Art Focus Oklahoma, July/August 2008

ArtOFocus kl a h o m a Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition P.O. Box 1946 • Oklahoma City, OK 73101 ph: 405.232.6991 • e: director@ovac-ok.org visit our website at: www.ovac-ok.org Executive Director: Julia Kirt director@ovac-ok.org Editor: Kelsey Karper publications@ovac-ok.org Art Director: Anne Richardson anne@speccreative.com Art Focus Oklahoma is a bimonthly publication of the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition dedicated to stimulating insight into and providing current information about the visual arts in Oklahoma.

Mission: The Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition supports visual artists living and working in Oklahoma and promotes public interest and understanding of the arts.

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John McNeese

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OVAC Timeline: ASK November 2000 Julia Kirt and Jim Powers

On the Cover: Matt Goad, graphic design

contents

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OVAC Timeline: Momentum 2002 Molly O’Connor

profiles

3 OVAC Award Recipients: A Brief Update

OVAC turns 20

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In the Beginning:

8

The Interns

The History of OVAC

11 OVAC Stories 16 OVAC Timeline member agency

21 New & Renewing Members 21 Round UP 22

This program is supported in part by the Oklahoma Arts Council View this issue with full color images at www.ArtFocusOklahoma.org

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OVAC news

gallery guide

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 Anonymous letters will not be published.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.

Art Focus Committee: Janice McCormick, Bixby; Sue Clancy, Susan Grossman, Norman; Don Emrick, Tulsa; Michael Hoffner, Stephen Kovash and Sue Moss Sullivan, Oklahoma City.

OVAC Board of Directors 2008-2009: R.C. Morrison, Bixby; Richard Pearson, Rick Vermillion, Edmond; Jonathan Hils, Norman; Jennifer Barron, Susan Beaty, Stephen Kovash (President), Paul Mays, Suzanne Mitchell (Vice President), Carl Shortt, Suzanne Thomas, Sydney Bright Warren, Elia Woods (Secretary), Oklahoma City; Joey Frisillo, Sand Springs; Anita Fields, Stillwater; Cathy Deuschle, Elizabeth Downing, Jean Ann Fausser (Treasurer), Kathy McRuiz, Sandy Sober, Tulsa; Eunkyung Jeong, Weatherford.

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 National Association of Artists’ Organizations. © 2008, Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition. All rights reserved.

profile

OVAC Award Recipients:

A Brief Update

by Christine Faris Gloria Abella De Duncan

Gloria Abella De Duncan won the OVAC Award of Excellence in 1995. As a native of South America with an international art career, she welcomed OVAC’s recognition as it introduced her work to Oklahoma. Gloria served on the OVAC board in the late 1990s, taught at Oklahoma Baptist University and Oklahoma City Museum of Art, but concentrates on her own work now.

She describes her winning entry to OVAC: “The works that I presented were large format paintings dealing with the ambiguities of life and the natural power of women to balance perceived realities and transformation.”

Concepts of ambiguity, transformation, and mystic subject matter have been central to her work. She gives form to these thoughts in dream-like quality in paintings and drawings, and more recently in digital media. Gloria exhibited in London at Christie’s (XX Century Colombian Art), Israel and Los Angeles.

One of her paintings was added to the Oklahoma State Art Collection in 2007.

A recent stay in Portugal, Spain, and Morocco provided much fuel for her creative imagination as she observed the daily life there. More recently, Gloria has been a successful illustrator for award wining books, including Mystic Siren: Woman’s Voice in the Balance of Creation by Vanessa Paloma, and Praxis and Ambiguity of the Enemy by Fernando Garavito. She is currently working on a book of Hebrew art and a series of prints for an exhibit in August in New Mexico.

Gloria Abella De Duncan, The Wedding Ring, Acrylic on Canvas, 60”x48”

Rebecca Friedman Wheeler Rebecca Friedman Wheeler received OVAC’s Award of Excellence in 1998.

On the way to her studio in the garage apartment behind her house, I negotiate my way around mud puddles in Oklahoma’s spring rain. Her oneeyed, most friendly three-legged dog follows me. We look at the colorful flower pots and found objects as sculptures and I am taken in by the warm and cheerful atmosphere of one of Oklahoma’s consistently productive artists.

The garage holds a good number of large canvases. Her OVAC entry Promise is among them. She describes herself as a color field painter. She loves the joys of color, the layering, the “inside” effects she can create. Rebecca is very comfortable with her work; it is non-judgmental, childlike, and never aims at political statements. The upstairs studio space is furnished with well-worn work tables, chairs, wooden storage drawers, and antique quilts. Small pastel drawings of summer beach scenes are ready for framing. Rebecca pulls a few prints out of storage – figurative work commissioned as a religious series by the Santa Fe Arts Council. She goes to New Mexico several times a year to do monotypes and lithographs.

In addition, Rebecca cherishes work with textiles in collages. They are magical. Her artist’s statement for her exhibit at Untitled [ArtSpace] in 2007, reads: “Old tattered-torn cloth of our past, Belgian linen, hooked rugs, half-made, old lace, chiffon, dresses, curtains and women’s handmade works, sent to market and found again. Textiles, always collected and loved, have become the medium for my canvas….”

Rebecca Friedman Wheeler, Garden, Antique Fabric on European Linen, 12”x12”, from her exhibition at Untitled [ArtSpace] in 2007.

continued on page 4

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profile

continued from page 3 Sunni Mercer Sunni Mercer was executive director of OVAC from 1996-1999. Prior to her appointment, she won the 1995 Artist Award of Excellence. She has been extraordinarily productive since then, working as teacher, consultant, lecturer, and exhibiting artist.

Sunni’s winning project was part of a 1995 exhibit at OK Harris in New York City. It included over 350 small assemblages that evolved into her signature style of Metals, Medals, using found objects for the sculptural constructions. The OVAC award and a concurrent NEA regional fellowship enabled Sunni to afford a studio and the necessary equipment. Work done under these conditions solidified her professional sensibilities and visual lexicon.

After OVAC, Sunni became director of the Oklahoma City National Memorial Center, overseeing its design. Sunni’s technique of assemblage evokes reflection and memory, a concept that granted her the ALCA National Merit Award for a Remembrance Garden. Her Living Room environment (2003), exhibited in Emporia and Wichita, KS, employs similar ideas of recollection, “recycling something tragic into something beautiful” according to the exhibit’s curator. Sunni Mercer’s list of national exhibits is exhaustive, including being archived in the Smithsonian Institution. (above) Sunni Mercer, Expiation, Mixed Media, 48”x48”

Sunni teaches as adjunct Professor at the University of Central Oklahoma, and remains a multi-tasking studio artist. She loves variety in her life, journals, gardens and strives to keep her creativity fresh. She currently gathers materials for a public awareness and fund raising campaign for a hospital in Swaziland, Africa. Her dedication to OVAC and all its support programs remains as strong as ever.

(below) Janet Massad, Striped Dream #4, Stoneware, 36”x18”x10”

Janet Massad Since Janet Massad received an award for OVAC’s Visionmakers in 1996, she has been most productive as a ceramicist, painter, lecturer, consultant and writer. Her professional Statement of Objectives reads: “Education in the arts, emphasizing the importance of critical thinking in a cross-disciplined atmosphere.”

She has met this goal on many levels. Janet worked with regional public school projects and held a progressive education appointment at Goddard College in Vermont. She lectures in ceramics, painting and drawing courses. Janet was a resident visual arts faculty at the Chautauqua Institute’s School of Art in New York and received an individual artist grant from the City of Pasadena, CA. Exhibits and workshops have taken her to various venues across the country.

Janet sees her own work as becoming progressively more sculptural. Painting informs her ceramic surfaces and serves as a visual distraction. An MFA under Paul Soldner at Claremont (CGU) still provides contact with international artists and their conceptual directions.

Janet started writing about clay in 1991 and her most recent article, “Masters of Fire” in Ceramics TECHNICAL (Sydney) was hailed by the editor as ‘a new theory on an ancient puzzle.’ Other articles in Ceramics: Art and Perception (Sydney) and Ceramic Review (London), and Ceramica (Madrid) explore innovative information for artists and potters.

The Daily Oklahoman named Janet among ten ‘Oklahoma artists to watch in the new millennium.’ She continues as a studio artist with teaching contracts while also researching upcoming publications. n About the Author: Christiane Faris is a retired humanities professor from Oklahoma City University. She is the author of the forthcoming book JUXTAPOSITIONS: Artist Brunel Faris and the Visual Arts in Oklahoma City, Full Circle Press. She can be reached at cfaris@okcu.edu.

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OVAC h is tor y John McNeese

In the Beginning: The History of OVAC

by Julia Kirt and Kelsey Karper John McNeese’s founding principles of the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition mirror the qualities we imagine McNeese hoped for artists’ careers: intentionality, professionalism, credibility and integrity. With an idea and a few supporters, McNeese established this organization to give money to artists.

The story we usually tell of OVAC’s founding is a bit funnier—that a group of artists used to get together for coffee and adult beverages. They complained regularly about the state of their art careers in Oklahoma and grumbled that they did not have enough opportunities or buyers. Out of those bellyache sessions, OVAC was born.

Some of that myth is true. McNeese and founding board member Laura Warriner refer to gatherings of artists at the Classen Grill, called Café Society, as precipitating the organization. McNeese said, “There wasn’t much going on for Oklahoma artists.” He pointed out that at the time artists were unhappy, the Contemporary Arts Foundation had closed, the museum juried shows were gone, IAO was in transition (housed in the garage of the Classen Arts Center) and the National Endowment for the Arts rarely funded Oklahoma artists. These issues and concurrent discussions spurred the passion of McNeese’s vision.

McNeese ran a gallery next to IAO at the Classen Art Center, which was in a building that once stood near 52nd and Classen in Oklahoma City. During his time in this space, McNeese developed the idea for the 12x12 fundraiser and the first one benefited the IAO gallery, featuring about 20 artists with each piece priced at $100. The show sold out.

Eventually, he closed his gallery at the Classen Art Center and moved to a space near Laura Warriner’s studio a few blocks away. McNeese recalled that Laura served as a great sounding board and supporter of his dream for OVAC. He carefully thought through naming the organization Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition, wanting to emphasize educating audiences beyond just artists by calling it “arts” and employed “visual” to differentiate it from other disciplines.

He said “coalition” was a popular term at the time and seemed to define what OVAC was doing by bringing artists together.

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Roger Runge served as the first board president. His personality and expertise from his experience working at the Firehouse Art Center made him an excellent choice. His ability to convey the ideas and purpose of the budding organization helped to gain further support. Others who served on the first board were Mark Briscoe, Jerry Brown, Marie Dawson, Nicholas Kyle and Warriner.

