Art Focus Oklahoma, March/April 2012 by Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition

ArtOFocus k l a h o m a

Ok l a ho m a V i s u al A r ts C o al i t i on

Vo l u m e 2 7 N o . 2

March/April 2012

Art OFocus k l a h o m a from the editor

Drawing by Emma Ann Robertson.

In this issue of Art Focus Oklahoma, you are invited to learn more about works of art, straight from the maker. The Tulsa Art Studio Tour (p. 14) is the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition’s annual event inviting the public into the artist’s working spaces. This year, the Tour features 11 artists in 10 studios, showcasing a variety of styles, media and spaces. For me, this event is always inspiring and after visiting 10 studios, I’m ready to get back into my own studio to create new work. Join us April 21-22 in Tulsa. Momentum: Art Doesn’t Stand Still (p. 22) on March 9-10 in Oklahoma City offers a different experience of the artwork, with many young artists showing for the first time. In the article, you’ll meet the three Momentum Spotlight artists, who are creating new projects for the exhibition. You can hear more during the artist talks on March 13 at 7 pm, or watch our video series at www.youtube.com/okvisualarts. The Goddard Center in Ardmore (p. 24) offers a chance to learn from international granite sculptor Jesús Moroles. Participants of all skill levels are invited to join their granite sculpture workshop March 17-20, where you’ll learn sculpting techniques directly from a skilled artist. If you’re more interested in hearing how contemporary art is studied, we have something for you, too. Three visiting art historians will give a free public panel as a part of OVAC’s Oklahoma Art Writing and Curatorial Fellowship. On April 14 at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art in Norman Sherri Irvin, Nancy Marie Mithlo, and Sylvester Okwunodu Ogbechie will share about their research. Visit www.write-curate-art.org for more information about the program. I look forward to learning with you soon.

Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition 730 W. Wilshire Blvd., Suite 104 Oklahoma City, OK 73116 ph: 405.879.2400 • e: director@ovac-ok.org visit our website at: www.ovac-ok.org Executive Director: Julia Kirt director@ovac-ok.org Editor: Kelsey Karper publications@ovac-ok.org Art Director: Anne Richardson 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 2011-June 2012: R.C. Morrison, Bixby; Patrick Kamann, Margo Shultes von Schlageter, MD (Treasurer), Christian Trimble, Rick Vermillion, Edmond; Eric Wright, El Reno; Traci Layton (Secretary), Enid; Suzanne Mitchell (President), Norman; Jennifer Barron (Vice President), Susan Beaty, Gina Ellis, Hillary Farrell, Michael Hoffner, Stephen Kovash, Paul Mays, Carl Shortt, Oklahoma City; Joey Frisillo, Sand Springs; Bradley Jessop, Sulphur; Beth Downing, Jean Ann Fausser, Susan Green, Janet Shipley Hawks, Kathy McRuiz, Sandy Sober, 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.

Kelsey Karper publications@ovac-ok.orgb

View this issue online at www.ArtFocusOklahoma.org.

Support from:

Marcus Kesler, Edmond, Back To The Future, Photography, 20” x 30” See page 24.

contents

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A Visual Narrative: The Work of Milissa Burkart

This Tulsa artist tells stories using books, but instead of reading them, they are altered and reassembled to suit the artist’s vision.

A Shore Thing: Katy Seals at Mainsite Contemporary Art

On the surface, this Norman-based printmaker’s work may seem over the top and outrageous, but a deeper look reveals the darker side of Southern culture.

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Matter and Spirit Merged: the Art of Barbara Scott

An upcoming exhibition at the Leslie Powell Gallery in Lawton showcases Scott’s spiritual sculpture made of natural materials.

10 Afro-Americana at Gaylord-Pickens Museum

In collaboration with Inclusion in Art, the Oklahoma Heritage Association presents an exhibition exploring the role of black artists in Oklahoma.

12 A Figurative Story: Art by Bjorn Bauer

Rich in symbolism and emotion, the paintings of Bjorn Bauer will be on display at AKA Gallery in Oklahoma City.

14 The Tulsa Art Studio Tour: Giving in to Curiosity

Experience the essence of Process in the artist studios on the annual Tulsa Art Studio Tour.

16 Art on the Move

Tulsa’s Gallery on Sixth is on the move, with a new mobile gallery that is bringing art to communities large and small.

18 Art on Screen

A new series at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art features contemporary video work by artists working nationally and internationally.

20 H2OK: Native Response to Water Issues in Oklahoma

Responding to the impending water crises, a group of Native artists hope to inspire dialogue around the issue with a new exhibition.

f e a t u re s 22 International granite sculpture Jesús Moroles to lead Ardmore workshop

An upcoming workshop gives sculptors of all experience levels an opportunity to learn from a master.

24 Momentum: Art Doesn’t Stand Still

This annual exhibition offers a diversified look at Oklahoma’s young emerging artists.

business of art 27 Ask a Creativity Coach

There are many benefits of being creative, beyond artistic ability. The Creativity Coach explains.

OVAC news

28 New and Renewing Members 29 OVAC News 30

gallery guide

(p. 4) Milissa Burkart, Tulsa, Martha Graham and Dance Troup B, Altered book with mixed media and found objects, 18.1 x 12.4 x 4 cm (p.8) Barbara Scott, Oklahoma City, Jacob’s Ladder, Cedar, bone and rawhide, 78” x 34” x 23” (p.20) Marwin Begaye, Norman, A Friend of a Friend, Acrylic

A Visual Narrative: The Work of Milissa Burkart by Allison C. Meier

Milissa Burkart, Tulsa, Memory Aids for Non-Scientists: Skins, Silkscreen on paper and Plexiglas, 9 x 5.6 x 14.5 cm

In Milissa Burkart’s piece Skins, the cellular structure of human skin is narrated in three dimensions. Hair follicles sprout up as green wire from multiple, layered boxes, each hiding a “cell” on a glass slide, not unlike what would be placed under a microscope. For this slide to be revealed, an inner box has to be removed, then its outer shell opened, the participating audience member acting as a researcher into the visual story. The Tulsa artist’s work is focused on investigating art as a narrative tool, through the altering of books to tell a tale with images instead of words, or the creation of pieces with movable components that require

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audience interaction to get the whole story. The visuals, she said, “do the heavy lifting when it comes to the narrative.”

I wasn’t brave enough to give my imagination free reign, that is, until my first year in college,” she said. “I enrolled as an art major.”

While art has been a lifelong interest of hers, and she holds a BFA with an emphasis on printmaking from the University of Tulsa, it was some coincidental circumstances that led her to the medium of book arts. She started with summer art courses at the local art museum, and later bussed to a high school for art classes when her own high school stopped offering them.

In her first college drawing class, she was assigned to combine an aspect of human anatomy with something botanical, sparking her imagination on a narrative path of visual art inspired by the natural world that she has not strayed from since. As a college student, the “story” she told through her work often took the form of whimsical fantasy, which she executed in two dimensions with pen and ink with water washes, or sometimes in gouache paintings. The titles of her work would come to her simultaneously with the imagery, with

“I remember that any unconventional composition or subject matter was not usually met with great acceptance by most adults, so

the first lines of a story evolving through her art, the words transformed into visuals. After college, however, it would be several years before she would start actively producing art again. In the 1990s, she said she re-discovered herself as an artist and enrolled in graduate level intaglio and relief printing classes and learned the basics of lithography. “I fell in love with printmaking, the process as well as the outcome, the physicality of the whole process of creating a print,” she said. “The work I produced at that time was philosophical rather than fanciful, oftentimes very personal, and much smaller and more intimate than my earlier work.” At the same time she was studying printmaking, she was employed in the Department of Special Collections in McFarlin Library at the University of Tulsa. In this role, one of her responsibilities was constructing various protective enclosures, such as drop-spine or clamshell boxes and portfolios, for the rare and fragile books and documents in the collections. “I think this may have been the catalyst for the kind of work I create today,” she said. “I wanted to find a way to combine all the media I most enjoyed working with, and here it was: painting, printmaking and boxes. The work has evolved from there. Long before I’d even heard of ‘book arts,’ I was, without knowing it, already working in it.” Her completed book art pieces include Seed Bank, an altered book about vegetable seeds, which contains actual seeds in its pages alongside vibrant depictions of plants. The original book has text in German, and it was only after she created the piece that someone translated parts of it, revealing it to be primarily religious, but with sections on planting and sowing. The Seed Bank art is a bit like the storage centers that keep seeds of plants so that they are preserved into the future, even in the event of a catastrophic natural disaster.

and colors, like jewels,” she said. “I’m into growing heirloom and vintage varieties of vegetables; someone has to collect and save these kinds of seeds in order to make them available to gardeners like me, hence the idea of ‘seed banking,’ that is, protecting them from being lost to us.” Saving Trees, part of her Soap Box Series, also is ecologically minded. A metaphorical game, it is contained within a box that opens to reveal a slanted, checked board and several small tree game pieces and a single rolling die. “The premise of Saving Trees is this: We can feel very righteous, very environmentally conscious about ‘recycling’ tree-based products while huge swaths of trees are being destroyed, not just in the rainforests but in our very own cities and suburbs, at an alarming and accelerated rate,” she said. The natural world emerges again in Martha Graham and Dance Troup B, which refers to honeybees and their matriarchal society, with Burkart naming the piece after the American modern dancer and choreographer Martha Graham. The dancer is depicted in two-dimensions inside a book, where bees swarm around her head against a honeycomb texture. “I’ve been a backyard beekeeper for about 4 years, so my bees have been a source of inspiration and fascination for me,” she said. “No doubt there will be future art pieces about bees.” Those pieces will likely continue her vivid visual chronicle with more artistic narratives connecting her audience to her fascination with the natural world and the world of books. For more information on Milissa Burkart’s art and images of her recent work, visit storybirdstudio.com. n Allison C. Meier is a freelance writer based in Brooklyn. She works in communications at the Cooper Union and has covered visual arts in Oklahoma for several years. She can be reached at allisoncmeier@gmail.com.

