Art Focus
O k l aho m a V i s ual A r ts C oal i t i on
Ok l a h o m a Vo l u m e 3 4 N o . 1
| Winter 2019
www.108contemporary.org
Madusa, Ron Fleming
108 East Mathew Brady Street Tulsa, Oklahoma 74103 | 918.895.6302
Untethered Souls, Mary Fisher
Northeastern Oklahoma Wood Turners Association December 7, 2018 - January 20, 2019
Shared Reflection: Jane Dunnewold & Mary Fisher
Snowball Quilt, Jane Dunnewold
February 1 - March 24, 2019
A Workshop with Jane Dunnewold: Personal Archetypes as Artistic Inspiration March 11 - 15, 2019 Register at ahhatulsa.org/classes-workshops Brady Craft Inc., dba 108|Contemporary is a charitable organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. 108|Contemporary is an equal opportunity employer committed to principles of the broadest form of diversity.
Art Focus
Ok l a h o m a Vo l u m e 3 4 N o . 1
| Winter 2019
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Temporal Landscapes Traveling to Ada by Jill Farr
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Zoe Friedman’s Idle Places by Lucie Smoker
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In the Spotlight: Emily Chase, Cecilia Otero, & Anna Thomas by Jessica Borusky
F e a t u re s 12 Art with a Mission to Bridge the Gap by B.L. Eikner
15 Camila Linaweaver’s Journey: One Step at a Time by Ayanna Najuma
17 Gather Round: Art at Gathering Place by Krystle Brewer
20 NWOSU AiR: Community and Collaboration by Erin Schalk
22 Symbiosis Found in OKC Metro Area by Carleigh Foutch ON THE COVER: Zoe Friedman, Nostalgia II, 2015, hand-cut paper, giclée prints, feathers, 26” x 26” TOP: Cecilia Otero, Arrangement of Ferns, 2017, digital, 11” x 8” BOTTOM: Nicole Donis, Pawhuska, 35mm film
26 EKPHRASIS: Art & Poetry edited by Liz Blood
25 OVAC News 28 Gallery Guide
Support from: Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition PHONE: 405.879.2400 1720 N Shartel Ave, Ste B, Oklahoma City, OK 73103. WEB: ovac-ok.org Editor: Krystle Brewer, director@ovac-ok.org Art Director: Anne Richardson, speccreative@gmail.com Art Focus Oklahoma is a quarterly publication of the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition dedicated to stimulating insight into and providing current information about the visual arts in Oklahoma. Mission: Supporting Oklahoma’s visual arts and artists and their power to enrich communities. OVAC welcomes article submissions related to artists and art in Oklahoma. Call or email the editor for guidelines. OVAC welcomes your comments. Letters addressed to Art Focus Oklahoma are considered for publication unless otherwise specified. Mail or email comments to the editor at the address above. Letters may be edited for clarity or space reasons. Anonymous letters will not be published. Please include a phone number.
2018-2019 Board of Directors: President: John Marshall, OKC; Vice President: Douglas Sorocco, OKC; Treasurer: Dean Wyatt, Owasso; Secretary: Laura Massenat, OKC; Parliamentarian: Jake Yunker, OKC; Susie Marsh Agee, Pauls Valley; Marjorie Atwood, Tulsa; Bob Curtis, OKC; Gina Ellis, OKC; Jon Fisher, OKC; Barbara Gabel, OKC; Saiyida Gardezi, OKC; Susan Green, Tulsa; Kyle Larson, Alva; Travis Mason, OKC; Diane Salamon, Tulsa; Chris Winland, OKC The Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition is solely responsible for the contents of Art Focus Oklahoma. However, the views expressed in articles do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Board or OVAC staff. Member Agency of Allied Arts and member of the Americans for the Arts. © 2019, Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition. All rights reserved. View the online archive at ArtFocusOklahoma.org.
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Temporal Landscapes Traveling to Ada by Jill Farr
Deidre Argyle’s Temporal Landscapes arrives at the Pogue Gallery in Ada this January after a trip from the other side of the world. The body of work, on exhibit January 24th- March 11th, 2019, utilizes porcelain and other mixed media and explores themes of transformation as well as decay. It was created and initially exhibited in Jingdezhen, China. “As an artist, I always work with idea first,” Argyle explains. “Form follows that. I’m trained as a sculptor with a background in fabrication and metal casting, but my most recent work has led me into fabrics and fibers, and now porcelain.” An assistant professor of art at Missouri State University, Argyle’s work mirrors a philosophy shaped by her belief that the literal changing of her life’s landscape fostered a deeper understanding of the inner ones that lead to insightful art. “I moved every four to eight years as a child--I was born in Illinois but grew up primarily in California. I think that experience shaped me. When you stay in one place, you sometimes just get used to what you see. But when you move a lot, it’s similar to the effect of going on vacation; everything seems green and pretty. I think that perspective is important to my work, as well as the concept of change--there hasn’t been much that’s fixed.”
go there because of Missouri State’s support of teaching and research.” Argyle’s work transmits an organic, tactile representation of change in addition to an examination of both minute and macro elements that guide metamorphosis. Visible and invisible. Big and small. “I feel like we live in these polar opposites of life and death,” Argyle says. “And I find that there’s a great amount of beauty in that cycle.” “If you think about it, from a cellular level to outer space...that cycle is repeated in everything. I’ve been creating work that draws attention to that. I spent a lot of time in nature, recording that cycle and then going back to the studio to reflect on it in different ways. Porcelain seemed like the next logical material for me to use, because of its history, and the reference to the body--some porcelain is made from bone--but also because it’s both fragile and strong, much like we are.” The intricacies of porcelain as a medium pointed to China as a place to go to create with it, Argyle explains.
This openness and response to change has formed much of Argyle’s career path, as well.
“When I was offered the opportunity to go to China and do this residency, it gave me the opportunity to create work that I’ve wanted to produce for a long time but didn’t have the means to do. In Jingdezhen, you can make work that you can’t make anywhere else in the world, because of their capacity and understanding of the material.”
“I earned my undergraduate degree in sculpture, then moved to Tucson and got my MFA. My husband and I spent 18 years there, and I taught at a small private college. We had a studio practice as well, but when the opportunity opened in Missouri it seemed like a great match for my skill set and I welcomed the chance to
“The work I produced there is also reflective of ideas about landscape; I spent some time in Yellowstone and South Dakota last summer, and history is so apparent when you’re in the Badlands, with the different colored strata marking different layers of time--I think it was 70 million years ago when the tectonic shift
that formed the Badlands happened--when the water went away and transformed marshland to what we now see as desert.” “Those colors being created from different types of decay--I found that really inspirational and a good way to see that we’re a speck in time. Humans have only been here for a fragment of time, compared to 70 million years.” “I wanted to create work that talked about our fragility and strength and the idea that our material is just part of the cycle; when we decay we will create something new. Much like the way artists take material and change it, and create something new with it. Transformation is a key concept.” Another foundational aspect of Argyle as an artist, and an educator, is her belief in the power of questions. “There are a lot of ways to approach art,” Argyle says. “You can approach it as a direct statement: ‘I want you to think this and believe this.’ Or you can ask questions.” “I like to think about questions, because I don’t believe we have a lot of answers. We don’t know a lot about the ocean, we know very little about our brains...but we live in this world of certainty where everyone wants to know the right answer right now. Think about when you’re out with friends and a question comes up. Now, we can Google immediately--you have a response to the wondering immediately, instead of sitting with it. As an educator I’m having a harder and harder time getting students to be liminal, which is where I believe creativity happens. It’s where thought, pondering, and possibilities happen...it’s an important thing to preserve and I feel like we’re losing it in some ways.” (continued to page 6)
TOP: Deidre Argyle, Recomposed, 2018, porcelain and thread, 108” x 36 x 70” BOTTOM: Deidre Argyle, Recomposed, detail, 2018, porcelain and thread, 108” x 36 x 70”
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“I think that’s part of the role of an artist, in fact. Art has a place to let us think about big questions that are maybe hard to deal with, to grapple with, and just to have an experience that isn’t necessarily verbal. Where you can allow your senses to take over.” “The importance of that to us as human beings, I think, is crucial.” Deidre Argyle’s Temporal Landscapes will be on exhibit January 24th through March 11th at the Pogue Gallery, located within the Hallie Brown Ford Fine Arts Center at Eastern Central University, in Ada. n Jill Farr lives and writes in Norman, OK. You can see more of her work at jillfarr.com.