In the beginning stages of forming what would become OVAC, McNeese remembered some specific people whose support and willingness to take a chance were instrumental in helping it get off the ground. Betty Price and the State Arts Council of Oklahoma gave OVAC a $1,000 grant in the first year. Marilyn Myers, who was Executive Director of the Kirkpatrick Foundation at the time and later moved on to the Kirkpatrick Family Affiliated Fund, also gave financial support early on. Support from these organizations, as well as several individuals, made the early efforts possible. McNeese and Warriner each gave personally in order to begin a fund for OVAC at the Kirkpatrick Foundation.

In 1990, McNeese used the 12x12 fundraising idea again, this time to benefit OVAC. This was the first of what would become an annual fundraising event for OVAC. The show was held at Pickard Gallery and the entire show was sold to collectors and art supporters Bob Cochran and Jan Semrod. Their art collection was quite impressive and McNeese recalled that they would give tours of their collection as a benefit to OVAC. In a spark of practical genius, McNeese began the OVAC newsletter in July of 1988, before OVAC was even incorporated. As an organization without a real physical space for recognition, the newsletter served as a vehicle for getting the word out about OVAC and other art events. It also helped to develop a mailing list and to keep in contact with members. Nicholas Kyle and Rose Allison later took the newsletter into the Cross Currents format, making it more of an arts publication with a sleeker design, more photos and art reviews. The first issue as Cross Currents was July/August 1990.

In January of 2005, it would evolve again into the current format of Art Focus Oklahoma.

So, why didn’t OVAC have a public space to be associated with? Initially, the organization did not want to compete with neighboring IAO. A public space was never a part of the focus for OVAC, believing that the money would be better spent on programs rather than the overhead cost of running and maintaining a gallery.

Helping artists financially through grants and awards was a focus. The first $1,000 artist award was given to James Seitz in 1989 and was made possible through many small gifts from individuals.

The Artist Awards of Excellence would change and evolve over the years to include awards for excellence in specific media, an art criticism award and fellowships. McNeese believed it best to give multiple awards of equal value rather than having a first, second or third place. Currently, this program is giving two Fellowship awards of $5,000 each annually as well as Student Awards of Excellence to art students in Oklahoma universities.

OVAC also developed a Sudden Opportunity Fund that would allow artists to take advantage of opportunities that would assist in the advancement of their careers. The first Sudden Opportunity grant was given to artist Jenny Woodruff to get to Alaska to attend the opening of her exhibition there. The Sudden Opportunity Fund would later develop into what is now the grants program, offering artists assistance in many areas including professional basics, start up funds, working with the community and continuing training.

OVAC also saw a need early on to recognize individuals who were great supporters of the arts.

The Distinguished Achievement Award was created to honor a person or organization that had

OVAC h is tor y

during the preceding year contributed the most in support of the visual artist in Oklahoma. The first award was given to Betty Price and the State Arts Council of Oklahoma in 1988 for their work on the VisionMakers exhibition. A reception was held at the Kirkpatrick Center in honor of the award recipient. The following year in 1989, J.R. and Fran Witt were the recipients for their support of artists through the Contemporary Arts Foundation and their continued support over the years since.

A reception in their honor was held at Carpenter Square Theater. Other recipients of the award included Virginia Myers, founder of Living Arts, and Alexandre Hogue, artist.

As stated above, OVAC always expected and encouraged professionalism in artists. To help artists with their professional skills, OVAC developed a series of Business of Art programs. McNeese actually taught a Business of Art class at Oklahoma City University for three semesters. What was supposed to be a class on how to be a gallery owner soon became the basics of business for artists. This knowledge made McNeese an able example for Oklahoma artists. In 1995, OVAC held an Artist Weekend and Business of Art Seminar at City Arts Center. This seminar became an annual event and later developed into the Artist Survival Kit (A.S.K.) Workshop series.

In 1990, OVAC took over the organization of the VisionMakers exhibit for which it had applauded the State Arts Council with its first Distinguished Achievement Award. OVAC felt it was important to continue this exhibit which was the only statewide exhibit focused on Oklahoma art and artists. Since it was, and still is, an exhibit focused on artists working in high craft and three-dimensional media, OVAC developed the Painting Biennial in 1991 to do the same thing for painters. The Biennial would expand in 1999 to include drawing and again in 2007 to include photography and printmaking, making it more inclusive of all two-dimensional media.

In the matters of professionalism and integrity, OVAC always tried to be the example for artists to follow. Several incidents involving art and censorship in Oklahoma City, including the removal of a series of photographs of pregnant women by Jenny Woodruff from a local restaurant by the ABLE commission, prompted OVAC to create a policy for dealing with the issue of censorship, should it ever arise at an OVAC event or exhibit. The policy was clearly against censorship of art and outlined who would speak for the organization in these cases. OVAC still holds this policy as fundamental to the planning and placement of exhibits.

From this brief summary of OVAC’s founding twenty years ago, it is clear that this is an organization that was created not only to fill a need but also to move artists in Oklahoma forward by creating new and better opportunities and developing a supportive environment for artists to thrive in. John McNeese was a true visionary in his ability to filter through those artist get-together sessions and find the real root of the problems and the most direct way to change them. His efforts towards this were recognized in 1996 when he received the Governor’s Arts Award of Special Recognition.

This may be some of the only recognition he has received individually for OVAC’s accomplishments because he consistently pushes artists into the limelight rather than himself.

His dedication to the mission was evident – he worked the first three or four years of his directorship without a salary and for very little after that. For twenty years now, his vision has sustained, supporting artists in Oklahoma. His prescience and gumption in founding OVAC will continue to benefit artists and our communities for many years to come. n About the Authors: Julia Kirt has served as Executive Director of OVAC since 1999. Kelsey Karper is OVAC’s Marketing and Publications Manager and Editor of Art Focus Oklahoma.

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OVAC i n terns

The Interns

Shannon Crider

by Cathy Deuschle When one considers all that OVAC does: the yearly juried exhibits, Art Focus magazine, grants, fellowships, numerous workshops, a huge online gallery, the studio tour, the 12x12 fund raiser and the Tulsa and Oklahoma City Momentums; it is hard to believe there are just two full time and two part time employees. How do so few accomplish so much? Well, they are very good at their jobs and they have a large pool of volunteers.

Part of what fills this volunteer pool is a steady stream of interns. They are the salmon, if you will, of volunteers. They don’t mind swimming against the current - an essential quality for most anyone in a non-profit arts organization. And, though they’ve yet to spawn in the OVAC office, that office seems to have spawned among many of them a long term interest in Oklahoma art and the business of art. Some return to the same OVAC events year after year as artists and volunteers, while others wind up pursuing art related career paths they hadn’t seriously considered before. The interns are closer to the top of the volunteer food chain than they might imagine for they are a highly desirable source of organizational sustenance. They are part of the OVAC circle of life.

Though there are certain tasks most OVAC interns can identify with, like updating membership information, putting out bulk mailings and delivering flyers; the experience diverges depending on the time frame of the internship and the interest areas of the intern. Wanting to know both the commonalities and differences of this experience, I asked some past interns a few questions. Below are the abridged responses of Stephanie Brudzinski, Sarah McElroy, Paul Mays, Carolyn Deuschle, and Daisy Patton.

1. Why did you decide to intern at OVAC? Stephanie: I applied because I wanted to learn more about the art business and non-profit operations. Plus, I thought it would be fun. I wasn’t a student, I just wanted to learn and meet creative people.

Sarah: I thought it would be a perfect way for me to be introduced to the Oklahoma City ‘art scene’ after graduating college.

Paul: It sounded like a great way to meet artists and some of the people who were connected to the Oklahoma art world.

Carolyn: I was most interested in Art Focus. I wanted to know how the magazine fits into OVAC’s mission, how it survives financially, and how it benefits art in Oklahoma.

Daisy: I was interested in arts administration as a possible career and I felt that working for OVAC would be a valuable learning experience.

was constantly working on bulk mailing and updating membership information.

Carolyn: I wrote articles for Art Focus and helped devise ways to increase circulation.

The OKC Momentum was going on so I also helped set up for that.

Daisy: I was placed in charge of updating the Resource Guide that has all the artists, art organizations, galleries, etc. for OVAC members. This meant that I contacted many local businesses and others, especially via phone. I also helped hang some shows and deliver flyers, etc. around town.

3. What was the experience like?

How was it the same or different from what you anticipated?

Stephanie: I thoroughly enjoyed my stint there. It was more than I anticipated. I got to meet so many people and I loved working with Julia, Stephanie, Kelsey, Jim and Trent. I learned a lot about the art business.

Sarah: I was introduced to the structure of a nonprofit and got to see how the few positions that are held run the entire program with the help of many volunteers, board and committee members. I had expected to be more inspired to produce and show my work but I ended up really interested in the community work OVAC did in Oklahoma City.

Paul: My intern experience raised my awareness of the thriving art community around me. If my experience has done nothing else, it has at least given me the opportunity to meet and befriend some amazing people.

Carolyn: I really enjoyed working alongside Julia and Kelsey. They’re able to do so much with so little! I didn’t expect to be able to contribute content to the magazine, so that turned out to be a great surprise.

Daisy: I learned quite a bit from the year I worked there. I loved meeting new people, finding out more about the arts in Oklahoma, discovering local artists and learning how the organization worked. I was terrified of calling people on the phone, so it was good that I was forced to call so often. I was happy that the OVAC staff had faith in me to complete the tasks I was assigned.

2. What did you do as an intern?

Stephanie: Along with daily work like mailing and data entry, I helped with the 12x12 and Momentum shows. I assisted with some of the ASK workshops and sat in on a grant selection meeting. I also set up their new gallery database which they plan to utilize for promoting OVAC artists.

Sarah: I was fortunate enough to assist with the Creative Capital workshop. I was able to work behind the scenes, sit in on the selection process, review all of the art work and resumes and attend the event.

Paul: I was able to assist with one of the Art Studio Tours and I remember I

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Carolyn Deuschle

OVAC in terns Maurice Satterwhite

OVAC Interns

4. How did the intern experience affect your latter life or career decisions?

Stephanie: It made me want to be an artist even more.

The things I learned motivated me and got me fired up.

by Julia Kirt

Since the first volunteer intern appeared on OVAC’s door step, interns have truly made our programs possible. They help with everything from day-to-day tasks to big projects.

Sarah: Since the internship with OVAC, I have held another non-profit internship with the Chicago Artists Coalition and several community volunteer positions.

I continue to work in the non-profit sector. My career goal is to eventually work in a non-profit art education program. Before this internship, my career goal was non-existent.

Paul: I volunteered for Momentum and have done so since. Next year I will serve as a co-chair of this event.

