Art Focus Oklahoma, May/June 2014

ArtOFocus k l a h o m a

O k l a ho ma V i s ual A r ts C oal i t i on

Vo l u m e 2 9 N o . 3

May/June 2014

Art OFocus k l a h o m a from the editor When I was first hired to join the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition team in 2006, I couldn’t have been more excited at the opportunity to work with people I respect, towards a mission I believe in passionately. I remember sharing the news with an artist friend who told me, “You and Julia will make great partners in crime.” He was right.

Over the last eight years, Julia Kirt and I have worked closely on countless programs to benefit Oklahoma artists. In that time, Julia has played many roles for me (and others) – coworker, mentor, encourager, instigator, road trip partner, friend. Her commitment to OVAC’s mission and never ending passion for art in Oklahoma is a constant source of inspiration and ongoing energy.

It is bittersweet as we at OVAC bid farewell to Julia as she moves on to her next challenge. On the one hand, her leadership will be missed in our organization. On the other, I can think of no one better to advocate on behalf of the Oklahoma arts community as the new Executive Director of Oklahomans for the Arts. This new role will allow her to affect change more broadly, to the great benefit of our entire state. I am honored to serve as Interim Director at OVAC as we search for the new leader.

Julia has served as Executive Director of OVAC since 1999, leaving a lasting mark. Thanks to her leadership, OVAC has grown in ways that few could have imagined. Thank you, Julia, for all you have done and will continue to do for the arts in Oklahoma!

Kelsey Karper publications@ovac-ok.org

Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition 730 W. Wilshire Blvd., Suite 104 Oklahoma City, OK 73116 ph: 405.879.2400 • e: office@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 speccreative@gmail.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: Supporting Oklahoma’s visual arts and artists and their power to enrich communities.

OVAC welcomes article submissions related to artists and art in Oklahoma. Call or email the editor for guidelines.

OVAC welcomes your comments. Letters addressed to Art Focus Oklahoma are considered for publication unless otherwise specified. Mail or email comments to the editor at the address above. Letters may be edited for clarity or space reasons. Anonymous letters will not be published. Please include a phone number.

OVAC Board of Directors July 2013 - June 2014: Margo Shultes von Schlageter, MD (Treasurer), Christian Trimble, Edmond; Eric Wright, El Reno; Suzanne Mitchell, Renée Porter (Vice President), Norman; Susan Beaty (Secretary), Bob Curtis, Gina Ellis, Hillary Farrell, Titi Nguyen Fitzsimmons, MD, Michael Hoffner, Kristin Huffaker, Stephen Kovash, Carl Shortt, Oklahoma City; Dean Wyatt, Owasso; Joey Frisillo, Sand Springs; Jean Ann Fausser (President), Susan Green, Janet Shipley Hawks, Tulsa.

The Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition is solely responsible for the contents of Art Focus Oklahoma. However, the views expressed in articles do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Board or OVAC staff.

Member Agency of Allied Arts and member of the Americans for the Arts. © 2014, Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition.

All rights reserved.

View the online archive at www.ArtFocusOklahoma.org.

Support from:

On the cover Art by David, a participant of the Bee’s Knees program. See page 20.

contents

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Contemporanean Scholarship: Interview with Robert Bailey, Ph.D.

Bailey, Assistant Professor of Art History at the University of Oklahoma, teaches courses on modern and contemporary art and has a particular research focus on conceptual art.

re v i e w s 6 Walter Ufer at the National Cowboy Museum

A retrospective of the famed Taos artist’s work showcases his masterful paintings, with a focus on land, people and animals.

p re v i e w s 8 Noir: Exploring the Shifting Definition of Contemporary Black Culture

A new exhibition, curated by Nathan Lee at Living Arts in Tulsa, features young African American artists from Oklahoma.

10 Dustin Oswald: From the Depths

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Oswald, whose work is rich in color and symbolism, will reveal a new direction in his work during an upcoming exhibition at aka gallery in Oklahoma City.

12 Gaar: The Renaissance Man Comes to the State Capitol

Tulsa artist James Gaar started his art career in the fourth grade and managed to incorporate art in many endeavors throughout his life. Two upcoming exhibitions showcase his diverse talents.

14 Jean Richardson: Impulse Forever

Oklahoma City artist Jean Richardson’s paintings capture wide-ranging emotions and energy, displayed through the iconic symbol of the horse.

15 Holga Views: China at the Leslie Powell Gallery in Lawton

Father-daughter artist team John and Melanie Seward bring dream-like images from their travels to China to a new exhibition in Lawton.

16 Redefining Images: Indigenous Photographer

An exhibition at the Fred Jones Jr Museum of Art in Norman includes a diversity of photographic subjects and styles, tied together by the unique perspectives of Native artists and connections to their land, community and traditions.

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f e a t u re s 18 Inside the Studio: Troy Jackson – Colliding Form, Function and Identity

Writer James McGirk shares a conversation in the studio with Bacone College instructor Troy Jackson, discussing materials, ideas and future plans.

20 Bee’s Knees: Where Art Meets Life

What began as a temporary summer program to aid youth with developmental disabilities has now become a full-time effort to help budding artists become entrepreneurs.

22 Art Meets Fire: Saltfork Artist-Blacksmiths

A monthly gathering of amateur and professional blacksmiths, metal workers and leather crafters provides a forum for sharing knowledge and building friendships.

24 O V A C

News

business of art 26 Ask a Creativity Coach: Problem Solving IS Creative Thinking

The Creativity Coach shares four simple steps to help you solve problems in your artistic career.

27 When Motion Turns to Action

Artist INC 2013 graduate Heather Clark Hilliard shares key takeaways from the program, encouraging artists to apply for the 2014 iteration.

29 g a l l e r y

(p. 10) Dustin Oswald, Oklahoma City, Evil Garden, Print on velvet art paper, 17” x 22” (p. 12) James Gaar, Tulsa, Transformation, Acrylic on panel, 26” x 36” (p. 14) Jean Richardson, Oklahoma City, Entre Nous, Acrylic on canvas, 44” x 48”

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Contemporanean Scholarship: Interview with Robert Bailey, Ph.D.

by Krystle Brewer

Robert Bailey, Ph.D. in conversation with students at the University of Oklahoma.

Robert Bailey, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Art History at the University of Oklahoma (OU) where he teaches courses on modern to contemporary art as well as the historiography and methodology of art history. Dr. Bailey’s work has been published in peer reviewed journals such as Carnegie International, October, and Contemporaneity.

Krystle Brewer: Tell me a little about your educational and professional background before taking up your current position at the University of Oklahoma.

Robert Bailey: I began to take art seriously as a high school student in Albuquerque, New Mexico. There was a cabinet in one of the art classrooms full of magazines for collage projects. Some of these were art magazines, and I read them rather than made collages from them. I came to the realization that I was not an artist but an art historian, so I went to the University of Pittsburgh to study for a B.A. in art history and wound up staying for an M.A. and a Ph.D. too. A chance encounter with a copy of Ursula Meyer’s book Conceptual Art on the shelves of a used bookstore led to an interest in conceptual art,

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which became the subject of both my master’s thesis and my doctoral dissertation.

KB: What was it about art that initially led you to study art history?

RB: I have always been drawn to art because it is both intensely intellectual and insistently tangible. Art involves the full capacities of the mind but never withdraws entirely from an engagement with lived experience of the world around us. As someone who also has interests in philosophy and politics, this combination of qualities makes art incredibly attractive.

KB: I read that you also studied philosophy in school. How does that affect the way you study art?

RB: Art history as a scholarly discipline is largely oriented around visual analysis, which is the activity of looking critically at works of art and using words to describe and evaluate them. Reading philosophy, especially aesthetics, has been crucial for me because it has given me ways to understand art beyond this approach. I would never suggest that visual analysis is anything other than essential

for art history, but there are vital things about art that cannot be accessed by way of it. Philosophy helps to access some of those things.

KB: How do you approach art?

RB: Our society routinely forgets that art captures truths about our world and past worlds that art alone can capture. I think the best approach to art, and the one that I take, always bears this in mind and never loses sight of art’s fundamental importance to our lives and the lives of those who preceded us. Without art, we lose one of our essential connections to the world, the consequences of which are rarely good.

KB: What facet of art history most interests you and how does your recent work engage it?

RB: Recently, I have been very interested in debates amongst art historians about the extent to which art history can be adequate to and responsible for the art of the entire world. Historically, art history has been predominantly a Western discipline concerned with the history of the West’s art.

That is, thankfully, changing and changing fast, but this change raises a lot of tough questions. My own work is in part addressed to answering them. As both a scholar and a teacher, I am unrelenting in considering art from world perspectives and dealing with art’s entanglements in the fraught and lengthy history of globalization.

KB: Since you primarily research living artists, how do you understand the relationship between artist and art historian?

RB: This is a fascinating subject for me.

Artists have, without exception, been extraordinarily kind to me as a researcher, and I’m acutely aware that one of the largest readerships for art historians is practicing artists. Artists and art historians have many topics of mutual concern, and I hope that everything I write contributes meaningfully to the conversations going on around those topics. I feel like I owe that to the artists I research and teach.

KB: You cofounded the journal Contemporaneity and currently serve on its advisory board. What was the driving force behind this endeavor and what role did you serve?

RB: When I was a graduate student in Pittsburgh, a few of my colleagues and I founded Contemporaneity because we saw a need for a venue in which to explore how issues to do with historical time become involved with the visual cultures of the world past and present. As an online publication, we try to stay on the cutting edge of digital publishing by bringing together new directions in scholarly writing with creative work in a range of media.

KB: I understand that you have a background in museum work. What role did you have in working with those institutions and what specific interests do you have in museums?

RB: In Pittsburgh, I became involved in various ways with exhibitions and educational programs at Carnegie Museum of Art and the Andy Warhol Museum. Apart from gaining valuable experience working in the museum setting, I made a lot of great friends. Having the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art at the University of Oklahoma is an opportunity

that excites me very much. I lectured there recently, which I hope is the beginning of much collaboration. I think museums are a key venue for art historians because they connect us to audiences beyond the readers of academic writing and the students in our classes.

