The Tulsa Voice | Vol. 6 No. 2

PHOTO ESSAY: A WINTER DAY AT GATHERING PLACE P22

YOUR GUIDE TO THE BEST ‘IN-BETWEEN’ EATS IN THE CITY P14 JAN. 2 – 15, 2019

//

VOL. 6 NO. 2

Nine months after the walkout,

local educators step out of the classroom and into the 57th Oklahoma Legislature P20

paradise never sounded So Good.

Tickets On Sale Now

sinbad jan 12 Boyz ii men jan 19 toni braxton jan 25 styx feb 14 michael bolton feb 21 charlie wilson feb 22

Live Music

Friday & Saturday Nights Starting at 9PM in 5 o’Clock Somewhere Bar and at 10 PM in Margaritaville!

Visit margaritavilletulsa.com for a complete schedule.

81ST & RIVERSIDE 888-748-3731 RIVERSPIRITTULSA.COM

2 // CONTENTS

January 2 – 15, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

INTRODUCING

MCNELLIE’S PASSPORT

WITH OUR NEW PASSPORT PROGRAM YOU CAN CONVENIENTLY EARN AND TRACK LOYALTY REWARDS FOR ALL MCNELLIE’S GROUP RESTAURANTS ON YOUR PHONE. TO BEGIN EARNING LOYALTY REWARDS DOWNLOAD THE MCNELLIE’S PASSPORT APP FROM THE APP STORE AND REGISTER TO JOIN.

JOIN NOW AND RECEIVE A FREE APPETIZER OR MENU ITEM UP TO $10.

SPEND $100 IN JANUARY AT ANY OF OUR RESTAURANTS AND GET 100 BONUS POINTS! TOO MANY APPS? TEXT MGREWARD TO 43618 FOR A LINK TO REGISTER. THE TULSA VOICE // January 2 – 15, 2019

CONTENTS // 3

new tulsa casino & hotel

throughout

february

C

s ee pl ayer services for detail s

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

8 7 7. 2 4 6 . 8 7 7 7

4 // CONTENTS

TULSA

osagecasino.com

January 2 – 15, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

January 2 – 15, 2019 // Vol. 6, No. 2 ©2018. All rights reserved.

PUBLISHER Jim Langdon

WHAT THE TEACHERS WANT

EDITOR Jezy J. Gray ASSISTANT EDITOR Blayklee Freed DIGITAL EDITOR John Langdon CREATIVE DIRECTOR Madeline Crawford GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Georgia Brooks, Morgan Welch PHOTOGRAPHER Greg Bollinger AD SALES MANAGER Josh Kampf CONTRIBUTORS Hunter Cates, Alicia Chesser Atkin, Charles Elmore, Rebecca Fine, Barry Friedman, Destiny Jade Green, Jeff Huston, Fraser Kastner, Christopher Mosley, Mary Noble, Michelle Pollard, Joseph Rushmore, Andrew Saliga, Brady Whisenhunt The Tulsa Voice’s distribution is audited annually by

P20

BY HUNTER CATES

Oklahoma’s newest lawmakers step out of the classroom and into the 57th Legislature

Member of

The Tulsa Voice is published bi-monthly by

Two students shout in support on the second day of the Oklahoma teacher walkout at the Capitol building. | JOSEPH RUSHMORE

1603 S. Boulder Ave. Tulsa, OK 74119 P: 918.585.9924 F: 918.585.9926 PUBLISHER Jim Langdon PRESIDENT Juley Roffers VP COMMUNICATIONS Susie Miller CONTROLLER Mary McKisick DISTRIBUTION COORDINATOR Amanda Hall RECEPTION Gloria Brooks

MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD Send all letters, complaints, compliments & haikus to: voices@langdonpublishing.com FOLLOW US @THETULSAVOICE ON:

NEWS & COMMENTARY 7 FINER THINGS

B Y REBECCA FINE

Shrinking budgets deepen inequality in arts education

8

THE ART OF THE STEAL

BY BARRY FRIEDMAN

Senator Jim Inhofe’s unbelievable stock market luck

10 ‘AMERICAN EPIDEMIC’

BY FRASER KASTNER Guardian reporter Chris McGreal talks opioid addiction in Tulsa

11 DREAMING OUT LOUD

B Y JEZY J. GRAY Vision board fundraiser supports undocumented youth YOUR GUIDE TO THE BEST ‘IN-BETWEEN’ EATS IN THE CITY P14

PHOTO ESSAY: A WINTER DAY AT GATHERING PLACE P22 JAN. 2 – 15, 2019

//

FOOD & DRINK

VOL. 6 NO. 2

12 SPIRIT OF INCLUSION

B Y ANDREW SALIGA

A case for zero-proof cocktails

22 GATHERING IN THE GLOW

B Y DESTINY JADE GREEN AND BRADY WHISENHUNT

Tulsa’s premier park on a sunny winter weekend

24 STAR STUFF

B Y BLAYKLEE FREED Telescope 101 with the Tulsa Astronomy Club

25 A SPACE FOR MAKING

B Y TTV STAFF Studio 75 is a creative hub for Kendall Whittier

26 ON A MISSION

B Y ALICIA CHESSER ATKIN

‘ Book of Mormon’ actor returns to Tulsa in leading role

28 ‘OBSCURE RITUALS’

BY CHRISTOPHER MOSLEY

‘ Hello, Penumbra’ is what happens when artists and institutions trust each other

14 TULSA DOES BRUNCH

B Y TTV STAFF Nine months after the walkout,

local educators step out of the classroom and into the 57th Oklahoma Legislature

MUSIC

ARTS & CULTURE

32 ‘WAKE UP AND SHINE BRIGHT’

BY MARY NOBLE

Preston Simmons fights for local creatives

TV & FILM 36 STEAL YOUR HEART

B Y JEFF HUSTON

A petty crime family reckons with itself in ‘Shoplifters’

37 A LOVE SUPREME

B Y CHARLES ELMORE Barry Jenkins delivers an emotional portrait of black love in ‘70s New York

ETC. 6 EDITOR’SLETTER 30 THEHAPS 34 MUSICLISTINGS 37 FULLCIRCLE 38 ASTROLOGY 39 THEFUZZ + CROSSWORD

Your guide to the best ‘in-between’ eats in the city

P20

ON THE COVER Teachers and supporters fill the rotunda of the Oklahoma state capitol early in the morning on the second day of the teacher walkout.

PHOTO BY JOSEPH RUSHMORE THE TULSA VOICE // January 2 – 15, 2019

YOUR 2019 BALLOT P18 CONTENTS // 5

editor’sletter

T

he 2018 Oklahoma teachers’ strike feels like it happened on another timeline.

In that feverish 27th month of the Trump administration—as we settled into a pattern of institutional abuse at the hands of a predatory billionaire game show host—public workers fought back against austerity in massive numbers. What started with disaffected teachers and state employees in West Virginia swept states like Kentucky, Arizona, Colorado, North Carolina, and Oklahoma into a collective uprising best described by one of the most delicious phrases in the English lexicon: strike wave.

I was a state employee at the time, writing copy for the Oklahoma Department of Tourism.

Our staff walked off the job on April 2, in solidarity with teachers

and fellow public workers. I stayed out a second day—in memory of my mom, a former encumbrance clerk for Madill Public Schools, who passed not long before. I thought about her a lot during the strike, along with my two sisters who currently teach in the Madill school system, where all three of us were educated.

Each following day, I marched 1.3 miles from my office to the capitol with a simple message scrawled on poster board: WE WANT REVENUE. Energized by the 30,000+ teachers whose demands echoed through the rotunda, it seemed that Oklahoma finally had a chance to repair the damage done by decades of tax cuts and corporate giveaways that have decimated our agencies, cheated our kids, and bludgeoned our core services.

Of course, that didn’t happen.

Teachers got a little more than half of their original salary demands, and our anti-tax legislature refused to secure the robust, recurring revenue we so desperately need. Six months later, most of the 65 teachers who ran for office lost. Now we’re staring down the barrel of a Kevin Stitt governorship, steered by a former mortgage lending company CEO who opposed the teachers’ strike and the compromise funding package that ended it.

Despair is easy, but all isn’t lost.

We can’t ignore the gains where they exist, including the 16 teachers who won their races in November on the strength of their education-focused platform. You’ll hear from some of them in our cover story (pg. 20)—like former Booker T. Washington social studies teacher, John Waldron, and former

RECYCLE THIS Glass Bottles and Jars

Bixby assistant principal Melissa Provenzano, who share their hopes and goals as they enter the 57th state legislature, which convenes to organize next week before its first session in February.

If last year’s strike wave showed us anything, it’s that another world is possible. We may only get inches when we need miles, but we won’t go anywhere alone. I hope you hear the voices of these educators-turned-lawmakers with moral clarity as we gear up for a new year in this maddening, beautiful, unpredictable place we call home. a

JEZY J. GRAY EDITOR

NOT THAT Light Bulbs and Ceramic Dishware

Take light bulbs to the Household Pollutant Collection Facility.

Donate dishware or throw it away in the gray trash cart.

Glass bottles and jars are perfect for recycling, but light bulbs and ceramic dishware are NOT acceptable for the blue recycling cart.

6 // NEWS & COMMENTARY

LEARN MORE AT

TulsaRecycles.com January 2 – 15, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

okpolicy

FINER THINGS Shrinking budgets deepen inequality in arts education

by REBECCA FINE for OKPOLICY.ORG

THE TULSA VOICE // January 2 – 15, 2019

O

klahomans know every student needs access to quality public education.

Unfortunately, our state has struggled to uphold this commitment.

While all areas of public education have suffered from slashed funding over the past decade, budget cuts have hit fine arts education especially hard.

In the 2017-2018 school year, Oklahoma had 1,110 fewer art and music classes than four years prior, leaving 28 percent of Oklahoma public school students without access to fine arts classes.

Statewide underfunding of arts education impacts all Oklahoma schoolchildren, and these cuts especially hurt low-income and rural students.

Fine arts education, which primarily includes music and visual art—but also drama, dance, and debate—is important for preparing all students for college and careers. The fine arts help develop critical thinking, spatial-temporal reasoning, tolerance, and cultural awareness. Fine arts may also reduce dropout rates for low-income students and students of color who face greater risk of not graduating. Access to fine arts education is a key part of a wellrounded education, but Oklahoma is not adequately meeting this standard.

Within districts, poverty levels often determine whether or not a student gets a fine arts education.

High-income schools are more likely to offer band, orchestra, and choir programs than schools with less wealthy families. The same is true for the visual arts.

In the wake of budget cuts, some schools have relied on their parent-teacher associations (PTA), partnerships with local art organizations, philanthropy, and grants to salvage fine arts instruction.

For this reason, one elementary school may have two full-time fine arts teachers, while a school across the district may have none.

PTAs in high-income areas sometimes rescue fine arts classes through substantial fundraising efforts. For example, when Tulsa Public School’s comparatively wealthy Council Oak Elementary lost its art class, the PTA raised the funds necessary to hire a

part-time art teacher. Schools in low-income urban areas can sometimes maintain art programs through private philanthropy and community art organizations.

While these efforts fi ll a hole in fine arts education, they do not usually provide full-time certified arts instruction, and they require constant fundraising, which can be unpredictable and time consuming.

With fewer nearby arts organizations, rural schools have even more difficulty salvaging the fine arts or providing teachers with arts training. Schools in southeastern Oklahoma, the poorest region of the state, have the lowest average art offerings whereas Tulsa and OKC metro areas have the highest. On average, rural high schools provide fewer music courses as well.

Two organizations, the Oklahoma Arts Council and the Oklahoma Arts Institute, are crucial to providing professional development opportunities for teachers, supplemental arts education for students, and teaching artist residency programs. These efforts have become harder to maintain as state funding for the Oklahoma Arts Institute was slashed by about 55 percent over the past decade. The Oklahoma Arts Council has been similarly weakened.

Today in Oklahoma, students do not have equal access to fine arts instruction. While highly motivated school leaders, teachers, parents, and community members rush to fi ll the void, these efforts leave some schools with robust fine arts programs and others with none at all. While the teacher walkout in the spring resulted in a much-needed teacher pay raise, it did little to increase general education funding that had been cut 28 percent over the past decade.

As the 2019 legislative session approaches, lawmakers should heed the call to fund what’s needed to bring back the arts and other essential programs to our schools. a

Rebecca Fine is an education policy analyst with Oklahoma Policy Institute (okpolicy.org).

NEWS & COMMENTARY // 7

The art of the steal

Senator Jim Inhofe’s unbelievable stock market luck

by BARRY FRIEDMAN

J

ust days after signaling his support for unprecedented levels of US defense spending, Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK), the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, reported purchasing tens of thousands of dollars of stock in one of the nation’s top defense contractors [Raytheon]. 1

Lovely.

What’s worse? It was all legal.

According to government regulations, federal workers, including senators like Jim Inhofe, can invest in companies like Raytheon, if the information they use to make such investments is in the public domain—which, in this case, it was. But to have the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee investing (and ultimately making) that kind of dough in such stock is bound to raise some eyebrows.

Ultimately, it was too hinky even for Inhofe—and that’s saying something. After the transaction came to light, his office said that Inhofe had instructed his financial adviser to cancel the purchase, and “to avoid defense and aerospace purchases going forward.”

Such a prince.

Keep in mind that Inhofe, who has been a senator since Nebuchadnezzar was in swaddling clothes, and been around K Street a couple hundred times, cancelled the transaction only after it was reported.

According to The Dail y Beast, metadata in the document indicates it was created less than 20 minutes after the news organization reached out for comment. 2

So 20 minutes after being notified that a news organization had details of this transaction—a 8 // NEWS & COMMENTARY

Inhofe’s financial adviser bought between $50,000 and $100,000 worth of stock in Raytheon days after the senator signaled his intention to support the Trump administration’s decision to increase defense appropriations.

Someone just got caught with his hand inside a large defense and aerospace cookie jar. perfectly legal transaction, according to the senator’s office, which the senator also knew nothing about—Inhofe decided to gut the whole thing, even though everything he did was above board?

Someone just got caught with his hand inside a large defense and aerospace cookie jar.

Let’s get in the weeds here.

According to reports, Inhofe’s

financial adviser, Keith Goddard, bought between $50,000 and $100,000 worth of stock in Raytheon days after the senator signaled his intention to support the Trump administration’s decision to increase defense appropriations.

More from The Daily Beast: Inhofe, who took over the top spot on Armed Services

after the death of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) in August, has repeatedl y pressed President Donald Trump to dramaticall y scale up the Pentagon’s annual budget, which currentl y stands at $717 billion.

Remarkably, as mentioned, it’s not illegal for senators to invest in companies in which they have oversight responsibilities (like Inhofe did with Raytheon) as long as they don’t benefit from inside information.

More on that in a moment.

