Now Offering Appraisal Services!

I am thrilled to have completed the Appraiser’s Association' of America’s Comprehensive Appraisal Studies Program in July 2020. I am now considered an IRS-qualified appraiser and am able to offer fine art appraisal services to the Oklahoma City metropolitan area and surrounding regions. I am USPAP-compliant through July 2022. Please contact me with questions!

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Selected for Leadership Arts Class of 2020!

I am honored to have been selected as one of 35 members of the Leadership Arts Class of 2020. Leadership Arts is a program administered by the Oklahoma Arts Council. Please read the official News Release below.

NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Oklahoma Arts Council announces 2020 Leadership Arts class

OKLAHOMA CITY (February 19, 2020) – The Oklahoma Arts Council has announced the names of 34 Oklahomans selected to participate in the 2020 Leadership Arts program. The list includes individuals from 18 Oklahoma communities statewide who will convene at four two-day spring sessions to learn how the arts can positively impact education, economic development, and quality of life in Oklahoma.

Members of the 2020 class will join more than 300 individuals from over 80 communities statewide who have participated in the program since 2008. Holdenville will be represented in Leadership Arts for the first time.

“We are very pleased at the makeup of the 2020 class, and we couldn't be more excited to see how class members will lead their communities in imagining great things through the arts," Oklahoma Arts Council Executive Director Amber Sharples said. "Leadership Arts is returning following a hiatus that resulted from compounding state budget cuts. During the break we took the opportunity to revisit the program and the content to ensure it is poised to continue meeting important needs in our state. The 2020 class reflects efforts to ensure Oklahomans representing a broad range of communities and backgrounds are equipped through Leadership Arts.”

The Oklahoma Arts Council places a high priority on geographic, cultural, and professional diversity in class representation. Listed by community, members of the 2020 class of Leadership Arts include:

Matthew D. Davids, NBC Bank (Altus)
Angelica Brady, City of Alva (Alva)
Cheryl Key, Key Holdings, Inc. (Ardmore)
Rob Houston, Visit Enid (Enid)
Laura Calvery, Holdenville Society of Painters and Sculptors (Holdenville)
Becky Lucht, Muskogee Art Guild (Hulbert)
Faith Phillips, ReadBooksBy.faith (Locust Grove)
Jason Wilson, Hartshorne Public Schools (McAlester)
Marcia Johnson, City of Miami (Miami)
Ryan Orcutt, City of Miami/Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College (Miami)
Mary Hoopes, Muskogee Art Guild (Muskogee)
Justin O’Neal, Greater Muskogee Area Chamber of Commerce & Tourism (Muskogee)
Tonnie Dosser, Oklahomans for the Arts (Norman)
John Roberts, Cleveland County (Norman)
Amanda Bleakley, Paseo Arts Association (Oklahoma City)
Alyx Picard Davis, deadCENTER Film (Oklahoma City)
Lauren Florence, Lauren Florence Art (Oklahoma City)
Lindsey Flowers, VIKASA Capital (Oklahoma City)
Am’re Ford, Arts in Action, Inc. (Oklahoma City)
Rachael Leonhart, Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma (Oklahoma City)
Laura Massenat, Factory Obscura (Oklahoma City)
Thuan Nguyen, Asian District Cultural Association (Oklahoma City)
Helen Opper, Oklahoma City Community College/The Art Hall (Oklahoma City)
Thomas Tran, Oklahoma Arts Council (Oklahoma City)
Kathleen Watkins, Spiritually Bold Inc. (Oklahoma City)
Ed Bolt, City of Shawnee (Shawnee)
Pouya Jahanshahi, Oklahoma State University (Stillwater)
Jennifer Johnson, Prairie Arts Center (Stillwater)
Destiny Rosato, City of Blackwell (Tonkawa/Blackwell)
Michelle Brown, Greenwood Cultural Center (Tulsa)
Lincoln Cochran, Tulsa Public Schools (Tulsa)
Kaley Jobe, Beck Design (Tulsa)
Aleks Kitchens, ahha Tulsa (Tulsa)
Larry Hill, Larry K. Hill Studios (Woodward)

About Leadership Arts
The Leadership Arts program equips Oklahomans with strategies for using arts and cultural resources to strengthen local economies, improve education, and enhance quality of life. Class members convene for four two-day spring sessions where they participate in panel discussions, group activities, hands-on learning, and tours of community art spaces. Class members graduate during the fall Oklahoma Arts Conference. Leadership Arts is offered every two years.