KB: The book you are working on is called Conceptual Art International: Art & Language and Others. Can you tell me a little bit about what readers can expect to read?

RB: The book is about a group of conceptual artists called Art & Language. I’m especially interested in how their turn to a linguistically based visual art that treats thought like an artistic medium developed through international collaborations between artists in the United States, England, Australia, and Yugoslavia at a time during the 1960s and 1970s when artists became increasingly mobile and connected. The book focuses on how these encounters shaped Art & Language’s work in ways that illuminate the status of recent art history, particularly where the relationship between art and politics is concerned.

Robert Bailey, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Art History at the University of Oklahoma.

KB: After your book is complete, where do you see your research going?

RB: I’m starting to address that question, and I don’t have a definite answer yet. Having spent more than a decade researching and writing about conceptual art, which is so cerebral, I’m excited to investigate something more practical, and I’m beginning to think about how artists are shaping alternatives to our current economic situation. Having said that, my lengthy involvement with conceptual art is bound to inform my research for a long time to come.

KB: Your work is really fascinating and we are glad to have you here in Oklahoma.

Anything else you would like to add for our readers?

RB: I’m excited to be here. Support the arts! n Krystle Brewer is an artist, curator, and writer who is currently pursuing a master’s in art history at Oklahoma State University. She can be found at www.krystlebrewer.com

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Walter Ufer at the National Cowboy Museum

by John Brandenburg

Walter Ufer, Hunger, 1919, Oil on canvas, 50” x 50”. Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa.

It‘s easy to appreciate the sheer wonder of the handling of the land, people and animals, and of brilliant light and shadow, in the mixed mountain-desert landscapes of Taos artist Walter Ufer (1876-1936).

Making clear where this mastery came from is a retrospective about the ups and downs of the artist’s life called Walter Ufer: Rise, Fall, Resurrection, at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.

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charcoal, and the steady, tight-lipped stare of The Grandmother in another.

armed with a stick, following three burros bearing wood Down a Hill in Taos.

An early 1919 oil Portrait of Mary depicts his elegantly clad wife, who came from a wealthy, Danish family, sitting in a wicker chair, balancing a green vase with one hand on her knees. By contrast, in a 1922 oil, his wife perches, stoop-shouldered on a stool, reading a book, almost overlooked in the corner, while the artist pursues his Fantasies, paint brush in hand, in the center of his studio.

Also epitomizing this anti-heroic but deeply human approach to his subjects is a 1916 oil called In (the) Land of Mañana, which won a $500 First Logan Prize from the Art Institute of Chicago. In the painting, his friend and favorite model Jim Mirabal eyes us, wearing a white robe, standing between two figures, doing very little, seated against an adobe wall, above a distant vista of the Taos pueblo.

Early charcoal studies, done while Ufer studied art in Dresden in 1897-8 and Munich in 1911-12, amply demonstrate the drawing skills of the artist, who was born in Hückeswagen, Germany, and moved to Louisville, Kentucky, four years later.

An Indian rider sits silhouetted on a hill at Sundown in a 1916 oil which not only introduces us to Ufer’s Taos paintings, but was directly suggested in a letter from his friend and patron, Chicago mayor Carter H. Harrison.

Also blending powerful portraits with mundane activities are his oils of Mirabal and his daughter, taking time for outdoor Meditation, and of an Indian man seated in a doorway, working on one of The Red Moccasins.

Ufer catches our eye forcefully with the curve of the hat brim, flowing whiskers, and wrinkled cheeks of a Bearded Old Man in one

Fusing light-filled realism and impressionism with emphasis on the workaday chores of real people is Ufer’s 1916 oil of a man in overalls,

Ufer and Mirabal fill the foreground, staring back at us, in Artist and Model, a psychologically probing 1920 double portrait, while the artist

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eyes us by himself, no less intently, in a 1930 Self Portrait.

The richly textured wall where a crucifix (bulto) hangs becomes as visually important as the two anonymous women and a man bowing in front of it, with their backs to us, to satisfy spiritual Hunger in a superb 1919 oil.

Brilliantly suggesting the relative smallness of human beings in the scheme of things is Ufer’s 1922 oil of two horses pulling a small covered wagon up a dirt road to Where the Desert Meets the Mountains.

Rivaling the impact of these two large tour de force paintings is that of Bob Abbott and Assistant, done in late 1934-35, after Ufer’s recovery from alcoholism. It depicts Mirabal looking down and Abbott looking back at us, as they take a break from working on Ufer’s worse-for-wear yet somehow still heroic Reo touring car, with its hood up, in front of

magnificent mountains.

Guest curated by Dean Porter, director emeritus of the Snite Museum of Art at the University of Notre Dame, the show contains 50 works

by Ufer, plus art by other members of the Taos Society of Artists and his wife, Mary.

A tribute to one of the Southwest’s finest artists, who died prematurely of appendicitis at age sixty in 1936, the world premiere exhibit is highly recommended and shouldn’t be missed during its run through May 11.

For more information call 478-2250 or visit www.nationalcowboymuseum.org. n John Brandenburg is a poet, artist and arts writer in Norman, Oklahoma. He has been a newspaper visual arts correspondent and theater reviewer for nearly forty years and received a Governor’s Arts Award in 1997 for his arts coverage.

Black and white photograph of Walter Ufer painting Mary in Munich, taken in 1912. Courtesy of the Harwood Museum in Taos, NM.

The School of Art at The University of Tulsa offer coursework in the following studio and academic disciplines: Ceramics, Digital Media, Drawing, Graphic Design, Painting, Photography, Printmaking, Sculpture, Art History/Visual Culture, Arts Management Our primary objective is to challenge each student to develop the highest professional standards in concept, technique and presentation of his or her creative and scholarly work. Coursework and individualized studies foster students’ knowledge, critical thinking abilities, and technical and creative skills.

Don Reith leads a ceramics class

For more information, visit www.cas.utulsa.edu/art/ or call 918.631.2740 • TU is an EEO/AA institution

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Noir: Exploring the Shifting Definition of Contemporary Black Culture

by Mary Kathryn Moeller

(left) Jalisa Haggins, Oklahoma City, Sistah Ma’am, Digital photography, 20” x 30”. (right) Elliott Robbins, Midwest City, Whistler’s Brother From Another Mother, Oil on panel, 25” x 35”

Artist, curator, and art activist Nathan Lee embarks on a new exhibition as the curator of Noir: Contemporary African-American Artists, opening on June 6th at Living Arts in Tulsa.

The show is a continuation of ideas explored in a 2009 film, which Lee co-produced, and the exhibition that accompanied it. Transcend documented the lives and creative endeavors of five African-American artists in Oklahoma.

As the “spiritual successor to Transcend” Lee hopes that Noir will extend the discussion about contemporary black culture especially in relation to the Tulsa community.

Lee says he is particularly interested in examining the “shifting definition of black culture” through the work of accomplished and emerging young artists. “There aren’t many shows that examine what being black means in art.” Lee explains that his concept of the exhibition operates around the tension between an understanding of black culture as something that is naturally expressed by black artists and which is consciously communicated with a larger purpose in mind. The artists included in the exhibition approach these perceptions in a variety of ways and Lee hopes this will spark a dialogue about the changes and challenges facing contemporary black culture in Oklahoma.

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The majority of the work will be created specifically for the exhibition and will include a variety of media in an effort to challenge norms about what constitutes African-American art. Many of those featured in Noir work against typical depictions of the black figure by subverting stereotypes and raising questions about identity and race. Jalisa Haggins inserts her own image into her photography and video pieces to contest the expected roles of black women. In her series of digital photographs entitled Sistahs, Haggins takes on certain roles, among others, of a successful business woman at the head of a conference table and the part of Mammy tightening Scarlett’s corset in Gone with the Wind. The conflation of these archetypes, none of which Haggins feels represents her true identity, calls into question social expectations and misperceptions.

Elliott Robbins also utilizes his own image as a way of examining the position, or rather the absence, of African-Americans in much of the history of art and literature. In Whistler’s Brother From Another Mother Robbins references James Abbott McNeill Whistler’s famous image of his mother, Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1. In his use of a similar composition, a central figure in profile set against a relatively sparse environment, Robbins attempts to locate himself and, by a larger extent, all African-

American artists within the art historical canon.

In his most recent body of work, Constructed Ephemera, Robbins explores the exclusion of the black figure from the annals of history.

Centered on a young black male character, Robbins moves viewers through a non-linear narrative in which his protagonist traverses twoand three-dimensional works of art to confront the omission of black experience.

Printmaker Tiffany McKnight combines swirling illustrative patterns and magazine clippings to create portraits of AfricanAmerican women which Lee states, “seem to have a life of their own.” Backed by tendrils of color McKnight’s portrait of Diandra Forrest, an American supermodel born with Albinism, radiates with cosmic energy. Through McKnight’s meticulous manipulation of color, line, and appropriated image, Forrest emanates with power to project herself beyond the surface of the image. McKnight vividly captures the dramatic ways Forrest’s presence in the international fashion world is challenging standards and norms about black beauty.

Noir was organized in partnership with Inclusion in Art, a group co-founded by Lee, which seeks to cultivate racial and cultural diversity in the Oklahoma arts community.

Their efforts include connecting artists of

any color with resources and exhibition opportunities. The group sponsors workshops, lectures, and a variety of creative projects which encourage inclusiveness and progressive thought. For more information about Inclusion in Art, visit www.inclusioninart.com.

Noir: Contemporary African-American Artists will be on view from June 6-26. Living Arts is located at 307 East Brady Street in Tulsa and can be reached at 918-585-1234 or online at www.livingarts.org. n Mary Kathryn Moeller is an independent curator, writer, and educator. She is currently pursuing her Master’s in art history at Oklahoma State University where she works as a Graduate Teaching Assistant. She is available via e-mail at mkmoeller77@gmail.com.