Inhofe’s portfolio is not in a blind trust. So while he doesn’t direct what’s bought and sold— we’ll have to take his word on that—he can see what holdings he has, which seems like a loophole big enough to drive one of Raytheon’s Global Patriot systems through. And his stock adviser should know which committee the senator chairs and which investments might benefit from such an arrangement.

“We have no way of knowing what kind of relationship Inhofe has with whoever is managing his money/trust and it’s wild to take it on good faith that he has some kind of puritanical, self-imposed barrier in place that prevents him from communicating in any way with his broker about his trades,” Alex Baumgart, a researcher at the Center for Responsive Politics, wrote in an email.

How much of your credulity do you want strained?

Even though Inhofe and his staff maintain he didn’t direct the Raytheon purchase and there was absolutely no impropriety, Inhofe wrote a letter to Goddard, first thanking him for managing his financial holdings, then explaining, January 2 – 15, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

“Because of my new position as Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, it is important for me not to own or trade any defense or aerospace companies.” 3 In the letter, he then instructs Goddard not to buy any more stock in such entities.

You mean such a letter wasn’t on file when Inhofe was simply a member of the Armed Services Committee and not its chairman?

You mean a letter like this even has to be on file? You mean this isn’t the first time Inhofe has been in this predicament?

According to The Daily Beast, Inhofe is no stranger to buying and selling stock in companies with business before his committees.

Last year, Inhofe, through his financial adviser, bought stock in another Pentagon contractor, Fluor, according to Senate disclosure records. But he sold that stock in August, shortl y before assuming the Armed Services Committee chairmanship.

So he held stock in Fluor while a member of the Armed Services committee, but felt holding it as chairman of that same committee was a line he would not cross?

Quite the distinction.

There’s more.

Inhofe has purchased or owned stock in other companies within his direct legislative purview in the past. From 2015 to 2017, he chaired the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. At the time, he owned stakes in energy companies including Continental Resources and Newfield Exploration. Like his shares in Raytheon, those assets were held in the trust managed by his financial adviser.

This is the same trust, run by the same adviser, and concerning the same kind of curiously-timed investments—and Inhofe had nothing directly or indirectly to do with any of them?

So many coincidences, it’s astonishing.

What’s troubling here—scratch that, it’s all troubling—is that Inhofe knew back in August to sell THE TULSA VOICE // January 2 – 15, 2019

his stock in Fluor because the perception stunk to high heaven, but still decided to go ahead with the Raytheon purchase last month?

Only a cynic would say Inhofe was just trying to see if he could get away with it this time.

Call me a cynic.

Even if Inhofe didn’t directly authorize his agent to buy the Raytheon stock, why didn’t he send a letter prohibiting his broker from investing in it or any similar defense or aerospace contractor back in August?

As to the matter of stock information in the public domain, it all depends on what your definition of public is, what private is, and what information resides in the leather binders of those congressional aides who sit right behind Inhofe. The senator has access to documents and DOD projects and projections long before anyone else.

The senator’s office says there’s nothing to see here.

“The senator has had no invol vement in and has not been consulted about his stock transactions,” [spokesperson Leacy] Burke said. “As such, the Senator was not aware of this stock purchase until it came through the system very earl y this morning.”

He was shocked—shocked, I tells ya—that Goddard bought defense-related stocks, even though Goddard bought such industry-related stock in the past.

None of this is going to jeopardize Inhofe’s standing as chairman, because for present-day Republicans, sucking off the public teat for personal gain is a feature of the party, not a bug.

Earlier this year, Representative Chris Collins was charged with insider trading related to shares of Australian biotechnology firm Innate Immunotherapeutics Ltd., as was his son and his son’s fiancée‘s father, after Collins allegedl y tipped his son off about negative results from a clinical trial of a drug being developed by the company—information that, you probabl y guessed it, was not public. 4

You work in a deli, the theory goes, you get to bring home some salami at the end of the day. It’s that simple. Besides, it’s not like Inhofe shot a guy on 5th Avenue.

Okay—bad example.

When he was named chairman of Armed Services, Inhofe said this: “As Chairman, it will be my priority to address these threats while maintaining a staunch commitment to service members and their families, as well as continue the bipartisan tradition of rigorous accountability and oversight of the Defense Department.” 5

It’s the “rigorous accountability and oversight” that makes it art.

Senator Jim Inhofe is not just a buffoon who brings snowballs6 on the senate floor or blames gun violence7 on sanctuary cities—he’s rapacious; he’s shameless; and he doesn’t care who knows it.

“I don’t even know what [my financial advisors] invest in,” he told CNN. “That’s the truth, and I know people don’t want to believe that. That is fine.” a

modern american RESTAURANT + JAZZ CLUB

upstairs

Lunch, Dinner + Weekend Brunch RESTAURANT HOURS: 11AM-11PM, 7 DAYS A WEEK

downstairs 1) dailybeast.com: Sen. James Inhofe Bought Defense Stock Days After Pushing for Record Pentagon Spending—Then Dumped It When Asked About It 2) navytimes.com: Inhofe bought Raytheon stock after advocating budget hike 3) tulsaworld.com: Inhofe purchased Raytheon stock after pushing for increase in defense spending 4) vanityfair.com: James Inhofe has second thoughts about buying Raytheon stock after hyper defense spending 5) thehill.com: Inhofe officially chosen to succeed McCain as armed services chairman 6) washingtonpost.com: Jim Inhofe’s snowball has disproven climate change once and for all 7) vox.com: Republican senator blames the culture of “sanctuary cities” for mass shootings

Club Closed JANUARY 1-8

Collective Improv Night Hosted by Jordan Hehl JANUARY 9

Pam Van Dyke-Crosby JANUARY 10

Shelby Eicher Gypsy Jazz JANUARY 11

Mike Cameron Collective JANUARY 12

DuetJazz.com

NEWS & COMMENTARY // 9

community

‘American epidemic’

Guardian reporter Chris McGreal talks opioid addiction in Tulsa

by FRASER KASTNER

F

rom the “Tulsa Triangle” to the northern hills of California, the reports are the same: People are dying at unprecedented rates at the hands of opioid drug addiction.

That’s the subject of Guardian journalist Chris McGreal’s new book, “American Overdose: The Opioid Tragedy in Three Acts,” a deep dive into the opioid epidemic that has ravaged the United States for two decades. McGreal will be speaking on Jan. 14 at All Souls Unitarian Church, in partnership with Magic City Books and Booksmart Tulsa, about his latest work reporting on a deadly disease that doesn’t discriminate.

McGreal saw the horrors of the opioid epidemic up close while reporting on poor, marginalized communities for The Guardian.

His work in places like rural Appalachia, where addiction rates are infamously devastating, generated a series of questions about the origins and pervasiveness of the problem.

“How is it that this epidemic had grown for 20 years and yet it’s really only now that it’s taken seriously?” McGreal asked. “Why is this pretty much a uniquely American epidemic? Why aren’t we seeing this in other countries?”

These were the questions McGreal set out to answer in his book. His reportage took him from West Virginia mining towns to the San Ramon Valley in California, following the epidemic’s spread across social divides almost as great as the physical distances between them.

McGreal notes that the toll of opioid abuse looks very different in different communities. “You go to some communities in, say, West Virginia, and you see the destruction of the community. It’s very 10 // NEWS & COMMENTARY

Chris McGreal, author of “American Overdose,” will speak on Jan. 14 at All Souls Unitarian Church in partnership with Magic City Books.

visible,” he said. “And then you go to other places like San Ramon in northern California, which is very prosperous, and that is much more behind closed doors.”

Nowhere was the devastation of the opioid epidemic more apparent than in the mining communities of West Virginia. It was here that McGreal met Willis Duncan, who became addicted to opioid painkillers after he was prescribed them for injuries sustained at his job as an electrician at a mine. After a while, Duncan’s prescription wasn’t enough, and he began to purchase drugs on the black market.

His wife began using them after a hysterectomy and quickly became addicted. Their son was next. Duncan isn’t sure if he was raiding his parents supplies or if

he was given a prescription too.

“Willis describes how, particularly his wife, Debbie, would be—she’s a nurse, but she’s out of it,” McGreal said. “He would come home and he’d fi nd her stopped in the middle of the floor like she was a robot and the batteries had run down. She was just stopped mid-movement, bent over. And it’s because she had overdosed.”

It took the deaths of his wife and son to get Willis Duncan off the pills. McGreal noted that in parts of Appalachia he found many grandparents raising their grandchildren, their parents part of a “missing generation” lost to the opioid crisis. He recognized the phenomenon from his time reporting in Uganda during the AIDS crisis.

Billions of dollars and incalculable hours have been spent by the pharmaceutical industry to pave the way for easy access to opioids. McGreal found that when physicians tried to raise the alarm, the industry fought back, painting addicts as drug abusers and pain patients as victims of government overregulation.

“And of course, often they’re the same people,” McGreal said.

“They began on a prescription, they followed it through, and they became addicted.”

As McGreal notes, the opioid epidemic is basically unique to the United States. Other countries simply do not have this problem on this scale. McGreal found that factors like heavy industry lobbying, direct marketing of drugs, and the structure of the American healthcare system essentially created the perfect storm for a drug epidemic.

“I think that the nub of it is that medicine in this country is run like an industry and in most developed countries it’s run as a health service,” McGreal said.

“What you have is lots of parts of the industry which govern how medicine is practiced, mostly because of financial considerations.”

A few developments may be cause for optimism: Prescription rates are down, for example, and the CDC released guidelines last August calling for further reduction. Moreover, McGreal found people like Willis Duncan all across the country who were willing to break the stigma of addiction to bring this problem to light.

“I just think one of the great things about America is that people and communities come out and fight their corner.” a January 2 – 15, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

community

An urban park and event space in the heart of Tulsa’s Art District.

A vision board made for DACA recipient Rosa Hernandez by Collage Conversations co-founder Nancy Moran | COURTESY

DREAMING OUT LOUD Vision board fundraiser supports undocumented youth

by JEZY J. GRAY NANCY MORAN THREW HER FIRST COLLAGEmaking party in 2015 to support her friend Taylor LaTouche, chef-proprietor of Hibiscus Caribbean Bar & Grill, whose health had begun to slip. “She needed to get a kidney transplant, and she was just very depressed,” Moran said. “It was kind of a way to cheer her up and stay positive because she was so ill and so frightened.”

Together they began hosting events where people could gather and make inspirational “vision boards” to express their hopes for the future through the humble medium of magazine clippings, poster board, and glue. From women’s pre-release centers and homeless day shelters to art galleries and private homes, Collage Conversations has brought conversation, community, and craft-making to provide emotional and financial support for people in need.

On Jan. 5, Moran is teaming up with New Sanctuary Network and Dream Alliance Oklahoma for a vision board fundraiser at the Dennis R. Neill Equality Center. The $20 admission fee goes toward raising money to help local Dreamers, who were brought to the country without documentation as children, pay the burdensome costs associated with renewing their applications to remain protected from deportation.

The fee for renewing one’s protected status under the embattled Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program is $495—but the cost goes deeper than that.

“You have to go through a background THE TULSA VOICE // January 2 – 15, 2019

check every single time you renew it,” said Rosa Hernandez, DACA recipient and president of Dream Alliance Oklahoma Tulsa. “And you renew it every two years.

So that’s kind of one of the nerve-racking things. Even though you know you haven’t committed a felony or anything like that, it can still be really stressful. You have to wait. And then you have to be approved again. And then you have to go through the whole process again.”

“None of us like uncertainty,” Moran said. “We want to have a crystal ball.

When you’re a Dreamer, you’re wondering if everything’s going to be pulled out from under you—if you’re going to lose your family and go back to a country where you’ve never even lived. It’s extremely stressful, and it does take a mental toll.

Lots of anxiety and depression. And being that many of these same folks maybe don’t access to mental health care … I wanted to create empathy for what these young people are living through.”

To that end, the event will also include talks by local DACA recipients who will share their stories firsthand. “It’s a way to just build community, and humanize the issue a little bit more,” Hernandez said. “Because we keep hearing about these bills, these laws, these actions— but we don’t really hear from the people themselves. So this is a way that people can actually interact with each other and humanize each other a little bit more—and just kind of relax for a minute. Make some art and have some fun and be social.” a

111 East M.B. Brady Street, Tulsa, OK 74103

www.guthriegreen.com

INDOOR“HOONING” FREESTYLE ACTION ARENA & DEMOLITION DERBY!

NEWS & COMMENTARY // 11

downthehatch

S

omeone walks into a bar and orders a non-alcoholic drink. Immediately, assumptions begin to fly. Guests assume they’re a teetotaler. Bartenders worry they won’t tip well. Others assume they’re on the wagon, or pregnant. It’s only human to construct these narratives, but there is a problem with them.

Terms like “mocktail” and “virgin drink” have a stigma attached that make it easier to apply a label to someone rather than make them feel included. It may seem like a hyper-sympathetic consideration, but a bar is a unique space that serves an important role—and it’s important to make sure everyone feels at home.

Bars are what’s known as a “third place,” a term coined by sociologist Ray Oldenburg. The premise is that a person’s home is their “first place,” and the “second place” is their workplace. “Third places” are community hubs like churches, parks, coffee shops, and bars. These hubs serve as anchors where you see long-time friends and make new acquaintances.

Preserving this shared space is why fostering a spirit of inclusion matters. Allowing the person who orders a non-alcoholic drink to feel just as welcome and share the same experience is one small step that ensures it happens. With many people abstaining from alcohol for “dry January,” now is a great time to get familiar with the terminology and possibilities of these un-intoxicating concoctions.

The first thing to update is the term for non-alcoholic drinks.

“Soft cocktail” or “zero-proof cocktail” are both terms that clearly define the category without having any attached stigma.

It’s also worth defining how a zero-proof cocktail should differ from a simple non-alcoholic or virgin drink. The latter is often created through omission of an ingredient, whereas a zero-proof cocktail aims to recreate the experience of a cocktail.

That experience is created through balance, complexity,

12 // FOOD & DRINK

SPIRIT OF INCLUSION A case for zero-proof cocktails

by ANDREW SALIGA

The Cold Fashioned (left) and Winter Juice (right) at Hodges Bend are just two of the zero-proof cocktails you’ll find at Tulsa bars. | ANDREW SALIGA

texture, and aroma. Without these elements present, a mocktail is no more special than a soda and won’t match a cocktail’s ability to delight.

While cocktail bars are not juice and specialty soda bars, in the spirit of hospitality some have chosen to put these alternatives on the menu. Other locations will happily make a zero-proof cocktail upon request, but it’s worth noting the etiquette of ordering zero-proof cocktails. Just as you wouldn’t expect a dive bar to be able to make a complex cock-

tail, you can’t expect them to have the ingredients to make a complex zero-proof cocktail. (It should go without saying that it’s customary to tip for zero-proof cocktails.)

