Dreamland

Does anyone want to give me A LOT of start-up capital so I can publish a monthly arts magazine? Not to compete with any other print medium out there, but because I think I can fill a glossy, full-color magazine with news about arts every month and not think twice about it. That notion was reiterated to me last month as I interviewed and wrote about 15 movers and shakers in the local arts community. While I could have written an entire story on each of these individuals, space constraints forced me to keep my profiles limited to 500 words max.

One of my subjects, Lee Roy Chapman, who coordinated last winter's Public Secrets exhibition with Live4This and Black Mesa Studio, has some interesting ideas about preserving the work and influence of local artists who've left Tulsa to find fortune and fame but who are largely still ignored in their hometown.

Joe Andoe is one such artist.

I've wanted to profile Andoe for UTW for some time now, but I'm continually sidetracked by my efforts to cover artists still living and working in Tulsa.

I read Andoe's autobiography Jubilee City and have since marveled at the artist’s life and work and how his life has influenced his work. The book, although it appears to be a tell-all, comes off as guarded, like Andoe really isn’t revealing all he knows, like he’s keep his audience an arm’s length away. Even so, the writing itself is unapologetically candid, straightforward. The book isn’t just about Andoe’s work as an artist; it’s about his life, the early years in Tulsa, the drugs and violence, the inappropriate marriage, his move to New York, his children, the divorce and, finally, success.

Andoe doesn’t actually discuss his art as often as I expected he would, but that fact just made the pages that were explicitly about his art all the more intriguing. I love these lines, the description of his first foray into the art world, when he discovered he could draw:

“I felt it was something of a trick I could do, like wiggling my ears. I was always surprised when someone enjoyed it. It meant nothing to me, really, but the other side of the coin was that it meant everything. This is very personal inasmuch as I didn’t even realize it until recently, because it was too close to see.”

Chapman’s point, with Public Secrets and in our discussion a couple of weeks ago, is that some of the city’s most successful artists – Andoe, Gaylord Herron, Larry Clark – have gone all but ignored in Tulsa. Why? Because they left town? Found success elsewhere? Still, Tulsa is as much a part of who they are as it was when they lived here. And this fact is evident in their work.

A couple of prints of Andoe’s work are available at Dwelling Spaces, as is his memoir, and the BOK Center, when it opened in downtown Tulsa, commissioned a work from the artist.

However, the way in which the city acquired that work is, to say the very least, disappointing. Here is, borrowed from his Myspace page, Andoe’s artist’s statement regarding “In Sight of Dreamland” and how the work, midway through completion, changed in scope and nature.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Ignorance and sleep
Category: Life

