Art Focus Oklahoma, November/December 2005

ArtOFocus k l a h o m a Oklahoma Vi su al A rts Co al i t io n

Vo l u m e 2 0 N o . 6

City Arts Center Celebrates American Indian Heritage Month with Earth and Sky Exhibit Three native Oklahomans create innovative visual language. p.8

November/December 2005

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contents

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profiles 3 Sallie McCorkle 5 Richard Copeland

reviews/previews 6 Holocaust Exhibition 6 Clowns of Cicus Flora 7 Visions in the Flesh 8 American Indian Heritage Month 9 Day of the Dead

features 10 Prairie Skyscraper 12 Creatiavity Coaching 13 On the Map

business 14 Organized Artist

On the Cover: America Meredith Friendship Dance San Francisco, CA

OVAC news 16 Round Up/At a Glance 17

gallery guide

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

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

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

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 Anonymous letters will not be published.

Please include a phone number.

Art Focus Committee: Janice McCormick, Bixby; Sue Clancy, Norman; Janice Mathews-Gordon, Michael Hoffner, Stephen Kovash, Cindy Miller, Debbie Nauser, Roger Runge and Sue Moss Sullivan, Oklahoma City.

OVAC Board of Directors 2005-2006: Kathleen Rivers, Ada; Elliott Schwartz, Rick Vermillion (Treasurer), Edmond; Diana Brown, Fort Sill; Suzanne Thomas, Nicoma Park; Thomas Batista, Skip Hill, J.D. Merryweather, Dwayne Morris, John Seward (Vice President), Carl Shortt (President), Lila Todd (Secretary), Oklahoma City; Pam Hodges, PhD (Vice President), Sand Springs; Chris Ramsay, Stillwater; Claudia Doyle, Jean Ann Fausser, Michaela Merryday, Teresa Valero, 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 National Association of Artists’ Organization.

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member agency

This program is supported in part by the Oklahoma Arts Council

© 2005, Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition. All rights reserved.

prof i le Sallie McCorkle, Professor and Art Department Head at Okahoma State University, Stillwater

Sallie McCorkle

Creative Leadership in Stillwater

By Chris Ramsay, Professor of Art, Metals and Jewelry, Oklahoma State University A new era of leadership has arrived in the Art Department on the campus of Oklahoma State University (OSU).

Beginning in the Fall of 2005 Sallie McCorkle was hired as Professor and Head of the OSU Department of Art. McCorkle brings multiple skills and experiences from years of involvement in the arts and a unique personal perspective to Oklahoma.

Sallie McCorkle was born in Texas, but was raised in the academic circle of her mother’s career that eventually led to Stillwater in the early 1970s. Sallie’s mother, Elizabeth Max, began as the OSU Arts and Architecture Librarian, but with multiple degrees in Journalism, English and Theatre, Max’s responsibilities further developed within the university. One of her especially noteworthy accomplishments at OSU was the development of a national Women’s Study Program. In Sallie’s words, her mother’s involvement with higher education throughout her career represents, “the epitome of academic study” and as such created an awesome role model from which Sallie gains momentum. Sallie also reflects upon her youthful days growing up within a university environment as “a good place to grow-up… any time you can be around a university as a child, it is empowering. No matter where you live in the country, the university is a cultural center.”

Sallie graduated from Stillwater High School in 1976 and between the ages of 18-21 fell trees in Mendocino County, CA. At that time she also studied clown arts and mime with Marcel Marceau’s teacher, Sandy Zike. During those years of riding a unicycle, juggling and supporting two people upon her shoulders, Sallie would return to Oklahoma to visit family and friends and work at Middle Path Alternative Foods restaurant in Tulsa where she became Head of the Kitchen. McCorkle enrolled as a student at OSU and took foundation art classes and theatre stage lighting for one and a half years and then applied to the Kansas City Art Institute (KCAI) where she majored in sculpture. At KCAI Sallie became Assistant to the Vice President for Student Affairs and at the end of the two-year KCAI program, McCorkle was first in her graduating class.

McCorkle’s diverse interests in art led her to seek out a cross-disciplinary graduate art program in which she could thrive. Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University in New York provided the environment that she desired and offered opportunities for her to teach, work as a sculptural technician, and experience working for “famous” artists in their studios. Following graduate school McCorkle was hired by Penn State University in 1990 as Head of the Sculpture

program and eventually became Head of the entire Studio Program at Penn State.

McCorkle’s rise into leadership positions has occurred throughout her life and demonstrates a special duality that she possesses—the ability to administrate and create. “I have always done both and at points in my life I have considered becoming a lawyer or CPA, along with doing my creative thing.”

As an artist McCorkle’s artwork ranges from gallery-oriented objects to large-scale, public sculptures. She is best-known for her sculptural installations that utilize various media in order to explore issues of gender, sexual orientation, power, politics, censorship, and privacy. Her work has been shown in numerous national and international exhibitions including Situations: New Perspectives on Lesbian and Gay Art at New Langton Arts, San Francisco, and Women Artists-Women Subjects at Lincoln Center in New York.

McCorkle’s work has been cited in many publications including New Feminist Criticism: Art, Identity, Action (HarperCollins, 1994) and Lesbian Art in America: A Contemporary History (Rizzoli, 2000). She has co-organized several national and international exhibitions and has worked on collaborative projects with members of MIT’s Media Lab and the College Art Association’s Queer 3

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Caucus. McCorkle received funding for the organization of a national/international symposium and exhibition concerning objects and visual culture, which was held at Penn State University in March, 2004. Recently, she participated in several international, sitespecific exhibitions including Waldkunstpfad (Forest Art Path) and Vogelfrei 5, in Darmstadt, Germany.

(Above) Sallie McCorkle, Consuming Nature, detail of gold gilt branches from the sculptural installation at Waldkunstpfad, Darmstadt, Germany.

(Below) Sallie McCorkle, Consuming Nature, sculptural installation at Waldkunstpfad, Darmstadt, Germany.

It is with this experience that McCorkle returns to Oklahoma and the OSU Art Department. Sallie had made a decision to explore administrative positions while teaching at Penn State and was offered a major position as Head of Faculty at Parsons School of Design in New York. In her infinite wisdom, she could see that the position was 100% administrative and would side-line her creative research so she declined the offer. At Oklahoma State University McCorkle has found her ideal scenario. The new Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Peter Sherwood, has made it clear that McCorkle has the critical responsibility to lead the OSU Art Department, but that it is also essential that she continue to do her creative research. As evidence of McCorkle’s commitment to this mission she has been invited once again to create a site-specific public artwork at Vogelfrei 6, in Germany this fall where more than 6,000 viewers arrive just on the first day of the twoweek event.

As Head of the OSU Art Department McCorkle wishes to improve opportunities for students and faculty regarding national and international research and increase their exposure to art, artists and scholars from regions beyond the state of Oklahoma. In addition she envisions a stronger relationship across the university disciplines and between the university and the state community.

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Through her leadership she intends to increase the visibility of the OSU Art Department program locally, regionally and nationally.

One action that will accelerate that direction is to achieve accreditation through the North American Colleges of Art & Design for the OSU Art Department.

Sallie says that she loves being back in Oklahoma and that she feels more alive here.

“There is something wonderfully familiar, but odd… and a bit surreal at times... I hope the oddness doesn’t go away because it creates a heightened reality for me now.”

Sallie McCorkle can be contacted through the OSU Art Department: Oklahoma State University Department of Art 108 Bartlett Center Stillwater, OK. 74078 Phone: 405/744-6016 Email: sallie.mccorkle@okstate.edu

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Richard Copeland: Humor and Fixations

By Julia Kirt

The first thing that strikes me with Richard Copeland is his dry humor. He plays off jokes so that you might not even know he is poking fun. This humor infuses his artwork.

of the boats have big orange sails. On Chesapeake Bay, you can’t do any fishing from a power boat, no commercial fishing or crabbing, and you must operate on sail.”

and over). If I were smart I’d just make chairs, life would be a lot simpler.” Instead, Copeland has explored his various fixations with over thirty years as a professional artist.