(left) Milissa Burkart, Tulsa, Seed Bank 1, Altered book with mixed media and biofacts, 17.4 x 12 x 7.2 cm (above) Milissa Burkart, Tulsa, Soap Box Series: Saving Trees, Cork on binder’s board with polymer clay, 14.8 x 14.8 x 4.6 cm

“Seeds are these amazing little powerhouses and they come in such beautiful shapes

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A Shore Thing: Katy Seals at Mainsite Contemporary Art by Samantha Still

Katy Seals, Norman, Miss Rodeo

Chances are, if you’re an American female under the age of 35, you remember the obnoxiously magical and colorful world of Lisa Frank, trapper keeper and sticker designer extraordinaire, whose saccharine scenarios include smiling unicorns frolicking under a double rainbow, candy colored cosmic ice cream sundaes, and doe-eyed kittens with perfect cherub wings. Well, what would you expect from an artist whose website tagline reads “the last temptation of Lisa Frank”? Meet Katy Seals, Texas transplant to Norman, OK who is completing her MFA in printmaking at the University of Oklahoma. Seals’ low brow aesthetic and grotesquely rendered commentary on Southern American culture put her in league with printmakers like Tom Huck, Dennis McNett, and the folks at Drive By Press and Cannonball Press. Her unique approach to social commentary through printmaking, along with her personality, have earned her somewhat of a reputation within this niche group of artists. Martin Mazorra and Mike Houston of Cannonball Press describe her this way, “Chief Executive Officer

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of the Big Fucking Takeover. Wild Child. Queen of the Underbelly. A Texan Legend in Heels…. Katy’s got more pseudonyms than marijuana.” Seals’ influences range from musicians like Terry Allen and Nick Cave, to artists like Kiki Smith and Walton Ford. “I am influenced by anyone who has ever gotten drunk and put make up on and anyone who has ever had a broken heart. Also every time I step foot in an old honkytonk or dive bar it inspires me. I start to think of all the broken hearts and problems people come there to drink away. How much people would like to forget to remember and how people like you and me feel the need to consume to feel a part of American society.” Her work is often outrageous, over the top, wacky and tacky. Seals’ work is also often deceiving; what seems frivolous is actually thoughtful, what seems haphazard is, in reality, carefully planned. In her earlier work, portraits of the characters she created like Miss

Pecan Pie, Misty Ethridge, and Miss Corn Cob, offer the viewer a glimpse into the darker side of Southern culture, one filled with hypocrisy, alcoholism, desperation and dashed dreams. Despite their often complicated messages, Seals’ compositions, which she creates using a variety of print processes, uphold a gilded façade of bright colors, big hair and smiling faces. Her imagery is overtly (and perhaps sarcastically) feminine, which is interesting considering the fact that the printmaking community has been described as a “boy’s club.” But Seals says that this term is dated. She said, “It may seem that way, but as a woman I always felt included, respected and treated like just any other person in a circle of artists. I have met my best friends, worst enemies, true loves and comrades through printmaking. Focusing on gender in the print community will only frustrate a person. I just say to younger gals to simply join in, work hard, and make great prints.” Seals will complete her MFA this spring, and for her thesis body of work she is saying goodbye to her Southern Beauty Queen muses and hello to Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi, the pint sized star of MTV’s Jersey Shore. Although Snooki is somewhat of a departure from Miss Corn Cob, Seals says that there are some overarching themes, which she describes as “women feeling the need to find an identity within a culture, body modification, and American consumerism. I felt instantly inspired when I started making work about Snooki.” Through work that will include a life sized paper doll of the Shore star, Seals will also take on themes such as cultural authenticity, a value perpetuated by the Shore’s cast through their aspirations of ultimate Guido/ Guidette status, and the social implications of the constant surveillance of the cast for the

purpose of entertaining the masses. Seals reports that her research for this body of work has included more than just watching the reality show as more and more journalists, critics, and academics produce critical social analysis of the television phenomenon. Ruth Franklin, Senior Editor of the New Republic comments, “The more I watch Jersey Shore, the more it reminds me of the Stanford Prison Experiment, that notorious episode in 1971 when psychologist Philip Zimbardo selected a group of normal college students and assigned them randomly to act as either prisoners or guards in a mock jail.” Others have considered viewers of Jersey Shore modern anthropologists deducing hypotheses about the social structure and value system of an isolated tribe. The University of Chicago even held an academic conference on Jersey Shore studies in October 2011. The amusing yet serious titles of some of the papers delivered at the conference include “The Monetization of Being: Reputational Labor, Brand Culture, and Why Jersey Shore Does, and Does Not, Matter”, “GTL (Gym, Tan, Labor): Reproducing LaborPower on the Shore”, and “Foucault’s Going to the Jersey Shore, Bitch!” Seals’ Snooki project is not only a continuation of her own visual exploration of American culture, but it is also a body of work that builds upon a recently developed academic precedent. No matter whether the viewer approaches the work as a fan of the show, a consumer of pop-culture, or an unknowing gallery-goer, Seals’ thesis project is shore to spark many interesting conversations. Seals’ exploration of Snooki, will be exhibited as part of the OU MFA show at Mainsite Contemporary Art in Norman, OK, April 13-28, 2012. Visit www.katyseals.com to see more of her work. Also exhibiting their thesis projects will be Mike Hill, Alexandra Knox, Ginna Dowling, Saainya Ekram Shaikh, Tara Najd Ahmadi, and Sherwin Tibayan. Visit www.mainsite-art.com for more information. n

Katy Seals, Norman, Deluxe Paper Doll, Watercolor

Samantha Still received her MA in Art History from the University of Oklahoma. She currently works as the Volunteer and Office Coordinator at OVAC.

Inside Seals’ studio in Norman, OK showing reference materials for her thesis show.

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Matter and Spirit Merged: The Art of Barbara Scott by Erin Schalk

(left) Barbara Scott, Oklahoma City, The Seedling, Cedar and basswood, 19” x 40” x 9”. (right) Unfolding, Cedar and basswood, 20” x 28” x 4”

Expression through words to vocalize our feelings and needs is an everyday occurrence, an ability that many people take for granted. Artists are fortunate to be able to also express themselves visually; to imbue work with layers of nonverbal meaning that would not be as poignant if translated into words, creating meaning that is felt as well as understood. Sculptor Barbara Scott personally understands this drive to express and communicate in form. “Material creation is so beautiful yet bitter - such dreams, such pain, so many questions in a world perishable and subject to time,” said Scott. “Yet the human spirit rises daily to face what the world demands of us for survival, while reaching with hope for what endures beyond material survival – for love, beauty, meaning and transcendence.” During a dark period in Scott’s early life when words were inadequate, art became her voice through drawings. She then transitioned to painting with acrylics on broken pottery which was similar to drawing, but on dimensional form. For the last eight years, however, her expression has focused on sculpting to give a tangible and physical

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form to her thoughts and feelings. Scott’s method of artistic expression goes beyond the visual into gestural and tactile realms. Her work is distinctive in its open palm hands, outstretched arms and eloquent faces. She uses natural materials such as stone, wood and bone for their symbolic and temporal qualities. “Stone represents the earth, the foundation and physical source of our becoming. Wood’s quality of flesh embodies the sense of life’s urge towards growth, connection and fruitfulness. Bone, the essential support deep within, gives us form and the strength to rise,” Scott explains. Scott is a self-taught sculptor, and she understands her primary medium of wood both extensively and intuitively. She is drawn to the physicality of the medium, the ability to watch and feel a piece take shape. Although the limitations the wood and tools impose sometimes frustrate her, Scott often finds that in facing and dealing with these problems, solutions and possibilities are discovered that she would never otherwise have envisioned.

“It’s an act of faith in itself to trust that a new, unexpected way will be found through the difficulties,” she said. Much of the meaning in Scott’s artwork is expressed in elegant subtlety only fully apparent when viewed closely. In Scott’s three piece Seedling Series, one is drawn into the warm colored wood of the soil and the plump russet seed that pulsates with life. In each of these sculptures, the rising arm’s wood grain travels downward toward its source, its rooted connection to the earth. Furthermore, each hand is gradually greening, beginning on the knuckles and fingertips in Emerging and Unfolding, then stretching down the fingers and to the thumb in The Seedling. Scott ends the series just as the seedling sprouts; there is no vibrantly green hand, no indication of what the fully matured plant may be. We are left to wonder about the organism’s potential, the correlation of the strength of its roots to the full promise of its future. Scott commented, “We each begin in different kinds of soil, be it rocky, barren or fertile. Yet we germinate, root ourselves as deeply as possible and grow toward the sun as best we can, blossoming into whatever shape we are able.” Themes of potential and hope despite overwhelming obstacles are often expressed through Scott’s work. As in the Seedling Series, many of Scott’s sculptures depict outstretched arms with hands reaching skyward as they strive to break free from limitations. This theme is evident in Jacob’s Ladder. Scott feels, “If there were a ladder reaching between heaven and earth, it would be made of our bones.” This piece measures 6.5 feet in height and consists of parallel arms stretching upward, despite being bound by rawhide-fastened, curved, rib bone rungs. As the arms rise, the bindings break at the wrists, leaving the topmost rung freed and lifting upwards. The 7.5 foot tall muscular figure of Earthborn Starbound also reaches upward with powerful grace. Her face is upturned, one arm is lifted with the hand open to both offer and receive, while the other arm, lowered at her side, bears a tattered wing of bone. The core support of this stance is a vertical span of whitened vertebrae. This convergence of elements embodies the beauty, hope, mystery and heartbreak of being human, of living as matter and spirit merged. Scott’s sculptures are a unity of opposing forces: they acknowledge struggling human frailty while celebrating human strength in the face of the unforeseeable. In March and April, Scott exhibits her sculptures in a solo show Earthborn Starbound. The opening will take place on March 10, 2012, from 7 – 9 p.m. at Leslie Powell Gallery, 620 SW D Avenue in Lawton. More information can be found at www.lpgallery.org. Scott’s artwork may be viewed further at www.barbarascottartist.com. n Erin Schalk is a recent graduate from the University of Oklahoma, and she is an artist and writer who currently lives in Okinawa, Japan. Visit her website at www.erinschalk.com. Barbara Scott, Oklahoma City, Earthborn Starbound, Cedar and bone, 91” x 34” x 25”