Class sessions for the 2020 program will take place at the Quartz Mountain Resort Arts and Conference Center in Lone Wolf (February 27-28); Durant (March 26-27); Ponca City (April 30-May 1); and, Oklahoma City (May 28-29). Class members will graduate from the program during the 2020 Oklahoma Arts Conference in Muskogee, October 14-16.

The nationally recognized Leadership Arts program is sponsored by the Oklahoma Arts Council and funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. Scholarships for the program have been provided by Mid-America Arts Alliance. The program is a project of the Oklahoma Arts Council in cooperation with the communities of Lone Wolf, Ponca City, Durant, Oklahoma City, and Muskogee.

About the Oklahoma Arts Council
The Oklahoma Arts Council is the official state agency for the support and development of the arts. The agency’s mission is to lead in the advancement of Oklahoma’s thriving arts industry. The Oklahoma Arts Council provides approximately 350 grants to nearly 200 organizations in communities statewide each year, organizes professional development opportunities for the state's arts and cultural industry, and manages the art collections at the Oklahoma State Capitol. Additional information is available at arts.ok.gov.

Major Exhibition and Event at The Art Hall in Early February, 2020

I am so excited for this special exhibition and party that I’m organizing for early 2020. See below and the Events page for more information. Here is the Facebook event!

The Art Hall is thrilled to announce its early 2020 exhibition featuring guest artist and New Orleans area native Nonney Oddlokken of Thread Paper Glue alongside local ceramicist Nicole Moan! Join us on Friday, February 7th, 2020, from 6-10pm, for an opening reception honoring Nonney and Nicole and a Mardi Gras party! The evening will include a fashion show featuring wearable art by both artists and collaborative work, as well as rad tunes spun by Ostara and an official afterparty at Bunker Club. Mardi Gras costumes and beads encouraged!

This is a free, family-friendly event (the afterparty is 21+). Exhibition will be on view until mid-May. Stop by during Paseo Arts District's First Friday!

Drinks and bites courtesy of The Art Hall as always. We are honored to have t, an urban teahouse, Uptown23rd, and ARTSPACE At Untitled as sponsors for this special exhibition and series of events.

An artist talk with Nonney Oddlokken will take place at ARTSPACE At Untitled the previous night, Thursday, February 6th. Details to come.

Curating Art Now 2021 at Oklahoma Contemporary

I’m thrilled and honored to have been selected to curate the 2021 iteration of Oklahoma Contemporary’s annual survey exhibition of Oklahoma artists, ArtNow! The 2021 iteration will be the first of the series to be held in the organization’s new building in downtown Oklahoma City. Stay tuned for more information regarding the exhibition and one-night-only party and art sale in summer 2021!

The Art Hall in the OK Gazette!

I am excited that The Art Hall was featured in the Oklahoma Gazette for the second time. In its April 25, 2018 article, Arts & Culture Writer Ben Luschen offered a great article outlining the gallery's collaboration with the Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics, and the current exhibition of African travel photography by Don Nevard. Please give the article a read! 

Next Art Hall Opening - Friday, May 4th, 2018, 6-10pm

Come join us at The Art Hall on Friday, May 4th, 2018, from 6-10pm, for the next opening reception! See further info below:

The Art Hall is thrilled to host a dual event on Friday, May 4th, 2018, from 6-10pm. On this special evening, we will be celebrating the opening of our summer exhibition of photography by Donald B. Nevard, as well as hosting the Oklahoma School of Science and Math Fine Arts Program Silent Art Auction. 

Donald B. Nevard's photography encompasses the unedited imagery he captured while on photo-safaris in Kenya, South Africa, and Zambia. Don is an Oklahoma City-based attorney and photographer who has traveled to Africa regularly over several years. This exhibition will be on view through mid-August, 2018.

Also during this reception, the gallery will host the Oklahoma School of Science and Math's annual Fine Arts Program Silent Art Auction. Beautiful artwork by OSSM students will be on view and available for sale, with all proceeds going to the school's Fine Arts department. The Art Hall is thrilled to partner with OSSM on this important event.

Please join us from 6-10pm for this free, all-ages event. Drinks and bites available, as always! We look forward to seeing you.