TOP: Deidre Argyle, Neither Here Nor There III, 2018, porcelain, photographs, magnifying lenses, plexiglass, 24” x 96” x 6” BOTTOM: Deidre Argyle, Neither Here Nor There III, detail, 2018, porcelain, photographs, magnifying lenses, plexiglass, 224” x 94” x 6”
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Zoe Friedman’s Idle Places by Lucie Smoker
Zoe Friedman, Primavera V, Primavera IV, Primavera III, Primavera II, and Primavera I, 2013, hand-cut Tyvek, 72” x 36” each
From creeping shadows cast by dark Botticelli-inspired paper cutouts, a strobe of stop-motion animation reveals kittystripes or maybe a rhino disappearing through a glowing door. The wildlife seems familiar, the landscape surreal. It shifts within overlapping shade-spots from fish or tigers swimming overhead. This handmade reality is crafted by Baltimore artist Zoe Friedman. Using paper, photographs, video and sound, she examines our toxic relationship with wildness and our drive to tame it. The Shadows
To cushion your senses, Friedman has shrouded the windows with cutout paper tapestries. Echoing the orange grove and supernatural deities of Sandro Botticelli’s 1482 Primavera, they let in tiny rays of light—perhaps signaling renewal, the coming of Spring. A soft, slow drumbeat steadies the air. Your mind feels relaxed yet dappled with expectation.
Using techniques from Malaysian shadow puppeteers, Friedman has dangled eighteen hand-cut paper mobiles of animals, tropical plants, and household objects from the ceiling. Back-lit and shifting in the breeze, they create a shadow play to inspire daydreams and mystery. Your thoughts drift. On the gallery’s straight walls, Friedman has hung framed paper collages—of jungle botanicals, pets, oddities, and wild stuff. It’s all arranged within what looks like a little living room. The housecats lounge and stare. You can almost feel them purr. The whole scene resembles a shadowbox with the backyard-facing windows open to nature— modified with imagination. Stop-Motion
On the pair of walls emanating from a corner, Friedman has projected stopmotion animated shorts perpendicular to one another, the dual-videos create an immersive experience, almost but not quite 3-dimensional. Like old-school Cinerama,
it can cause sensual confusion. The drum’s tempo increases. A conga multi-tone rhythm replaces the single, soft beats. Standing still, watching the films, you at times feel like you’re moving or swaying. The shorts, Place in Time and Idle Hours meld together themes of home and extinction, an Alaskan Malamute, and a planet spinning out of control. That grey rhino plods slowly across a fiesta-colored Mexican tile floor---as we drop, elevator style. The imagery recalls Peter Gabriel’s, Sledgehammer, but filmed instead by a Mars rover or Magritte. If you’ve never seen a leopard sky or square parrot, they are here. Some moments feel delightful, others despondent. The themes come on strong, then pause for the smiling dog. Fact is, you love your pets and they LOVE you back. Is that so wrong? As you view the videos in context, the light from outside changes, the mobile to your (continued to page 8)
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right shifts. The music transforms again to a Malaysian, three-part percussive arrangement. A new scene emerges from one direction or another as in nature—no, Nature. It took a lifetime of artistry to achieve this landscape. Multichannel Dedication
Zoe Friedman grew up in Westchester, New York, but started travelling after high school. She earned a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Fellowship to Malaysia, an MFA from the Mount Royal School of Art at Maryland Institute College of Art and a Henry Walters Traveling Fellowship—a sort of passport to explore. Even after she settled in the DC area, her travels stayed with her—as did her childhood. Lifetime friend and Modella curator, Cassidy Petrazzi said, “Zoe’s been an artist since day one. Always doing and painting, she became dedicated to her craft.” They grew up together since age five. Cassidy watched Zoe cut paper and draw, then make videos. It was all kid fun. Now Friedman carries a piece of that innocence into her work. Some of the animation is still hand-drawn. To make a morphing toucan, for example, Friedman draws 120 frames (that’s 120 paintings) with ink and watercolor on paper. She photographs each one and compiles them into a sequence. Another moving toucan in a dark circle is made with different paper cut outs using a technique called replacement animation. The Fun
Friedman achieves serendipity by showing the goodness in both humanity and in nature. A housecat sticks his tail out, turns his back. Tropical flowers line-dance and a barren landscape shakes side-to-side, then bounces. Through it all, the living room adds a homey vibe, even when the clouds are seeping in. Reality and imagination leapfrog one another. “I have a lot of fun when I’m making them. I often laugh,” said Friedman. But many of the themes and messages in the exhibition are dark, thoughtful, and without an answer. Her landscape brings up the problems as invitation. Like a carnival fun-house operator, she set everything in motion and opened the door. Now she’s sitting back. Her art is of-the-moment, complete only when you come in. A Place in Time opened on November 29, 2018 and shows through January 5, 2019 at the Hazel Modella Gallery, 721 Main Street in Stillwater. n
ABOVE: Zoe Friedman, Idle Hour, 2018, stop-motion and hand drawn animation two-channel video installation, 6 min BELOW: Zoe Friedman, Place in Time, 2018, stop-motion animation, 4 min 24 seconds
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Lucie Smoker is a suspense author, poet, and freelance writer. Check out her latest words at luciesmoker.wordpress.com.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Emily Chase, Cecilia Otero, & Anna Thomas by Jessica Borusky
Anna Thomas, Melancholia, Steel Rod, 2013, Acrylic Paint, Plaster, 20” x 18” x 10”
The Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition (OVAC) will celebrate the 18th anniversary of the Momentum exhibition and Spotlight Artist program March 22-23, 2019 at the iconic Flamming Lips’ Womb Gallery, in partnership with Factory Obscura. This year, OVAC has extended itself into Colorado in order to reconsider and broaden the scope of regional connectivity and dialogue through the invitation of guest curator, Zoe Larkins from the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver. While Larkins serves as a Mentor for the OVAC Oklahoma Art Writing and Curatorial Fellowship for 2018-2019, she has partnered with OVAC once again to select the Emerging Curator for Momentum, Samantha Rhodes, to co-curate the exhibition. Rhodes is a recent graduate from American University’s Art History Department, with an MA in Italian Renaissance Artwork. Rhodes will work with Larkins and the selected Spotlight artists, Emily Chase, Cecilia Otero, and
Anna Thomas, Relics in the Prairie, 2018, Digital Collage, 11” x 8.5”
Anna Thomas, to curate a group exhibition that engenders personal and professional growth through exhibition development and community engagement. While Momentum operates as a pop-up exhibition- only showcasing work for two days- the Spotlight artists will get opportunities to also connect with partner organizations, such as the 21c Museum Hotel in Oklahoma City and Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford, where their artwork will be installed for a month. This collaboration between OVAC and a pop-contemporary site such as 21c as well as within an academic framework such as a partner university, allows for a multimethod dialogue between guest curators, artists, organizations, and different viewing communities. Thus, permitting contemporary and emergent work and artists to percolate within Oklahoma’s arts ecology. Furthermore, the program engenders learning opportunities
for selected artists as Momentum may be the first large-scale projects the Spotlight artists have embarked upon or the first exhibition for the general survey artists. Through selecting an emerging curator, Momentum and its Spotlight Artist program provide an “alumni” network, of sorts, between the various creative projects. While the Spotlight artists will showcase a preview at 21c Museum Hotel on February 13th of their previous work in order to develop context and engage multiple viewing platforms, their more complex projects will be fully realized during the Momentum exhibition, from March 22nd to 23rd. From there, the works move to Southwestern Oklahoma State University on March 24th, with the exhibition closing April 26th. The Momentum curators will also select approximately 100 works from a submission process for the Momentum exhibition, as well. (continued to page 10)
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This year, Spotlight artists will examine issues such as memory, the environment, and nostalgia through a transformation (and in Thomas’ case, a transplantation) of materiality. While each project will be visually and conceptually distinct in nature, a possible unifying thread, it seems, may be an attention toward craft of the object, and the object as a starting point for personal experience. Chase, Otero, and Thomas create work that is aesthetically sound and inviting- or, easy to read and enter into. So, the conceptual aim and question may be, how will they utilize their tendencies toward the well-made object as a platform for more challenging dialogue? Chase will work within their process of utilizing paper to create seemingly soft sculpture. Notably, the artist’s work has focused on an alteration of paper materials to appear as fabric. While Chase creates sculptural clothing out of paper, in an almost trompe l’oeil manner, the Spotlight project will provide Chase an opportunity to produce a more installative and interactive work. Chase will create their project, Memory Box, by producing layers of translucent and opaque material that permits viewers to learn/ unlearn information about figures crafted inside the semi-transparent sculptural box. Furthermore, this installation may include a sound component to the work, adding aural luminosity to the project. Contrasting in scale, Otero’s project, Isolated Interactions, will consist of 100 small, collaged compositions from vintage postcards- juxtaposing color and original function, for new interpretation within the works through additive processes. While formalist in the approach as Otero has a vested interest in repetition and pattern, the Spotlight project’s aim is to imbue new meaning with known American relics that are both revered in their nostalgic terms, and known rubbish in their mass-manufacturing
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and function. This additive and formal process, for Otero, will enable viewers to reexamine the everyday object with a new lens or approach. Thomas will create an interactive installation, To the Glory of the Grass, dealing with the Tallgrass Prairie. Like Chase’s work, Thomas’s will depend on an interplay of light, shadow, and varying opacities in order to garner particular emotive modalities from the viewers; specifically, Thomas wishes to invoke respect. While certainly abstracted from its origination, Thomas wishes to transplant prairie grasses into a greenhousestyle structure, which will emanate pink light, and possibly, video projections. Thomas hopes that, through the assemblage process and transplantation of these natural grasses, within the context of the gallery environment, viewers may reconsider their nature/culture relations with newlyawakened reverie. Depending on scale and scope of the installation, and the reflection that the prairie was once a vast ocean, one cannot help but recall concepts of the
TOP: Cecilia Otero, Typical Summer Vacation, 2018, embroidery & gouache on vintage postcard, 4” x 6” BOTTOM: Cecilia Otero, Together, 2015, drawing on ceramic plate w/ underglaze, 7.5” x 9.25”
sublime- and its complex affectationwithin this installation idea.