Carolyn: Currently, I’m an intern at Aperture magazine in New York. Aperture Foundation is a non-profit organization that supports photography. This summer I’m going to be attending the Columbia Publishing Course. My internship at OVAC added to an already growing feeling that publishing is what I want to do. I remember sitting in a meeting with the Art Focus Committee. I really was jealous of the decisions they got to make and the thought processes that were put into each decision. This is also when I began to really understand what “to editorialize” means - to state an opinion. I am grateful to OVAC for allowing me to do just that.

Daisy: My first job out of college was as an art coordinator, which would have been great if the position hadn’t been eliminated immediately thereafter. I ended up in an office environment but my time spent at OVAC helped me with skills acquired for my current position, an understanding of what schools and other arts organizations look for when applying, etc.

5. What did you learn that you hadn’t planned on learning?

Stephanie: I got to learn the behind the scenes operations of how jurors select work for shows, tips on how to market your work and how grants work.

Sarah: I learned a lot about the membership at OVAC and how large the artistic community is. After working and talking with several of the members, I was always amazed to find out that they had great studio art careers based in Oklahoma.

Paul: I learned about some of the fabulous programs OVAC makes possible such as the fellowship awards, grants, the Virtual Gallery, and exhibits such as the OVAC Biennial and VisonMakers.

Carolyn: How to work on a shoe-string budget.

Daisy: I certainly learned how to call strangers and gather information. I had fairly open minded expectations of what I would learn from my time at OVAC. 6. Would you recommend this to others? Why? Stephanie: Definitely. There is so much to learn about the art business and the staff at OVAC is so eager to teach anyone who is interested. They are so informed and experienced.

Sarah: Absolutely! OVAC can open so many doors for you; not only with career opportunities, but also by constantly reminding you of all of the exhibit and grant opportunities that local artists have available to them.

Paul: I think that an internship is a great idea for someone who is interested in a career in the arts, it can really open ones eyes to the opportunities and choices that exist in the art field and give him or her a firm foundation in the Oklahoma art world.

I believe my first OVAC intern was Nikki Williams-Sandschaper in 2000 who just called to say she wanted to start helping out. She went on to volunteer regularly for three years, fill in for Stephanie’s first maternity leave, and served as an early Momentum curator.

Interns have been from age 16 to ? (we don’t ask) and come from every regional school. They are artists of all disciplines, art historians, writers, public relations folk and business majors.

Hopefully interns learn something about being a professional artist, the nonprofit world and running a small organization.

In turn, we benefit from their fresh eyes. Numerous interns have served as sounding boards, offered suggestions that have improved programs, and brought new participants to the organization.

Many interns have become important leaders in the organization, helping as ongoing volunteers. Numerous have become friends. Moreover, interns have gone on to work for other arts organizations and volunteer within the community. I would credit much of the success of our interns after their time with us to their innate motivation.

Lots of interns come to us interested in learning about what is possible in artists’ careers here and getting to know the nonprofit world. That kind of proactive curiosity is laudable. OVAC benefits from their labors and I am transformed along with our interns.

About the Author: Julia Kirt has served as Executive Director of the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition since 1999. She can be reached at director@ovac-ok.org.

Carolyn: I would recommend an OVAC internship to anyone interested in non-profit administration, arts management or publishing. With OVAC in particular there are far more options for individual continued to page 10

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OVAC i n terns continued from page 9 impact within the organization and thus within the larger arts community. So in that way, interning with a smaller, locally minded organization can be more rewarding despite the fact that not everybody will instantly recognize it on a job resume.

Daisy: I would recommend being an intern to anyone who has the desire to push themselves, expand their horizons and take on new and challenging tasks. An internship is what you make of it; if you do not take it seriously and expect to learn, your experience will be fairly limited. I am still using skills I learned from my time as an intern and I am grateful for the experience.

No experience is required to be an OVAC intern but the intern needs to work a minimum of four hours a week. The length of the internship is flexible. An internship is most beneficial for those interested in the arts community and/or non-profit administration.

To apply, please send a resume and a letter describing your interests in the arts and some possible interests in your future to: Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition, PO Box 1946, Oklahoma City, OK 73101. n Erin Latham and Tommy Ball

About the Author: Cathy Deuschle is an artist and a teacher living in Tulsa.

Past OVAC Interns Anne Albright Alyson Atchison Kelley Baker Tommy L. Ball Jennifer Barron Vicky Best Julie Bice Kandi Bounds

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Current Interns Stephanie Brudzinski Jessica Calvert Katie Carter Shannon Crider Garris Dennis Carolyn Deuschle Kelley Farrar Denise Fox

Andrea Gardner Kelsey Gillen Ben Haas Benjamin L. Kinney Tosha Kubiak Erin Latham Paul Mays Sarah McElroy

Megan Myers Siri Ogg Lucja Orlowski Romy Owens Daisy Patton Shannon Priddy Kelly Rains Stephanie Ruggles

Maurice Satterwhite Shikoh Shiraiwa Telissa Tillman Kathy Vargas Lance Waldrop Nikki Williams

Lori Duckworth Jacquelyn Sparks Cindi Vasquez

OVAC s tories

Gary Warren, Maxine Warren and Sue Clancy around the time that the Artist Survival Kit was formed.

OVAC Stories MJ Alexander I’m not an evangelist by nature. I don’t make a habit of telling people they absolutely have to do something. But I make an exception for OVAC. My best two words of advice for every upand-coming artist -- or been-there-done-thatbut-never-got-around-to-it artist -- is: JOIN OVAC. In the last little while I’ve told Joe, the graphic artist at the Apple Store; James and Jayme, who make bone jewelry next door; Jay at Photo Factory; Chris the filmmaker; my friend Clarissa, who paints and works in glass.

Two words: Join OVAC. In return, I hear: Yeah, I should. Maybe I will.

Never heard of it. Why should I? Here’s why. I joined OVAC less than three years ago, after reading about the group in Art Focus magazine. I hesitated before checking yes on the “are you an artist” box. But, what the heck. Yes. So with that I mailed off the form with $35.

Who knew? In the thousand days since, I have had at least half a dozen opportunities that would not have happened otherwise. I was invited to Quartz Mountain for a free three-day Creative Capital workshop. My work was in OVAC’s Biennial exhibition and catalog, in 12 x 12, on the cover of Art Focus, and in the OVAC online gallery. I have received grants for professional development and continuing education.

In a world riddled with no, OVAC says yes. It made me realize yes, I am an artist. I’ll bet you are too.

Check the box.

Just do it.

It could change your life.

Join OVAC. MJ Alexander is a photographer in Oklahoma City.

Jennifer Barron Five years ago I graduated from college with a degree in Fine Arts. The day of the graduation ceremony, after my friends and family had left my apartment, I sat down and thought: okay, what now?

I literally went straight to my computer and googled “oklahoma art careers internships” and OVAC’s site was on the the first page, so I gave them a call and sent in my resume.

I started interning the next week. Every Wednesday for the next 7 months, I got to learn the ins and outs of OVAC- from bulk mailings and data entry to visiting artists in their studios and hanging artwork- it was a really varied experience that introduced me to a career path that I hadn’t given much thought to: arts administration.

I’d always just assumed that I’d need to leave

Oklahoma to work in the arts, but every day I worked at OVAC, I went home inspired. Meeting artists or looking at slides of images for the virtual gallery, I was so heartened to see that Oklahoma DOES and CAN support lots of artists. Maybe even more than just seeing artwork, Julia’s positivity and enthusiasm at the potential here made me rethink a lot of assumptions I’d made about Oklahoma.

Through working at OVAC, I heard about an open full-time position at the Arts Council of Oklahoma City and began working there. I’ve remained active in OVAC through volunteering, attending events, and submitting my own artwork for shows. I have learned so much, met so many amazing and inspiring people and have enjoyed taking advantage of fabulous opportunities- like co-chairing Momentum OKC. OVAC is an invaluable resource for artists in this state, and I am truly grateful for my involvement with this organization.

Jennifer Barron is a painter in Oklahoma City. She is Community Arts Program Director for the Arts Council of Oklahoma City.

Sue Clancy It was in late 1996 or early 1997 Judy Sullens picked up a brochure about OVAC in Stage Center and showed it to me. She knew I was interested in arts organizations as I had been active in various Norman area artists associations. continued to page 12

11

OVAC s tories

continued from page 11 I read the OVAC brochure and it didn’t quite make sense but I filed it for future reference.

Later in 1997, I was invited to participate in a statewide conference on Art in Oklahoma.

The conference was hosted by Alyson Stanfield at the Fred Jones Museum of Art in Norman.

A number of Oklahoma arts organizations and artists were present and we milled about meeting each other. I met Sunni Mercer who was then the director of OVAC but before I could ask any questions about OVAC we were all requested to take our seats. The conference began and the lady sitting next to me and I both whipped out our sketchbooks to take notes. During the first break we admired each other’s sketchbooks and introduced ourselves.

Maxine Warren was her name and she was there with her husband Guy. Maxine was on the board of OVAC. Over the course of the day Maxine explained about OVAC and I talked about the work I was doing with the Norman area artists. Maxine said “We need someone like you on the board of OVAC.” Two weeks later we got a phone call from Maxine who said “You’re now a board member of OVAC and the first meeting is …”

So I jumped into board membership with all four feet and became very active. I wanted to learn by doing. During my first year (or so) on the board we hired Julia Kirt to be the new OVAC director. Then at our first board retreat with Julia I discussed the need for better ‘business-of-art’ skill development for artists.

The board approved and Maxine and I were the co-chairs of the newly formed Artist Survival Kit. (We also discussed the need for a better OVAC brochure!) As a result of my activities with OVAC I’ve become a better business person and a more successful, artist. Thanks OVAC and happy 20th!

Sue Clancy is a mixed media artist in Norman.

Jacqueline Zanoni de los Santos OVAC has let me get to know many artists and their work. I have developed as an artist and a writer from the ongoing conversations I have had within the Oklahoma artists’ community.

I have grown to love Oklahoma as my state and I am sure that my experience around the state with OVAC contributed to that. I think my most memorable OVAC moments were brainstorming with and feeling inspired by other board members, especially Sue Clancy – who is a spitfire. Also, being up in Laura Warriner’s place in the mid-nineties before

12

The day of the graduation ceremony, after my friends and family had left my apartment, I sat down and thought: okay, what now?

-Jennifer Barron

she fixed it up, sitting on an odd assortment of rickety chairs with a ring of OVAC people that included Maxine and Guy Warren, Gloria and Ron Duncan, art critic John Brandenburg, Janice McCormick and Ed Main, and various other art historians and artists. We sat in a circle discussing Suzy Gablik’s Before the End of Time while the rain poured outside (and in some places inside). A train came roaring past making our seats rumble below us – I remember the generosity of spirit, sharing of ideas, Laura sharing her space and dreams for it.

Now do you see why I think OVAC made me love it here?

Jacqueline Zanoni de los Santos is an artist living in Edmond. She served on the OVAC board from 1990-2003 and was board president 2001-2003.

