Fall Guide 2025

P. 19 Oklahoma Gazette ’s Fall Guide is here! This year’s issue features the Skirvin Hilton renovation, local farmers markets, a list of upcoming district events, Factory’s Obscura’s Party! exhibit and more!

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NEWS Chronic absence

Records show Ryan Walters has a pattern of poor attendance at state boards.

By Nuria Martinez-Keel, Oklahoma Voice

Well before he canceled and skipped meetings with the state’s top school board in recent weeks, state Superintendent Ryan Walters has been chronically absent from multiple state boards where he holds a seat, including one he’s supposed to lead.

Public meeting records show poor attendance from Walters, particularly this year, on various governing boards whose votes impact K-12 school funding, vocational learning centers, higher education and other state government matters.

This year, Walters has attended only one meeting of the state Board of Career and Technology Education despite being its chair, Oklahoma Voice found through an analysis of meeting minutes. He skipped the CareerTech board’s six other meetings in 2025, including three that took place in a room adjacent to his office at the Oklahoma State Department of Education.

Oklahoma CareerTech Director Brent Haken, a non-voting member of the board, has led the meetings in Walters’ place. In 2024, Walters attended six meetings and missed four, and in 2023, he attended seven and was absent for four, meeting minutes show.

Haken said Walters’ presence, or lack thereof, has had no impact on the board and the CareerTech agency, which oversee vocational education centers across the state.

“Actually I enjoy the lack of attention so that we can get work done for the state of Oklahoma,” he said.

Walters also leads the Oklahoma State Board of Education, whose meetings have become a circus of protests, political conflict and media attention

during his tenure in office.

After a month of heightened tensions with board members, Walters abruptly canceled the board’s regular Aug. 28 meeting with little explanation. It was the board’s second canceled meeting of 2025, the first happening after the Education Department posted an agenda too late to comply with the Oklahoma Open Meeting Act.

The August meeting cancellation prompted the board to take the extraordinary action of scheduling its own special meeting on Wednesday.

Walters did not attend. In his absence, the present board members voted to hire an attorney and started the process to find a new board secretary.

Board skips

In a statement through a spokesperson, Walters declined to explain why he missed so many meetings of his various state boards. He also did not answer whether expects future state Board of Education meetings to convene as scheduled or whether he might miss more.

“My focus has been, and will continue to be, on reforming Oklahoma’s education system to put families and students first,” he said in the statement. “We’ve implemented bold reforms across the state to raise academic outcomes, empower parents and ensure taxpayer dollars are being used wisely in the classroom.”

Wednesday was far from the only state board meeting this year where Walters was marked absent.

He hasn’t shown up for a single board meeting in 2025 for the Commissioners of the Land Office, a board that oversees

state-owned school lands and assets that benefit public education funding.

Gov. Kevin Stitt, Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell, State Auditor and Inspector Cindy Byrd and Agriculture Secretary Blayne Arthur also sit on the board and regularly attend its meetings at the state Capitol, records show.

Walters also skipped the only two meetings the state Board of Equalization has held this year in February and June, according to the State Auditor and Inspector’s Office, which keeps the board’s meeting records. The board meets four times a year to review or certify tax revenue that funds all of state government.

Walters has missed four of the board’s meetings since he took office in January 2023, according to the board minutes.

Meeting records show Walters’ predecessor, former state Superintendent Joy Hofmeister, was a regular attendee of CareerTech, Commissioners of the Land Office and state Board of Equalization meetings in 2022, a year she was running for governor while in her final year of statewide office.

Hofmeister also frequently attended the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority’s meetings until 2022, when she appeared only once.

Walters attended no OETA meetings in 2023 and 2024, records indicate. Meeting minutes from 2025 aren’t available on OETA’s website, and a request for them wasn’t immediately returned.

He’s never shown up for a meeting of his assigned higher education board, either.

Under state law, whoever is elected state superintendent automatically has a seat on the board of regents for the Regional University System of Oklahoma. The RUSO regents govern six public universities, the largest being the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond.

Public records show Walters has never been marked present for a RUSO board meeting since he took office.

Hofmeister didn’t attend any RUSO meetings in 2022, either, but she attended one to two meetings each year over the three years prior, according to meeting minutes.

Chris Van Denhende served on the RUSO board from 2021 until February, when the governor appointed him to

the state Board of Education.

He said Walters’ absence had no effect on the university system’s board or operations. A state superintendent’s attendance, though, could have given the regents an opportunity to question why so few Oklahoma high school students graduate ready for college-level academics.

“I find the bigger story is why our elected officials take so little interest in their responsibility,” Van Denhende said. “That said, we may be better off if they don’t attend at all. I’m so frustrated with the politics that go on.”

Van Denhende and three other Board of Education members leaned on Oklahoma City constitutional attorney Bob Burke and various state government officials to schedule and carry out their special meeting Wednesday.

Burke, a historian and former state commerce secretary, said he hopes Walters will make a concerted effort to attend all future state Board of Education meetings.

It’s important that he shows up for his other state boards too, Burke said, or that he chooses a designee to attend in his place, as state law allows.

Walters has chosen a designee for only two boards, the Statewide Charter School Board and the State Textbook Committee. His proxies on both boards have maintained regular attendance, meeting minutes show.

The multitude of boards that keep state government running are often made up of mostly unelected appointees.

That’s why it matters that elected officials show up, Burke said. If they don’t, the voters of Oklahoma don’t have their chosen representative present.

The state Board of Education is a prime example. Of its seven members, Walters is the only one whose name appears on a voting ballot. The governor appoints the rest.

“What the people lose is the vision of the (state) founders in holding all of our government accountable to the people,” Burke said.

from left, Oklahoma State Board of Education members Becky Carson, Mike Tinney, Chris Van Denhende and Ryan Deatherage conduct a special meeting without state Superintendent Ryan Walters on Wednesday at the state Capitol in Oklahoma City. | Photo Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice

Oklahoma City attorney Bob Burke attends a special meeting of the Oklahoma State Board of Education at the state Capitol on Wednesday in Oklahoma City. | Photo Nuria Martinez-Keel/Oklahoma Voice

Mariachi Herencia de México

La Nueva Generación Tour

A new generation takes mariachi to new heights— pushing the boundaries of traditional mariachi music while simultaneously honoring the past, celebrating the present, and creating its future. Mariachi Herencia de México presents an electrifying and unforgettable night of Mexican music and culture. ¡Viva el mariachi!

OKLAHOMA TRAILBLAZERS

Kim Garrett-Funk is the chief visionary officer and founder of Palomar, an Oklahoma City-based organization that provides support and resources for victims of domestic violence. This year, Palomar broke ground on a new family justice center.

Oklahoma Gazette: How did you get involved in this work?

Kim Funk: I started when I was 19 in Reno, Nevada, working at a crisis call center. I would work with survivors of sexual assault, providing advocacy, safety planning and support. I then began working at the Reno police department on an array of crimes, like homicide, child fatalities, anything you can imagine. I really loved working with families in crisis.

I then moved to Oklahoma 15 years ago and then started the Victim Services Unit at the Oklahoma City Police Department. I quickly saw how families in crisis would come in and be scared for their safety, with a myriad of different valid concerns. At the time, we just had a lot of really pretty brochures. I would say, “Go to the courthouse for a protective order, go here for therapy, go here for shelter and go here to do a police report.”

On about the third referral, you could just see they would kind of glaze over and were understandably overwhelmed.

So it just really hit me that our systems are inadvertently siloed and are setting families up for failure. I started doing research on best practices and found the family justice center model, where all the great agencies are under one roof to coordinate care and reduce barriers.

That’s heavy work. Why did you enjoy working with families in crisis?

I loved the unpredictability of it. No two days were ever the same. I liked connecting with survivors in their own environment. I would be at their house, which would allow me to assess their needs more effectively than if they came into an office. In my opinion, this approach would enable you to do a lot better in terms of advocacy and work, as you could see their holistic picture firsthand.

What was the community’s response to Palomar?

Honestly, it was very territorial. Change is scary, and there were people who were scared of the concept that it could hurt their organization or their funding, and so it took a lot of intentional relationships and development to overcome that.

By Benjamin Thomas

Survivors wanted better outcomes and more connected programming.

When did you know Palomar was successful?

There have been a lot of stories, so it’s hard to narrow it down. We’ve received national honors and attention from DC and have been highlighted by the Department of Justice, and that’s exciting. We were in a President’s Commission Report, which is also exciting.

I’m really committed to breaking the generational cycles of violence and kids being in safe homes, so one thing that really stands out to me is I was on a panel a few years after we opened with some people from DHS/child welfare, and the supervisor just randomly said, before Palomar, 100% of kids in violent homes were going into custody and foster care because we couldn’t determine primary aggressor, we couldn’t ensure safety, things like that. And she said now it’s less than 10% because they can just walk down the hall and know a family is connected by seeing they’re working with this agency or they’ve got protective factors.

When I heard that, I was like, “Wow! We’re keeping kids out of foster care or increasing their support systems in their homes with their nonoffending parents.” That was huge.

There are also times when I’m out and about and somebody I don’t know will come up and just say, “Thank you. You saved my life.” That’s pretty powerful.

Can you talk about the new justice center and what it will mean for the city?

At our strategic planning meeting, we had 120 people from 47 agencies come together, and that was so hostile, at one point, I honestly wanted to crawl under the table and cry. Thankfully, our board stood firm and just said, “Anybody who interfaces with hurting families has an important role at the table, and they’re welcome.” The community, as a whole, was super receptive.

The building we’re in now was always a proof of concept of whether this would work. It was always intended to be temporary. However, when we started seeing really positive outcomes, we began dreaming bigger about our forever home and what survivors truly need and deserve in our community. In 2019, we presented this plan to our city council, and the voters approved our inclusion in MAPS 4, enabling us to build a 72,000 squarefoot, trauma-informed, state-of-the-

Kim Garrett-Funk

OKLAHOMA IMPACT

Food security

Oklahoma’s food insecurity rate is one of the highest in the country. Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma works to provide people with some stability when their shelves go bare.

By Emily Graham

What are you having for dinner tonight?

In Oklahoma City’s thriving restaurant scene, the hardest part of answering that question can be picking where to go. But for nearly 1 in 5 Oklahomans, planning their next meal can be a stressful endeavor.

Oklahoma is one of the hungriest states in the country, with 18.4 percent of people facing food insecurity compared to the national average of 14.3 percent, according to nonprofit Feeding America.

That’s where Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma (RFBO) steps in, helping feed people in 53 counties in the central and western part of the state through more than 1,300 partners, including community-based food pantries, programs that deliver food to senior citizens and more.

RFBO purchases and warehouses food that’s then delivered to its partners. In Oklahoma County alone, RFBO distributed the equivalent of 15 million meals in 2024.

And this year, Oklahoma Gazette ’s readers named RFBO the top nonprofit in the Best of OKC awards.

Even though it has earned a good name through 45 years of service, chief executive officer Stacy Dykstra says many people have misconceptions of who the food bank serves.

“We’re serving hardworking Oklahomans trying to make ends meet or seniors on fixed incomes that cannot make it on that fixed income before the end of the month and they get the next Social Security check — and children,” Dykstra

said. “It’s not people that are sitting at home, taking advantage of any systems.”

Frequently, RFBO serves people who have an economic shock, like a health crisis or a car that breaks down, who visit food banks for a few months before their situation improves. The food bank also serves people who qualify for government food assistance like Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) but need additional resources to have enough food.

Doubling dollars

Here’s another staggering stat: 24 percent of our state’s kids face food insecurity, according to Feeding America. Many children rely on meals at school and go hungry during holidays and summer breaks.

Through its Food for Kids program, RFBO runs the second-largest backpack program in the country, providing chronically hungry elementary students with food-filled backpacks so they have something to eat on the weekend. Because the need is so great, many schools have their own food pantry, which RFBO helps fill. Food for Kids also provides food over summer breaks and supplies meals for tutoring and mentoring programs.

No one wants a child to go hungry, but the impact of these programs goes beyond filling bellies. Kids without enough to eat have a harder time concentrating, learning and developing social skills. Going hungry can cause behavior problems or mental health struggles, too.

You have an opportunity to help. During September, donations made to RFBO’s Food for Kids program will be matched by RFBO partners, doubling their impact. Each dollar donated helps provide six meals.

Challenges ahead

Although the organization has support from volunteers and donors, it will face

more challenges in the coming months and years. Dykstra expects the number of hungry Oklahomans to go up as food costs continue to rise.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act changed requirements to receive SNAP beginning this month, making it harder for people to qualify for or renew benefits. According to Newsweek, an estimated 58,000 in our state are at risk of losing some or all of their SNAP benefits.

“We’re talking about our most vulnerable population of United States citizens that receive SNAP, and because of these changes, some of them are no longer going to receive it,” Dykstra said.

Starting in fiscal year 2028, the federal government will tie the amount it sends to each state to its application error rates in fiscal year 2026. The higher the error rate, the higher percentage of the benefits cost will be shifted to states.

RFBO will be relying on donors, volunteers and board members to help provide stability for recipients in this time of uncertainty. Last year, 47,000 people volunteered their time for the organization, saving it $3.5 million in expenses.

“Oklahoma really is this place where you care for one another,” Dykstra said. “Everybody can do something, can give something that’s going to help someone else.”

A $5 donation or a few cans of food may seem like it will have a small impact, but it can stave off hunger for another day.

“What is most exciting to me is thinking about what our state can look like when everybody is thriving, when everybody has the opportunity to reach their potential,” Dykstra said. “It would be incredible because it’s already an amazing place to live.”

Visit regionalfoodbank.org.

Sculpture booted

The city’s progressive wing gave the boot to a proposed sculpture.

A planned sculpture titled “Kicks 66” by local artist Cameron Eagle was set to be placed along a stretch of Classen Boulevard in the middle of the city’s Asian District. The 35-foot-tall neon red boot was meant to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Route 66. But for some, its placement in the center of the city’s historic Asian community was insensitive, or at least puzzling.

A social media campaign and a demonstration at the city’s art commission led to a vote to relocate the boot. Oklahoma City has a rich tradition of demolishing buildings and structures of historical importance. This was a first in removing such a structure before it was ever built.

The planned placement in the Asian District was odd. Not only does the city already have numerous communities where historic Western culture is more appropriately celebrated, but the sculpture also features a giant green cactus, which is hardly synonymous with Oklahoma City.

Weeding out ‘woke’

Oklahoma can use all of the teachers it can get, but Superintendent Ryan Walters aims to increase pressure on individuals potentially coming from New York and California by introducing an “America First” test. Walters said it will weed out “woke” teachers, but in a state that gives out thousands of emergency certifications to seemingly anyone willing to lead a classroom, why bar a teacher simply because they have a bit of compassion and understanding toward others?

We’ll see if the test passes con stitutional muster or if state lawmakers will criticize the effort before ulti mately declining to get uninvolved, as has been the pattern lately.

While Walters wants an “America first” test, he continues to make Oklahoma last when it comes to education.