Fixations are the other main characteristic of Copeland’s work. After one flash of inspiration from a specific view, he has produced nine paintings of yellow and blue umbrellas in the sand, ten paintings of adobe walls with one window, and a long series of carved small scale boats.

Copeland creates drawings and measurements of working boats and duck hunting boats from the 1920s. He reduces them to make reasonable scale, such as 5 feet long for a 40 foot boat. Although he loves the boats, he said he makes fewer of them now and mainly for commissions as they are so difficult to ship.

Despite the variety there is a continuity of meaning. He admits, “Everything is a metaphor. It appears to be just a boat or a fish or whatever, but is telling a story.” For instance, Copeland’s Tarpin (a large fish in a small aquarium) that was included in the 2003 OVAC-organized VisionMakers exhibition symbolized, “a predicament we find ourselves in all the time. We end up in a place we don’t want to be or we have outgrown the space we are in and the people around us. It isn’t their fault or our fault, but just happens.” However, Copeland said he does not care if viewers pick out the metaphor or not.

When he first visited New Mexico, he saw the stucco walls with the single window.

He said, “I was really taken by it so I spent two or three days taking photographs of everything I saw. I came home and started looking at them and trying to do it. I realized everyone had painted that church of St. Francis, but I cropped in close and painted the back for shadows and subtle texture, which indicated the adobe.” The series motivated him so much that he claimed, “You almost don’t have to paint the picture, it paints itself.”

Born and raised in Washington DC, he became focused on boats. Living close to the Chesapeake Bay, he said there was something about the lines of boats that really attracted him. The visuals of it remained in his mind and muse. “Many

Richard Copeland Enid Untitled, (detail) Mixed Media

Professing to be ADD, Copeland said he “can’t work on one thing continuously, must work on something else, walk around and go to next thing.” His garage studio always has about 10 projects going on various surfaces.

This is evident in the variety of his work. I fell in love with his sculpture from A Great Fish in Aquarium series to other amazing constructions. He primarily identifies, however, with acrylic and watercolor. His current body of two-dimensional work was recently on exhibition at JRB Art at the Elms in Oklahoma City.

He said, “I really like my paintings a lot.” So, that seems like the main reason Copeland’s work is both fun and memorable—he creates art from his connection of ideas and aesthetics, which lead to humor and fine craftsmanship. I like Copeland’s artwork a lot too!

On his diverse oeuvre, Copeland said, “If a person were really smart, he’d make chairs (a metaphor for doing the same thing over

Richard Copeland, Enid Aquarium Series, Tarpin Wood, Paper and Sand

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The Clowns of Circus Flora rev iew

By Janice McCormick Scott Raffe explores the interplay between the archetype of the clown and the personality behind that archetype in the photographs of two clowns, Cecil MacKinnon and Giovanni Zoppe from a recent exhibit at Sisneros Fine Art Gallery in Tulsa, Circus Flora: 1995-2005. photo credit: Sheri Ishmael-Waldrop

Holocaust Exhibit Shows the Faces of the Persecuted and the Rescuers

By Sheri Ishmael-Waldrop The heroism and devastation of a dark and forbidding time in world history has been given a face for Oklahomans. The Oklahoma Holocaust Remembrance Exhibit at Untitled [ArtSpace], September 15 through October 23, was presented by the Cimarron Alliance Foundation in association with The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C., Untitled [ArtSpace], the Jewish Federation/Foundation of Greater Oklahoma City, and numerous foundations, organizations and individuals.

The powerful Rescuers: Portraits of Moral Courage in the Holocaust and the eye-opening Nazi Persecution of Homosexuals 1933-1945 compliment each other as they showed the classic struggle between good and evil. The Rescuers: Portraits of Moral Courage in the Holocaust used the portraits by Gay Block and the writing of Rabbi Malka Drucker to convey the courageous deeds of those who risked their own lives to save Jews from the Nazis during World War II. Stories of hiding families, relocating Jewish children into non-Jewish homes and sharing meager food rations were vividly intertwined with revealing photographs. Each display took you from the past to the present. You were drawn into their struggle as you read how they risked it all in hope of preserving life. The expression and surroundings of each rescuer was carefully and meticulously brought to life in the late 1980s as Block used her camera to capture a moment. Her photographs were a glimpse into the hero’s souls.

As I looked at the old black and white photographs and the newer color photographs I saw how life has changed these individuals; some seem to look back with sorrow and some with joy.

Dr. Edward “Ted” Phillips, exhibit curator and deputy director, division of exhibitions from the United State Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C., brought the exhibit to the Oklahoma City area at the request of Cimarron Alliance Foundation, Inc. The reproductions of original photographs, prisoner artwork, documents, newspaper clippings, posters and artifacts draw the visitor into the haunting images of those who were persecuted by the Nazi regime using criminal law paragraph 175. The original 1871 law forbid “unnatural indecency” between two men, “punishable by imprisonment” for up to two years. Approximately 100,000 men were arrested and half of those were convicted and imprisoned. The display acknowledged that the regime was determined to rid Germany of those who were not “racially pure”, such as the Gypsies and Poles, as well as those with special physical or mental needs.

Phillips’ straight-forward text and use of the Nazi’s own propaganda left me with a confusing mixture of disbelief and enlightenment. The open and honest view of homosexuality in Germany is often left out of the history books. From the details I learned the systematic removal of male homosexuals in Nazi-occupied Germany was used in the attempt to create an elite society. Homosexuality was thought of as an infectious disease that would spread and threaten the “Aryan” nation. Phillips said the Nazis feared that male homosexuality would reduce the number of “racially pure” births.

Their imprisonment was not meant to eradicate them from society, but to “re-educate” them, repopulate the nations that were invaded and further the cause. The panels showed that the Nazis believed a woman was to be taken care of by a man, if a woman became a lesbian it was because there were not enough men to fill the need.

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The combination of the emotional and educational exhibits added a new dimension to the history of the holocaust and left me with a desire to learn more from those who lived through it.

The immediate impression of Cecil/Hat is that of a mug shot. The archetypal clown features of Cecil are captured in profile, standing out sharply against the russet colored backdrop. Starting at the wide expanse of the clown collar of stiff folds in gold and silver netting, the eye travels up the bold profile of Cecil’s white face, noting with humor the over-sized Roman nose (natural) and the bright blue wig (unnatural).

Her penciled-in caret-shaped eyebrows give this clown a perpetual look of surprise. Then the eye continues up to the brown cone-shaped hat of felt.

This hat has fallen on hard times; it appears as though it had been crushed. Sprouting out of the pointy end of this cockeyed hat is a twisting stem that ends with a gold mesh flower. No wonder this outlandish hat gets equal billing in Raffe’s title! Here are all the emblematic features of a clown whose lineage can be traced back to the Commedia dell’Arte.

In contrast, another photograph, Cecil MacKinnon Close Up, reveals a nuanced and complex portrait of the person behind the white grease paint. This three-quarter view of Cecil is taken not only closer to the subject, but also from a slightly lower vantage point. Thus the viewer gazes up at this clown, giving her a dignified, even monumental, air. This perspective also minimizes her large Roman nose and places the visual emphasis on her eyes. The rich brocade of flowers in gold and silver adds a note of refinement. Yet, at the same time, this close up reveals her human imperfections: wrinkles, laugh lines, flaws in the application of red grease paint on her lips and around her nostrils, and the still discernible bushiness of her real eyebrows beneath the white grease paint. The ruffles under the chin and the arc of the hat’s edge frame the steady yet wistful gaze of this gentle soul. Although there is no smile on her lips, the lines and wrinkles are evidence of many past smiles and laughs and promise more of the same to come. But, rather than a goofy grin or belly laugh, you expect a wistful half-sigh/halfsmile to light up her face/mask. Here Cecil reveals, rather than conceals, herself by putting on the clown mask of the wistful dreamer (perhaps Pierrette). And Raffe’s art captures that subtle revelation.

