, and transparency and how these values remain a fundamental component of our achievements and service to our clients and communities. As I prepare to step down as president and chief executive officer of Kirkpatrick Bank in 2026, I do so with unwavering confidence that our current board and staff and those to follow will continue to embrace and instill our core values in all we do, leading Kirkpatrick Bank forward to newer and greater heights.

GEORGE DREW

DYNAMIC GROWTH

THE PAST YEAR HAS BEEN ONE OF the most exciting and transformative chapters in my professional life, as well as a period of strong growth for our Colorado market. After spending fifteen years with my previous employer, I made the leap to join Kirkpatrick Bank—a decision driven by a desire to align with a team and culture that prioritizes service, responsiveness, and community. From the moment I arrived, I was energized by the caliber of our employees and their unwavering commitment to customer service. It’s rare to find a workplace where “service first” isn’t just a slogan—it’s a shared value. Our Colorado market continues to expand at a dynamic pace. We’ve made strategic investments

in talent, adding key business development roles in both cash management and lending. These additions have strengthened our ability to meet the evolving needs of our clients and deepen relationships across sectors. One of the most impactful changes has been the opening of our full-service branch in the Denver Tech Center. This new location is a significant upgrade from our previous location and reflects our commitment to accessibility, community, and growth in the Denver area.

Each of our three Colorado markets—Denver, Colorado Springs, and Westcliffe—is showing strong performance and a deepening connection to the communities we serve. Our team members in every region bring critical expertise and a shared dedication to personalized service. As a smaller regional institution, we benefit from the agility and flexibility to respond quickly to market changes and advocate effectively for our customers.

We’re also expanding our capabilities through a growing partnership with Fulcrum Wealth Management–Raymond James. This collaboration allows us to offer trust and investment management services, providing our clients with a more comprehensive suite of financial solutions. Looking ahead, I’m excited about what’s next. With a strong team, a clear strategy, and a culture rooted in service and community, Kirkpatrick Bank is well-positioned to continue its upward trajectory in Colorado. I’m proud to be part of this team—and even more proud of the impact we’re making together.

MIKE STEPPENBACKER

Colorado Springs bank location

BANKING ON RESILIENCE

Local and bank leaders gather for Kirkpatrick Bank’s Denver ribbon-cutting.

THIS FALL, DENVER’S MAYOR, LEADERS, AND citizens gathered to fete the newest Kirkpatrick Bank location—and the bank’s fifty-fifth anniversary. Chairman Christian Keesee, President George Drew, and President-elect Kyle Powell were in attendance. It was a special day.

“Our success depends on your success,” Keesee told the crowd, “and we look forward to the opportunity to serve you.”

Keesee’s family history in banking started with his great-great-grandfather Samuel Diggs Blake, a man eager to start his own businesses on the Texas frontier after the Civil War. In 1888, after ventures in wholesale clothing and groceries, he led the family’s foray into banking, forging a tradition of service lasting more than 137 years.

Blake, who opened a new business as late as his sixties, passed his ambition and acumen to his equally determined son, Mack Blake. The younger Blake joined an investment group to found Liberty National Bank of Oklahoma City in 1918.

Within fifteen years, the Great Depression was strangling the American economy, and Liberty was on the brink of collapse. Mack Blake—with a wife, daughter, and mercantile empire—mortgaged his own home and cashed in his personal insurance policies, convincing fellow board members to chip in, too, a gamble that kept Liberty alive when so many other financial institutions fell.

That kind of grit set the tone for what would become a family tradition of commitment to community—first by the Blakes and then the Kirkpatricks as the family expanded.

In 1932, then-U.S. Navy ensign John Kirkpatrick returned to Oklahoma to marry the Blakes’ daughter, Eleanor, and quickly became Blake’s protégé.