In Sight of Dreamland
>Artist Statement by Joe Andoe
First off I want to say a painting is just a painting –it's just paint on canvas way before it's a picture of something or about any ideal. And a painting should be anything the viewer wants it to be no matter what anyone says even the artist…but then again an artist needs to entertain themselves.
Soooooo just for your information, this is what I first pictured for the 9 foot by 24 foot painting for my home towns new arena- I pictured the ending of a black and white western and as the last credit rolled down over two horses rearing up as if to challenge one another for yet more excitement, leaving my 5 year old imagination reeling as I sat in the back seat of my parents '57 Chevy- probably around 1960 at some Drive Inn called "The Riverside" or "Apache" or "The Admiral Twin", on a hot August evening as it could have actually happened because that is what my parents who were in there early twenty's could afford and what we enjoyed.
This was the plan until the contract to do this picture was voided by somebody writing checks for the city of Tulsa. A year goes by and I never got paid. I was supposed to get paid in four parts because it was expensive to make. I was told over and over "checks in the mail". And I was asked each time to send yet another invoice because "the last one must have been "lost" again. The official delivery date came and went because I held out delivering until payment. So I was paid half and I was told I would get the rest the day I hung the painting in the arena and was told I needed to send yet more invoices for that final payment. So I gathered twenty or so friends from Tulsa and flew in an expert on projects like this because it was a big job and it took everyone's help to get this massive thing stretched and hoisted ten feet off the floor and hung straight. With all my friends help and two installers from Gilcrease it was hung and even the cleaning ladies at the arena liked it. But you can guess no one showed up with a check. I actually thought now they had the painting I would never be paid. So to back up –because of nonpayment over the course of the year I have to get a loan to cover the expense to make the picture and deliver it and for me to live. So any "feel good" feelings were lost way before I walked away from my picture hung nicely in the arena, empty handed.
But something good did come out of all this even months before that. There is the word or symbol in the Chinese language for crises that happens to be the same symbol for opportunity. With the city of Tulsa voiding the contract by nonpayment, the painting became free of restriction of content. In other words- it wasn't going to be this "feel good" project anymore. It was going to be better. I can't fake a feeling that's left me and as the saying goes: You never stand in the same river twice. I and I had a year to look at the painting and to think about it and watch the river flow.
The composition stayed the same but my thinking changed as I thought about the location of the arena - on the "north side" of Tulsa and how my painting was going to be located on the north side of this "north side" building.
Also, I thought about how I'd always loved Tulsa's "north side" because I think the landscape is prettier than the "south side" and how both sides of my family came from the north side and I lived there till I was ten and both set of grand parents lived their lives there.
I thought about how cool and bold it was for Tulsa to build their new Cesar Pelli arena in a place that Tulsa has be trying to run from for years and years.
Why run?
Because of the African American community lived on the "north side."
Then I remembered my grandfather telling me how he came out after a movie at the Raito Theater one afternoon in 1921 when he was 11 and saw dump trucks rolling past piled high with the bodies of dead black people and he said there were arms and legs hanging over the edges as the trucks headed toward the Arkansas River.
Now I have lived away from Tulsa for a quarter of a century and in that time I have learned that if Tulsa is known for anyone thing more than anything else around the world- it would be the race riot of 1921.
It is the largest such attack in US history, an attack on a prosperous African American community where white men burned down blocks and blocks of what was called "Black Wall Street." No one really knows who started it or how many people died. But the whole place was torched; Burned to the ground- homes, businesses, people and animals.
Even in the 60s you could see what it must have been like, here and there with the little parts that didn't burn; and how it was still a community like many inner cities, where you see row houses, bars and churches all in close proximity. Sure in could have been called a ghetto but at the same time life was being lived there; and where there's life, there's culture.
Now that's all lost too. It's just grass, trees and empty streets where it once stood. Greenwood and Archer never recovered. There is not even a grocery store on the "north side." And it happened for no reason except that they were black.
I grew up from the age of ten way out east- near 21st and Garnett. Early on I saw how some from more prosperous addresses turned their noses up at us. We weren't black and weren't really that poor, but we might as well have been.
As time passed- I moved to New York and have I had shown in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York galleries and collections from around the world- ten years before any Tulsa Museum would touch me. Philbrook wouldn't even accept a horse portrait as a gift once. (FREE)
I still wasn't bitter until the people in charge of paying me for my arena painting dismissed me for a year and mockingly told me to send even more invoices and how money would be there if I only would deliver it.
This opportunity made it real and an opportunity turn a "feel good" painting about a place once called the "Oil Capital of the World" in to something much more important, relevant and worldly- and that is in 1921 you could have seen Black Wall Street burn from where my painting now hangs.
How could I ignore that?
In the end, I did tie it back to the movies when I finally got to talk to the fellow who wrote the checks (or didn't write the checks and told me to send more invoices) when I told him over the phone and for the record, the painting was titled DREAMLAND. Of course I didn't tell this guy who had no remorse or respect what that meant- I wanted to get paid first.
The Williams Dreamland Theater was a movie theater near Archer and Greenwood that was burned to the ground that day in 1921.
They may have shown Westerns, I don't know- but without a doubt horses burned in their stalls in sight of it and the arena.

Sapulpa gets creative

I just got word from Sheri Ishmael-Waldrop of a new art gallery in Sapulpa at 16 S. Water St. Water Street Art Gallery will host a soft opening March 31 and a grand opening April 24.

Ishmael-Waldrop provided the information below.