Plug it

This summer, the Trump administration ruled that states no longer have to measure methane leaks before and after plugging up unused oil wells. But the absence of checking for a leak doesn’t mean there isn’t one. In fact, it’s a big problem in Oklahoma, which has more than 20,000 “abandoned wells.” Thankfully, the state is set to receive $102

million in federal funds to “plug” up aban doned wells, according to the Oklaho ma Corpo ration Commission (OCC). (Disburse ment of these funds is currently on hold due to federal policy shifts.) However, the OCC admitted to StateImpact that there are likely many more abandoned wells the state is unaware of because they are out of sight and lack documentation.

Oklahoma has made efforts to diversify its business sector in recent years so that the oil and gas industry is not the sole contributor to the economy. However, despite these efforts, it appears that the oil industry will still contribute to the state’s greenhouse gas emissions for years to come.

Internet blocked

The Stitt administration is so dedicated to reducing federal government spending that it is returning $225 million that was given to the state to expand broadband internet access. However, officials who have been working on broadband expansion for years say it will simply mean that

money earmarked for Oklahomans will be diverted to other states.

Oklahoma was initially allocated $797 million from the federal grant program to expand high-speed internet. However, even as the state still has major gaps in coverage, Mike Sanders, executive director of the Oklahoma Broadband Office, said the state doesn’t need all of it. (Gov. Kevin Stitt encouraged the governing board of the office to hire Sanders.)

Logan Phillips, a former state representative from Mounds, called the move a “slap in the face” to those who had worked to expand internet service in rural com munities. Apparent ly, Stitt’s ‘Top 10’ goals didn’t include internet access.

ARTISTS

Thank you, Allie friesen!

Next up, with $150,000 a year, and a whopping 42 hours of work, here’s matt langston!

REVIEW

EAT & DRINK Tiny treasure

At Later Bye, you can aperitivo and tapas your way into believing you’re in Spain or Portugal, but the Oklahoma hospitality will give it away every time.

By Julie Porter Scott

Later Bye

301 NW 13th St., Suite 101 laterbyeokc.com | 405-768-3208

WHAT WORKS: Everything.

move about the compact room.

HALLOWEEN ISSUE

Take it from the experts, this issue will have you saying “BOO-ya!” From the scariest adult haunts to the best kiddie corn mazes, Gazette’s Halloween Issue highlights all OKC has to offer leading up to All Hallow’s Eve.

RELEASES OCTOBER 8

BOOKING DEADLINE OCTOBER 1

WHAT NEEDS WORK: It’s not their fault everyone loves them and it’s always packed.

TIP: The earlier you arrive, the better. You can also call ahead up to 30 minutes before arrival to put your name on the list.

Later Bye has every right to be snobby. The sleek, darkened interior, a menu that reads like the food-and-drink travelogue of a well-heeled playboy, the cooler-thanyou-ever-were servers — it would not surprise me in the slightest to find an upturned nose, a haughty air or a dismissive sigh when it takes too long to order. As you watch the mixologists select from a thousand products — seemingly via muscle memory — to whip up a complicated cocktail with ease, they could be forgiven for a little ego, just as the best chefs are afforded the same.

So it is even more refreshing to confirm, after several visits, I’ve yet to see a single shred of attitude. The servers are Oklahoma-friendly, offering you a taste of the wine before finalizing your order, making a kind remark to help you feel better about your crippling indeci sion. The mixologists engage easily in conversation with those at the bar while effortlessly creating the craft cocktail of your dreams, as the servers bob and weave through crowded spaces, gra

Finding yourself at one of Later Bye’s 31 seats feels like a true departure from the normal day to day. It’s almost as if you woke up in Spain or Portugal, someone placing a tapas menu in your hands and an aperitivo before you while you try to figure out how you got there.

There is not another menu in Oklahoma City that packs as much punch into such little real estate. Starting with aperitivo, you’ll have to decide between wildly different low-point options, and how adventurous you’re feeling here will set the tone for your evening. Try the Tomato Tonic, with French dry vermouth, tomato oleo, lemon and tonic. Or you could go with the Bamboo, as one of my dining companions did, with Manzanilla sherry, strawberry blanc vermouth and Peychaud’s bitters. He declared it absolutely delightful.

The main reason to order aperitivo is to buy yourself some time with the cocktail menu. As you’d expect from the team who brought us Palo Santo, the cocktails are exceptional. The signature drinks are the Later Byes, with names as creative as the cocktails themselves. Hate to See Her Go features pisco, Spanish gin, cantaloupe, lemon, Manzanilla, Peychaud’s and a cantaloupe foam.

The It’s Not You It’s Me is made with mezcal, rum, guava eau-devie, pineapple, lime, orange and gochujang. Beyond the specialty cocktails, you’ll find classic cocktails, all made in true Later Bye fashion, using unexpected ingredients that elevate the old standards. I ordered the French 75, a drink I’ve ordered dozens of times. I have not, however, had one made with green tea shochu, Centerbe, lemon, fermented honey and limoncello, finished with pétillant naturel (pétnat). It was, in fact, a French 75, but brighter and more surprising than any I’ve ever had. One of my compatriots had the house Old Fashioned, made more interesting by the use of a citrus oleo and black tea bitters. The drink menu

is rounded out with a selection of five martinis, all of them wildly different from each other. On a previous visit, I had the perfect 50/50 Martini, made with Oklahoma citrus gin, French dry vermouth, and orange and grapefruit bitters. A 50/50 Babytini graces the happy hour menu if you can get there before the clock strikes five. Several sparkling wines are available by the glass or bottle, including a standout Slovenian Pinot Blanc Pét-Nat by Volk. Other by-the-glass options include Spanish and Chilean whites, a Spanish orange, an Italian rosé, several Spanish and Italian reds, and a few fortified wines. This wine selection would be fun to work through alongside suggested small plates. Finally, it’s so refreshing to see nonalcoholic choices on a bar menu, and you definitely won’t catch the Later Bye team calling them “mocktails” in 2025. Featuring ingredients including nonalcoholic aperitifs and amaros, shrubs, soba cha and fresh fruit juices, these drinks rival the cocktails in terms of thoughtful consideration and fine craft.

Small snacks

The food is as important to the overall thesis of Later Bye as the drinks. This city is terribly short on tapas, which makes this lineup even more compelling. The menu begins with a wide array of small snacks: jamón serrano and chips, marinated olives and our pick: Peach & Burrata, served with jamón crisps and drizzled with a grapefruit balsamic and olive oil, then topped with mint. We were delighted by the flavors and textures. We were also surprised by the generous serving size. We also ordered the Spanish Snack, with Iberico chorizo, Spanish cheese, Marcona almonds, piparra peppers and olives. I think I will probably always order this as a jumping-off point. From the sandwiches section, we opted for the Parisien, made with rosemary ham and small-batch cultured butter. I’ve never actually been to Paris, but this seemed very, I don’t know, voilà! That was so good we added an Italian,

packed with prosciutto, soppressata, capocollo, provolone and Italian peppers dressed with shallot, olive oil and vinegar.

But it is the conservas — high-quality tinned seafood — served with kettle chips and garlic aioli that truly set Later Bye apart from others in the metro. You can keep your pâté. Give me the rich, silky preserved littleneck clams with garlic confit. Give me that buttery, woodsy smoked trout in olive oil. Give me the fruity, peppery Cantabrian anchovies a la Basque. The briny, umami-heavy flavors are incredible, and the textures are delightful. Add the salty crunch of the house-made kettle chips — the resulting combination is life-giving.

As if this weren’t all excellent enough, the team takes it one step further with a daily aperitivo hour from 3 to 5 p.m., during which drinks and snacks are discounted. A grand total of $15 for a Babytini and Boquerones — garlic, olive oil, and vinegar-marinated anchovies with kettle chips and piparra peppers — they should have named this place Now Hello. There’s also a latenight menu 10 p.m.-12 a.m. MondayThursday and 11 p.m.-1 a.m. Friday and Saturday, during which the kitchen continues to serve snacks and conservas long after everyone else in town has rolled up the sidewalk and gone home.

It’s almost as if the team took a list of all the good things Oklahoma City did not yet have and decided to handle almost every single one of those, while also challenging themselves to do it in the smallest footprint possible. They tackled tapas and brought conservas our way alongside an unrivaled cocktail menu, all from a setting that belongs in a Sofia Coppola movie. For Oklahoma City’s most recent recruits, this little spot probably just feels like one more wonderful place to love. For those of us who have stuck it out here for four or five or half a dozen decades, it feels like a reward for good behavior. Visit laterbyeokc.com.

3, 2025 | 6-9pm

In the Paseo Arts & Creativity Center at 3024 Paseo Gallery I: Mark Brudzinski & Stephanie Brudzinski Gallery II: Tania Landers Gallery III: Hannah Tubbs

The Paseo Arts District has local and national art, great food, art classes & plenty of shopping!

• Lovingly

Press is a creators-led literary community located in the historic Paseo Arts District in Oklahoma City featuring a carefully curated bookshop, workshops, and live events.

Open seven days a week.

Check out all our events on our website.

EAT & DRINK

Bumper crop

Oklahoma City is fortunate to have an abundance of farmers markets and small food hubs connecting shoppers with the best local farmers, ranchers, bakers, makers and more.

By Julie Porter Scott

Shopping at your local farmers market or food hub is one of the best ways to access fresh, seasonal, locally grown produce picked at the peak of the growing season. These markets are also centers of community, where shopping feels like a pleasure rather than a chore. Shoppers have the chance to meet farmers and ranchers and learn more about the food they are consuming — just another benefit of doing your weekly shop at the farmers market.

There are more reasons to buy foods that have been made or grown locally. Because these foods do not have to travel long distances to reach a grocery store, buying directly from local farmers helps reduce your carbon footprint. In addition, shopping at these markets supports local agriculture and keeps more of your money circulating in the community.

Beyond farmers markets, Oklahoma City is also fortunate to have a few food hubs that sell the same types of products from local purveyors, but in a more traditional, brick-and-mortar setting. You’ll find all the best local products at these locally owned and operated shops. By being open daily, these shops ensure you can get your favorite local goods outside of market days. Food hubs might also offer online shopping or the option of a subscription box.

Many vendors now accept credit cards and mobile payments such as

Apple Pay. All you need is this guide to metro-area farmers markets and your reusable shopping bag.

Eastside Fresh Market

4-7 p.m. Tuesdays April-October Northeast Community Health Recreation & Wellness

3748 N. Lincoln Blvd. extension.okstate.edu 405-713-2104

A project of the OSU-OKC Extension Center, this market serves as a food access hub for northeast Oklahoma City, offering fresh produce, beef, eggs and bread from local vendors. Eastside Fresh Market also hosts weekly educational classes and family activities.

Edmond Farmers Market

8 a.m.-1 p.m. April 12-Oct. 25

Festival Marketplace

26 W. First Street, Edmond

9 a.m.-noon Nov. 9-March 22

Senior Center

2733 Marilyn Williams Drive

8 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesdays June 4-Sept. 24

Mitch Park

2733 Marilyn Williams Drive edmondok.gov

405-216-7634

Operated by the City of Edmond’s

Parks and Recreation Department, this market is 100 percent Oklahomagrown, made and manufactured. In addition to local meats, dairy, eggs and baked goods, the market also plays host to many artisan makers. A full vendor list and handy vendor map are available at edmondok.gov.

FarmersMarketatScissortailPark

9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays April-October Scissortail Park

300 SW Seventh St. scissortailpark.org 405-445-6277

This large, producer-only market is exclusively open to vendors who raise, grow or make their own products. All items must be homegrown, handmade or vendor-created within Oklahoma. A popular feature is the Veggie Valet, which allows customers to leave packages with an attendant and then pull up later for curbside pickup.

Flora Bodega

9:30 a.m.-7 p.m. Sundays-Fridays 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturdays 3020 N. Walker Ave., Suite B florabodega.coop 405-531-0708

What began as a collective booth at Paseo Farmers Market has grown into a year-round brick-and-mortar co-op in the heart of The Paseo Arts District. The employee-owned market hosts nearly 40 local vendors, selling locally grown produce, fresh eggs, artisanal bread, flowers and more.

Norman Farm Market

8 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays and 4-7 p.m. Tuesdays April-October 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays November-March

Cleveland County Wellness Square 210 S. James Garner Ave. clevelandcountyok.com

The longest-running farmers market in Oklahoma, Norman Farm Market operates year-round indoors. Managed by Cleveland County, the market also

provides training and business opportunities for local farmers.

Oklahoma City Farmers Market

9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays (9-10 a.m. reserved for seniors-first shopping)

Oklahoma City Farmers Public Market

311 S. Klein Ave. okcfarmersmarket.com 405-232-6506

Located on the first floor of the historic Oklahoma City Farmers Public Market, this year-round venue features produce, dairy, meats, bread, baked goods, canned goods and artisan products from across the state. Many vendors also accept preorders, with contact information available online.

Urban Agrarian

10 a.m.-6 p.m. Mondays-Fridays 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturdays 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Sundays Urban Agrarian 1235 NW Second St. urbanagrarian.com 405-231-1919

Local food hub Urban Agrarian partners with dozens of Oklahoma farmers and producers to provide everything from produce and dairy to grass-fed beef, pasture-raised pork and poultry, and artisanal products. In business since 2008, Urban Agrarian only buys humanely raised meat, eggs and dairy products and prioritizes buying from farmers who use sustainable and organic practices.

In addition to its location in the Farmers Market District, the business offers online orders and grocery box subscriptions with delivery options.

For a full list of Oklahoma farmers markets, visit oklahomaagritourism. com. For information about the Double Up Oklahoma program, visit doubleupoklahoma.org.

The bustling Edmond Farmers Market has a dedicated outdoor space at 26 W. First St. in Edmond every Saturday from April to October. There is also an indoor market from November to March. | Photo provided

Tomatoes at local food hub Flora Bodega, located in the Paseo Arts District. The co-op is worker-owned, and vendors often double as employees. | Photo provided

EAT & DRINK

Bean scene

From culture and community to conversation and creativity, our cup runneth over with these seven local coffee shops that will fill your cup in more ways than one.

By Julie Porter Scott and photos by Sara Stewart and provided

Clarity Coffee multiple locations claritycoffee.com

Since opening in 2015, Clarity Coffee has grown to three locations in the urban core: the original in the Downtown Business District, one in Midtown and one in Wheeler District. Known for its sleek, urbane spaces, Clarity Coffee is obsessive about two things: quality coffee and impeccable customer service. Its rewards program and smooth online ordering platform make it even better. Clarity’s inhouse roasting team has also made a name for itself; it now sells its single-origin, sustainably roasted beans far and wide.

HQ Coffee + Matcha

2600 N. Classen Blvd. hq-coffee-and-matcha.square.site/home

In the heart of the Asian District, HQ Coffee + Matcha is OKC’s first coffee program featuring traditional Asian flavors. Everyone has been buzzing about HQ since it opened late last year, and with good reason. Love for HQ’s black sesame latte, ube latte and ube matcha borders on obsession. If you’re sticking with pourover, it has you covered, but in the most HQ way possible: The drip coffee is made with beans from Los Angeles cult favorite Maru Coffee. Follow HQ on Instagram to keep an eye out for pop-ups and collaborations.