After Blake’s death in 1947, Kirkpatrick spent four decades leading the bank, one of Oklahoma’s most powerful financial players in the early 1970s. Oil prices collapsed in 1981, Penn Square Bank imploded in 1982, and by 1988, only two of Oklahoma’s ten largest banks remained. Liberty, verging on failure, nearly sold to a national company. The Kirkpatricks, with their daughter, Joan Kirkpatrick, and grandson, Christian Keesee, voted to put $20 million of their own money into saving the bank, keeping it locally owned. The plan worked.

Meanwhile, a new generation—represented by the young, ambitious Keesee—was readying to take the helm. He’d spent summers working his way up from the mail room to bookkeeping at local banks. In 1988, at twenty-four, Keesee acquired an interest in American Bancorp of Edmond, which would eventually merge with Intermountain Bank of Colorado Springs, becoming

Kirkpatrick Bank, named to honor Keesee’s grandfather. Today, the bank boasts additional flagships in Oklahoma City and Colorado Springs; locations in Boulder and Westcliffe, Colorado; and its new highlight in Denver.

With new plans on the horizon, Kirkpatrick Bank leaders hearken back to lessons of the past. Keesee described a paramount focus on maintaining a “fortress balance sheet” as the bank deepens its kinship to Oklahoma and Colorado communities.

TOP TALENT

IN 2025, KIRKPATRICK BANK WELCOMED leaders who immediately began strengthening the bank’s growth and service to communities.

Todd Glass, J.D., joined the bank in December 2025 as executive vice president and head of Oklahoma lending after serving for more than a

decade as a partner and investment committee member for a real estate investment company based in Oklahoma City.

Glass previously served as director of real estate for a large energy company and held positions in banking and real estate brokerage services.

The bank appointed two new board members in 2025: Elizabeth Mee Payne, J.D., and LaDonna Sinning, MBA. Their appointments reflect Kirkpatrick Bank’s ongoing commitment to strengthening its board with experienced leaders who bring diverse expertise and a passion to serve the community.

Payne brings more than three decades of experience in legal practice, corporate leadership, and academic administration, along with a strong history of civic leadership.

She was the first woman in executive management at both Oklahoma Publishing Company and Advanced Financial Solutions. At Oklahoma State University, she taught entrepreneurship, managed strategic relationships, and directed the Spears School of Business mentoring program.

“Elizabeth’s extensive legal background and her proven leadership in both corporate and academic settings make her an invaluable addition to our board,” Keesee said.

Sinning joined the board with more than thirty years of experience in public accounting

Todd Glass, J.D.

Elizabeth Mee Payne, J.D.

Colorado Springs bank location

LEADERSHIP OKC

Kirkpatrick Bank is proud to have strong representation in Leadership OKC, an organization that develops leaders for civic service. Its Signature program elevates experienced leaders, and the LOYAL program—Linking Oklahoma’s Young Adult Leaders—serves ages twenty-three to thirty-five. Current and past participants from the bank include:

Jim Shane, Signature graduate

Blake Overland, Signature participant

Kathy Frankenfield, Signature graduate, past alumni president, and current board development chair

Gina Britt, LOYAL graduate

Tyler Kirkpatrick, LOYAL graduate

Kyle Powell, LOYAL and Signature graduate

and bank regulation. Her addition strengthens the bank’s governance with comprehensive expertise in audit, financial reporting, and regulatory compliance.

Sinning previously worked as a bank examiner for the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City,

where she served as the central contact for the five largest banks in Oklahoma, led training sessions for bank boards, and reviewed banks’ audited financial statements. Her exceptional work earned national recognition. The former president of a public accounting firm, Sinning oversaw the company’s tripling in size.

“Sinning’s integrity, strategic insight, and deep understanding of financial statements and internal control systems have made her a trusted adviser and valuable asset to management teams throughout her career,” said Kirkpatrick Bank President and CEO George Drew.

“Her unique combination of regulatory experience and private sector success will provide valuable perspective as we navigate an increasingly complex financial landscape,” Keesee said.

Longtime Kirkpatrick Bank board member and employee Robert R. “Bob” Kirby retired in 2025 after fifty years of service.