To gain some perspective, I spoke with a long-time Tulsa bartender who approaches the craft differently since choosing six months ago to be sober. Nathan Young has spent time behind dive bars like Arnie’s, craft cocktail bars like Hodges Bend, and everything in between. He enjoys the challenge of creating zero-

proof cocktails and still understands the importance of the bar as a “third place.”

“Hospitality is hospitality,” Young said. “People are at a bar to enjoy the environment and have conversations. A bartender should make sure those who are not drinking alcohol feel just as included.”

Several locations throughout Tulsa will gladly make zero-proof cocktails. A few even have a dedicated section on their menu.

Vintage may be known for its wine selection, but since moving to their new location they offer a small list of zero-proof cocktails, many of which feature fresh juices, berries, and shrubs.

Valkyrie doesn’t have any zero-proof cocktails listed on the menu, but they have specific drinks they offer to those who ask. The Don’t Text Your Mex features their spicy house ginger beer, strawberry syrup, lemon, and basil. Served in a tall glass over crushed ice, it’s a balanced zero-proof cocktail that doesn’t come off as overly sweet.

Hodges Bend has always placed an emphasis on incorporating coffee into their libations, and their zero-proof options are no exception. The Cold Fashioned is an Old Fashioned featuring their cold brew coffee as the base. The Winter Juice is a blend of orange, lemon, and grapefruit juice with passion fruit syrup and orgeat.

For those wanting a drink while they dine, Oren, Laffa, and Amelia’s are a few notable establishments that offer zero-proof drinks. At Oren you can order The Seven Sisters which uses Seedlip’s Spice 94, a nonalcoholic distilled product.

Overall, Tulsa’s cocktail scene is progressive with zero-proof cocktails being more than just an afterthought. Granted, the effects of alcohol can be part of the pleasure, but what shared food and drink does best is unite people.

Offering zero-proof cocktails ensures that all are welcome in the community’s “third place.” a January 2 – 15, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

MEET ME AT THE MAX! 4p – 6p HAPPY HOUR

FUNDAY: OPEN AT NOON

FREE HURTS DONUTS CHAMPAGNE MIMOSA BAR LIVE EVENT BINGO @ 2pm

MONDAY: $1 COORS BANQUET ON TAP ALL DAY

TUESDAY: FREE GAME PLAY

MON – FRI $2 DOMESTICS & FREE GAME PLAY

NEW PIN BALL

WEDNESDAY: TEAM TRIVIA NIGHT

QUESTIONABLE COMPANY @ 8pm

THURSDAY: DJ MOODY @ 9pm

FREE GAME PLAY FOR THE LADIES

FRIDAY: 1/4 • DJ JEFFEE FRESH 1/11 • RETRO DJ SATURDAY: 1/5 • DJ ROBBO 1/12 • DJ AB NEVER A COVER/21 & UP FREE WIFI SKEE BALL & PIN BALL 17 Locations Statewide | HideawayPizza.com

THE TULSA VOICE // January 2 – 15, 2019

THEMAXRETROPUB

BLUE DOME DISTRICT • 114 S ELGIN

FOOD & DRINK // 13

citybites

TULSA DOES BRUNCH Your guide to the best ‘in-between’ eats in the city

by TTV STAFF | photos by MICHELLE POLLARD

Bramble Breakfast and Bar

B

runch is the best of all worlds. Why choose between the most important meal of the day and your favorite lunchtime fare?

And who isn’t looking for an excuse to drink champagne before noon? Not us. That’s why we’re bringing you this definitive guide to brunching in the Tulsa area. So pick a patio, grab some friends, and gather around the table at one of the city’s best brunch spots.

624 KITCHEN AND CATERING 624 S. BOSTON AVE. Sat. – Sun. 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.

ANTOINETTE BAKING COMPANY 207 N. MAIN ST. Sat. – Sun. Served until 2 p.m.

Bread + Butter

BBD II - THE DEUCE 8218 S. HARVARD AVE. Every day 7 a.m. – 2 p.m.; opens at 8 a.m. Sun. BLUE MOON CAFÉ 3512 S. PEORIA AVE. Every day Opens at 8 a.m. on weekends BRAMBLE BREAKFAST AND BAR 1302 E. 6TH ST., 400 RIVERWALK TERRACE Every day 8 a.m. – 3 p.m.

BREAD + BUTTER 3837 E. 51ST ST. Every day Opens at 11 a.m.

Brookside By Day

14 // FOOD & DRINK

BROOKSIDE BY DAY 3313 S. PEORIA AVE. Every day 7 a.m. – 2 p.m.; opens at 8 a.m. Sun.

BRUNCH AT SARAH'S 8036 S. YALE AVE. Every day 7 a.m. – 3 p.m.

CAFÉ OLE 3509 S. PEORIA AVE. Sat. – Sun. 9 a.m. – 2 p.m.

THE CHALKBOARD 1324 S. MAIN ST. Sat. – Sun. 11 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.

CHERRY STREET KITCHEN 1441 S. QUAKER AVE. Sat. – Sun. 7 a.m. – 2 p.m. Sat.; 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Sun. CHIMERA 212 N. MAIN ST. Every day 7 a.m. – 10 p.m.; closes at 5 p.m. Sun. – Mon. COFFEE HOUSE ON CHERRY STREET 1502 E. 15TH ST. Every day 7 a.m. – noon Mon. – Sat.; until 2 p.m. Sun. DILLY DINER 402 E. 2ND ST. Sat. – Sun. 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.

DOC'S WINE & FOOD 3509 S. PEORIA AVE., SUITE 138 Sat. and Sun. 11 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.

DOS BANDIDOS 109 N. DETROIT AVE. Sat. – Sun. 11 a.m. – 2 p.m.

DUET 108 N. DETROIT AVE. Sat. – Sun. 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.

ELGIN PARK 325 E. MATHEW B. BRADY ST. Sat. – Sun. 11 a.m. – 2 p.m.

EL GUAPO’S 332 E. 1ST ST., 8161 S. HARVARD AVE. Served all day FIRST WATCH 8178 S. LEWIS AVE., #A, 8104 E. 68TH ST. Every day 7 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.

FOOLISH THINGS COFFEE COMPANY 1001 S. MAIN ST. Every day 7 – 11 a.m.; opens at 8 a.m. Sat. – Sun.

January 2 – 15, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

Voted Best Coffeehouse!

SPECIALTY COFFEE & BAKERY sourcing local farms

SINCE 2006

Breakfast | Brunch | Lunch Pies, Cakes, Cookies, Muffins & More

• Baked Fresh Daily • Coming Soon… the ✧Lotus Room ✧

Serving Brunch Sat. & Sun. from 10am – 3pm

Our cuisine is described as “Inspired American” in genre and “Locally Sourced” in philosophy and ingredients.

Each dish is a unique creation and is designed to delight the senses in sight, texture, temperature and taste.

1542 E 15th St • 918.949.4440 • Tulsa 201 S. Main • 918.401.4343 • Owasso smokewoodfiregrill.com

an intimate venue space Custom orders for gluten free, vegan, and regular folks, too!

Serving Brunch Mon. - Sat. 7am - 12pm & Sun. 7am - 2pm

1502 E. 15th St. (918) 779-6137 thecoffeehouseoncherrystreet.com

Serving Brunch Daily 8am – 3pm

The Bramble Breakfast & Bar is an eclectic and fun brunch and lunch spot offering an assortment of pancakes, breakfast items and lunch favorites. There is also an assortment of craft mimosa carafes and breakfast bevies!

1302 E. 6th St. • 539-664 -5635 400 Riverwalk Terrace, #100 • 918-528-3054 bramblebartulsa.com

Serving Brunch Sat. & Sun. 10am – 3pm

Morning Light, Breakfast, Lunch, Coffee, Cocktails, Dinner.

823 E. Third St. 918-398- 4470 hodges-bend.com

THE TULSA VOICE // January 2 – 15, 2019

FOOD & DRINK // 15

Dilly Diner

FOOLISH THINGS BAR & BISCUIT 3524F S. PEORIA AVE. Every day 7 a.m. – 2 p.m.

MCNELLIE'S 409 E. 1ST ST., 7031 S. ZURICH AVE. Sat. – Sun. 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.

SAINT AMON BAKERY 6333 E. 120TH CT. Tue. – Sun. 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.; 8 a.m. – 2 p.m. Sun.

FREEWAY CAFÉ 1547 E. 3RD ST., 465 S. SHERIDAN RD., 5849 S. 49TH W. AVE. Every day Hours vary by location

MI COCINA 1342 E. 15TH ST. Sat. – Sun. 11 a.m. – 2 p.m.

SAVOY 6033 S. SHERIDAN RD. Every day but Tue. 6 a.m. – 2 p.m.

MOTHER ROAD MARKET 1124 S. LEWIS AVE. Every day but Mon. Hours vary; MRM opens at 10 a.m.

SHUFFLES BOARD GAME CAFÉ 207 E. ARCHER ST. Sat. – Sun. 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.

NEW ATLAS GRILL 415 S. BOSTON AVE., SUITE 20 Sat. – Sun. 9 a.m. – 2 p.m.

SILVER SKILLET FAMILY DINER 8228 E. 61ST ST., SUITE 114 Sun. 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.

FASSLER HALL 304 S. ELGIN AVE. Sat. – Sun. 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.

FUEL 66 2439 E. 11TH ST. Sat. – Sun. 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. Sat.; 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. Sun.

Maryn’s Taphouse and Raw Bar

Torchy’s Tacos

HODGES BEND 823 E. 3RD ST. Sun. 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.

IN THE RAW 3321 S. PEORIA AVE. Sun. Opens at 11 a.m.

OREN 3509 S. PEORIA AVE., SUITE 161 Sun. 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

JANE'S DELICATESSEN 2626 E. 11TH ST. Sat. – Sun. 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

PALACE CAFÉ 1301 E. 15TH ST. Sat. – Sun. 10:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.

JENKS RESTAURANT 215 E. MAIN ST., JENKS Every day but Sun. All day

PHILL'S DINER 3310 E. 32ND ST. Every day 6 a.m. – 2 p.m.

KILKENNY'S IRISH PUB 1413 E. 15TH ST. Sat. – Sun. 9 a.m. – 2 p.m.

POLO GRILL 2038 UTICA SQUARE Sat. – Sun. 10:30 a.m. – 2 p.m.

KITCHEN 27 2727 S. ROCKFORD RD. Sat. – Sun. 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

QUEENIE'S PLUS 1834 UTICA SQUARE Sat. – Sun. 8 – 11 a.m., Sat.; 9 a.m. – 2 p.m., Sun.

LEVAIN KITCHEN AND BAKERY 10021 S. YALE AVE. #108 Every day but Mon. 8 a.m. – 2 p.m. during the week; 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. weekends LONE WOLF BANH MI 3136 E. 11TH ST., 203 E. ARCHER ST. Sat. – Sun. 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.

MARYN'S TAPHOUSE AND RAW BAR 400 RIVERWALK TERRACE, SUITE 180, JENKS Sat. – Sun. 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.

16 // FOOD & DRINK

OL'VINE FRESH GRILL 3523 S. PEORIA AVE. Sat. and Sun. 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

R BAR & GRILL 3421 S. PEORIA AVE. Sat. – Sun. 10:30 – 2:30 p.m.

THE RESTAURANT AT GILCREASE MUSEUM 1400 N. GILCREASE MUSEUM RD. Sun. Opens at 10 a.m.

ROOSEVELT'S 1551 E. 15TH ST. Sun. 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.

SMOKE. WOODFIRE GRILL 1542 E. 15TH ST., 201 S. MAIN ST., OWASSO Sat. – Sun. 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.

TALLY'S GOOD FOOD CAFÉ 102 S. YALE AVE., 6100 S. SHERIDAN RD. Every day 6 a.m. – 11 p.m.

THE TAVERN 201 N. MAIN ST. Sat. – Sun. 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.

TOAST 201 S. MAIN ST., BROKEN ARROW Every day 7 a.m. – 2 p.m.

TORCHY'S TACOS 3330 S. PEORIA AVE. Every day Opens at 8 a.m. on weekends THE VAULT 620 S. CINCINNATI AVE. Sat. – Sun. 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.

WATERFRONT GRILL 120 AQUARIUM DR., JENKS Sat. – Sun. 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

THE WILD FORK 1820 UTICA SQUARE Sun. 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.

YOKOZUNA 309 E. 2ND ST., 9146 S. YALE AVE. Sat. – Sun. 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. a

January 2 – 15, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

Serving Brunch Sat. & Sun. 10am - 2pm Inspired to bring Eastern European flavors to Tulsa, the unique Brunch Menu at Jane’s Delicatessen offers a fresh experience with specialty cocktails and well prices dishes.

2626 E. 11th St. 918 - 872- 0501 janesdelicatessen.com

Serving Brunch Sat. & Sun. 10am - 3pm

The Vault serves Classic American Fare and Craft Cocktails in an Iconic Mid Century Modern building in downtown Tulsa’s Deco District. Free-range eggs, organic meats and plenty of vegan options can be found on our Brunch Menu.

620 S Cincinnati Ave • 918 -948 - 6761 vaulttulsa.com

Solid, home-style cooking meets a gourmet Serving Brunch flare at Cherry Street Kitchen. We make Tue. - Fri. 8am - 10:30am, sure our menu uses only the freshest Sat. 7am - 2pm & ingredients, and that the love we use to Sun. 10am - 2pm prepare each dish can be tasted in each bite.

1441 S. Quaker Ave. • 918-884 -3408 cherrystkitchen.com

HAVE YOU

VOTED?

The Tulsa Voice encourages our readers to vote twice a day to ensure Tulsa’s Gathering Place receives the well-deserved #1 spot as USA Today’s BEST NEW ATTRACTION for 2018!

Visit 10best.com by January 7th!

Serving Brunch Sat. 8am - 11am Sun. 9am - 2pm Join us on the weekends for Eggs Benny, the best buttermilk pancakes, Pain Perdu, and the True Grit Breakfast.

1834 Utica Square 918 -749 -3481 queeniesof tulsa.com

The best of Tulsa:

music, arts, dining, news, things to do, and more.

Come find out what ’s happening.

THE TULSA VOICE // January 2 – 15, 2019

FOOD & DRINK // 17

WHAT THE TEACHERS WANT M

aybe it’s the lack of tremble in their voices, or the sense of purpose in their statements.

Or maybe it’s simply their willingness, even eagerness, to talk despite exhausting, all-consuming schedules. Whatever it is, you can sense the commitment of Oklahoma’s new educators-turned-legislators to the cause that got them elected.

It’s the same cause that inspired them to walk out of their classrooms and march for miles on wet asphalt. The cause that motivated them to knock on thousands of doors until their knuckles were raw. The cause that Oklahomans across the political spectrum told them was the most crucial to our state’s future—education.

“We have a mission to do something about education,” said Rep. John Waldron of District 77. “Educators are poised to be the voice of the people on what the people clearly identified as the number-one issue.”