These are but two images from an extensive exhibit.

Raffe has been photographing Circus Flora’s performers for ten years. His works, as illustrated by the two discussed here, explore the tension between the assumed mask of the performer and the human individual behind it.

a photographic survey

by John Seward

Skin, epidermis, flesh . . . the covering on our bodies that not only protects us but keeps us physiologically “organized.” It varies in color, texture, shape and form and yet retains a mysterious quality. Humans constantly work to maintain their flesh, although it is destined to change with exposure and age.

See and compare figurative works in the exhibition Visions in the Flesh that will feature five photographers and their approach to the human nude. Many photographers create work that goes beyond a simple representation of flesh and form.

Each of the five photographers presented in this exhibition approach the nude figure from a different perspective and each finds a method in presenting the subject with varying psychological overtones.

Nationally recognized Jerry Uelsmann uses photography to question what it is we see, or expect to see, in a photograph. The perceptions reach into your mind and, therefore we psychologically interpret the image individually. The photograph is perceived as the representation of a moment in time that existed or is “real” . . . after all, it must be real. Darkroom technique and composited imagery became the tool for Jerry Uelsmann. Through the combining of multiple negatives in the darkroom, Uelsmann’s photographs question the reality of the image. Our sense of reality becomes confused, which forces the viewer to analyze the information on a deeper philosophical and psychological level. Uelsmann said, “While it may be true, as Nathan Lyons stated, ‘The eye and the camera see more than the mind knows,’ is it not conceivable the mind knows more than the eye and the camera see?”

Bill Perry’s close-up figures are emotional, ethereal and mysterious. His large scale gelatin silver nudes are purposely titled in emotional terms such as Rejection, The Feeling of Pain, and The Prison. These titles influence the viewer to analyze the figurative work with their psychological overtones. In many of the photographs, the tremendous emotion and power are directly confronting. Coupled with the printing process in which the images were created by exposing the negative through layers of tissue paper, the mood and mystique of the photograph is enhanced and magnified.

Melanie Seward depicts the nude’s unique shape and form, yet uses recognizable features such as eyes, lips and nipples as sensual, psychological triggers of both question and imagination. Her approach to nude compositions is in light, form and tone. She works about her models studying novel or unconventional approaches as she photographs. The sensual skin is stunningly present and evokes a certain sense of eroticism by questions raised in recognizable “components” and their relationship with one another. This series was created in Sicily at springtime and denote a new beginning.

simply stated, beautiful. As Greg wrote in his introduction, “The problem lies in interpretation. A nude should be accepted for its face value - an exploration of the human form in all of its natural glory.”

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VISIONS IN THE FLESH

John Seward uses double exposures to combine the classical female nude with man-made elements, such as buildings, walls and automotive components. His images question the juxtaposition of the nude with common spatial elements.

Seward created a series of in-camera double exposures on color negative film using one model and various settings at the Cadillac Ranch and in Santa Fe. Flesh is a fascinating subject in art and in life. The nude figure, both male and female, should not only convey a sense of beauty but also a sense of wonder on both an intuitive and philosophical level of thinking. Visions in the Flesh will remain on exhibition at the Mainsite Contemporary Art Gallery through November 26, 2005. Mainsite is located at 122 East Main in Norman. For more information call 292-8095 or visit their website at www.mainsite-art.com.

Jerry Uelsmann, Untitled, Photograph

Greg Gorman sees the young male figure as transitional. Gorman’s male nudes from the series As I See It bridges a misconception of nudes in art...the female form is a thing of beauty and the male nude because of its external sexuality is considered taboo. These photographs are, quite

Melanie Seward, Untitled, Oklahoma City, Photograph

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City Arts Center Celebrates American Indian Heritage Month with Earth and Sky Exhibit

(above) Benjamin Harjo, Jr. Horsing Around Oklahoma City, Acrylic (right) Charles Pratt Bear Clan War Shield Gallup, New Mexico Bronze & Semi-Precious Stone

by Shoshana Wasserman Earth and Sky: New Works by Benjamin Harjo Jr., America Meredith and Charles Pratt merges the work of three venerated contemporary Native American artists that are significant to the Oklahoma cultural landscape and who are all highly acclaimed, both nationally and internationally. These three native Oklahomans and modern-day storytellers have created an innovative visual language to impart tales about their dynamic cultures and their experiences as Native Americans. The exhibit will be on display in the Eleanor Kirkpatrick Gallery at City Arts Center from November 17, 2005 – January 7, 2006.

Artistic Director, Clint Stone explains, “Artists often utilize earthly abstractions and images found in the sky as the inspiration or motifs in their works of art.” Earth and Sky possesses a narrative quality that engages and captivates the viewer. These three artists approach their work with a distinct and unique style that shuttles the viewer on a voyage, which often results in unexpected conclusions.

SPEAKERS @ THE UNIVERSITY OF TULSA

Mayo Visiting Artist:

(918) 631 -2739

ROBERT BERLIND Exhibition

Alexandre Hogue Gallery

Public Lecture

Room 211:

4pm-5pm

Phillips Hall

NOV.3-DEC.2

NOV. 3

Opening Reception

5pm-7pm

J. Donald Feagin Visiting Artist:

COCO FUSCO

Chapman Hall, 7pm 8

DEC. 1

Benjamin Harjo’s use of primary colors, repetition and adept management of negative space creates a rhythmic flow in his work that is recognizably Harjo. Harjo, who is Seminole and Shawnee, is considered one of the nation’s leading Native American artists. His career has spanned more than twenty award-filled years. Harjo finds inspiration from all directions and listens to the people around him.

In contrast, America Meredith who resides in San Francisco, California, positions pop culture imagery such as cartoon characters and figurative elements with symbolic nuances, indicative of her heritage. Meredith is of Cherokee and Swedish descent and uses all aspects of her culture in her illustrative narrations. Her depth in composition is typical of traditional European style painting. She positions certain elements near the viewer, while others recede away in the distance. She often combines warm and cool colors to create an energy you would associate with the pop art movement palette. Her trademark incorporation of large Cherokee syllabery creates innovative pieces that are reminiscent of oversized fine art flash cards.

Charles Pratt’s reputation is known throughout the world because of the great breadth of his work and incredible attention to detail on each of his sculptural works of art. A native Oklahoman who currently lives in Gallup, New Mexico, he is not bound by any particular medium or scale. Pratt painted for 15 years until he finally could afford the luxury of producing his bronze sculptures. Pratt relies on his Cheyenne-Arapaho heritage as his guide to blend stories and expand upon them to create a new brand of Native American poetry.

There will be an opening reception on Thursday, November 17 from 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm. The Eleanor Kirkpatrick Gallery is located in City Arts Center at State Fair Park, 3000 General Pershing Blvd.

In conjunction with the exhibit, Benjamin Harjo Jr. will offer a Printing Workshop on November 21, 2005 from 7-9 pm at City Arts Center. The cost of the workshop is $20 per person, plus supplies.

Participants will gain insight into his technique as he focuses on block and alternative printing processes. For more information regarding the exhibit or workshop call 405.951.0000 or log onto www.cityartscenter.org.

This exhibit is sponsored in part by Ann Simmons Alspaugh, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Oklahoma Arts Council.

Season sponsors include: Allied Arts, Classical KCSC 90.1FM, Kirkpatrick Family Fund, Oklahoma City Housing Authority and Southwestern Publishing.

by Elizabeth T. Burr, PhD

“The Mexican is familiar with death, jokes about it, caresses it, sleeps with it, celebrates it; it is one of his toys and his most steadfast love” Octavio Paz Living Arts of Tulsa has invited artists to participate in their annual celebration of the Mexican festival, The Day of the Dead (El Dia de los Muertos) this November. The festival will open at 5 pm on Tuesday, November 1, and will continue through November 11. Living Arts of Tulsa is located at 308 South Kenosha Avenue.