Water Street Art Gallery, where fine art meets Route 66.
Located just steps from Historic Route 66, in the revitalized downtown district of Sapulpa, Water Street Art Gallery is the place to find original works of art to enhance your collection or to remember a treasured moment in time as you travel the historic roadway.
Just south of the "Mother Road" at 16 S. Water St., the state’s newest gallery brings together a group of “self-expressing" fine artists, specializing in such diverse media as acrylic, ceramics, jewelry, oil, pastels and photography.

Gail Booth, initially a watercolorist, unexpectedly discovered her love of oils, light, color and the impressionist perspective in mid-life. Currently her work in oils spans both impressionism and expressionism.

Kathleen Curran is a portrait and commercial photographer, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in fashion illustration from the University of Oklahoma. She specializes in senior and family portraits, as well as, fine art, black and white landscapes, still-lifes and stylized portraits involving dramatic use of light

Betty Dalsing paints the local landscape as well as painting, sketching, and photographing during her extensive travels. Many of her paintings are done en plein air and offer an impressionistic rendering with strong value contrasts.

Ruth Harris considers herself an impressionistic landscape painter although she also enjoys painting skyscapes, street scenes and still lifes. She was born and raised in the Oklahoma farm belt and has been close to nature her entire life.

Sheri Ishmael-Waldrop’s photographic career has evolved from portrait photographer to journalist and now to fine art photographer. Her photojournalistic style can be seen in her sports photography and portraiture, but her love of nature’s simple lines and aesthetic balance shows in her landscapes and floral pieces.

Julie Miller is a professional artist and respected instructor who works in traditional elements with a contemporary approach. Her abstracted representational style subjects are varied and described in both subtle and vivid painterly strokes.

Carol Mulcare's motivation to create expressive, realistic and beautiful paintings began in 1965 when she joined a charcoal class with Jay O'Meilia, a well-known Tulsa artist. She went on to study oil painting techniques over a 20 year period with Dalhart Windberg, a Texas artist know for his romantic realism.

Silk Degrees founders Jan Thomas and Nancy Cowden began their partnership designing handmade fused dichronic glass jewelry after taking a class in the medium "just for fun." Together, they have added handcrafted sterling silver settings and beads to many of their pieces to add an extra element of beauty.

An Oklahoman by birth, Celeste Vaught is a passionate "explorer," and her curiosity resonates in her art. Acrylics, while challenging, allow a versatility of techniques accommodating her painterly, colorful style. This nationally and internationally known artist paints a wide variety of subjects from macro florals to cityscapes, she especially enjoys painting still lifes as they give her the opportunity to paint from life.

The location allows space for a structured gallery setting, as well as a creative space for teaching art classes. There will be gatherings for artistic endeavors that include book signings, music demonstrations and other special events. Situated on Route 66 and adjacent to the gallery is a small park area perfect for relaxing and "open air" painting. The combination provides an exceptional site for visual and performance arts.
Water Street Art Gallery will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and during downtown Sapulpa events. Artists are invited to bring their sketch pads and pieces in progress to the gallery for Thursday evening’s Open Classroom night, for an open exchange of ideas.

For more information visit the gallery at www.waterstreetartgallery.com, or contact us at 918-227-2009 or at contactus@waterstreetartgallery.com.

Waterstreet's June event is a "Six by Six" art show. Here' the scoop: Beginning April 1, artists may pick up a free 6x6" canvas for Waterstreet's Six by Six show. The show runs June 4-20 with an opening June 4 from 6-9pm. Finished work must be dropped off at the gallery by May 27. The price for each piece of art will be $66, with half of the proceeds going to the artist, one-fourth going to the gallery for overhead and one-fourth going to a charity.

Tonight

Hit the kickoff for OVAC's Art Studio Tour at Framemaker Gallery first (see below for details), then visit Loose Leaf Co. for a look at new work by Ruth Ann Borum.

There are about a million and a half things going on next week, and I'll start posting about them very soon.

See ya'll tonight!