Previously a social studies teacher at Booker T. Washington, Waldron is now one of the 16 former teachers who will be a part of Oklahoma’s 57th legislative session when it convenes to organize at noon on Jan. 8.

For much of this freshmen class, education is their cause, their career, their lives—and the reason they won.

Their commitment is proven by a shared conviction that as far as they have come since the walkout last spring, they still have so much further to go. Yet they don’t mourn this reality. They relish it.

“I almost haven’t had a chance to process what has happened because I haven’t been able to stop and catch my breath yet,” said Rep. Kelly Albright of District 95. “My hope is that the freshmen will be able to unite early on with our common goal of diverting from the status quo.”

“The walkout demonstrated that teachers could be strong and stand up for themselves. I think the voters wanted to see that,” Waldron said. “A lot of people appreciated seeing the teachers take that stand because we were fighting back.”

20 // FEATURED

BY HUNTER CATES

Oklahoma educators step out of the classroom and into the 57th Legislature

“Every door that we knocked on, education was a priority,” said Alicia Priest, president of the Oklahoma Education Association, herself a former middle school Spanish teacher. “I think the people of this state support their public schools. Period.”

Given the groundswell of grassroots support that helped sweep them into power, Oklahoma’s teachers-turned-lawmakers feel a sense of duty, perhaps even a burden, to deliver.

“The opportunity is real,” said Rep. Melissa Provenzano, a former Bixby assistant principal now representing District 79. “We have a rare moment here in Oklahoma where we are on the same page about what needs to happen.”

While there’s tremendous excitement among the incoming legislators about the possibilities for education, there’s also a lot of trepidation about the realities of governing.

None of them are naive enough to think working in the legislature will be easy. Oklahoma’s dismal ranking as 47th in the nation in Education Week’s 2017 “Quality Counts” report was years in the making.

Getting our state among the top 10 in education, as incoming Gov. Kevin Stitt said he hopes to do, will not happen overnight. That challenge may be even more daunting, given that the former mortgage lending company CEO was opposed to the teacher walkout as well as the funding package that brought it to an end.

“The systemic ineducation of our population has resulted in an electorate that continually votes for policy makers with a history of undermining education,” Albright said. “It’s becoming a cyclic problem that I’m certain was not unintentional. Despite that, I do still have a lot of hope for our future.”

Achieving that better future for Oklahoma’s public schools will mean accounting for years of institutional neglect. “The needs are tremendous after 10 years of budget cuts,” Waldron said. “We’ve had a chronic problem

January 2 – 15, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

of underinvestment in our public institutions. We’ve got to make some hard choices.”

The word “representative” is especially appropriate for this new crop of lawmakers, as a legislative body represents the people who put them in office in the first place.

So what does the 57th Legislature say about the Oklahoma voters who put them there last November? For many, the message cuts across party lines.

“When I went to Oklahoma City [for the walkout] and found myself not in the company of a few but well over 50,000, I realized that education is not a Democratic issue or a Republican issue. It’s an Oklahoman issue,” Provenzano said. “We all recognized the crisis we are in and worked together to affect real change.”

“A budget is an expression of your values. You show me where you’re putting your budget dollars and I’ll show you what your values are,” Waldron said. “Oklahomans are pro-education. It’s time our government was.”

It certainly sounds compelling, especially for public education’s staunchest supporters, but Oklahoma voters have heard it all before. “The politicians are always pro-education at the beginning of the session,” Waldron said.

“The key is, are they going to be pro-education when it’s time to make the hard decisions?”

What makes teachers—these teachers, in particular—better suited for the challenges ahead? For Priest, it’s the very impulse that drove them into the profession in the first place.

“Teachers are lifelong learners,” Priest said. “That’s pretty exciting because they’ll hit the ground running.”

“Can teachers work better than attorneys? I think it’s worth trying out,” Waldron said. “Because we as teachers have all seen the problems in the system.”

Waldron and the other incoming legislators are confident that teachers are uniquely equipped to handle today’s challenges. It is a confidence borne from their experience in the classroom, and perhaps also from the scar tissue formed after years of feeling ignored and taken for granted.

“Teachers weren’t going to get their concerns heard just by asking nicely. We had a fight for a seat at the table.

Because if you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu,” Waldron said.

“We’ve had a lot of talk about education reform over the last decade. But most of it seems to be handed to teachers by outside experts,” he continued. “If we are going to fix the problems in our schools, then maybe we should start from the grassroots. And that means teachers get to have a say in how they teach.”

“Even in the toughest schools, the dedication to Oklahoma children is real and the drive to see them succeed is tangible,” Provenzano said. “We must shine a light on and support [them] in meaningful ways, rather than new initiative after new initiative.”

Education is a priority for Oklahomans. The question is, how big of a mandate for change do educator-legislators have? More than a hundred candidates with an education background ran for office; only 16 won. At face value, this seems like a step back, especially for the movement that started with 50,000 strong last spring. But for the people supporting them, the 2018 election was a successful first step in a much longer march.

“We went from nine educators in the legislature to 26. That is an enormous jump,” Priest said. “Did all of the people that we wanted to see win, win? No. That’s not going to happen ever. But we’re certainly excited about the change and the makeup of the legislature for this upcoming session.”

Transforming campaign rhetoric into legislative results is a challenge as old as the Republic itself. Change will not come quickly or easily. It never does. And frankly, change may not come at all. But for the first time ever, perhaps, Oklahoma teachers have the opportunity to create their own THE TULSA VOICE // January 2 – 15, 2019

(ABOVE) FORMER BIXBY HIGH SCHOOL ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL MELISSA PROVENZANO IS ONE OF 16 TEACHERS WHO WILL BE JOINING OKLAHOMA 57TH LEGISLATURE. (BELOW) JOHN WALDRON, A FORMER SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHER AT BOOKER T. WASHINGTON, IS THE NEWLY-ELECTED REPRESENTATIVE OF HOUSE DISTRICT 77 | JOSEPH RUSHMORE

destiny. Not just for themselves, but for the thousands of children across our state whose only hope for a better life begins in an Oklahoma classroom.

“Teaching is a political act. That’s why they made Socrates take poison so many years ago,” Waldron said. “People did not go into teaching to make a fortune, or because it was easy. Teachers got into it because they wanted to make things better. And teachers that go into the legislature— well, they’re basically doubling down.”

“Knocking on doors and talking to voters changed me forever,” Provenzano said. “I know that we are not so far apart in our values and beliefs, as it sometimes feels. You can find common ground with just about anyone if you only seek it.

Once you have found it, you can begin to work together.”

Perhaps the biggest lesson these teachers learned from the walkout, and will be taking with them to Oklahoma City on Jan. 8, is paradoxical—any individual can make a difference, but only when they follow a cause bigger than themselves.

“I learned how powerful my voice was, even when it was shaking,” Albright said. “I think that typically we think of the loudest voice as the ones who are strongest, but often the quiet voices have a powerful and under-represented message. This was what gave me courage: knowing that others needed me to speak our message.” a FEATURED // 21

1

2

3 22 // ARTS & CULTURE

Tulsa’s premier park on a sunny winter weekend photos by DESTINY JADE GREEN words by BRADY WHISENHUNT January 2 – 15, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

4

5

JUST OVER 100 DAYS SINCE ITS SEPT. 8 GRAND OPENING, GATHERING PLACE has become an essential part of life in Tulsa. A leading contender for USA Today’s best new attraction in the United States, the $465 million dollar park has ushered the city into a definitive new moment—a phenomenon without precedent in local, state, or national history.

The general consensus seems to be that it’s way cooler than anyone expected.

It’s something we are exploring as a community, and not just the figurative sense. We are literally exploring the premises, mapping it out, trying to find all the different ways to play in it.

On any given weekend, when the weather is nice, you’ll find Tulsa at Gathering Place. Many of us would live here if we could. (Some of us are probably looking into the feasibility of making pillow fort in the top of one of the castle towers, and commuting to work on a Lime scooter.)

A year ago, Tulsa was a great city. Today, due in no small part to the sense of excitement and awe surrounding Gathering Place, it’s is one of the most exciting places in the country to live. This one-of-a-kind public space offers us a brightly-colored rope ladder up to a quantum leap in the process of becoming.

The park’s fall launch was a huge success, but how is this place being used as temperatures drop? How readily is Tulsa adopting this experiment and seeing it through the seasons? How are families reacting?

We set out on a sunny winter weekend to find answers to these questions—to find images that reveal what we can’t put down in words about this great experiment in play, and to talk to the ones exploring Tulsa’s new frontier.

THE TULSA VOICE // January 2 – 15, 2019

1) After a stroll through the park looking at Christmas lights, a family from Broken Arrow

finds themselves standing smack in the center of Mark Dion’s “Cabinet of Wonder” exhibit.

Rebekah’s eyes scan the interior of the room, a carefully-stacked and assembled collection of artifacts and oddities that climb the curved walls. Adorned in this peculiar way, the walls seem endlessly tall. “It’s pretty cool,” she says, taking it all in, as her children point out objects that catch their attention. 2) Olivianna drove in from Shawnee yesterday, and this afternoon she’s hanging out with a group of friends on her first visit to Gathering Place.

We spotted her on the dock, snapping an action shot of her friend Emily from Owasso. Like everyone else we spoke to, Olivianna is impressed by the abundance and variety of experiences the park holds. “Oh my gosh!” she exclaims. “There’s fun, and there’s activity, but it’s all through, like, art and architecture.” “And it’s just fun to be together,” Emily chimes in, referring to the group. “Aww,” sighs Olivianna, who just cannot handle the cuteness of her friend in this moment. 3)“Oh, she loves this,” says Jillian, who translates her one-year-old daughter Annabella’s baby talk. The tiny human is transfixed with the mirror maze, weaving in and out, gazing all around at the reflected versions of herself with boundless wonder on her very first visit to Gathering Place. Her shoes’ squeaky soles emit teeny chirps when they touch the ground. “She thinks it’s the best thing. She purposefully stomps them.” 4) Finally: a free afternoon and good weather at the same time. Grad student, volunteer, and full-time social worker Stephanie is spending it soaking in the sun and cutting up the trails on her bike.

“I’ve been planning for forever to come out here,” she says. Downtime is a rare, prized commodity for Stephanie. Patience and determination glow within her smile. 5)The setting sun casts longer and longer shadows over the 21-year old Tulsa natives, all college students. Two of them are home for the holidays, so they’ve all assembled at Gathering Place this afternoon to skateboard, shoot hoops, and mercilessly rip on each other. “That one over there in the white shirt, he’s 16,” cracks one of the bros as they introduce each other to us. The insistent thump of basketballs sound-off like war drums from the adjacent courts. a ARTS & CULTURE // 23

starbeat

Did you get a new telescope for Christmas? Sign up to learn how to use it with the Astronomy Club of Tulsa on Jan. 5 | COURTESY

Star stuff

Telescope 101 with the Tulsa Astronomy Club

by BLAYKLEE FREED

I

t’s hard to miss the array of telescopes when you walk into the Planetarium at Tulsa Air and Space Museum. Long Newtonian reflectors mingle with short and stubby Schmidt-Cassegrains in an assortment that any stargazer would be delighted to see.

“These have been donated to us over the last 10 years or so, and we just keep adding new ones,” said Bryan Kyle, manager of TASM’s Planetarium, located at 3624 N. 74th E Ave. near Tulsa International Airport. “A lot of times people donate them because they just don’t know what to do with them or they lost interest.”

Though TASM makes good use of the donated telescopes, part of their mission is to “inspire science-based learning through discovery.” That’s why Astronomy Club of Tulsa is partnering with the Museum for a workshop to help people learn how to use their own telescopes. On Saturday, Jan. 5, participants in the Telescope 101 Workshop will learn how to

24 // ARTS & CULTURE

work their personal telescopes from the pros.

“We encourage people that have gotten a telescope for Christmas, or maybe they’ve had one sitting around and just didn’t know how to use it—we have them bring it in, and we give them a mentor person to show them how to put everything together and explain how it works and answer their questions,” Astronomy Club member John Land said. Land has been in the Astronomy Club of Tulsa since 1977.

“We try to set it up so that each person (or group) has at least a 30-minute session,” he said. “That’s something new we’re trying this year.”

The idea is for novice stargazers to get comfortable using their telescopes so they can stargaze solo. “We try to set it up and get them at least to where they can get it pointed at the moon or a star that they want to look at,” Land said.

Sessions are available from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., during which time the Planetarium is screening

“Two Small Pieces of Glass,” a 23-minute feature about Galileo and the history of the telescope.

Both Land and Kyle said after the workshop, the next cosmic event you won’t want to miss will be the lunar eclipse on Jan. 20.

“This one is going to be pretty cool. It’s going to be the first one at a really good height,” Kyle said.

“A lot of times they’ll happen near the horizon or really late at night.

The last one I got a good look at was at like 4 a.m.”

During a lunar eclipse, the Earth’s shadow blocks the sun’s light from the moon. The moon has no inherent glow; we can only see it because light from the sun reflects off its surface—but during an eclipse, our planet’s shadow is cast over the moon.

Despite this impediment, the moon is still visible to us because the sun’s light bends around the Earth, shining through our atmosphere. The moon often appears red, as some of the light from the sun gets filtered out. The longer wavelengths, the oranges and

reds, are what reflect back to us.

If you want to break out your new telescope before the workshop and eclipse, Kyle has some essential advice. “First of all: Read the instructions. A lot of people make that mistake and think, ‘I don’t need that. It’s just a tube.

How hard can it be?’

“If you’re going to take it out the first time, find a target that you know is easy to find,” he said. “The moon is the best thing to try and see first because you can’t miss it.”

However, Kyle said before you go out, know that what you see through a telescope won’t look like the high-definition images NASA puts out from deep-space telescopes like Hubble. Planets in our own solar system are the size of a pea, or maybe a dime if you have a high-power telescope.

Kyle explained that galaxies look like milky blobs because our eyes can’t make out some of the color coming from them.

For good planetary observation, Kyle recommended waiting until you can see Jupiter this summer.

January 2 – 15, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

“Right now the only planet we’ve got that you can see with the naked eye is Mars—and technically Venus, but really early in the morning,” he said. “Jupiter is the first thing I saw through my telescope that I got in high school, and it’s kind of the thing that puts it into perspective for people because you can see the planet and its moons.”

Right now from our perspective on Earth, Jupiter is close to the sun, so we can’t see it well, Kyle said. The best time to view Jupiter next year will be starting on June 10.

You’d be surprised how much you can see with a small telescope or even a pair of binoculars, like the Andromeda galaxy.

But according to Kyle, if you’re looking to spot planets like Uranus or Neptune—both of which are currently visible—then you’ll need a telescope with a six-inch diameter or larger.

“A lot of people, when they go get a telescope, they want to see nebulae, galaxies, and those are great, but if you’re using a small telescope, a lot of those are going to be hard to see,” Kyle said.