Long before the Spanish invasion, Mexico had a long history of honoring their dead. In 1553, a Spanish observer wrote, “Every household celebrated a great feast. They incensed the images they had of their dead parents, kinsmen and priests.” Now, with the incorporation of their ancient practice into their Catholic heritage, El Dia de los Muertos is one of the most colorful and moving of many Hispanic traditions.

Reflecting their belief in the duality of life and death, they honor their deceased relatives who are

allowed to return and visit with them during this day of remembrance. The elaborate altars that are built in Mexican homes are not only lavishly decorated with candy, toy skeletons and skulls (Calaveras), but are also covered with specific mementos of the departed. These altars, and the cemetery visits are to show the spirits their way home, and to welcome them.

While the Living Arts of Tulsa will begin their festivities on November 1, and will exhibit the elaborately embellished altars through November 11, in Mexico, the formal Day of the Dead celebrations start earlier. Those who died by suicide, murder, or by other violent means, are remembered on October 28. The unbaptized are memorialized on October 29, while October 30 is for those who died lonely. October 31 is reserved for the visits of the “angelitos” – children who died just after their baptism.

Traditionally, these angelitos arrive at 3 pm, and are allowed to stay with their families until 3 pm on November 1, when the adult spirits are given their time with families.

Far from being morbid, this whole period is considered to be a joyful chance to celebrate the lives of loved ones whom have passed on, and to feel that veil between the mortal and

the immortal be lifted by love for just a brief moment.

Inside the Living Arts gallery, there will be a special exhibition of altars made by local artists and students, curated by Monica Montagut, Curator of Exhibitions and Public Programs at the Price Tower Arts Center. Further, the public is invited to add their personal commemorative items to an open public altar.

In line with these activities, Living Arts will set up an area for “dead letters.” These are letters that can be written by people to friends and relatives who have passed on. At the end of the day, they will all be gathered together and burnt, with the smoke symbolically transmitting the messages to the deceased.

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Living Arts Of Tulsa Honors The Day of the Dead

As part of the expansion of the festival out into Kenosha Street, artists can rent spaces on the street to display and sell their artwork. To add to the festival atmosphere, Kenosha will be closed to traffic from 5-10 pm on November 1 for a street-wide Hispanic Fiesta, where everyone is invited to enjoy Hispanic food, music, artists’ booths, and performance artists.

The day will close with a street dance. For more information, contact the Living Arts of Tulsa at (918) 585-1234, or visit www.livingarts.org.

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feat u re Galleries at Price Tower. (c) Christian M. Korab/ Korab Photo

Price Tower at night. (c) Christian M. Korab/ Korab Photo

PRAIRIE SKYSCRAPER

by Lori Oden Although I grew up in Oklahoma, I have never been to Bartlesville. With a longtime interest in Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture, it was time to make the trip. I kept thinking about the “prairie skyscraper” as I left the Tulsa city limits and the visual that kept rolling around in my mind was…I would top a hill and there it would be….a towering skyscraper amidst prairie grasses and bison.

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of the shafts of light hit the tower and it appeared as a beacon. My mouth dropped open and my eyes widened; my original vision was not so far from the truth after all. With excitement, I parked and went in to meet a tour group.

This past August was cool and rainy so the prairie grasses were long, green and blowing beautifully in the wind. Big, puffy clouds only allowed shafts of light through occasionally. It was a gorgeous day and I was disappointed that I had not brought my camera. Upon my arrival to Bartlesville, it was apparent I had not done my research on this town; it is thriving city with over 30,000 residents. Therefore, when I topped the hill there was city sprawl and I did not see the Price Tower.

Bartlesville kept growing as I entered the city and I was impressed.

With a great core of enthusiastic and knowledgeable volunteers, the Price Tower Arts Center offers tower tours for $8, Tuesday through Saturday at 11am and 2pm and Sunday at 2pm. It is a must.

They take you to parts of the building that you might not see if you are just there for the gallery shows. The tour starts with a video, moves up to the 5th, 17th, 18th and 19th floors, and concludes in the galleries.

I had toured a house built by Frank Lloyd Wright and studied his architecture; the tower was undeniably Wright, but on a much grander scale. Angles of 30 and 60 degrees greet your every eye movement: they are in the floor, the décor, the lights, and even the structure of the building. The Price Tower is Wright’s only skyscraper.

But where was the Tower? Finally, I turned a corner with lush green trees to Sixth and Dewey. Just as I took the corner, the clouds parted and (I am telling the truth) one

Harold C. Price, founder of the H.C. Price Company in Bartlesville, which originally built oil and gas pipelines, needed a larger corporate headquarters, so he

commissioned Wright. Both ahead of their time, Price and Wright wanted to design and build a space that integrated office, commercial and residential areas. However, Wright wanted to in a way that suited his style and passion for architecture, design and art. It is a tall, decorative structure with cantilevered floors; it was completed in 1956. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it has been proclaimed by architect Tadao Ando as “one of the most important buildings of the 20th century.” Price sold the building to Phillips Petroleum in the early 1980s, who then decided to sell it in 1999. The local Bartlesville Museum asked Phillips to donate the building, and they agreed.

The skyscraper was described by Wright as “the tree the escaped that crowded forest.”

As the building progresses to the 19th floor, the floors are smaller and smaller.

The elevators fit only five people. Wright did not believe in wasting any space. The lower floors were designed for commercial businesses and Wright’s original design allowed for the first drive-through utility company. H.C. Price and his employees had their offices at the tower, as well as rented to doctors, dress shops, salons, and

feat u re (above) Harold Price’s executive office, 19th floor. (c) Christian M. Korab/ Korab Photo (left) Joe Price, Price Tower under construction. Gift of Etsuko and Joe Price 2003.16.063 (c) Price Tower Arts Center

other businesses. The southwest quadrant of the building was designed for apartment living. If you know Wright, he designed everything, including all the furniture, and even dishware. Most of the furniture was built in; he did not allow carpet because the Cherokee red colored concrete floors allowed for a more cutting edge design. When the building opened the apartments were approximately 800 square feet and rented for $300 a month. This was expensive, so the apartments were rarely occupied because a house in the city rented for only $75.

Today, some of the apartments have been turned into a 21-room, high-design hotel that is open to the public. The 15th and 16th floors are now a restaurant and bar. You can dine on the 16th floor terraces where Price’s employees were given a free daily lunch.

The restaurant is beautiful and the food was delicious. I recommend the hummus for an appetizer and the terrace on a nice day.

A major exhibition, Prairie Skyscraper: Frank Lloyd Wright’s Price Tower, opened on October 14 to mark the 50th Anniversary of the building. It will run through January 2006.

For the first time, a comprehensive selection of the Price Tower’s permanent collection

of historic artworks and objects relating to the Tower, including original documents and drawings are on display. An illustrated catalogue is available for purchase; it was edited by guest curator Anthony Alofsin, a noted scholar of Frank Lloyd Wright and Professor of Architecture at the University of Texas. The large-format, 176-page book has 150 color illustrations and text by the Price Tower’s own Monica Ramirez-Montagut, Curator of Exhibitions and Public Programs; Anthony Alofsin; Hilary Ballon, Chair of the Department of Art History and Archaeology at Columbia University; Joseph M. Siry, Professor of Art and Art History at Wesleyan University; and Pat Kirkham, Professor at the Bard Center for the Decorative Arts in New York. Numerous public programs for all ages are planned, visit www.pricetower.org for more information.

Executive Director, Richard P. Towsend, has been with the Art Center since 2000.