Culture Coffee multiple locations

culturecoffeeokc.com

Oklahoma City’s first Black-owned coffee shop not only serves favorite classic coffees and espresso drinks, but also creates daring new drink recipes each season. Its talented team also bakes incredible pastries from scratch. Culture is the only outfit in town brewing Portrait Coffee, another Blackowned business, this one based in Atlanta. A focus on Black excellence, entrepreneurship and culture runs through Culture, where artwork honors Black leaders.

Perets Dessert & Coffee Bar

701 W. Sheridan Ave., second floor peretscoffee.com

The 405 needed a place where it’s okay to show up after dinner and linger over dessert or coffee. Enter Perets. Open 3-11 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday and located in the historic Paramount Building, Perets is upscale, offering a touch of fancy that evokes a different time. The result is a unique setting for a study group or connecting with an old friend, and it truly offers something for everyone. Coffee lovers can also find one of the most perfect desserts at Perets: a handcrafted affogato.

Eôté Coffee 7 NE Sixth St. eotecoffee.com 405-463-7312

Located in the basement of the Central Exchange Building, Eôté Coffee imports beans from Burundi in East Africa and the mountains of Matagalpa, Nicaragua — hence the name, which stands for “Ends of the Earth.” Don’t miss the perfect courtyard, which may not feel like the ends of the earth but doesn’t feel like the middle of OKC either. On a warm day, opt for the nitro cold brew; when the temps drop, order the city’s best cortado.

GAZETTE FLAVOR SEEKERS

Capitol Co-Op

2420 S. Robinson Ave. capitolcoopok.com 405-415-6799

Part coffee shop, part bike shop, Capitol Co-Op is a hub for the caffeinated cyclists of the Capitol City. The shop is open daily to serve Elemental Coffee’s single-origin roasts. On Saturdays, continuing a tradition that began in 2012 at Elemental on Hudson Avenue, cyclists meet at Capitol Co-Op at 7 a.m., rain or shine. There’s no club affiliation; just show up and ride with the crew. As it has always been for the OG Elemental, building community is every bit as essential to the Co-Op as the coffee.

The Red Cup

3122 N. Classen Blvd. theredcupokc.com 405-525-3430

The Red Cup recently celebrated 30 years of bringing coffee and community to Classen Boulevard. Serving LEAP Coffee Roasters’ fair-trade, organic beans alongside a wide-ranging menu, the beloved bungalow is a home away from home for generations of loyalists. The Red Cup is strictly vegetarian and almost completely vegan, though eggs and cheddar are available upon request. This menu is decades in the making, with enough variety to keep things interesting.

SEPT. 15 - OCT. 15

Join us from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 to celebrate Hispanic/Latinx Heritages Month at the Metropolitan Library System! This annual event honors the rich histories and contributions of Hispanic and Latino Americans through dance, crafts, scavenger hunts and other programs! Some programs may require registration.

FOOD& DRINK

BEST PET-FRIENDLY PATIO

The Pump Bar

BEST PLACE TO WATCH TV SPORTS

Fassler Hall

BEST LOCAL BREWERY

Angry Scotsman Brewing

BEST COCKTAIL

Club Special

The Mill Bar Neighborhood Bar

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Cafe Antigua

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Cafe Kacao

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Guyutes

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Johnnie’s Charcoal Broiler

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BEST BARBECUE

Clark Crew BBQ

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Mahogany Prime Steakhouse

BEST SUSHI

Tokyo Japanese Restaurant

BEST SEAFOOD

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BEST RESTAURANT OR BAKERY W/ VEGAN, VEGETARIAN, GLUTEN-FREE OPTIONS

Picasso Cafe

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Pie Junkie

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Azteca Mexican Grill OKC

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Cafe Kacao

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BEST NEW RESTAURANT TO OPEN AFTER 8/1/24

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BEST NEW BAR TO OPEN AFTER 8/1/24

Later Bye

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Ma Der Lao Kitchen

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Chef Meghan Synco,

Hal Smith Restaurants

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The Boom

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The Mill Neighborhood Bar

BEST NATIONAL OR REGIONAL RESTAURANT*

CAVA

BEST APPETIZERS

Pizzeria Gusto

BEST LOCAL LUNCH SPOT

Cheever’s Café

BEST FOOD TRUCK

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ARTS, CULTURE & ENTERTAINMENT

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Jukebox Hero

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David Payne, News 9

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Matt Goad

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BEST CONCERT VENUE

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BEST PUBLIC ART / STATUE / INSTALLATION

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BEST PLACE TO BUY LOCAL ART

The Paseo Arts District

BEST ART GALLERY

DNA Galleries

BEST MUSEUM

Oklahoma City National

Memorial & Museum

BEST LOCAL DISTRICT

The Paseo Arts District

BEST CASINO

Riverwind Casino

BEST LOCAL TOURIST ATTRACTION

Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum

BEST PLACE TO DANCE

Groovy’s

GOODS & SERVICES

BEST CAR DEALERSHIP

Mercedes Benz of OKC

BEST CREDIT UNION OR BANK*

Tinker Federal Credit Union

BEST PLACE TO BUY JEWELRY

BC Clark

BEST THRIFT, VINTAGE OR CONSIGNMENT STORE

Bad Granny’s Bazaar

BEST FURNITURE STORE

Mathis Outlet

BEST CLOTHING BOUTIQUE

Eden Boutique

BEST MEN’S CLOTHING

Mr. Ooley’s

BEST PLACE TO BUY LIQUOR

Byron’s Liquor Warehouse

BEST VAPOR SHOP

Liquid Vapor Lounge

BEST NAUGHTY BUSINESS

Christie’s Toy Box

BEST PLACE FOR CONTINUING EDUCATION

Oklahoma City University

BEST NEW RETAIL ESTABLISHMENT TO OPEN AFTER 8/1/24

OAK OKC

BEST LOCAL GROCER, DELI OR SPECIALTY FOOD SHOP

Uptown Grocery Co

BEST LOCAL FLORIST

Trochta’s Flowers

& Garden Center

BEST GARDEN SHOP

TLC Garden Center

BEST PLACE TO FIND UNIQUE GIFTS

Craig’s Emporium

BEST TATTOO OR BODY PIERCING SHOP

23rd Street Body Piercing

BEST BOOKSTORE OR COMIC SHOP

Full Circle Bookstore

BEST LOCAL ARTS CLASSES

Pinot’s Palette

LIFE & WELLNESS

BEST PLACE TO VOLUNTEER

Oklahoma Humane Society

BEST NONPROFIT

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BEST PLASTIC SURGEON

Tim R. Love, MD

BEST HOSPITAL*

Mercy Hospital

BEST MEDICAL SPA

Radiance Medical

Aesthetics of Oklahoma

BEST SPA

The Sweet Mimosa Day Spa

BEST YOGA STUDIO

This Land Yoga

BEST PILATES OR BARRE STUDIO

Pilates Studio on Western

BEST ALTERNATIVE HEALTH CARE PRACTITIONER

Be Well Acupuncture

BEST PLACE TO GET FIT*

YMCA

BEST HOTEL*

The Skirvin Hilton

BEST UNIVERSITY GREEK HOUSE

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BEST LOCAL COMMUNITY LEADER

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BEST LOCAL GRASSROOTS ACTIVIST

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MISCELLANEOUS

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Scissortail Park

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Talk Early. Talk Often.

Kids as young as 11 report vaping.

the conversation.

ARTS & CULTURE Suite revival

The story of Oklahoma City’s most iconic building has many chapters. The recent renovation ensures its legacy will continue.

By Julie Porter Scott

Undoubtedly, Oklahoma City’s most iconic building, The Skirvin Hilton Oklahoma City has an equally iconic history. William Balser “Bill” Skirvin commissioned prolific Oklahoma City architect Solomon Andrew Layton to design the hotel, which opened to much fanfare in 1911. One of the largest hotels in the Midwest, the landmark’s Art Deco façade and English Gothic interior drew everyone from politicians to actors, titans of industry and bank robbers. For decades, the Skirvin was one of the most important buildings in the growing city, a center for political and business dealings. A frequent guest at many of the meetings and events held at the establishment was Skirvin’s daughter, Perle, who would go on to become Perle Mesta.

If the walls could talk, they’d probably do so with a wistful tone and a slight slur; underground tunnels kept the liquor flowing during Prohibition. Drinking, gambling and general revelry could be found every night. Presidents Truman and Eisenhower stayed at the hotel, and Nixon, Ford and Reagan all visited, as did luminaries from Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis to Elvis Presley. Jimmy Hoffa stayed at the Skirvin, and so did Sinatra, Bob Hope and countless others. Beyond the glitz, one of the most important events to affect the landmark was Clara Luper’s 1958 Civil Rights sit-in, which prompted the Skirvin to become the first integrated hotel in the state.

Despite the building’s star-studded past, glamorous guest book and place of pride, the tide was turning for Oklahoma City, and it would take the storied Skirvin down with it.

In the 1970s, as Oklahoma’s economy began to slouch toward a bust, the for-

tunes of the hotel also began to fall. The hotel finally closed in 1988; for almost two decades the once-proud property played host to pigeons and squatters, but it managed to avoid demolition. For 18 years, the hotel remained closed. In the late 1990s, Mayor Kirk Humphreys led an effort to have the city purchase the building, and Marcus Hotels began a $54 million renovation, preserving as much of the original architecture as possible. The Skirvin reopened as the Skirvin Hilton Hotel in 2007, just in time for Oklahoma’s Centennial celebrations.

The Skirvin once again assumed the mantle as the premier downtown destination for visitors to OKC. For many years, the Skirvin was the place to see and be seen, to gala, to wed. But as Oklahoma City’s star rose, the old hotel was starting to show her age. Skirvin’s standing as the town’s top stay has been challenged in recent years, first with the opening of the sleek Omni in 2021, then the opening of nearby National Hotel in 2022. It was time to meet the expectations of a new generation of locals, business travelers and tourists. To do it right would take a group as bold as W. B. Skirvin himself.

In 2022, news broke that the Skirvin Hotel would undergo a purchase and renovation backed by a partnership between the Chickasaw Nation and a group of local investors. The Chickasaw Nation holds 50 percent of the equity through Sovereign Properties, led by CEO Alan Marcum. The remaining 50 percent is held by a group of local investors led by Mark Beffort, Andy Burnett and Megan Gelmers of Robinson Park.

“This project wouldn’t be possible without the support and vision of our investors, such as The Chickasaw

The Chickasaw Nation and a group of investors backed by local investment group Robinson Park backed the Skirvin’s renovation, which included popular Red Piano Lounge. | Photo provided

Nation,” said Mark Beffort, CEO of Robinson Park. “Revitalizing the Skirvin Hotel is a testament to our investors’ commitment to preserving Oklahoma City’s rich history while delivering modern, luxury experiences.”

Historic luxury

If you’ve been to Andrew Black’s Perle Mesta, you’ve already had a glimpse of Robinson Park’s uncanny ability to take a space from faded relic to modern luxury, elevating the historic charm with thoughtful, appropriate, elegant choices. The full renovation is akin to what you’ve seen at Perle Mesta writ large. Very large. Twenty-two million dollars, to be exact.

The renovations began in December and were completed in late August. The project included each of the 225 guest rooms and all common spaces, including over 18,000 square feet of flexible event space. From the lobby to the ballrooms, fitness center and pool, no corner was left untouched.

The most notable historic features are proudly on display: Bacchus heads stand sentry atop the columns in the lobby, symbols of the hotel’s history. The original 1911 elevator doors and oak front desk remain. The top floor is home to the 2,600-square-foot Venetian Room, where the 1930s ceiling and chandeliers have been beautifully restored; the décor has been fully updated to match the quiet opulence of the space.

Visitors and locals alike will enjoy the food and drink offerings, from Chef Andrew Black’s Perle Mesta to the Red Piano Lounge. The addition of a Boomtown Creamery has been a delight to tourists and downtown workers alike; it’s not uncommon to see people in suits enjoying an ice cream cone on the patio in the middle of a workday.

With Robinson Park representing the ownership group while also acting as project manager, thoughtful, highquality decisions were made at every opportunity.

“The Skirvin is such a great structure,” said Megan Gelmers, director of development at Robinson Park. “This renovation was more about updating finishes, bringing it back to life and enhancing the guest experience.”

Local creative agency Cooper House was responsible for both the hotel’s repositioning and the branding of Perle Mesta. CORD Construction Services was brought in to build out Perle, which was the first project in the renovation to be fully completed. Leo A Daly architects worked to reimagine public spaces, and LINGO Construction served as general contractor on the guest rooms and public spaces. Local artist Denise Duong was commissioned for Skirvinrelated artwork, a nod to bringing together the historic and the current.

“Guests at the hotel will enjoy improved aesthetics and functionality. The renovation will also help the hotel attract and retain talent, further enhancing the guest experience,” said Chase Rollins, general manager of the hotel, which remains under the Hilton label and management. “Morale is also at an all-time high among our staff. Everyone is pinching themselves to realize this is where they get to work every day.”

The new owners had a vision:

“It’s a place for our guests, of course, and for those attending an event here,” Gelmers said. “But we also really want it to be an engaging space for the local community. We want the lobby to feel like the living room for downtown Oklahoma City.”

From the lively bar at Red Piano Lounge to the cool new library in the lobby and a sumptuous booth at Perle, locals will find much to love in the reimagined Skirvin.

Over many different eras, One Park Avenue has been a gathering spot for the city’s glitterati, from events in the ballroom to drinks at the bar. From fundraising galas to weddings and reunions, locals have clocked countless hours in the grand spaces and quiet corners. Just as Perle and her crew ran the place in their day, today’s local luminaries, party people and downtown denizens will once again have the opportunity to escape from the mundane and slip into their own slice of the city’s history. Visit skirvinhilton.com.

Bottoms Up!

HALLOWEEN ISSUE

Drew Williamson, managing partner of Red Center Media, LLC, holding company of Oklahoma Gazette, is a limited partner and owner of The Skirvin Hilton OKC.

The Skirvin’s renovation included all common spaces. | Photo provided

ARTS & CULTURE Autumn vibes

By Kimberly Walker COMMUNITY

Discover the best of OKC this fall with food, art, music, and family-friendly fun across every district.

Autumn vibes are in full swing across Oklahoma City! As the temperatures drop and the leaves turn, the districts of OKC come alive with food, art, music and family-friendly fun at every corner. From colorful parades and late-night markets to pink-powered shopping sprees, theatre performances, comicbook adventures and international cultural celebrations, there’s truly something for everyone. Stroll historic streets, browse handcrafted goods, cheer on live performers or sip your way through local brews — every neighborhood offers a unique taste of the city’s creativity, energy and community spirit. With festivals, block parties and oneof-a-kind experiences popping up throughout the season, OKC proves that fall is the perfect time to explore, celebrate and make memories that last long after the leaves have fallen.

Oklahoma Comic Arts Festival

10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 13 Oklahoma Contemporary okcomicarts.org

The first-ever Oklahoma Comic Arts Festival (OCAF) blasts off at Oklahoma Contemporary, combining the excitement of a comic convention with the arts-focused programming the venue is known for. Free and family-friendly, the festival celebrates comics, manga and visual storytelling with dozens of Oklahoma creators alongside nationally recognized talent like Gavin Guidry (Action Comics, Superman 78), Steenz! (Heart of the City) and Andy Hirsch (Science Comics, History Comics). Visitors can meet creators, join workshops for kids and adults, enjoy food trucks and a café and bar, and even try their hand at T-shirt screen printing.

