Visual Arts

The Frida Effect: Final Days at Philbrook for Kahlo-Rivera Mexican Modernism exhibits

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*Community Dialogue Opportunity Scheduled for September 10:

How Frida Taught us to Paint Our Realities — Details follow.

By Glenda Rice Collins (Updated September 2, 2022)

Tulsa, Okla., USA — Last call: FRIDA KAHLO, DIEGO RIVERA, AND MEXICAN MODERNISM continues through September 11, 2022 at Philbrook Museum of Art, featuring: exemplary originals of iconic Frida’s paintings, videos of her beloved Casa Azul residence, and garden (as shown in banner image above), examples of her authentic, heritage-inspired attire, wall-sized reproductions of Rivera’s famed murals, and the couple’s unique Mexican garden-inspired influences visible throughout Philbrook’s vast gardens this summer.

The Philbrook gardens currently bloom with Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera-inspired plantings, and quotes. Photo by Glenda Rice Collins.

Born into a privileged Mexican lifestyle, the well-educated Frida Kahlo studied to be a doctor, but suffered severe injuries and life-long pain from a traffic accident in her youth, becoming broken, at times bedridden, and yet determined to express herself through her groundbreaking paintings, activism and political involvements. (See also: https://glendaricecollins.com/2019/10/11/the-art-of-recovery-part-ii-inspiration-from-frida-kahlos-garden-path/).

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OKC: Get your GLOW on at Scissortail Park this weekend

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Compiled by Glenda Rice Collins — Updated April 7, 2022

Community Celebration at Scissortail Park to feature lighted hot air balloons and drones!

Scissortail Springtime in the Park at Dusk: Photo by Glenda Rice Collins.

Oklahoma City, Okla. USA–In conjunction with the currently engaging GLOW interactive, lighted exhibition (continuing through April 10) Allied Arts and Inasmuch Foundation will present a community celebration on Friday, April 8, 7 – 11 p.m. at Scissortail Park, –featuring: a hot air balloon night glow, a synchronized drone light show, glow-in-the-dark art from local makers, live performances, music, food trucks and more. The event is free and open to all ages.

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Ansel Adams in Our Time: New Views Reflected Politically

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Iconic images illuminate current social issues through a contemporary lens.

By Glenda Rice Collins

Bentonville, Ark., USA — With memorable images of vast American landscapes now threatened with climate change and exploitation, Ansel Adams in Our Time continues at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, through January 3, 2021. The changing landscapes are now reflected among works by his notable peers, past and present.

“All Art is Political” –Hank Willis Thomas

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Crystal Bridges debuts The Momentary, Part I: Political Themes Anew

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By Glenda Rice Collins       (Updated February 28, 2020)

Bentonville, Arkansas, USA — While a continuing celebration of community and diversity Lauren with artswirled around Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art (CB) last weekend, as The Momentary, a new satellite museum venue for contemporary art debuted, –political themes loomed large within State of the Art 2020, the new venue’s inaugural exhibition, currently housed within both CB museum locations.  Time Being named the theme for diverse performances at the newly re-purposed Kraft cheese factory, located near the popular 8th Street Market food hub, hangout destination. The synergy now expands!

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Renegades: From Bruce Goff to Sondheim & Lorca 2020

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Renegades 2020

Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, University of Oklahoma, Norman

By Glenda Rice Collins    (Updated 2-16-20)

Norman, Okla. — Definitions of ‘renegade’ run the gamut from rebel, traitor, and betrayer to the more appropriate concepts for my recent University of Oklahoma arts district observations: revolutionary, radical, and runaway, to define artists, architects, and dramatists, along with musical theater themes and characters.  Continue reading →

Dance in 2020: Consider the Culture; The medium is the massage

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By Glenda Rice Collins, Updated 1-3-20

Bartlesville, Okla., USA — As media and culture analyst, author Marshall McLuhan said decades ago, “The medium is the massage…it does something to people. It takes hold of them. It rubs them off, it massages them and bumps them around, chiropractically, as it were…The poet, the artist, the sleuth – whoever sharpens our perception tends to be antisocial; rarely “well-adjusted,” he cannot go along with currents and trends…There is absolutely no inevitability as long as there is a willingness to contemplate what is happening.”  Continue reading →

The Art of Recovery, Part I: From the Beach to Christ Cathedral

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By Glenda Rice Collins   (Updated September 27, 2019)

Bartlesville, Okla., USA — Personal injury along with physical and mental duress can derail the best of intentions for a fulfilling life. To restore a semblance of “balance,” — Get thee to a beach, and get back to the arts!  Continue reading →

Last Call: Bruce Goff Shin’enKan exhibit ends Sunday at Price Tower Arts Center

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By Glenda Rice Collins

BARTLESVILLE, Okla., USA — This week I felt a vital, revived connection, when I toured the ongoing Price Tower Arts Center exhibition, Shin’enKan: House of the Far Away Heart, which ends March 26.  Bruce Goff’s  spirited and somewhat spiritual, avant-garde Oklahoma masterpiece was engulfed in flames some 20 years ago.   Continue reading →

News Alert RE: Proposed Arts Funding Cuts & Elimination of NEA

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Statement from Amber Sharples, Executive Director, Oklahoma Arts Council

Oklahoma City, Okla., USA–“On March 16, the White House released its budget proposal for fiscal year 2018, calling for reductions to a range of government programs and the elimination of federal support for the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.   
“In light of the president’s proposal, it is important to remember that Congress ultimately decides how to allocate federal funds. The proposal is the beginning of a conversation, one in which Oklahomans can actively participate.
“As a state agency, the Oklahoma Arts Council does not design or coordinate advocacy efforts. However, part of our mandate is to educate Oklahomans about the impact of the arts in communities and schools across our state. So, as always, we invite you to use us as a resource for information, and allow us to serve you as a connector.
“Should you be interested in advocacy efforts at the state and national level, we suggest you connect with our friends at Oklahomans for the Arts and Americans for the Arts.
Further, we invite you to embrace this moment as an opportunity: to express your passion for the arts, articulate the impact the arts have had on your life and in your community, and actively engage in this process by which our nation proclaims its values and vision.
“In the meantime, we will be here, as we have been for more than 50 years, working to ensure that all Oklahomans can experience the benefits of the arts and arts education. 
Thank you for all you do to serve your community through the arts.”

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‘The Garden’ ballet premieres at OU to music by professor Michael Lee

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News from the Weitzenhoffer Family College of Fine Arts

NORMAN, Okla., USA–The University of Oklahoma Schools of Dance and Music will present, in collaboration,  the world premiere of The Garden, at 8 p.m. March 9 in Sharp Concert Hall of Catlett Music Center, 500 W. Boyd St., on the OU Norman campus. This special event is complimentary to the public.   Continue reading →