Under his direction the Price Tower Arts Center has grown dramatically, including the opening of the hotel and the restaurant.

He is now heading one of the biggest fundraising campaigns in the history of the organization. The Price Tower Arts Center wants to add 58,000 square feet to

surround the building. This area will house the growing permanent collection, and add to the exhibition space needed to be an international attraction. Approximately 27,000 visitors come to the Price Tower Arts Center each year.

Monica R. Montagut, PhD, is the Curator of Collections and Public Programs.

She was born in Mexico and studied architecture in Barcelona. She is spearheading the gallery shows and programs of Price Tower Arts Center and taking them in a more contemporary direction.

Montagut’s underlying theme when organizing a show is how it intersects art, architecture and design.

With a generous donation, an enthusiastic leader and a great staff, Price Tower Arts Center is a major Oklahoma attraction.

Price Tower has practically coined the term Architourism!

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Photo credit: Tamra Davis of Element-e Designs, Tulsa

feat u re

Scott Hurst talks with Romney about the challenges of the creative life.

Creativity Coaching:

Hit the Reset Button on Your Career

By Romney Nesbitt Okay, this time you really mean it! You’re going to start painting…today. This is the day. You’re ready now. Today you’re going to stand in front of that blank canvas, pick up your brushes and start painting…just as soon as you straighten your studio…just as soon as you check your e-mail one more time…just as soon as you feel more confident. Admit it. “Just as soon as” thinking is keeping you from creating.

The first question I ask a new client is always “What’s keeping you from creating?”

Some blame their day jobs, artistic block, lack of organization or procrastination.

Some artists will even confess that fear keeps them from creating--fear of failure and even fear of success. Sometimes the reason goes even deeper than fear.

Chris is a collage artist. He works with paint and found objects. He told me, “I’ve started twenty projects only to pull off the pieces and walk away.” Chris had everything he needed to do his work: resources, space, time, and emotional support. “Everyone is so encouraging but I still haven’t done anything. I know I want to create and it really bothers me that I’m not doing it. Can you help?”

As a creativity coach my job is to help creative people hit the “reset” button on their careers. I’m a trained creativity coach, an artist and writer. Eric Maisel, PhD, author of more than twenty-five books on the creative life, is a creativity coach and offers training for those seeking to be creativity coaches. After reading several of Maisel’s books, I knew my education, expertise in the arts and experience in counseling made creativity coaching a fit for me. Through my training with Eric Maisel I’ve learned how to facilitate conversations, which helps creative people create. For me, creativity coaching is all about getting the 12

creative process back on track, no matter what it takes.

Chris is one of my e-mail creativity coaching clients. After some e-mail discussions I asked him the big question: “Chris, when was the last time you finished a piece?” I waited several days for his answer. “Not since my first wife died in 1985.” I gasped at my computer screen and said out loud “twenty years.” Chris’ honest reply opened the door for some serious exchanges about unresolved grief and how it was keeping him stuck. “My first wife bragged about my work all the time,” he said, “and when she died there didn’t seem to be any reason to create anymore. Nobody could make me feel as good about being an artist as she did.”

Chris is now claiming his own reasons for creating and isn’t looking outside himself for affirmation. He’s started a new collage now, and so far, he’s still working on it.

Scott Hurst, a painter and art history professor from Tulsa, came into my office with a desire to get back into making art.

I asked Scott to tell me what was keeping him from creating and he said, “My house.

I need two work spaces in order to get back to painting, an office and a studio space.”

Scott had recently moved to a new house, which was still in disarray. Together we looked at his floor plan and developed a room by room strategy with action steps and a timeline. Scott said, “I needed help to visualize my problem in different terms, from a perspective other than my own.

Romney helped me develop a strategy with steps to take. Her insights and supportive presence have been encouraging. I no longer feel bogged down and stuck.”

While Scott needed help rearranging furniture to get back to his passion for painting, Kay Blanchard needed help rearranging her work schedule to make

time for her art. As a self-employed massage therapist and painter in Tulsa, Kay works hard to accommodate the needs of her clients, often leaving no time for her painting or a social life. Kay needed to reclaim the importance and value of her art. She said “Through creativity coaching I gained a clear reflection of where I am. In this setting of acceptance I can relax, move into possibility and become productive.

Romney provided just such a setting allowing creative movement again.”

What could a creativity coach do for you and your career? A coach will provide accountability and structure. Most of us achieve more when we are accountable to someone other than ourselves. A coach can provide a detached point of view. Coaching offers unbiased opinions and can help clients achieve clarity about their career path and goals. A creativity coach can offer insights gained from experience in the creative and business aspects of the art world. Finally, a good coach will listen, offer encouragement, and suggest practical strategies.

If you think creativity coaching might help you be more productive, check out this website: www.CreativityCoachingAssociat ion.com, or read any of Maisel’s books and his monthly columns in Artist Sketchbook and Art Calendar magazines.

Today is the perfect day to start creating again, but if you need a little help finding your “reset” button, make a call to a creativity coach to discuss a creative partnership.

Romney Nesbitt is a creativity coach, artist and writer living in Tulsa, Oklahoma. For more information about her creativity coaching practice contact her at RomneyN@cox.net or call her office 918-813-6962.

feat u re

ON THE

by Lori Oden

Cobblestone Galleries Opens in Historic Medicine Park Nestled near the Wichita Mountains, Medicine Park is Oklahoma’s only cobblestone community. Rounded stones from years of rushing water are in abundance in this part of the state; residences and city buildings have this round sandstone façade. Prior to its township the area was well-visited by Native Americans for the healing powers of Medicine Creek. Founded on July 4, 1908 by Senator Elmer Thomas, it was Oklahoma’s first planned tourism resort. While on vacation many would swim in the Bath Lake and enjoy good, riverside food. Originally known as a “playground” for the state’s rich and famous, the area thrived economically until the Great Depression and World War II. The past decade has marked renewed interest in Medicine Park and it is quickly becoming the place to be once again.

Cobblestone Galleries, owners James Wedel and Denise WyniaWedel, opened this past summer. “We have wanted to be a part of this budding town and to help promote the already growing arts in Oklahoma for a number of years. We are now making the dream a reality,” says Denise. She is an artist and the Fine Arts Coordinator, Lead Instructor, and Gallery Curator for Redlands Community College in El Reno. With her husband, the Wichita Mountains Arts Council and others, they are working to strengthen the artist community and make Medicine Park a destination for Oklahomans and tourists. According to Denise, there is already a concentration of artists in the area, including Muriel Fahrion, who did the original artwork for Strawberry Shortcake.

The gallery offers a variety of art by local, regional and national artists and is in gear to begin workshops, classes and provide a studio for artists-in-residence. Cobblestone Galleries is warm and welcoming and shows diverse works of art. Jewelry, pottery, photography, painting, graphite, metal work and more are housed in this threestory building with original cobblestone foundation and facade.

Some of the artists include Deborah E. Clements of Edmond; Dawn LaFollette of Oklahoma City; Larry Morefield of Medicine Park; Aneta M. Rice from Chickasha; Marrilynn Adams from Duncan; and Dustin Montgomery from Yukon.

It is a peaceful, beautiful area. Dotted with restaurants, gifts shops, galleries and lodging, this area is the perfect weekend geta-way for couples or families. Mark it on your map for your next weekend road trip!

Cobblestone Gallery Medicine Park, Oklahoma

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bus i ness of ar t

Part III: The Organized Artist—

Planning for Success

by Sue Clancy I am assuming here that you want to succeed as an artist - perhaps that will mean ‘make a living’ from your art. Perhaps that will mean supplement your living with your art.

Perhaps it means participate in certain types of art events - such as festivals, especially if you like to travel. Whatever success means to you ... you will need to figure this out by day-dreaming, using the hero research or other techniques discussed in Part 1. Now that you have defined success, you have established your goals and created a system, you are ready to build your Plan for Success.