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Exhibition Review: Afro-Americana at Gaylord-Pickens Museum by Tiffany Barber

Contemporary art historian Darby English locates the emergence of ‘black art’ as a category of cultural production within identity liberation movements of the late 1960s, the Spiral Collective and Black Arts Movement among the most noted offspring within this association. English’s assertion is uniquely American; that is, the label black art itself calls attention to complexities of race and racialization unique to the United States. The Gaylord-Pickens Oklahoma Heritage Museum’s exhibition Afro-Americana: Contemporary Black Artists in Oklahoma, in collaboration with Inclusion in Art, is situated here. The exhibition explores the role of black artists in Oklahoma as well the intersections between art objects, history, folklore, geography, and cultural heritage. Upon entering the Tulsa World Gallery of the Oklahoma Heritage Museum, the viewer is greeted with Albert Bostick, Jr.’s mixed media paintings and installation works. Ndiague: Strong Hair, a large-scale work suspended from the gallery ceiling, combines text and layers of paint with African symbols and imagery while We Are Africans revisits the histories of blacks in bondage and fuses diasporic narratives.

Robert Hill, Vladimir Jones, Mixed media

Joyce M. Carley’s Boxed Up is comprised of four stacked square boxes atop a small pedestal. The sides of each box are covered in painted canvases pieced together like a puzzle revealing individual male and female figures. Boxed Up resembles a totem, a symbol often associated with ancestral religious practices and shamanism in Native American, African, and various non-western cultures. In this way, Boxed Up signals relationships between ritual practice, spirituality, community and how complex dynamics and expressions of collective and individual identity are inevitably ‘boxed up’ together. The exhibition also features four of Carley’s large-scale paintings, three of which offered a variation on the motif of veiled eyes – either through multi-colored translucent floating bubbles, animal-print cloth, or peeling blue skin distorting the subjects’ faces. Veils, masks and music were recurring themes throughout the exhibition. These themes not only connect the work to black intellectual and literary traditions popularized by Paul Laurence Dunbar, W.E.B. Du Bois, Frantz Fanon and others but also make clear the generational exchanges across artistic backgrounds, mediums, and meaning present in the exhibition. Lola Jenkins’ detailed handmade quilt pieces Pioneers of Music, The Purple People, and Sound of Horns each depict scenes typically associated with black culture and experience. Jenkins’ medium itself participates in larger relational histories between feminism and high craft movements of the 1960s and 1970s, providing more interesting connections. Robert Hill’s mixed-media collages couple charged text – from racial slurs to spiritual symbols and statistics – with painted figures to demonstrate the vexed relationship between black bodies, consumption, branding, language and athleticism. Perhaps the most compelling work in the exhibition is Suzanne Thomas’ gouache on paper series: Miss January, Miss February and Miss March. Thomas co-opts the language of advertising and disrupts myths around ideal beauty resulting in a cross between magazine covers, calendar girls of the mid 1950s and beauty contests, supplanting media historically populated by white women with black female figures. In each work, the female figure is rendered in a winsome pose, provoking the viewer

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to consume the image while simultaneously making the viewer complicit in the very act of consumption. Though not particularly original, Hill and Thomas’ works raise provocative questions about black sexuality and consumer culture. Eileen Thompson’s oil paintings reference black plantation life across the African diaspora incorporating Oklahoma state history with ambiguous locales. Marcus Eaker’s playful paintings recall Surrealist works of the 1910s and 20s in their floating phantasmagoric landscapes and alien, cartoon-like figures with octuple limbs. Kenyan-born self-taught artist Alex Kathilu’s suite of paintings depicts popular jazz musicians like Ray Charles and John Coltrane. Nathan Lee’s Martyr Series features bloated, exaggerated yet simple sculptural figures with melancholic or pained faces, hands punctured by large nails, and metallic rust-colored surfaces. Ronna Pernell’s meticulous pen and ink drawings, striking in their formal, technical prowess; Betty Refour’s small-scale portraits of women, vaguely reminiscent of Andy Warhol’s vibrantly colored Pop prints of Liz Taylor, Marilyn Monroe and others; and Andrew Akufo’s figurative drawings and paintings rounded out the exhibition. In a time when cultural politics are constantly shifting between inveterate racial stereotypes and tenuous optimism attached to postracialism, Afro-Americana exemplifies how contemporary artists of color have inherited and continue to grapple with these crises in representation. Returning to Darby English, if black representation and culture in the United States is historically grounded in rhetoric of cultural survival then Afro-Americana offers an interesting study into the limits and burdens of representation. It is exactly this type of group compulsion that can be both generative and collapsing in its solidarity. Afro-Americana begs the viewer to consider whether or not the solution is to identify an absence and insert what is missing or to trouble the very categories of blackness and black art themselves. Like any good effort, Afro-Americana succeeds in raising more questions than answers. Afro-Americana: Contemporary Black Artists in Oklahoma continues through April 21. Visit www.oklahomaheritage.com for more information. n Tiffany Barber is a freelance writer and organizer living in Oklahoma City. Her visual art reviews and feature articles have been published in Beautiful/ Decay, THE Magazine Los Angeles, Public Art Review, Art Focus and online publications for ForYourArt and Evil Monito Magazine.

(top) Alex Kathilu, Ray Charles, Oil on canvas (bottom) Suzanne Thomas, Oklahoma City, Miss January, Gouache on paper, 24” x 36”

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A Figurative Story: Art by Bjorn Bauer by Sasha Spielman

Bodies draped in cloth, their eyes covered, but the hands locked in a tight crib, cool hues of grey and blue: this oil painting portrays feelings of loss, yet timelessness. The bodies are not touching, the eyes don’t meet, but the two humans are still connected by a simple touch. It’s a deep reflection of the human necessity to feel the physical contact of others. The work titled Distance, was painted by the artist Bjorn Bauer, an oil painter and printmaker based in Edmond, Oklahoma. “The majority of my work is figurative,” Bauer said. “My art is basically about how I feel toward life and the world we live in.” In Justice a young African American boy stares at the viewer with eyes filled with intimate understanding of how cruel life can sometimes be; too young for the boy to fully understand, but the viewer on the other hand truly comprehends it. Looking through Bauer’s portfolio the theme of human bodies takes a precedent. The oil painter is consistent with cool colors, but his paintings are remarkably warm and inviting. In some of his paintings Bauer tackles specific issues such as poverty and religion. Even though he says he is an optimist at heart, he believes art is an indispensable platform for the society to discuss such taboo topics. “For that reason alone I think art can play a crucial role,” Bauer said. “I want my work to stand for an underlying hope which transcends our struggles.” An art teacher at day and a painter/printmaker at night, Bauer carried the images of human struggles embedded in his subconscious since childhood. Born in Germany in troubling yet exciting times when the country was demolishing the Berlin Wall, Bauer gained his first exposures to the power images can carry. Next his family moved to Cambodia, which he says “was a tough place to live.” Cambodia has a high mortality rate due to landmine accidents. The human genocide left a strong impression on the artist. After several years, the family relocated to Malaysia, where Bauer graduated from high school, which taught him about the mix of rich Asian cultures he now incorporates in some of his work. “I really enjoy art that has depth and meaning, and I think it’s hard to realistically view life on earth without a degree of sadness,” Bauer said. “A way to acknowledge and deal with that sadness is through creating and experiencing art.” Besides his international immersion in different cultures, Bauer uses music as his main artistic inspiration. Music energizes him and engages his imagination more than any other art form. He also doesn’t have an art studio dedicated to painting, because he prefers to sketch most of his work in between teaching art classes. “Everything starts as a sketch or series of sketches, then I move on to either a finished illustration or turn the idea into a larger painting,” Bauer said. His work’s use of bodies as symbols is deeply rooted with a number of distinguished painters such as the 16th century painter El Greco, also known as the Greek, who painted human bodies almost exclusively. It wasn’t until the 20th century that El Greco’s work found appreciation.