“During his tenure, he has helped thousands of individuals and businesses achieve their financial goals, contributing greatly to both the growth of

Kirkpatrick Bank and the communities the bank serves,” said Christian Keesee, board chairman.

“Mr. Kirby is a man of the highest level of character and integrity.”

MATTHEW JACKSON SHEVAUN WILLIAMS

Robert R. “Bob” Kirby

LaDonna Sinning, MBA

CELEBRATING COMMUNITY

KIRKPATRICK BANK SUPPORTS

clients and community nonprofits connected to our clients and employees, whether through board membership or personal impact. The bank counts many nonprofits as clients and prioritizes giving back to their missions. For example, radio station KCME banks with Kirkpatrick, and besides direct sponsorship, the bank provides a donation to a different nonprofit each month to advertise on KCME. We are proud to do our part to make our communities vibrant and strong.

LEFT PAGE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT:

Cash McEachern participates in the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon 5K. Melissa McGregor and her family celebrate with the Kirkpatrick Bank float in the Edmond LibertyFest Fourth of July parade. The bank has packed a float with employees for seventeen years.

Kirkpatrick Bank sponsored the 2025 Breakfast of Champions benefiting the Peak Valley Community Health Centers Foundation, a new bank client in Colorado. Here, Lisa Rutherford, senior vice president at the bank, meets keynote speaker and Olympic legend Carl Lewis. The event raised money for medical, dental, and behavioral health services for patients without insurance.

Kirkpatrick Bank Danforth celebrates its grand reopening—following a remodel and expansion— with a ribbon-cutting in August 2024.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP:

Dee Shaver, Colorado mortgage lending processor, presents scholarships on behalf of Kirkpatrick Bank at an awards ceremony in Westcliffe.

Employees represent the bank’s sponsorship of the new Midtown Oklahoma City event Winter Wonderland, benefiting the local nonprofit Boys & Girls Clubs of Oklahoma County.

Left to right: President George Drew, event speaker Steve Agee, President-elect Kyle Powell, and Chairman Christian Keesee at the bank’s fifty-fifth anniversary celebration.

Doris Rigoni, Denver market president, is recognized for the bank’s three-year commitment to sponsoring the University of Colorado Real Estate Forum.

of December 31, 2025

OF CONDITION

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Craig M. Boelte, CPA

George Drew, Kirkpatrick Bank

John D. Garrison, CPA

Christian K. Keesee, Kirkpatrick Family Fund

Elizabeth Mee Payne, J.D.

LaDonna Sinning, CPA

Trenton Stafford, Kirkpatrick Bank

David L. Sutter, Kirkpatrick Bank, retired

EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP

Christian Keesee, Chairman of the Board

George Drew, President & CEO

Kyle Powell, President-Elect

Trenton Stafford, Senior Executive Vice President & Chief Lending Officer

James A. Shane, Senior Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer

Blake Overland, Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer

Grace Meyer, Senior Vice President, Corporate Secretary

In 2025, we reflected on fifty-five years of bold decisions and relationships that continue to shape who we are today. Some of the best moments have come from showing up for the community and celebrating together. We have a passion for local banking and a focus on helping families, businesses, and communities thrive.

The Kirkpatrick Oil & Gas Company and Kirkpatrick Oil Company endeavor to profitably increase our energy reserves and production in a safe, environmentally responsible manner for the benefit of our shareholders, employees, and community.

Flint-Billed Woodpecker

In tune with nature’s rhythms, the woodpecker symbolizes persistence, opportunity, and resilience.

Drilling the Carolyn Kay 1-4CH oil well in Logan County, Oklahoma

FROM THE PRESIDENT & CFO

THE US OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY finds itself in a period of transition, with producers navigating a complex landscape shaped by market fluctuations, regulatory changes, and emerging technological advancements. Operators must focus on efficiency, sustainability, and innovation, as well as contend with a shifting geopolitical climate and consumer demand.