SHAKESTOBERFEST

2-6p.m.Saturday, Sept. 27 2920 Paseo okshakes.org

Returning to Oklahoma Shakespeare Theatre in the historic Paseo Arts District, Shakestoberfest celebrates community and classical theater with a family-friendly twist. Guests can enjoy face-painting, kids’ crafts, improv and clowning classes, and live presentations from Oklahoma Shakespeare actors and singers. Founded in 1985, Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park remains the state’s oldest and only classical theater

company, and this festive fall event is its way of raising a glass to new friends, old traditions and the enduring magic of the Bard.

Fiestas de las Americas

Saturday, Sept. 27 319 SW 25th St historiccapitolhill.com/fdla

Celebrate Hispanic Heritage month at the largest Latino festival in Oklahoma City. The day kicks off with the vibrant Parade of the Americas at 11 a.m., then keeps the energy going with live music, dance, art and a mercado full of trea-

Parade of the Americas kicks off the Fiestas de las Americas September 27. | Photo Gazette file

sures. From tasty bites to family

Jonestoberfest

10 a.m.-2 a.m. Saturday Sept. 27

The Jones Assembly 901 W Sheridan thejonesassembly.com

Steins up and get ready for the ultimate Oktoberfest celebration in OKC! Sip on crisp German brews, dig into classic fest eats like bratwurst and pretzels, and dance along to a stacked music lineup. Bring your crew, dust off the lederhosen and make memories with games, contests and good vibes all around. Whether you’re a polka pro or just here for the brews and bites, Jonestoberfest promises an unforgettable night of fun, flavor and festivity.

Asian Night Market Festival

5-11 p.m. Friday, Oct. 3 and Saturday, Oct. 4 1200 NW 25th St asiandistrictok.com/anmf

Step into a world of flavor, fashion and fun at the seventh annual Asian Night Market Festival! From sizzling street food to dazzling dance and music per-

formances, this two-night celebration is your passport to the diverse cultures of Asia — all without leaving OKC. With more than 25,000 people expected, it’s part block party, part cultural showcase and 100% unforgettable.

Uptown Outside

4:30-5:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18 23rd and Gurnsey to 24th and Dewey uptown23rd.com

Uptown Outside returns to light up 23rd Street with a full-day playground of food, music, art, and local talent! With food trucks, vendors, live performances, interactive experiences, and plenty of family-friendly fun, there’s something for everyone to enjoy. Come soak up the energy, creativity, and local flavor that make Uptown 23rd one of OKC’s most vibrant and exciting districts.

Taste of Western

6-9 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 23 Will Rogers Theatre 4322 N Western Ave visitwesternavenue.com

Taste of Western is your VIP pass to Oklahoma City’s Western Avenue foodie playground! Over ten10 local restaurants, plus beer, wine, and local artists,

come together at the iconic Will Rogers Theatre for bites, sips, and all-around fun. Mingle, munch, and marvel at nearby murals, groove to live jazz, enter raffles, and soak up the historic vibes.

11 a.m. - 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 25

1100 Classen Dr midtownokc.com

Midtown Walkabout steps into its 10th year! Explore the district for exclusive in-store deals, free family-friendly activities and special promotions while soaking up the vibrant energy that makes Midtown so iconic. Discover unique shops, enjoy live entertainment and take part in fun surprises that make this celebration a must-experience event. From shopping and dining to exploring and playing, there’s some-

thing for everyone to enjoy.

The Girlie Show

Friday, Nov. 14 and Saturday, Nov. 15 Farmers Public Market 311 N. Klein, OKC thegirlieshowokc.com

The Girlie Show returns to the OKC Farmers Public Market, bringing bold, pink-powered energy to a two-day celebration of women makers, artists, and creators. Part art show and part party, the event showcases handcrafted goods with plenty of attitude, live music, and the big pink vibe known as An Art Show With a Curve. Proceeds benefit Arts in Schools through Arts Council OKC’s All Access Arts program, making every bit of “power-shopping” part of a greater purpose.

Midtown Walkabout

The 7th annual Asian Night Market Festival returns October 3. | Photo Ed Schotter

ARTS & CULTURE

Party! on

By Jeremy Martin ART

Factory Obscura’s nostalgic immersive art experience continues through Sept. 29.

Summer’s ending, but it’s not too late to join the party.

The immersive art installation Party! remains open through Sept. 29 at Factory Obscura, 25 NW Ninth St. Tickets are $12 for adults, $8 for kids 4 to 17 and free for kids 3 or under.

For older visitors, the word “party” might connote cocktails and hors d’oeuvres or keg stands and noise complaints, but this installation takes its inspiration from an early time in life.

“It’s the nostalgia of slumber parties and building blanket forts with your friends and the cozy joy that comes along with that,” said Kelsey Karper, Factory Obscura’s co-founder and director of logistical creativity.

In addition to the large-scale blanket forts, potential childhood flashback inducers include a lighting-enhanced the floor is lava game, an abnormally squishy hopscotch grid and actual childhood photos of many of the artists who contributed to the installation.

“Grown-ups playing the floor is lava together has been really fun to watch, because they really commit,” Karper said.

Fiber artists Emily Madden and Krista Jo Mustain responded to Factory’s open call for artist collaboration with the proposal for Party! While the installation is all about softness and comfort, the inspiration came from experiencing the opposite feelings.

“Krista and I had both been going through really tough times,” Madden said. “Mostly all of it coming down to grief — loss of people, loss of situations or opportunities, just a lot of loss. We were dealing with a lot of hard stuff, so when we saw the opportunity come through, we were like, ‘We should apply, and we should make something that would make us happy.’”

Factory Obscura’s first open call for artist proposals received dozens of responses, some of which Karper said the collaborative art space hopes to revisit in the future.

“We were looking for things that are in

line with the values and the ideas that Factory Obscura is always trying to express in our work, which is evoking a sense of wonder and joy in the participants who come through the space,” Karper said, “something that is community oriented in some way, but then also just logistically, ideas that were feasible. Given the amount of time and the budget that we had available, is it possible to complete this? This project really just hit all of those marks.”

To find an idea that would make them happy, Madden and Mustain explored what “the core of joy” meant to them, and they found the answers in childhood memories.

“Simpler times, no bills,” Madden said. “Summer parties, you get to be with your friends. What do we all wanna do all day? I don’t wanna work. I wanna go hang out with my friends. So we thought, ‘Let’s create a space where people can travel back in time and have a nostalgic moment.”

However, the emotions tied to memories can be as complex as memories themselves.

“There’s joy in nostalgia, but there’s also grief in it, too,” Madden said. “We wanted to offer people a space that was safe to feel any emotion, just like we did as children. We expressed more emotions when we were younger than we do now.”

Karper said nostalgia is a recurring theme at Factory Obscura because part of its intended purpose is to give people the chance to explore their emotions.

“There’s not a lot of spaces where adults feel safe to do that,” Karper said. “We get feedback from people that intentionally come to these spaces to process grief, to propose to their partner, to get married, to go on their first date, to introduce their parents to each other. This is a space where people have defining life moments. I think having that sort of nostalgic quality is part of what makes people feel safe. While it is a very weird space that you’re in, there’s also something kind of familiar about it, and that’s what makes you feel comfortable and kind of opens you up to whatever else might be waiting for you there.”

The installation includes a mailbox for visitors to leave messages. Karper estimates visitors have left thousands of postcards in the box since Party! opened in May.

“They have expressed the full range of emotions,” Karper said. There are some really silly, hilarious ones. There are some really heartfelt ones that have made us all cry when we read them, people expressing things in those notes that obviously they haven’t yet found a way to say out loud. This has given them a space to at least write it down and kind of send it out to the universe.”

Making a small self-contained space in the universe is part of the appeal of blanket forts, the largest features in the installation.

“Blanket forts were probably the first immersive experience that we create for ourselves as children,” Karper said. “It feels so magical when you’re in there.”

Constructing large-scale blanket forts for the installation, including a colorfully lit tent suspended from the ceiling and a clubhouse with a wooden frame, presented challenges that don’t typically emerge at slumber parties.

“My biggest anxiety was upholstering the roof,” Madden said. “When you walk inside of the house, you’ll look up and there are blankets on the roof. How did we do

that? We had a lot of friends help us.”

Karper said that Factory Obscura brought its experience building large-scale installations to the collaboration.

“We’re known for the handcrafted, tactile nature of our work. You can really tell that it was made by hand rather than feeling sort of manufactured or mass produced,” Karper said. “We do that in a way that still feels kind of ethereal and nostalgic, but is also structurally safe and durable enough to last for a few months of people interacting with it.”

Most of the materials for the installation were donated.

“People can come and be like, ‘Oh my gosh! That was what my grandma made,’ or, ‘That came from my house,’ so it’s like we all collectively built it,” Karper said. “We got some really special pieces contributed that came with their own stories.”

Visit factoryobscura.com.

Party!

Through Sept. 29

Factory Obscura 25 NW Ninth St. factoryobscura.com Free-$12

One of the blanket forts from the ceiling at Party! at Factory Obscura through Sept. 29. | Photo Madelyn Amacher

Featuring large-scale fiber art works, Party! draws inspiration from childhood sleepovers. | Photo Madelyn Amacher

ARTS & CULTURE

Book it

Get to know the OKC metro’s local bookshops with Oklahoma Gazette ’s guide before a bookstore crawl Sept. 27.

By Jeremy Martin

On Sept. 27, the Central Oklahoma Independent Bookstore Fall Crawl will challenge book lovers to visit as many local shops as possible in the most adorably nerdy variation on a pub crawl we’ve seen. Follow @centralokbookstorecrawl on Instagram for more information. We’ve compiled a handy guide to get you started, in case you’re the kind of nerd who wants to do the assigned reading early.

A Novel Idea

116 W. Oklahoma Ave., Guthrie anovelideabookshop.org 405-466-7116

This Guthrie bookshop’s website promotes the “power of physical books,” and if the promise of “the intoxicating scent of books” doesn’t have you salivating, you’re probably reading the wrong article. In addition to that new book smell, A Novel Idea also offers book clubs, author signings and other special events such as the Gilmore Girls-themed Stars Hollow Fall Celebration on Sept. 27.

Literati Press

3022 Paseo literatipressok.com 405-882-7032

Serving both readers and writers, this Paseo bookstore, publishing company and writers co-op hosts book clubs and story hours as well as writers workshops such as Plot a Novel in an Hour on Sept. 21 and Narrative Writing and Game Design on Sept. 27. Recent releases from Literati Press include Kristen Grace’s folk horror fairytale The Skull Tree and James Cooper’s true-crime-inspired Moonlit Massacre. The store is also the current home of long-running Red Dirt Poetry Open Mic at 7 p.m. on Wednesdays.

Second Story Books & Cafe

718 Culbertson Drive secondstorybooksokc.com 405-673-7565

With a cafe serving a variety of coffee and tea; book clubs for readers of fantasy, nonfiction, romance, children’s literature and “witchy” books; author signings, crafting classes and community events such as the recent bake sale benefiting the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund, Second Story is a setting for far more than two stories, even if it is technically located on the ground floor.

3 NW Ninth St. facebook.com/thefloatingbookshop

Located in Automobile Alley, The Floating Bookshop offers shelves full of thoughtfully curated selections to stack onto your to-be-read pile, including many works by local authors and artists. Check out their collection of zines, graphic novels, records and cassettes from OKC label Mystery Class and others.

Lost and Bound Bookstore & Soda Bar

1805 S. Morgan Road lostandboundbook.store 405-345-5095

The “little pink bookstore” started life as a pop-up shop inside an antique market in Tazewell, Tennessee, but after opening as a brick-and-mortar shop in OKC, it’s an independently owned hangout for page turners and soda sippers, with author signings, crafting classes and meetups for fans of Taylor Swift (Sept. 13) and A Court of Thorns and Roses (Sept. 28).

Bookish Used Books & Art

1005 NW 36th St. shop-bookish.com 405-992-7570

Offering new and used books, music, movies and more, Bookish endorses “embracing the beauty of second-hand goods, the kind that tell a story,” and its packed events calendar tells a story of its own, with film screenings, live music, writer’s nights, community meetings and an open mic (co-hosted by this article’s author) sharing the stage each month.

3812 N. MacArthur Blvd., Warr Acres facebook.com/lovestoriesokc 405-577-2202

While most of the stores on this list attempt to offer a little something for everyone, Love Stories is unabashedly for romantics only, but it offers a wide variety within its area of specialization, with classic, historic and contemporary titles ranging from sweet to steamy. The store is also conveniently located inside The Formal Niche bridal shop in case you decide to start a love story of your own.

The Lore

220 S. Porter Ave., Norman the-lore-ok.square.site 405-819-2747

Calling itself a “creative general store,” this Norman shop sells new and used books, local art, and arts and craft supplies. Writers workshops, crafting meetups and book clubs for fans of sci-fi, horror, queer lit and smut novels fill the events calendar.

Bluebird Books in Edmond

21 S. Broadway, Edmond bluebirdedmond.com 405-562-3507

Promising “comfortable seating,” “books for all genre lovers,” “family story time” and more, this downtown Edmond shop offers a comfy environment for bookworms, even if the name seems a little less than worm-friendly.

Commonplace Books

1325 N. Walker Ave., Suite 138 commonplacebooksokc.com 405-534-4540

Opened in 2016, this Midtown OKC bookstore’s website posits that “We read to know we’re not alone,” and “Friendship around books is some of the best kind of friendship.” Visitors will have the chance to bond over books at upcoming events such as Bingo Book Club (Sept. 18) and author Julia Bryan Thomas’ book signing for The Kennedy Girl (Sept. 29). Littler readers can meet up at the weekly story time at 10 a.m. on Saturdays.

Full Circle Books

1900 Northwest Expressway fullcirclebooks.com 405-842-2900

Covering 360 degrees of literature, Full Circle carries tens of thousands of books and publishes Oklahoma-centric nonfiction such as Chef Andrew Black’s Foraging in Oklahoma: Tales and Recipes From the Open Road and Juxtapositions: Brunel Faris and the Visual Arts in Oklahoma City. The Garden Cafe serves breakfast, lunch, coffee and wine, and events include live music, poetry readings and children’s story time at 10:15 a.m. on Saturdays.

Best of Books

1313 E. Danforth Road, Edmond bestofbooksok.com 405-340-9202

If you love everything about a book club but the assigned reading part, you might try Best of Books’ Bring Your Own Book Club (Sept. 11), where you’re free to discuss whatever book you want. For more structured activities, there’s the weekly story time at 11 a.m. on Saturdays often featuring authors reading their own books and An Afternoon With Oklahoma Authors (Sept. 27) with sci-fi and fantasy writers Candace Kade and Jes McCutchen and young adult writers Jerrica Godwin and Brian Holshouser.

The Floating Bookshop

Love Stories Romance Only Bookstore

top, Literati Press, bottom from left, The Floating Bookshop, Love Stories Romance Only Bookstore, Bookish | Photos Jeremy Martin and Charlie Neuenschwander

ARTS & CULTURE

Oklahoma noir

With Crooks, local author Lou Berney explores the family dynamics of a complicated set of siblings through the filter of an Oklahoma City long since past.

