Email
PrintArt in August
Hot temperatures call for cool visits to these local art shows and more.
Artist closeup: Beth Downing
President, Tulsa Artists' Coalition
“You’ll never be the weirdest person in the room at an art opening,” says Beth Downing, current president of the Tulsa Artists’ Coalition Gallery (the TAC). “That’s what I always tell people who are intimidated by attending a show.”
Tulsa, you should listen to this woman. The gallery Downing represents welcomes anyone into the Tulsa art community, from up-and-coming artists to those curious to explore the world of art galleries.
Keep in mind, finding the nerve to crash an art show is nothing like the struggle most artists face establishing their first exhibit.
“Artists will get rejected 90 percent of the time,” Downing says. “I have a friend who sees collecting rejections as a badge of honor. It means you’re really working for it.”
Downing herself is an artist — a photographer — who once set out to get her break, so she is fully invested in her supportive role at the TAC. Tulsa Artists’ Coalition actually hosted one of her first showings in Tulsa after she moved here eight years ago.
“We’re there to help the artist get established,” she says.
And it sounds to me as if they also are here to help Tulsa get into the mood for perusing art.
This month’s art events
“Those Days Are Gone: Photography by Krystal L. Pigg”
See the Oklahoma panhandle through the lens of Krystal Pigg. The photos in this show focus on an older home in ruins, and they pull at the inquisitive side of viewers. They will surely find themselves asking the same questions Pigg asked herself: “What is the story of the family that lived here? Where are they now? Why were these particular items left behind?”
These found still lifes represent a popular style these days, but it is clear Pigg tries to take her work a step further, especially in very tight shots of abandoned objects, such as music sheets on a piano.
Aug. 7-29; opening reception, 6-9 p.m., Aug. 7. Tulsa Artists’ Coalition Gallery, 9 E. Brady Ave., 592-0041, www.tacgallery.org.
“Inside-R-OUT: Work by S.K. Duff”
Apparently S.K. Duff’s work causes a new stir each time it is shown at Living Arts. This intrigues me because this exhibit was influenced by his recent work with elementary school students and outsider artists. Duff fills his pages with flashes of color, creativity and whim. They are a roller coaster of visual fun for the eye.
Duff was born in Tulsa but now lives in New York City. Parents should not miss the chance to expose their children to a renowned artist who specializes in working with children. He was recently voted one of the top five art teachers in New York and one of the top 100 art teachers in the United States.
Runs through Aug. 20; elementary school workshop, 1 p.m., Aug. 1. Living Arts of Tulsa, 308 S. Kenosha Ave., 585-1234, www.livingarts.org.
“Art of the Oklahoma State Capitol: The Senate Collection,” Gilcrease Museum
“The legacy of the Oklahoma State Capitol art collection is one that preserves the character that is Oklahoma,” says Duane King, vice president for museum affairs and executive director of Gilcrease Museum.
This show features the art collection ornamenting our state Capitol building, including bronzes, murals, portraits and landscapes that transcend regional and ethnic diversity.
While art has been added to the Capitol building throughout the years, the Oklahoma State Senate Historical Preservation Fund began a strong surge in the 1990s commissioning work by Oklahoma artists to tell Oklahoma’s story.
Runs through Oct. 11, 2009. Gilcrease Museum, 1400 N. Gilcrease Museum Road, (918) 596-2700, gilcrease.utulsa.edu. Free admission to all visitors on the first Tuesday of each month (“TU TUesday”).