“I tell people to look for star clusters. Some of them you can actually see with the naked eye, but any of them through a telescope are really cool to see. There’s one near Cassiopeia called the double cluster. It looks like a Fourth of July firework show.”

When you’re hunting for small or far away things, there is something Kyle said can be confusing: eyepieces. “Logic tells us that the bigger one would surely be the more powerful one, but it’s the opposite. The smaller one is highpower.”

Another bit of advice from Kyle: “You never want to look for something with a high-power eyepiece. You always want to start with a smaller one, find what you’re looking for, get it in the middle, and swap [the eyepiece] out.”

Regardless of the power of your eyepieces, or the focal length and aperture of your telescope, having anything to help your eyes see what’s above can give you a new perspective, Kyle said. “Just about any telescope will give you a huge insight onto the universe.”

You can RSVP today for the Telescope 101 Workshop on the TASM website at tulsamuseum. org/events. a THE TULSA VOICE // January 2 – 15, 2019

WHERE TO STARGAZE AROUND TULSA

artspot

Light pollution severely limits what we can see when we look into the night sky. The more light there is near your observation point, the harder it is to see stars, planets, and other celestial objects. These maps will help you plot where to go for your stellar search. lightpollutionmap.info cleardarksky.com/csk

HELLO, LUNA

The same side of the moon faces the Earth at all times thanks to a phenomenon known as tidal locking. The moon’s position in the sky changes because it orbits our planet on a different axis than Earth’s orbit with the sun.

Depending on where the moon is during the month—it takes 28.5 days to complete a lunar cycle—light from the sun will be shining on different parts of it, which causes the moon phases.

TYPES OF TELESCOPES

Refractor telescopes are the type Galileo used. They use lenses to magnify far away objects. Reflectors are what Isaac Newton used, which is why you’ll hear them called Newton reflectors. They use mirrors inside the telescope to reflect images into an eyepiece. A newer type of telescope is the SchmidtCassegrain—the short, stubby telescopes that often contain a computer interface.

They’re still reflectors, but they have a different design. They reflect light down through the center rather than off to the side, and they’ve got a filter in the front that blocks certain frequencies of light. “Those are the ones that professors like to use,” Kyle said.

The interior of Studio 75, a multi-purpose workspace for local creatives located in Kendall Whittier.

ADAM MURPHY

A SPACE FOR MAKING Studio 75 is a creative hub for Kendall Whittier

by TTV STAFF

W

hen commercial photographer Adam Murphy moved from Los Angeles to Tulsa, he thought his talent alone would be enough to land steady work. He figured downshifting into a smaller market would mean more opportunities arriving neatly packaged at his doorstep.

“It’s just not true,” Murphy said. “You have to get out and shake hands and kiss babies. Or else people just don’t know who you are. And they wanna hire somebody they know personally.”

It’s a classic dilemma for freelancers in creative fields. How do you make yourself known for work frequently done in solitude?

To that end, Murphy is offering workspace at his Studio 75 in Kendall Whittier for local creators who are looking to get out in the community. It’s a place where videographers, graphic designers, web developers, photographers, and all manners of makers can rent the space they need to do their work and press the flesh.

“My goal with this space was to get creatives out of their house,” Murphy said.

Murphy originally officed out of the upstairs area at the old Clean Hands storefront on 6th Street, across from what is now Bramble Breakfast and Bar. He quickly outgrew the tight quarters and found himself moving into the current studio space at 2318 E. Admiral Blvd.

The interior today bears little resemblance to what once was. “It was just a bunch of desks, backed up and backed up. It kind of looked like a sweatshop,” Murphy said.

“We built the loft, and we built the shooting space—this large white stage,” he continued. “Then just over a year ago, I took over the space when the current person moved to New York. We totally remodeled the look and feel of the place.

It was a little more broken up. It just had a little bit more hard edge to it. My wife is an interior designer, so I had her come in and look at the space and figure out a good game plan for it.”

The flexibility of the clean, customizable interior was designed with creators in mind. “You can pretty much move anything everywhere that you need,” Murphy said.

“Everything’s pretty light and manageable.

So the space can really become anything you need it to be.”

Now settled into its Kendall Whittier home, Murphy sees Studio 75’s marriage of creativity and community reflected in the neighborhood itself. “It’s been really cool to see it grow,” he said. “It’s a lot of small business owners, who are creative in their own right, who are really invested in the area … I know it’s part of Tulsa, but it also feels like our own little suburb. People are really feeding off each other, and really have a care for our block.” a ARTS & CULTURE // 25

onstage

On a mission

‘Book of Mormon’ actor returns to Tulsa in leading role

by ALICIA CHESSER ATKIN

I

t was quite a coup when the Tulsa Performing Arts Center Trust brought “The Book of Mormon” to Tulsa for the first time in 2015. Under the leadership of Shirley Elliott, the Trust made a bold move that paid off: the acid-tongued, bitingly hilarious, poignant and pointed Broadway musical from the writers of “South Park” and “Avenue Q” landed strong.

Four years later, “The Book of Mormon” returns under the banner of Celebrity Attractions for an eight-show run at the PAC. If you missed it before, this is your lucky break. Hailed as perhaps the funniest musical ever made, the literally irreverent creation by Trey Parker, Matt Stone, and Robert Lopez—about a Mormon mission trip to Uganda that doesn’t quite go as planned—is an equal-opportunity skewering with a tender heart. Songs include “Spooky Mormon Hell Dream” and “All American Prophet” (featuring the Angel Moroni).

If you’re planning to catch it again, you’re in good company— that of actor Connor Peirson.

Originally from Tacoma, Peirson ended up in the national touring cast of “The Book of Mormon” just three months after becoming a senior-year college dropout. He’s been with the show ever since.

Back in 2015, when the production first came through Tulsa, he was a humble standby (i.e., an understudy). This time he’s in the main cast as Elder Cunningham, the part he understudied, one of a mismatched pair of missionaries sent out together into Africa.

ALICIA CHESSER ATKIN: What’s it like going from the standby experience to being a full-fledged member of the ensemble?

26 // ARTS & CULTURE

to do onstage. It feels like you’re telling the truth, and the audience responds to that. It becomes mutually rewarding. When you show the parts you might not enjoy about yourself in a character, it’s amazing how people connect with that, rather than with characters who are more “perfect.”

Conner Peirson in “The Book of Mormon” | JULIETA CERVANTES

CONNOR PEIRSON: It’s like a trade of adrenaline. When you’re going on every night, you’re revved up all the time. When you’re on standby, you could go on at any moment, so it’s like you’re waiting to be shot out of a cannon every night. There was one show when I had to go on mid-performance.

The audience has to adjust, too! If someone’s suddenly different halfway through the show, they have to make the shift, and it’s your job to win them over.

ATKIN: Does your approach to the musical as a whole change, too?

PEIRSON: When you’re understudying, you spend so much time thinking about what you might do, imagining how things might go. When you’re actually experiencing it every night, there’s not any plan. It’s more fun, because you get the time and experience to try things on stage. You get to workshop it actively. Preparing to do this part, I thought initially that I would be making a lot more conscious choices on stage.

But it’s become about just being as honest and natural as possible.

With the subject matter in this show, the humor doesn’t work if your intention is to make fun of someone. If your intention is to be honest as this person who is struggling, that’s what people connect to, that’s when it becomes an emotional journey for the audience.

ATKIN: So the more time you spend out there being this guy in front of an audience, the more authentically you’re driven to portray him. You actors are brave.

PEIRSON: It’s interesting. More often than not, as an actor you’ll try to find yourself in a character.

But when you’re finding yourself in the character who’s, like, the loser, it’s kind of hard to come to grips with! Elder Cunningham is trying his absolute hardest to be the best Mormon he can be, but he just doesn’t quite have the awareness to notice that he is missing the mark. But he does it so earnestly that I think it endears the audience to him. Because of Cunningham’s lack of awareness, when he is vulnerable, he is absolutely raw. That’s oddly exposing

ATKIN: Tulsa is a place where there are a lot of organizations that do mission work. John Chau, the young man killed last year by a tribe on a remote Indian island where he was trying to spread the gospel, was a graduate of ORU. Do you think a show that pokes fun at so many elements of missionary work will be challenging for this audience?

PEIRSON: Sure, people will be provoked—in terms of “thought-provoking.” The show covers some pretty broad topics, some that people usually aren’t comfortable discussing. Sometimes the best way in is to have a launching pad for those conversations.

ATKIN: What would you say to a viewer who might feel like walking out?

PEIRSON: The show ends up being so pro-faith and pro-friendship, even if maybe through a lens that someone wouldn’t expect. It’s so good to stay to the end. Like every good joke or story, the punchline comes at the end. You’ve gotta stay to get that payoff. a

“THE BOOK OF MORMON” Jan. 8-13 Tulsa Performing Arts Center 110 E. 2nd St. Tickets start at $35 918-596-7111 or tulsapac.com/events/broadway January 2 – 15, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

GUN SHOW

by EM Lewis

presented by Midwestern Theatre Troupe of the Nightingale Theater

January 22-26 • 8pm Nightingale Theater

E V E N T S @ T PA C

THE

All tickets are walk-up general admission • $15 1416 E 4th St. • (918) 633-8666 • nightingaletheater.com

Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet Tulsa Symphony Jan. 5 The Book of Mormon Welcomed by Tulsa PAC Trust, presented by Celebrity Attractions Jan. 8-13 Beauty and the Beast Theatre Tulsa Jan. 11-26 Wild Kratts Live Innovation Arts & Entertainment Jan. 20 The Sound of Science Choregus Productions Jan. 25 Kenari Saxophone Quartet Chamber Music Tulsa Jan. 27

TICKETS @ TULSAPAC.COM 918.596.7111

Classics IV

Saturday, February 2, 2019 • 7:30pm Tulsa Performing Arts Center Shostakovich: Symphony No. 7 in C major A musical testament to the Soviet citizens who lost their lives in World War II, Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 7 expresses conflict and strength as well as lyricism and loss. Prior to the piece, guest conductor Gerhardt Zimmermann will present his “beneath the score” insights into this incredible work of music with a dramatic visual presentation.

Get tickets at tulsasymphony.org or 918-596-7111 THE TULSA VOICE // January 2 – 15, 2019

ARTS & CULTURE // 27

artspot

V

isitors can expect an entirely different experience depending on which door they walk through at “Hello, Penumbra.” The first floor of the several thousand square feet of Tulsa Living Arts gallery space is divided among four radically varied artists from the Tulsa Artists Fellowship. The day you see the show matters, too: On opening night, there were live goats. What’s in store for its closing week later this month is anybody’s guess.

The goats were artist Heyd Fontenot’s idea. “Part of it was playing off the idea of a living nativity scene,” he said. He calls the work an “inhabited installation.” Fontenot also manipulates the imagery of biker gangs and the politics of fear in what he calls a comment on both “white supremacy and ethnic cleansing.”

While the animals did not receive any direction for their opening night performance, a group of actors did rehearse their tableau vivant and the “obscure rituals” conducted in silence with music accompaniment. Elsewhere in the space hangs a painting by Fontenot with common household latex paint that reads, in a bow to artist Barbara Kruger: A SHOW OF FORCE IS A DISPLAY OF WEAKNESS. Fontenot was invited to transform the considerable amount of space along with Crystal Z. Campbell, Shane Darwent, and Florine Dèmosthéne. The show was curated by Jessica Borusky, artistic director for Living Arts of Tulsa. The result is an exhibition that activates the several thousand square feet into a politically-charged experience, however shrouded in layers of historical metaphor and allusion.

The show doesn’t necessarily work to human scale, but always in deep consideration of that scale within the gallery walls.

Or sometimes just outside of it.

Artist Shane Darwent made use of a loading dock for part of his contribution, which references architecture and features slightly askew takes on everyday objects, and what he calls “the moat of

28 // ARTS & CULTURE

Performers inhabit the space of “Hello, Penumbra” at Tulsa Living Arts on opening night.

DESTINY JADE GREEN

‘OBSCURE RITUALS’ ‘Hello, Penumbra’ is what happens when artists and institutions trust each other

by CHRISTOPHER MOSLEY suburbia” around America’s cities.

Darwent and Dèmosthéne had especially busy Decembers, as both artists were showing work in satellite fairs and related activity at Art Basel in Miami. Dèmosthéne exhibited at the Untitled Art Fair on behalf of Mariane Ibrahim gallery. Her large figurative work combines glitter, ink, film, and various other materials, dealing heavily with mythology and a long overdue revisionism on what constitutes heroism. Darwent, meanwhile, was on location for a storefront installation in Little Havana.

The philosophical through-line between Tulsa Artist Fellowship and Living Arts of Tulsa is complete and total artistic freedom for anyone with whom they work.

“My curatorial approach is highly dialogical, in that I rarely work with an artist and ‘select’ work; rather, my working with artists is an ongoing conversation,” Borusky said. “I wish to work with

an artist based on the conceptual and aesthetic integrity … of their practice, and then I begin to discuss with them what, out of the world of their work, would they like to work on and exhibit.”

Fontenot says the same regarding the policing of content, or lack thereof, for Tulsa Artist Fellows.

“There aren’t stipulations on what material we can deal with,” Fontenot said. “We are not censored, which is so important in a creative field.”

Fontenot was once director of the CentralTrak artist residency in Dallas, which was closed by the University of Texas at Dallas in 2017. He notes the difference in the culture between the residencies as he makes work on a TAF stipend of $20,000, which is not weighed down by the burden of being tied to any particular project, including housing and a studio. “There are just no bones about it,” he said. “It’s fully

supported. They are not trying to scare us.”

Although it has changed locations several times over the years, the proximity of Living Arts gallery to the site of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre is not a fact lost on either the directors or artists.

Crystal Z. Campbell in particular has made the underreported tragedy a focus of her practice, which continues to evolve.

Her installation, “Model Citizen: Here I Stand,” continues the artist’s trajectory of work haunted by the Massacre, while drawing a connection to arguably one of the lost icons of the postwar era, Paul Robeson—a star athlete, actor, writer, and singer who was under strict surveillance by the American government and mistreated accordingly for his left-leaning political ideology.

Campbell envelops her section of Living Arts with two-sided banners featuring archival aspects of Robeson’s life on one side, both original and found. The five massive works display blunt messages on the other side: THIS IS NOT A MONUMENT. THIS IS NOT EQUITY. THIS IS NOT ORIGINAL. THIS IS NOT AN ACKNOWLEDGMENT. THIS IS NOT UNDONE. Three original videos made by Campbell accompany the banners with Tulsa-based actors posing as nude stand-ins for Robeson, in the manner of a model frozen still for a figure drawing class. “I was interested in how he held space,” she said. “How his body was perceived, and the role of potential erotic power that was central to the narrative used to justify the start of the Tulsa Race Massacre and so many other violences of Americana.”