Beth Downing The first time I met Julia was dropping off work for Momentum OKC 2005 and I was astonished that she knew the name of the artist I had ridden over with – the director of this arts group, and she was chatting with actual artists!

That formed my impression of OVAC as an accessible, friendly, and comfortable group.

The recognition and engagement of young artists that has come from Momentum is nothing short of phenomenal. This event has grown into a prestigious and avant garde presentation of Oklahoma’s young, creative class – and has convinced many outside of the art community that they need look no further than their own neighborhood to find thoughtprovoking contemporary art.

I have had six solo shows in the past 4 years, and attribute my confidence, relationships with other artists, and business-of-art skills solely to OVAC. My participation in the Creative

Capital workshop, sponsored by OVAC, marked the true beginning of my development as an artist that can talk about herself and her art in a confident, articulate, and intelligent way.

Elizabeth Downing is a photographer in Tulsa and an OVAC Board Member.

Jim Eldridge Like the summer in another hemisphere, this January was burning. Almost to the point of questioning my own foolishness, I walked down East Sixth wearing a sleeveless shirt and the most head-banging metal wig I could find.

This was the hottest winter I could remember, with black fields of charcoal a haunting negative of the missing snow. Cigarette butts, wildfires, and I walked to the center of the biggest one of all.

A solid line of people were stacked around the building, like firewood before a great furnace. Excitement was building, bigger than anything, beyond the past. I called out to faces, friends. The bikes gathered like wolves, and tickets dropped from hands like white beads of paper sweat.

I was inside, running wild with the breath of two-thousand others, seared with the color, form of another thousand images. Then outside, flames flying from hands, lighters flashing in chorus, and the rumors of nearby fire marshalls. Back inside, the crowd roared in the mazed confusion, paint flew, words spoken sunk, and I squeezed in unison through every doorway. Friends from out of town and every new face to meet, I found the dark edges of the loading dock and returned to the cooling embers of red faces, Melissa in her pink bunny suit, and art gallery kung-fu.

Momentum 2006.

Jim Eldridge serves as OVAC’s Americorps member, 2007-08, focusing on the development of programs for High School artists.

Kelsey Karper Growing up and going to high school in Chickasha, OK, I had an interest in art but wasn’t really exposed to many opportunities for artists. Against my school counselor’s advice, I decided to go on to study art in college, beginning at Oklahoma City University. It was a whole new world! During my first semester, Julia Kirt came to speak in one of my classes about OVAC. I had never even considered that an organization like this existed. I took home

OVAC s tories

Sharyl Landis in her studio on the Tulsa Art Studio Tour 2008.

all of the materials she brought and read each line carefully. I joined as soon as I could and eventually submitted work to Momentum.

The next year, I served on the Momentum committee. The opportunity to work for OVAC was exciting to me. I already knew that the Julia and Stephanie were great to work with and that this was an organization that I believed in. Since beginning my job at OVAC, I have met and worked with even more wonderful people and been able to be a part of an organization that is making a difference in the lives of Oklahoma artists. Happy anniversary OVAC! Kelsey Karper is a photographer in Oklahoma City and serves as Marketing and Publications Manager for the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition.

Julia Kirt My first exposure to OVAC was when a friend gave me a ticket to the 12x12 in 1998. I had no idea what the event was and thought the name a bit funny! However, I saw the posters hanging around town. They were red on ribbed paper with silver and black ink—very well designed, memorable and hip looking.

The event blew my mind. It was held at the newly opened gallery of Laura Warriner (now transformed into the nonprofit Untitled [ArtSpace]). From what I understood this was the first big public event. When I walked up to the super-cool gallery, Mike Hosty was playing some bluesy tunes. Hundreds of people were enjoying themselves loudly. There were esteemed artworks hung on every wall.

I remember hearing artists talking to each other about new styles of artwork they were creating and visitors admiring carefully. People were so joyful to be there, it was infectious. The next year when I heard OVAC was looking for a new director, that experience compelled me to apply.

Julia Kirt has served as Executive Director of the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition since 1999.

P. S. As an aside to Stephanie Ruggles Winter’s memory—I too borrowed my suit for my interview! Luckily it worked and the search committee must have thought the suit fit me.

Stephen Kovash Over the last 11 years of my involvement, OVAC has provided artists with much needed support in the business of art as well as providing basic infrastructure needs for artists. As far as I know, no other organization in Oklahoma is filling that need. Working

with OVAC and all the people associated with OVAC has increased my comfort level with the decisions I have made in my art career. I would have done this stuff anyway, but the moral support, knowledge and generosity of OVAC has made a huge difference in my decisions.

In the next 20 years, I think OVAC can continue to build on the past successes and provide more of the badly needed infrastructure that will keep artists in Oklahoma and attract people to Oklahoma Artists.

Stephen Kovash serves as OVAC Board President and is owner of Istvan Gallery at Urban Art in Oklahoma City.

Sharyl Landis My first OVAC experience was going on the Art Studio Tour a few years ago when Ron Fleming was one of the participants. The next experience was when Bob Hawks asked me to be a volunteer at Bob and Jan’s studio during their Art Studio Tour. After these two events I decided to join OVAC. My first experience after joining was going to a Saturday seminar on several topics – the one I was most interested in was about pricing your art. I met David Wolfe who owns a gallery in Claremore and he said he was interested in what I make. He had only been open a week. I took several pieces of jewelry the following week and he was wonderful to work with. I then applied for Art 365 which was my first time to apply for anything like this and I enjoyed getting everything organized for this application.

This process got me ready to be on the Virtual Gallery. I also attended a Saturday seminar on art critique and met with Romney Nesbitt. She has been very helpful.

The most recent experience was the past Art Studio Tour which I participated in and it was wonderful. I enjoyed everything connected to the Tour – meetings, getting ready for the tour, opening night event, artist progressive tour and actual tour. It surpassed everything I could have imagined. OVAC has helped me so much and I am very pleased to be a member. Thank you!!!

Sharyl Landis is a jeweler, beadworker and mixed media artist in Tulsa.

Trent Lawson I’m not sure exactly how I first heard of OVAC. I think, as a student, I applied for a couple of grants (you could do that back then). But, my OVAC experience pretty much first started with Momentum.

The first Momentum was in 2002, so I was a senior at that point. I remember I just barely heard about this art show with an age limit and thinking, “Sure I’ll enter that.” Little did I know what was going to come of it. The show was unlike anything I’d been to before, with a woman laying in a kiddy-pool filled with milk and a 3 foot steel ball breaking things and art and sculpture and music; it was a good time.

I don’t even remember how I first met Julia, if it was before or after Momentum. I do know that after the first Momentum, I was president of the OCU Art Club and we invited Julia to speak at one of the meetings. I must have made a decent impression, because she asked me to be on the next Momentum committee. Thus started my volunteer lifestyle and career with OVAC. The next year I was co-chair and it all snow balled from there. It’s a slippery slope with volunteering, and Momentum was my gateway drug.

Trent Lawson is a mixed media artist in Oklahoma City. He is also OVAC’s Events Production Coordinator.

Randy Marks The first memory I have of OVAC is that it put a roof over my head.

My house was a flat-roofed Mediterranean continued to page 14

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OVAC s tories

continued from page 13 in an historic Oklahoma City neighborhood. Maintenance on the house had been deferred for years before I bought it and the roof was suffering. Each time it rained at least a half dozen containers had to be deployed to catch water. As a self-employed fledgling artist I was having difficulty putting $1500 together to get a new roof.

John McNeese called one day to tell me that I had won one of the Awards of Merit in VisionMakers (along with Corazon Watkins and Don Narcomey). After the call I literally cried from relief knowing that the award carried a $1500 prize. For as long as I lived under it my new roof never leaked in my house which was also my studio and lamp factory.

A couple of months after the VisionMakers opening David Phelps called to ask if I would like to be a member of the OVAC board of directors. I was happy to join the board and invest in an organization that had invested in me. It is thrilling to continue to see OVAC getting stronger and supporting more artists year after year.

Randy Marks is a sculptor who now lives in Portland, OR.

That year, the show was hosted at the Kirkpatrick Center. At the time, it was one of the only major places to exhibit a show of that caliber.

After the work was delivered and all were waiting for the show to open, OVAC got a call from the Kirkpatrick Center informing them that they were planning to censor my piece out of the show.

Panic ensued and an emergency meeting was scheduled that evening. I was invited to attend. Basically, they left the decision whether to allow them to pull the piece or refuse to be censored to me. Either cancel the show or make a compromise. They guaranteed me that they would stand behind any decision I would make.

Knowing that the whole show, to some degree, hung on my decision, I chose to work with the center. The compromise was very disheartening and degrading but I personally bit the bullet and allowed it to happen. I remember that time being of growth, not just for me but OVAC as well. OVAC’s integrity was tested and they chose to stand for their principles and for the artists they served.

OVAC never used the Kirkpatrick Center again for any of their events.

I have always believed in the potential of this organization not only to support artists like myself, but also to engender visual art experiences in communities across the state.

-Sunni Mercer

Cindy Mason The first time I was aware of OVAC was as a volunteer for 12x12 at Stage Center with the Arts Commandos, a volunteer group with the Arts Council of Oklahoma City. John McNeese was the director at the time. After that one experience with 12x12, I enjoyed helping with it so much that I volunteered every year. I was eventually in charge of the volunteers for many years. The year of the first Open Studio Tour, I was asked to manage the volunteers for all the studios during the tour. I did that for a number of years and later Randy Marks called me to ask me to be on the board.

I was not only thrilled but honored because I thought highly of OVAC and really wanted to be a part of it. I thought it over quite seriously and accepted. I enjoyed my six years on the board and was sad to see my time come to an end.

One of the best things about OVAC is that it represents all artists in Oklahoma. That is a daunting feat, yet OVAC has made it happen.

It is open to everyone in the arts community throughout the state. I think because of that it has helped artists feel a certain pride in being recognized and appreciated. It has helped bond the arts community.

I have watched OVAC grow since that first 12x12 I was a part of, not only as an organization in the community, but as an important organization for our artists across our state, watching them realize the importance as well and becoming a part of it.

Cindy Mason is a painting and mixed media artist in Oklahoma City.

Paul Medina A year after the Oklahoma City bombing, I produced a piece of art for the VisionMakers exhibition that addressed that tragic event. It was

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fairly ambiguous but a statement about the work and my feeling about the bombing accompanied it for installation. I went through the jury process and was accepted to be a part of the show.

Paul Medina is a mixed media artist in Oklahoma City.

Sunni Mercer Years ago, as an emerging artist I recall researching every possible venue in Oklahoma for grant and resource opportunities. I remember Michael Freed, then Director of IAO, telling me about OVAC. Shortly after familiarizing myself with the organization, I became an OVAC Board Member. I have always believed in the potential of this organization not only to support artists like myself, but also to engender visual art experiences in communities across the state.