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The Art Hall is located in The Rise building, near NW 23rd Street and Walker Avenue. There are entrances on 23rd Street and from the north parking lot.

Hodge Podge: On View at the Art Hall!

Hodge Podge is on view at The Art Hall in Oklahoma City! Hodge Podge is a group exhibition of fifteen Oklahoma artists, ranging from high school student artists to established, professional artists. This show represents the diversity of talent of artists working in a variety of media. For the first time, the gallery will show sculpture and functional objects in addition to two-dimensional fine art. 

Visit the Art Hall's website for more information and to view works in the exhibition.

The show is on view until mid-January, 2018. 

3 Weeks Left of SideStories & Save-the-Date!

SideStories at The Art Hall is on view for three more weeks! Please come visit the gallery before it closes on Wednesday, September 27. We are open:

Mon-Fri 8am-9pm  Sat 10am-9pm  Sun 10am-6pm

It's already time to mark your calendar for the next exhibition opening reception at The Art Hall! This show, tentatively titled Hodge Podge, features a very diverse group of over ten local artists. For the first time, we will show sculpture, functional lighting, and other interesting media. 

Our opening will be Friday, October 6th, from 6-9pm. A VIP tour is available at 5:30pm with the purchase of a Friends of Uptown 23rd membership. As usual, we'll work with our local business friends on food, drink, and music. 

The Art Hall, 519 NW 23rd Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73103

Visit our website for more information about the gallery.

Facebook event found here.

SideStories at The Art Hall

The Art Hall is very excited to announce our next exhibition, SideStories, which I curated and which will open on June 9th. It is going to be a beautiful and strong show of work by a diverse group of twelve women artists, all from Oklahoma. There is a thematic undercurrent of storytelling among much of the work, and as a curator I aimed to include artists whose voices, or stories, may be underrepresented in some way. Hence the name SideStories - stories from the sidelines.

The opening will be Friday, June 9th, from 5:30-9pm, and we will have a performance at 7pm by Marie Casimir. The show will be on view through September. As usual, we'll have local folks do drinks etc. 

Joining the faculty at OCCC!

I am thrilled to have accepted a position as Adjunct Professor of Art History in the Division of the Arts at Oklahoma City Community College for the Spring 2017 semester. I am honored by this opportunity and can't wait to share my knowledge about how to understand, view, and analyze art with enthusiastic students. 

The Art Hall is accepting artist submissions!

The Art Hall in Oklahoma City is currently accepting artist submissions for inclusion in our group exhibition opening in January. We welcome submissions from Oklahoma artists of all backgrounds and working in all media. Please visit our website or email us at arthallokc@gmail.com for more information. Please help us spread the word! Thank you!

Save the date for the next Art Hall opening, Friday, October 14!

I'm super excited to announce The Art Hall's next exhibition featuring the artwork of Susan Morrison-Dyke and Tony Dyke, two highly talented and respected Oklahoma City artists. Please join us in celebrating this superb exhibition with a reception for the artists on Friday evening, October 14th, at The Art Hall, 519 NW 23rd Street in Oklahoma City. 

Come check out this great space, have a drink and a bite, and support local art with us! As always, admission is free - as access to art should be. Please help us spread the word about our opening by sharing and inviting your friends to our Facebook event. The exhibition will be on view from October 1st until December 30th, 2016. 

You can reach The Art Hall by emailing arthallokc@gmail.com.

 

Photos from Puerto Rico

I'm pleased to share a selection of photographs from my recent trip to beautiful and vibrant Puerto Rico under my photography. I stayed near Ocean Park Beach in San Juan and traveled to El Yunque National Rainforest for a day to hike. The images represent a range of beach scenes, street art and street scenes, food, and of course, the rainforest. Enjoy!

New collaboration with the Art Hall at the Rise

Very excited to announce that I am now acting as the curator and artist liaison at the Art Hall at the Rise in Oklahoma City! This is a fantastic new nontraditional gallery space that promotes local contemporary artists and serves as both a physical storefront and an online art retailer. Located on 23rd Street in the Uptown 23rd Street District in Oklahoma City, the Art Hall is next door to the Drake restaurant and Urban Teahouse in the Rise development. I am thrilled to get more involved with the artistic talent in OKC, and to work in such a beautiful and fun space! Please contact me for more info.