ABOVE: Emily Chase, Ecdysis, wire, abaca paper pulp, paper, dye, 2014, 1.5’ x 1.5’ x 3’ TOP RIGHT: Emily Chase, Collapse, hand-cut paper and vellum on reclaimed windows, 2017, 30”x54”x3’
Conceivably, an additional commonality among the artists’ work can be developed when viewed altogether: how might these artists depend on the locality and specificity of the viewer in order to create new meaning? For example, Thomas’ work is deeply site-specific. While imagery dealing with environmentalism, politics, and place often evokes grasses and greenhouses, Thomas is specifically interested in the Oklahoma landscape, hopefully offering new dialogue to a viewing community tangibly familiar with these installation materials. And Chase, while a member of the Tulsa Artist Fellowship—a fellowship made up of literary, conceptual, and visual artists nationwide- is from this region and whose work will draw from familial lineage. It is also likely, then, that family and close friends/chosen family may be present, and therefore, the work may resonate specifically for and with that viewership. Finally, Otero’s work will examine imagery of place as re-commodified through the collection of vintage postcards, and then reassembled. This act and presentation of material will be located within the context of a city and state considered as “flyover country.” This too, may have a particular
impact for viewers. Specificity and locality, though always vital within the details of one’s practice, will hopefully intertwine with rigor, criticality, and nuance in a way that renders the relationship between viewer and object(s) with invigorating, and perhaps self-aware, tenacity. But, if the term “Momentum” is activated well, then the Spotlight artists may attain and embody these intricacies- and inquiriesthrough the detailed personal and professional growth, guidance, curation, conversation, and exhibition-support that OVAC offers through this opportunity. For more information about Momentum, please visit Momentumoklahoma.org. n Jessica Borusky is the Artistic/Executive Director for Living Arts of Tulsa. Their artistic/curatorial portfolio can be found at www.jessicaborusky.com.
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Art with a Mission to Bridge the Gap Black Wall Street Arts Comes to the historic Greenwood District by B.L. Eikner
An Evening of Poetry & Discussion with A. Van Jordan and Quraysh Ali Lansana held at Black Wallstreet Gallery
Black Wall Street Arts’ mission, which is defined by its founder Dr. Ricco Wright as “to create platforms, grant access, and bridge the gap in Tulsa,” has been a spark for complex conversations, creative works, and a vehicle for improved understanding, as well as illumination, healing, and growing the size and composition of the Tulsa Arts community. Dr. Ricco Wright, former professor at Langston University and Turley, Oklahoma native, is CEO of the Black Wall Street Arts, a consortium that consists of the Art Gallery, Theater Group, Visual Arts Agency, Creative Arts Agency, and Educational Foundation. Dr. Wright is also Poetry Editor of Calliope Crashes, Managing Editor of Black Wall Street Times, and member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. A graduate of Columbia
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University Teachers College with a Ph.D. in Mathematics Education, he believes without a doubt in people living and working in harmony and that creative people can be a tool for peace and the greater good. The Greenwood District of Tulsa was founded in 1906 by O.W. Gurley, an African American educator and entrepreneur, during the Land Rush; annexed in 1910 by the city of Tulsa during the Oil Boom; destroyed in 1921 by white rioters; rebuilt in the 1940—50s; and legally dismantled with Urban Renewal in the 60-70s. Left to die with its history buried and municipal neglect, the two remaining blocks were then purchased by the late Edward Goodwin Senior. Then, a quiet, slow movement forward began toward the 21st century.
The message of Black Wall Street Gallery is to use art to bring people of different ethnicities together to help move Tulsa forward from many of the negative consequences, seen and unseen, of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre that destroyed the Greenwood District and has never been fully addressed through municipalities, the community, or history. The creation of the John Hope Franklin Center for Reconciliation, the Reparations Movement by Eddie Faye Gates, and the establishment of the 1921 Race Riot Commission are just a few of the undertakings to bring closure and truth to this issue. Now, Black Wall Street Arts has made the step to bridge the gap of wholeness for the community. The Black Wall Street Gallery, opened in September 2018, is located at 101 North Greenwood Avenue, in the heart of the
Alexander Tamahn, Black People, Reclaim Your Story, acrylic on canvas Exterior of Black Wall Street Gallery
original Greenwood District in Tulsa. Its theme for the next twelve months is entitled Conciliation Series and will run until August 2019. As you enter the gallery the message is clear, in vinyl lettering on the title wall: “Conciliation” suggests mediating between parties at odds with one another. It also allows space for acknowledgement, apology, and reparations. The Conciliation Series seeks to generate positive relations between primarily, Tulsa’s black and white communities. Our shared history evidences the imperative of working collaboratively toward amicable, productive, and sustainable engagement. This twelve-month series will pair black and white artists of various media to build personal and group relationships that cultivate meaningful, lasting bonds. Dr. Wright sees the relationship of creativity and human interactions as one.
Thus, if people can understand each other’s art, they can get closer to the deeper meaning of who they are culturally.
Boomintree and Cheyenne Butcher (July 2019), and Melody Allen and Julianne Clark (August 2019).
The series matches an African American artist with an Anglo-American artist. Each artist presents their work in the gallery and also collaborates on a single piece together. At the conclusion of the twelve-month series, the twelve collaborations will be exhibited. The opening exhibition in September 2018 presented the works of Alexander Tamahn and JP Morrison Lans, followed by October 2018’s Monarch Jones and Andrea Martin, November 2018’s no parking studios and Laura Elisabeth Voth, and December 2018’s Abdallah Alislam and Matt Moffett.