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Bjorn Bauer, Edmond, Breaking Tension, Oil on panel, 32” x 48”

J.M.W. Turner, an 18th century English Romantic landscape painter and printmaker is another artist Bauer admires. A somewhat controversial figure in the art world, today Turner is considered to be “the painter of light.” In most of his works he paints natural catastrophes, fires and shipwrecks. Though Bauer’s work belongs to the modern art school, fragments of both El Greco and Turner can be discovered in some of his paintings. For example, in a recent print that Bauer titled Misapprehension, a human figure is draped with hanging pieces of cloth, the head tilted down. The print comes in several different solid colors such as light blue and rustic. The artist states on his blog that the print is about “the freedom produced as a result of assuming a religious posture.” Complex and mature, Bauer’s paintings expose hidden messages left to be encoded by the viewer’s desire for interpretation. The artist plans an exhibition at aka gallery, opening March 2, which will feature close to 20 original pieces. Visit www.akagallery.net for exhibit information. To preview his work, visit www.bjornbauerart.com. n Sasha Spielman is a freelance writer and a blogger based in Oklahoma City, who has worked for a variety of publications covering stories from entertainment to hard news. She enjoys reading comments and story suggestions from readers who can write back to her at artgal001@gmail.com and/or follow her on sashaspielman.tumblr.com.

UN IV E RSI TY

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OKLAHOMA

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African Art Collection Explore the most comprehensive exhibit of African art in the region! Objects from the 1st Century BCE through the 20th Century. Newly arranged and displayed for your enjoyment. Chambers Library, 2nd & 3rd floors For information, contact: Dr. William Hommel (405) 974-5252 bhommel @uco.edu

*This collection features pieces on loan from the Kirkpatrick Center Affiliated fund and Perry and Angela Tennison. 13

The Tulsa Art Studio Tour: Giving in to Curiosity by Elizabeth Downing

A sampling of painted silk scarves by Terri Higgs

An artist’s studio is the essence of Process (with a capital P). Even though the lightening-in-a-bottle really happens in an artists’ mind, their space both reflects and inspires the direction of their work. Inhaling those scents, seeing stacks of raw materials, deciding on just the right color, and existing in that space helps many artists get into the flow - that delicious place where ideas come fast and easy and hours slip by without notice. The best studios are the ones that get an artist’s blood moving even though it may not be obvious on first inspection. The Tulsa Art Studio Tour is all about looking at exactly that - other artists molding their creativity into tangible work, whatever form it may take. There’s quite the selection on this year’s Tour: a painter (Cathy Deuschle), a woodworker and furniture artisan (Eric Fransen),

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a sculptor in wood (Rusty Johnson), a painter of impressionist watercolors and alternative process photographer (Tommy Lee Ball), a mixed media artist (Sharon Allred), a photographer of pristine landscapes (Michael McRuiz), a fiber artist (Terri Higgs), an installation artist, a painter/photographer/videographer (Tahlia Roper), a performance artist and creator of installations (Mark Wittig), a painter and sculptor (Sandra Langenkamp) and an abstract expressionist painter (Paul Timshel). No matter your expertise or experience, there will be something new to view. After visiting a few of the studios, it’s evident that variety is the watchword this year. Just as an example, let’s take the setting - where are these studios? For Tahlia Roper, it’s her entire living room and dining room. The central

parts of her house are clearly for making art of all kinds – her “satirebased expression through installation, photography, painting and performance.” For Cathy Deuschle, it’s a backyard getaway in what was probably once a carriage house, a small one-story separated structure with abundant natural light, which is reflected in her paintings. For Michael McRuiz, a photographer, it’s an office-like setup with the computer and printers that are key to producing carefully manipulated color photographs of landscapes untouched by man. And for Eric Fransen, it’s a massive two story warehouse full of tools of all stripes. If you need a square hole cut precisely into a piece of wood, he’s your guy. From a dedicated room in a residence to a massive industrial space, these represent a few of the settings in which artists work and a handful of the fascinating studios on the 2012 Art Studio Tour. What is their favorite part about the space? Cathy Deuschle says, “Because it’s mine. I don’t have to explain anything to anyone – I can sing and dance and make a mess and throw things on the floor.” Tahlia Roper says that her studio is her “home and [her] canvas and [she] shares it with her best friend.” Michael McRuiz says that he loves working in “my own little cave. I feel like I’m doing what I was born to do.” How do they feel about having artists and art enthusiasts come visit their studios? Almost universally excited to meet new people outside of their usual group. In general, artists are a pretty solitary bunch and each one of these talked about their close group of artist friends, but that they’d like to be a part of a bigger community, too. Cathy Deuschle admits that it took her awhile to be OK with the idea of

A painting in progress in the studio of Cathy Deuschle.

people coming in to her space, and that she used to be sensitive to stray comments about her work. But, she says she’s “gotten a lot more confident in myself and I’m OK with people coming in.” For some, it’s an excuse to put a deadline on studio projects that have been lingering - every artist is busily working to flesh out their portfolio of work to display during the Tour. Some, like Eric Fransen, are making adjustments to their studios and completing construction projects in time for April. Why should you come on the Tulsa Art Studio Tour? If you’re an artist, it’s a great way to expand your network. You may see a creative solution to washing brushes (like Cathy Deuschle – she just wipes them on the carpet) or organizing small tools (pegboards and special drawers like Eric Fransen) or making efficient use of a small space (like Michael McRuiz). Or, you might see a new painting technique or photography process that could inspire your next project. Creating art isn’t the most social process, so consider this one of the rare times when it is and join these artists for the Tour. The Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition presents the Tulsa Art Studio Tour on April 21 and 22, noon to 5 p.m. each day. Tickets are $5 in advance or $10 at the studios during the event. Attendance is free for students and children under 12. For more information, visit www. TulsaArtStudioTour.org. n Elizabeth Downing is a photographer of the urban landscape and a technical writer who lives in Tulsa. She can be reached at beth@bethdowning.com.

Michael McRuiz, Tulsa, Antelope Canyon #2, Photography

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Art On The Move by Sheri Ishmael-Waldrop

The Gallery on Sixth Mobile Unit

From gallery to the road, The Gallery on Sixth offers unique opportunities for Oklahoma artists.

They thought maybe there were other artists out there who were having the same problem, so they offered the space to them as well.

The Gallery on Sixth, in Downtown Tulsa, opened three and a half years, said co-owner Michael Benton. Benton, who does marquetry, or wood inlay, creating decorative inlaid boxes and clocks, as well as wall art, said he ran out of room at home for his equipment and work space. He and his wife, Janet, started searching for a new space to work. The location was more space than they needed and it had a great showroom in the front.

“So we set out to find a few others, which wasn’t hard,” he said. “Now we have a great selection of quality artisans that work in all kinds of media from wood to glass to jewelry to fabric to etchings and oils.” They are proud to feature quality craft by “very talented people” from Oklahoma.

“I had always had trouble finding a place to show my work in Tulsa, because Tulsa had a limited number of galleries, who didn’t consider my work art, and even fewer places that showed fine craft,” he said. Tulsa’s Pearl Gallery was the only gallery that would show his work. So, the Benton’s realized, “We have this great space, let’s just open our own gallery.”

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Because their location is more of a destination than a space visitors happen to walk by, after three years they began searching for a way to reach the next level of exposure. As Benton was driving down the expressway one day, he saw a large trailer with a plumbing company logo and advertising on the side. “It was their site van and it caught my attention. It was probably 12 to 16 feet long, but it sure made a statement,” he said. “That’s when it hit me to take our show on the road.”

It immediately solved several of his “issues.” He doesn’t like tents, it would be a traveling billboard and he hoped it would garner a lot of attention by taking it to shows and spreading the word about The Gallery on Sixth. After researching the cost of the trailer and setup, it was clear the cost would be relative to advertising in any one of the media outlets for a 6 month period. They launched the mobile gallery unit in August of 2011 with great success. They have taken the gallery to a couple of wine festivals, the state fair, gallery crawls, set up downtown and even attended a block party for a home owners association. They were “blown away” by the number of sales and positive feedback they received. The 24-foot trailer is complete with heat and air, paneled walls, acrylic shelving and wall space for two-dimensional art. They have a couple of jewelry displays in the middle. For power, the unit can either plug into any 110

outlet or utilize a very quiet generator, allowing them to have power anywhere. “People are fascinated with it and love going inside and seeing all the great works we offer from Oklahoma artisans, from all over the state I might add. We are available for just about anything we get invited to.” Benton said he believes his mobile gallery is unique to Oklahoma. “I have read about a mobile unit in Colorado that also doubles as a teaching studio for ceramics and a couple of artists setting up smaller trailers to exhibit their own work, but as far as a traveling gallery of this size showing several different artists, I’m not aware of any.” The gallery features everything from oil paintings, to watercolors and etchings, to turned wood and other wood pieces, to extremely beautiful handcrafted jewelry, hand blown and fused glass, to ceramics and fabrics, such as hand painted silk scarves, and hand knitted gloves, shrugs and hats. At first the purpose of the mobile unit was to advertise The Gallery on Sixth, he said, but as they have been out they have thought of other possibilities. Smaller communities in Oklahoma can’t always support a full-time gallery, and the closest one may be 50 miles away. “We would love to work with these communities to set dates and bring the mobile unit to their town for a day and let the people who live there have the opportunity to see the work of quality artisans,” Benton said. “To hopefully inspire some of them to explore or revisit their talents and offer an outlet for their work as well. We can also see the mobile unit as a traveling classroom for teaching different crafts and art. We have a stable of talented people who are willing to teach, we just need the people who want to learn.”

Interior of The Gallery on Sixth’s mobile unit, showcasing fine craft.

The Benton’s are always looking for new artisans and new media to offer. At each event or venue artists say they would be interested in exhibiting. Currently, they limited the number of artists to ensure variety. Interested artists may submit work online at www.thegalleryonsixth. com, by e-mail at info@thegalleryonsixth.com, or in-person at the gallery at 2207 E. 6th St. in Tulsa. Please call first to make an appointment, or visit the mobile unit. “We are about the artist, artisan or craftsman and it is our goal to promote them as best we can,” said Benton. “We feel we have something different and unique to offer the state and we hope people will take advantage of it.” n Sheri Ishmael Waldrop is a freelance writer and photographer from Sapulpa, and the director for Sapulpa Arts.