One of the most pressing issues for producers is the volatility of global oil prices. While the US has achieved energy independence and has seen significant growth in domestic oil production in recent years, commodity pricing remains susceptible to fluctuations driven by international events and decisions made by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. This price volatility can make it difficult to forecast revenue and plan long-term investment strategies. While no strategy can fully mitigate the volatility risk, Kirkpatrick Oil Company has a strong history of hedging commodity risk to ensure more predictable revenue flows and continued this trend through 2025.

On the upside, the market for natural gas in the United States has seen a resurgence due to the increase in demand from new liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facilities. Additionally, the increase in electricity needed to fuel data centers for the growing artificial intelligence industry is increasing demand on the electrical grid, which natural gas helps fuel. This highlights the advantages of diversified production between oil and gas to mitigate risks associated with downturns in any one commodity’s price. With a strong split of oil versus gas production, Kirkpatrick Oil is well-positioned to withstand the downside risk in any one commodity.

During 2024 and 2025, we continued our pursuit of strategic long-term growth by developing our acreage through drilling as well as acquiring opportunities to recomplete older wellbores by coming uphole to tap previously

untouched potential. We also continued to pursue opportunities to acquire producing properties as strategic bolt-on volumes to our existing production base.

For 2026, we look for oil to remain uncertain as stocks are projected to be oversupplied and global forces battle for market share. Conversely, the natural gas outlook should remain positive over the next few years as a result of increased LNG export capacity. Kirkpatrick will continue to make strategic and targeted moves based on real-time data as the market evolves, with an eye fixed on growth and continued financial stability. While market volatility can be concerning, it can also provide opportunities for companies like Kirkpatrick Oil that have a strong financial position. We are confident that with the talented employees of this company, we will continue to thrive and grow throughout the coming years.

ACQUISITION AND GROWTH ACTIVITY

AS PART OF ITS ONGOING GROWTH strategy, Kirkpatrick Oil Company remains dedicated to identifying drilling and recompletion prospects as well as pursuing acquisition opportunities for producing properties in our areas of operations.

Strategic acquisitions have always been an important part of our company’s history. Acquisitions can enhance our portfolio with established production streams, providing immediate cash flow as well as the opportunity for operational efficiencies. We maintain our focus on acquiring assets in our target area of the Mid-Continent region, with proven reserves and potential for long-term production, ensuring a stable and sustainable revenue stream for years to come.

In addition to acquisitions, the company continues to seek out high-quality drilling and recompletion opportunities. This commitment to strategic drilling and the tapping of previously undeveloped reservoirs enables the company to increase its reserves and production base for long-term sustainability.

We continue to pursue opportunities to partner with other operators or prospect generators to enhance our drilling inventory and production volumes. Kirkpatrick Oil primarily operates in the Mid-Continent and targets crude oil drilled above 12,000 feet. While our focus is on vertical development, we also pursue horizontal opportunities

and have drilled and/or participated in several horizontal projects.

If you have a prospect you believe would be a good fit and are looking for a partner to help with development, please contact

ALISON CADENA Vice President–Land and Business Development acadena@kirkpatrickoil.com

Kirkpatrick Oil Company offices in Oklahoma City. In the foreground, Sleeping Dragon by the artist Kenneth Snelson.

ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENTS

KIRKPATRICK OIL COMPANY HAS LONG RECOGNIZED the importance of diversifying its portfolio beyond the traditional oil and gas industry. In recent years, the company has strategically expanded into alternative investments, focusing on areas such as venture capital, real estate, and public and private equities. Alternative investments are designed to reduce risk and provide more stable revenue streams, particularly during volatile energy markets. These investments, in combination with our strategic commodities hedging strategy, allow us to create a solid and predictable base of cash flow that also provides opportunity for value growth. This approach ensures the company remains resilient and adaptable to changes in the business environment.

By collaborating with industry experts, we gain access to a valuable stream of resources and deal flow that would otherwise be beyond our reach without diverting attention from our core business of developing and producing oil and gas reserves. While our primary focus remains managing and expanding our reserves, we will continue to explore diversified investment opportunities that we believe will add value for our shareholders.