Elizbeth Feahther Henley (painter) and Nicole Donis (photographer) are the featured artists for January 2019:
Looking ahead, the artists for the remainder of the series are Elizbeth Feahther Henley and Nicole Donis (January 2019), Christina Henley and Western Foughty (February 2019), Stacie Monday and Marjorie Atwood (March 2019), nosamyrag and Austin Gober (April 2019), MOLLYWATTA and Matt Phipps (May 2019), Tailynn Tindall and Taylor Painter-Wolfe (June 2019),
Elizabeth Feahther Henley is an artist born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She attended Oklahoma State University and has been creating art for 8 years. She creates art, in her words, as a form of expression, communication, therapy, escape, and need. Currently, she is exploring themes of strength, afro-futurism, and femininity. She uses vivid colors, sci-fi imagery, and mediums like acrylic and oil pastels. As an artist, her intention is to inspire, uplift, and empower the viewer of her pieces. She values the importance of representation and what it means. She believes art can be a healing element, that broadens, challenges, and provokes us to visually process concepts beyond ourselves. (continued to page 14)
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Miguel A. Aragón México: Vestigios de la Narcoviolencia January
14 – February
7, 2019
México: Vestigios de la Narcoviolencia
JP Morrison Lans, The Funny Way of Hope, graphite and gouache on panel
Nicole Donis is a practicing artist and film photographer living in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Nicole studied Sociology at Rogers State University and through photography, she’s able to explore social and cultural issues on a deeper level. She grew up in Pawhuska and was impacted by the strong Native presence in the city. Her influences are Larry Clark and Gaylord Oscar Heron. She has exhibited at Living Arts, Mainline, and TAC Galleries and has photos published in Tulsa People and Urban Tulsa. Additionally, the Black Wall Street Theatre Group opened its first play The Hexagon in September 2018 with great success and the second play is in the works. Black Wall Street Arts is creating an educational project for youth and aspiring artists. Bridging the gap makes a stronger community. For more information about Black Wall Street Arts, you can find them at bwsarts.org and on Facebook at facebook.com/blackwallstreetarts. n B. L. Eikner is owner of Trabar & Associates, regular contributor to Art Focus Oklahoma, published ‘Dirt and Hardwood Floors’ and ‘How Do You Love…When?’ and can be reached at Trabar@winstream.net
is a printmaking exhibition featuring Miguel A. Aragón. This show explores violence related to the narcotics trade in Mexico. Aragón’s reductive print aesthetic creates a new visual language based on the idea of erasure. This approach creates subtle connections to memory and catharsis. His works explore subjects of violence, transient and/or persistent memory, perception and the multiple; he uses erasure as language through the use of processes that are reductive in nature. His work is included in numerous public and private collections throughout the USA, Europe and Japan. Aragón’s artwork has been exhibited internationally in Argentina, Canada, Germany, Great Britain, and Mexico. He received his MFA from the University of Texas at Austin. Aragón is currently an Assistant Professor in Printmaking at the CUNY College of Staten Island. January 17, 2019 Artist lecture 5:00-6:00 PM Jerri Jones Lecture Hall, PH 211 2nd floor Reception 6:00-7:00 PM Alexandre Hogue Gallery Follow Us! For more information, visit www.cas.utulsa/edu/art/ or call 918.631.2739 • TU is an EEO/AA institution
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Camila Linaweaver’s Journey: One Step at a Time by Ayanna Najuma
Camila Linaweaver, US | THEM, handbound book, monotype, screen print, and mixed media, 22 pages, 8” x 17” x 0.5”
How does one define “a better life,” or for many, the American dream?
what they wanted to be when they grew up. For Camila Linaweaver that was not the case.
People worldwide take “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” seriously and coming to the United States may allow them to answer that question.
Camila Linaweaver, now an accomplished artist remembers the first attempt to enter the United States through the railroad tracks, being caught by the Border Patrol after five days in the desert and then being detained for a day.
In 1995, business owners and the parents of Camila Linaweaver, a seven-year girl from Santiago, Chile decided to make the move. Chile was in economic crisis. Unemployment was on the rise. According to the Chilean government, an estimated 50,000 children between the ages of six and 14 years were working. Chile was on the verge of their first recession in 20 years. Some business people re-evaluated their business model and created one to address their economic concerns, but not Camila’s parents. They wanted more. Seeking a better life requires planning. Each country has rules and regulations that designate the number of people allowed to enter a country and the United States is no different. The number of people entering from Chile was at its limit.
Not a great way to experience life at any age. Fortunately, Camila and her parents were released; however, they became separated from the folks that they were traveling with. After several attempts to cross the border, a “coyote,” a person that helps one through this process, helped Camila and her family wade and swim through river water arriving in El Paso, Texas. This experience required faith, courage, determination, and the belief that the life on the other side of the border was worth it. Now, a new life begins – a shower, clean clothes, and a flight that takes them to Houston.
Understanding and creating a plan that allows a family of three to navigate unforeseen territory in search of a life of “opportunity” is not easy and having a child as a participant in the process makes it even more challenging.
Many immigrants move in with family, staying about a year. Placing one foot in front of the other, they believe that each step brings them closer to a better opportunity, the happiness that we all wish for and desire.
The life of a seven-year-old girl during the 1990s consisted of playing with dolls, having tea parties with other little girls, playing board games, taking ballet lessons, possibly playing sports, and for some starting to think about
Prior to the looming recession, Camila’s family lived a comfortable life in Chile. Now, the lack of funds, language issues, and the fear of being detected and caught is always at the front of their consciousness.
It takes time. It is challenging for a child to feel grounded when one is impacted by cultural changes and has moved at least 17 times during her youth. Camila understood that her parents were always looking for a better place for them to live and for better jobs. Camila is now walking her own path in a creative way. As a young child she embraced drawing, winning many awards and learning artistic techniques that would take her places that she never thought she could go. She realized that her creative talent lives in the enjoyment of music, learning theory, and even thinking that she may want to teach. Then one day something happened. College placed Camila in the same position that her parents found themselves years before deciding to leave what they knew and loved to embark on a new life with new opportunities. She had great talent in music and art, but was truly passionate about telling stories on paper, as well as other artistic mediums. “I had an opportunity to look in the mirror and see my authentic self, not social mirroring, that meaning to see myself as society sees me - having low self esteem, having anxiety, and seeing myself as having no value and worth. According to immigration psychologist this happens to many immigration children. They start to transfer the essence of who they are, therefore losing the sense of their true value and worth,” says Linaweaver. “In spite of the interest and what many saw as musical or vocal talent, my heart lied in the recesses of artistic expression.” (continued to page 16)
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(continued from page 15)
Before she decided to change her major from music to art, she met her husband amongst the musical notes in choir and got married the year she graduated from the University of Houston. For years, Camila gave no thought to her status as an undocumented person. Now, she thinks, she can finally resolve this issue. Her husband is American and she is excited about the possibility of becoming an American citizen too. As she was preparing to leave with her husband for his military duty in England, there was a glitch. The medical documents were incorrect. She had a few hours to correct the error and make the plane. “However, when I got on the plane and saw the stamp on my passport, there was a feeling of joy. It was the happiest day of my life,” said Linaweaver. For the next three years, Camila traveled, enhanced her artistic talent of painting and printmaking, and even had an art show in England. Linaweaver felt that coming back to the United States provided a great deal of tranquility for her. Oklahoma brought peace of mind – no stress. When she enrolled at the University of Oklahoma, she did not want to be labeled an immigrant. She believed that being labeled narrows how the world sees a person. As her talent developed, so did the conversation about the Dreamers. Around this time, it was a particularly heated political climate for immigration and the current administration had revoked the Dream Act, affecting thousands of students. “I started to take an in-depth look at how society was embracing the topic, sharing their thoughts and expressing them in an open forum – social media. I started to see how Americans were looking at the idea of immigration and what that word exactly meant to them. The fear, racism, and hate was being expressed on social media posts about people they had no knowledge of,” said Linaweaver.
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Camila Linaweaver, Natural Borders, 2017, monoprint, 30” x 43”
It did not take long for Camila to artistically share the thoughts of Americans. “People don’t talk about this subject openly,” said Linaweaver, “but online it is a different story.”
US/THEM
“I decided that this would be the perfect narrative for a book, which is titled US/ THEM. I began to make monotype prints and create a series of visual narratives that addressed some of the emotional effects of immigration, through the landscape. The imagery within the pages addresses physical borders, natural borders, the separation of space, and the delineation of crops and territory. These monotypes are created very intuitively.” said Linaweaver.
NATURE/FOREIGN
Camila often reacts to formal elements that direct the visual narrative. The colors are warm and soft, yet strikingly vibrant. “I primarily chose colors reminiscent of sand and the natural landscape on the U.S. border. The book cover was created using thick gesso medium, stained with acrylic. A bright red line cuts through the landscape on the book cover,” said Linaweaver. US/THEM, is a hand-bound book using Japanese stab binding and the text is added to the 8 x 17 x ½ inch book using screen printing techniques. This book provides an opportunity for one to reflectively replace the blank space - the negativity based upon lack of knowledge with an understanding that the concept of humanity impacts the consciousness of society.
HERE/THERE YOURS/MINE
WHITE/OTHER PERSON/ALIEN HUMAN/HUMAN “These words do not change the fact that we are all human. When we connect heartto-heart, we are able to knock down and eliminate the inequities of life and replace them with hope knowing that we are all the same,” said Linaweaver. To learn more, go to camilalinaweaver.com n Ayanna Najuma is an art advisor, curator, and journalist. She is a civil rights icon and sat in at the age of seven at Katz Drug Store in Oklahoma City, two years before Greensboro, North Carolina. She is the founder of I HAVE A VOICE NOW! a movement to educate and empower youth on the importance of advocacy and activism and WHAT LIES BETWEEN US with Ayanna Najuma, a conversational platform on social justice.
GATHER ROUND: Art at Gathering Place by Krystle Brewer
Canoes with wraps of artwork by local artists
“From the north side to the south, we gon’ gather round, to the east side to the west, we gon’ gather round.” – Tulsa Hype Man
2018 as a world-class park that aims to unify all of Tulsa and provide free access to everyone.