Campbell is planning a performance during the final week of “Hello, Penumbra.” The event will feature multiple performers and takes place on Thurs., Jan. 17—one day before the exhibition closes. The artist says she’s “quite nervous” about it, and attendees should be too. Judging by the work so far, visitors can expect something that will be hard to shake after exiting. a January 2 – 15, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

Everyone is Welcome.

Everyone is Creative.

Hardesty Center Tulsa Arts District

Not just an ordinary bar

Open Tues. - Sat. 11am - 7pm 217 E. Archer Historic tulsa Arts District (918) 619-6353

Join us for the tastiest Chicken & Waffles in Tulsa!

18 East M. B. Brady St. 918-588-2469 cazschowhouse.com

21 E M.B. Brady St 918-585-8587

Arrive Early. Stay Late.

The Tulsa Arts District is home to retail and service shops, restaurants, bars, clubs, galleries, museums,

woodyguthriecenter.org

parks, private businesses, residences and historic music venues. Plan to MEMBER OPENING THURSDAY, JAN. 24 6:30pm

SCOTT MULVAHILL FRIDAY, FEB. 8, • 7pm

SETH GLIER FRIDAY, FEB. 22 • 7pm

arrive early and stay late in the Tulsa Arts District!

facebook.com/TulsaArtsDistrict @TulArtsDist

address 102 EAST BRADY STREET, TULSA, OK

74103

phone 918.574.2710

#TulArtsDist

TheTulsaArtsDistrict.org

email INFO@WOODYGUTHRIECENTER.ORG THE TULSA VOICE // January 2 – 15, 2019

TULSA ARTS DISTRICT GUIDE // 29

FIRST FRIDAY ART CRAWL Jan. 4, 6-9 p.m., The Tulsa Arts District thetulsaartsdistrict.com 108 Contemporary: NEOWTA artist JJ Huelsman; ahha: “Cultura Fronteriza”; Antoinette Baking Co.: Pie Night; Bar 46: Mixed media

by Summer Rose; Black Wall Street Gallery: The Conciliation Series – Elizabeth Henley and Nicole Donis; Chimera: “Feral Splendor” by Adrienne Owen; Chrysalis Salon: “Gray Matters” by Todd Sparks; Club Majestic: Hoe You Think You Can Dance Contest; Henry Zarrow Center for Arts and Education: “Hell or High Water”; Living Arts: “Hello, Penumbra” – Tulsa Artist Fellowship; Mainline: “Hardline” by Jason Wilson; Philbrook Downtown: “Remember This” and “Bean Dance: Hopi and Kachina Carvings”; TAC Gallery: “Then and Now” by Cynthia Brown; Tulsa Glassblowing School: Demonstrating artist Kenneth Gonzales Performers inhabit the space of “Hello, Penumbra” at Tulsa Living Arts on opening night.

DESTINY JADE GREEN

HARRY POTTER

ARCHITECTURE

Central Library will host the second Harry Potter New Year’s Bash, where fans can join a Hogwarts house, encounter live owls, make a wand, and more. Jan. 4, 5:30–8 p.m., tulsalibrary.org

Tulsa Foundation for Architecture’s 2nd Saturday Walking Tour will feature the structures of downtown’s Cathedral District. Jan. 12, tours begin at 10 a.m., $13, tulsaarchitecture.com

ORCHESTRA

DEMONSTRATION

Tulsa Symphony will perform selections from Prokofiev’s “Romeo and Juliet”, as well as Mozart’s “The Magic Flute,” and Gandolfi’s “The Garden of Cosmic Speculation.” Jan. 5, 7:30 p.m., $15–$70, tulsapac.com

The Northeastern Oklahoma Woodturners Association will host a demonstration at their studio facility.

Jan. 12, 10 a.m.–2 p.m., 108contemporary.org

ASTRONOMY

AUTHOR

Astronomy Club of Tulsa will host a free Telescope 101 Workshop at Tulsa Air & Space Museum. See pg. 24 for more. Jan. 5, tulsamuseum.org

Journalist for The Guardian Chris McGreal will discuss his book “American Overdose,” a devastating portrait of the opioid epidemic. Jan. 14, 7 p.m., All Souls Unitarian Church, magiccitybooks.com

CULTURAL CELEBRATION

GOTTA GO FAST

Wrap up your seasonal celebrations at Gilcrease Museum’s Día de Reyes celebration, which will include festive foods, dancing, art activities, storytelling, and a procession of kings. Jan. 5, 1–4 p.m., gilcrease.org

Six days of high-octane dirt track racing returns to Expo Squre for the 33rd annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals. Jan. 14-19, chilibowl.com

ON STAGE

“The Book of Mormon”—the multiple Tony-winning musical from “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone and “Avenue Q” writer Robert Lopez— returns to Tulsa Performing Arts Center. Jan. 8-13, tulsapac.com 30 // ARTS & CULTURE

FOR UP-TO-DATE LISTINGS: THETULSAVOICE.COM/CALENDAR January 2 – 15, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

MANY OKLAHOMANS ARE STILL EXPOSED TO SECONDHAND SMOKE AT WORK.

BEST OF THE REST EVENTS The Tulsa Wedding Show // 1/5, Renaissance Hotel, thetulsaweddingshow.com An Evening with Dave Eggars // 1/10, Congregation B’nai Emunah, magiccitybooks. com Ok, So Story Slam: Shit Happens // 1/10, IDL Ballroom, facebook.com/oksotulsa King and Queen of Tulsa Pride Pageant // 1/12, Dennis R. Neill Equality Center, okeq.org Harm Reduction Informational Meeting // 1/13, Bound for Glory Books, facebook.com/ stopharmontulsastreets

COMEDY Julie Scoggins // 1/2-5, Loony Bin, loonybincomedy.com Slightly Used 2019 Model // 1/5, Rabbit Hole Improv, rabbitholeimprov.com Warren B Hall // 1/9-12, Loony Bin, loonybincomedy.com Blue Dome Social Club // 1/9, Mainline Art & Cocktails, mainlineartok.com Busted! // 1/12, Rabbit Hole Improv, rabbitholeimprov.com Sinbad // 1/12, River Spirit Casino - Paradise Cove, riverspirittulsa.com

PERFORMING ARTS Beauty and the Beast // 1/11-26, Tulsa PAC - John H. Williams Theatre, tulsapac.com

THE TULSA VOICE // January 2 – 15, 2019

Second Sunday Serials // 1/13, Agora Event Center, hellertheatreco.com

SPORTS ORU Women’s Basketball vs North Dakota // 1/2, Mabee Center, oruathletics.com ORU Men’s Basketball vs North Dakota // 1/3, Mabee Center, oruathletics.com Tulsa Oilers vs Allen Americans // 1/4, BOK Center, tulsaoilers. com

THAT’S 100% clean indoor air laws are one of the simplest, cheapest and most effective ways to protect employees and patrons from dangerous secondhand smoke.

Let’s protect hardworking Oklahomans. Join the fight at

TU Women’s Basketball vs Wichita State // 1/4, Reynolds Center, tulsahurricane.com Tulsa Oilers vs Idaho Steelheads // 1/5, BOK Center, tulsaoilers. com ORU Women’s Basketball vs Western Illinois // 1/5, Mabee Center, oruathletics.com ORU Men’s Basketball vs Western Illinois // 1/5, Mabee Center, oruathletics.com TU Men’s Basketball vs USF // 1/5, Reynolds Center, tulsahurricane.com Tulsa Oilers vs Idaho Steelheads // 1/6, BOK Center, tulsaoilers. com Tulsa Oilers vs Rapid City Rush // 1/8, BOK Center, tulsaoilers. com TU Women’s Basketball vs Memphis // 1/9, Reynolds Center, tulsahurricane.com TU Men’s Basketball vs Cincinnati // 1/10, Reynolds Center, tulsahurricane.com Tulsa Ice Bowl Charity Disc Golf Tournament // 1/12, Chandler Park, tulsadiscsports.com

LISTEN UP! TULSA TALKS is TulsaPeople’s podcast on Tulsa’s community and culture.

Season 2 premieres on

JANUARY 2!

Subscribe for FREE on Apple Podcasts, Google Play or Spotify!

Episodes are released the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of each month.

ARTS & CULTURE // 31

musicnotes

‘Wake up and shine bright’ Preston Simmons fights for local creatives

by MARY NOBLE

P

reston Simmons is a lot of things: a singer, dancer, rapper, and a generally versatile creator. He’s also in a constant state of reflection. The North Tulsa native makes himself vulnerable in a way that is personal yet relatable—a vulnerability that glows through his music and his demeanor. When Simmons speaks, it’s as though he has thought through each word on a constant quest for growth and self-improvement.

Music is an extension of who Simmons is, and he began nurturing his creativity at a young age.

“Music was always my getaway,” he said. “I could come home and cut on Outkast and totally escape from what I was dealing with around me. I was always drawn to [music] from very young.”

Simmons got his start dancing and would later begin singing, rapping, and competing in local talent shows. He recalled a time when his favorite music teacher, Mr. Fincher, pulled him aside to encourage him to continue performing. “[He] said, ‘I’ve taught a lot of students. I’ve coached a lot of students. You have something very special. Whatever you do, it has to do with music.

You light up when you perform.

You’re very quiet and reserved … but when it comes to music, you turn alive. You wake up and shine bright.’ That stuck with me,” Simmons said.

Simmons was 16 when he recorded his first song in the studio. He continued producing music into his 30s, when he was offered a record deal with Sony.

The deal afforded Simmons the ability to tour and see the country. “I got to see a lot of the other local scenes. That made me realize

32 // MUSIC

Preston Simmons, styled by his muse and business partner, Lisa J. | BRITTANY TILLEY

how special Tulsa was,” he said.

“A lot of major markets have similar sounds but Tulsa everyone has got their unique style.”

But the deal ended in disappointment. “A record deal is not what you think it is,” Simmons said. “There’ll be a lot of promises made, and some of that can

happen to some people, but labels don’t take you serious unless you have a million followers. I [realized I] don’t need them and can do this on my own. Especially with so many talented people around me.”

Simmons went through an emotionally turbulent time after

the deal ended. He suffered from debilitating self-doubt and depression. “I slipped into a real dark place after that record deal,” he said. Simmons then took a twoyear hiatus from creating music and it wasn’t until his artistic energy was renewed that he began creating again.

Simmons attributes much of this reawakening to his best friend and business partner, Lisa J, whom he calls his muse. He credits her with inspiring him to think beyond music when it comes to his creativity, encouraging him to explore other avenues such as clothing design. “She inspires me so much that if I haven’t seen her in a minute it’s hard for me to work,” Simmons said. “We inspire each other.”

Simmons now serves as Lisa’s brand ambassador for her fashion consulting and design business, Style by Lisa J, and has worked as creative director with Lisa on a number of projects.

For Lisa J, the inspiration is mutual. “Being in a creative space with Prez is like being in a room of flying stardust. It doesn’t matter which particle you catch, it will absolutely ignite into something,” she said. “Catching it is actually what makes our collaboration so powerful. We don’t take any ideas for granted. His passion for the arts exudes and my love for creative expression interlock perfectly.”

Simmons began writing and producing music again this year with Tha Vets, the band he started with four close friends.

Simmons’ bandmates include Joseph Bruner (MD/synth bass), Vashon Mays (drums), DJ Gator (DJ/synth/artist) and Jerome January 2 – 15, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

Oates (keys). The name of the group speaks to its’ members longevity in the music industry.

Simmons estimates that there’s over 100 years of musical experience between them.

While Simmons is the frontman of the group, he often plays a role behind the scenes as creative director when the band backs other local artists such as Steph Simon, Keezy Kuts, and Ayilla. Together the band brings artist’s music to life by taking their beats and reproducing them as live instrumentals. “I try to do my best to reach out to any creatives or any artists I know and get with them [and ask] ‘How can we help? How can we build and make this better?”

While this process requires a lot of hours and hard work, Simmons believes it’s what is necessary to take local artists to the next level. “It’s important to be able to perform your song at a high level, and that’s always something I’ve been doing no matter what,” he said.

High-quality performances are an integral part of Simmons’ vision of moving towards a Tulsa that better supports its creatives.

“I know a lot of talented artists around here that are really affecting the city in a positive way— and I know people are making money off them, and [the artists] can’t even survive,” he said.

Simmons is overflowing with ideas to improve the lives of local artists. One of them is more collaboration with local businesses and increased advocacy for the artists themselves. Simmons acknowledged that any positive change is welcome, no matter how incremental. To illustrate this, he points to an all-too-recent time in downtown Tulsa when local venues wouldn’t even allow hiphop performances on their stages.

“I’m just a voice,” Simmons said. “I fight for the creatives. If you are a creative in Tulsa, what I’m doing is fighting for you—and I’m trying to push it to the limit, and hopefully it kicks down some doors to where I can get in and you can get in and we can all help each other.”

Simmons is currently recording for his latest solo project, Layers, a seven-track EP that tells THE TULSA VOICE // January 2 – 15, 2019

the story of his personal struggles with mental health, his journey as an artist, and his vision for next generation of creatives in the community. He has plans to release the project in the spring and is in the planning stages of a release show that will be unlike any Tulsa has seen.

“I’m going to perform it and deliver it in a very unique way.

Each song is going to be themed

out and we are going to present it in a big cinematic way,” Simmons said. In addition to performing his new music live, there will be a fashion show with work from Lisa J and collaboration with local boutique Sobo Co. The event will also include a short fi lm shot by Stressed Denim Film, and live art

by Devon Jones a.k.a. Monarch Jones, a prominent local artist from the Black Moon Collective.

Jones is expected to create seven paintings inspired by each track of the album.