Jalisa Haggins, Oklahoma City, Sistah Woman, Digital photography, 20” x 30”

U N I V E R S I T Y

O F

C E N T R A L

O K L A H O M A

College of Fine Arts and Design TM

Art Department Capstone Exhibition

Opening Reception:

presenting seniors:

1218 N. Western, OKC, OK

Heather Becker Annalise Koranki Erica Bonavida Cheryl Lay Mary German Elwyn McMindes Steven Goodwin Anne Motley Keegan Hulsey Sheridan Smith

May 2, 2014 6–9pm Exhibit continues through May 9.

for more information contact the UCO Art dept - 405.974.5201 or go online - www.uco.edu/cfad/art

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Dustin Oswald: From the Depths

by Liz Blood

(left) Dustin Oswald, Oklahoma City, I don’t believe in half measures, Acrylic, ball-point pen on clayboard. (middle) La Boucherie, Acrylic, ball-point pen on cradled birch wood, 18” x 24”. (right) Left Alone to Amuse Himself, Acrylic, ball-point pen on cradled birch wood, 18” x 24”.

Dustin Oswald is taking it back to basics in his upcoming show at aka gallery in Oklahoma City, which will run from May 2-30. “Normally, when I draw something out, I color everything and make it too realistic,” says Oswald. “For this show I will use a limited color palette, various tones and shades of those colors, and calm my work down a little bit.”

This change will be a challenge for Oswald, who says he can get carried away with his drawings, taking each one about as far as it can go. “I had to learn how to be really realistic before I could learn to deconstruct.”

For his new set of work, the idea of placing restrictions on himself and strict structure to his approach appeals to Oswald. While he will maintain his stylized drawings, his careful choice of color will keep them from being what he deems too realistic. In an attempt to head off his tendency towards realism, Oswald will try to draw each piece exactly as he imagines it.

“I am not formally trained, so this is a time consuming process for me. When I have a composed image in my mind, I attempt to sketch it out, straight from my head.”

Oswald rarely looks to photo references for help, saying he instead prefers to draw in the

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style that comes naturally to him. “If I used a photo, I would just try to draw the photo. It never works for me.”

the field stands a rooster. “People will identify the animals, her, the field, and setting sun and bring to it their own meaning.”

When asked who influences him in real life, Oswald has no shortage of answers, from late 19th century illustrators like Walter Crane to existential novels and pop music that reminds him of suffering and despair.

Like many artists, explaining the significance of the objects in his art doesn’t come easily to Oswald. “They definitely mean something to me, but to put it in words? I don’t know.

Whatever is sticking in my subconscious, that’s what I use.” Trying to be attentive and open at all times, Oswald says inspiration can come from anywhere.

“Pop music has some really dark undertones to it. I don’t usually admit to listening to this kind of stuff, but it puts you in a different plane. Funnily enough, it makes me want to produce art.”

Oswald also draws inspiration from symbolism, a 19th century genre of art which sought to convey universal truths through using images as metaphor, such as in painter Edvard Munch’s The Scream. Symbolist painters - Oswald included – take identifiable objects, present them in an obvious context, and allow the audience to bring to it their own layers of meaning.

Recently, Oswald finished a painting of a woman in a field of wheat, wearing two dead birds around her neck and holding a rope with two more dead birds tied to its end. A fox peeks out from behind her and, further up in

For the show at aka, Oswald will use a combination of acrylic paint, spray paint, and marker and ink on cradled birch. Along aka’s south wall, Oswald will have a few pieces of older work, so viewers can see the difference between his full color approach and new style.

Much of his work can be viewed at bombsawayart.com, and his tshirts and art are sold at DNA Galleries in Oklahoma City’s Plaza District. n Liz Blood lives in Oklahoma City, works for the Arts Council of Oklahoma City, and is a freelance writer. She is a graduate of Vermont College of Fine Arts, where she earned her Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing.

S U P P O R T

SUPPORT NORMAN A R T S

N O AR R TS M A N

SUPPORT NORMAN A R T S

N O R M A N A R T

WHAT IS NORMAN ARTS? It is thousands of families, friends, and art lovers visiting Downtown Norman every 2nd Friday Art walk.

It is gallery exhibits and programs that bring local, regional, national, and international visual artists, curators, performers, poets and filmmakers to Norman.

It is school children being given the opportunity to try

their hands at painting, dance, music, and sculpting for the very first time.

It is a community that supports the arts and understands that arts are what make Norman beautiful.

You can be part of Norman arts too! Help us continue these programs by becoming an annual contributor to the

NORMAN ARTS COUNCIL

SUPPORT NORMAN ARTS

SUPPORT NORMAN A R T S

WWW.NORMANARTS.ORG 405.360.1162 NAC@NORMANARTS.ORG 122 E. MAIN STREET NORMAN, OK 73069

Monday, June 16, 6-9 p.m.

Arts Council of Oklahoma City 400 W. California Avenue, Oklahoma City, OK 73102 * Light snacks and beverages will be provided.

For more info, call 405 270 4848 or visit www.artscouncilokc.com

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Gaar: The Renaissance Man Comes to the State Capitol

by Barbara L. Eikner

perfect opportunity for my isolated situation,” said Gaar. “This was the total extent of my art training when I entered East Central State College majoring in art.”

Gaar majored in art and minored in geography at East Central State College in Ada, Oklahoma.

He considers D.J. “Pete” Lafon, then Department Chair at East Central as his mentor.

“Pete was one of the most talented artists I had ever encountered and he truly inspired those around him by example. Lafon was a master painter, watercolorist, printmaker, sculptor and potter. He has been one of the greatest artistic influences in my life,” said Gaar of his mentor.

After college, Gaar served in the Air Force for four years as the Aircrew Survival Protective Equipment specialist and during his free time he did paintings commissioned by pilots of planes they had flown. He later received a graduate degree in Art Education from the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond.

James Gaar, Tulsa, Jump and Jive, Acrylic on canvas, 36” x 48”

James Daniel Gaar is indeed the Renaissance artist as he moves from abstract expressionism to representational art to realistic styles to jewelry designing to photorealism. Gaar’s work will be exhibited at the Oklahoma State Capitol East Gallery, 2300 North Lincoln Boulevard in Oklahoma City, from June 2 to July 27, 2014.

Gaar started his art career in the fourth grade when his teacher gave him the honor of hanging the class mural around the full length of two classroom walls. Those were the days when art classes were not considered part of the curriculum but just naturally appeared as part of the overall learning process. He knew then that his heart and soul belonged to the creative process. Gaar entered an image of Abraham Lincoln in the Draw Me Contest which appeared on the back of the Sargent Rocky comic magazine in the 10th grade and won that month. He was the artist for his high school newspaper and entered local interscholastic meets for his school, winning awards in art history and drawing. “This was my primary introduction to art and for a country boy hungry to learn everything I could, it was the

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Professionally, Gaar worked at the Daily Oklahoman (OPUBCO) in Oklahoma City as a Retail Advertising Department artist and as the Assistant Director of Editorial Art for eleven years, Director of Ada Arts and Heritage Center in Ada, Oklahoma and then at Tulsa Community College Department of Marketing Communications as a Graphic Designer, where he retired. He has been married for thirty five years to Judy Gaar, a poet and artist.

Awards received during his career include the 1988 Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Competition, showing an Oklahoma Duck Stamp with a pair of American Widgeon.

Numerous regional art festivals, Best of Shows and First Place ribbons have been awarded over the last fifteen years.

Iron and Light Bulb This still life combines three objects that initially seem unrelated: a steam iron from around 1920, a filament light bulb resembling Edison’s original 1890 invention, and the tin cup, a long time piece of utility for mankind.

Despite the painting’s stillness, we all know life is not still but has a message. In this picture it appears to be industrialization, past, present and future. The colors are rich and capture the wear of the steam iron and tin can as well as the wood platform. The shades and shadows enhance the aged appearance of the items. The reflections

of the light bulb provide a realistic view of the glass.

Jump and Jive My first impulse for this piece was to find the music. Gaar uses a special process where he cuts panels in various sizes, tapes the panels to an area and then paints each taped area separately.

This process creates a three-dimensional work that has colors and lines that could possibly be a musical scale or the result of the fingers, hands and brains moving to the beat. The artist’s favorite is rock and roll!

The opening reception for James Gaar’s Capitol exhibition will be on Tuesday, June 10, 2014 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

East Central University, Pogue Art Gallery, Ada, Oklahoma will also host a solo exhibit of the works of James Gaar from February 15 to March 15, 2015.

James Gaar is represented by www.UGallery.com and more of his work can be seen online at www.gaarart.com. n Barbara L. Eikner is a writer, author of Dirt and Hardwood Floors, event planner, and owner of Trabar & Associates. She can be reached at Trabar@ windstream.net.

James Gaar, Tulsa, Iron and Lightbulb, Acrylic on panel, 12” x 24”

Reconfiguration, Acrylic on panel, 45” x 45”

MAY 24, 25, 26, 2014 Memorial Weekend

May 24, 25 & 26, 2014 Saturday & Sunday, 10am - 8pm & Monday, 10am - 6pm

Over 80 juried artists, live music, entertainment, great food and fun for the entire family! in MeMory of john l. belt

Paseo arts Festival MeMorial Weekend - May 25, 26, 27, 2013

SATURDAY & SUNDAY, 10AM - 8PM & MONDAY, 10AM - 6PM

OVER 80 JURIED ARTISTS, LIVE MUSIC & ENTERTAINMENT FREE SHUTTLE SERVICE AVAILABLE 36TH & N. WALKER AT FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH

For more information, call 405.525.2688 or visit thepaseo.com

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Jean Richardson: Impulse Forever

by Lucie Smoker

(left) Jean Richardson, Oklahoma City, Elan Rouge, Acrylic on canvas, 46” x 65”. (right) Tempest in Blue, Acrylic on canvas, 72” x 46”

Lightning-fast, feather-soft or shard-like brush strokes create movement, energy. Distorted images of horses - as icon not subject - churn, scream, and even sing in blues, orange-reds, navy-browns. Jean Richardson’s huge paintings are more drama than representation, but not the drama of emotion. These paintings convey something else.

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them. She brings back an interpretation that is less anatomical, more distorted.

Put yourself in one moment, without yesterday or tomorrow. Right now your spirit will run or plod. Without connection to days, to minutes, your mind is free to experience impulse, intuition—the insights of spontaneity.