'Up the Down' On the Cheap

Theatre Tulsa announces the admission price to tonight's IDR for "Up The Down Staircase" comes at the low, low price of canned food for the local food bank. Just come on down to the Liddy Doenges Theatre of the Tulsa Performing Arts Center. 110 E. 2nd St., and bring some canned food items for admission to the IDR on a first come, first served basis.

This program is part of Theatre Tulsa’s continuing mission statement to make live theatre accessible to everyone in the city of Tulsa.

Theatre Tulsa presents "Up the Down Staircase" with Clark Theatre in a first-time collaboration. Performance dates are March 27-28, April 2-4 at 8pm and March 29 2pm.

The show is directed by Frank Gallagher and Julie Tattershall. The set is by Erin Scarrberry and Joel Cheatham. The lights are by Anthony Batchelder, the stage manager is Cathy Blackmore, and the producer is Anthony Batchelder.

The cast includes Phil Blackmore, Deborah Bosworth Campbell, Ron Friedberg, Beth Anne Herrmann, Deborah Hunter, Miriam Mills, George Romero, W. Bryan Thompson, and Sherry Zyskowski

It also features Tim Bowman, Erin Bridwell, Chazz Browne, Ethan Cantrell, Grace Cuellar, Jon Dicandeloro, Scorpio Flynn, Tanner Friend, Jose Gonzalez, Michaela' Hanneyer, Shannon Harris, Madeline Lackey, Erika Loney, Ryan Mannschreck, Julia Mills, Hannah Moore, Simone Summers, Marjorie Tanner, Nicholas Thomas, and Tiffany Wright.

Best remembered as the 1967 movie with Sandy Dennis, "Up the Down Staircase" tells the touching and humorous story of a new teacher in an inner-city high school. Confronted with situations her Ivy League education never prepared her for, Sylvia Barrett struggles to find ways to reach kids who don't care. Or do they?

The directors’ vision is to update the play to have more of an impact in today’s modern times. The original was almost a “Laugh-In” version of stock characters coming in and out of the classroom. The students in the play were played more for comedy. It was easy to fit the play into today’s classrooms and the problems young teachers still grapple with. Just as in 1967, schools are over run by the educational bureaucracy and mountains of monotonous paper work that interfere with the students’ actual learning process. Sylvia must learn to accept the kids as they are and motivate them by example. Trust runs both ways and a classroom where real ideas are exchanged is built by mutual trust and not practical rules. All the problems of the 1967 movie of teen suicide and bullying still exist and we need caring teachers to create a different model in which students are seen as individuals and not stamped out by cookie cutters.

For more information on Clark theatre visit www.clarktheatre.com or Theatre Tulsa visit www.theatretulsa.org.

OVAC Art Studio Tour coming!

(OK, so I realize that lately I've been blatantly plagiarizing every artist and organization in Tulsa to get content for this blog, but it's all I've had time for. Original writing coming soon, I promise.)

Tulsa Art Studio Tour

The Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition’s upcoming Tulsa Art Studio Tour will open the studio doors of 11 Tulsa artists in 9 studios. Visitors can get a glimpse into the creative process and see art in action April 4-5 from noon until 5 p.m each day.

For art lovers, such access to the inner workings of artists is a rare opportunity to see the other side of the canvas. Visitors will have the chance to talk with artists, view and buy artwork, and see art being made. The tour is self-guided and presented by the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition.

The artists range from photographers and painters to ceramicists and metalsmiths, representing a variety of stages in their art careers. Tour artists include:
• Kevin Byrne, ceramics
• Lynn Clark, painting
• Glenn Herbert Davis, photography and installation
• Chris Owens, painting and mixed media
• Mary Russell, painting
• Cindy Swanson, mosaics
• Kristal Tomshany, painting and mixed media
• Steadman and Peggy Upham, painting and metalsmith
• David Varmecky, photography
• Craig Wood, ceramics

A kick-off celebration and exhibit will be held at the Frame Maker Art Gallery at 6201 E 61st St, on Friday, March 27 from 5-8 p.m. This event is free and open to the public, and guests will have a chance to see examples of artwork from artists on the tour, meet the artists, and purchase tour tickets. This exhibit runs from March 17 – April 11.