Tha Vets are taking a short break from performing to work on Simmon’s upcoming project, but fans can expect Simmons’ new single, “Yellow Roses,” to be released in February. In the meantime, local creatives can rest easy knowing that Simmons is fighting on their side. a

MUSIC // 33

musiclistings Wed // Jan 2 Cellar Dweller – Grazzhopper Mercury Lounge – Jared Tyler & Seth Lee Jones Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame – Shelby and Nathan Eicher ($10) River Spirit Casino - 5 O’Clock Somewhere Bar – Travis Fite The Colony – Tom Skinner’s Science Project The Vanguard – Rome Hero Foxes, Alexis Onyango, New Time Zones, Kinda Collective ($10)

Thurs // Jan 3 Foolish Things Coffee Company – Bryce Woodason Mercury Lounge – Paul Banjaman River Spirit Casino - 5 O’Clock Somewhere Bar – DJ 2Legit Soul City – Don & Steve White The Colony – Jacob Tovar’s Western Night The Colony – Robert Hoefling - Happy Hour The Willows Family Ales – Rachel La Vonne

Fri // Jan 4 American Legion Post 308 – Round Up Boys Blackbird on Pearl – Acie James Duo Hard Rock Casino - The Joint – The Four Tops ($25.50) Mercury Lounge – A Vulture Wake, Bobgoblin, Murderous Mary Soul City – Susan Herndon Soundpony – Soul Night The Colony – Joe Baxter Album Release The Colony – Giakob Lee - Happy Hour The Hunt Club – DocFell & Co. The Max Retropub – DJ Jeffee Fresh The Vanguard – The Human Experiment, Omni Zero, Give Way ($10) Westbound Club – Bottoms Up Band Wyldhawgz – 1994

Sat // Jan 5 Bad Ass Renee’s – Follow the Buzzards, Had Enough w/ DJ Young Jager, Goodbye Autumn, Lights Out On Sheridan Blackbird on Pearl – Brad James Band ($5) Blue Rose Café – Jake Marlin, Zac Wenzel Mercury Lounge – Redwitch Johnny, Acid Queen, Dope Patrol Red River Saloon – The 29th Street Band Soundpony – Culture Over Everything, Marcel P. Black, Verse, Steph Simon, Mr. Burns, Ayilla The Colony – Girls Club, Animal Names, Chrim The Hunt Club – Rosy Hips, David Castro The Max Retropub – DJ Robbo The Vanguard – Nathan Perry, Jim Watson, Side Effects, Laur Emmer ($10) Westbound Club – Bottoms Up Band

Sun // Jan 6 East Village Bohemian Pizzeria – Mike Cameron Collective Mercury Lounge – Brandon Clark Rabbit Hole – Selected Sundays w/ Skanka River Spirit Casino - 5 O’Clock Somewhere Bar – Brent Giddens

34 // MUSIC

Soul City – Blues Brunch w/ Dustin Pittsley Soul City – Bruner & Eicher The Colony – Paul Benjaman’s Sunday Nite Thing The Colony – Singer Songwriter Open Mic Matinee w/ David Hernandez The Vanguard – The Ive, Lowals, Cavern Company, The Gales ($10)

Soul City – Jennifer Marriott Band Soundpony – Afistaface The Colony – The Stylees ($5) The Colony – Giakob Lee - Happy Hour The Hunt Club – JT and the Dirtbox Wailers The Max Retropub – Retro DJ The Vanguard – Darku J ($5)

Mon // Jan 7

Sat // Jan 12

Hodges Bend – Mike Cameron Collective Mercury Lounge – Chris Blevins Rabbit Hole – Chris Foster River Spirit Casino - 5 O’Clock Somewhere Bar – Travis Kidd Soundpony – T-Rextasy The Colony – Seth Lee Jones The Vanguard – Corusco, Spotless Mind, Miximus Spears ($10)

Bad Ass Renee’s – Bermuda County Blackbird on Pearl – Mike Hosty ($5) Cain’s Ballroom – Josh Abbott Band, Grant Gilbert ($20-$35) Cimarron Bar – Rocket Science CJ Maloney’s – Julie & The Retrospex Dixie Tavern – Without Warning, TC Love Dixie Tavern – Another Alibi Mercury Lounge – Franks & Deans pH Community House – Employer, Søaker, Sun Vow, Junfalls The Colony – Route 358 The Hunt Club – RPM The Max Retropub – DJ AB The Vanguard – The Classless, Goodfella, Anchorway, All For More ($10) Woody Guthrie Center – Tulsa Little Jam w/ Smoochie Wallus, Weston Horn & the Hush, Grazzhopper, CLIFFD/VER ($15-$25) Soundpony – Soft Leather

Tues // Jan 8 Bound for Glory Books – Ghost Piss, Dead Tooth, Ramona & The Phantoms Gypsy Coffee House – Open Mic Mercury Lounge – Wink Burcham Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame – Depot Jazz and Blues Jams Rabbit Hole – Evan Hughes Presents…

River Spirit Casino - 5 O’Clock Somewhere Bar – Fary Moffett Soul City – Kalo The Colony – Dane Arnold & The Soup The Colony – Deerpaw - Happy Hour

Wed // Jan 9 Cellar Dweller – Grazzhopper Mercury Lounge – Jared Tyler & Seth Lee Jones Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame – Shelby and Nathan Eicher ($10) River Spirit Casino - 5 O’Clock Somewhere Bar – Travis Fite The Colony – Tom Skinner’s Science Project

Thurs // Jan 10 Blackbird on Pearl – Jeremiah Kerby album release w/ Alan Doyle, Timbo Kelly, Sprout The Anti-Hero, The Community Jam Mercury Lounge – Paul Banjaman River Spirit Casino - 5 O’Clock Somewhere Bar – DJ 2Legit Soul City – The Begonias The Colony – Jacob Tovar’s Western Night The Colony – Robert Hoefling - Happy Hour The Hunt Club – Brandon Clark The Vanguard – Not My Weekend, Johnny Manchild and the Poor Bastards, Second Glance ($10) The Venue Shrine – Wayne The Train Hancock, Wink Burcham ($10-$15) The Willows Family Ales – Dane Arnold

Fri // Jan 11 American Legion Post 308 – Joe Harris Blackbird on Pearl – Electric Billy Club ($5) Cimarron Bar – T4 Quad IDL Ballroom – Hekler pH Community House – Shoog Night, Dope Patrol, Ball of Light Soul City – Susan Herndon - Happy Hour

Sun // Jan 13 East Village Bohemian Pizzeria – Mike Cameron Collective Mercury Lounge – Brandon Clark Rabbit Hole – Selected Sundays w/ Skanka River Spirit Casino - 5 O’Clock Somewhere Bar – Brent Giddens Soul City – Blues Brunch w/ Dustin Pittsley Soul City – Bruner & Eicher The Colony – Paul Benjaman’s Sunday Nite Thing The Colony – Singer Songwriter Open Mic Matinee w/ David Hernandez The Hunt Club – Preslar Monthly Music Showcase

Mon // Jan 14 Hodges Bend – Mike Cameron Collective Mercury Lounge – Chris Blevins Rabbit Hole – Chris Foster River Spirit Casino - 5 O’Clock Somewhere Bar – Travis Kidd Soundpony – Cole The Colony – Seth Lee Jones The Vanguard – Sorry No Sympathy, Citadels, Spook. ($10)

Tues // Jan 15 Gypsy Coffee House – Open Mic Mercury Lounge – Wink Burcham Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame – Depot Jazz and Blues Jams Rabbit Hole – Evan Hughes Presents…

River Spirit Casino - 5 O’Clock Somewhere Bar – Faye Moffett The Colony – Dane Arnold & The Soup The Colony – Deerpaw - Happy Hour

Your

VOICE For Live

Music Get the word out for upcoming live music shows Send dates, venue and listings to John@Langdon Publishing.com January 2 – 15, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

THE TULSA VOICE // January 2 – 15, 2019

MUSIC // 35

I will SING A NEW SONG unto thee, O God:… yea, HAPPY IS THAT PEOPLE, whose God is the Lord.

onscreen

STEAL YOUR HEART

FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST Tulsa’s independent and non-profit art-house theatre, showing independent, foreign, and documentary films.

50% OFF GLOW-IN-THE-DARK GLASS PLUGS & TUNNELS WHEN YOU MENTION THIS AD!

924 S. Boulder Church & Sunday School • 10:30am Wednesday Meeting • 6:00pm Reading Room • Mon. & Wed. • 11am-1pm

TELL US WHAT YOU’RE DOING So we can tell everyone else Send all your event and music listings to

Tulsa Body Jewelry

voices@langdonpublishing.com

Oklahoma’s Biggest Selection, The Lowest Prices Anywhere!

1742 South Harvard Ave in midtown Tulsa Mon thru Sat Noon-7pm / Sun Noon-5pm shop online at TulsaBodyJewelry.com or call us at 918-398-9508

FREE IT ’S L E G A L T IL L

Tulsa’rsee F ONLY u na Marij yaer Law

Free legal representation for first offense marijuana possession.

Tulsa District & City Courts only.

No juvenile cases.

Reasonable fees for other charges.

Some restrictions apply.

WE’RE GIVING FREE AWAY

STUFF!

Michael Fairchild • Attorney at Large • 918-58-GRASS (584-7277)

36 // FILM & TV

J A N U A R Y G I V E A W AY :

VALENTINE’S DAY PACKAGE

$200 package includes $100 Dip Certificate for The Melting Pot, plus gift cards for Sweet Tooth and Ida Red! REGISTER BY JAN. 31 AT

thetulsavoice.com

Lily Franky, Sakura Andô, Mayu Matsuoka, Miyu Sasaki, and Jyo Kairi in “Shoplifters” | COURTESY

A petty crime family reckons with itself in ‘Shoplifters’ SOMETIMES THERE IS A THIN LINE BETWEEN stealing something and rescuing it.

That’s the intriguing philosophical premise of “Shoplifters,” the Japanese film from acclaimed director Hirokazu Kore-eda.

Revered for his sensitive and poignant family dramas, Kore-eda’s latest took the top prize at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.

Whichever side of that thin line you land on is ultimately a matter of perspective, and perspective is what Kore-eda continues to shift and redefine as the story unfolds, all to compelling effect.

The Shibata family lives on the margins in Tokyo. Their various part-time jobs barely keep them above the poverty line.

To make up the difference, they shoplift necessities like food and clothing.

Osamu, the dad, spearheads the grocery store operations with 10-year-old son Shota while mother Nobuyo helps with clothes in department stores. They implement their sly system with mischievous fun. The young adult daughter Aki, meanwhile, works at a strip club, doing solo dances in cubicles for individual patrons.

Grandmother Hatsue also lives with them.

One night on the way home from “getting” groceries, Osamu and Shota come across a seven-year-old girl named Yuri who is orphaned on the streets. Taking sympathy on her, they bring Yuri back to their dilapidated home, making her one of their own.

Inevitably, they bring Yuri into their family trade, but for the Shibatas this is actually a gesture of affection, even if it’s also opportunistic. That affection is genuine, and bonds begin to form between Yuri and the family.

As they do, however, it triggers a moral crisis for each of the Shibatas—first individually, then collectively—who become

troubled by the reality that they’re corrupting an innocent girl whom they’re growing to love.

Compounding their guilt are moments when Yuri mentions, unexpectedly, examples of trauma she suffered in her original home. These recollections for Yuri are matter-of-fact, but they come as devastating blindsides for the Shibatas (and for us as well).

Along with that guilt comes an existential question: When everything is a grift, how real and authentic are your closest relationships—even in your family? Granted, the Shibatas can’t be defined simply by their petty crimes, yet it begins to gnaw at each of them as they consider how cavalier they’ve been in their amoral desperation.

Kore-eda and his superb cast explore these struggles—from daily life to those of the conscience—with a powerful naturalism and profound empathy. As the nature of this family reveals itself, the film’s pathos expands.

Never sentimental but deeply emotional, Kore-eda doesn’t let his characters off the hook, but that’s indicative of the compassion he has for them. These are good people, and he doesn’t want them to compromise that.

The ensemble approaches their roles in the same way, with Sakura Andô’s mother Nobuyo and Jyo Kairi’s son Shota being the most raw and moving. As little Yuri, Miyu Sasaki is heartbreakingly fragile, too.

A reckoning comes for every family.

That’s really what “Shoplifters” is about.

A family’s survival will depend on how honestly they deal with that reckoning, but only so long as that honesty doesn’t come too late.— JEFF HUSTON January 2 – 15, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

Kiki Layne and Stephan James in “If Beale Street Could Talk” | COURTESY Felicity Jones in “On the Basis of Sex” | COURTESY

A love supreme BARRY JENKINS DELIVERS AN EMOTIONAL PORTRAIT OF BLACK LOVE IN ‘70S NEW YORK “IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK”—WRITERdirector Barry Jenkins’ follow-up to his acclaimed breakthrough “Moonlight”— opens on an autumnal New York day, as a young African American couple, Tish (KiKi Layne) and Fonny (Stephan James) walk hand in hand. They turn and look deep into each other’s eyes as we hear Tish’s pained voice: “I hope that nobody has ever had to look at anybody they love through glass.”

We’re abruptly, almost violently, transported to the reception area of a prison— where Tish, face to face with a now-incarcerated Fonny, reveals she’s pregnant.

So begins this portrait of black love, the likes of which have never before been seen on screen.

What began as childhood affection between Tish and Fonny flourishes into a fullblown love story on the streets and stoops of ‘70s Harlem. Enduring the disapproving ire of Fonny’s devout mother and the scornful eye of a local beat cop, their love is tested through the hardship of a criminal justice system set up to break them.

A foreboding sense of dread is as palpable as the love between Fonny and Tish.

Throughout “Beale Street,” an adaptation of James Baldwin’s 1974 novel, Jenkins drives home just how frequently the system is rigged against black men like Fonny—and how quite often, the partners they love are burdened with hope in their absence.

In a show-stopping exchange, Fonny reconnects with a close friend Daniel (a scene-stealing Bryan Tyree Henry, of “Atlanta” fame). Over beers and smokes, Fonny listens as Daniel confides just how harrowing an experience prison can be for men of color.

THE TULSA VOICE // January 2 – 15, 2019

“The white man has got to be the devil,” he says. The exchange is all the more portentous since we already know Fonny’s fate. It’s a glimpse of vulnerable black masculinity rarely seen in film—the same spirit that made “Moonlight” such a revalation— and for 12-plus minutes we are entranced by the exchange. It’s even more tragic that Tish has been privy all along, carrying the silent dread of what faces them.

“Beale Street” is a ravishing feast for the eyes. Jenkins and cinematographer James Laxton luxuriate in the gorgeous darkhued skin tones of this mostly-black cast, photographing them in burnished hues and supple, milky shadows. Nicholas Brittel’s lyrical, jazz-tinged score is entangling, but the highest praise must be reserved for the cast. The two leads, Layne and James, anchor probably the best ensemble of the year.

Regina King as Sharon, Tish’s mother, is the embodiment of motherly love, willing to go to the ends of the earth for her child and grandchild. Coleman Domingo portrays Joseph, Tish’s father, willing to put his own freedom on the line for his grandson’s future. It is an intimate glimpse into a loving dynamic sorely missing from most media portrayals of black family life.

“If Beale Street Could Talk” is as much a film about black love as the war zone it often thrives in. Violence, bigotry, and institutional racism loom large, and yet love blooms, endures, and conquers in the midst of such adversity. Jenkins has a deft hand with a soft touch, and it’s never more present than in the film’s final moments. We’re left with an image that is equal parts heart-wrenching and uplifting, sure to haunt you long after the credits roll. — CHARLES ELMORE

A BRIEF RUNDOWN OF WHAT’S HAPPENING AT THE CIRCLE CINEMA

OPENING JANUARY 4 ROMA From Academy Awardwinning director Alfonso Cuarón (“Gravity”), this intimate epic about a Mexican housekeeper in early 1970s Mexico City has won numerous year-end critics group awards, including Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actress Yalitza Aparicio from the Oklahoma Film Critics Circle. The Circle is host to Tulsa’s exclusive theatrical run for this major Oscar contender.