Her often fragmented horse conveys an unbroken spirit, familiar but only as an allusion. She graduated Wesleyan College at the height of abstract expressionism.

That impulse still influences her work but Richardson’s horses convey a sense of context.

If you ever had trouble finding a deep connection to paint splats or amoebas, these almost-horses provide a place for your mind to grab on. Her horses hide, then come forward inviting you to give in to a run together.

Richardson creates this impulse from a place between intention and Zen. She works on three or more paintings at a time. Creating a background one moment, fast and unsketched, she moves onto the next painting, immersed in a brushstroke: the color, this layer, one texture in motion.

She doesn’t paint intentional landscape, though sometimes the shape of the moment is a horizon or cloud formation, again created in motion.

One recent afternoon in her studio, she said, “I did a background last night, came back this morning and like it but there is a problem. If I fix the problem, I will destroy the freshness.”

“I try to take everything out of my mind and just work with color. Then I use my rational knowledge,” Richardson said. “I turn off my thinking to make the brushwork gestural. I’m in and out of it through each piece.”

So she returns to her state of Zen to find a solution with instinct. She might start over rather than overwork the painting. Her images are born from that between-ness, more impulse than mindfulness. They move and pulse.

The effect is immediate. These paintings place you in the realm of energy. The horse icon conveys a wildness to the immediate image.

Richardson grew up around horses and still takes a field trip now and then to be with

That energy comes from the materials, from gestures of hand, impulsive wisdom, from experimentation and even luck. She used to work in oils but switched to acrylics. “They suit me because they dry fast.” The colors build

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energy. Her icon, the horse, carries instinct.

Yto Barrada once said, “Perception is nothing unless you do something with it.” Richardson perceives spontaneity, opens it up to us, then extends it with Zen. But that is only the effect of one painting. The real experience lies in moving from work to work, like the artist.

Don’t overthink them.

Richardson said, “My paintings are like writing a body of poetry one four-line poem at a time. I’m working on a continuum.”

Her exhibition, Horse as Icon, runs through May 25 at the Oklahoma State Capitol, East Gallery, then she’s off to Santa Fe. Her work is grounded in Oklahoma but its energy reaches out to anyone, the studied eye of a connoisseur or the sister-in-law’s casual glance.

So take a look at the familiar, dive into her distortion and give your mind over to its energy. Ride it as long as you like. Jean Richardson has captured this impulse forever.

See more at www.jeanrichardsonstudio.com. n Lucie Smoker is an Oklahoma mom and bestselling suspense author. Her first mystery, Distortion, introduces an artist, Adele Proust, who paints a crime scene in reverse perspective and turns a murder investigation backwards--onto her friends. More at luciesmoker.wordpress.com/distortion/

Holga Views: China at the Leslie Powell Gallery in Lawton

by Susan Beaty

(left) John Seward, Oklahoma City, Forbidden Palace, Gelatin silver print, 8” x 8” (right) Melanie Seward, Oklahoma City, Dragon Boat, Gelatin silver print, 8” x 8”

A compelling exhibition of black and white photography opens with a reception May 10 at the Leslie Powell Gallery in Lawton. Longtime members and supporters of the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition, John Seward and his daughter Melanie Seward will show their photography series titled Holga Views - China.

images of Rome. The Holga produces a slightly distorted image, described by John as creating a “vignette-y,” vintage feel to the photos. The photos capture the timelessness of one of the world’s most historic cultures, but also reveal the visual feast presented by the interplay of long history and rapid modernization.

John and Melanie began doing photography together over twenty years ago, when they completed a photography class at Oklahoma City Community College. Since then, together they have participated in classes, workshops, photography projects, and commercial assignments. John Seward’s OVAC involvement includes many years on the Board, including service as Board President. Both John and Melanie have frequently participated in the 12x12 Art Fundraiser and John has served as guest curator for exhibits such as OVAC’s Momentum, as well as for other arts organizations.

The show consists of 58 gelatin silver prints developed in the Sewards’ darkroom on Ilford Warmtone Fibre Paper. Each black and white image is 8 inches square. Uniformity of size and shape perhaps suggest the rigid conformity we in the West may imagine is essential to Chinese culture, but the images themselves belie this notion and reveal a vibrant, varied culture.

The Seward family, along with Melanie’s husband, Bryan, traveled to China in 2012, hoping to explore the people, art, architecture, and culture of one of the world’s oldest countries. They chronicled their trip using Holga plastic cameras. Coincidentally, the Holga is manufactured in China, though the Sewards have previously done a series of Holga

Melanie Seward’s piece Dragon Boat is a stunning image of a beautiful, active dragon head, contrasted against the light sky and still, darkening water. The dragon’s open mouth (and large fangs) appears to be devouring the spot of land in the distance. The decorative painting on the boat is beautifully highlighted by the monotone image. Hints of darkness around the edges, suggesting the edges of the viewfinder, along with the relative strangeness of the dragon, convey the feeling of a stolen peek at another world.

John Seward’s piece Forbidden Palace shows off his gift for capturing the interplay of light and shadow. The photo shows a bright, sunlit bridge, with detail in relief, in front of a long, dark, traditional Asian palace. The bridge conceals the entrance to the palace, making its darkness seem foreboding as well as forbidden.

The shadows on the bridge mimic the darkness of the palace. Although we know we are seeing a photograph, the active shadows and light create an almost abstract image.

In China, the Sewards discovered a “visual wonderland of diversity” in the contrast between smog-filled urban areas in the major cities and the quiet rusticity of the country villages. The Sewards have beautifully captured the striking interplay between old and new, revealing China as it surges headlong into the 21st century but also showing it’s centuries-old cultural artifacts so distinct from the West. The exhibition offers an intriguing view of a society dramatically different from our own. n Susan Beaty is an attorney in Oklahoma City and a member of the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition’s Board of Directors.

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Redefining Images: Indigenous Photographer

by Laura Reese

Will Wilson (Diné, b. 1969), Santa Fe, NM, Auto Immune Response #4, Inkjet print, 20” x 28”

Who knows best the land but those native to it? Our People, Our Land, Our Images, a traveling exhibition at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art in Norman, answers this question through photographs by indigenous artists from North America, South America, the Middle East and New Zealand.

The images in this exhibition cover many subjects, themes and backgrounds but their commonality is the unique perspectives from each individual artist and their connection to their land, community and traditions.

“These artists are simply sharing their perspective on themselves in a form that allows us to share their view,” said Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art Assistant Curator heather ahtone.

By sharing views and images from indigenous artists outside of Oklahoma, we can better

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recognize diversity and understand how place and land play an integral role in our cultural identity. ahtone affirmed, “It is so important to consider that Native American communities are part of the larger spectrum of Indigenous cultures. Exploring the full breadth of that spectrum, like a rainbow, allows us to gain respect and understanding about the cultures closer to home.

“An important aspect of this exhibition is that the photographers ‘establish a presence without wasting precious time on countering Western philosophy,’ as described by artist Hulleah Tsihhnahjinnie in the preface of the exhibition catalogue. So often there is an expectation for Indigenous artists to be hermetic in their cultural imagery or to create a dialogue with non-Native viewers, specifically. The photographs represent Indigenous views of the community, individuals and ceremonies, and critical self-reflections,” commented ahtone.

The surreal and futuristic work of Navajo (Dine’) artist Will Wilson’s Autoimmune Response #4 speaks to a historical memory. His self-insertion into his photographs speaks to the void landscapes created by white settlers.

Playing with empty scenery as an indication of a post-apocalyptic site, Wilson’s photographs are darkly humorous, and call Natives and nonNatives to question the consumption of images.

“My work is a response to the ways in which photography has been used as a mechanism of colonization. Decolonizing photography for the use of American Indians has to occur through the articulation of a Native representational subjectivity,” Wilson declares in his artist statement.

Many of these artists turn the camera around on history in order to share their voice that has been missing for far too long in many conversations. In the catalogue for this exhibition, curator Veronica Passalacqua states,

“The camera, in the hands of indigenous visionaries, becomes a tool or weapon that possesses the power to confront and deconstruct stereotypes, politics, and histories.”

Among many of the talented and prestigious artists in this exhibition is local Oklahoman and Eastern Band Cherokee artist Shan Goshorn. Focusing on research to create her images, Goshorn’s work addresses “human rights issues, especially those that affect the rights of Native people,” said Goshorn.

Goshorn has used a variety of media in her work, and has ranged from acrylic paintings to baskets hand-woven from photographs.

Of her work, Goshorn states, “I think of myself as an artist who uses any medium that best fits the statement I am trying to express, whether it be film, paint, pastel, metal, glass, bead or paper splints.”

In Our People, Our Land, Our Images, Goshorn has four doubleexposed, hand-tinted black and white photographs with images of her friends and family overlaid with landscapes and museum shelves. These works “address repatriation, or the act of reclaiming human remains, funerary or patrimony objects from museums and private collections,” Goshorn added.

The experience of participating in this show was unlike a typical exhibition, “more like a retreat,” Goshorn told of her involvement.

“We took a field trip to the Cache Creek Nature Preserve where all kinds of plants were deliberately being grown so local tribal members could harvest them responsibly for basket weaving and splint dying. The artists shared every meal and we talked about our work. Each artist brought twenty-five copies of a print and we had a massive print exchange so we each left with an entire portfolio of each other’s work. The actual exhibit was the bonus at the end of the three days. Wonderful but hardly the focus.”

Organized by Exhibits USA, part of the Mid-America Arts Alliance, Our Land, Our People, Our Images closes May 25, 2014 at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, 555 Elm Avenue in Norman.

For more information, visit ou.edu/fjjma. n Laura Reese is event coordinator for the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition.