If you have an investment opportunity that you believe would be a good fit, please contact

Melinda Merideth President & Chief Financial Officer mmerideth@kirkpatrickoil.com

HELGA ANGLIN RETIREMENT

AFTER NINETEEN YEARS OF DEDIcated service, Helga Anglin retired from Kirkpatrick Oil Company in April 2024, marking the end of an era. Serving as the office and contracts manager, Anglin was the cornerstone of the administrative operations, managing day-to-day activities that kept the office running smoothly. Her meticulous attention to detail and exceptional organizational skills allowed the company to maintain a seamless workflow for nearly two decades. She was more than just an office manager—she became a trusted figure in the office, known for her reliability and unwavering commitment to ensuring that every task, from managing documents to scheduling, was completed with precision.

In addition to serving as office manager, Anglin was instrumental in the company’s oil and gas marketing efforts. She brought expertise in negotiating and monitoring the terms of purchase contracts while also managing vital relationships with the company’s direct product buyers.

Anglin’s retirement was a bittersweet moment for her colleagues at Kirkpatrick Oil. Over the years, she built lasting friendships and played a pivotal role in fostering a positive work environment. As she has stepped into the next chapter of her life, the company and its employees have missed her presence, but her legacy of hard work, dedication, and professionalism will continue to inspire her colleagues for years to come.

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

KIRKPATRICK OIL COMPANY PRIDES ITSELF ON BEING ACTIVE AND engaged in the Oklahoma community, consistently giving back in meaningful ways. One of the company’s most impactful initiatives is its longstanding partnership with the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma. Employees volunteer their time to help sort and package food for distribution to families in need. This hands-on involvement not only helps provide essential meals to thousands of Oklahomans facing food insecurity, but it also fosters a spirit of collaboration and compassion among the staff. It’s a testament to the company’s deep commitment to addressing local challenges and supporting those who are less fortunate.

Another cornerstone of Kirkpatrick Oil’s community engagement is its annual participation in blood drives. By partnering with organizations such as the Oklahoma Blood Institute, the company facilitates employee donations and encourages others to join in this life-saving initiative. These blood drives have been crucial in ensuring that local hospitals and medical facilities have the resources they need to care for patients experiencing emergencies or undergoing critical procedures.

During the holiday season, Kirkpatrick Oil supports the Angels Foster Family Network, which provides gifts to children and families in need. Employees sponsor children, purchasing toys and clothing to make the holidays brighter for those less fortunate.

Additionally, the company supports the United Way of Central Oklahoma’s fundraising campaign, where employees participate in a month-long inter-departmental competition to raise money for the organization. Kirkpatrick Oil’s support of the United Way helps families avoid homelessness, children receive mentorship, and children find placement in supportive foster homes. Their stories are our stories, too.

Whether through volunteering, charitable giving, or fundraising efforts, Kirkpatrick Oil’s commitment to improving the lives of its neighbors is evident year-round, demonstrating the company’s belief in making a positive, lasting impact on the community.

Whether through volunteering, charitable giving, or fundraising efforts, Kirkpatrick Oil Company’s commitment to improving the lives of its neighbors is evident yearround, demonstrating the company’s belief in making a positive, lasting impact on the community.

“Guardians of the Community” United Way campaign

Cowboy Volunteer Day at Regional Food Bank

LEADERSHIP

Melinda Merideth

President & Chief Financial Officer

Melinda Merideth joined Kirkpatrick Oil Company in 2022 as president and chief financial officer. Merideth has more than two decades of experience in accounting, finance, corporate development, and risk management. She began her career with KPMG, serving domestic and international clients in a range of industries before transitioning her focus to the oil and gas industry. She is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma with a Bachelor of Accountancy and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Management Information Systems. Merideth is a certified public accountant and a member of the Petroleum Alliance of Oklahoma.

