Self-described as a “perennial student,” Lee Anne Zeigler acts as the executive director of the WaterWorks Art Center in Tulsa. After graduating from Cameron University with a bachelor’s in biological sciences, Zeigler went to OSU to obtain her master’s in horticulture and landscape architecture. Her community involvement is varied; she runs her own landscape design business; volunteers as a mayoral appointee for the Tulsa Preservation Commission; acts as an urban design planner for the City of Tulsa; and is the executive director and CEO of the Tulsa Foundation for Architecture.
… a day in the life.
Each day provides an opportunity to meet people who are discovering WaterWorks Art Center for the first time, as well as greeting those who have enjoyed its classes and workshops for many years. I love working with visual artists who are also gifted teachers, and love sharing their time and talent with our center in various mediums. Of course, I have many administrative duties to perform, but my favorite task is creating the quarterly catalog that features our instructors, classes, workshops, camps and special events.
… her love of art.
I must credit my late mother. She was an artist and provided an artistic perspective on so many things in life: meals, clothing, interior design, gardening and more. She was also a music teacher and understood the value of education and the performance arts.
… what WaterWorks
has to offer.
WaterWorks Art Center provides exceptional quality art class series and one-day workshops at affordable rates. Our center has over 7,000 square feet of usable space and facilitates approximately 30-35 offerings each quarter, as well as open studio time for those who have enrolled in and completed classes and comply with our safety and operational policies and procedures.
… her favorite artistic medium.
Floor loom weaving is my favorite because I am a weaver and a part of the WaterWorks community of weavers. WaterWorks has 16 working floor looms and a vibrant atelier-style weaving program that allows beginners to advance in their knowledge and operation of this time-honored art form. As a community, we encourage and inspire each other in every class. Most of us have looms at home and continue to take classes at WaterWorks.
… what she wants people to know about WaterWorks.
Tulsans are very fortunate to have a community art center with quality instructors and a multitude of offerings. As part of the City of Tulsa’s Parks, Culture and Recreation Department, we are housed in an historic building located in Newblock Park just west of downtown Tulsa, and are open more than 60 hours per week. We want to raise public awareness of our programming and invite everyone interested in the arts to check us out.
… the center’s history.
In 1999, the Johnson-Atelier Art Center closed and its arts education programming moved to the WaterWorks building, which operated as the first municipal water treatment plant. The building has served in many capacities including the headquarters for the Tulsa Park and Recreation Department. The arts programming has grown exponentially in the last two decades and serves thousands in the greater Tulsa metropolitan area.
… philanthropy.
We are happy to be participate again this year with the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma in providing more than 800 hand-created ceramic bowls for their annual Hunger Awareness Dinner. WaterWorks provides clay, glazes, firings, studio time and equipment for volunteers each year to make this happen. It’s an amazing and worthwhile event and our patron volunteers and staff have loved being part of it for many years.