She is an artist, curator and writer based in Norman. She can be reached at events@ovac-ok.org. (top) Hulleah J. Tsinhnahjinnie (Seminole/Muscogee/Diné, b. 1954), Davis, CA, This is not a commercial, this is my homeland, Platinum lambda print, 33” x 28” (bottom) Shan Goshorn (Cherokee, b. 1957), Tulsa, Pawnee Woman in Field from the series “Earth Renewal/ Earth Return,” Hand-tinted, double-exposed, black-andwhite photograph, 24” x 30”

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INSIDE THE STUDIO: Troy Jackson – Colliding Form, Function and Identity

by James McGirk

(left) Troy Jackson, Tahlequah, Cherokee Today, Drawing, 27” x 20” (middle) Putting Pieces of My Heritage Together, Ceramic, 34” x 16”. (right) Industrial Warrior, Ceramic, 19” x 6”.

Troy Jackson was born and raised in Northeast Oklahoma. We teach at Bacone College in Muskogee, and our dialogue developed over a series of lunchtime conversations and culminated in a visit to his studio in Tahlequah. His work is a magnificent hybrid, combining traditional Cherokee form with techniques gleaned from Western painting and sculpture—but that isn’t doing it justice.

The motion he captures in clay, the muscular tension, the exquisite detail, the graceful dance through profound and challenging ideas: they say clay is alive, and when you see Troy’s work in person you’ll believe it.

The idea of identity and being a hybrid form seems very prominent in your work. How do you approach the subject as an artist?

The idea of identity is very important to me as an artist. It is who I am. I am the product of a mixed family, of both Cherokee and European heritage. So that somewhat portrays me as being a hybrid form.

I approach my figurative sculptures as if they were people, a family member or someone

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who I have been or am now acquainted with.

I tend to know them personally and can relate to their stories. For the most part they are working-class people, farmers or factory workers or industrial employees. They possess a quality that shares a direct expression of my identity. And since most people have similar experiences, I hope my sculptures will also have a significant impact on viewers.

Early on in your career, you described how people sometimes had trouble understanding your more abstract takes on traditional ceramic forms. What is the difference between traditional pottery and sculpture?

First, let’s not confuse tradition with function. Although early Native American pottery was purely functional, its purpose today tends to reflect on the techniques and traditional trademarks of potters that have been handed down from generation to generation. In this respect it is becoming more and more sculptural or in better terms, “form has exceeded function.” The problem is the fact that early traditional ceramic forms

seem to be somewhat limited.

Traditional form is the result of hand-dug clay, coil construction, burnishing, and then a pit-firing. These techniques produce some of the most beautiful pottery in the world. And I have the greatest admiration for potters who carry on traditional forms and hope that many will continue passing these techniques on to their apprentices. But our technology is so much further along today that it’s almost impossible not to take advantage of it. Native American pottery is becoming purely sculptural.

As a 21st Century contemporary ceramist, technology has given me a much more extensive palette to work with. There is virtually no end to what can be done with ceramic forms, whether Native or nonNative. I’m never hesitant to incorporate addition, subtraction, manipulation, and casting into my pottery while using unconventional Native techniques such as wheel-throwing, slab-building, glazing, and kiln firing. This is why viewers sometimes have trouble understanding my more abstract

takes on traditional ceramic forms.

You have mentioned that you’ve been experimenting with 2D media again? What type of work are you doing now?

Teaching the Fundamentals of Art course at Bacone College has revived an interest to revisit the basic elements and principles of design. It’s true what they say, the more you teach the more you learn. So I’ve been brushing up. It’s important that an instructor be able to do what he or she teaches, especially if he or she expects it from his or her students.

I am currently working on drawings, but in time will direct my attention to printmaking.

Printmaking was my second choice while working on my Masters of Fine Arts degree at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The hardest part was keeping my hands out of the clay.

Has it been difficult returning to flat surfaces?

Sometimes! Mainly because I constantly see shapes as three-dimensional forms and laboriously work on defining them as an illusion.

What is it like teaching the next generation of artists at Bacone?

It is an honor and great responsibility. Not only is Bacone College the oldest continuously operated institution of higher education in Oklahoma, it has strong historic ties to Cherokee Nation, the Muskogee Creek Nation, and the American Baptist Churches USA. But for me personally, this is where I started my college education. To have the opportunity to mold other students into the field of art is like having my career come full circle.

You’ve won some impressive awards, which one has been the most meaningful to you (so far!)?

First of all, every award is important to me.

The grand prize at the Trail of Tears Art Show in 2010 proved to be a highlight in my career. The winning piece was chosen by the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City (MAD) to participate in the exhibition Changing Hands: Art Without Reservation 3 – Contemporary Indigenous Art from North America/Northeast and Southeast.

The exhibition traveled throughout the U.S. and Canada for three-and-a-half years,

documenting and recognizing the importance of contemporary Native American art. Also winning best of classification in pottery at Indian Market in Santa Fe, New Mexico was a tremendous milestone for me as a contemporary Southeastern artist.

You used to own a car collision repair service. What prompted you to go back to art? How do you think your experience with car bodies has changed your craft?

Actually, I don’t believe that I ever left art.

There were just different choices of subjects and mediums to work with. However, through it all I have become very proficient in working with materials such as metals, plastics, urethanes, plasters, not to mention finishing techniques that require years of training. Actually, anything that is related to an automobile, I’ve done it. The problem was that I had to continually please someone else.

Symmetry was an absolute, texture was not an option, and all cosmetics had to be more perfect than when they were purchased at the dealership. After a while, it just took a toll on me. Fortunately there was always being an artist, so it was not such a difficult task to change my subject matter and medium again.

Troy Jackson in studio.

Finally, where can we see your work?

Do you have any upcoming shows or exhibitions?

My work is currently on display at the Spider Gallery in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. I am currently working with WaterWorks Art Center and 108 Contemporary Gallery in Tulsa to help coordinate an exhibit featuring many of the top Oklahoma Native artists of the 21st century. I am pleased to announce that it will run November 7, 2014 through December 28, 2014. I am also working with the Spider Gallery and Southeastern Indian Artists Association to help coordinate a Native American exhibit with the Sherwin Miller Museum of Jewish Art in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which will run from February through March 2015. My website is troyjacksonartist.com. My email address is tjart4u@yahoo.com. n James McGirk is a writer living in Tahlequah, Oklahoma.

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Bee’s Knees: Where Art Meets Life

by Erin Schalk

Artwork by participants of the Bee’s Knees program. From left to right: Ashley, David and Allie.

Meet artists Lindsay, David, Chris, Ashley and Allie. These five people share much in common, including a passion for creating visual art and being diagnosed with autism. Their collective story begins with a revolutionary Oklahoma-based organization called Bee’s Knees.

Five years ago, Bee’s Knees was founded as a summer-long, pre-employment work program. Its mission was to aid youth with developmental disabilities who were experiencing challenges acquiring jobs post high school. As part of their entrepreneurial education, program participants were encouraged to test various methods for earning income. Without question, creating art to sell to customers and collectors became the most popular option among the young adults. Eventually the social aspects of Bee’s Knees, shared interests in art, and similar experiences with autism brought Chris, Lindsay, David, Allie and Ashley together.

Bee’s Knees was so well received by the participants and their families that it grew from a temporary summer program into a self-sustaining business.

Today the organization continues to build

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on the enterprising discoveries made during its first summer. Artwork created by Bee’s Knees artists Chris, Ashley, Allie, Lindsay and David, as well as products like a 2014 calendar, are sold through art shows. These artists have exhibited throughout Oklahoma including the Oklahoma State Capitol, the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Today’s Therapy Solutions, and in many businesses and private homes. Bee’s Knees is currently working to establish additional venues to sell the artists’ work.

Examples include an upcoming online shop and partnerships with businesses which will carry Bee’s Knees products.

In addition, Bee’s Knees retains the spirit of its original mission established by its temporary summer program. The organization remains focused on aiding those with developmental disabilities and works closely with Youth & Family Services, Inc. and Autism Oklahoma.

The stories behind Bee’s Knees artists and their artwork perhaps best demonstrate how the organization strives for social betterment. All five artists create vibrant paintings, drawings and mixed-media pieces.

A recurring theme found among all of the artists’ individual styles is that the work consistently brims over with enthusiasm and originality. Moreover, each artist illustrates his or her particular interests, and at times expresses personal emotions, through artistic media. The results are as authentic and oneof-a-kind as the artists themselves.

Allie describes herself as sweet and places a high value on kindness. Correspondingly many of Allie’s pieces feature themes of love, including her affection for friends or family members as in her work I Love You. Colorful hearts, whether painted or collaged, often rhythmically pulsate through her work. Allie is also inspired to create pieces centered on aspects of nature she finds beautiful, such as flowers and butterflies.

David manages a personal blog called Most Awesome Blogg where he discusses topics including setting up a home art studio and video game consoles. David’s love of computers and technology resonate through his paintings.

Access Denied features a password-protected computer. Getting Game Rentals maps out the process of renting video games online to their arrival in the borrower’s mailbox.

A detail of artwork by Chris, a Bee’s Knees participant.

Chris describes himself as kind and good at telling jokes. He is also interested in popular animation programs including Pokémon and SpongeBob. An infatuation with imaginary and fantastical contexts is present in his work.

He has painted monsters, ghosts and the characters of Aladdin. Chris’ art also explores themes of everyday life including cats, trees, church parishioners and his friends.

Ashley also loves to tell jokes and laugh.

This naturally joyful spirit sings through her paintings of happy-faced rows of figures with bright eyes and broad grins, offset by kaleidoscopic backgrounds. Ashley’s artwork also reveals her personal interest in numbers.

Pieces including Number Management and Saving Up Numbers illustrate repetitions of the numerals one through nine.

Lindsay feels her most important qualities are her kindness and helpfulness. She is interested in popular culture and possesses an extensive knowledge of films and music. Lindsay loves to sketch and describes her dedication to art: “I started to draw and I’m never going to stop. I am not going to give up.”

unique personalities are celebrated. Everyone is encouraged to flourish both artistically and personally by developing a communicative voice through visual expression. Coordinator for Bee’s Knees Cristine Segui describes how she has witnessed positive transformations in both these artists’ work and lives over the past five years.

“It has been an incredible experience to see how much this group has grown, not only as artists, but as individuals. They have become so much more independent and it has helped a lot when it comes to creating their art. You see their personality shine through. It really is something unique and beautiful to watch.”