When John McNeese resigned, I was asked if I would consider taking the position as Director. I accepted. Those were difficult years as the Board worked diligently to keep OVAC solvent. Several grants were written to create a much needed monetary reserve and operational budget. Other funding supported new equipment, office furniture and supplies. The OVAC logo was designed during this time and several corporate partnerships were developed. In the end, OVAC emerged as a stronger more resilient organization. New grants and development programs for artists were established while membership and fundraising efforts were expanded. I believe that during that period of struggle the roots of OVAC grew deep setting the foundation for an organization perched to grow.

I learned a great deal as Director of OVAC. I learned that an organization is only as strong as its members and its Board, that every worthwhile program owes its existence to hundreds of volunteer hours and generous in-kind donations. As I think back to the last Board

OVAC s tories

Retreat I attended as Director, I remember thinking when the torch was passed to Julia, “this was worth it.” Over the years, as I have watched OVAC, the exciting ways it has grown and expanded under Julia’s wise direction I know I was correct; it was worth it.

Sunni Mercer served as Director of OVAC from 1996-1999.

George Oswalt OVAC puts the money where their mouth is.

Since the beginning, OVAC has always been about supporting artists of all disciplines.

George Oswalt is a painter in Oklahoma City.

Kate Rivers The local art world does little to provide for artists. OVAC provides a central base, a place that artists can turn for financial assistance, an opportunity to exhibit their work, an information source, and a place to meet other artists and support people.

Without OVAC these opportunities would be missing in this state.

Through this organization I have met others involved in the arts, received exhibition opportunities, and gained confidence of living and working in a new state through the active involvement in this organization.

Kate Rivers is a painter and printmaker living in Ada. She is also a professor at East Central University.

Liz Roth I moved to Oklahoma three years ago, and as a professional artist, the very first thing I did was look for artists’ organizations. As an artist, it’s important to understand who your community is – other artists, art lovers, places to exhibit, where to get support of all kinds – you can’t live in a vacuum.

Every artist I met said “Oh, you HAVE to join OVAC!” So, of course I did, and I never looked back! I started by visiting Open Studios in Tulsa, and by attending some great events such as DIY Upgrade.

As a professor, I encouraged my students to apply to Momentum, and they have, in droves. I teach a professional practices class for undergraduate artists, and Julia Kirt, the Director of OVAC, graciously came and presented great information for my students.

I applied for OVAC’s Art 365 grant, and was privileged to have been selected. I spent the next year working hard to make sure I really earned that money by having a great exhibit. I understood that individuals and organizations support OVAC so that OVAC can support artists’ contributions to our culture, and I took that trust seriously.

So, really, my life as a professional artist in this state is quite closely intertwined with OVAC. I’m proud that we have such an active arts organization that caters to many artists’ needs – needs for money, for exposure, for exhibition venues, for marketing advice, for acknowledgement. I’ve met great people, and had and continue to have great opportunities. Thanks, OVAC! Liz Roth is a painter in Stillwater and a professor at Oklahoma State University.

Sue Moss Sullivan I served on the OVAC Board for about six years. Sunni Mercer had just been named Director. I was President of the Board when we interviewed and hired Julia Kirt as Director. I consider this the best, most important move OVAC had made up to that time. Julia led us to higher grounds with all her enthusiasm, energy, and expertise, and she continues to do so. I am very proud to have been part of that era.

cool new job as Executive Director for the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition. I had never heard of it but it sounded very impressive, more so after my second glass of wine.

I immediately asked her if she needed an assistant (it never hurts to ask!).

Unfortunately, she did not need one at the time but within a year she sent me an email saying she was looking for an intern. I have never been so nervous as I was to interview for a very minimal paying internship for a very wonderful sounding organization. So in my borrowed suit and revamped resume I went to meet with Julia at Stage Center.

And the rest is history.

Seven years later, I have moved up from intern to Program Assistant and have grown to love this organization and all that it has to offer to artists and art lovers.

Stephanie Ruggles Winter is a painter in Oklahoma City. She has served as Program Assistant for OVAC since 2001. n

In the next 20 years, I think OVAC will continue to always remember to support artists and make art a highly visible priority to the community at large, no matter how big OVAC grows.

Sue Moss Sullivan is a fiber artist in Oklahoma City.

Ben Winter OVAC has computers. I like to play on them.

Kelsey is good, she gave me speakers. I don’t know what else to say. I like the stairs and elevator.

Ben Winter, age 4, son of Stephanie Ruggles Winter. Ben came to work at the OVAC office with Stephanie for the first 10 months of his life.

Stephanie Ruggles Winter, Ben Winter (9 months old) and Julia Kirt at the OVAC Annual Member’s Meeting 2004

Stephanie Ruggles Winter The first time I heard of OVAC was from Julia Kirt. I ran into to her at our friend Estrella’s party and she started telling me of her very

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Timeline 1988

• Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition incorporated July 20, 1988 by founder John McNeese and signers Laura Warriner and Mark Briscoe.

• 1st issue of Cross Currents newsletter • Beneficiary of Jewel Box Theatre performance • First grant from State Arts Council of Oklahoma for expansion of newsletter • Slide registry established • Membership expanded to over 80 people.

• Board Members: Mark Briscoe, Jerry Brown, Marie Dawson, Nicholas Kyle, John McNeese (Secretary/Treaurer), Roger Runge (President), Laura Warriner (Vice President)

1988 Visionmakers, Richard Copeland

1989

1988 Visionmakers, D. Vernon, I Miss Chicago 1989 Distinguished Achievement Award presented to Betty Price by Roger Runge

1990 Distinguished Achievement Award to JR and Fran Witt

1990

• 501(c)3 status received from the IRS • Received grant from State Arts Council of Oklahoma to fund the start up costs of a slide registry • 1st Artist Award of Excellence for $1,000 given to a visual artist, James Seitz of Seminole, juror Murray Smither, Delahunty Gallery, Dallas, TX • 1st annual Distinguished Achievement Award to the VisionMakers exhibition, at the time organized by the State Arts Council of Oklahoma • Classen Arts Center closes, OVAC office moves to 6431½ N. Ollie • First Annual Meeting held • Arts Dialogue established; program to expand public interest and art awareness • Board Members: Roger Runge (President), Laura Warriner (Vice President), Nicholas Kyle (Secretary/Treasurer), Mark Briscoe, Jerry Brown, Jon Burris, Marie Dawson, Pat Gallagher, Nona Jean Hulsey, Linda Warren, Georgia Williams

• OVAC hosts forum on public funding for artists at City Arts Center in OKC

• •

OVAC takes on the VisionMakers exhibition from State Arts Council of Oklahoma

Laurie Spencer receives $1,000 Artist Award of Excellence, juror Barry Whistler of Dallas, TX. Carla Cain, OKC receives $,1000 Media Award of Excellence in photography and Cathey Edwards receives $1,000 Media Award of Excellence in Film and Video, juror Tom Southall, Fort Worth, TX.

• •

First 12x12 Art Show & Sale held at Pickard Art Gallery as a fundraiser for OVAC. OVAC assists Arts Council of Oklahoma City with “Phantom Galleries” project, setting up exhibits, performances and

installations in vacant storefronts.

• Annual Meeting held at City Arts Center in OKC • Sudden Opportunity Fund established • Distinguished Achievement Award to J.R. and Fran Witt • A Show of Support, an exhibition of small works to benefit the OVAC grant and awards fund raises over $5,500, held at the Crain Wolov Gallery in Tulsa

• •

OVAC Newsletter changes to Cross

Currents format in July of 1990

Board Members: Roger Runge (President), Laura Warriner (Vice President), Nicholas Kyle (Secretary/Treasurer), Jerry Brown, Jon Burris, Marie Dawson, Pat Gallagher, Cecil Lee, James Seitz, Byron Shen, Gael Sloop, Teresa Valero, Linda Warren, Ann Weisman, Georgia Williams

1991 Biennial, Byron Shen (middle), George Oswalt (R)

1991

• Oklahoma Painting Biennial I announced, held at Hulsey Gallery at the Norick Arts Center, juror Jim Waid, Artist, Tucson, AZ. Three $1,000 awards of merit given to Carol Beesley, George Bogart and Rebecca Friedman.

•

$1,000 award for art criticism to John Pickard for his article, “A Postcard: Reflections on Oklahoma Art.” Juror Patrice Clark Koelsch, Executive Director, Center for Arts Criticism, St. Paul, MN. Honorable Mentions given to Janice McCormick and R.G. Allison.

• • •

$1,000 Artist Award of Excellence given to David R. Gill, Lawton, juror Myra Morgan, Kansas City, MO. Distinguished Achievement Award to Virginia Myers, founder of Living Arts of Tulsa.

OVAC partners with State Arts Council of Oklahoma to present VisionMakers exhibition, held at Oklahoma City Art Museum at the Fair Grounds, juror John Perreault, Senior Curator, American Craft Museum. Five $1,500 awards of merit given to D.J. Lafon, V’Lou Oliveira, Tom Pershall, David M. Roberts and Eliza Tillie Woods.

•

2nd Annual 12x12 fundraiser held at HTB offices (now the OK Commerce Dept)

•

OVAC sponsors an exhibition of works by Oklahoma artists at the Hickory Street Annex in Dallas, TX

•

Board Members: Jerry Brown, Betty Bowen, Jennie Curtis, Marie Dawson, Pat Gallagher, Nick Kyle, Cecil Lee, Roger Runge (President), James Seitz, Jan Semrod, Gael Sloop, Maxine Warren, Laura Warriner (Secretary/Treasurer), Ann Weisman, Georgia Williams (Vice President)

1991 Biennial, Troy Wilson

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Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition •

1992

Stephanie Grubbs, Edmond, receives the $1,000 Media Award of Excellence in Fiber, juror Morgan Clifford, St. Paul, MN.

•

3rd Annual 12x12 fundraiser held at Oklahoma School of Science and Math.

•

Board Members: Dennis Belindo, Richard L. Bohanon, Betty Bowen, Jerry Brown (Treasurer), Jennie Curtis, Marie Dawson, Kathi Ann Goebel, Sam Joyner, Nick Kyle (Vice President), D.J. Lafon, Cecil Lee, O. Gail Poole, Roger Runge (President), Anne T. Skupin, Gael Sloop, Maxine Warren, Laura Warriner (Secretary), Ann Weisman

1993

• Oklahoma Painting Biennial II held at Hulsey Gallery, Oklahoma City University, juror William G.

Otton, President, Wichita Center for the Arts. Three $1,000 Awards of Merit given to Debra Hensley, Byron

Shen and Troy Wilson.

•

Edgar Heap of Birds receives the $2,000 Artist Award of Excellence and Paul Medina receives the $1,500 Media Award of Excellence in Sculpture, juror Betty Moody, Houston, TX.