By Julie Porter Scott

Lou Berney is warmly funny and engaging, providing the thoughtful responses you’d expect from a seasoned author of seven novels, including Dark Ride, November Road and The Long and Faraway Gone. From his polite comportment, you’d never guess the characters and situations percolating just under the surface. With his latest book, Crooks , hitting shelves on Sept. 9, readers have a chance to peek into the imagination of this celebrated local writer and dive deeply into the world of the Mercurio family.

Local readers will also especially enjoy the setting: Oklahoma City in her various phases: the swinging sixties (or at least as swinging as the sixties got in the buckle of the Bible Belt); the gritty, glitzy seventies; the busted eighties. It’s both easier and more fun to fully immerse yourself in the plot when you can so clearly envision the locations of the Mercurio family’s criminal enterprise, the children’s misdemeanor mischief. Just the mention of a long-forgotten department store can teleport you

to him,” Berney said. “One is grappling with change, but he doesn’t know if he is smart enough; he has always been told he’s not. It’s this idea that in your family, you’re always treated a certain way, and that sinks in deep, for good or for bad.

“I was also thinking about how we’re assigned roles in our families, and these are set so early. Can you escape those roles? Do you even want to escape those roles? I was thinking about my own family, and just that idea of sibling relationships. I knew I wanted to write a crime novel, and I wanted it to be about siblings.”

Berney is known for creating characters who teeter on the edge of redemption. The subgenre is “noir with a conscience,” and it is the perfect place for readers who want to dive into complex characters with a complicated past and an uncertain future.

It’s noir, so it’s edgy and it’s dark, but for me, there always has to be a glimmer of light somewhere,” Berney explained. “Even if it’s just the possibility of light. Sometimes that door will slam shut, just

contagious.

These scrappy underdogs navigate tetchy situations while their street smarts and questionable ethics battle their innate sense of right and wrong. Berney’s characters often do all the wrong things for all the right reasons. The tension brought on by this tightrope walk is made even more intense by the deep character development of even the smallest characters. In Crooks, everyone has a past: the nightclub manager, the Karen-y neighbor, the shady L.A. gigolo-roommate, the partner at the Manhattan white-shoe law firm. Everyone is working their way through a reality shaped by their past decisions. Just as Better Call Saul spun off from Breaking Bad, you can imagine any of these characters deserving their own eight-season arc.

The book isn’t just set in Oklahoma; the characters are also imbued with an “Oklahoma-ness” — local archetypes everyone from here will recognize.

“Somebody is a high roller, a hustler, a ne’er-do-well,” Lou explained. “I deeply love Oklahoma, and it is such a joy to bring that into my novels. I just love all the quirky, weird and wonderful stuff that at once is both particular to Oklahoma City and also universal in some way.”

Beyond just writing about the place he knows best, Crooks also teleports readers to many different locations and time periods. Spanning decades, the action takes readers to Hollywood with Jeremy, post-communist Moscow with Tallulah, Las Vegas with Ray. Alice, who believed she had escaped her upbringing, reluctantly takes readers to a commune in Arizona, where she has to lean into her old life to save her current one.

The Lowdown

On Sept. 23, everyone will be able to catch some of Lou’s dialogue on the small screen when Sterlin Harjo’s new television show The Lowdown premieres on FX. Filmed in Oklahoma, the project is packed with talent, including Oklahomans Jeanne Tripplehorn and Tim Blake Nelson. Ethan Hawke stars, and the actor also served as an executive producer.

“It was cool, because Sterlin’s crew — it’s the crew he uses for everything — they just turn on this dance, this power; to see them work is like choreography,” Berney told me about being on set in Tulsa. “It’s so cool to see, there’s such a warmth. I’ve been to other sets; I was a screenwriter for a while, but Sterlin’s sets — I know it’s cliché — just have such a family feel. It was the same in the writers’ room. That feeling of being part of a family… again, I think it’s an Oklahoma thing.”

The writers’ room was also a hotspot for Oklahoma talent, including Tulsabased crime writer David Tromblay and Duffy Boudreau, who hails from Tulsa and was an executive producer on

HBO’s Barry.

“I’d never been a writer in a room, but this was such a great experience,” Berney said. “There were eight of us, several other excellent writers and directors, and Sterlin is just the ideal showrunner to work with. For me, at least, it was perfect.”

There’s also always the chance that one of Berney’s books will find its way into production. November Road was acquired by Lawrence Kasdan in 2018 and was set to begin pre-production when a lengthy delay ultimately led to the project stalling out. But Berney is still hopeful some of his work will find its way to a screen near you.

Readers of Berney’s latest novel will find escapism in the criminal adventures while identifying with complicated family dynamics and sibling relationships, as well as the never-ending struggle to carve out one’s place in the world. With darkly funny dialogue and quick pacing, it’s both unputdownable and something you’re not ready to see come to a conclusion. You get the sense that the characters are still out there, maybe an eccentric running a coffee shop in a weird Oklahoma town or a grandmother blending into the exurbs of OKC. Wherever they are, you hope they’re doing well and texting each other often.

Readers can head to Best of Books, 1313 E. Danforth Road, in Edmond at 6 p.m. Sept. 11 for a discussion of Crooks with Berney, who will also sign copies of his book.

Visit louberney.com.

6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 11

Best of Books 1313 E. Danforth Road, Edmond bestofbooksok.com | 405-340-9202

Crooks Signing Event With Lou Berney

Oklahoma author Lou Berney releases Crooks on Sept. 9. | Photo Brett Deering

Crooks is the seventh novel from local author Lou Berney. | Image HarperCollins Publishers

CALENDAR

These are events recommended by Oklahoma Gazette editorial staff members. For full calendar listings, go to okgazette.com.

BOOKS

LTAI Book Group Discussion: The Penelopiad Let’s Talk About It! A series of lively book group discussions led by local scholars, authors, and experts. Each guest speaker introduces one of their favorite books and gives a presentation on its main themes and cultural impact. Stop by the Dulaney-Browne Library to rent this season’s set of books FREE of charge and join the conversation! This week, Center Director Emeritus Dr. Harbour Winn presents Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad (2005). Free, Tue. Sept. 16, 6:30-8:30 p.m. OCU Walker Center 151, 2501 N Blackwelder Ave, (405) 208-5707, okcu.edu/academics/schools-colleges/ petree-college-of-arts-and-sciences/enrichment/filmliterature/lets-talk-about-it-book-club. SEPT 16

OKCU Martha Jean Lemon Distinguished Speaker - Adam Bradley We are pleased to announce that the 2025 Martha Jean Lemon Distinguished Speaker will be Adam Bradley, a bestselling author, a professor of English and African American Studies at UCLA, and founding director of the Laboratory for Race & Popular Culture (aka, the RAP Lab). Mr. Bradley will visit the OCU campus on Tuesday, Sept. 23. His public talk will be titled, Hip Hop’s Futures. This event is free and open to the public. Doors open at 6:15 p.m. Seating is first-come, first served and subject to capacity. A book signing will follow the public talk. Free. Bass School of Music, OCU, 2501 N. Blackwelder Ave. 405-208-5227, okcu.edu/lemonlecture. SEPT 23

Pretty Quiet Book Club in PARTY! w/ The Floating Bookshop Join Factory Obscura for Pretty Quiet Book Club, where you can read, wander, and reflect inside the vibrant world of PARTY! a temporary immersive art experience offering the cozy nostalgia of slumber parties. Bring a book you’re currently reading or browse a curated selection from The Floating Bookshop, who will be popping up with literary treasures. Find your cozy corner, dive into your book, and enjoy the stillness in the midst of the magic. $5, Thu. Sept. 25, 12-8:30 p.m. Factory Obscura, 25 NW 9th St. (405) 367-1578, factoryobscura. com/events/2025/party-quiet-book-club. SEPT 25

COMEDY

Twisters Comedy Rumble Hosted by a rotating cast of hosts, Comedy Rumble Night is a showcase where anything can happen! What to expect?, A wild new lineup of comics every week, Big laughs, weird bits, and crowd-fueled chaos, One winner and one runner-up crowned each, Finalists battle it out for glory and a featured spot at a future show. Free, 9:30-11 p.m. Chisholm Creek Event Center, 13801 N Western Avenue, 4053159024, chisholmcreekeventcenter.com. THU

Bingo Loco: World’s Biggest Bingo Party Looking for the most outrageous bingo party in the USA? Turning traditional bingo on its head—this is a full-blown party rave with DJs, dance-offs, lip-sync battles, and wild prizes you won’t believe! Whether you’re planning a night out with friends, a birthday celebration, or looking for a unique event in Oklahoma, this is the party you don’t want to miss. For mature audiences. Sept. 13, 4 p.m. Tower Theatre, 425 NW 23rd St. (405) 708-6937, towertheatreokc.com. SEPT 13

HAUNT TO GO! An Occult Cocktail Experience We’re conjuring curses, cocktails, and comedy. World renowned paranormal investigators Ken and LeeAnn Hodgeson present a selection of haunted, cursed, and possessed artifacts from their infamous traveling museum. Joins us and do your own research with real ghost hunting technology. Communicate with the other side via our psychic medium. Enjoy potions brewed by our on-staff witch. $60 (4 alcoholic drinks included); $40 (water included), Sept. 13, 8-10 p.m. Holiday Inn & Suites Oklahoma City North, an IHG Hotel, 6200 North Robinson Avenue, 9195844242, hahamuseum.com/. SEPT 13

Michael Blaustein Michael Blaustein, one of the fastest rising stand-up comedians working today, is bringing the laughs to our stage on September 27. You’ve watched his viral videos and heard his chart-topping hit comedy podcast Stiff Socks with Trevor Wallace—don’t miss The Taste Me Tour live in OKC! Perfect for fans of Trevor Wallace, Shane Gillis, and Nate Bargatze. Sept. 27, 4:15 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tower Theatre, 425 NW 23rd St. (405) 708-6937, towertheatreokc.com. SEPT 27

FUNDRAISERS

OVAC’s Annual 12x12 Art Fundraiser Immerse yourself in a vibrant showcase featuring the works of 175 Oklahoma artists and enjoy live performances by DJ Ostara, delicious local bites, and the buzz of artistic energy. Whether you’re an arts advocate, a seasoned collector, or someone simply looking for something to do, 12x12 promises an unforgettable evening of art, community, and the joy of supporting local creativity. $50-$100, Fri. Oct. 3, 7-10 p.m. OKC Farmers Market, 311 S. Klein Ave. (405) 879- 2400, ex 2, 12x12ok.org. OCT 3

Nicoma Park Founder’s Day Festival Come celebrate our roots and rally for the future, a full day of hometown fun benefiting the renovation of the Nicoma Park city park! Shine up those wheels and cruise on over! From classics to customs, we’re showcasing it all. Free entry, trophies, and bragging rights included. Think you’ve got the best ribs in town? Fire up your smoker and enter the Rib Burn! Cash prizes and smoky glory are on the line. free, Sat. Sept. 20, 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Liberty Entertainment, 2540 Liberty Blvd, 4052019469, libertyfireworksok.com. SEPT 20

Noshville Norman Enjoy a taste-style event that brings together the best bites, sips and sounds of Nashville to Norman. This gala that unites community leaders in support of our life-changing mission to foster one-to-one mentoring relationships. Sponsorships are available and can be customized to fit the needs of your business or organization. Fri. Sept. 12, 6-10 p.m. Embassy Suites Hotel and Conference Center, 2501 Conference Drive, 405-364-3722, normangala.org. FRI

YOUTH

4th Annual Monarch Festival Celebrate and support monarch butterflies. Enjoy fun, educational activities like monarch-themed crafts and seed ballmaking, and discussions with local experts to answer all your monarch and gardening questions. This event involves walking on potentially uneven terrain, so please prepare accordingly! This event is FREE, but tickets are required. Mollie Spencer Farm, 1001 Garth Brooks Blvd. 405-767-3702, molliespencerfarm.app. neoncrm.com/event.jsp?event=109&. SEPT 27

Homeschool Day: Prairie Tales Join us for a Homeschool Day about uncovering history’s mysteries and learning to think like a historian! Homeschool Day is a come-and-go event with ongoing crafts and activities. Pre-registration is required via our website. Registration closes Sunday, September 21st at 11:00 PM. $7/child (4-17), $5/adult, under 4 is free, Wed. Sept. 24, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Oklahoma Hall of Fame Gaylord-Pickens Museum, 1400 Classen Drive, 405-235-4458, oklahomahof.com/ program/homeschool-days. SEPT 21

PERFORMING ARTS

Cirque du Soleil: OVO Cirque du Soleil returns to Oklahoma City with OVO, an immersive journey into the vibrant world of insects! OVO brings the beauty of biodiversity to life with breathtaking acrobatics, high-energy performances, and dazzling visuals that transport audiences into a colorful ecosystem teeming with movement. Sept. 11, 7 p.m. Paycom Center, 100 W. Reno Ave. (405) 602-8700, paycomcenter.com/ events/detail/cirque-du-soleil-ovo-25. SEPT 11-14

B.A.P.S. The Musical Join the hoodtastic duo, “Nisi” and “Mickey”, as their entrepreneurial dreams manifest into royal reality when their black girl magic turns the ailing millionaire into a vibrant man causing him to praise them as his very own personal Black American Princesses. $75-$110, Fri. Sept. 12, 7:30 p.m. and Sat. Sept. 13, 2 & 7:30 p.m. OCCC Visual and Performing Arts Center Theater, 7777 S. May Ave. 405-682-7579, app.ticketsage.net/baps. SEPT 12-13

The Floor Show Catch an artist-focused showcase featuring some of our favorite comedians and musicians in town performing longer sets at 39th Street Records! Arrive early, space is limited! $5, Sat. Sept. 13, 9-10:30 p.m. 39th Street Records, 2131 NW 39th Street, 405) 496-0164, facebook.com/share/1B7j16Su8X/. SEPT 13

Intimate Apparel by Lynn Nottage In 1905 New York, Esther is a Black seamstress who crafts exquisite lingerie for clients from society women to prostitutes. Though her work brings joy to others, she longs for love and a better future. A letter-writing courtship with George, a Caribbean laborer, leads to a proposal—sight unseen. But when he arrives, Esther finds herself disillusioned. Her heart leans instead toward Mr. Marks, the kind Hasidic fabric merchant who quietly adores her in return. Torn between duty and desire, Esther must confront the limits placed on her and imagine a life she’s never dared to dream. $30, Fridays, Saturdays, 8-10:15 p.m. Thursdays, 7:30-9:45 p.m. and Sundays, 2-4:15 p.m. through Sept. 28. Carpenter Square Theatre, 1009 W. Reno, 4052326500, carpentersquare.com/copy-ofmaking-sweet-tea. FRI-SUN

MARIACHI HERENCIA DE MÉXICO - LA NUEVA GENERACIÓN TOUR A new generation takes mariachi to new heights— 2x Latin GRAMMY®-nominee Mariachi Herencia de México pushes the boundaries of traditional mariachi music. Simultaneously honoring the past, celebrating the present, and creating the future of mariachi music, Mariachi Herencia de México presents an electrifying and unforgettable night of Mexican music and culture. ¡Viva el mariachi! From $40 (adult), $35 (youth), Thu. Sept. 18, 7:30 p.m. Armstrong Auditorium, 14400 S. Bryant Ave. 405-285-1010, armstrongauditorium.org/performance/ mariachi-herencia-de-méxico. SEPT 18

Open Bookish - An Open Mic at Bookish Comedy. Poetry. Music. Whatever. No bullies. Second Fridays at Bookish. Free. Hosted by The Martin Duprass. second Friday of every month, 7-10 p.m. through Dec. 31. Bookish: Used Books and Art, 1005 NW 36th St, 4059927570, facebook.com/events/1841949556642261 /1841949589975591/?active_tab=about. SEPT 12

Rocky Horror Picture Show (2025) Well, hot patootie, bless my soul, one of the most

India Food & Art Festival 2025 The India Food & Art Festival, hosted by the India Association of Oklahoma, is one of the state’s largest cultural celebrations, attracting more than 16,000 attendees annually. This year’s festival features a vibrant mix of authentic Indian cuisine, traditional and contemporary art, live music, dance performances and family-friendly activities. With local vendors, cultural exhibitions and community partnerships, the festival provides a platform to celebrate diversity, promote cross-cultural understanding and support small businesses while highlighting the rich heritage of India in the heart of Oklahoma. This year’s India Food & Art Festival is 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sept. 21 at Scissortail Park, 300 SW Seventh St. Admission is free. For more information, visit iaok.org.