For more information about the Bee’s Knees such as upcoming events, artist biographies, a gallery of artwork, and how to purchase a piece or request a commission, please visit www.beeskneesart.com. n Erin Schalk is a painting graduate student and freelance art writer living in Dallas, Texas. She may be reached at elschalk@gmail.com.

(top to bottom) Bee’s Knees artists Chris, Allie, Ashley, Lindsay and David.

At Bee’s Knees, these genuine interests and

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Art Meets Fire: Saltfork Artist-Blacksmiths

by Lucie Smoker

Ron Lehenbauer in his blacksmith shop, holding longhorn drawer pulls of iron, 4”.

“The first thing I do every morning when I get the iron hot is take it and burn my arm a little bit. Gets that out of the way,” said Ron Lehenbauer, lightly searing his forearm. He’s been blacksmithing for over thirty years and loves to teach, to see the smiles on kids’ faces.

He claims it’s why he’s still practicing his craft. We’ll see about that.

Artist-Blacksmith Association, a group of over 300 amateur and professional blacksmiths, wheel wrights, wire jewelry makers, leather crafters and others who get together at least once a month. They cook hot dogs and chili over a forge, hang out, share knowledge and resources, laugh a lot, and yes, teach. But mostly they make things.

In his Waukomis workshop, thousands of sharp objects and as many shadows evoke a feeling of wisdom, with danger. Blazingcold, bright-dark, wide-open yet shuttered, walking inside makes you expect something.

Then he lights the forge.

Fellow Saltfork member Jim Carothers said, “It’s fascinating, art and fire. I like drawing the metal out, forming—which is bending— and welding. We weld in the coal fire.”

He heats the metal to “nice and red,” stretches it out, pounds it, and then puts it back into the flames. “That makes the metal soft. You can move it around like an artist uses clay. We just use metal chisels and punches instead of a paintbrush.”

Lehenbauer is most definitely an artist as well as a teacher and craftsman. When asked about the bird sculpture in his yard he said, “I just had the idea one day and made it.”

He makes a lot of objects out of scrap metal, copper and horseshoes. His creations sit unadorned on tables, benches, the floor.

He’s a member of the Saltfork Craftsmen

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Cricket by Ron Lehenbauer, 6” made from a fork.

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When blacksmiths get a piece of metal over 2,000 degrees, it’s sticky “like taffy.” To make a chain, they weld loops of metal one at a time, and while sticky-hot, lay one loop on top of another—and hit, just once softly, with the hammer to link them. Then the links go back to the heat, to a uniform temp for attaching the next loop.

In the same way, the Saltfork association links together craftsmen, a few at a time, to forge together knowledge and a greater appreciation of craft. “I took a blacksmithing class as a stress relief,” said Carothers, a mechanical engineer, “and knew this was something I wanted to do. At a Saltfork meeting, Ron took me under his wing and helped me get started.” Now they both

teach: Carothers mostly at Pawnee Bill’s and the Heritage Society, Lehenbauer at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, plus state and county fairs.

Saltfork group members will be at several upcoming events including: • The Rural Heritage Festival on Saturday, April 26 at the Cherokee Strip Museum, 2617 W Fir St in Perry. This event features blacksmithing along with spinning and other “lost arts.” Admission is free. www.cherokee-strip-museum.org • An open, club get-together on May 31 at the Route 66 Museum Blacksmith Shop at 2717 W 3rd St in Elk City. The public is truly welcome. The Saltfork event is free.

(Full museum admission is $7 for adults and $4 for kids.) Lunch is served but bring a side dish. Phone: 580-225-6266 Per Jim Carothers, “Just show up in old clothes with safety glasses and say, ‘I want to make something.’ We don’t do formal, Robert’s Rules of Order. Our meetings are for fun. Someone sets up a portable forge; something is always being made.” They teach each other, sons, daughters, grandmothers and total strangers.

There’s a friendly modesty to Saltfork like

Lehenbauer’s magnificent flower sculpture on the floor, propping open the workshop’s front door. The fact is, mastering the craft takes tons of practice in hot, sweaty conditions, pounding, mostly alone. While they get together monthly, the art these men and women practice every day is personal, mainly self-taught.

It’s as much about passion as the choice of metal or the direction of a twist.

Ron Lehenbauer understands that. His confession came, unintended, between strikes of a hammer. “You just lose time,” he said, pounding. “Time doesn’t mean a thing when you’re working at a forge.” Ding. “The only thing you even think about is what is directly in front of you.”

And he returned to the fire.

Visit the Saltfork Craftsmen-ArtistBlacksmith Association online at www.saltforkcraftsmen.org. n Lucie Smoker’s bestselling murder mystery, Distortion, follows a young artist who paints a murder scene in reverse perspective. Follow all of her work at luciesmoker.wordpress.com.

Flowers on the shop floor, Ron Lehenbauer, 3’ steel

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OVAC NEWS

MaY | JUNE 2014

(left) Tulsa Art Studio Tour featured artist Rachel Ann Dennis demonstrates her letterpress to visitors. (right) Momentum OKC 2014 MC Gregory Jerome, Executive Director Julia Kirt, Emerging Curator Samantha Dillehay, Event Coordinator Laura Reese and Co-Chair Bryon Chambers.

All are welcome at the Annual Members’ Meeting on June 19 at 7 pm at the Arts and Humanities Council of Tulsa’s Hardesty Arts Center (AHHA) in Tulsa. This gathering will give people a chance to meet fellow members and have some fun while learning more about what OVAC has been up to this year. Members receive notice in the mail and information will be on our website. Attendees also can enjoy the Art 365 exhibition on display at AHHA along with the catalog release. Also visitors can check out the 24 Works on Paper exhibition at the Tulsa Artists’ Coalition Gallery around the corner! Join us for the events and camaraderie.

Anyone can join as a member (if you’re not one yet), whether an artist or art fan. Join online at www.ovac-ok.org or call us at 405-879-2400.

OVAC is pleased to participate in Allied Arts’ new Power2Give initiative, giving people an easy way to support arts projects they believe in -- bit.ly/OVACp2g. Watch that site for each project we post and help us… with gifts large or small. Allied Arts has recruited corporate donors to match many of the gifts, so donations are doubled.

Thanks much to the Momentum OKC artists, committee, volunteers, sponsors, attendees and art buyers. With almost 2,000 people opening weekend and lots of fun and entertainment, we consider Momentum OKC 2014 a huge success. Crowds flocked opening weekend to see talent from over 100 young artists and bought over $15,000 worth of art.

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ovac news

This year’s Momentum featured music from 7 different local acts, food from local food trucks, interactive projects created by our committee and great art made by young Oklahomans. We are especially grateful to Co-Chairs Bryan Cook and Bryon Chambers and our top sponsors LEVEL, Frontline, Southwestern Stationery, Allied Arts and Mammoth Electronics. We can’t wait for next year!

Many enjoyed the wonderful diversity of artists, studios and artwork on the Tulsa Art Studio Tour last month. We so appreciate the Co-Chairs Susan Green and Alan Frakes with their awesome committee. We continue to be in awe at the strong artistic practices and fascinating stories of Tulsa artists and blown away by the enthusiastic volunteers and visitors. The lead Tour Sponsors were Jean Ann and Tom Fausser; Kinslow Keith and Todd, Inc; Sandra Langenkamp; Mary Stewart; Walsh Branding; John Woolman, McGraw Realtors and media sponsor The Tulsa Voice.

Thanks to donations from 45 people in 4 states, we’ve raised funds to distribute this very Art Focus Oklahoma magazine issue widely. Thanks much to the following donors to our first power2give. org project (as of April 22): Lisa Jean Allswede, Andy and Marilyn Artus, Sarah Atlee and Michael Beam, Jennifer Barron and Bonnie Allen, Carol Beesley, Theresa Bembnister, Stephen & Patricia Bradley, Krystle Brewer, Zach Burns, Dian Church, Kim Coplen, Josh DeLozier,

Caylon Dunn, Barbara Eikner and Don Thompson, Gina Ellis, Hillary Farrell, Ken Fergeson - NBC Bank, TiTi & Brian Fitzsimmons, Ron Fleming, Melanie Fry, John and Stephany Gooden, Todd & Nicolle Goodman, Meredith and Jason Gresham, Julie Guilford, Cybele Hsu, Sheri Ishmael-Waldrop, Sidney Johnson, Kelsey & Barney Karper, Nathan Guilford and Julia Kirt, Stephen Kovash, Erin Ledford, Cayla Lewis, Steve Liggett, Julia Lillard, Melissa May-Dunn, Kathy McRuiz, Suzanne Mitchell and Sam Fulkerson, Mary Kathryn Moeller, Casey Pankey, Chris and Renée Porter, Phyllis Ann Price, Chris Ramsay, Betty Refour, Barbara S. Scott, Asia Scudder, Carl and Beth Shortt, Sandy and Bob Sober, Sue Moss and Andy Sullivan, James D. Thomas, Jeff Thompson, and Sharon Webster. You have helped share the story of art in Oklahoma!

OVAC’s profile on GiveSmartOKC gives an overview of our finances, governance, programs, leadership and more. Please visit to learn about us and other central Oklahoma nonprofits. http://bit.ly/OVACGiveSmart Art People Donna Rinehart-Keever has been named the Executive Director of Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center. She was previously deputy director of the same organization. She joined them after serving as director of Executive Service Corps

(photo by Rex Barrett, Glass Eye Studios)

“Julia has become the face of OVAC during a period of growth and enthusiasm that she spearheaded,” said Jean Ann Fausser, OVAC Board President. “Her contributions are immeasurable and she will be missed by the organization profoundly. We are happy that she will continue to work for the arts in Oklahoma and take that initiative to new heights.”

When Kirt joined OVAC, she was the first fulltime staff person and the organization had 100 members. Now OVAC has more than 1,000 members and supporters and a 5-person staff.

Julia Kirt

of Central Oklahoma and her retirement from serving as the long-time president of Allied Arts. Welcome Donna! Best wishes to former director Mary Ann Prior as she moves to Vulcan Inc, where she’ll manage the art and artifacts for the Paul Allen Family.