•

1995 Award of Excellence Recipient, Gloria Abella De Duncan, Sorceress at Dawn, Acrylic on Canvas, 48”x36”

Distinguished Achievement Award to Alexandre Hogue for his lifetime of achievement and his inspiration to other Oklahoma artists.

•

OVAC turns five, awards and grants given totals over $25,500

•

4th Annual 12x12 fundraiser held at Stage Center.

1995 Award of Excellence Recipient, Don Longcrier, Untitled (Hair Straightener), Metal, Cloth, 12.5”x9”x6.5”

•

Board Members: Gene Barth, Betty Bowen, Jerry Brown (Treasurer), Jennie Curtis, Ronald J. Duncan, Don Finch, Kathi Goebel, Sam Joyner, Nick Kyle, Cecil Lee (Vice President), O. Gail Poole, Roger Runge (President), Betty Ann Sisson, Anne T. Skupin, Gael Sloop, Maxine Warren, Laura Warriner (Secretary), Ann Weisman

•

1994

Two challenge grants received from the Phillips Petroleum Foundation & Kirkpatrick Foundation • Annual meeting held in Guthrie • OVAC moves office to Stage Center • Annual Meeting held in Guthrie • Maxine Richard receives $2,000 Artist Award of Excellence and DJ Lafon receives $1,500 Media Award of Excellence in Drawing and Printmaking, juror Jesús Bautista Moroles, Artist, Rockport, TX. • 5th Annual 12x12 fundraiser held at Kirkpatrick Center.

•

VisionMakers held at Oklahoma City Art Museum, juror Matthew Kangas, Independent Critic and Curator, Seattle, WA. Five

$1,500 Awards of Merit given • Grants and Awards given totals over $38,500, plus over $10,000 in artist honorarium • October 3: OVAC moves office to Stage Center • Board Members: Gene Barth, Thomas Batista, Betty Bowen, Jerry Brown (Treasurer), Rebecca Lowber Collins, Ronald J. Duncan, Don Finch (Vice President), Kathi Goebel, Sam Joyner, Robbie Kienzle (Secretary), Nick Kyle, Cecil Lee (President), Janice McCormick, David Phelps, O. Gail Poole, Roger Runge, Betty Ann Sisson, Maxine Warren, Ann Weisman

1995 Award of Excellence Recipient, Sunni Mercer, Upas, Bones, Metal, 15”x17”x11”

1995

•

Oklahoma Painting Biennial III held at City Arts Center in OKC and then traveled to Ardmore’s Goddard Center, juror Sandy Ballatore, Curator of Contemporary Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe, NM. Three $1,500 Awards of Merit given to Jeff Dodd, George Oswalt and Tom Poolaw • May 5-6: Artist Weekend and Business of Art seminar sponsored by OVAC, held at City Arts Center • Annual meeting at City Arts Center • Three $1,500 Artist Awards of Excellence given to Gloria Abella De Duncan, Don Longcrier and Sunni Mercer, juror Mia McEldowney, Seattle, WA. • 6th Annual 12x12 fundraiser held at Kirkpatrick Center.

• Board Members: Thomas Batista, Betty Bowen, Jerry Brown (Treasurer), Rebecca Lowber Collins, Ronald J. Duncan, Kathi Goebel, Robbie Kienzle (Secretary), Nick Kyle, Cecil Lee (President), Janice McCormick, Sunni Mercer, David Phelps (Vice President), Roger Runge, Toby Thompson, Tom R. Toperzer, Randy Wallace, Maxine Warren, Ann Weisman

•

1996

John McNeese one of 14 individuals and 3 corporations to receive a 1996 Governor’s Arts Award • John McNeese resigns after serving as Executive Director since OVAC’s formation • Sunni Mercer of Bethany selected to new directorship

• VisionMakers held at Kirkpatrick Center in OKC and then travels to Bartlesville Museum in Price Tower, Bartlesville, juror Ruth Deyoung Kohler, Director, John Michael Kohler Art Center, Sheboygan, WI. Awards of Merit given to Janet Massad, V’Lou Oliveira and Chris Ramsay

•

Three $1,500 Fellowship Awards given to Marty Avrett, Stillwater; Jennifer Gerard Cocoma, OKC; and Dawna Wallis, Tulsa, jurors Kaleta Doolin, Director, Contemporary Culture Inc and Columbia Art Center, and Alan Govenar, President, Documentary Arts, Dallas, TX. • Business of Art Seminar held at McAlpine Center, OKC • 7th Annual 12x12 fundraiser held at Stage Center.

• Board Members: Nancy Anderson, Betty Bowen, Ronald J. Duncan, Kathi Goebel, Richard Jenkins, Will K. Jones, Nick Kyle, Cecil Lee (President), Janice McCormick (Secretary), Sunni Mercer (Vice President), Tom Pershall, David Phelps (Treasurer), Roger Runge, Toby Thompson, Tom R. Toperzer, Randy Wallace (President-elect), Maxine Warren

1996 Award of Excellence Recipient, Marty Avrett, #234, Mixed Media, 9”x12” 1996 Award of Excellence Recipient, Dawna Wallis, Supply & Demand, Silver Print & Mixed Media, 14”x7.5”

17

Timeline 1999 Member Meeting, Sue Clancy and Sebastian Mendes

1999 Member Meeting, Sue Moss Sullivan & Byron Shen

1997

• Business of Art seminar: The Professional Slide Registry at Enterprise Square • New logo designed by Resource Design Associates • Annual meeting held at Fred Jones, Jr. Museum of Art • Community Partnership Grant established • First Open Studio Tour held as a fundraiser • OVAC establishes first website for announcements and program materials • Cecil Lee takes over as Editor of Cross Currents • Oklahoma Painting Biennial IV held at City Arts Center, Kathy A. Albers, Albers Fine Arts Gallery, Memphis, TN. Three $1,500 Awards of Merit given to John Cox, Wendy Mahsetky-Poolaw and Corazon S. Watkins.

•

Three $1,500 Artist Awards of Excellence given to Randy Wallace, OKC; Corazon Watkins, Norman; and John R. Hood,

Stillwater, juror Donald E. Knaub, Wichita, KS.

• • •

Grants and awards to artists totals over $65,000 8th Annual 12x12 fundraiser held at Stage Center.

Board Members: Nancy Anderson, Ronald J. Duncan, Robert French, Richard Jenkins, Will K. Jones, Cecil Lee, Randy Marks (Treasurer), Janice McCormick (Secretary), Tom Pershall, Roger Runge, Ira Schlezinger, Gail Sloop, Sue Moss Sullivan (Vice President), Tom R. Toperzer, Randy Wallace (President), Maxine Warren, John White, Richard Ray Whitman

2000, 12 x 12, Bill and Mary Ellen Gumerson (L&R)

1998 • • • • • • •

OVAC and Women’s Resource Center partner for Business of Art seminar Sarkey’s Foundation Grant of $20,000 for growing the organization Endowment established at the Oklahoma City Community Foundation.

Reserve account created to even out cash flow.

Grants and awards given to artists totals over $70,000 Over 280 members First Community Arts Partnership Grants awarded to Brad Beesley, Norman; and Gwen Ingram, Drumright.

• VisionMakers held at City Arts Center, juror Bruce W. Pepich, Director, Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Art. Three $1,500 Awards of Merit given to Bryce Brimer, Patrick Synar and George Wilson • Three $1,500 Artist Awards of Excellence given to Dortha Killian, Norman; Clint Shore, OKC; and Rebecca Friedman Wheeler, OKC, juror Robert McClain, Houston, TX. • 9 th Annual 12x12 fundraiser changes to a curated exhibition coupled with silent auction held at Laura Warriner’s new gallery at 1 NE 3rd in OKC. Event is Co-Chaired by Randy Marks and Gail Sloop.

• Board Members: Eleanor Carmack, Sue Clancy, Ronald J. Duncan (Vice President), Christiane Faris (Secretary), Robert French (Treasurer), Cecil Lee, Randy Marks, Cindy Mason, Sebastian Mendes, Janice McCormick, Ira H. Schlezinger, Gael Sloop, Sue Moss Sullivan (President), Tom R. Toperzer, Maxine Warren, John White

2000, 12 x 12, Asia, Andy & Sue Moss Sullivan 2000, 12 x 12, Christiane Faris

2000, 12 x 12, Paul Medina & ByronShen

2000

1999

• Biennial V expands to include drawing in addition to painting.

• Oklahoma Painting & Drawing Biennial V held at City Arts Center, juror David S. Rubin, Curator of 20th Century

Art, Phoenix Art Museum. Three Awards of Merit given to Norman Akers, Wendy Mahseky-Poolaw and George Wilson.

• Sunni Mercer resigns from Director position. Sue Moss Sullivan and Randy Marks serve as temporary co-directors.

• July 1: Julia Kirt takes over as Executive Director • Annual Meeting held at the home of Randy Marks • Three $1,500 Artist Awards of Excellence given to Mark Lewis, Tulsa; Burt Harbison, OKC; and P. S. Gordon, Tulsa, juror Don Bacigalupi, Director, San Diego Museum of Art. • 10th annual 12x12 fundraiser held at The Gallery of Laura Warriner.

• Board Members: Ellen Berney, Eleanor Carmack, Sue Clancy, John Cox, Jacqueline Zanoni de los Santos, Gloria De Duncan, Christiane Faris (Vice President), Robert French (Treasurer), Will Gumerson, Janice McCormick, Randy Marks, Cindy Mason, Ira H. Schlezinger, John Seward, Gael Sloop, Sue Moss Sullivan (President), Maxine Warren

• VisionMakers held at City Arts Center, juror Darrel Sewell, Robert L. McNeil Jr., Curator of American Art and Head of American Art Dept, Philadelphia Museum of Art. Three $1,500 Awards of Merit given to Pamela Husky, Jaymes Dudding and George Wilson • Newsletter name changes from Cross

• • • •

Currents to CrossCurrents of Oklahoma,

Cecil Lee resigns from editorial board, Janice McCormick takes over as Editor Business of Art Conference becomes the Artist Survival Kit program, committee led by Sue Clancy and Maxine Warren.

OVAC accepted as a Tier II member agency of Allied Arts, receiving allocations of general operating support for the organization Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art in Shawnee hosts A

Decade of Excellence, showcasing artists who had won OVAC Awards of Excellence

over the last 10 years

•

Three $1,500 Artist Awards of Excellence given to Don Thompson, Tulsa; Kreg Kallenberger, Tulsa; and Dennis Martin, Oklahoma City.

Guest Curator: Nancy Hoffman, Nancy Hoffman Gallery, NYC

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2000, A Decade of Excellence, John McNeese, Laura Warriner and Julia Kirt

• •

11th annual 12x12 fundraiser held at Untitled Gallery.