Tickets to the tour include a map and are $5 in advance and $10 at the door. Tickets will be available online here, or by phone at (405) 232-6991, or at any of the Tour studios the days of the Tour.

Call to artists: Nude V deadline fast approaches

Nude:5 artist entry and requirements:

1. All artists must be 21+ to enter or submit to Nude.

2. Artist(s) can submit up to 3 pieces for $20. Participating artists will get into the show for free.

3. All work must be new, done in the past year, and must be erotic/provacative/sensual in nature.

4. Painting, Photography, Sculpture, and performance will be accepted.

5. This is a juried art show with cash prizes.

6. All 2d work must be matted/framed and ready to hang. Hanging hardware must be present, we will NOT do this for you.

7. Name, title, medium, price should all be labeled on the back upper right hand side of image. Sculptures should have this on the underside of the piece.

8. Please do not attach business cards, bios, or resumes to your artwork as these will not be displayed with the piece.

9. The deadline for all entries is Sat. March 21st. 12midnight.

10. CoughSyrupGreen will retain a 30% commission on all sold works.

11. The drop off for all work submitted is Sunday, March 22 12pm-2pm at Capellas, 1st and Detroit downtown Tulsa.

Art work can be picked up Sun. March 29th from 12pm-1pm at at Capellas, 1st and Detroit downtown Tulsa.

12. CoughSyrupGreen, Nude, or any of its affiliates will not be responsible for lost, stolen, or damaged artwork. We take great care with the handling/placement/and displaying of all work submitted.

More at www.nudeartshow.com.

Call to artists: Mixtape Art Show

Mixtape Art Show Official Call For Entries
MixTape, with DJs Lynn K and Robbo, is teaming with the Personality of Cult art exhibitions to organize an art show featuring works by Tulsa area artists that pay homage to their favorite songs.

The show is slated to open July 18, 2009 at the Blank Slate, 1st and Detroit, in downtown Tulsa with an opening reception/dance party featuring the songs that inspired the art works.

ELIGIBILITY
Open to the public. No finished work is required at the time of entry form being turned in. However, for planning purposes, we would like to see a prep sketch of your piece in advance of completion of your art work.

REQUIREMENTS
Work must be inspired any song, preferably one that, in the words of the immortal Dick Clark, has a good beat and you can dance to it, as the song you choose will be featured in the dance party included with the opening gala.

The theme of your work must be to demonstrate what this song means to you personally. Draw from your own memories of this song, interpret the lyrics in your own style, and create art that conveys a unique perspective.

All artwork must be suitable to hang on the wall, preferably wired on the back.

We wish to have as much variety as we can, and to that end, you will be given a choice of two songs to base your artwork on. On the form below, please indicate a primary and secondary choice. The secondary choice is in the case of another artist having already chosen your primary choice. In such an event, we will consult with both artists to reach an agreement as to who lays claim to the subject.

SIZE OF ARTWORK
In keeping with the music theme, all pieces MUST be 12 inches by 12 inches, the standard size of a traditional vinyl album cover. This size must include any framing and matting.

DEADLINE FOR ENTRY FORMS
Entry form must be received by April 18, 2009. If your entry form has not been responded to by at least two days of delivery, please re-submit or call the contact number listed at the bottom. All forthcoming information regarding the opening of the show, will be shared with all entrants as they are available.

ENTRY FEE
Entry fee for the MixTape Art Show will be $15.00. This fee is due by the entry deadline of April 18 without exception. This fee is non-refundable.

IMPORTANT DATES
APRIL 18, 2009 - Last day for entry forms and entry fees.

MAY 31, 2009 - Must submit prep sketch of your piece by this date.

JULY 4, 2009 - Piece must be completed, or in absolute final stages, and if finished a digital photograph submitted for promotional purposes.

JULY 15, 2009 - Finished pieces due to be turned in. Any pieces not turned in by the end of the night without prior arrangements being made cannot be guaranteed to be included in the show.