Alison Cadena

Vice President–Land & Acquisitions

Alison Cadena joined Kirkpatrick Oil Company in 2008 and serves as vice president–land and acquisitions. Her career at Kirkpatrick Oil encompasses all facets of land work, with exposure to activities in other departments. Cadena graduated with a Bachelor of Science from Oklahoma State University in 2007. She is currently a member of the American Association of Professional Landmen, the Oklahoma City Association of Professional Landmen, the Petroleum Alliance of Oklahoma, and ADAM-OKC Energy Network.

Tyson Mosley

Reservoir Engineer

Tyson Mosley joined Kirkpatrick Oil Company in 2025 as a reservoir engineer. He brings more than twenty-five years of experience in petroleum and reservoir engineering, with a strong track record of delivering technical and strategic value across diverse plays. Mosley began his career with Shell Oil Company, where he focused on projects in the Gulf of Mexico before expanding his expertise to the Anadarko and Permian Basins. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Petroleum Engineering from Texas A&M University. Mosley is an active member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers and the Petroleum Alliance of Oklahoma.

Roman Mauer

Production Engineering Supervisor

Roman Mauer joined Kirkpatrick Oil Company in 2025 as production engineering supervisor. He began his career at PostRock Energy as a field engineer, and subsequently followed the company’s assets to River Rock Operating, a subsidiary of Cardinal River Energy, where he oversaw oil and gas operations for both companies. Mauer has more than a decade of experience in oil and gas production, safety, artificial lift, failure analysis, and managerial-level budgeting. He is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma with a Bachelor of Science in Petroleum Engineering and is a member of the Petroleum Alliance of Oklahoma.

CHARLIE NEUENSCHWANDER

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Christian Keesee

Chairman Christian Keesee is the chairman of Kirkpatrick Oil & Gas Company and Kirkpatrick Bank. Mr. Keesee also leads two Oklahoma Citybased philanthropies, serving as the chairman of Kirkpatrick Foundation and president of Kirkpatrick Family Fund. He is the president and founder of Oklahoma Contemporary, founder of the Brett Weston Archive and ArtDesk magazine, and co-founder of Green Box Arts.

Henry Hood Henry J. Hood, LLC

A native of Oklahoma City, Henry Hood studied at Duke University, where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts in History and Economics before graduating from the University of Oklahoma College of Law in 1985. He has worked as an attorney for Watson & McKenzie and was counsel for White, Coffey, Galt & Fite. Mr. Hood joined Chesapeake Energy in 1995 as the vice president for land and legal before going on to serve as senior vice president–land and legal and general counsel until 2013. Mr. Hood is presently an independent counsel and consultant in the oil and gas industry.

John D. Garrison

CPA & Financial Adviser

Retired CPA and former executive business manager for Chesapeake Energy, John D. Garrison obtained a Bachelor of Science in Business from Phillips University in 1978 and was managing partner at Collins, Butler & Co. CPA firm, both in Enid. Mr. Garrison serves on the Board of Directors of Kirkpatrick Oil Company as well as Kirkpatrick Bank.

Melinda Merideth President & Chief Financial Officer

A Certified Public Accountant and member of the Petroleum Alliance of Oklahoma, Melinda Merideth has two decades of experience in accounting, finance, corporate development, and risk management. After serving domestic and international clients across a range of sectors at KPMG, Ms. Merideth transitioned her focus to the oil and gas industry. She is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma with a Bachelor of Accountancy and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Management Information Systems.

Left to right: Henry Hood, Melinda Merideth, John D. Garrison, and Chairman Christian Keesee

kirkpatrickfamilyfund.org

1001 W. Wilshire Boulevard Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73116 (405) 767-3702

kirkpatrickfoundation.com

1001 W. Wilshire Boulevard

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73116 (405) 608-0934

Christian Keesee Charitable Trust

1001 W. Wilshire Boulevard Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73116 (405) 842-3827

kirkpatrickoil.com

1001 W. Wilshire Boulevard Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73116 (405) 840-2882

kirkpatrickbank.com

Main Branch

15 E. 15th Street Edmond, Oklahoma 73013 (405) 341-8222

Business Banking Center

5801 N. Broadway Extension Paragon Building, Suite 101 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73118 (405) 241-0805