Board Members: Gail Kana Anderson, Nancy Anderson, Ellen Berney, Eleanor Carmack, Sue Clancy, Gloria Abella de Duncan, Jacqueline Zanoni de los Santos (Vice President), Christiane E. Faris (President), Robert French, Will Gumerson, Randy Marks, Cindy Mason (Secretary), Sebastian Mendes, Janice McCormick, Janette Meetze, Audrey Schmitz, Dr. Elliott Schwartz, John Seward, Byron Shen, Sue Moss Sullivan, Maxine Warren, John White (Treasurer)

Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition • •

2001 Studio Tour, George Oswalt

2001

Budget tops $100,000.

OVAC receives grant from Oklahoma City Community Foundation for a second computer and slide scanner, enabling slide registry to go digital.

• Oklahoma Painting and Drawing Biennial VI held at City Arts Center, juror Terrie Sultan, Director and Chief Curator at the Blaffer Gallery, Houston, TX. Three Awards of Merit given to Dennis Martin, David Holland and Nathan Opp.

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OVAC Fundraising Dinner hosted by Chris and Laveryl Lower and Laura and Joe Warriner.

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Exhibit of OVAC grant and award winners held at Leslie Powell Gallery in Lawton

• • •

Annual Meeting held at Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art

OVAC Email Newsletters begin, listing opportunities for artists.

Stephanie Ruggles (Winter) hired as OVAC’s Program Assistant.

•

12 th annual 12x12 fundraiser held at Untitled Gallery.

•

Board Members: Jane Ford Aebersold, Gail Kana Anderson (Vice President), Nancy P. Anderson, Ellen Berney, Eleanor Carmack, Sue Clancy, Gloria Abella de Duncan, Jacqueline Zanoni de los Santos (President), Christiane E. Faris, Brent Greenwood, Cindy Mason, Janette Meetze (Secretary), Chris Ramsay, Audrey Schmitz (Treasurer), Elliott R. Schwartz, John Seward, Byron Shen (Vice

2001 Biennial, Kathy Stovall

President), Kathy Stovall, Debby Williams

• •

2002

OVAC Grants revamped to include Professional Basics, Creative Projects, and Education Assistance Grants for artists.

Momentum: art doesn’t stand still, an interdisciplinary event featuring artists aged 30 and younger,

instigated at Stage Center Theatre, OKC. Jurors: Nikki Williams and Debby Williams.

• Open Studio Tour expands to Tulsa

•

VisionMakers held at Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, juror Lane Coulter, Independent Curator, Santa Fe,

NM. Three $1,500 Awards of Merit given to Ron Fleming, David Phelps and Elia Woods.

• Three $2,000 Artist Awards of Excellence given to Brandon Reese, Stillwater; Steven L. Brown, Chickasha; and Robert Dorlac, Hydro, juror Betsy Senior, Senior and Shopmaker Gallery, NYC. • 13th annual 12x12 fundraiser held at 410 N. Walker in OKC. • Board Members: Jane Aebersold, Gail Kana Anderson, Carissa Bish, Eleanor Carmack, Sue Clancy, Jacqueline Zanoni de los Santos (President), Joan Goth, Brent Greenwood, Cindy Mason, J.D. Merryweather, Chris Ramsay, Audrey Schmitz (Treasurer), Elliott R. Schwartz, John Seward, Carl Shortt, Kathy Stovall (Vice President), Suzanne Thomas, Steve Tomlin, Debby Williams

•

2002 Momentum, Kory Twaddle

2002 Tulsa Artists Studio Tour

2003 Momentum, Molly O’Connor (L)

2003

OVAC Gallery is launched online, created from the Slide Registry.

• Collaborative fundraiser with the Chocolate Factory Theatre Company called “Electric Summer.”

•

Momentum held at Stage Center. Curators: Janice Seline, Exhibitions Curator at Oklahoma City Museum of Art and Burt Harbison,

•

Oklahoma Painting & Drawing Biennial VII held at City Arts Center, juror Raechell Smith, founding Director of the H&R Block

Director of Nona Jean Hulsey Gallery.

Artspace at Kansas City Art Institute. Three Awards of Merit given to Ernesto Sanchez, Mark Lewis and John Cox. • The Oklahoma Visual Arts Fellowship of $5,000 is established to supplement the awards and grants program. Heidi Mau, Norman, receives the first Fellowship. Juror Patricia C. Phillips, Dean of the School of Fine and Performing Arts at the State University of New York, New Paltz, is the Executive Editor of Art Journal.

• Three $2,000 Artist Awards of Excellence given to Kristy Lewis Andrew, Tulsa; Michelle Martin, Tulsa; and Chris Ramsay, Stillwater, juror Patricia C. Phillips.

• 14th annual 12x12 fundraiser held at TAPArchitecture.

• Board Members: Jane Aebersold (President), Ellen Berney, Carissa Bish, Richard Bivins, Diana Brown, Sue Clancy, Joan Goth, Brent Greenwood (Vice President), Pam Hodges, Cindy Mason, J.D. Merryweather (Vice President), Chris Ramsay, Audrey Schmitz, Elliott Schwartz, John Seward, Carl Shortt, Kathy Stovall, Suzanne Thomas (Treasurer), Steve Tomlin, Teresa Valero, Debby Williams

2004

2003, Julia Kirt in OVAC office

2004 Momentun in Tulsa

• Momentum held at Farmer’s Market. Curators: Sue Clancy and Heidi Mau. • First Momentum

Tulsa held at the Matthews Building in the Brady District. Curator: Dr. Michaela

Merryday.

• Receive first grant from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts to support exhibition programs.

• Receive first National Endowment for the Arts grant to support the Artist Survival Kit program.

• VisionMakers held at Individual Artists of Oklahoma Gallery, juror Diane Barber, Visual Arts Director, Diverseworks, Houston, TX. Three $1,500 Awards of Merit given to Jonathan Hils, Phyllis Mantik and Bob Hawks.

• $5,000 Oklahoma Visual Arts Fellowship given to Jonathan Hils, Norman. Three $2,000 Artist Awards of Excellence given to Joseph Daun, Oklahoma City; Laura A. Guth, Midwest City; and Gary Hickerson, Oklahoma City. Juror Mark Pascale, Chicago, IL. • 15th annual 12x12 fundraiser held at The Montgomery building.

• Board Members: Thomas Batista, Ellen Berney, Carissa Bish, Richard Bivins, Diana Brown, Maya Christopher, Claudia Doyle, Joan Goth, Pam Hodges, J.D. Merryweather (Treasurer), Chris Ramsay, Elliott Schwartz, John Seward (Vice President), Carl Shortt (President), Lila Todd, Suzanne Thomas (Secretary), Teresa Valero, Rick Vermillion

2004 Members Meeting

2004 Momentun, OKC, Steve Schmidt

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Timeline 2005

• Lori Oden welcomed as new Publications and Marketing Associate.

• Momentum held at 1100 N Broadway. Curators: Dustin Hamby and Troy Wilson.

• Momentum Tulsa held in former Luby’s building. Curators: Bryce Brimer and Sarah Williams Hearn.

• Partnered with Creative Capital, NY-based organization, for an in-depth Professional Development Retreat • Budget tops $200,000.

• The magazine Cross Currents of Oklahoma’s name changes to Art Focus Oklahoma.

• Oklahoma Painting & Drawing Biennial VIII held at University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma, juror Elizabeth Dunbar,

2005 12 x 12, Erin Oldfield

Curator of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City. Awards of Merit given to John Cox, Bradley Jessop, Sharon McCoy, Kathleen Rivers, Michael Wilson and Larry Preston.

• 16th annual 12x12 fundraiser held at Sonic Building.

• Board Members: Thomas Batista, Diana Brown, Claudia Doyle, Jean Ann Fausser, Skip Hill, Pam Hodges (Vice President), Michaela Merryday, J.D. Merryweather, Dwayne Morris, Chris Ramsay, Kathleen Rivers, Elliott Schwartz, John Seward (Vice President), Carl Shortt (President), Suzanne Thomas, Lila Todd (Secretary), Teresa Valero, Rick Vermillion (Treasurer)

2005 First Issue as Art Focus Oklahoma

2006 • •

2005 Creative Capital

Kelsey Karper named Marketing and Publications Manager Partnered with Untitled [ArtSpace], IAO Gallery, University of Oklahoma, and University of Central Oklahoma to

host the Upgrade!

International: DIY Symposium.

• Momentum held at 111 N. Harrison. Curators: Steve Ligget and Dr. Susan Caldwell.

• Momentum Tulsa held at Mathews Warehouse. Curators: Joe Daun and EK Jeong.

• VisionMakers held at Leslie Powell Gallery, juror Mark Masuoka, Director, Bemis Center, Omaha, NE. • $5,000 Oklahoma Visual Arts Fellowship given to Glenn Herbert Davis, Tulsa. Three $2,000 Artist Awards

2006 A.S.K., Guymon

of Excellence given to Kjelshus Collins, Oklahoma City; Martha Avrett, Stillwater; and Sarah Williams Hearn, Oklahoma City. Juror Bill Goldston, ULAE, NYC.

• • •

2006 Tulsa House Beautiful, Cindy Swanson (R)

2007 12 x 12 Paul and Trinity Mays

17th annual 12x12 fundraiser held in a former school at 410 Walnut.

Board Members: Thomas Batista, Jean Ann Fausser, Joey Frisillo, Skip Hill, Pam Hodges (President), E.K. Jeong, Stephen Kovash, Michaela Merryday, Suzanne Mitchell, Dwayne Morris, Chris Ramsay, Kathleen Rivers, Ira Schlezinger, John Seward (Vice President), Carl Shortt, Suzanne Thomas, Lila Todd (Secretary), Rick Vermillion

2007 • • • • • • • •

OVAC invited as featured charity at Tulsa House Beautiful Show.

(Treasurer), Elia Woods

OVAC invited as featured charity at Oklahoma City Home & Garden Show.

Budget tops $300,000.

800 members.

Annual Members Meeting held at Artsplace Ponca City

Momentum held at Downtown Airpark. Curators: Bert Seabourn and Christian Pitt.

Momentum Tulsa held at Living Arts and Liggett Studio. Curators: Glenn Herbert Davis and Alison Carter.

Biennial expands to include photography and printmaking.

Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition Biennial held at Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art, juror Catherine Morris, Adjunct Curator of

Contemporary Art, Philbrook Museum of Art and independent curator, New York City, NY. Awards given to Chris Small, Stefan Chinov, Narciso Argüelles, David Goodrich, Yiren Gallagher and Frank Wick.

2007 Momentum, Tulsa

• • •

Tulsa Art Studio Tour Retrospective Exhibit held at Tulsa Performing Arts Center.

Trent Lawson hired as Events Production Coordinator.