This catchy hip-hop track by Tulsa Hype Man released by Gathering Place, sums up the vision behind Oklahoma’s newest public park. Located in the center of the city, it is a park for all of Tulsa (and the state as a whole as the song gives a shout out to the 405) that encourages movement, play, learning, relaxation, and even the arts. In the works for over a decade, Gathering Place opened its gate on September 8,
“The mission is to engage, educate, and excite the community and a place where everyone can gather,” says Kirsten Hein, Vice President of Programming for Gathering Place. And they are very intentional to ensure that everyone feels welcome. “Programmatically, we program events for everyone and are very specific about having events that are not only open to all, but appeal to and engage with
a wide range of specific communities. Additionally, it was built in the middle of the city so that people from all areas can come together in a central location to learn and celebrate together as one Tulsa.” One way they have been able to accomplish that goal is through the arts. Both through the performing and musical arts as in their released music videos and on their stage, but also by incorporating the visual arts throughout the park. As they worked (continued to page 16)
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LEFT: Visitors in Mark Dion’s Cabinet of Wonder RIGHT: Mark Dion installing his work Cabinet of Wonder
with the park architect Michael Van Valkenburgh, art was a crucial part of the design from the beginning. “We selected an art committee of stakeholders from across the state. They worked with a consultant to make recommendations. We started with the indoor spaces, but outdoor, interactive works will come later once we have a sense of how people will use the park.”
soon as you walk in the main doors you stand below one of Jen Lewin’s interactive works, Edison Cloud. Made from over 2100 custom glass bulbs and RGB pixel LEDs, the suspended sculpture works its way through the spectrum of colors with white shadows reflecting the movement from passersby. This interactivity brings life and dynamism to the work in the form of play.
In fact, they utilized art as a literal beacon of light calling for all of Tulsa to take notice and gather. Global Rainbow, by international artist Yvette Mattern, is a large-scale public art light installation made up of seven laser lights, one for each color of the rainbow. These lights project across the sky in parallel lines much like a flattened natural rainbow, reaching up to 70 miles away. From September 5th through September 23rd, Global Rainbow could be seen each evening after sundown, starting in the north and rotating clockwise until every corner of the city was touched. The rainbow symbolizes geographical and social diversity and also unification and peace.
Further in the building is the newly opened Cabinet of Wonder by artist Mark Dion, a collection of smaller objects in cabinets and drawers that incite curiosity and wonder. In line with the mission of Gathering Place, the installation fosters creative thought and stimulates conversations among visitors while also sharing a story of international wonder through the collection of objects including books, trophies, ornaments, awards, photographs, and other historical artifacts.
In the heart of the park is one of the main indoor spaces, the ONEOK Boathouse. As
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While Mattern, Lewin, and Dion are all internationally recognized artists stationed around the globe, it was important to Gathering Place to also incorporate Oklahoma’s talented pool of artists as well. Initially starting with two projects, once the park opens and staff have a better
idea of how the park will be used, more projects will be added. “It was important to us to include art because it is a great way to bring people together and to show cultural work and celebrate different kinds of culture and people, says Hein. “And especially local artists, to put them on the forefront. That’s what this park is all about: our community. We want to be able to show local artists alongside artists that are maybe internationally known to help further the careers of our local artists and also for economic reasons of investing back in our local community.” The first of these projects are 6 murals, one in each of the bathrooms located in the Chapman Adventure Playground. These local artists worked with students through Youth Services, Global Gardens, and Tulsa Girls Art School to create bold, enchanting compositions to reflect the curiosity and playfulness of the playground nearby. Back at the boathouse, there are 12 canoes that are wrapped with larger than life artwork by local artists. In the spring, visitors will be able to rent these canoes to float around on Peggy’s Pond.
But this is just the beginning. Over the next several years and with the next phase opening in 2020, more art experiences will be rolled out. “It’s in development. We are learning from how people interact with the spaces. Some of the spaces we anticipated being for exhibitions are actually very high trafficked areas, so those plans may change,” says Hein. “But there will be designated spaces for visual arts. We will continue to work with artists statewide and there is even
a plan to work with guest curators to curate public art both indoor and outdoor on a temporary basis.” For more information visit gatheringplace.org. n
TOP: Yvette Mattern, Global Rainbow BOTTOM LEFT: Artist Jake Beeson working on mural in a Chapman Adventure Playground bathroom BOTTOM RIGHT: Jen Lewin, The Cloud
Krystle Brewer is an artist, writer, and curator and serves as Executive Director for the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition.
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NWOSU AiR: Community and Collaboration by Erin Schalk
AiR Jackie Feng leading a watercolor workshop
The positive effects of the fine arts on wider communities are no secret -- areas with strong art programs reap a host of far-reaching benefits. While each locale is unique, many enjoy increased youth participation in community events, greater insight into the region’s history and cultural heritage, and chances to build empathy by experiencing perspectives unlike their own. The question of arts supporting wider communities and viceversa becomes especially critical in America’s rural regions, where many locals often have little to no access to contemporary visual art. In 2014, Northwestern Oklahoma State University in Alva, Oklahoma, began directly addressing this concern through the NWOSU Artist in Residence (AiR) Program. This unique residency, begun by founder Jave Yoshimoto and now run by NWOSU Assistant Professor of Art Kyle Larson, brings socially-engaged creative practices -- as well as artists from all over the United States and the world -- right to the university. Resident artists enjoy the freedom and support to focus on their work, and they balance their residency time with community involvement. Each artist participates in a First Friday Art Walk Exhibition in Alva’s downtown and hosts an on-campus workshop or lecture.
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Larson explains, “AiRs exhibit their work in a variety of spaces around the city, from the AiR studio space on campus to the Graceful Arts Gallery...and other small businesses and venues in downtown Alva…[and] because AiRs live in Alva for a month at a time, students and community members form personal relationships with the artists, often inside the context of their studio practice, but also as fellow community members. These relationships often last after the residents have returned home.” Unsurprisingly, the residency’s on-campus setting lends itself perfectly to teaching and learning opportunities. Artists give back to the community by creating a unique presentation that ties in with their art practice, and students and Alva residents enjoy the chance to engage in the artist’s work in an immersive, handson way. For example, Larson established a partnership with the Molten Capital Artist Residency in Santiago, Chile to help bring Chilean artist Marianne Hoffmeister to NWOSU in March of 2018. During her residency, Marianne created a thoughtprovoking installation that juxtaposed Chilean and Northwestern Oklahoman iconography. She also conducted a four-session workshop where students and community members learned about artists from South America
who redefine the notion of drawing in their practices. Participants then had the chance to create their own drawings using similar modes of thought. Larson details the many positive effects the residency program has had on his students and the community at large: “AiRs [also] participate in class critiques and discussions on a regular basis, and the impact it has on the students’ work is monumental. I try to invite artists of diverse backgrounds, methodologies, and practices to NWOSU, and the residents, in a way, give students access to the greater art world. Students feel more connected to it because they know people in it…all AiR workshops, lectures, and exhibitions are free and open to the public, so regardless of one’s economic status, everyone in the community has the chance to participate.” A critical component of many artist-inresidency programs is their setting. NWOSU AiR’s peaceful surroundings make it easy to focus on making artwork with little to no distractions. Moreover, the residency offers added benefits for artists who draw inspiration from nature and ever-changing landscapes. As Larson describes, “The area around Alva is astoundingly geographically diverse -something people don’t often equate with Northwest Oklahoma. All within an hour
drive of Alva, we have the Great Salt Plains State Park, Little Sahara State Park, the Alabaster Caverns State Park, Gloss Mountain State Park, and much more. All of these sites have played an important role in the residents’ experience, and sometimes these sites seep into their work.” While NWOSU AiR is still a relatively young residency, its positive and extensive impacts on the university and the small rural town of Alva are undeniable. In forthcoming years, Larson envisions NWOSU AiR will grow to support more than one artist per month and perhaps offer semester-long residency options that give teaching artists opportunities to lead semesterlong focus courses. According to Larson, “The NWOSU AiR Program and its impact on a small university and rural community highlight the importance of creating sustained spaces that allow for unique cultural exchanges and experiences. I hope more people can take a trip to Alva to visit with the artists and see their exhibitions, and that more artists living in Oklahoma apply to the residency in the future.” A special thanks goes out to Kyle Larson, director of NWOSU AiR at Northwestern Oklahoma State University, for providing a bounty of information for this article. For more information about the residency program, visit the NWOSU AiR website: nwosuair.com and Facebook page: facebook.com/pg/NWOSUVisualArts. n Erin Schalk is a visual artist and writer based in the greater Los Angeles area. For more information, please email her at eschalk@saic.edu or visit her website at www.erinschalk.com.