Michael Benton in the Gallery on Sixth’s storefront location.

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Art on Screen by Kelsey Karper

Barry Anderson, Kansas City, MO, Junk Yard, Single-channel HD video animation, 6:20 minute loop. Courtesy of Marty Walker Gallery, Dallas, TX.

The Oklahoma City Museum of Art (OKCMOA) has just launched projectscreen, a new series featuring video works by contemporary artists working nationally and internationally. This annual series will feature 12 artists each year, rotating monthly, working in various styles of video art. The inaugural projectscreen series is guest curated by Shannon Fitzgerald. The video will be presented in the lobby of OKCMOA on a large-scale, custom-designed screen. The high traffic lobby area, situated on the first floor between the museum’s main entrance and the gift shop, café and theatre, will give the video works a large audience. This portion of the museum is open to visitors even without paying regular admission. “I am very excited about projectscreen because it seamlessly integrates an area of art production that many people are unfamiliar with into the Museum’s program offerings, while concurrently making an experience with art accessible to anyone who enters the building,” said Museum Director Glen Gentele. Since the 1960s, as “moving image” technology expanded and became more accessible to artists, they have been finding new and different ways of incorporating video into their art making. With projectscreen, Fitzgerald aims to present for Oklahoma audiences the variety, diversity and far reaching potential of contemporary video art and its various forms. “We are also presenting the impact the genre has had on several

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generations of visual artists and the exciting ways they are using the media to visually convey vital artistic concepts,” Fitzgerald explained. “We encourage the viewer to watch the videos several times, enjoy the engagement, and hope their experience imparts new ways of seeing and thinking about not only the art of our time, but society and culture at large. The program presents a rewarding viewing experience that we anticipate will spark a visitors’ imagination and fuel their curiosity for further exposure.” Fitzgerald has been presenting video work throughout her career as a curator, in both museum and non-profit spaces. In selecting video work for projectscreen, she sought artists who are producing poignant visual works and pushing boundaries within the field. The series will include artists from the region, as well as their national and international peers. The first four artists in the projectscreen series are all working in animation, and will provide an introduction to the various methods that exist within this subgenre. The debut exhibition, which features two video works from New Yorkbased artist Marina Zurkow, opened on February 15 and will continue through March 18, 2012. The exhibition coincides with the opening of Julie Heffernan: Infinite Work in Progress, which is the fifth installment of the museum’s NEW FRONTIERS Series for Contemporary Art, as well as

Marina Zurkow, New York City, Weights + Measures, Color, animation, silent, 3 minute loop, edition of 5. Courtesy of the artist.

the opening of Princely Treasures: European Masterpieces 1600-1800 from the Victoria and Albert Museum. “It is exciting to present two animations by Marina Zurkow, Slurb and Weights + Measures,” stated Fitzgerald. “For over a decade, she has been generating enthralling moving images. Her animations seduce the viewer, and cause one to pause in contemplative moments. There is an enchanting balladry that emerges in both works, and within and perhaps because of the performative visual allure, the substantial psychological agency, concern, and warning that exists in her work emerges quite evocatively. Zurkow creates unexpected juxtapositions to explore several facets about our complex ecosystem and more profoundly, human interventions in biology and technology.” From March 21-April 22, projectscreen will feature two drawn animations by Brussels-born, Paris-based artist Catharina van Eetvelde. Her minimal video works are accompanied by lyrical voice narration from Abigail Lang, a French writer. In the two animations, van Eetvelde is interested in blurring geopolitical boundaries and human connectedness. Three short single-channel HD video animations by Kansas City-based artist Barry Anderson will be presented from April 26-May 31. According to Fitzgerald, the works are quirky, humorous and offer slightly unsettling glimpses into fantasy worlds culled from popular culture and collaged

Allison Schulnik, Los Angeles, CA, Mound, Stop motion video, 4:24 minutes. Courtesy of Mark Moore Gallery (CA) and ZieherSmith (NY).

together in wackily delightful and lushly colored vignettes. Fourth in the series is Los Angeles-based artist Allison Schulnik, on display from May 30-July 1. Her films merge materials and concepts behind painting, film, claymation and theatre in whimsically eerie narratives. For more about projectscreen, please visit www.okcmoa.com. n Kelsey Karper is editor of Art Focus Oklahoma.

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H2OK: Native Response to Water Issues in Oklahoma by Netha Cloeter

Despite the ubiquity of water and its essential, life-giving value, we are constantly in a process of overlooking it, of taking it for granted. H2OK: Native Response to Water Issues in Oklahoma will address and interpret the substance that drives life on our planet – water – in all its forms and from a multitude of angles. The exhibition opened at MAINSITE Contemporary Art: Home of the Norman Arts Council on February 10 and will continue through March 10, 2012. The show will then travel to Bacone College’s Art Gallery in Muskogee, where it will be on view from April 2 – May 14, with an opening reception on April 14. The exhibition features the work of nineteen artists, working in a diverse range of media, who either live in Oklahoma or belong to Oklahoma tribes. The participating artists include Norman Akers, Marwin Begaye, Roy Boney Jr., Joseph Erb, Anita Fields, Tom Fields, Yatika Fields, Sue Fish, Brent Greenwood, Sam Atakra Haozous, Troy Jackson, Matt Jarvis, Linda Lomahaftewa, Bob Martin, America Meredith, Molly Murphy, Juanita Pahdopony, Tom Poolaw, and Tony Tiger. America Meredith, heather ahtone, and Tony Tiger are curating the exhibition, which evolved from a thread of conversation regarding increasingly pressing water issues in the state. Meredith, ahtone, and Tiger felt the lack of concern regarding critical water issues was troubling. “We all agreed that we needed to do something,” states ahtone, and so the exhibition began to form. As their curatorial statement explains, “In the last few years, while gas prices have skyrocketed and the discussion about renewable energy, especially wind, have been thrown around as political ballyhoo, critical water issues have been rising like the slow moving floods of the Mississippi River.” Additionally, the curators hope that the show will prompt reflection and spark conversation in the communities it reaches: “We conceive of this exhibition as an opportunity to serve as a conduit through which dialogue and creativity might flow through our community.”

Linda Lomahaftewa, Santa Fe, NM, Ancestral Gulf Birds #14, Monoprint on paper

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In light of global and local statistics and disputes, dialogue seems crucial. The U.N. has estimated that by 2025, “1.8 billion people will be living in countries or regions with absolute water scarcity, and two-thirds of the world’s population could be living under water stressed conditions.” In addition to an impending worldwide water crisis, there have been several recent conflicts between the State of Oklahoma and tribal governments. There are thirtynine federally-recognized tribes within the state,

some or all of which may have valid, federally-enforceable, treaty-based claims to water. Tensions have risen as water sources have dwindled, rising from misuse, miscommunication between state and tribe, and uncertainty regarding jurisdiction and “ownership” of critical water sources. For example, disputes loom over the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes’ rights to Sardis Lake, the development of a Texas water district, and the Continental Carbon Company’s continued pollution and water contamination in communities near Ponca City. All the while, a sustained drought and continued contamination and shortage of water supplies affect both urban and rural communities across the state. Despite a layered, complex political history surrounding water issues and rights in Oklahoma, H2OK artists and curators are not intent on delivering a heavy-handed, didactic message to viewers; instead, the exhibition aims to spark personal reflection and public dialogue about this elemental, poetic, yet often divisive substance. Curators hope to formally encourage conversation by holding an open community dialogue at MAINSITE while the exhibition is showing. The participating artists have taken the exhibition’s thematic focus in several different, insightful directions. “We left it open to the artists,” ahtone explains, “so they could address the environmental, social, or political issues that are present, and they also were welcome to incorporate cultural aspects they found relevant.” Several chose to focus on water birds, species with a close attachment and relational awareness of water that trumps and yet suffers from our own unstable, consumptive one. Marwin Begaye’s (Navajo) acrylic painting A Friend of a Friend falls into his larger body of work focused on water birds. Begaye envisions the powerful egret perched above an abstracted, otherworldly background of textured layers and washes of color. The egret both coexists with and meshes into the background, into his surroundings, yet a mesmerizing gaze and distinctive plume mark a powerful, independent entity. Begaye sees birds as “different kind of messengers” communicating through close attention. For example, shifts in migratory patterns signify climate change and disruptions to the delicate balance we hold with the environment. The egret is both messenger and metaphor, revealing of our own disjointed practices and environmental relationships.

spiritual associations. “Water is very important to Native Americans in certain ceremonies and it’s also important to the world, important to everything that lives.” Poolaw’s title suggests multiple potential meanings: without water, the rocks do not heat and “sweat” as purification ceremony is not possible. Additionally, without this essential, life-giving substance, sweat as a physiological response is not possible. The title also embeds a pun directed towards our cultural consciousness, using the idiom “no sweat” to allude to lackadaisical attitudes and widespread ambivalence regarding looming shortages. The displacement of water is a growing concern for Poolaw: “There is an ocean of displaced water around us, in the form of soda cans, water bottles, and all of the other ways we’ve packaged water for consumption.” This displaced ocean contrasts the quiet but powerful absence of water in the ceremonial container. Water is an enigmatic substance and subject matter, constantly changing, resisting depiction, containment, and solidity. H2OK takes this shifting, elusive entity and interprets it from diverse vantage points. Through a variety of media and approaches, the artists communicate a common denominator of concern regarding our essential yet unstable and consumptive relationship with water. If behavioral change is marked by a shift of perspective, this exhibit is one small wind carrying the potential to spark local waves of dialogue and change. For more information about the exhibition, please visit the show’s website at www.ahalenia.com/h2ok. n Netha Cloeter is a graduate student in Art History at the University of Oklahoma. Her academic interests include educational theory, material culture, and contemporary art.

