One of the wonderful things I’m re-discovering about Oklahoma is that art, culture, and innovation aren’t just thriving in OKC, but all across the state!
Tulsa, the state’s second largest city, is chock full of arts and culture innovators – from the Greenwood Cultural Center to the Philbrook Museum, which is currently exhibiting a collection of Robert Rauschenburg’s iconic prints, multiples, and other projects that resulted from his long-term relationship with Los Angeles-based publishing workshop, Gemini G.E.L.
Tulsa’s Living Arts, a unique contemporary art space, organizes an annual New Genre Festival with the support of the Warhol Foundation and the National Performance Network. Going on its 19th year, the New Genre Festival brings provocative contemporary art and performance to Oklahoma and endeavors to challenge the preconceptions around the role of art in culture by supporting artists working in nontraditional media, action-based performance, and unsanctioned guerilla methods.
Also based out of Tulsa is This Land Press, Oklahoma’s first ‘new media’ company, committed to telling the story of Oklahoma with the aim of broadening the understanding of the state’s life and culture through print publications and an interactive online presence.
The spirit of innovation can be found in smaller parts of Oklahoma too. In the central-western part of the state, Shawnee’s Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art is the proud owner of Oklahoma’s only mummy! Chickasha was the site for the Seven States Biennial, a special juried exhibition featuring artists from seven states within the Southern, Midwestern, and Southwestern regions of the U.S.
Bartlesville boasts the landmark Price Tower Arts Center, whose innovative architecture and unique history changed the horizon of Oklahoma’s prairie-scape. The Price Tower is the legendary Frank Lloyd Wright’s only realized skyscraper, a pioneering experiment in 20th-century multi-use architecture and design.
South-Central Ardmore’s Charles B. Goddard Center for Visual and Performing Arts advances excellence in the arts and is committed to sharing the arts with underserved populations. Stillwater’s keepsake is the Multi Arts Center, a state-of-the-art facility that offers comprehensive arts education curricula, compensating for the severe decline in arts education opportunities in the area’s public school system.
And to really bring a focus on innovation home, Oklahoma City hosted the Creativity World Forum last year, featuring some of the world’s most prolific thinkers and doers. Oklahoma is the ONLY North American member of Districts of Creativity, a collection of the world’s foremost regions on creativity and innovation.
Whether it’s a new space fusing art and food; artists challenging the boundaries of the creative process; organizations creating opportunities for cultural producers and offering unique, exciting initiatives to engage diverse audiences; a community-based project pushing the benefits of sustainability; or an independent curator interested in bringing visibility to her hometown’s contemporary art scene, innovation abounds here.
As a center of America’s great frontier, Oklahoma has a legacy of exploration, determination, and creativity. And I can’t wait to see how the idea of innovation continues to transform the state’s cultural landscape.
