A New Home for Contemporary Arts

Last night, I got to help make history.

Living Arts announced that it will open in its new space, Living Arts Contemporary Space, at 307 E. Brady, on August 15. George Kaiser Family Foundation owns the building and is leasing the first floor to Living Arts for what I’m guessing is a nominal fee.

The second floor will house 13 apartments, occupied by recent college grads who will be infiltrating Tulsa Public Schools’ most underserved schools as members of the service corps Teach for America. Since the teachers have to be in place in the fall, the whole building is set to open Aug. 15. Architecture firm Kinslow, Keith and Todd will handle the design and build of the outside walls, as well as those that connect the two floors, and the stairway, elevator and lobby.

The remaining portion of Living Arts will be built as funds are available by architects and builders of the organization’s choosing, which is why, last night, a group of architects, artists and designers gathered at the space to flesh out ideas.

The building, with 12,000 square feet of usable space (twice what LA is working with now) will be totally dedicated to contemporary arts. There will be two galleries, one for visual arts and one for performance arts, as well as three education spaces, a lounge, bar and kitchen and office space.

As we toured the facility and began thinking about how we wanted to design and build walls, windows, entrances, signage, lights, sound, etc., etc., we were encouraged to think creatively about solutions, and to think of every solution as a temporary one, so that LA can continue to grow, change and develop.

We were divided into committees, each one (hopefully) comprised of a blend of professionals: architects, designers, artists and “other” (me, for example).

I joined Linda Clark, LA’s new administrative director, on the bathroom committee, along with Chris Ganong. Because I’m not an artist or designer, and because I have virtually no technical skill – but I want to be a part of designing the new space – I chose a small project, where virtually all of the technical work (plumbing, etc.) will be handled by KKT, and I can think about paint, art… you know, the fun stuff.

But, Linda and I really need the help of artists! We want to tear out the existing stalls and have artists design new ones out of material of their choosing – the more unlikely, the better. In my mind, I’d love for it to be some kind of found or reclaimed material, but I’ll by no means limit an artist to that. We will probably limit them in budget, though, but I don’t know yet what that will be. I’m guessing it will be small, though, so we need artists who will either donate their talent or be willing to work with us on a fee.

We’re also thinking about incorporating sculptures and other art into the bathrooms, but we need artists’ help! I know it sounds like an unusual project, and it is, but it’s also an exciting one, and I hope that some local, and even student, artists will want to participate. We’re meeting at Living Arts (current address: 308 S. Kenosha) at 5:30 on Tuesday, May 19. I encourage anyone who wants to participate to please, please come! I’ll have photos of the bathroom so you can get an idea of what we’re working with, and maybe we can even take a field trip to the site.

And stay tuned for more updates on Living Arts’ progress. After an itinerant 40 years, in which the gallery had 10 different homes, it’ll finally have a permanent residency. It’s an exciting time for art and downtown Tulsa, and I encourage you to be a part of it.