Marwin Begaye, Norman, A Friend of a Friend, Acrylic

Hopi / Choctaw artist Linda Lomahaftew’s Ancestral Gulf Birds #14 is from a series of monoprints on paper focused on ancestral birds. Sensuous lines, curving forms, and sumptuous colors order the background, while the faintly transparent shadow of a gulf bird is superimposed onto the picture plane. A delicate leaf and flowering plant also float above the liquid, abstract background, which remains visible through the organic elements. Bird, plant, and water are codependent, transparently comingling and resting upon one another. Kiowa / Delaware artist Thomas Poolaw’s No Water, No Sweat, a mixedmedia installation comprised of a metal bucket, ladle, stones, and matches, signifies an absence. The conceptual piece contains elements of earth, fire, and air – but no water. The bucket is an object in use: Poolaw has and will continue to use it in ceremony, in sweats. By bringing a utilitarian object and natural elements into a white-walled gallery, Poolaw disrupts the formal space and channels familiar and

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International granite sculptor Jesús Moroles to lead Ardmore workshop by Susan Grossman

Texas-based artist Jesús Moroles works with students during a granite sculpture workshop at the Charles B. Goddard Art Center in Ardmore.

Working with granite is difficult, dirty and dusty. Using angle grinders with diamond tipped blades, chisels, hammers, polishers and torches skilled artists deftly find the hidden gem inside one of the hardest materials on the planet. It’s also not easy on the budget with the large space required, the cost of the tools and the price of granite. Imagine, then, having the opportunity to sculpt a piece of granite under the watchful eye of an internationally recognized artist, all for less than $800.

“We have had students come from all over the country, some with an art background and some without.” Tindale said. “We have had doctors, dental hygienists, teachers, real estate professionals, college students, librarians and retired people. Our last workshop had nine women and six people over the age of 60.” The work that is done, she said, is amazing. Perhaps the best part is that students get to create their own sculpture and take it with them.

The Charles B. Goddard Art Center for the Visual and Performing Arts in Ardmore is offering just this chance by hosting a granite sculpting workshop in March with Jesús Moroles, the Texas-based artist who in 2008 won the National Medal of Arts award.

The workshops began in 2009 when Moroles had a large exhibit at the Goddard Art Center. Tindale explained that exhibiting artists are encouraged to give a demonstration or workshop during their tenure in Ardmore. Given the immense scope of space needed to sculpt granite, she offered the use of a barn on her farm to host a workshop.

Open to up to 12 students, the workshop will be held on the property of artist and Goddard Art Center trustee Janice Tindale. Anyone is eligible to attend, regardless of skill, novices and artists alike.

Moroles suggested inviting Hispanic children and six 12-year-olds were invited. They carved two large, solid benches which now sit in Ardmore’s Central Park.

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“The kids sat down and traced their bottoms on the granite pieces, then cut, chiseled and polished the part you sit on,” Tindale said. “They had a great time, and 12-year-old girls using power tools is pretty empowering.” High school art students rarely have the chance to include granite sculpting in their portfolio, especially under the direction of a National Medal of Arts recipient. So, the last five workshops have included students from four local schools who were chosen by their teachers to attend. Their pieces go to Art in Public Places and their tuition is paid by scholarships provided by the McCrory Foundation of Ardmore.

Granite Sculpture Workshop March 17-20, 2012, Ardmore Four days with Jesús Moroles, 2008 National Medal of Arts recipient Cost: $500 + granite, starting at $50 Sponsored by Goddard Art Center, Ardmore To register call 580-490-6556 or 580-226-0909 www.goddardcenter.org

“To make all of this happen, we have had a lot of community support,” Tindale said. “Two Goddard board members gave money to buy tools, Quartz Mountain loaned us more tools, the Ardmore Chamber of Commerce and the McCrory Foundation have provided scholarships, Martin Marietta Materials in Mill Creek and Bodie L. Anderson Quarries in Ada have donated granite, and friends have loaned us trucks and trailers to haul it.” For his part, Moroles said he enjoys seeing participants master such an unyielding and permanent material. “There is something empowering that happens for them when working with granite,” he said. “They can say they actually created something out of it.” The biggest challenge is guiding preconceived notions of design. When student arrive for the workshop, many have ideas about what they would like to create. Moroles helps them see things differently.

“Many come to the workshop with ideas, and 99 percent of them are bad ideas,” he said. “I try to get them to think in a new way. We start cutting and chipping and images start to unfold. To me, this is the most rewarding part, the surprise of discovery.” Moroles has likened granite sculpting to beach combing. We all have picked up shells, rocks and other interesting things along the shore. Putting them aside, we wait until we can see the potential inside the shape. With granite pieces, this can sometimes take years.

Working with granite is a love of sweat and tears, he said, because it is such a hard medium in which to work. Moroles often has said granite is not carved, it is torn. “One of the ways we do this tearing is we drill small holes in the granite and put wedges into it,” he explains. “We apply pressure to the middle of the stone to tear it in a line or in a curve and actually open up the middle of the granite and it shows all the crisp untouched granite.” Teaching this method of discovery, especially when working with kids, is something that Moroles said he particularly enjoys. “The idea of giving back, I truly believe in that,” he said. “I am pleased with the opportunity to keep this workshop in Oklahoma, and in Ardmore.” n Susan Grossman is a lifelong journalist and public relations specialist who currently works as a development officer. Her hobby job is freelance writing for a variety of local, regional and national publications covering everything from art and architecture to sports. Reach her at susangrossman@cox.net.

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Samantha Lamb, Hobart, More Bear Than Rabbit, Photography

Momentum: Art Doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Stand Still by Jennifer Barron

Ready for some art that doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t stand still? Momentum Oklahoma City returns for its eleventh year March 9 and 10, bringing emerging artists to the forefront of Oklahomaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s art community once again. Alongside the juried survey show, Momentum Spotlight also returns, presenting three artists who have worked with curators to prepare and present ambitious installations or exhibits at the event. 24

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This year’s curators, Alison Hearst and Candace Coker, have a clear enthusiasm for the artists they have selected for Momentum Spotlight: Marcus Kesler, Margaret Kinkeade, and Samantha Lamb. “Quality of work was the most important factor,” states Hearst, Assistant Curator for The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. The curators also considered use of space, strength of previous work, and the solidity of the proposals, but quality was the foremost criterion. Momentum Emerging Curator Candace Coker agrees and goes further: “I am excited about each of these artists, and for them to have the space and environment where an audience can really interact, really remember each project. It will be fantastic.” Marcus Kesler Marcus Kesler’s project Cities of Hope illuminates a notable and lesser-known part of state history. Between 1865 and 1920, more than fifty allblack towns and settlements were founded in Oklahoma, where, as Kesler describes, “AfricanAmerican families... could govern themselves and be free from the prejudice and violence” they found elsewhere. There were more all-black towns in Oklahoma than in all other states combined. Kesler explores these towns as they are now, driven to tell the stories of the buildings and places that remain. “Many of these towns no longer exist, some of them are barely alive, and some are flourishing.” He is conscious of the fact that he is an outsider in these small

A detail of Margaret Kinkeade’s hand plasma-cut steel quilt for her Momentum Spotlight project.

communities: “I try to be mindful of not telling these stories in an exploitative way. I want to let these places tell their own story, and not use places for my own goals.” His process is as important to Kesler as his subjects. Kesler prefers his subjects lit by moonlight, limiting him to only eight shooting days each month. Once on site, Kesler experiments with handheld lights, three-to-five minute exposures and multiple angles, often repeating longer exposures and spending several hours on each single subject. Kesler’s preference to let each location tell its own story without interference extends to his process: he never alters anything he finds at a location - either by moving objects or opening closed doors or windows - and he prefers little to no manipulation of his raw images. Kesler moved to the United States from Germany at the age of sixteen, and credits that transition for his interest in photography. “We could only bring two suitcases and a carry-on. Basically, what we could take was pictures and memories.”

Momentum Spotlight will not only be Kesler’s first large-scale project, it will be his first art show. He approaches his medium, and the Spotlight opportunity, openly: “I am still new to this, and I’m still evolving in what story I’m trying to tell.” Samantha Lamb Of the three, Samantha Lamb is perhaps the most familiar to Oklahoma City audiences, although she lives farthest from the city. For the past three years, Lamb has made her home on a farm in rural southwest Oklahoma. As she describes her home, the ways in which the daily duties of farm life inform her art become clear. She lights up when she begins talking about the animals she raises, and she views her intentional immersion in the world she loves as a kind of ongoing installation. “I milk the cows every day and it is such a fully sensory experience,” she explains. Indeed, installation is at the heart of Lamb’s photography, and her Spotlight project allows this side of her work to flourish. As Coker

Artist Margaret Kinkeade of Norman was selected for the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition’s Momentum Spotlight award, receiving $2,000 and curatorial guidance to create new artwork for the Momentum event on March 9-10