Two $5,000 Oklahoma Visual Arts Fellowships given to Marwin Begaye, Norman, and Brandon Reese, Stillwater. Juror Jed Dodds,

Artistic Director, Creative Alliance, Baltimore, MD.

• • • •

OVAC website is redesigned.

Jim Eldridge begins work as OVAC’s Americorps member 18 th annual 12x12 fundraiser held at Fred Jones Industries Building.

Board Members: Cathy Deuschle, Elizabeth Downing, Jean Ann Fausser (Treasurer), Joey Frisillo, Skip Hill, Jonathan Hils, Pam Hodges (President), Eunkyung Jeong, Stephen Kovash (Vice President), Suzanne Mitchell, RC Morrison, Richard Pearson, Kathleen Rivers, Ira

2008 Art 365, Julia Kirt and Diane Barber

Schlezinger, John Seward, Carl Shortt, Suzanne Thomas, Lila Todd, Rick Vermillion, Sydney Bright Warren, Elia Woods (Secretary)

2008

(through June)

• OVAC celebrates 20th Anniversary!

• Momentum held at former furniture store. Curators: Paul Medina and George Oswalt.

• Art 365, OVAC’s new exhibit, opens at Untitled [ArtSpace] and then travels to Tulsa, Cedar Rapids, IA and Houston, TX. Curator: Diane Barber, Visual Arts Curator and Co-Executive Director, Diverseworks, Houston, TX.

•

OVAC collaborates with Oklahoma City Museum of Art and International Photography Hall of Fame & Museum

for Photo Slam event.

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2008 Momentum, OKC, Patrick Cunningham

• Momentum Tulsa held at Living Arts, Liggett Studio and Oklahoma Equality Center. Curators: Sunni Mercer and Jennifer Barron. Features addition of Momentum Spotlight.

OVAC news Michael Reust, recipient of the OVAC Student Award of Excellence at Oklahoma State University

Round Up

July/August 2008

Thanks to the Momentum Tulsa Committee with Geoffrey Hicks as Chair, hosting venues of Living Arts, Liggett Studio, and the Oklahoma Equality Center, and sponsors for the great success of Momentum Tulsa.

OVAC Student Awards of Excellence were awarded through several universities this year, including Rebecca Harkey at University of Central Oklahoma and Michael Reust at Oklahoma State University.

Congratulations to these students for their hard work.

Save the date: the 12x12 Art Sale and Exhibition is September 20, 2008 at the Fred Jones Industries Building, 900 W Main in OKC. Watch for more information and the preview gallery online at www.12x12okc.org.

A big thank you goes to our most excellent interns who helped into the spring (and fall). Stephanie Brudzinski, aka Earth Mama, helped us tons with everything from Virtual Gallery to a gallery database. She is making mixed media work and ceramics in her studio outside Arcadia. Shannon

Crider graduated from Oklahoma City University this spring and will be painting around the world soon.

Art People and News The Norman Arts Council has named Rick Fry as Executive Director.

Fry is a painter and most recently coordinated the volunteers for the first annual Norman Music Festival. Former director Marta Burcham has moved to Bartlesville (watch for her getting involved there).

Living Arts of Tulsa has been selected to become a full partner in the National Performance Network. This means Living Arts will be able to host subsidized residencies by performing artists. Living Arts is the first partner organization in the plains of the country, including Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

Congratulations! n

Thank you to our New and Renewing Members from March and April 2008 Denise Alexander Randy Anderson Kristy Lewis Andrew Marc Barker Jennifer Barron Sandy Berenson Ruth Ann Borum Patti R. Bray Bryce Brimer Kathryn Brunk Sharon Burchett Dennis and Deborah Burian Jean Artman Campbell Angela and J. Justin Castro Jerry L. Cathey Sue Clancy and Judy Sullens Larry Clingman Marty Coleman Gerald Martin Cournoyer Lisa Crandall Bryan Dahlvang Betty Dalsing Andrea Davis Genni Davis Alicia Diehl

Robert Dohrmann R. Vernon Enlow Jeanie Etris Jennifer Lynn Farrar Joseph Gierek Fine Art Ian Gillis Grace Grothaus Mary Beth and Michael Guard Sue Hale David Halpern Pat Harris Ruth Harris Edwin Helm Beverly Herndon John C. Hill Mary Hines Michael Hoffner David Holland Paula Howell Eric Humphries Gwen Ingram Sheri Ishmael-Waldrop Jane Iverson V. Kaye Jack Kathy Jageler

Dan and Renee Jones Sam and Elizabeth Joyner Jean Keil Carol Koss Terry La France Adam Labe Diane Leggett Kelley Lunsford Bruce and Ellen Macella Joe Machado Jim McCue Sandra Midgett Cindy Miller Julie Miller Teresa Miller Corrie Moore Glenda Cook Mullins Byron O’Neal Nathan Opp Judith A Osborne Wallace Owens Kim Pagonis Patty S. Porter Pam Powell Judith Prise

Chris Ramsay Robert and Renee Reed Michelle Firment Reid Tom and Velma Sanders Matt Seikel and Denise Duong Ann Shaw Shikoh Shiraiwa Carl and Beth Shortt Silver Frank and Pat Simons L. Michael Smith Earline Strom Shirley Sutterfield Don Thompson and Barbara Eikner J. Diane Trout Harwood Kristen Vails Patricia Vestal Charleen Weidell Lori Wenninger Karen Wilson Elia Woods Beverly Woods Eric Wright

galler y gu ide

&

Gallery Listings Ardmore

Edmond

Art de Cuba July 14 – August 31 Opening July 24 The Goddard Center 401 First Avenue SW (580) 226-0909 goddardcenter.org

Kenny McKenna Opens July 24, 5-7 Shadid Fine Art 19 N. Broadway (405) 341-9023 shadidfineart.com

Bartlesville Setting the Table: Designs in MidCentury Dinnerware Through August 3 3-logy Triennial 2008: Imaginative Qualities of Actual Things August 22 – January 6, 2009 Price Tower Arts Center 510 Dewey Ave. (918) 336-4949 pricetower.org

Chickasha Selections from the Permanent Collection Through August University of Sciences and Arts of Oklahoma Gallery-Davis Hall 1806 17th Street (405) 574-1344 usao.edu/gallery/

Durham Joss Buss: Roger Mills County Earl Crammer: The New Ol’ West Through August 30 Metcalfe Museum Rt. 1 Box 25 (580) 655-4467 metcalfemuseum.org

Signe Stuart, In Silence (detail), tyvek installation, on exhibit at Untitled [ArtSpace] in Oklahoma City July 11-August 30

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Exhibition Schedule

El Reno RCC 3rd Annual Fine Arts Faculty Show Through August 1 5to9 Exhibition August 11 – September 25 Redlands Community College (405) 262-2552 redlandscc.edu

Guthrie Maria Esperanza Saldarriaga & Jaime Macias Through July 17 Owens Arts Place Museum 1202 E. Harrison (405) 260-0204 owensmuseum.com

Velma Sanders, Fury at Sundown, a part of the Traditions exhibit at Exhibit One Gallery in Stillwater, July 8-26

Oklahoma City Karl Brenner & Paula Willis Jones July 4 – 26 Opens July 4, 6-10 JRB Art at the Elms 2810 North Walker (405) 528-6336 jrbartgallery.com

Lawton Kristine Lantgen & Suzanne Randall Opens July 12, 7-9 The Leslie Powell Foundation and Gallery 620 D Avenue (580) 357-9526 lpgallery.org

Norman Hung Liu: Now and Then Through July 6 China: Insights Through July 17 Tradition in Transition: Russian Icons from the Hillwood Collection Through August 24 Highlights from the Adkins Collection Through December 28 Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art 555 Elm Ave. (405) 325-4938 ou.edu/fjjma David Phelps, Jose Rodriguez, Michael Almaguer Through July 5 NEW Show: Benjy Russel and Friends August 29 – October 4 Opens August 29, 7-9 Mainsite Contemporary Art Gallery 122 East Main (405) 292-8095 mainsite-art.com

SIMPATICO: new works of Paul Medina Through July 3 The Best of Ponca City July 8 – September 24 Gaylord-Pickens Oklahoma Heritage Museum 1400 Classen Dr. (405) 235-4458 oklahomaheritage.com Being Buffalo Bill: Man, Myth and Media Through July 6 Prix de West Through September 7 National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum 1700 NE 63rd (405) 478-2250 nationalcowboymuseum.org Paul McEntire Through July 6 Mark Lewis Through July 13 Corazon Watkins Through July 27 Oklahoma State Capital Galleries 2300 N. Lincoln Blvd (405) 521-2931 state.ok.us/~arts

Roman Art from the Louvre Through October 12 Oklahoma City Museum of Art 415 Couch Drive (405) 236-3100 okcmoa.com Romantic Materialism July 11 – August 30 Opens July 11, 5-8 Untitled [ArtSpace] 1 NE 3rd St. (405) 815-9995 1ne3.org

Shawnee Medieval Art Opens July 11 Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art 1900 West Macarthur (405) 878-5300 mgmoa.org

Skiatook National Treasure Through July 26 Beat the Heat July 30 – September 27 Prairie’s Edge Art Gallery 100 E. Rogers Blvd.

(918) 384-9104 prairiesedgeart.com

Stillwater Traditions July 8 – 26 Opening, July 18, 6:30-8 Exhibit One Gallery 102 N. Main St. (405) 533-3ART xonegallery.com

galler y gu ide

Tulsa Lana Taylor Through July 3 Waterworks July 10 – August 7 Apertures Gallery 1936 South Harvard (918) 742-0500 aperturesphoto.com Rendezvous 2008 Through July 13 101 Ranch: The Real Wild West July 12 – January 25, 2009 Gilcrease Museum 1400 Gilcrease Road (918) 596-2700 gilcrease.org The Object Project: Common Subjects, Uncommon Results.

Through September 21 The Eugene B. Adkins Collection Through December 31 The Philbrook Museum of Art 2727 South Rockford Road (918) 749-7941 Philbrook.org

Suite OK II: Adrienne Day July 3 – 26 Claudia Hammer August 1 - 23 Tulsa Artists Coalition Gallery 9 East Brady (918) 592-0041 tacgallery.org Color and Serenity: The Paintings

by Michio Takayama Through July 6 Las Pajaritas – A Communication Migration July 8 - 31 Tulsa Performing Arts Center Gallery Third and Cincinnati (918) 596-2368 tulsapac.com Contact editor for information about submitting listings at publications@ ovac-ok.org. For a more complete list of Oklahoma galleries, visit www. ovac-ok.org.

Jesse Small, Ghost, porcelain, on exhibit at Untitled [ArtSpace] in Oklahoma City July 11-August 30

Alfred Smith, Guardian, a part of the Traditions exhibit at Exhibit One Gallery in Stillwater, July 8-26

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