OVAC Director Julia Kirt Accepts New Position as Arts Advocacy Leader Julia Kirt, who has served as Executive Director of the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition (OVAC) since 1999, has been selected as the new Executive Director of Oklahomans for the Arts, a statewide advocacy organization.

Among many initiatives during her tenure, Kirt launched the Momentum event highlighting young artists along with the Spotlight artist commissions for site specific installations and Emerging Curator program; the Art 365 exhibition, offering artists curatorial guidance and financial support; the Oklahoma Art Writing and Curatorial Fellowship in partnership with the University of Oklahoma School of Art & Art History and Oklahoma City Museum of Art; and the Artist Survival Kit program offering professional development for artists. Kirt oversaw the artist grants and fellowship program, which invested $286,000 in artists’ careers during her tenure, and exhibitions which awarded more than $359,000 for artists developing new artwork.

Under Kirt’s leadership, OVAC has received national recognition and funding.

Kirt said, “Over 15 incredible years working with artists and audiences across Oklahoma, I am proudest of the growing enthusiasm, confidence and pride we have helped foster for artists. Now more than ever, I know artists improve our state and, certainly, my life.

“In my new position, I’ll be glad to continue my work advocating for artists, just broadening that advocacy to include all art forms and cultural organizations, too.”

Kirt will work closely with long-time OVAC Associate Director Kelsey Karper to ensure a seamless transition. Karper will be named Interim Director upon Kirt’s departure. Karper started with OVAC in 2006, managing all of the organization’s marketing, serving as editor of Art Focus Oklahoma magazine, leading the Artist Survival Kit program, managing information and technology, and facilitating many other projects and partnerships.

“With a strong board, staff, volunteer and donor base, I know the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition will continue to support artists in transformative and dynamic ways,” said Kirt.

The OVAC Board has formed a search committee and is taking applications through May 19 for the position. n

Thank you to our new and renewing members from January and February 2014 Heather Ahtone & Marwin Begaye M.J. Alexander and Alexander Knight Lisa Jean Allswede Chelsie Austin Andrew Baker Randall Barnes Duff Bassett Doug Bauer Ellen Berney Kelley & Richard Black Julie Marks Blackstone Jennifer Borland Chandra and Steve Boyd Greg Brown Cynthia Brown and Walt Kosty Stephanie Brudzinski Jenna Bryan Milissa Burkart Ruthie Bustamante Emily Butts

Steven Cain Chris Cameris Tanner Capps Stephen Carella Mark Chase Lori and Steve Chipera Angela Church Olen Cook III Arsenios Corbishley Marlene Cunningham Ebony Iman Dallas Dorothy Danen Hilary Davis Elizabeth Downing Kika Dressler Sandra Dunn Zack and Jessica Easley Kelly Edwards Barbara Eikner and Don Thompson Tom and Jean Ann Fausser Dan Garrett

Maureen Georgiadis Lindsay Gernhardt Mary H. Grabow Ed Gruber Edward Guess Austin Hamm John and Carla Hammer Nancy Harkins Christina Harmon Michael Hatcher Terri Higgs Kari Hirst Starkey and Eric Starkey Michael Hoffner Jeff Hogue Keegan Hulsey Amy Hundley Pamela Husky Andrea and Camille Jackson Heidi James Madihah Janjua J. Jann Jeffrey

Ruthe Blalock Jones Kreg Kallenberger Aubree Karner Natalie Kent Bob Kenworthy Billy King Brian Landreth Scott Lane Klair Larason J Mark Larson Roger K. Lawrence Anna Lee Chandra Leming Rosie Leonard Cayla Lewis Katherine Liontas-Warren William B Livingston Patta Lt Angela Mabray Undrell Maholmes Howard Mapson Guillermo Martinez Mendoza

Lynette and Steven Mathis Malcolm McCune Sheridan McMichael Suzanne Wallace Mears Stephanie Mendoza Sharon J. Montgomery Ricardo Morales Giron Kwasi Muna Lawrence Naff Don C. Narcomey and Vicki VanStavern Lori Oden Jennifer Ohsfeldt Erin Owen Romy Owens Charlotte Ownby Diana Pace Lori Palmer Rose Paluckis Stephen Parks Soni Parsons Martin Peerson

Maurice Perez Claire and Tom Powers Benjamin Prentiss Phyllis Ann Price Beth Pulley Adriana Randriamanasa Erin Raux Miranda Reeves Betty Refour Patrick Riley Diana Robinson Alexandra Roy Athena Ruffin Mary Russell Harjo Jessica Sanchez Amy Sanders Lynda Savage Rick Schultz Randy Seitsinger Kerri Shadid Valerie Sharp Jim and Melanie Shelley Suzanne Silvester, Melton

Art Reference Library Frank Simons Michelle Skinner Anastasia Smith Lisa Sorrell Michi and Charles Susan Cheryl Swanson Elizabeth Tilghman Jill Tovar Carolyn Trimble Cindy Van Kley Rhonda Vanlandingham Eileen Dempsey Wanezek Randy Watkins Virginia Kay White Teresa J. Wilber Sandi Willhite Dayton Wilson Adrienne Wright Micah McCoy Amy Young Rhonda Young

ovac news

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Ask a Creativity Coach: Problem Solving IS Creative Thinking

by Romney Nesbitt

Dear Romney, When I have a problem I’m trying to solve, I get stuck reviewing the same few options over and over again. How can I come up with a new idea?

—Caught in a loop Dear Loop, When your mind is trying so hard to come up with a solution, stress highjacks your thinking process. To get your ideas flowing again I suggest breathing, clarity, friends and time.

BREATHING. Deep breathing loads your brain with oxygen.

Breathe for a full minute. In for five full seconds, out for five full seconds and repeat. A watch with a second hand will focus your attention on your breathing pace. Intensify your relaxation by imagining inhaling golden light or a rainbow of color (clarity and creativity) and exhaling dark smoke (your mind-numbing problem).

Deep breathing stops stress-induced shallow breathing. A relaxed mind and body will be able to function better.

CLARITY. State your problem in one sentence and write it down. For example, “I need to raise $300 to pay for frames for my upcoming show” (instead of “I need money now!”). Once the problem has been clearly identified and stated in a neutral way, you can generate solutions that are not emotionally charged with fear or frustration.

FRIENDS. Solicit ideas. Choose no more than three people to ask for help, “I need some help brainstorming a solution. Would you listen to my problem and share any ideas you might have?” Listen to all suggestions and write each one down. Do not interrupt or state why their idea won’t work. Be respectful and listen, then say, “Thank you for your ideas. I appreciate your time.”

TIME. Solutions surface over time. Write each idea on an index card. Place all cards on a table. At the beginning, all ideas have equal value and potential. Read each card and then walk away to give your brain time to absorb the information. Rearrange the cards when you begin to see ideas connect. As new ideas emerge, add them to the table. Over the next day or two the best ideas will surface. The solution is probably a combination of ideas or actions.

Finding solutions to life’s challenges is just another way to think creatively! n

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business of art

Romney Nesbitt is a Creativity Coach and author of Secrets From A Creativity Coach. She welcomes your comments and questions at romneynesbitt@gmail.com. Book her to speak to your group through OVAC’s ARTiculate Speakers Bureau.

Business of Art: When Motion Turns to Action

by Heather Clark Hilliard

(left) Members of the 2013 Artist INC class, which includes artists of all disciplines. (right) The Artist’s Guide by Jackie Battenfield serves as the primary text for the class.

As one of the 25 artists selected to participate in the first Artist INC Live (OKC Fall 2013 Session) I want to share my experience, how it has impacted my studio practice, and hopefully encourage and challenge you to apply for the June 2 artist application deadline for Artist INC Live OKC 2014.

Artist INC is a groundbreaking eight week professional development and business training seminar for artists of all disciplines. Sponsored by the MidAmerica Arts Alliance, which is based in Kansas City, multiple arts organizations across Oklahoma and Missouri collaborated with the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition (OVAC) to bring this program to a diverse group of artists including musicians, filmmakers, visual artists, writers, dancers, actors and performing artists. All of us are at various stages in our careers, with a wide range of ages and backgrounds. Each of us has unique visions about where we are going with our art careers.

OVAC Executive Director Julia Kirt explained, “One of the most compelling and most novel things for Oklahoma is the multidisciplinary approach... many national model programs for artist professional development incorporate artists working in multiple art forms... and the strong commonalities across all art expressions seemed to strengthen and enliven the group.”

Artist INC invites artists to investigate, observe and evaluate their art practice and to identify strengths and weaknesses related to the business aspects they like to do and the ones they may be quite skilled at avoiding.

This supportive environment encourages exploration beyond the artists’ comfort zone to resolve problems and push their careers to the next level.

The experience has impacted the way I think about my work, how I manage my time and resources and has provided a professional toolbox of efficient and effective skills and tips to accomplish my goals. I immediately applied a handful of these methods, some are works in progress and others are readily accessible as I need them. In exchange for your commitment you are provided with valuable resources, ways to cultivate community, and fresh perspectives about being an artistic entrepreneur.

Artist INC addresses goal setting and planning, technologies, legal and tax issues, financial record keeping, writing about and marketing your work, applying for grants and preparing professional presentations.

The artist peer facilitators are supportive and knowledgeable and each topic is presented by experts in their respective fields.

INC is structured so that each artist defines his/her art practice; it is not a one size fits all approach. The quote by Benjamin Franklin “never confuse motion with action” resonated with me because we are constantly in motion but when does that motion transform into action and place you closer to your goals? Do you understand what your goals are to know if you are closer to achieving them? Do your goals need to be re-evaluated?

Being a part of a multi-talented group of artists gathering and gaining momentum to change the fabric of the arts in Oklahoma is an empowering experience. New marketing skills, finding your voice and learning to apply creative thinking to business training are all part and parcel of the experience.

One participant said that the most valuable part was “a strong peer network and being invested in the success of the other fellows.”

Keep your art career on your path while sharing new skills with fellow artists.

It is an opportunity to participate in a catalyzing and challenging experience....

Apply, Apply, Apply.