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states, “This is [Lamb’s] chance to bring her photos to life.” The seemingly carefree scenes depicted in her photographs are actually composed tableaux which highlight the delicate and rustic, or the feminine and roughhewn, and cast them in warm morning light. Lamb’s intent - to celebrate the beauty of life through bucolic imagery - is behind every scene. “As much as I would like twenty glass jars of milk to grow from the ground,” she explains, “they just don’t.” For her Spotlight project, Lamb is creating an environment using antique filament light bulbs, jars of honey from her own bees, honeycomb-shaped wood structures, and thousands of vintage handkerchiefs, gathered from readers of her blog. (She has over two thousand as of this writing.) Her aim is to simulate the beauty, femininity, and what she calls the “whole-heartedness” of a pastoral life. A radiant positivity and a deep love of life itself are also evident in her work. These are feelings that she hopes viewers will take with them. “I want people to love life,” she says, “because if you look around, it’s obvious how it aches to love you.” Margaret Kinkeade Margaret Kinkeade also explores femininity, albeit with a more interrogative approach. For her project Fragile Stillness and Strength, Kinkeade will render quilting motifs in handplasma cut steel twin-bed-sized ‘quilts,’ which will be suspended and backlit. Her goal is for viewers to “imagine what it would look like if traditionally feminine materials were applied to masculine craft and vice-versa.” “What is so interesting to me,” Kinkeade describes, “is that even within the Quaker culture, where men and women are seen as equals in both the public and private realms, women’s work still consists of primarily domestic duties.” Kinkeade merges quilting (traditionally the work of women in the Quaker culture) with the practice of furniture-making (traditionally done by Quaker men). By starting from a point where gender roles are purportedly equal, yet still strictly binary, Kinkeade begins to explore the roots of this division of labor, and the inherent value placed on women’s versus

business of art

Marcus Kesler, Edmond, Clean Sweep, Photography, 20” x 30”

men’s work in cultures where these spheres are strictly separate. Both curators comment on the power of this thoughtful work: “I think that [Kinkeade’s project] is going to be one of those that will really make people think.” Coker says. “I’m really glad she came into the loop.” Viewing the work of these artists together provides audiences with a view of contemporary American life - its roots and its future - that is both complex and compelling. Hearst notices a few repeating themes between the three artists, although she stresses that this is not through curatorial design. “We did notice a few threads running through, but it wasn’t planned. It happened quite organically.” Coker agrees. “There was a running theme of ‘The American Dream,’ and of deconstructing it,” she comments, although she notes the strikingly different perspectives of each Spotlight artist in the context of the current economic climate: “It’s good to have both positive and negative [views of America] presented at a time when it is on everyone’s mind.” Fostering opportunity for emerging artists is important to both Hearst and Coker, and it is at the heart of Momentum itself. Coker goes on to describe the opportunity she has had as Emerging Curator: “The opportunity Momentum provides to young

artists is incredible, and the opportunity of the Emerging Curator position is truly amazing... To have someone like Alison on board is great for everyone.” Hearst echoes the compliment: “Working with Candace has been great. She is extremely organized, and we tend to share a lot of views, which has made the process go very smoothly.” Both curators share an excitement to see the work of these artists come to fruition. “I want to stress that these are three very, very strong artists,” Hearst offers, and Coker agrees. “I’m very excited about the diversity of the artists here. I can’t wait to see what they will do.” Momentum: Art Doesn’t Stand Still opens March 9 and 10, 8 pm to Midnight at the Farmers Public Market, 311 S. Klein in Oklahoma City. Momentum is sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, DNA Galleries, Patrick Kamann, Keep it Local OK, Café Nova, STAPLEGUN, Oklahoma Gazette, and Southwestern Stationery. For more information, visit www.MomentumOklahoma.org. n Jennifer Barron is an Oklahoma City based artist and arts administrator who believes firmly in the power of art to enhance lives, build communities and push us forward from our comfort zones.

Ask a Creativity Coach:

by Romney Nesbitt

Don’t Shoot Yourself In The Foot Dear Romney, I consider myself a creative person. I enjoy the unique way my mind processes information and my ability to create. Are there other benefits of creativity? Signed, Wondering

Dear Wondering, There are many physical, emotional and mental benefits of living a creative life. A physical benefit of creativity is the artist’s equivalent of an endorphin rush or “runner’s high.” You’ve probably experienced this when you were lost in the creative process and enjoyed a heightened sense of serenity, lost track of time or forgot to eat. A mind engaged in the creative process churns out healthy endorphins that lift mood and boost immune function. “The negative psychological effects of chronic stress block or disrupt normal function of the brain cells that send messages to the immune system…creative activities and their positive effect on mood and morale can lead to an increased production of protective immune cells.” (from The Creative Age: Awakening Human Potential in the Second Half of Life by Gene Cohen, M.D., Quill, Harper Collins, published 2000, pg. 61). Creative people are emotionally resilient and better able to cope with life’s challenges. This may be due to their ability to generate many ideas and creatively problem solve. Another benefit of living a creative life is the emotional release artmaking provides. When we are engaged in creating, our minds take a temporary “time out” from the stresses of life. That’s why after an afternoon of painting you feel

energized and renewed, while a day at the office may leave you exhausted. Creativity enriches and builds new relationships and friendships. When people regularly gather to discuss similar interests, make plans for a future event or share new ideas and techniques, healthy connections with others and our community are built contributing to life balance and better health. Looking into the future, living the creative life will not only enhance your physical, mental and emotional well-being, you’ll become a role model for your family. Living your life with energy, enthusiasm, wisdom, resilience and creativity will build a legacy of creativity in your family’s history. Creativity is a trait worth celebrating and passing on. n 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

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exposes 10 elementary school students to their first orchestra concert.

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provides an at-risk student with dance instruction for two semesters.

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offsets the bussing costs for a classroom to tour an art museum.

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Visit www.alliedartsokc.com or call 278-8944

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Thank you to our new and renewing members from November and December 2011 Nicole Adkisson Heather Ahtone Marilyn Artus Doug Bauer Joy Reed Belt, JRB Art At The Elms Dawnette Bennett Ellen Berney Maryna Bethea Doris J. Bewley Alva Brockus Stephanie Brudzinski Joseph Buchanan Chris and Brooke Cargill Stan Carroll Sarah Clough Chambers Lisa Chronister and Aaron Mooney Angela Church Christian Cloud Marland Coulter Linda, Ian and Rachel Coward Janey Carns Crain Bob Curtis Bobett Davidson 28

ovac news

Robert S Davis Jr Tracie Davis Elizabeth Downing Promise Edmonds Barbara Eikner and Don Thompson Tom and Jean Ann Fausser Sandra Fendrych Robert A. French Gus Friedrich and Erena Rae Irmgard Geul Diane Glenn Graceful Arts Gallery and Studios Helen Koons Gragert Almira Grammer Mary Lou Gresham Steven Gruenau Kirkland and Julia Hall Stephen Harker Aaron Hauck Bob and Janet Hawks James J. Huelsman Kathleen Huffman Amy Hundley

Sam Hyden Gwen Ingram Heidi James HR Kaiser Myra Block Kaiser KikaD Lauren Kubier Nicholas Kyle Judy Laine Klair Larason Mandy Love Jan Maddox Janice Mathews-Gordon Kenny McCage Marie Miller Diane and Ellen Moershel Wendy Mutz George Oswalt Lori Palmer Beth Parker Jeff Perriman Vanessa Pettit Nicolas Poynter Liz Roth Tom and Velma Sanders

Ann Saxton Justin Scott Rob Smith Lisa Sorrell Shawn M. Steele Robert J. Stuart III Andy and Sue Moss Sullivan Cheryl Swanson Lucinda Swanson Cindy Swanson Ashley Sword-Buster Alex Temblador Skip Thompson Teresa Thornhill Joyce Ulstrup Tom Wester Janie Wester Frank Wick and Liz Rodda Teresa J. Wilber Emily Williams Robin Wolf Joanne Woodward Dean and Kelly Wyatt Tom Young

OVAC NEWS

MARCH | APRIL 2012

Stuart Asprey, Norman, A-Rod (Alex Rodriguez), English Porcelain with colored slips, 3” x 3” x 1.25”. Asprey received an OVAC Professional Basics Grant to purchase display cases for this sculpture series.

We invite you to our public program April 14, 1-3 pm at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art in Norman as a part of the Oklahoma Art Writing and Curatorial Fellowship. The free public panel, Professors Unfolding Contemporary Art in Academia: Research & Writing, features Mentors Sherri Irvin, Nancy Marie Mithlo, and Sylvester Okwunodu Ogbechie and is moderated by Shannon Fitzgerald. The Oklahoma Art Writing & Curatorial Fellowship trains promising writers and curators by expanding their professional education and experience through this distinctive, yearlong program. See www.write-curate-art.org for more information. OVAC offers an opportunity for artists to have their artwork photographed on March 31 at Oklahoma City Community College. Photo sessions are from 9 am – Noon and reservations are required. For just $10 per artwork get professional quality digital images of your work. Call 405-879-2400 or email publications@ovac-ok.org for reservations by March 28.

Margaret Aycock, Tulsa, Longhorn (From Wichita Wildlife Refuge), Oil. Aycock received an OVAC Creative Projects Grant for the preparation of her exhibition at the Oklahoma State Capitol.

Upcoming Artist Survival Kit workshops focus on building a website and applying for grants. On March 31 at the Oklahoma City Community College, learn all about Building an Artist Website from Patrick Allmond, owner of Focus Consulting. On April 28 at Harwelden in Tulsa, artists Liz Roth and Debby Kaspari will share their experience and tips for Applying for Artist Grants. More information for all upcoming workshops can be found at www.ArtistSurvivalKit.org. Recent OVAC artist project grants for fall 2011 included the following artists. Creative Projects Grants were given to Margaret Aycock, Tulsa, for a new body of work about Oklahoma landscapes for a State Capitol exhibition, and Ben Pendleton, Oklahoma City, for his Outside the Four Corners exhibition preparation for Individual Artists of Oklahoma Gallery. Debbie Musick, Yukon, received an Education Grant to participate in the North Texas Collage Conference. Kim Rice, Norman, received Professional Basics Grant funds to help with framing for an exhibition. Liz Roth, Stillwater, employed her Professional Basics Grant to purchase a travel

easel for several new painting projects. Stuart Asprey, Norman, purchased display cases for his The Era sculpture series. The Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition grants offer capital to help artists start their public career, transform their work, or reach new markets.