SUNDAY, SEPT. 21 Photo provided

popular cult musicals of all time returns to Lyric’s stage in an all-new 2025 production featuring the signature Texas theme that made Lyric’s 2022 production a sold-out hit. Only Lyric Subscribers may secure their tickets now as an add-on to subscription renewals before single ticket buyers snatch up all the seats. Go ahead; I see you shiver with antici… (say it!) … pation! Tuesdays-Sundays. through Nov. 1. Lyric at the Plaza, 1725 NW 16th St. 405-524-9312, lyrictheatreokc.com/shows/the-rockyhorror-show-2025/. TUE-SUN

Schmancy Pants: A Sketchy Murder Mystery! Help the Schmancy Pantsers solve an all-new murder! Wear your schmanciest duds for a chance to win a fabulous prize! Are you #BearPilled?, The mystery begins at 7pm! Tickets just $5 at the door $5, Fri. Sept. 19, 7-9:30 p.m. OK Cider Co. 705 W Sheridan Ave, (405) 501-8877, facebook.com/share/17EBWFmLsm/. SEPT 19

Theatre Crude Fringe Festival Experience live performance like you’ve never seen before. This performing arts festival packs plenty of activities and live entertainment for a full fringe festival experience. This 10-day event will feature over 85 performances from 23 multidisciplinary performance groups. On each day, audience members will have the opportunity to attend a different line-up of performances as well as free special events. $15 or less, Thu. Oct. 2, 5:30-11 p.m. Fri. Oct. 3, 5:30-11 p.m. Sat. Oct. 4, 1-11 p.m. Sun. Oct. 5, 1-9:30 p.m. Mon. Oct. 6, 7-11 p.m. and Tue. Oct. 7, 7-11 p.m. Multiple venues, Various, 405-673-1061, theatrecrude.org. OCT 2-7

HEALTH AND WELLNESS

Fitness at the Wheel Join for rejuvenating free fitness classes under the iconic Wheeler Ferris Wheel. Whether you’re a fitness enthusiast or just looking to try something new, this is the perfect way to get moving and kick off your relaxing Sunday. With classes offered by studios such as This Land Yoga, PureBarre, The Pilates Collective, and F45, you’re sure to find a class you enjoy! Bring your mat, a water bottle, and get ready to move! Free, Sundays, 10-11 a.m. through Sept. 28. Wheeler Ferris Wheel, 1701 S. Western Ave. 405-655-8455, instagram. com/wheelerwheelokc/. SUN

Full Moon Sound Bath Enjoy a deeply immersive, full-body listening sound bath experience that uses sound with crystal bowls and other instruments to invite gentle yet powerful therapeutic and restorative processes to nurture your mind and body. Bring a blanket, pillow, yoga mat for optimal comfort, and comfortable clothing. Class size is limited to 70 people. First-come, first-serve. Please arrive no later than 6 pm so we can provide a distraction-free environment for participants! Free, Mon. Oct. 6, 6-7 p.m. Myriad Botanical Gardens, 301 W. Reno Ave. 405-445-7080, myriadgardens.org/ events/sound-bath-full-moon-689/. OCT 6

Full Moon Yoga at Mix-Tape Join us for an intentional gathering and gentle movement led by Beth White of Aether Yoga and Wellness as we dig into the offerings of the full moon. This time may provide abundance for those willing to slow down long enough to listen. Sinking into the atmosphere of the Wonder Room will allow for imagination to spark, and open the heart to receive and expand. This session will include slow restorative stretching and sound healing. This class is for people of any skill level. Participants can explore the full Mix-Tape immersive art experience before the session begins. 25, Mon. Oct. 6, 7-8:30 p.m. Factory Obscura, 25 NW 9th St. 4053671578, factoryobscura.com/events/2025marchyoga. OCT 6 Yoga at The OKC Farmers Market because health and your local farmers market go hand and

hand! Yoga with Libb happens during market hours every other Saturday! We are so excited about this collab! Four different session perfect ranging from beginner to the master yogi! 15, Starts at 9am. OKC Farmers Public Market, 311 South Klein Avenue, 405.232.6506, okcfarmersmarket.com. SAT

VISUAL ARTS

Glitched Gears A Steampunk/Cyberpunk Group Art Show Join us at Mycelium Gallery for our September art show that will feature works created by local artists within the theme of Steampunk and/or Cyberpunk, Exmaxhina will performing dark lo-fi glitch while you enjoy looking at the art. To apply to be an artist in our show go to our application page! Mycelium Gallery hosts a non alcoholic bar that offers craft canned drinks and snacks. 10, Sat. Sept. 20, 7-9 p.m. Mycelium Gallery, 2816 N. Pennsylvania Ave. 1580278943, myceliumgallery.com/event-details-registration/glitchedgears-a-steampunk-cyberpunk-group-art-show. SEPT 20

Oklahoma Comic Arts Festival Meet local artists alongside national comics creators and check out all their art in our exhibitor space. Join in on workshops and panels led by creators discussing art and showing how you can make comics, too. Stick around for food trucks, pics with comicsinspired cosplayers, and much more the whole day long! Free, Sat. Sept. 13, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center, 11 NW 11th St. (405) 951-0000, okcomicarts.org/ocaf-festival. SEPT 13

Paseo Arts District’s First Friday Gallery Walk peruse art from over 80 artists with 25 participating businesses for a night of special themed exhibits, refreshments and a variety of entertainment opportunities, 6-9 p.m. first Friday of every month. Paseo Arts District, 3024 Paseo St. 405-525-2688, thepaseo.org. OCT 3

Pieces + Patterns Art Exhibit Open This exhibition explores the evolving role of fabrics in contemporary art and reflects on the enduring power of fiber art traditions. Each artist reimagines the language of textiles as a living, evolving practice—one that weaves together memory, material, and meaning. Sept. 13-Dec. 11, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Oklahoma Hall of Fame Gaylord-Pickens Museum, 1400 Classen Drive, 405235-4458, oklahomahof.com/museum/exhibit/piecespatterns-modern-oklahoma-textiles. SAT-SUN

Through Her Eyes A powerful new exhibition featuring Indigenous women artists whose work celebrates identity, tradition, and creative resilience. Through Sept. 28. BancFirst Tower, 100 N. Broadway Ave. THROUGH SEPT 28

HAPPENINGS

Lee Asher catch the founder of The Asher House, sharing his powerful story onstage September 18! A prominent figure in the animal rescue community, Lee Asher has used his influence to raise awareness about animal welfare and inspire countless individuals to make a difference in the lives of animals in need. Come hear his struggles, failures, and ultimate triumphs in building one of the largest animal sanctuaries in the United States. Sept. 18, 6:30 p.m. Tower Theatre, 425 NW 23rd St. (405) 708-6937, towertheatreokc.com. SEPT 18

Wednesday Mid-Week Farmers Market at Scissortail Park running through September 2025 at Hill Pavilion & Promenade in Scissortail Park’s Lower Park, south of I-40 and Skydance Bridge. Located near

Penney Howard, APG

South Robinson and SW 15th, free parking is available along South Robinson, South Harvey, and SW 15th Street. 6-9 p.m. through Sept. 24. Scissortail Park, 300 SW 7th St. (405) 4457080, scissortailpark.org/events/wednesdaymid-week-farmers-market-2025-season/?occ urrence=2025-05-07. WED

Cruise! The Plaza Rev your engines and get ready to hit the streets this September! For the first time ever, a car show is coming to the Plaza! CRUISE! The Plaza is a block party to celebrate all things cars. From vintage classics to custom rides and everything in between, this event celebrates the art and passion of cars and the culture that drives them. We are so excited to see how much everyone loves this new event! Sept. 12, 6-10 p.m. Plaza District, 1618 N. Gatewood Ave. (405) 426-7812, plazadistrict.org/event-calendar. SEPT 12

Wheeler District Farmers Market every Friday through October 24th from 6–9 PM. Located just south of downtown OKC, this family-friendly market features fresh produce, baked goods, pantry staples, and handmade items from local Oklahoma vendors. On the fourth Friday of each month, enjoy our expanded Night Market with extra vendors, entertainment, and community fun. Note: There will be no market on July 4th. Sponsored by: Weokie Federal Credit Union, Chicago Title, Modern Environment, Pink’s Window Services, Central Bank Mortgage, Scott Group, Wheeler Realty, Corbin and Kayla Jackson, and Curbside Apparel! Free, 6-9 p.m. through Oct. 24. Wheeler District, 1801 Wheeler St, (405) 609-2994, wheelerdistrict.com/. FRI Monarch Butterfly Day Discover the beauty of the monarch butterfly at the Chickasaw Cultural Center! Enjoy a family-friendly day of fun and opportunities to learn more about the vulnerable monarch butterfly. Free, Sept. 13, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Chickasaw Cultural Center, 867 Cooper Memorial Dr. 580-622-7130, chickasawculturalcenter.com/experience/2025/events/monarchbutterfly-day-2/. SEPT 13

OKC Public Farmers Market Saturdays Shop local every Saturday, 9 a.m.–2 p.m. at the Historic OKC Farmers Public Market. Enjoy fresh produce, meats, honey, baked goods, and handmade items in a landmark space that’s supported Oklahoma farmers and makers since 1928. A year-round tradition with deep roots and vibrant community spirit. OKC Farmers Public Market, 311 South Klein Avenue, 405.232.6506, okcfarmersmarket.com/farmers-market/. SAT

Saturday Farmers Market at Scissortail Park Producer-Only market, featuring homegrown, handmade, and locally made products from Oklahoma vendors. Free parking is available around the park and in the northwest lot. 9 a.m.-1 p.m. through Oct. 25. Scissortail Park, 300 SW 7th St. (405) 445-7080, scissortailpark.org/events/saturday-farmers-market2025-season/?occurrence=2025-04-05. SAT

The Saturday Scene Take your museum visit to the next level—literally! Spend your Saturday mornings on the OKCMOA Roof Terrace, a scenic spot to vibe and take in the sights and sounds of downtown Oklahoma City. Enjoy locally sourced pastries and refreshing drinks available for purchase—the perfect prelude to a day of film and fine art. 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, (405) 236-3100, okcmoa.com/the-saturday-scene/. SAT

Second OHOF Saturday Happening on the second Saturday of each month, Second OHOF Saturday celebrates an inspiring Oklahoma Hall of Fame Member through hands-on crafts and full access to the museum — all at no cost. Come explore Oklahoma’s rich history and remarkable people! Free, second Saturday of every month, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. through Nov. 9. Oklahoma Hall of Fame Gaylord-Pickens Museum, 1400 Classen Drive, 405 235 4458, oklahomahof.com/ program/second-ohof-saturdays. SEPT 13

Pawsitively Pampered Dog Wash & Craft Show Fundraiser Join us for the 15th Annual Pawsitively Pampered Dog Wash Fundraiser benefiting Pets and People Humane Society, a no-kill animal shelter in OKC.

This outdoor, family- and dog-friendly event features dog washes, grooming, nail trims, vendor booths, food trucks, a live DJ, and event photography. All proceeds help rescue, rehabilitate, and rehome pets in need. Come pamper your pup, enjoy great food, and support a lifesaving cause! Free, Sept. 14, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Yukon National Bank, 1550 Garth Brooks Blvd. 405-354-1802, facebook.com/events/1759959091599068. SEPT 14

26th Annual Plaza District Festival celebrate 26 years of Plaza Fest this September! The festival coincides with Plaza Walls Mural Expo and highlights a wide array of Oklahoma-based performing artists, visual artists, a robust Kids’ Area with free activities for kids of all ages, and over 50 award-winning local businesses. The festival is open to the public and draws over 30k festival-goers from across the region in one single day. Sept. 27, 12-10 p.m. Plaza District, 1618 N. Gatewood Ave. (405) 426-7812, plazafest.org. SEPT 27

Forensic Night Explore what forensic anthropologists, law enforcement, and investigators can learn by examining human skeletal remains. Each table will be assigned a mystery case and through a hands-on investigation, you will learn to “read” the features of a human skull to determine your subjects: age, sex, physical trauma and/or pathology

(disease). These are replica skulls from REAL homicides, accidents & suicides. Personal discretion is advised. Ages 16 & Up. $45, Sept. 27, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Skeletons: Museum of Osteology, 10301 S. Sunnylane Road, 4058140006, skeletonmuseum.com/forensicnight/. SEPT 27

Friends of Will Rogers Gardens FoundationGarden Party With Friends This fun-for-all morning will include a plant sale, musical performances by the Putnam City Silver Strings, free gardening information and advice, Alpaca petting zoo, food trucks and more. Kids and families can enjoy kid-friendly activities. Festivities will be based in the lovely Color Garden, across the pond from the Conservatory. Sept. 27, 8-11 a.m. Will Rogers Gardens, 3400 NW 36th St, (405) 312-3874, friendsofwillrogersgardens.org. SEPT 27

Oklahoma Native Plant Networks Hands On Natives Festival Over 25 vendors will be available with native plant seedlings and mature plants, just in time for fall planting. We will have hands-on demonstrations and educational classes throughout the day. Attendees will also have the opportunity to join in on the bioblitz, which is a virtual scavenger hunt that can be self-guided, or there will be a guided hike through the park. Participants of all ages can log in all the different insect and animal species they see around the park using the iNaturalist free app. free, Sept. 27, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Mitch Park, 1501 W. Covell road, 405-359-4630, onpn. org. SEPT 27

Shawnee Horse Sale Find your next horse at the renowned Shawnee Horse Sale! Four sales each year all hosted at the Heart of Oklahoma Exposition Center. All auction information is available online at shawneehorsesales.net Free, Sept. 27, 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Heart of OK Expo Center, 1700 W Independence St, 4052759780, events. visitshawnee.com/event/shawnee_horse_sale. SEPT 27 Trucktoberfest Grab your lederhosen and PROST to Truck Yard’s annual Trucktoberfest on Saturday, September 27th. Flex your

p.m. Truck Yard, 240 CENTENNIAL DR, 4053656876, eventbrite.com/e/trucktoberfest-truckyard-oklahoma-city-tickets-1546177421289?aff=oddtdt creator. SEPT 27

Oklahoma Fall Arts Institute Journey to Quartz Mountain this fall for an all-inclusive, extended weekend workshop retreat at the Oklahoma Fall Arts Institute. Taught by nationally renowned artists, workshops are offered for all skill levels and are held at the beautiful Quartz Mountain State Park & Lodge in the Wichita Mountains of southwest Oklahoma. Unlike other workshops, all meals and lodging are included in tuition. Thanks to partnerships with the State of Oklahoma and generous private donors, scholarship funding is available to cover the tuition costs for OK PK-12 public school educators. Tuition discounts are available to Oklahoma private school educators and more. $0-$750, Oct. 2. Quartz Mountain State Park, 22469 Lodge Road, 4056057500, oaiquartz.org/workshops. OCT 2 Night Market at Scissortail Park drawing thousands each spring and fall for local shopping, live entertainment, and amazing food trucks. Stroll the Promenade and explore Oklahoma’s best small shops, artisans, and entrepreneurs offering jewelry, décor, fashion, candles, plants, and more—all with great vibes and great finds! Oct. 3, 5:30-10 p.m. Scissortail Park, 300 SW 7th St. (405) 445-7080, scissortailpark.org/wp-admin/ post.php?post=33812&action=edit. OCT 3 Full Moon Luna Light Spirit Fair Join us for a magical day filled with spiritual experiences and

MUSIC

Ends meet

Panda Bear brings Sinister Grift and an (almost) career-spanning tour to Beer City Music Hall.