JULY 18, 2009 - Noon: Hanging of show to begin. 8:00 pm: Opening gala begins. 10:00 pm - 2:00 am: Dance Party

ENTRY FORM
ARTIST INFORMATION
This information is for MixTape Art Show organizers' use only, and personal information will not be shared with any other entity.

NAME: ______________________________

NAME AS YOU'D LIKE IT TO APPEAR IN PROGRAM AND PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS: ______________________________

DAYTIME PHONE: ______________________________

NIGHTTIME PHONE: ______________________________

EMAIL: ______________________________

ADDRESS (OPTIONAL): ______________________________

MYSPACE URL: ______________________________

FACEBOOK URL: ______________________________

WEBSITE URL: ______________________________

BEST TIME TO REACH YOU: ______________________________

BEST METHOD OF REACHING YOU: ______________________________


ENTRY INFO
PRIMARY CHOICE OF SONG: ______________________________

SECONDARY CHOICE OF SONG: ______________________________

CHOICE OF MEDIA: ______________________________


CONTACT INFO
Dan Fritschie, Organizer
personalityofcult@yahoo.com
918-519-6593

Home and the American Dream Mythology

When I first sat down with Steve Liggett a couple of weeks ago to talk about New Genre, he told me that Living Arts had recently received a grant from the National Performance Network to develop new performance art pieces in Tulsa and that the gallery would be using the grant to offer a free, week-long performance art workshop to anyone who wished to participate the week following New Genre.

Jose Torres Tama, who performed "The Cone of Uncertainty" at the New Genre Festival, has led the week-long workshops, which will culminate in a final performance tonight at 8pm. Tama's performance piece deals with New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, the government's response to the disaster and the very broad ideas of home and the American dream. Those are the themes that the eight or so individuals participating in the residency will explore in their ensemble piece, "Home and the American Dream Mythology," tonight at the Nightingale Theater, 1416 E. Fourth St.

The ultimate goal of the residency is to inspire more performance art works by people in the Tulsa community. Through his workshops, Tama is arming artists with an arsenal of techniques and strategies for performance art, which include movement and the creative use of the human body, film and video, politically charged objects as props and improvisation.

I had the opportunity to sit it on one of the workshops, where I observed a couple of the elements of tonight's show. I was moved by each individual's interpretation of "home" and how they each articulate their thoughts and feelings on home through original text and simple movement. Using a flag of the original 13 colonies, each participant told a story of home, his relationship with his home and where he is now in proximity to it. The stories were improvised, but within a set of defined boundaries. Rather than making something up on the spot (the sort of improv local audiences are likely most familiar with), the artists told their stories -- stories they know well and have told before -- as they felt them at that moment. The result was a very raw, very personal, very moving exchange between the artists on stage. And it was by watching this exchange that I really understood the goal of the residency -- to prove that anyone who has a story to tell can write and perform a piece of art. Many of the workshops' participants have no performance art experience, but you'd never know that by the way they express themselves while on stage.

Tama talked to me before the workshop began about what performance art is, and he described it as the offspring of both visual art and theatre, but one that neither of the two wants to claim. And the goal of this project, and of similar workshops Tama will conduct in Alaska and London this season, is to give something back to the community by way of performance art. Liggett said Living Arts plans to have more residencies like this every year. He said one will always be associated with New Genre but he'd also like to conduct one or two others each year.

If you're curious at all about performance art, about what it is, what it looks like, how it's done, I encourage you to attend tonight's performance. I hope it inspires others to consider what they have to offer local audiences and what stories they have to tell so that the next workshop is twice or three times as large, with multiple performances. Tickets to tonight's show are $10, $7 for students. To read more about the residency, check out Tama's blog at elbigeasyamigoblogger.blogspot.com.

Get your pencils ready

After making guest appearances at branches in Kansas City and Oklahoma City, the ladies of Eye Candy Burlesque will bring Dr. Sketchy's Anti Art School to Tulsa this spring.