Art People Heather Ahtone has been named Curator of Native American & Nonwestern Art at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art in Norman. Ahtone is a past Momentum guest curator and current Grants Committee Member for the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition. Congratulations, Heather!

ovac news

Gallery Listings & Exhibition Schedule

Ada John Cox Through March 16 57th Annual Faculty Show March 27- April 13 57th Annual Student Exhibit April 16- April 30 The Pogue Gallery Hallie Brown Ford Fine Arts Center 900 Centennial Plaza (580) 559-5353 ecok.edu

Ardmore Rob Vander Zee Through March 9 Annual All Schools Exhibit 2012 Middle and High School March 16- April 6 Reception March 16, 4:30-7 Elementary School April 17-27 Reception April 17, 4:30-7 The Goddard Center 401 First Avenue SW (580) 226-0909 goddardcenter.org

Lawton

Oklahoma City

El Reno

Barbara Scott, Donna Merkt and Jessie Pulling Reception March 10, 7-9 The Leslie Powell Foundation and Gallery 620 D Avenue (580) 357-9526 lpgallery.org

Bartlesville

Norman

Greta Magnusson Grossman: A Car and Some Shorts Through May 6 Price Tower Arts Center 510 Dewey Ave. (918) 336-4949 pricetower.org

180-4-89er Day Perspective March â&#x20AC;&#x201C; April Jacobson House 609 Chautauqua (405) 366-1667 jacobsonhouse.com

Chickasha Montmartre Chalk Art Festival April 5, 8 am University of Sciences and Arts of Oklahoma GalleryDavis Hall 1806 17th Street (405) 574-1344 usao.edu/gallery/

Edmond Farm Life: A Century of Change for Farm Families and Their Neighbors Through March 16

Gordon Parks Photography Competition Finalist Exhibition Through March 4 Stuart Asprey March 12- April 8 Redlands Community College Student Showcase and Show April 18- May 4 Redlands Community College (405) 262-2552 redlandscc.edu

Competitive Student Opening Reception Through March 9 Reception March 2 Young Talent in Oklahoma Exhibit March 12-30 Reception March 31 Foundations Exhibit April 4-18 Reception April 6 Annual Art Prom April 21 Capstone Exhibit April 30- May 11 Lightwell Gallery, University of Oklahoma 520 Parrington Oval (405) 325-2691 art.ou.edu

Edmond Historical Society & Museum 431 S. Boulevard (405) 340-0078 edmondhistory.org

gallery guide

A Century of Magic: the Animation of the Walt Disney Studios March 3- September 16 Oklahoma Clay Frankoma Pottery April 20- September 16 Highlights from the Permanent Collection of Photography Part 1 Through May 16 Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art 555 Elm Ave. (405) 325-4938 ou.edu/fjjma

Reconsidering the Family of Man Through May 2012 [ArtSpace] at Untitled 1 NE 3rd St. (405) 815-9995 artspaceatuntitled.org Miradas: Ancient Roots in Modern and Contemporary Mexican Art Through May 4 City Arts Center 3000 General Pershing Blvd. (405) 951-0000 cityartscenter.org JUURI March 9 Klair Larason April 13 Group Toy Show April 27 DNA Galleries 1705 B NW 16th (405) 371-2460 dnagalleries.com Cathy Breslaw and Shohail Shehada March 2-31 Reception March 2, 6-10 Rea Baldridge and Errol Beauchamp

April 6-29 Reception April 6, 6-10 JRB Art at the Elms 2810 North Walker (405) 528-6336 jrbartgallery.com Afro-Americana: Contemporary Black Artists in Oklahoma by Inclusion in Art Through April 21 Gaylord-Pickens Oklahoma Heritage Museum 1400 Classen Dr. (405) 235-4458 oklahomaheritage.com Money Talks, Art Walks March 10, 7-10 Oklahoma Friendly: OAG National Juried Show Reception March 16, 6-9 Biting the Apple April 13 and 14 7-11 Cypher Reception April 20 6-9 Individual Artists of Oklahoma 706 W Sheridan (405) 232-6060 iaogallery.org Lori Oden, Virginia Coleman, Asia Scudder and Bryan Boone Through April 30 Istvan Gallery at Urban Art 1218 N. Western Ave. (405) 831-2874 istvangallery.com Envisioning the West Through March 30 Will James: The AP Hays Collection Through October 14 Pueblo to Pueblo: The Legacy of Southwest Indian Pottery Through April 8 The Sun and His Wife Through May 13 National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum 1700 NE 63rd (405) 478-2250 nationalcowboymuseum.org

Carol Beesley Through April 22 Desmond Mason April 30- July 1 MJ Alexander Through April 15 Julia Ayres April 23- June 24 North Gallery Mike Donahue Through April 29 Governorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Gallery Oklahoma State Capitol Galleries 2300 N. Lincoln Blvd (405) 521-2931 arts.ok.gov Princely Treasures: European Masterpieces 1600-1800 Through May 13 New Frontiers: Julie Heffernan: Infinite Work in Progress Through May 13 Oklahoma City Museum of Art 415 Couch Drive (405) 236-3100 okcmoa.com

Ponca City Regional High School Student Art Exhibit Through March 4 Elementary and Middle School Exhibit March 11- April 8 Membership Show April 15- May 20 Ponca City Art Center 819 East Central (580) 765-9746 poncacityartcenter.com

Shawnee Pictorial Rugs of the Orient Through March 25 Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art 1900 West Macarthur (405) 878-5300 mgmoa.org

Stillwater Lubna Agha Through March 2

Studio Capstone March 5-16 Graphic Design Senior Portfolio Exhibition March 28- April 6 Annual Juried Student Exhibition April 11-30 Art History Senior Symposium April 21, 9-5 Gardiner Art Gallery Oklahoma State University 108 Bartlett University (405) 744-6016 okstate.edu

Tulsa Peace Medals: Symbols of Influence and Prestige in North America Through April 1 Woody at One Hundred: The Woody Guthrie Centennial Celebration 1912-2012 Through April 29 Gilcrease Museum 1400 Gilcrease Road (918) 596-2700 gilcrease.org

New Genre XIX Through March 3 Joe DalPra and Kate Rivers April 6-26 Living Artspace 307 E. Brady (918) 585-1234 livingarts.org

The Sinuous Line: Jacques Callot and the Rebirth of Printmaking in Early Modern France Through April 8 The Philbrook Museum of Art 2727 South Rockford Road (918) 749-7941 Philbrook.org

Out on a Whim: Robert L. Caldwell and Janice Sugg March 17- April 17 Reception March 17, 10-5 Lovetts Gallery 6528 E 51st St (918) 664-4732 lovettsgallery.com

In Transit: Photographs and video by Michael Cooper March 2-31 24 Works on Paper April 6-28 Tulsa Artists’ Coalition Gallery 9 East Brady (918) 592-0041 tacgallery.org

Tulsa PAC’s 35th Anniversary March 1-30 Cathy Deuschle and Louise Higgs April 5-29 Tulsa Performing Arts Center 110 E 2nd St (918) 596-2366 tulsapac.com

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.

Louise Higgs, Tulsa, The Mountain II, Oil on canvas, 20” x 16” at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center Gallery April 5-29.

GET INVOLVED

MEMBER FORM

NOTICE: OVAC Membership rates will increase on April 1, 2012.

¨ Sustaining

Sustaining $250 -Listing on signage at events -Invitation to private reception with visiting curators -All of below Patron $100 -Acknowledgement in the Resource Guide and Art Focus Oklahoma -Copy of each OVAC exhibition catalog -All of below Family $55 -Same benefits as Individual for two people in household Individual $35 -Subscription to Art Focus Oklahoma -Inclusion in online Virtual Gallery -Monthly e-newsletter of visual art events statewide -Monthly e-newsletter of opportunities for artists -Receive all mailed OVAC call for entries and invitations -Artist entry fees waived for OVAC sponsored exhibitions -Listing in Annual Resource Guide and Member Directory -Copy of Annual Resource Guide and Member Directory -Access to “Members Only” area on OVAC website -Up to 50% discount on Artist Survival Kit workshops -Invitation to Annual Meeting Student $20 -Valid student ID required. Same benefits as Individual level.

Name

¨ Patron

¨ Family

¨ Individual

¨ Student

Street Address City, State, Zip Email Website Credit card (MC or Visa Only) Credit card #

Exp. Date

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?

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

ArtOFocus k l a h o m a Annual Subscriptions to Art Focus Oklahoma are free with OVAC membership. Upcoming Events Mar 1-Apr 1: Tulsa Art Studio Tour Preview Exhibit

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

Mar 9-10: Momentum: Art Doesn’t Stand Still Mar 31:

Get Your Artwork Photographed

Mar 31:

ASK Workshop - Building an Artist Website

Apr 14:

Professors Unfolding Contemporary Art

Apr 15:

OVAC Grants for Artists Deadline

Apr 21-22: Tulsa Art Studio Tour Apr 28:

ASK Workshop - Applying for Artist Grants

March Cathy Breslaw Sohail Shehada Opening Reception: FRIDAY, MARCH 2 6 - 10 P.M.

April Rea Baldridge Errol Beauchamp Opening Reception: FRIDAY, APRIL 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