Rated R.

OPENING JANUARY 11 ON THE BASIS OF SEX Felicity Jones (“The Theory of Everything”) stars in this biopic about the early career of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Nearly 50 years ago as a young lawyer, Ginsburg brought a groundbreaking case of gender discrimination before the Supreme Court. Rated PG-13.

SPECIAL EVENTS WINGS (1927) Kick off the Oscar season with this first-ever Best Picture winner from 90 years ago.

A big budget action drama of its

day, “Wings” boasts groundbreaking aerial dogfight footage in this World War I epic. It screens for a special Saturday night event. Cast includes silent-era starlet Clara Bow and a young Gary Cooper.

(Sat. Jan. 5, 7 p.m.)

GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS Annual Golden Globe Awards viewing party. Theatre Tulsa’s Jarod Kopp hosts, with trivia and prizes during commercial breaks. Red Carpet arrival begins at 6 p.m. $5 tickets (Circle Cinema members FREE).

(Sun. Jan. 6, 6 p.m.)

ELLA CINDERS (1927) Second Saturday Silents presents silent era movie star Coleen Moore in this retelling of the Cinderella fairy tale. Bill Rowland accompanies on the Circle’s 90-year-old pipe organ. $5 admission; $2 for 16 & under. (Sat. Jan. 12, 11 a.m.)

NT LIVE: THE TRAGEDY OF KING RICHARD THE SECOND Simon Russell Beale stars in this new London stage production of William Shakespeare’s play about the reckless and vain king. (Thu. Jan. 17, 6 p.m.)

FILM & TV // 37

YO U R

RESOLVE TO FEED DOG WELL

2019

IN

1778 UTICA SQUARE 918-624-2600 OPEN MON-SAT, 10-6

free will astrology

by ROB BREZSNY

CAPRICORN

(DEC. 22-JAN. 19):

What themes and instruments do people least want to hear in a piece of music? Composer Dave Solder determined that the worst song ever made would contain bagpipes, cowboy music, tubas, advertising jingles, operatic rapping, and children crooning about holidays. Then he collaborated with other musicians to record such a song. I suspect that as you head into 2019, it’ll be helpful to imagine a metaphorically comparable monstrosity: a fantastic mess that sums up all the influences you’d like to avoid. With that as a vivid symbol, you’ll hopefully be inspired to avoid allowing any of it to sneak into your life in the coming months.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): In Canada, it’s illegal to pretend to practice witchcraft. It’s fine to actually do witchcraft, however. With that as our inspiration, I advise you to be rigorous about embodying your authentic self in 2019.

Make sure you never lapse into merely imitating who you are or who you used to be. Don’t fall into the trap of caring more about your image than about your actual output. Focus on standing up for what you really mean rather than what you imagine people expect from you. The coming months will be a time when you can summon pure and authoritative expressions of your kaleidoscopic soul.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): In the eighteenth century, Benjamin Franklin was a Founding Father who played a key role in getting the United States up and running. He wasn’t happy that the fledgling nation chose the bald eagle as its animal symbol. The supposedly majestic raptor is lazy, he wrote. It doesn’t hunt for its own food, but steals grub obtained by smaller birds of prey. Furthermore, bald eagles are cowardly, Franklin believed. Even sparrows may intimidate them. With that as our theme, Pisces, I invite you to select a proper creature to be your symbolic ally in 2019. Since you will be building a new system and establishing a fresh power base, you shouldn’t pick a critter that’s merely glamorous. Choose one that excites your ambition and animates your willpower.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): No one has resisted the force of gravity with more focus than businessman Roger Babson (1875–1967). He wrote an essay entitled “Gravity - Our Enemy Number One,” and sought to develop anti-gravity technology. His Gravity Research Foundation gave awards to authentic scientists who advanced the understanding of gravity. If that organization still existed and offered prizes, I’m sure that researchers of the Aries persuasion would win them all in 2019. For your tribe, the coming months should feature lots of escapes from heaviness, including soaring flights and playful levity and lofty epiphanies.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): The night parrots of Australia are so elusive that there was a nearly six-decade stretch when no human saw a single member of the species. But in 2013, after searching for 15 years, photographer John Young spotted one and recorded a 17-second video. Since then, more sightings have occurred. According to my astrological vision, your life in 2019 will feature experiences akin to the story of the night parrot’s reappearance. A major riddle will be at least partially solved. Hidden beauty will materialize. Long-secret phenomena will no longer be secret. A missing link will re-emerge.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Millions of years ago, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, Antarctica, and North and South America were smooshed together. Earth had a single land mass, the supercontinent Pangea. Stretching across its breadth was a colossal feature, the Central Pangean Mountains. Eventually, though, Europe and America split apart, making room for the Atlantic Ocean and dividing the Central Pangean range. Today the Scottish Highlands and the Appalachian Mountains are thousands of miles apart, but once upon a time they were joined. In 2019, Gemini, I propose that you look for metaphorical equivalents in your own life. What disparate parts of your world had the same origin?

What elements that are now divided used to be together? Re-establish their connection. Get them back in touch with each other. Be a specialist in cultivating unity.

25% OFF

ALL HOLIDAY ITEMS! 38 // ETC.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): 2019 will be an excellent time to swim in unpolluted rivers, utter

sacred oaths near beautiful fountains, and enjoy leisurely saunas that help purify your mind and body. You are also likely to attract cosmic favor if you cry more than usual, seek experiences that enhance your emotional intelligence, and ensure that your head respectfully consults with your heart before making decisions. Here’s another way to get on life’s good side: cultivate duties that consistently encourage you to act out of love and joy rather than out of guilt and obligation.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Here are four key questions I hope you’ll meditate on throughout 2019: 1. What is love? 2. What kind of love do you want to receive? 3. What kind of love do you want to give? 4. How could you transform yourself in order to give and receive more of the love you value most? To spur your efforts, I offer you these thoughts from teacher David R. Hawkins: “Love is misunderstood to be an emotion; actually, it is a state of awareness, a way of being in the world, a way of seeing oneself and others.”

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): “Most living things begin in the absence of light,” writes Virgo author Nancy Holder. “The vine is rooted in the earth; the fawn takes form in the womb of the doe.” I’ll remind you that your original gestation also took place in the dark. And I foresee a metaphorically comparable process unfolding for you in 2019. You’ll undergo an incubation period that may feel cloaked and mysterious.

That’s just as it should be: the best possible circumstances for the vital new part of your life that will be growing. So be patient. You’ll see the tangible results in 2020.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Many plants that modern Americans regard as weeds were regarded as tasty food by Native Americans. A prime example is the cattail, which grows wild in wetlands. Indigenous people ate the rootstock, stem, leaves, and flower spike. I propose that we use this scenario to serve as a metaphor for some of your potential opportunities in 2019. Things you’ve regarded as useless or irrelevant or inconvenient could be revealed as assets. Be alert for the possibility of such shifts.

Here’s advice from Ralph Waldo Emerson: “What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.”

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): The slow, gradual, incremental approach will be your magic strategy in 2019. Being persistent and thorough as you take one step at a time will provide you with the power to accomplish wonders. Now and then, you may be tempted to seek dramatic breakthroughs or flashy leaps of faith; and there may indeed be one or two such events mixed in with your steady rhythms. But for the most part, your glory will come through tenacity. Now study this advice from mystic Meister Eckhart: “Wisdom consists in doing the next thing you have to do, doing it with your whole heart, and finding delight in doing it.”

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Sagittarian polymath Piet Hein wrote a poem in which he named the central riddle of his existence. “A bit beyond perception’s reach, / I sometimes believe I see / That life is two locked boxes / Each containing the other’s key.” I propose that we adopt this scenario to symbolize one of the central riddles of your existence. I’ll go further and speculate that in 2019 one of those boxes will open as if through a magical fluke, without a need for the key. This mysterious blessing won’t really be a magical fluke, but rather a stroke of well-deserved and hard-earned luck that is the result of the work you’ve been doing to transform and improve yourself.

I’d love to see your top New Year’s resolutions. Share by going to RealAstrology.com and clicking on “Email Rob.” t h i s w e e k ’ s h o m e w o r k // T E S T I F Y AT F R E E W I L L A S T R O LO G Y. C O M .

January 2 – 15, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE

THE FUZZ THE TULSA VOICE SPOTLIGHTS: TULSA SPCA

2910 Mohawk Blvd. | MON, TUES, THURS, FRI & SAT, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. 918.428.7722

DINDON is a gorgeous kitty with soft, silky fur and bright yellow eyes. She loves people but isn’t much of a fan of other cats. She has been an indoor cat all of her life and has no issues using the litter box. She loves to play and can sometimes play too rough for small children.

ACROSS 1 *The Taiwan Strait is part of it (read each starred answer counterclockwise!)

4 *Falklands War environs 7 *Edge of the known world, in old legend 10 *Mariana Trench locale 13 “Get a load of ___!”

15 First-string squad 17 Sound of a heavy fall 20 Jai ___ 21 Skedaddles, to Shakespeare 22 “Star Wars” character Calrissian 23 Wonderland cake words 24 Jazz lingo 25 House flipper’s hire 27 Figure with a scythe 29 Victorian cab type 30 End of 4-Across 31 End of 7-Across 32 Lethargy 33 End of 1-Across 34 Wrap for a drag queen 36 Peter Parker’s uncle 37 End of 10-Across 38 Abu ___ 42 Incas’ mountains 45 *Hangout for many a pirate 48 Put a lid on, say 49 Site of a 1976 rebellion 51 *It’s east of an icy Danish territory 54 The “veni” in “veni, vidi, vici” 56 Plays the tourist, and a hint to the puzzle’s theme 58 Make hazy 60 Tapped with a bat 62 More often than not 63 Start for many journeys

You can often find EEVIE poolside. This water-loving pup can be a little nervous around new people—but she’s used to living in a home and warms up quickly. Other dogs can give her confidence, and she may do best with another friendly, confident dog.

64 Expands 66 NYC division (Abbr.)

67 Broth often made from a cube 69 End of 45-Across 70 Mendes of “The Other Guys” 71 *Mare nostrum, today 73 Horace’s “___ Poetica” 74 End of 51-Across 75 One with two womb mates 77 Perfumed bags 80 Entr’___ (intermission) 83 King in a Shakespeare title 84 BYOB part 85 Russian news agency 89 Edges of hats 91 3-D screening 93 Large T. rex bone 94 Mayo celebration day 95 Apple, but not orange 98 End of 71-Across 100 Jazz fan 102 Scripps participants 104 It’s often a mover and a shaker 105 People at dog shows 106 Goes far and wide, or completes this puzzle?

109 State highways 111 Sorority events 112 Giggle 115 Foe of Caesar 116 Claims 117 Sources of negativity?

118 Welcomes to one’s home 119 1979 Bette Midler drama 120 Reversing rockets DOWN 1 Continuation of 1-Across 2 Cleveland resident

3 Color that may be burnt 4 Continuation of 4-Across 5 Inert but dangerous element 6 Love, in Venice 7 Continuation of 7-Across 8 “Gone With the Wind” heroine Scarlett 9 “___ my backyard!”

10 Continuation of 10-Across 11 Wear 12 South Dakota’s capital 14 Concordes, briefly 15 Served with ice cream 16 Washington’s Sea-___ Airport 18 “Dee-lish!”

19 Most saucy 20 Cracked, as a door 26 Roy or Reiner 28 Reallllly long time 35 Crossword solvers’ fulfilling moments 36 Birds’ partner 39 Name after aka 40 Major leagues, slangily, with “the” 41 Reside 42 Guarantees 43 Time to deck the halls 44 Dork 45 Continuation of 45-Across 46 High-end Honda 47 Rebel camera producer 48 Furrow filler 50 Certain doublereed player 51 Continuation of 51-Across 52 Boca ___, Florida 53 Word before prix or prize 55 NYC transit letters 57 Walked (on)

Beautiful BOLT is a smart and energetic boy. He’s not the kind of dog that can be left alone in a backyard all day. He’ll need a sturdy crate when left alone in the house. Our trainer is more than happy to share tips and tricks to use for integrating Bolt into your household!

59 Rapper ___ Peep 61 Lived the wrong way?

63 More pristine 65 Puppy pickup place 68 Honolulu’s island 71 Continuation of 71-Across 72 Ancient Central American 75 Stencils, e.g.

76 On the ___ (fleeing the Feds) 78 Animal in Gary Larson cartoons 79 Plugging away 80 Basics 81 Make smaller, as a photo 82 Activity such as checking Facebook repeatedly 86 Great-great-great grandmother, for one 87 “The Lion King” villain 88 Drunkards 90 “Amadeus” antagonist 92 1/2, for 2 93 Rio de ___ 94 Prescription cough syrup component 96 Mandela of South Africa 97 Soph., jr. and sr.

99 Time for a spring roll?

100 Sprite container 101 GM tracking system 103 Irish icon, familiarly 105 “Steppenwolf” author 107 ___ browns 108 Tigers’ docs 109 Britney Spears’ record label 110 Suffix for Quebec 113 British rocker Brian 114 Webfeed letters

Find the answers to this issue’s crossword puzzle at thetulsavoice.com/puzzle-solutions.

THE TULSA VOICE // January 2 – 15, 2019

The Tulsa SPCA has been helping animals in our area since 1913. The shelter never euthanizes for space and happily rescues animals from high-kill shelters.

They also accept owner surrenders, rescues from cruelty investigations, hoarding, and puppy mill situations. Animals live on-site or with foster parents until they’re adopted. All SPCA animals are micro-chipped, vaccinated, spayed/neutered, and treated with preventatives. Learn about volunteering, fostering, upcoming events, adoptions, and their low-cost vaccination clinic at tulsaspca.org.

CHIPS is a quiet guy and appreciates a quiet environment. He likes to cuddle with his people and will invite himself into your bed and onto your lap. He doesn’t seem bothered by the other cats here and previously lived with another cat.

WHISKERS is a beautiful cat—and true to her tortie nature, she knows it! Named for a single white whisker in her otherwise black whiskers, she was fostered with one of our amazing foster families with a small child, dogs, and other cats.

UNIVERSAL SUNDAY CROSSWORD SEIZE THE DAY

by Mary Lou Guizzo & Jeff Chen, edited by David Steinberg

© 2019 Andrews McMeel Syndication

1/13 ETC. // 39

FRIDAY

01.04

FRIDAY

01.25

THE FOUR TOPS

8PM

01.19

CLAY WALKER

8PM

02.14

SATURDAY

THURSDAY

SUNDAY

02.17

WILLIE NELSON

DAVID SPADE

THE COMMODORES

8PM

8PM

8PM

LIGHTING IT UP SCAN TO PURCHASE TICKETS

Schedule subject to change.

CNENT_61731_HR_Jan_TulsaVoice_PrintAd_1823975.indd 1

Pleas e re cycle this issue.

12/27/18 8:51 AM