TOP: AiR Kerry Cottle leading a color theory workshop BOTTOM: Artist talk with AiR Marianna Hoffmeister
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Symbiosis Found in OKC Metro Area by Carleigh Foutch
2016 installation of Symbiotic, Left: Joshua Vaughn and Sidney Bernbaum, Linear Convergence, black and white photography; Center: adam Lanman, Sterling Smith, Reva Kashikar, Rebecca Curtis, The Cooperation Table, handmade ceramic table settings, folded fabric, wood, steel, bolts; Right: Marissa Raglin and Alyssa Howery, Variations, collage on paper
“Symbiotic” is one of those words that, unless you’re a biologist, you don’t hear entirely too often when referring to the art community. (Which is strange, because when you think about it, aren’t artists and biologists both doing the same thing? Taking in the world around them and reporting back what they see?) The word refers to a relationship (typically in nature) that is either positive or negative but still allows two organisms to coexist side by side. That’s what curator Jarica Walsh hopes to accomplish with her exhibition of the same name, sans the negative part: Allow professional and student artists to form positive, mutually beneficial relationships in order to grow and learn as artists.
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Walsh, who also acts as OVAC’s associate director, started the exhibition in 2016, marking the 2019 exhibition as its third iteration. Walsh said the idea came about after she and a friend collaborated on an art show at OU. “We knew we wanted a place where students could collaborate with professionals,” she said. “We had such a great team the first time around, and the project just grew and turned into something special that needed to continue.” As the project has grown, Walsh has kept up with that growth by offering the lead artists the opportunity to conduct a workshop this year. The workshops are funded through the Artistic Innovations grant from the Mid-America Arts
Alliance and furthers the collaborative mission of Symbiotic, something that’s been important to Walsh ever since she first received funding for the exhibition from Republic Bank and Fowler Automotive. “Honorariums are important to provide to artists,” she said. “Being able to give back so that [the artists] can put the work in, and not worry too much about selling their work but building relationships, is very important to me.” Walsh canvasses the OKC metro area, OU, OSU, UCO, OCU, OCCC and even parts of Shawnee and Chickasha to find both student and professional artists to participate in the exhibition.
Mandy Messina and Bella Blaze, FUNeral, installation, mixed media
For art student Jasmine Jones, the mentorship and community she’s found through Symbiotic have been invaluable. “Symbiotic has provided opportunities to build relationships with artists that I can get to know outside of my school and out in the Oklahoma community. Over the past couple of years through Symbiotic, I’ve gotten to meet and get to know these artists whom I’ve grown to absolutely adore. There’s a wonderful community of exchange and engagement. I’ve stayed in contact with them and they’re like family to me now. Along with the events of everyday life, I’m able to continuously talk to them about art, whether it be my own, theirs or an art event,” she said. Jones will graduate from the University of Oklahoma this December with a BFA with an emphasis in sculpture. However, Jones enjoys working as a multidisciplinary artist. She works through multiple mediums and her artwork ranges from screen prints on paper to immersive installations with topics that include comfort, spirituality, psychology, and human connection. “Symbiotic has helped me grow as an artist through opening my mind to think more broadly about not just ideas of works, but how mediums can guide and inform those ideas. It’s
also helped me see what different mediums can do and how they interact with one another, like how I interact with the artists that I’ve been paired with,” Jones said. “Being able to work with other artists has also given me opportunities to learn different techniques and to feel more open to experimenting. Symbiotic has also allowed me to view my own work as more intentional and has helped me push my ideas into greater things. I’ve begun to learn not to be scared in communicating through art; there is no wrong way to create.” Lead artists Autumn Brown and Marissa Raglin have found that even though their roles are reversed from Jones’, that the collaboration and community still helps shape their art careers as mentors. Although Raglin won’t be participating as a lead artist this year, she still gushed over her time with Symbiotic. “The community aspect is my favorite part,” Raglin said. “I really enjoy getting to know my collaborators. We’re still really close and made a great body of work. Whether we used collage materials, resin, watercolors, or other unknown territories, we were able to create.” Raglin graduated from Oklahoma Baptist University in 2012. Her BFA was with an emphasis in painting but she’s worked in mixed mediums in the last four and a half
years, mainly collages. She said that while it was weird stepping into a mentor roll, she felt she’s learned so much from the students. Autumn Brown feels the same way. “You can still mentor and still be learning, and being open to that is so beneficial not only for yourself but to those who are being mentored. They know that ‘Oh, I don’t have to be perfect yet; I don’t have to have everything figured out.’ They become fluid enough to roll with the punches and become more fluid with their art, and that’s what helps the art become beautiful,” she said. Brown’s art takes on many forms and mediums, but the theme is always the same: womanhood and identity. She says that being able to take those themes and turn them into a mentor relationship with other young women artists is invigorating. “I think it’s great to be an artist removed from college now,” she said. “Being with a college student reminds you that there’s that reason why I did it, that beginning joy and excitement of the journey you’re about to embark on…it’s infectious seeing their excitement for the art world.” (continued to page 24)
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“I hope Symbiotic never ends and continues evolving and gaining attention!” Jasmine Jones said. “Coming from the viewpoint of an art student who is nearing graduation, I feel like Symbiotic is really needed—especially, to understand how artists can function in society and build a career.” n Carleigh Foutch is a writer and activist living in Oklahoma City. She received her BA in Journalism from the University of Oklahoma and continues to write stories of all kinds in her spare time. To learn more about Carleigh and her work, visit carleighfouth.weebly.com Symbiotic student artists Matthew Wakeham, Courtney Segrest, and Noelle Moon listen and learn from their lead artist, Adam Lanman.
Large-scale immersive art in Tulsa: What will you EXPERIENCE? “Get it, Tulsa!” -Meow Wolf
“It’s easy to get lost in THE EXPERIENCE in space, time, and wonder.” -Tulsa Voice
“An interactive, multimedia art adventure” -Tulsa People
Now open! Learn more: ahhaTulsa.org #TheExperienceTulsa #KeepTulsaCreative
Pictured: Science Fiction-inspired tunnels with eye-opening video art, both by one of five EXPERIENCE Lead Artists, Daniel Sutliff.
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OVAC NEWS
WINTER 2019
In December we moved to a new office location in the heart of Oklahoma City. This new space will be closer to our Oklahoma City partners and provide easy access for our members and partners across the state. But most excitingly, there will be a space for our members to photograph their work (more info soon!). Stop by any time to say “hi” and check out the new space at 1720 N Shartel Ave, Ste B. As we gear up for this year’s Momentum, we are thrilled to partner with Factory Obscura! The lively weekend of emerging visual arts and live arts performances will be unlike any art show you’ve ever seen before. And, it will be inside The Flaming Lips’ the Womb Gallery on March 22nd and 23rd! For more information, visit momentumoklahoma.org.
In celebration of our 30th anniversary, we are raising $200,000 to support our Grants for Artists program to expand the number of grants we can give away each year. We are half-way through our 30th year and half-way to our goal. If you haven’t yet, please consider a gift to our campaign, as your gift will continue to give each year for years to come. For more information, visit ovac30th.com. Sincerely,
Krystle Brewer Executive Director
Krystle Brewer, Executive Director
Thank you to our new and renewing members from August through October 2018 Mariah Addis Narciso Argüelles Lynette Atchley Gary Batzloff John Bruce Martha Burger Charles Byrd Enise Carr Karin Susan Cermak Diana Cournoyer Ann Davis Ginna Dowling Hillary and Peter Farrell Joan Frimberger Barney Gibbs, Downtown Art and Frame
Audrey Gleason Alexa Goetzinger Nancy Goldenberg Christie and Jim Hackler Shauna Henry Steve Hicks Devin Howell Cybele Hsu Cheryl Hudson E Scott Hurst, Jr. Jennifer Johnson Michelle Junkin Nancy and Dan Junkin Amy Kelly Kyle Larson Michele Lasker
Amanda Lawrence Susan Linde Harolyn Long Beatriz Mayorca Jane Morgan David Muller Don C. Narcomey and Vicki VanStavern Ann L Neal Colin Newman Donna Newsom Dustin Oswald David Phelps Chelsea Pyeatt Morgan Robinson Rita Rowe
L.A. Scott Taryn Singleton Joe Slack Cheryl J Smith Diana J. Smith Iryna Snizhenko Cheri Tatum Cathryn Thomas Sandra Wallace D. Brian Ward Samuel Wargin Carol Webster Kathryn Webster B. J. White Therese Williams Rhonda Young
o v a c n e w s 25 25
John Andrews’ first book, “Colin Is Changing His
Gary Mason is a photographer in Tulsa. He also
Name” (Sibling Rivalry Press, 2017), was a finalist
directs videos, curates events and shows, and
for the 2018 Oklahoma Book Award for Poetry. His
DJs. 2019 marks his third year focusing on his art
poetry has appeared in Ninth Letter, The New
practice and working as a social connector. You can
Territory, Third Coast, and elsewhere. He lives in
find him on instagram at @nosamyrag.