Art Creation: Planning for Success I want to be known for collages, books, cartoons and writing, so I am going to need to do a LOT of work.

In order to achieve my goal I have to have a constant supply of ideas. I have an ‘idea file’ - my bound sketchbook in which I jot down any old notion that pops into my brain. I write regularly in my journal--anything I want. I don’t censor myself at this point. I just get my ideas and thoughts down onto paper. Later when I am at my studio - when I’ve scheduled time to work on art – I will decide what idea has merit and develop the idea and then begin to create a finished work. That part, the idea development and creation of a finished work can take two weeks or more - much more. So I typically have several different projects in various stages of progress so I am able to meet that ‘finish something every two weeks’ goal.

Jotting down my ideas in a sketchbook helps me keep a number of ideas flowing even while I’m busy creating finished work. Working on a finished work doesn’t mean I stop creating ideas.

Idea collecting in books also enables me to have a life - you know, friends, family, play-time...while keeping ‘on track’ as far as studio production goes.

Maintaining Inspiration - journaling and tracking what inspires me helps keep me fresh mentally and artistically. Playing is very important to inspiration. Inspiration is key, so keeping playtime in my schedule is extremely valuable.

As I finish works of art I create digital images, slides, promos, postcards, etc. This helps me realize my ideas and ‘what I’m saying’ with my art. It helps me create more art by seeing my themes/thoughts develop into physical artobjects. It also helps me find exhibits or ‘homes’ for my work.

I have a form on my computer that I have created where I drop a little thumbnail digital image of the new artwork along with a place to fill in the artwork’s title, date the art was created, dimensions, media, price and who it sold to.

There is also a large open space for writing where the art is exhibited & other details. Those forms are printed out and 3-hole punched and put into a notebook that I call my Art Inventory Notebook. I’ll just flip through this book and decide on a body of work and from the selected images in this notebook I create my portfolios or promos. When I take artwork to a gallery I jot a quick note to update the exhibit details section of the page that pertains to a particular artwork.

I also have files on my computer that contain the master promo sheets or portfolio that I simply update with digital images of any new artwork.

I have several copies of portfolios, promos, postcards etc. ‘ready to go’ for a month or so of submissions and I’ll print off more as I need them. Thus all of my promotional materials are ‘at the ready’ - all I have to do is find a place to submit them and type the cover letter.

Not every ‘call for entry’ created by some gallery or organization is worth submitting to. In fact I have a mantra: “Be careful what you submit to - you might get it!” So I’m careful to submit to things for which I feel good about, things that would help me meet my goal. I also want to submit to things for which I can easily follow through.

Keeping Track of Submissions: Forms, Submission Book, Job Folders Now that submissions are being made I have to keep track of them. I am basically a lazy sort so I don’t want to spend any more time than I have to on ‘record-keeping’ because I want to make art! So, I have a series of forms on my computer that have the basic information for submission on them: • what the idea is that I’m submitting

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• the name/email/contact info for the place to which I’m submitting • A place to fill out what I am sending • A place to write in their response I print out these forms and 3-hole punch them and keep them in a 3-ring notebook that I call my Submissions Notebook. When I find a place where I want to submit, I select the artwork/promo materials I want to send and write their contact information on the form in my notebook. I type my cover letter, make a note in my notebook, stuff the cover letter and submission into the envelope and take it to the post office. That’s it! I submit and forget about it. Often it takes months or even a year to receive a response, which is why a submission tracking system is essential. When a response happens (especially a good one) I flip through my book and see, at a glance, what I submitted. When the response is received I make a note of it on the appropriate form in my notebook, regardless of whether the response is positive or negative. If the response is positive then I create a job folder - a manila folder that I fill with any material they mailed me, such as contracts, correspondence, prospectus, etc. I write all the important dates, such as when I’m to deliver the art, on my calendar in ink as appropriate.

This system is simple for me and takes very little time. I’m able to fit my record keeping easily into my busy life. Thus my record-keeping system works FOR me, enabling me to keep track of things while not being a drudgery and taking time away from art creation!

In a nutshell a useful system should....

• Prioritize making art!

• track art production inventory and create promotional materials (slides, portfolio brochures etc.)

• track submissions & details so as to know when you need to do what (minimize frantic worry etc. and maximize free time and time to make art) - and also track when you’re supposed to be paid for jobs you complete Contracts and sales books are a part of a good tracking system too. ....ultimately they help you meet your goal!

where I spend the bulk of my submission efforts. It is also the thing that many other well- known artists have done. Read the biographies of artists and you’ll see how they were always proposing some event or idea!

Those ideas are what grants are given for...this is very direct idea-to-income relationship.

No FEE! One valuable source is the Artist & Graphic Designers Market – it is essentially a book of addresses... and all with NO FEE! I’m a big believer in making your own opportunities!

Just as a side note: Many events actually PAY THE ARTIST an honorarium for exhibitions.

There are some of these types of events in the U.S., but there are many more such events outside of the U.S. where the artist is paid for exhibiting their art in a public setting. Attendance in person by the artist is usually optional.

bus i ness of ar t

More Time and Money Strategies I’m sure by now you are familiar with the jury fee. Often in ‘call for entries’ they request that a $25.00 (or however much) fee be included with each entry. I avoid jury fees like the plague. I am not alone in my distaste for jury fees. Caroll Michaels in her book How to Survive & Prosper as an Artist says, “The National Endowment for the Arts has also had a long-standing position against the charging of fees. A spokesperson for the NEA has stated that ‘if a show promoter charges fees...top caliber artists won’t enter the show, and ... shows requiring entry fees generally don’t have good reputations.”

I hope these articles have helped you begin to develop your own system (and reasons) in order to help yourself find and meet your own goals!

I also hope you have every success that you planned for and more!

My own research into the lives of famous artists, as well as some living artists who are doing well in their career, has also revealedd this. One does not read of Andy Warhol, Lee Krasner, Jasper Johns or Georgia O’Keefe paying jury fees or even participating in juried exhibits.

In order to make a living from art I (or any one else) will have to make a LOT of submissions. It has been said that you have to submit to 20 shows in order to be accepted by 1. If you are paying a $25 jury fee per submission and you submit to 20 events that equals $500—you can see how quickly that becomes a money-losing proposition.

In addition, many for-profit enterprises that charge jury fees don’t actually use much of that money for juror expenses. The ONLY time I will consider paying a jury fee is if the organization putting on the event is a NOT-FOR-PROFIT enterprise.

Even then I will only pay the fee if I truly feel I am supporting a good cause - and I even keep these fees to well under $100 per year.

So, if you’re not paying fees then where do you submit art? Actually, there are a TON of opportunities out there. Art Calendar Magazine and StudioNotes lists them - but the main way I have found is to join non-profit organizations.

Non-profits usually have a newsletter or magazine and they have a number of exhibits, usually without fees - or a very small one - with a prestigious juror and an exhibit with your peers.

Usually the non-profit will also pass along other opportunities for no-fee submissions to help their members. Also they will encourage networking among their members, which leads to other sources of opportunity!

Another huge source of no-fee events is that section of my system that I call My Idea Proposals and Submissions. This is the section 15

rou nd u p

AT A GLANCE

Round Up The 12x12 Art Sale and Exhibition broke all records with great artwork, amazing sponsorships and wonderful attendance. Thanks to all the artists, sponsors, volunteers, and attendees.

Art sales revenue increased by 30% and sponsorships by 35%! Premier sponsors were the Bank of Oklahoma and Chesapeake Energy. Committee co-chairs were LaVeryl Lower and Stephen Kovash. Thanks to them and all who made it a big success.

OVAC was pleased to give several grants from the last grant deadline in July 2005. A Community Partnership Grant was awarded to Vicki AyresMcCune, Goodwell, to support a promotional collaboration for Texas County artists with the City of Guymon’s Arts and Humanities Commission.