By Jeremy Martin

Way back before the turn of the century in 1999, Release Magazine called Panda Bear’s self-titled debut “soft, fragile and remarkably sentimental” and compared it to “a rugged diamond waiting to be cut.”

Released in February, Sinister Grift is the eighth solo album by Panda Bear, aka Noah Lennox, who’s scheduled to play 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 4 at Beer City Music Hall, 1141 NW Second St. Glide Magazine said Lennox’s latest album “feels like an old surf rock record your dad made but never mentioned, only to be discovered... while cleaning out the garage” while Pitchfork said, “Nearly every track on Sinister Grift feels like it could’ve been written at any point in the last 50 years.”

In some ways, Pitchfork may be more than half right. In the press release announcing Sinister Grift, the album’s coproducer and Lennox’s current tourmate Deakin, aka Josh Dibb, said, “Working on this record felt like a sacred and warm return. Noah and I first started putting music down to multitrack cassette in 1991.

Sinister Grift feels like the songwriter I’ve known for over 30 years but also feels like some sort of new chapter for Noah.”

In those three decades, Lennox has collaborated with Daft Punk ( Random Access Memories’ “Doin’ It Right”), Lennox and Dibb’s band Animal Collective was kinda-sorta quoted by Beyoncé (Lemonade ’s “6 Inch” credits them as cowriters for an interpolation from Merriweather Post Pavilion ’s “My Girls”), and Lennox’s sample-heavy classic Person Pitch has been influencing electronic indie rock since its 2007 release.

Depending on which of his touring band members make up the set list on Oct. 4, OKC audiences may be treated to songs from seven of the eight Panda Bear albums, but tracks from his debut won’t likely make the cut.

“I don’t really like those,” Lennox said. “I mean, I don’t regret doing it, but it just feels like a different person. … I was so young. Some of those recordings, I was 14, 15 years old. It just sort of feels like I hadn’t found my thing yet.”

We woke up early to speak to Lennox in his adopted home of Lisbon, Portugal, about the tour, his creative process and what young Panda Bear would think of Sinister Grift.

You said in an interview earlier this year that the Sinister Grift songs sounded different when you started playing them with a live band. Have they changed further on tour? Maybe a little bit. I feel like once we get a song kind of where we all like it, it doesn’t change a whole lot after that. We’re always trying to find links between songs that we can sort of join songs together … but I feel like the arrangements of the songs, once we feel really good about them, they don’t tend to change that much. We keep adding songs for every tour. So there’ll be a couple songs on the September tour that we haven’t played before.

The set lists for your shows recently feature a lot of the same songs, but the order seems to change frequently. Is that because you’re trying to find these links between songs?

Yeah, we do a different set list every night. Usually a different person will write the set list every night. Sometimes people just don’t want to do it, so I’ll pick up the slack. But for most shows, it’s a different person every night writing the set list. We can play about 26, 27 songs, so it’s pretty different night to night now.

There are songs from albums throughout your career on the set list. How did you go about choosing those songs?

It started by me asking everybody what songs they’d be interested in playing or what they thought might be good, and then we sort of whittled that down. There’s a couple that we tried to do that didn’t really come together … but we keep just sort of adding stuff. We try to do a cross section of everything. … Maybe Young Prayer there’s nothing and not the very first one, but Person Pitch onward, I think there’s at least a song from every release.

So you’re not revisiting the selftitled debut? From Young Prayer on, I feel sort of a through line through everything, or there’s, like, a line I can trace through all, all that stuff. But [the debut] sort of sits as this sort of weird before-the-thingwas-created or before-the-thing-wasrealized sort of thing. So it feels separate to me.

What do you think the artist that made your debut would think of Sinister Grift?

I don’t think they’d like it very much, and I think if I told that person that this is what they’d be making 40 years later or 30 years later, however long it is — a million years — I think they’d be really surprised. I thought about that while we were making it because Josh [Dibbs] and I reminisced a bunch about when we first started making recordings together when we were young teens and just how it was cool to note how the feeling at the end of the day, after you’ve finished working on something, that sort of feeling of satisfaction is very specific and I think very unique to doing this thing for us. It was cool to feel like that part of it hadn’t changed at all, but everything around that feeling has morphed over time. But it was cool to note that that part of it is really untouched and sort of pure in a way.

Does trying to do something different from what you’ve done before play a big part in your creative process? It does, but it’s more of a subconscious thing. I think it’s because I just sort of don’t get as excited about something if I feel like it sounds like something I’ve done or it’s really obviously sort of like an extension of something that somebody else has done. If I can hear somebody else’s thing in it, I just sort of lose steam on it typically. I think it’s just a reflection of what I’m like as somebody who makes songs that I don’t operate that way. But it’s certainly not, like, a rule for me. It just kind of comes out that way.

Do you try to consciously change your approach to the creative process at all?

Yeah, that I’ll be a bit more mindful about, especially if the last thing I did I was using a guitar or just sort of the computer to make the thing. I like to start the process on something else. I find it really fun to work with something that maybe you feel like you don’t really have

your sea legs totally with. I feel like you get more surprising results or you find yourself in places that maybe you didn’t expect, and that’s always exciting and it’s, like, inherently juicy.

Can you think of an example from Sinister Grift of that?

Well, I think the big thing on this one was kind of leaving the songs sort of straight up. I resisted it for a while, but I think two and a half weeks in or so, as we were listening to the mixes, it just didn’t feel like they needed to go anywhere else because my original idea was to sort of abstract everything. … I thought we’d spend a lot of time disassembling and blurring a lot of the sounds, but we just really came to like them a whole lot. And that’s an important thing for me, too, is sort of following your nose with stuff. I like to have a blueprint, but I like to be able to throw away the blueprint if I feel like that’s where the thing wants to go. And this one was certainly a major example of that.

You’re touring with Deakin. Is he playing with your band as well?

We haven’t really talked about that. I don’t think so. I think we’ll do separate things. Maybe we can [play together] on a song or something. I always find it weird to have somebody come from the side of the stage while we’re doing the thing. It always feels like it breaks the magic or something. I usually don’t like that kind of thing, but maybe there will be a special moment for it.

Panda Bear with Deakin

8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 4

Beer City Music Hall 1141 NW Second St. beercitymusichall.com

$39.12

Noah Lennox, aka Panda Bear, plays 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 4 at Beer City Music Hall. | Photo Chris Shonting

Released in February, Sinister Grift is Noah Lennox’s eigth album as Panda Bear. | Photo Chris Shonting

Mixed emotions

much conquered everything I possibly could today.’

By Jeremy Martin

When S. Reidy recorded 2024’s I Think I Feel a Little Different, the Norman hip-hop artist was in an emotional state he didn’t necessarily want to return to.

On Sept. 19, he’s scheduled to release I Think I Feel a Little Different (Part 1 & 2), which adds six new tracks to the original five-song EP, offering listeners an update and a new perspective, but the original EP wasn’t meant to have a sequel.

“Man, dude, genuinely, like, I didn’t plan on it that way,” Reidy said. “I went through a lot last year, mentally. It was the hardest year of my life, just as far as my mental health goes. When I wrote the EP last year … and just got it all out there, it was a healing process for me. It was really good for me to put it out. And then this year … through different stuff, praying and meditating and journaling and just learning to be more present and stuff, I really got in a better headspace.

“I just started to feel like 2024 and 2025 were really sister years to me, because I was living practically the same life, but with just a completely different mental outlook. … And then early, around July, it really hit me. … I feel like the story of I Think I Feel a Little Different isn’t done, and I just picked the six songs that I think best represent where I am now.”

Reidy plans to celebrate the release of I Think I Feel a Little Different (Part 1 & 2) with a show 7 p.m., Friday, Sept.

member stopping in the middle of it,” Reidy said. “I’m like, ‘Why is this even coming out of me right now? Like, literally, I’ve never been worse, and I’m writing this music.’ … I think just something was coming out of me was purely aspirational.

“It was what I needed to hear. Part 1 is kind of like the idealistic version of healing from something, and I feel like Part 2 is like the actual healed version of me and how they’re different.”

“Ain’t That the Way”?

In April 2025, Reidy’s laptop was stolen.

“I had a bunch of music on it,” Reidy said. “It all got lost. I had to get a new one. Yada yada, it sucked. … I don’t even remember any of those songs anymore.”

Since April, Reidy estimates he’s written between 35 and 40 songs. These include demos for two unreleased albums and the “loosey tracks” that make up I Think I Feel a Little Different Part 2

“I’ve just had a lot of energy this year to the point where I kind of have to, like, pull it back,” Reidy said. “Typically, in my life, for every high I have, I have an equally low low and vice versa. So since last year was kind of the lowest of lows, I’ve been almost hyper-stimulated this year. Especially after I got my laptop stolen and I got my new one, I was like, ‘OK. I have to catch up.’”

“I don’t wanna go back to that place, because it was terrible, but I don’t know; it’s just easy to just always want what you don’t have. Because now that I’m just day to day doing very well and mentally in a very good place and have these good exercises that I’m doing that keep me kinda grounded, it’s less romantic, it’s less exciting. I’ll admit it, but I think that that’s just a symptom of me just always wanting what I don’t have.”

For his set at Norman Music Fest in 2024, Reidy brought his bed onstage with him.

“I was having a lot of panic attacks last year,” Reidy said. “A lot of them happened in my bed right before I would go to sleep. I knew the panic attacks were probably going to continue as I was continuing to work on myself, and I wanted when I was asleep at night to have at least one good memory laying in that bed. ... It was powerful for myself to kind of reclaim the bed-laying-down action in a way that whatever that dark energy was that would try to consume me at night, I’m like, ‘Well, at least you couldn’t get me there. I know that there is a context where I can be happy here.’”

For both of his sets at Norman Music Fest in 2025, Reidy brought friends, including Kat Lock, Limp Wizurdz and Baileyboy onstage for songs and skits.

“The big theme was togetherness and presentness and stuff,” Reidy said. “2024 and 2025 are two years in the same life, but different sides of the coin. This year was a lot more about my friends and less isolated.”

While Reidy hasn’t listened to Part 1 much recently, he frequently revisits it onstage.

On Part 2 ’s “Ain’t That the Way,” released as a single in July, Reidy says, “Last night I mapped out every step to fix my life / Forgot it by the time the morning came / I took a walk, but nothing came back to my mind / I guess that I’ll be fine / Ain’t

“At the end of the day, it’s easy to be romantic about pulling yourself out of a dark place, because when you do ductive, it feels like a victory,” Reidy said. “At one point, getting out of bed at a decent time was like, ‘OK. I pretty

“I play pretty much all of these songs live a lot,” Reidy said. “When I’m doing that, I’m oftentimes thinking of the mental space that I was in when I was there. And so maybe that goes into why I was thinking so much about this project and why it stuck with me in a way that I thought it needed a sequel.

“They’re both very positive, and they both come from a place of healing, but when I was writing the first one, I just wasn’t there yet. When I wrote Part 2’s songs, I was actually there. It might not make a lot of sense without that context, but it makes sense to me. Hopefully people get it or they’ll feel the difference whenever they listen to it.”

Visit sreidywebsite.com.

LIVE MUSIC

These are events recommended by Oklahoma Gazette editorial staff members. For full calendar listings, go to okgazette.com.

EVERY DAY

Live Blues Music, Mojo’s Blues Club. BLUES

WEDNESDAYS

Jazz Jam, 51st Street Speakeasy. JAZZ

Jazz Night at the Bradford, Bradford House. JAZZ

Trett Charles, River Spirit Casino Resort. COUNTRY

Vintage Vinyl Wednesdays, El Coyote Bar & Cantina. DJ

Kendrick McKinney Trio, 51st Street Speakeasy. JAZZ

THURSDAYS

Music Over Midtown, O Bar. VARIOUS Open Mic Night, Core4 Brewing. OPEN MIC

FRIDAYS

Live Jazz!, Hefner Grill. JAZZ

McKee Brother Jazz Band, Bourbon Street Bar. JAZZ

Mojo’s Blues Revue, Mojo’s Blues Club. BLUES Dance Party, Ponyboy. DANCE

SATURDAYS

Joel Forlenza, Othello’s Italian Restaurant. INSTURMENTALISTS

Live Jazz!, Hefner Grill. JAZZ

McKee Brother Jazz Band, Bourbon Street Bar. JAZZ Mojo’s Blues Revue, Mojo’s Blues Club. BLUES Dance Party, Ponyboy. DANCE

SUNDAYS

Live Jazz!, Hefner Grill. JAZZ

No Whiners Aloud, Mojo’s Blues Club. ROCK Hösty, The Deli. AMERICANA

Jazz Night at the Blue Note, Blue Note. JAZZ

TUESDAYS

Bruce Benson Band, 51st Street Speakeasy. JAZZ

FRIDAY, SEP. 12

Randall King, Diamond Ballroom. COUNTRY

SATURDAY, SEP. 13

Anthony Green, Beer City Music Hall. ROCK

Lucy Dacus, The Criterion. INDIE

The Plot In You, Diamond Ballroom. METAL

SUNDAY, SEP. 14

Chevelle, The Criterion. ROCK

Slaughter, Diamond Ballroom. ROCK

MONDAY, SEP. 15

Toad the Wet Sprocket, The Jones Assembly. ROCK

TUESDAY, SEP. 16

Ben Folds & A Piano Tour, Tower Theatre. POP

WEDNESDAY, SEP. 17

Aidan Bissett, Beer City Music Hall. INDIE Lake Street Dive, The Criterion. POP

THURSDAY, SEP. 18

Natalia Jiménez, The Criterion. SINGER/SONGWRITER

Seth Walker, The Blue Door. BLUES

FRIDAY, SEP. 19

Summer Concert Series, Wheeler Ferris Wheel. VARIOUS

Tyce Delk, Beer City Music Hall. COUNTRY

SATURDAY, SEP. 20

The Fab Four, Tower Theatre. COVER Home Free, The Criterion. COUNTRY Leon Bridges, The Zoo Amphitheatre. COUNTRY