Stillwater and is an Academic Counselor for the Oklahoma State University Honors College.
26
ekphrasis
EKPHRASIS: Art & Poetry edited by Liz Blood
Divination I want this to mean something it doesn’t. I too am guilty of seeing Jesus in a piece of toast, the black dog death omen in the clouds, trees against blood sky at night inverse veins, x-ray, map of a lung, black birds as bronchioles, the end spelled out in tea leaves that mean night, sailor’s demise. Or is it morning? There are too many harbingers as of late to make sense of every bent branch, dowsing. I’m desperate for some proof this storm will pass.
Gary Mason, The Summer Was Over, 2018, digital photograph
Ekphrasis is an ongoing series joining verse and visual art. If you are an Oklahoma poet and would like to participate, please write to krystle@ovac-ok.org with “Ekphrasis” in the subject line.
e k p h r a s i s 27
Gallery Listings & Exhibition Schedule Ada
Bartlesville
January 24, 2019 – March 11, 2019 Temporal Landscapes Deidre Argyle March 25, 2019 – April 22, 2019 64th Annual Student Art Exhibition The Pogue Gallery East Central University 900 Centennial Plaza (580) 559-5353 ecok.edu
Price Tower Arts Center 510 Dewey Ave (918) 336-4949 pricetower.org
Altus 24 Works on Paper Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition December 3, 2018-January 11, 2019 The Power and the Glory: Landscapes of the American West January 21, 2019 – March 2019 Wigwam Gallery 117 W Commerce St (580) 481-3150
Alva January 4 – January 29, 2019 Masculine Art of Oklahoma Features: Jason Wilson, Adam Ballard, and BJJC Winters Show February 1 – February 26, 2019 Fabrics of the Heartland Features: Fiber Artists of Oklahoma and Theresa Blalock March 1, 2019 – April 2, 2019 Peek at the Paseo Gallery One Features: Susan Yback, Suzanne Ducom, and Virginia B. Johnson Graceful Arts Gallery and Studios 523 Barnes St (580) 327-ARTS (2787) gracefulartscenter.org
Ardmore January 15 – March 9, 2019 Horizons Sparky Campanella The Goddard Center 401 First Avenue SW (580) 226-0909 goddardcenter.org
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Chickasha Nesbitt Gallery University of Science and Arts Oklahoma 1806 17th St (405) 574-1344 usao.edu/gallery/schedule
Claremore Foundations Gallery Rogers State University 1701 W Will Rogers Blvd (918) 343-7740 rsu.edu
Davis Chickasaw Nation Welcome Center 35 N Colbert Rd (580) 369-4222 chickasawcountry.com
Duncan Chisholm Trail Heritage Center 1000 Chisholm Trail Pkwy (580) 252-6692 onthechisholmtrail.com
Durant Centre Gallery Southeastern OK State University 1405 N 4th PMB 4231 (580) 745-2000 se.edu
Durham Metcalfe Museum 8647 N 1745 Rd (580) 655-4467 metcalfemuseum.org
Edmond Donna Nigh Gallery University of Central Oklahoma 100 University Dr (405) 974-2432 uco.edu/cfad
Edmond Historical Society & Museum 431 S Boulevard (405) 340-0078 edmondhistory.org Cody L Rains January 2019 – February 2019 Zonly Looman March 2019 Fine Arts Institute of Edmond 27 E Edwards St (405) 340-4481 edmondfinearts.com Melton Gallery University of Central Oklahoma 100 University Dr (405) 974-2432 uco.edu/cfad University Gallery Oklahoma Christian University 2501 E Memorial Rd (800) 877-5010 oc.edu
El Reno Redlands Community College 1300 S Country Club Rd (405) 262-2552 redlandscc.edu
Guthrie Hancock Creative Shop 116 S 2nd St (405) 471-1951 hancockcreativeshop.com Owens Arts Place Museum 1202 E Harrison Ave (405) 260-0204 owensmuseum.com
Guymon All Fired Up Art Gallery 421 N Main (580) 338-4278 allfiredupok.com
Idabel Museum of the Red River Recent Acquisitions until January 27 Native American Cradles February 5 - April 14 Expressions of Youth February 19 - April 3 812 E Lincoln Rd (580) 286-3616 museumoftheredriver.org
Lawton
University of Oklahoma Lightwell Gallery Competition Show: Prince of Place January 14 – February 5, 2019 Tammy Nguyen Exhibition Febraury 18– March 15, 2019 Gerald Clark Exhibition March 25– April 9, 2019 Lightwell Gallery University of Oklahoma 520 Parrington Oval (405) 325-2691 art.ou.edu
The Leslie Powell Foundation and Gallery 620 D Avenue (580) 357-9526 lpgallery.org
MAINSITE Contemporary Art Gallery 122 E Main (405) 360-1162 mainsite-art.com
Museum of the Great Plains 601 NW Ferris Ave (580) 581-3460 discovermgp.org
Moore Lindsey Historical House Museum Spring Exhibition: William Flood’s Woodworking Tools February 5, 2019 – April 27, 2019 Victorian Valentines Mini Exhibit February 1, 2019 – February 28, 2019 Art Walk Open House February 8, 2019 6-9pm Moore-Lindsey House Historical Museum 508 N Peters (405) 321-0156 normanmuseum.org
Norman Downtown Art and Frame 115 S Santa Fe (405) 329-0309 Firehouse Art Center 444 S Flood (405) 329-4523 normanfirehouse.com Jacobson House 609 Chautauqua (405) 366-1667 jacobsonhouse.org University of Oklahoma Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art Distinguished Visiting Artist: Mildred Howard January 25, 2019 – April 7, 2019 Testimony: The Life and Work of David Friedman January 25, 2019 – May 26, 2019 Fred Jones Jr Museum of Art 555 Elm Ave (405) 325-4938 ou.edu/fjjma
The Depot Gallery 200 S Jones (405) 307-9320 pasnorman.org
Oklahoma City Acosta Strong Fine Art 6420 N Western Ave (405) 453-1825 johnbstrong.com [ArtSpace] at Untitled 1 NE 3rd St (405) 815-9995 1ne3.org Brass Bell Studios 2500 NW 33rd (405) 361-3481 facebook.com/BrassBellStudios
Contemporary Art Gallery 2928 Paseo (405) 601-7474 contemporaryartgalleryokc.com
Nault Gallery 816 N Walker Ave (405) 642-4414 naultfineart.com
DNA Galleries Group Show January 10,– February 3, 2019 Katelynn Noel Knick + Brooke Rowlands February 7 – March 3, 2019 Oklahoma Photographers / Nghbrs + Sarah Black + Ian Spencer March 7 – April 7, 2019 DNA Galleries 1705 B NW 16th St (405) 371-2460 dnagalleries.com
Nona Hulsey Gallery, Norick Art Center Oklahoma City University 1600 NW 26th (405) 208-5226 okcu.edu
Exhibit C – 1 E Sheridan Ave Ste 100 (405) 767-8900 exhibitcgallery.com Gayle Curry: Unknown Origins October 4 – February 9, 2018 Gaylord-Pickens Museum 1400 Classen Dr (405) 235-4458 oklahomahof.com Grapevine Gallery 1933 NW 39 (405) 528-3739 grapevinegalleryokc.com Howell Gallery 6432 N Western Ave (405) 840-4437 howellgallery.com In Your Eye Studio and Gallery 3005A Paseo (405) 525-2161 inyoureyegallery.com Individual Artists of Oklahoma 706 W Sheridan Ave (405) 232-6060 individualartists.org JRB Art at The Elms 2810 N Walker Ave (405) 528-6336 jrbartgallery.com National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum 1700 NE 63rd (405) 478-2250 nationalcowboymuseum.org
Inasmuch Foundation Gallery – Oklahoma City Community College Gallery 7777 S May Ave (405) 682-7576 occc.edu Oklahoma City Museum of Art 415 Couch Dr (405) 236-3100 okcmoa.com Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center 3000 General Pershing Blvd (405) 951-0000 oklahomacontemporary.org Oklahoma State Capitol Galleries 2300 N Lincoln Blvd (405) 521-2931 arts.ok.gov Paseo Art Space 3022 Paseo (405) 525-2688 thepaseo.org Red Earth 6 Santa Fe Plaza (405) 427-5228 redearth.org Science Museum Oklahoma 2100 NE 52nd St (405) 602-6664 sciencemuseumok.org
Park Hill Cherokee National Historical Society, Inc. 21192 S Keeler Dr (918) 456-6007 cherokeeheritage.org
Pauls Valley The Vault Art Space and Gathering Place 111 East Paul Avenue, Suite 2 (405) 343-6610