Oklahoma City

222 Northwest 63rd Street Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73116 (405) 254-2510

West Edmond

2245 W. Danforth Road Edmond, Oklahoma 73003 (405) 348-3200

Colorado Springs

102 N. Cascade Avenue, Suite 100 Colorado Springs, Colorado 80903 (719) 866-6300

Denver Tech Center

8450 E. Crescent Parkway, Suite 150 Greenwood Village, CO 80111 (303) 474-5000

Westcliffe

8 Bassick Place Westcliffe, Colorado 81252 (719) 783-2030

kirkpatrickfamilyarchive.com

1001 W. Wilshire Boulevard Oklahoma City, OK 73116 (405) 767-3705

A new acquisition: Audrey Hepburn dancing with Fred Astaire on the set of “Funny Face,” March 28, 1957, detail, by Richard Avedon. Gelatin silver print, 2003.

Our purpose is to improve the lives of the people and animal friends in the communities we serve.

ZOOLOGY PROFESSOR, AVIAN ARTIST, AND author George Miksch Sutton was a dear friend of John and Eleanor Kirkpatrick. Their paths crossed during Sutton’s long tenure at the University of Oklahoma.

In the late 1970s, Sutton donated seventy-five paintings of Mexican birds to the Kirkpatrick Center in Oklahoma City, some of which are represented in these pages, in the company of several pieces from the George Miksch Sutton Avian Research Center in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.

The Kirkpatrick philanthropies and companies extend a special thank-you to Oklahoma City Community Foundation and President & CEO Trisha Finnegan for helping to bring the Sutton artwork back to life for future generations to enjoy.

THE GEORGE SUTTON ARTWORK ON THE OPENING SPREAD AND OPPOSITE THE TABLE OF CONTENTS WAS PHOTOGRAPHED BY DAN REINKING, SENIOR BIOLOGIST, GEORGE MIKSCH SUTTON AVIAN RESEARCH CENTER. WE EXTEND OUR SINCERE GRATITUDE FOR THE USE OF THIS ARTWORK.

2024 & 2025 ANNUAL REPORT

Index

Avedon, Richard, Audrey Hepburn dancing with Fred Astaire on the set of “Funny Face” 107

Christian Keesee Charitable Trust

ArbNet accreditation 68

Arboretum Collaborative 6, 68 art 1m3 light (Eliasson) exhibition

KEIGWIN + COMPANY (K+C)

Rhapsody choreographic process

ecosystem, stewardship of 68

Eleanor Kirkpatrick Garden and Great Lawn (2028) 68

Eliasson, Olafur, 1m3 light 74 focus of 64, 67 founder’s message 67

Garsington Opera 66, 72–73

Garsington Studios 72–73

McCall, Anthony, Solid Light 76, 77

Oklahoma City University Nona Jean Hulsey Art Gallery 74 Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center

“Flying in Formation” theme [2], 6, 41

Keesee, Christian

family history in banking 85 founding roles 28, 52, 67, 105 leadership qualities 41

Kirkpatrick, Eleanor 42, 68

Kirkpatrick, Joan 42, 51, 85

Kirkpatrick, John 30

Kirkpatrick, John and Eleanor 12, 32, 41, 56, 85, 108

Kirkpatrick Bank activities

15–16

55th anniversary celebration 6, 85, 89, 93 celebrating community

Fulcrum Wealth Management–

in

80, 82–84,

93

6, 30, 108

George Miksch 6, 108 An Introduction to the Birds of Pennsylvania, 1928 [2] bird illustrations and symbolism [2–3], 4, 7, 9, 11, 39, 65, 79, 95 “Flying in Formation” theme [2], 6, 41

KIRKPATRICK FAMILY FUND

KIRKPATRICK FOUNDATION

CHRISTIAN KEESEE CHARITABLE TRUST

KIRKPATRICK BANK

KIRKPATRICK OIL COMPANY