Professional Basics Grants were awarded to Nathan Lee, Oklahoma City in preparation for his exhibition at the Individual Artists of Oklahoma Gallery and Don Emrick, Claremore, to frame his upcoming exhibition at the Tulsa Artists’ Coalition Gallery.

Sculpture by the Sea exhibition in Sydney, Australia. OVAC’s next grant request deadline is January 15—check the website for application forms and instructions.

Momentum OKC 2006 is January 14. Call for artists can be found on the OVAC website, www.ovac-ok.org.

A great committee is hard at work preparing the exhibition and event!

VisionMakers 2006 will open March 11 at the Leslie Powell Gallery in Lawton.

Call for artists can be found on the OVAC website, www.ovac-ok.org.

Plans for a full-color catalog, increased artists prizes and more are underway by volunteer leadership. Please plan to attend.

Education Assistance Grants were awarded to Elizabeth Brown, Oklahoma City, to attend an Anderson Ranch course, Joellen Frisillo, Sand Springs, to participate in an Ann Templeton Workshop, and Randy Marks, Edmond, to supplement his Jentel Foundation Residency in Wyoming. Tom Pershall, Tulsa, received a Creative Projects Grant to support his installation at

By Julia Kirt Twisting a finger in American culture’s side, Jonathan Hils exhibition held September 2October 15 at the Mainsite Contemporary Art Gallery is memorable for ideas that sink in slowly. Created during his Kohler residency, Hil’s artwork is both finely crafted and disturbing. A full wall line of small NASCAR replicas with a slight peak in the level attract the eye and yet confuse it a bit. The cars are cast in brass and iron. Hils belies consumer culture, political messages and American intolerance.

I can’t wait to see more of this series, perhaps stretching across a city!

By Lori Oden The September exhibitions at the Individual Artists of Oklahoma featured photographer Chris Corbett and painter Kenneth Bandaruk.

Bandaruk’s Rational and Irrational featured colorful paintings of intertwined lines on various shaped canvases. Just as his exhibition title suggested, the paintings seemed chaotic at first glance, but with more study, the lines, oddly, started to make sense. The combination of the rational and irrational was soothing and full of tension all at once. Carefully crafted from camera to darkroom, Chris Corbett’s exhibition Dual Natures was breath-taking. Although the metaphor of the female nude in nature has been explored, set in the Wichita Mountain, undoubtedly, Corbett’s vision was unique. Bill Brandt’s feel for the abstract nude in nature and Ruth Bernhard’s focus on nude shapes and curves were wonderfully present. For a black and white photography enthusiast, this exhibit was refreshing in this age of digital imagery.

2005 12x12 Co-Chairs LaVeryl Lower and Stephen Kovash

Thank you to our New & Renewing Members for July and August 2005

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Mazen H. Abufadil Drew Ackerman Lyn Adams Robert Adams Stuart Asprey Vicki Ayres-McCune Judith Bright Barnett Joy Beller Andrew Boatman Ruth Ann Borum Naomi G. Bradley Steven L. Brown Kimberly Burch Milissa Burkart Jeanene S. Carver Linda Cavanaugh Lisa Chronister

Ann Clark Scott Cowan David Cunningham Alisa Davis Kay Deardorff Dennis Matthew Dewey Dorothy Dinsmoor Jeff Dodd Clara Edmon Elizabeth K. Eickman Dixie Erickson Angela Evans Brunel & Christiane E. Faris Beverly K. Fentress Brian Ferriso Brian Fitzsimmons

Carrie Flanders Alycia Goeke Mary H. Grabow Edward and Brenda Granger Robb Gray Yun Hendricks Beverly Herndon Helen F. Howerton Sheri Ishmael-Waldrop Matt Jarvis Jody Karr Larry and Suzanne Keller Pamela Kirby Jacquelyn Knapp Charles Knopp

Nicholas Kyle and Rose Allison Timothy Lange Debbie Langston Larry Latham Rod Limke Debbie Lucas Janice McCormick and Ed Main Margaret McDonald Kat McKinley Kathy McRuiz Cindy Miller Gregory Motto John Mowen Multi-Arts Center Romney Oualline Nesbitt

Jane Newman Mary Nickell Paula Nickl Kim Norton Erin Oldfield Caren O’Mealey Ann Powell Maryruth Prose Kim Walker Ray Renee R. Reed Mike Rightmyer Kathleen Rivers David M. and Sharon Roberts Sylvia Rogers Cathy J. Rowten Mary Ruggles

Jana Seikel Houshang Seradge Randel and Dana Shadid Gail Sloop Diana Smith Alfred Smith Sue Moss Sullivan Angela True Joyce Ulstrup Becky Way Donald E. Weaver David B. Williams Paula Davidson Wood Jennifer Woods

&

Ada Stan Pollard Photographs Through December 4

Durant Southeastern OK State University

Marius Lehene Paintings

1405 N. 4th PMB 4231 http://www.sosu.edu/department/ art/gallery.htm

November 4-December 8 Senior Shows

December 9-December 16 University Gallery East Central University (580) 310-5356 www.ecok.edu

Ardmore Ardmore Little Theatre 50 Years of Theatre Photo Exhibit

November Art-Times Two Exhibit

December-February Charles B. Goddard Center 401 First Avenue SW (580) 226-0909 www.godart.org

Bartlesville

Durham Full Frontal Nature

Through November 30 Museum closed December 1March 1

Metcalfe Museum

Seven-State Biennial Exhibition

431 S. Boulevard (405) 340-0078 www.edmondhistory.org

November 4

Norman

122 East Main (405) 292-8095 www.mainsite-art.com

Oklahoma City Earth and Sky: New Works by Benjamin Harjo Jr., America Merideth and Charles Pratt

November 17-January 7 Reception November 17, 5:307:30 City Arts Center 3000 Pershing Blvd.

(800) 951-0000 www.cityartscenter.org

Through November 5

Function as Art Exhibit

Holiday Gift Gallery

Through November 19

November 18-January 1 Firehouse Art Center

Annual Holiday Show and Sale of Small Works

444 South Flood (405) 329-4523 www.normanfirehouse.com

Christmas at the Elms

November 4-December 31 Reception November 4, 6-9 December 2, 6-9 JRB at the Elms

Painters, Playwrights and Composers of Norway

19 N. Broadway (405) 341-9023 http:// www.shadidfineart.com/

Scandinavian Indian Christmas

2810 North Walker- The Paseo Arts District (405) 528-6336 www.jrbartgallery.com

December 1- 24 Jacobson House

Not So Silent Night

Chambers Library Gallery University of Central Oklahoma 100 University Drive (405) 974-5931 http:// www.ucok.edu/

El Reno

Davis Hall 1806 17th Street (405) 574-1344 www.usao.edu/gallery/

Jack Hill Exhibition

Rogers State University (918) 343-7740

November 12-December 30 November 12, Reception 7-9 The Leslie Powell Foundation and Gallery

Mainsite Contemporary Art Gallery

December 2 Shadid Fine Art

Through December 12 University of Sciences and Arts of Oklahoma Gallery-

Claremore Foundations Gallery-Baird Hall

Sam Joyner and Liz Joyner Photographs Jaymes Dudding Sculptures in Ceramics Nick Ajimine Mixed Media

Derek Glaskin

All Christmas Open House

Chickasha

Lawton

Edmond Edmond Historical Society

Through January 15 Price Tower Arts Center

Beaver’s Bend Resort (580) 494-6497 www.beaversbend.com

812 E. Lincoln Road (580) 286-3616 www.museumoftheredriver.org

620 SW D Avenue (580) 357-9526 www.lpgallery.org

Dan Robinson

Broken Bow Forest Heritage Center

Museum of the Red River

Rt. 1 Box 25 (580) 655-4467 www.metcalfemuseum.org

Prairie Skyscraper: Frank Lloyd Wright’s Price Tower

6th and Dewey (918) 336-4949 www.pricetower.org

Exhibition Schedule

A Taste of Route 66: Jerry McClanahan

Through November 30 December 2-January 27 Redlands Community College (405) 262-2552 www.redlandscc.edu