Ponca City Ponca City Art Center 819 E Central (580) 765-9746 poncacityartcenter.com
Shawnee Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art 1900 W Macarthur (405) 878-5300 mgmoa.org
Stillwater Gardiner Gallery of Art Oklahoma State University 108 Bartlett Center for the Visual Arts (405) 744-4143 art.okstate.edu Oklahoma State University Museum of Art 720 S Husband St (405) 744-2780 museum.okstate.edu Modella Art Gallery 721 S Main Modellaartgallery.org
Sulphur Chickasaw Visitor Center 901 W 1st St (580) 622-8050 chickasawcountry.com/explore/ view/Chickasaw-visitor-center
Tahlequah Cherokee Arts Center 212 S Water Ave (918) 453-5728 cherokeenationart.com
Tonkawa
Eleanor Hays Gallery Northern Oklahoma College 1220 E Grand (580) 628-6670 noc.edu
Tulsa 108|Contemporary 108 E MB Brady St (918) 895-6302 108contemporary.org Aberson’s Exhibits 3624 S Peoria (918) 740-1054 abersonexhibits.com
ahha Tulsa The Experience Cultura Fronteriza December 7, 2018 – January 20, 2019 The Art of Prospect February 2019 Altars of Reconciliation February 1 – March 24, 2019 Found on the Side of the Road February 1 – March 24, 2019 101 E Archer St www.ahhatulsa.org Gilcrease Museum 1400 Gilcrease Road (918) 596-2700 gilcrease.utulsa.edu THE EXPERIENCE Lead Artists David Reed James, Laurie Keeley, Jeremy Lamberton, JP Morrison Lans, Daniel Sutliff ahha Hardesty Center ahhatulsa.org/the-gallery/theexperience/ Cultura Fronteriza Narciso Argüelles December 7, 2018 – January 20, 2019 ahha Hardesty Center THE GALLERY ahhatulsa.org/exhibition/culturafronteriza/ The Art of Protest Collected ephemera from the 2018 Oklahoma Teacher Protests February 2019 ahha Hardesty Center Pop-Up Exhibition in THE STUDIO ahhatulsa.org/exhibition/protest/ Altars of Reconciliation Bobby C. Martin, Erin Shaw, Tony Tiger February 1–March 24, 2019 ahha Hardesty Center - THE GALLERY ahhatulsa.org/exhibition/altarsof-reconciliation Found on the Side of the Road Jack Bryant February 1–March 24, 2019 ahha Hardesty Center - THE GALLERY ahhatulsa.org/exhibition/found/ Work created for this exhibition is supported in part by a grant from the Oklahoma Visual Arts
Coalition. ahha 101 E Archer St (918) 584-3333 ahhatulsa.org Henry Zarrow Center for Art and Education 124 E MB Brady St (918) 631-4400 gilcrease.utulsa.edu/Explore/Zarrow Alexandre Hogue Gallery University of Tulsa 2930 E 5th St. (918) 631-2739 utulsa.edu/art Holliman Gallery Holland Hall 5666 E 81st Street (918) 481-1111 hollandhall.org Joseph Gierek Fine Art 1342 E 11th St (918) 592-5432 gierek.com Living Arts 307 E MB Brady St (918) 585-1234 livingarts.org Mainline 111 N Main Ste C (918) 629-0342 Mainlineartok.com M.A. Doran Gallery 3509 S Peoria (918) 748-8700 madorangallery.com Lovetts Gallery 6528 E 51st St (918) 664-4732 lovettsgallery.com Philbrook Downtown 116 E MB Brady St (918) 749-7941 philbrook.org Philbrook Museum of Art 2727 S Rockford Rd (918) 749-7941 philbrook.org
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Pierson Gallery 1307-1311 E 15th St (918) 584-2440 piersongallery.com Urban Art Lab Studios 2312 E Admiral Blvd (918) 747-0510 urbanartlabstudios.com Tulsa Artists’ Coalition 9 E MB Brady St (918) 592-0041 tacgallery.org
Tulsa Performing Arts Center Gallery 110 E 2nd St (918) 596-2368 tulsapac.com WaterWorks Art Center 1710 Charles Page Blvd (918) 596-2440 waterworksartcenter.com
Weatherford SWOSU Art Gallery 100 Campus Drive (580) 774-3756 swosu.edu
Wilburton The Gallery at Wilburton 108 W Main St (918) 465-9669
Woodward Paul Laune High School Art Competition March 9– April 10, 2019 Plains Indians and Pioneers Museum 2009 Williams Ave (580) 256-6136 nwok-pipm.org
Become a member of the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition. Join today to begin enjoying the benefits of membership, including a subscription to Art Focus Oklahoma. Collector Level + Community Supported Art (CSA) Program $1,000 ($85 a month option) · · · · ·
2 original and quality pieces of art by Oklahoma artists 2 tickets to CSA Launch Events twice a year 2 tickets to 12x12 Art Fundraiser $400 of this membership is tax deductible All of below
PATRON $250 · · · · ·
Listing of self or business on signage at events Invitation for 2 people to private reception with visiting curator 2 tickets each to Momentum OKC & Momentum Tulsa $200 of this membership is tax deductible. All of below
FELLOW $150 · · · · ·
Acknowledgement in Resource Guide and Art Focus Oklahoma Copy of each OVAC exhibition catalog 2 tickets to Tulsa Art Studio Tour $100 of this membership is tax deductible. All of below
FAMILY $75
· Same benefits as Individual, for 2 people in household
INDIVIDUAL $45 · · · · ·
Subscription to Art Focus Oklahoma magazine Monthly e-newsletter of Oklahoma art events & artist opportunities Receive all OVAC mailings Listing in and copy of annual Resource Guide & Member Directory Invitation to Annual Members’ Meeting
Plus, artists receive: · Inclusion in online Artist Gallery, ovacgallery.com · Artist entry fees waived for OVAC exhibitions · Up to 50% discount on Artist Survival Kit workshops · Affiliate benefits with Fractured Atlas, Artist INC Online, Artwork Archive, and the National Alliance for Media Arts & Culture.
STUDENT $25
· Same benefits as Individual level. All Student members are automatically enrolled in Green Membership program (receive all benefits digitally).
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MEMBER FORM ¨ Collector Level + Community Supported Art Program ¨ Patron ¨ Fellow ¨ Family ¨ Individual ¨ Student ¨ Optional: Make my membership green! Email only. No printed materials will be mailed. Name Street Address City, State, Zip Email Website
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Art Writing & Criticism: Panel Discussions Moderated by Kirsten Olds, PhD, panel discussions are free and open to the public.
February 23, 2019, 1-3pm | Helmerich Center for American Research
Orit Gat, Editor, art-agenda Michael Maizels, Assistant Professor of Art History, University of Arkansas Buzz Spector, Professor of Art, Washington University
April 20, 2019, 1-3pm | 108|Contemporary
Sharon Louden, Artistic Director of Visual Arts, Chautauqua Institution Cameron Shaw, Founding and Executive Editor, Pelican Bomb Lindsay Preston Zappas, Founder and Editor-in-Chief, Contemporary Art Review Los Angeles Encouraging informed, articulate, and inspired writing that engages audiences in contemporary art. Photo: 2018 Fellows viewing Rena Detrixhe’s Red Dirt Rug at Philbrook Downtown, Tulsa
write-curate-art.org
Art Focus
Ok l a h o m a
UPCOMING EVENTS Jan 15:
Grants for Artists Deadline
Jan 21- 24 Works on Paper, Mar 1: McArts Gallery of Fine Art, McAlester Feb 13:
Spotlight Preview Exhibition at 21c Museum Hotel, OKC
Feb 23:
ASK: Exhibition Ready at Wyman Frame, OKC
Feb 23:
OAWCF public panel discussion, Tulsa
Mar 11- April 19:
24 Works on Paper, Artesian Gallery, Sulphur
Mar 22- and 23:
Momentum at the Womb Gallery, OKC
Mar 24:
Momentum Free Gallery Hours & Spotlight Artist Talks
1720 N Shartel Ave, Suite B Oklahoma City, OK 73103 The Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition supports Oklahoma’s visual arts and artists and their power to enrich communities. Visit ovac-ok.org to learn more.
One of the world’s largest collections of Chihuly glass.
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