Shinyribs, Beer City Music Hall. FUNK

SUNDAY, SEP. 21

Everclear, The Criterion. POP

From Ashes to New, Tower Theatre. ROCK

WEDNESDAY, SEP. 24

Colony House with Happy Landing, The Jones Assembly. ROCK Counterparts, Diamond Ballroom. PUNK

THURSDAY, SEP. 25

Demon Hunter – There Was a Light Here Tour, Beer City Music Hall. METAL

I’m With Her - Wild & Clear & Blue, Tower Theatre. FOLK

Jon Pardi, The Zoo Amphitheatre. COUNTRY

FRIDAY, SEP. 26

Cuco “Ridin” Tour, Cain’s Ballroom. SINGER/ SONGWRITER

ESLABON ARMADO, The Criterion. LATIN Future of Sound Sessions, Factory Obscura. VARIOUS

MIRADOR, Tower Theatre. ROCK

Rayland Baxter, Beer City Music Hall. SINGER/ SONGWRITER

Sleep Theory, Diamond Ballroom. ROCK

SATURDAY, SEP. 27

Plaza District Festival Celebrating its 26th year, the annual Plaza District Festival will include the Plaza Walls Mural Expo, children’s activities, artist vendors, and food and beverage trucks, but one of the main draws as far as we’re concerned is the live music. See performances by Magenta Burn, RAABERS, the Sweet Talkers and several other acts from Academy of Contemporary Music at the University of Central Oklahoma on the ACM@UCO stage and Bottom of the Barrel, Late Night Messages, Limp Wizurdz and more on the main stage, where Jabee will headline at 9 p.m. and Kora Waves ( pictured above) will DJ the after-party. Best of all, it’s free! The festival is noon-11 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27 in the Plaza District, 1745 NW 16th St. Visit plazadistrict.org.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 27 Photo Steph Montelongo Studios/Caramie Perry

The Sword, Beer City Music Hall. METAL

Yesterday - The Las Vegas Beatles Tribute, OCCC Bruce Owen Theater. COVER

SUNDAY, SEP. 28

Deafheaven, Beer City Music Hall. METAL UNITE 25, Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark. RELIGIOUS

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 1

The Heavy Heavy, Beer City Music Hall. ROCK

THURSDAY, OCT. 2

Jake Banfield, Beer City Music Hall. SONGWRITER

FRIDAY, OCT. 3

Austin Meade, Beer City Music Hall. ROCK Rainbow Kitten Surprise, The Criterion. INDIE

Ray Wylie Hubbard, Tower Theatre. SINGER/ SONGWRITER

SATURDAY, OCT. 4

The Head and The Heart, The Criterion. FOLK Panda Bear, Beer City Music Hall. INDIE Big Train and the Loco Motives!, Mojo’s Blues Club. BLUES

The Waterboys, Tower Theatre. ROCK

SUNDAY, OCT. 5

Built To Spill, Beer City Music Hall. INDIE Maddox Batson, The Criterion. COUNTRY Sunays with Jared Deck, Legally Brewed. SINGER/SONGWRITER

MONDAY, OCT. 6

Lorna Shore, The Criterion. METAL Noah Reid, Tower Theatre. SINGER/ SONGWRITER

Vincent Lima, Beer City Music Hall. SINGER/ SONGWRITER

TUESDAY, OCT. 7

Wet Leg, The Criterion. ROCK

Live music submissions must be received by Oklahoma Gazette no later than noon the first Wednesday of the month. Late submissions will not be included in the listings. Submissions run as space allows, although we strive to make the listings as inclusive as possible. Fax your listings to 528-4600 or e-mail to listings@okgazette.com. Sorry, but phone submissions cannot be accepted.

PUZZLES

By Michael Lieberman Puzzles Edited by Will Shortz

Swanky

Bluffer’s declaration

Educational advertisement, for short

Farm-related prefix

Ding-dong ditch, e.g. 20 Bitter Italian digestif

21 Close of business?

22 Spanish province WSW of Bilbao

23 If HOSTESS & PETCO merged and became a medical supply company, they would sell ____

25 Small fry?

27 It can be a pain in the neck

28 ____ Lingus

29 One of 200+ stations for NBC, e.g.

30 Fitting

31 If NEUTROGENA, BIC & VANS merged and opened a winery, they would sell ____

35

44 Tickle

48 If IBM, DANNON & ACER merged and started a bakery, they would sell ____

52 Sallie ____ (student loan program)

53 King in a 1978 novelty hit

56 Made sense

57 Provides assistance 58 Working on one’s own well-being 60 Russian ‘‘no’’

61 Las Vegas’s W.N.B.A. team

62 October birthstone

63 Org. for Nelly Korda and Lydia Ko

64 If POST & SCHICK merged and became a kitchenware company, they would sell ____

67 If EPSON & CHASE merged and became an electronics accessories company, they would sell ____

69 French filmmaker Jacques

70 Some train depot figs.

71 Gent from Kent

72 Injudicious

73 Debater’s skill

75 Golden arrow-shooting deity

76 Lets breathe

79 ‘‘____ Meninas’’ (Velázquez masterpiece)

80 Big name in the ice cream aisle

81 If FORD & WALGREENS merged

and became a landscaping company, they would sell ___

83 Like a bicycle or a horse

85 Movie princess who wields a blaster pistol

86 Winter Olympics setting in 1972, 1998, 2018 and 2022

87 Actress Skye

90 German article

92 Atomic number of neodymium

95 If GMC, PETSMART & LENOVO merged and became an auto parts company, they would sell

101 West Coast airport code

104 Like a column starting a row, perhaps

105 Narrow inlet

106 Buckwheat, for one

108 Time-shares?

109 If MERCK, MARS & AIG merged and became an art supplies company, they would sell

112 Most Vermeer works

113 Fair ____ (copyright doctrine)

114 Verdi opera that becomes the name of a board game when an ‘‘H’’ is inserted

115 Scorch

116 Old-fashioned invitation enclosure, in brief

117 Ayo Edebiri’s character on ‘‘The Bear,’’ familiarly

118 Analyzed grammatically 119 Element of many signs

1 Corkscrews and such

2 In the No. 1 position

3 Inner tube?

4 Billboard chart listings

5 Hypotheticals

6 Suggestion, casually

7 Cheering loudly

8 Like a ‘‘wet’’ signature

9 Be furious

10 Visitors from afar, in brief

11 Hazard for the unwary

12 Hot mess

13 When Ophelia dies in ‘‘Hamlet’’

14 2015 Kendrick Lamar anthem that won two Grammys

15 Ace the test 16 Cheer for

Mean

19 Spanish girl

24 Skin-care brand with the slogan ‘‘Face Anything’’

26 ____ Lilly and Company

29 Tapped, as a cigarette

32 Jazz style

33 ‘‘____, Oh ____’’ (Thomas Moore poem)

34 Magicians’ flourishes

35 What a fixer-upper might become, pessimistically

38 South American tuber

39 Relieved (of)

40 Supplementary data and suggestions for further reading, maybe

42 Rival of the Dodgers and Rockies, informally

43 Great Lakes natives

45 Precursor to a clarifying remark

46 Fancy shopping mall

47 Playboy’s founder, in brief

49 Fruit drinks

50 Complained under one’s breath

51 Ones making margin calls, for short?

53 Purchases that come with metal

plates

54 Craving

55 Bags with black and green varieties

58 Lend, as money

59 Celebration for seniors

61 ‘‘Highway to Hell’’ band

62 ‘‘Aha, got it!’’

64 Key near Fn

65 Response to a routine delivery?

66 1986 rock autobiography

67 Be on the hunt

68 Baker v. ____ (landmark voting rights case)

71 Fratty type

74 Kimono sash

75 Novelist Ferrante

76 From the top

77 Sea urchin, on a sushi menu

78 Govt. agency whose busiest days usually precede major holidays

81 Some gymnastics moves

82 Go up

83 ‘‘R’’ in a car

84 Puzzled

87 Cool places to live?

88 Singer Rodrigo

89 Awards partially bestowed by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

91 List of mistakes

93 Pibb ____ (soft drink)

94 Ruling Romanovs, e.g. 96 Bend in a pipe 97 Santa ____ 98 ‘‘Clumsy me!’’ 99 University of Memphis athlete

100 Sends off 101 Spectacle

102 Hit 1996 movie billed as a ‘‘homespun murder story’’

/ ARTS & CULTURE

/ ARTS & CULTURE WRITER

FREE WILL ASTROLOGY

Homework: Give yourself a pep talk about how smart you plan to become about love. Newsletter.FreeWillAstrology.com

ARIES (March 21-April 19): I can’t speak the Quechua language, which is Indigenous to the Andes Mountains. But I have lifted one of their words to use for our purposes here: munay. It refers to an intensely practical and visionary love that includes far more than sweet feelings and affection. When we practice munay, we offer discerning respect and detailed appreciation to those we adore. We are generously eager to help our allies live their best lives. It takes discipline! And focus! And ingenuity! To be a rigorous and vigorous source of munay, we must cultivate it as a daily practice. In the coming weeks, Aries, I hope you will go a bit wild in your expression of this tender force of nature. Imagine yourself as a gentle whirlwind of love that spreads interesting beauty and bestows useful blessings. Be a relentless dispenser of catalytic gifts.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): The medieval Persian polymath Avicenna believed the soul entered the fetus not with the first heartbeat, but with the first dream. I offer this idea for your poetic consideration, dear Taurus. Let’s imagine that the next beautiful thing you create will not arise from your forceful intention. Rather, it will emerge because you give yourself permission to fantasize, to wander freely in wonder, and to meander with curiosity on the frontiers. Your assignment is not to hustle, but to incubate; not to push forward, but to dwell expectantly in the mystery.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): The bowerbird constructs elaborate ground-based shrines not as nests but as seduction lures. The enticer might gather blue bottle caps, yellow flowers, and shiny stones so as to create a scene that piques the attention of a potential mate. These objets d’art are not merely decorative. They are displays that demonstrate discernment, skill, and aesthetic intelligence. I authorize you to be like a bowerbird, Gemini. What collection of symbols, words, gestures, and curiosities will magnetize the people or opportunities you long to engage with? It’s not about flashiness; it’s about

alignment. What you draw into your sphere will reflect the vibes you emanate.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): The pearl doesn’t begin as treasure. In its earliest form, it’s an irritation: a grain of sand that’s really a wound inside the oyster. Over time, the creature coats it with layers of nacre, turning discomfort into luminescence. Let’s use that as a metaphor for you, Cancerian. In my view, your task right now is not to escape or shed what’s bugging you, but to expedite the coating process. What is that gritty thing? A memory, injustice, or unmet yearning? It’s crucial you don’t reject it and don’t let it fester. I think it’s best to turn it, layer by layer, into a luminous asset, even a treasure. Prediction: The pearl you form will long outlast the wound.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Olive trees can thrive in rugged environments, including rocky and nutrient-poor soils. Their root systems are wide, deep, and resilient. They are well-adapted to full sun, high temperatures, and low water availability. In comparing you to an olive tree, Leo, I’m not implying you will always have to be as hardy as they are. But in the coming weeks, you will be wise to be equally plucky and persevering. Here’s another fact about the olive tree you can and should emulate: Its fruit is valuable and in demand.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): The Basenji is a dog breed that doesn’t bark. Instead, it produces an eerie, melodic yodel called a baroo. This oddity isn’t a flaw or drawback; it’s an interesting uniqueness. In the coming weeks, Virgo, I invite you to express your personal versions of the baroo—your idiosyncratic offerings and singular gifts. Playfully resist the pressure to be more conventional or “on brand.” Be faithful to what yearns to come out of you, which may be raw, radiant, and a little weird. Let your authenticity be exactly what it is: a beacon, not a liability.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Scientists discovered that some caterpillars, while dissolving inside

their cocoons, retain memories of their caterpillar lives even after becoming butterflies. In my view, that’s equivalent to us humans remembering details of our previous incarnations: having an all-new body but being able to draw on what our past body learned. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, you will be able to draw on this amazing capacity in the coming weeks. The person you used to be will have key revelations and inspirations for the future you.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): According to Celtic mythology, Cerridwen is the goddess of inspiration. In her cauldron, she brews magical elixirs that bestow the powers of wisdom, creativity, and transformation. The humans most likely to earn her blessings are those who are patient and willing to be changed. Of all the signs in the zodiac, you Scorpios are now at the top of the eligibility list for gifts like these. And the next three weeks will be the most favorable time for you to ask for and receive such blessings. Here’s a clue that will help you get all you deserve: Believe in magic

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): In ancient Chinese philosophy, ziran means naturalness, spontaneity. It might refer to the way a mountain is purely a mountain, and a wave is a wave without trying to be a wave. I think you Sagittarians are due for an extended engagement with this wild ease and elegant freedom. After weeks of inner labor, your soul wants to breathe in ziran. Your assignment is to let yourself be as natural and unconstrained as you dare—not correct or careful or “optimized.” So I advise you to head in the direction of what’s simple and real and good. Emphasize smoothness over effort. Choose your rhythm, not theirs. You aren’t required to prove your healing. You just have to live it.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): “Serendipity” is an English term that refers to beautiful accidents, fortunate interruptions, unexpected opportunities, and surprisingly wonderful discoveries (The French equivalent is sérendipité;

Italian: serendipità; Japanese: serendipiti.) The word didn’t exist until 1754, when author Horace Walpole coined it. Lovely outbreaks of good luck and uncanny blessings had been happening from time immemorial, of course, even though there wasn’t this precise word for them. Here’s a key point: They are more likely to occur if you believe they’re possible and make yourself alert for their arrival. That’s good advice for you right now.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): The placenta is the only organ that the human body creates from scratch and then discards. Let’s pause for a moment to register how remarkable this is: to grow a temporary life-support system and then jettison it once its purpose is fulfilled. Inspired by this miracle, I speculate that you may soon undertake a metaphorical version of it. A situation or experience that has nurtured you is reaching the end of its mission. Though it has served you well, the wise move might be to outgrow it and move on to a new phase of your evolution. At the very least, it’s time to embark on a search for new forms of nourishment.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): In Balinese gamelan music, there’s a technique called kotekan. Two instrumentalists play distinct musical parts that together create a seamless, intricately melodic and rhythmic texture. Let’s make this your metaphor to live by in the coming weeks, Pisces. In my astrological opinion, you are not meant to work solo. Your greatest success and most fun will come by generating harmony through collaborative improvisation and shared timing. A small warning: Someone else’s input may at first feel like interference, but it’s actually the missing part of the song. Let yourself blend, bounce, echo, and respond. Genius will be born in the spaces between.

Go to RealAstrology.com to check out Rob Brezsny’s expanded weekly audio horoscopes /daily text message horoscopes. The audio horoscopes are also available by phone at 1-877-873-4888 or 1-900-950-7700.