Idabel

November 1-30 Reception November 6, 1-5

609 Chautauqua (405) 366-1667 http:// www.jacobsonhouse.com Wilson Hurley’s Campaign: Painting the Murals at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum

Through November 27 Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art 410 W. Boyd Street (405) 325-3272 www.ou.edu/fjjma/

galler y gu ide

Gallery Listings

November 5, 7-11 pm Defying and Defining: Exhibit of African-American Art in Oklahoma featuring works by: Skip Hill, Joyce Tease-Jackson, Nathan Lee, Raphael Savage and Suzanne C. Thomas

December 2-30 Individual Artists of Oklahoma 811 N. Broadway (405) 232-6060 www.iaogallery.org

Visions in the Flesh: Greg Gorman, Jerry Uelsmann, Bill Perry, Melanie Seward and John Seward

Southwestern Prehistoric Ceramics

Through November 26

Through January 8 Lifewell Gallery

Emergent Artists Exhibition

December 2-January 20 17

galler y gu ide

From the American Spirit: Selections from the Corporate Collection of A.G. Edwards and Sons, Inc. exhibit at the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa, through December 31--Organized from the Corporate Art Collection of the St. Louis-based financial services firm A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc., the exhibition focuses on the visual definition of liberty and the American Spirit. Consisting of fifty images produced during the 19th and 20th centuries, American Spirit is about how American artists strive to create images to define the idea of America.

Field and Studio: Western Hunting Photography

Through December 11 Pendleton Photographer: Lee Moorhouse and the Real West

Through January 8 National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum 1700 NE 63rd (405) 478-2250 www.cowboyhalloffame.org Bryon Test

Through November 18 East Gallery Shane Brown

Through November 25 Sherrie McGraw

Through January 13 Governor’s Gallery

December 4-23 Reception December 4, 2-5 pm Nona Hulsey Gallery, Norick Art Center

Stillwater

Holliman Gallery

“Mathew Zupnick”

Holland Hall 5666 East 81st Street (918) 481-1111

through November 11 “Graphic Design Porfolio”

Oklahoma City University 1600 NW 26th (405) 521-5226

Exhibition November 17December 15 Gardiner Art Gallery

Cast Glass: Works by Fred DiFrenzi

Little Changes: Works by Ken Little

Oklahoma State University 108 Bartlett University www.art.okstate.edu/gallery.htm

1512 E. 15th St (918) 592-5432 www.gierek.com

November 4-December 3 Reception November 4, 5-9 pm Untitled [ArtSpace] 1 NE 3rd St. (405) 815-9995 www.1NE3.com

University Gallery Oklahoma Christian University 2501 East Memorial Road (800) 877-5010

Tonkawa Eleanor Hays Gallery Performing Arts Center Northern Oklahoma College 1220 East Grand (580) 628-6670

Tulsa Gross Anatomy

National Watercolor Oklahoma

Ponca City

East Gallery December 5-February 5 Oklahoma State Capital Galleries

Paintings by Gloria Abella de Duncan

The Reason

Through November 11

December 1-29 Apertures Gallery

2300 N. Lincoln Blvd (405) 521-2931 www.state.ok.us/~arts

Paintings by Shane Hemberger

November 18-December 23 Artsplace Ponca City 319 East Grand Ave (580) 762-1930 www.artsplaceponcacity.net

Through November 23

1936 South Harvard (918) 742-0500 www.aperturesphoto.com Holiday Party

Through November 12 Joseph Gierek Fine Art

Day of the Dead Festival

November 1 Fetish Spirits and Hidden Worlds by Jean Ann Fausser

December 1-18 Stilley’s Students Now Group Exhibition

December 22-January 1 Living Arts 308 Kenosha (918) 585-1234 www.livingarts.org

Floating World Gallery 3714 S. Peoria Avenue (918) 706-1825

The Philbrook Museum of Art 2727 South Rockford Road (918) 749-7941 www.Philbrook.org

Ponca City Art Center

December 1, 5-9 Color Connection Gallery

In the Gloaming: Works by Dean Wyatt

819 East Central 580-765-9746

2050 Utica Square (918) 742-0515

12 Days by 12 Artists Fundraiser

December 15- March 26 Oklahoma City Museum of Art

Shawnee

Mount Vernon in Miniature

A Mosaic of Beliefs: Sacred Objects

Through February 26

415 Couch Drive (405) 236-3100 www.okcmoa.com

Through December 4

American Spirit Selections from the Corporate Collection of A.G. Edwards and Sons, Inc.

Artist as Narrator: Exploring Storytelling through Art

Through November 27 Mexican Masters, Rivera, Orozco, and Siqueiros

2005 Highschool Print and Drawing Exhibition

November 6-22 Reception November 6, 2-5 pm Graduating Seniors Exhibition

18

Jean Beraud, On the Boulevard, from Artist as Narrator: Exploring Storytelling through Art on exhibit at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art through November 27.

Annual Christmas Gala

December 2 Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art 1900 West Macarthur (405) 878-5300 www.mgmoa.org

Through December 31 Gilcrease Museum 1400 Gilcrease Road (918) 596-2700 www.gilcrease.org

November 4-19 November 25-December 9 Tulsa Artists Coalition Gallery 9 East Brady (918) 592-0041 www.tacgallery.org

Tulsa Performing Arts Gallery 110 East 2nd Street (918) 596-7122

galler y gu ide

Tulsa Photography Collective Gallery North Hall at OSU-Tulsa 700 North Greenwood Robert Berlind Exhibition

November 3-December 2 Alexandre Hogue Gallery Phillips Hall, the University of Tulsa 600 South College Ave. (918) 631-2202 www.cas.utulsa.edu/art/

Waterworks Art Studio 1710 Charles Page Blvd. http://www.cityoftulsa.org/parks/ Waterworks.htm

Woodward

Love and the Goddess profile by James Dudding Albuquerque, NM ceramic. On exhibition at the Leslie Powell Gallery in Lawton through December 30.

Cheyenne Visions II

November 4- December 30 Plains Indians and Pioneers Museum 2009 Williams Ave www.pipm1.com (580) 256-6136

19

Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition presents

ASK •

•

WORKSHOP SERIES:

THE

Artist Survival Kit

Don’t Miss It

Artist Survival Kit 6 workshops to improve your business skills as an artist Four remaining workshops in the series: “Growing as an Artist: Finding Feedback” Saturday, November 19, 2005 Mainsite Contemporary Art Gallery 122 East Main, Norman

“Creative Marketing: Defining your Style” Saturday, February 18, 2006 Ponca City Artsplace 319 W Grand Ave Ponca City

“Business of Art 101” Saturday, January 21, 2006 Philbrook Museum of Art 2727 S Rockford Rd, Tulsa

“Festivals: to Do or Not to Do” Saturday, March 18, 2006 Untitled [ArtSpace] 1 NE 3rd, Oklahoma City

view upcoming workshops at www.ovac-ok.org All workshops: $20 ($15 OVAC members), $5 discount for early registration. Scholarships available. Registration for any workshop welcome to assistant@ovac-ok.org or 405-232-6991.

Sponsors:

ArtOFocus k l a h o m a Annual Subscriptions to Art Focus Oklahoma

PO Box 1946 Oklahoma City, OK 73101

are free with membership to the

Return Service Requested

Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition.

Membership forms and benefits can be found at www.ovac-ok.org or by phone (405) 232-6991.

Student Membership: $15 Individual Membership: $30 Family/Household Membership: $50 Patron Membership: $100 Sustaining Membership: $250

ConocoPhillips

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