The concept is to make drawing the human form fun and sexy by using burlesque dancers as models. The idea originated in Brooklyn in 2005 and, since then, branches have popped up all over the country in art galleries, theaters and clubs, combining live drawing with risque humor, and performance. There's drinking, laughter, games and prizes for the "best" drawings. For those who don't draw, it's an opportunity to hang out with some sexy women and have a good time. For those to do draw, it's a "cure... for every boring art class you've ever been to." (The Sunday Age, Melborne)

The tentative date and location are May 17 at the First Street Music Hall (emphasis on tentative). I'll be sure to let you know when plans are finalized. Until then, be sure to pencil this in on your calendar.

(Photo by Gavin Elliott.)

Add to your Friday list

Beginning at about 7pm, Avery Hanson, local high school student and little sis to Taylor, Ike and Zach, will hold an opening reception for an exhibit of new works on display at Ida Red Boutique, 3346 S. Peoria Ave. I'm interested to this young girl's work ad how the creative talent is distributed in the Hanson family. See you guys there!

Because I never have been very good at keeping secrets...

So, I was on the phone with Karen Greenawalt, talking about May's Blue Dome Arts Festival, when she let slip that the Arts and Humanities Council of Tulsa's Visual Arts Center, which anticipates completion in 2010, will, starting this Friday, be an active part of the Brady Arts District's First Friday Art Crawl.

The Visual Arts Center will, along with Philbrook's part of the Eugene B. Adkins Collection, inhabit the Mathews Warehouse, at 100 E. Brady, in the Brady Arts District. That combined with the number of galleries already occupying that area, means that the district will soon be a hub of arts activity in Tulsa. And, gallery owners there are already positioning themselves as such. Greg Gray, Tulsa doctor and owner of Club 209 at 209 N. Boulder started the First Friday Art Crawl a few months ago as a way to get people out and about, seeing and appreciating local art. Participating galleries timed their openings to coincide with one another so that wanderers can easily get an eyeful in one night.

This Friday's event marks the first Visual Arts Center "Baywalk," wherein the VAC will open up the north bay doors and allow artists to set up shop inside, spilling out onto the sidewalk as needed. The event is loosely coordinated by Greenawalt, who volunteered for the job, and allows local artists to bring their work and sort of "show and tell" -- and, of course, SELL -- at their leisure. Reservations are not required, but you can contact Greenawalt at 749-3311 for more information.

Below is a schedule of this Friday's activities and a copy of the VAC's call to artists. Please pass this around and share with the artists and art lovers you know!

5pm-Dark
VAC Baywalk
Mathews Building north bay and sidewalk
Various artists

6-9pm
Brady Arts Gallery
Artist Donna Prigmore
Pottery-making demonstrations

Tulsa Glassblowing Studio
19 E. Brady
Artists Elana Newman, Carson Smith and Lisa Fox
Glass blowing demonstrations

CFC Chocolatier
15 E. Brady
The Art of Chocolate: Patrick Aldred
Chocolate-making demonstrations

Tulsa Artists' Coalition Gallery
9 E. Brady
Conformity: Textile art by Kate Kline

Lola's at The Bowery
5 E. Brady
Off Route 66: Digital art by Michael Scruggs

7-11pm
Club 209: The Arts Bar
209 N. Boulder Ave.
Paradox: Multimedia by Joel Moore and Ken Balch


CALLING ALL ARTISTS!
We’re starting a new tradition!

Bring easels, table, chairs, wine, food, candles…whatever it takes to set up your art to show and t/sell at the first ever Visual Arts Center Baywalk.

This is an awareness raiser at the future home of the Arts & humanities Council of Tulsa’s Visual Arts Center. It’s also a chance to show and sell your artwork as part of the Brady Arts District’s First Friday Art Crawl…and just generally have a good time!

Cost is FREE! A voluntary 20 percent of sales as a donation to build the Visual Arts Center is appreciated.

INSIDE SPACE IS LIMITED…but we’ll flow onto the sidewalks. Early arrivers will get premium locations. Set-up begins at 4pm. No need to RSVP, but please call or email Karen at 749-3311 or greenawalt1@sbcglobal.net with questions. Each artists may plan on about 8’x8’.

Self set-up, self clean-up. It’s our first time…let’s keep it simple…and fun!