Visit www.ArtistSurvivalKit.org for program details and application. The deadline to apply is June 2, 2014 at 5 pm. n

I was reminded to keep swimming in my own lane and focus on my career goals. Artist

business of art

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Gallery Listings & Exhibition Schedule

Ada

Claremore

Edmond

Senior exhibits May 1–9 The Pogue Gallery Hallie Brown Ford Fine Arts Center 900 Centennial Plaza (580) 559-5353 ecok.edu

Three Rivers Artists June 28-July 28 Opening June 28, 5-8 pm Wolf Productions A Gallery of the Arts 510 W Will Rogers Blvd (918) 342-4210 wolfproductionsagallery.com

5x5 May 5, 5-8 pm Fine Arts Institute of Edmond 27 E Edwards St (405) 340-4481 edmondfinearts.com

Impressionism: Past, Present, Future May 2014 Art on the Salt Fork June 2014 Graceful Arts Gallery and Studios 523 Barnes St. (580) 327-ARTS gracefulartscenter.org

Duncan

John Seward and Melanie Seward Opening May 10, 7-9 pm The Leslie Powell Foundation and Gallery 620 D Avenue (580) 357-9526 lpgallery.org

Ardmore

Senior Exhibition Through May 12 Southeastern OK State University 1405 N. 4th PMB 4231 se.edu/departments/art/visual_ art.htm

Alva

Annual All Schools Exhibit 2014: Elementary School Through May 3 Photography Exhibit: Emperor Penguins JJ L’Heureux May 27-June 28 The Goddard Center 401 First Avenue SW (580) 226-0909 goddardcenter.org

Jason Cytacki: Western Installation Through May 23 Chisholm Trail Heritage Center 1000 Chisholm Trail Pkwy (580) 252-6692 onthechisholmtrail.com

Durant

Lawton

Norman Youth Show Through May 24 Reception May 9, 6-9 pm FAAC Faculty Art Show June 6-July 26 Reception June 13, 6-9 pm Firehouse Art Center 444 South Flood (405) 329-4523 normanfirehouse.com

Allan Houser Drawings: The Centennial Exhibition Through May 18 Our, People, Our Land, Our Images Through May 25 Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art 555 Elm Ave. (405) 325-4938 ou.edu/fjjma

Oklahoma City Dustin Oswald Opening May 2, 6-10 pm Ben Pendleton Opening June 6, 6-10 pm aka gallery 3001 Paseo (405) 606-2522 akagallery.net Beth Hammack & John Wolfe May 2-31 Connie Imboden & Karl Brenner June 6-28 JRB Art at the Elms 2810 North Walker (405) 528-6336 jrbartgallery.com

Allen Houser Through May 11 Walter Ufer: Rise, Fall, Resurrection Through May 11 Edward S. Curtis Photogravures Through May 11 Making Change Through June 30 National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum 1700 NE 63rd (405) 478-2250 nationalcowboymuseum.org Chuck Webster Through May 16 Jason Willaford May 27-August 22 Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center 3000 General Pershing Blvd.

(405) 951-0000 oklahomacontemporary.org

Bartlesville An Ongoing Legacy: Gordon Watkinson Through May 4 Price Tower Arts Center 510 Dewey Ave. (918) 336-4949 pricetower.org

Broken Bow Master Woodworking Artist of the Year Through May 4 Owa-Chito Art Show June 13-22 Forest Heritage Center Beaver’s Bend Resort (580) 494-6497 beaversbend.com

TERNAT TULSA IN

IONAL

, 2014 MAY 15ww-1w.8 tu lsa ma yfe st. or g

gallery guide

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J. Don Cook North Gallery Through May 18 Virginia Stroud East Gallery Through May 25 Janice Wright Governor’s Gallery Through June 1 Oklahoma State Capitol Galleries 2300 N. Lincoln Blvd (405) 521-2931 arts.ok.gov Ansel Adams: An American Perspective Through June 1 Brett Weston: Land, Sea and Sky: Recent Gifts from the Christian Keesee Collection Through June 1 Allan Houser: On the Roof May 1-July 27 Gods and Heroes: Masterpieces from the École des Beaux-Arts, Paris June 21-September 14 Oklahoma City Museum of Art 415 Couch Drive (405) 236-3100 okcmoa.com

Senior Capstone Exhibition Through May 10 Nona Hulsey Gallery, Norick Art Center Oklahoma City University 1600 NW 26th (405) 208-5226 okcu.edu Rufus Butler Seder Jason Cytaki May 10-October 1 Opening May 10, 6-9 pm The Satellite Galleries at Science Museum Oklahoma 2100 NE 52nd St (405) 602-6664 sciencemuseumok.org

Park Hill Diligwa, 300 Years in the Making June 2 -August 24 Cherokee National Historical Society, Inc. 21192 S. Keeler Drive (918) 456-6007 cherokeeheritage.org

Piedmont UCO Alumni Group Opening May 17, 6-9 pm Red Dirt Gallery & Artists 13100 Colony Pointe Blvd #113 (405) 206-2438 reddirtartistsgallery. yolasite.com

Ponca City Aaron Frisby Opening May 4, 2-4 pm Caryl Morgan Opening June 1, 2-4 pm Ponca City Art Center 819 East Central (580) 765-9746 poncacityartcenter.com

Stillwater Sharing a Journey: Building the Oklahoma State University Museum of Art Collection Celebrating Allan Houser Through May 24 Gardiner Gallery

Become a member of the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition.

Join today to begin enjoying the benefits of membership, including a subscription to Art Focus Oklahoma.

PATRON - $250

-Listing of self or business on signage at events -Invitation for two people to private reception with visiting curators -$210 of this membership is tax deductible.

-All of below

FELLOW - $125

-Acknowledgement in the Resource Guide and Art Focus Oklahoma -Copy of each OVAC exhibition catalog -$85 of this membership is tax deductible.

-All of below

FAMILY - $60

Occupied: Narciso Arguelles Architecture of Future/ Artcar/Bike Exhibit May 2-22 Inclusion in Arts & Negro League Quilts June 6-June 26 Living Arts Tulsa 307 E. Brady Art 365 (918) 585-1234 May 23-August 9 Opening May 23, 6-9 pm livingarts.org Hardesty Arts Center Ronan & Erwan 101 E Archer St Bouroullec (918) 584-3333 Through May 11 ahhatulsa.org The Philbrook Museum of Art Near Abstractions: New 2727 South Rockford and Recent works by Road Garry Noland (918) 749-7941 Through June 1 Plein Air Invitational on philbrook.org Oklahoma State University Museum of Art 108 Bartlett Center for the Visual Arts (405) 744-4143 museum.okstate.edu

Brady: Show & Sale June 6-29 Henry Zarrow Center for Art and Education 124 E Brady St (918) 631-4400 gilcrease.utulsa.edu/ Explore/Zarrow

Unexpected Through May 18 Opening Abstraction Identity & Inspiration Through May 29 Beauty Within Through September 7 Allan Houser May 18-November 2 Philbrook Downtown 116 E.M.B. Brady St

¨ Patron

¨ Fellow

¨ Family

Name Street Address City, State, Zip

Website

Phone

Credit card #

Exp. Date

-Valid student ID required. Same benefits as Individual level.

¨ Student

INDIVIDUAL - $40

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Mayfest May Experience Tulsa June Tulsa Performing Arts Center Gallery Third and Cincinnati (918) 596-2368 tulsapac.com

¨ Individual

Email

STUDENT - $20

5X5: TACs Annual Fundraiser May 2-17 Opening May 5, 5:55 pm Michael Wright May 23-25 24 Works on Paper June 6-28 Tulsa Artists Coalition Gallery 9 East Brady (918) 592-0041 tacgallery.org

MEMBER FORM

-Same benefits as Individual level for two people in household -Subscription to Art Focus Oklahoma -Monthly e-newsletter of visual art events statewide (sample) -Receive all OVAC mailings -Listing in Annual Resource Guide and Member Directory -Copy of Annual Resource Guide and Member Directory -Access to “Members Only” area on OVAC website -Invitation to Annual Meeting Plus, artists receive: -Inclusion in online Virtual Gallery -Monthly e-newsletter of opportunities for artists (sample) -Artist entry fees waived for OVAC sponsored exhibitions -Up to 50% discount on Artist Survival Kit workshops -Associate Membership in Fractured Atlas, with access to services such as insurance, online courses and other special offers.

(918) 749-7941 philbrook.org

Are you an artist? Y N Medium?_____________________________________ Would you like to be included in the Membership Directory? Y N Would you like us to share your information for other arts-related events?

Y

N

Comments:

Detach and mail form along with payment to: OVAC, 730 W. Wilshire Blvd, Suite 104, Oklahoma City, OK 73116 Or join online at www.ovac-ok.org

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ArtOFocus k l a h o m a Annual Subscriptions to Art Focus Oklahoma are free with OVAC membership.

Thru May 10: Art 365 exhibition, OKC May 1: Art 365 Artist Talk with Alexandra Knox, OKC

730 W. Wilshire Blvd, Suite 104 Oklahoma City, OK 73116 The Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition supports Oklahoma’s visual arts and artists and their power to enrich communities.

Non Profit Org. US POSTAGE PAID Oklahoma City, OK Permit No. 113

Visit www.ovac-ok.org to learn more.

May 8: Art 365 Panel - Church Locations: Place, Architecture, Geography, Community; OKC May 10: Art 365 Closing Reception, OKC May 14: ASK - What Works/What Doesn’t, Norman May 23: Art 365 Exhibition Opening, Tulsa May 29: Photo Slam, OKC May 31-Jun 28: 24 Works on Paper exhibition, Tulsa Jun 19: OVAC Annual Members’ Meeting, Tulsa Visit www.ovac-ok.org for more complete listings.

MAY JOHN WOLFE BETH HAMMACK Opening Reception: FRIDAY, MAY 2 6 - 10 P.M.

JUNE CONNIE IMBODEN KARL BRENNER Opening Reception: FRIDAY, JUNE 6 6 - 10 P.M. Gallery Hours: Mon - Sat 10 am - 6 pm Sun 1 pm - 5 pm

2810 North Walker Phone: 405.528.6336 www.jrbartgallery.com

JRB

ART

AT THE ELMS