"The Rhythem of My Footsteps to Your Door" by Brooke Golightly.
Detail from “The Rhythm of My Footsteps to Your Door” by Brooke Golightly.
Opens Friday, Aug. 22
The official opening is a few weeks away, but art appreciators can get an early look at this year’s Tulsa Artists’ Coalition Member Show. The show, TAC@AHHA , has a soft opening from 1-5 p.m. Friday, Aug. 22, at the Hardesty Arts Center, 101 E. Archer St., in the Brady Arts District. The show includes artwork in all media – including painting, photography and sculpture – from some of Tulsa’s best-known artists. The official opening reception for TAC@AHHA will be Sept. 5, in time for September’s First Friday Art Crawl. The show remains open through Sept. 28. For more information, visit www.ahhatulsa.org.
The “Greatest Party Ever Hatched” is back – the Wild Brew beer-tasting spectacular moves to the Cox Business Center, 100 Civic Center, in downtown Tulsa for 2014. Benefiting the George Miksch Sutton Avian Research Center and its mission of wildlife conservation, Wild Brew offers guests a huge selection of beers by craft breweries of all sizes and from near and far. The event also brings local restaurants offering samples of their best. The auction of original artwork and the eagle flight round out the event. Tickets start at $85. Wild Brew opens to the general public at 5 p.m. For a list of participating restaurants and breweries, visit www.wildbrew.org.
The Festival Americas takes place at the Guthrie Green, 111 E. Brady St. in downtown Tulsa at 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 23. Celebrating Independence Day holidays taking place throughout the summer across Latin America, Festival Americas brings the cuisine, music and dance from Brazil to Mexico to Tulsa. The evening will include a blessing ceremony, the Tierra Mestiza Mexican Folkloric Ballet, Latin ballroom dancing, Zumba, music from Grupo Acorralado de Tulsa and more. Events are free and open to the public. For more, go to www.guthriegreen.com.
Cowboys from a dozen working ranches in the state competed in the 2013 Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association Range Round-up. Photos by Brent Fuchs.
Cowboys from a dozen working ranches in the state competed in the 2013 Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association Range Round-up. Photos by Brent Fuchs.
Cowboys from a dozen working ranches in the state competed in the 2013 Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association Range Round-up. Photos by Brent Fuchs.
Cowboys from a dozen working ranches in the state competed in the 2013 Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association Range Round-up. Photos by Brent Fuchs.
Cowboys from a dozen working ranches in the state competed in the 2013 Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association Range Round-up. Photos by Brent Fuchs.
It’s not often that many Okies get a chance to see what daily life is like on a cattle ranch. Our state may be proud of its cowboy heritage, but as state demographics have shifted away from the rural lifestyle, exposure to genuine cowboys has gone with it.
For 30 years, the Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association Range Round-Up has given Oklahomans a glimpse of the daily tasks of modern-day cowboys with its yearly ranch rodeo.
On August 22 and 23, 12 teams of five Oklahoma ranch hands will compete in six events, showing off the skills the cowboys use every day on their ranches for fun, glory and philanthropy.
“One of the more unique things (about the event) is the winner of the rodeo only gets bragging rights,” says Tim Drummond, OCA Range Round-Up committee chairman and 29-time participant as a member of the Drummond Land & Cattle Co. team, based in Pawhuska.
Unlike other big rodeos, OCA doesn’t pay out large purses to winners, opting to donate its profits to charitable organization instead. For the last 16 years, the beneficiary has been the Children’s Miracle Network, and the Round-Up has raised more than $420,000 for the charity.
Events this year include saddle bronco riding, calf roping and branding (using chalk brands) and wild cow milking.
“That one (wild cow milking) doesn’t simulate a whole lot out on the ranch, but it’s fun, and the guys get a kick out of it,” says Drummond.
The event’s success over the years has helped jumpstart the sport of ranch rodeos.
“When dad entered us in 1985, I was like, ‘What in the world is a ranch rodeo?’” says Drummond. “Now, you can probably go to a ranch rodeo somewhere in the state every weekend, from spring to fall.”
Drummond is eager to get his own family involved in ranch rodeos, just like his dad did for him.
“I’ve got two kids, one 14 and one 15, and it’s one of my goals to see them participate and be competitive,” he says.
ZZ Top photo by TDC Photography/shutterstock.comj. Jeff Beck photo by Ross Halfin.
ZZ Top photo by TDC Photography/shutterstock.comj. Jeff Beck photo by Ross Halfin.
Friday, Aug. 22
Guitar heavies Jeff Beck and band ZZ Top are on their first tour together, and they’re about to hit the Zoo Amphitheatre, 2101 N.E. 50th St., in Oklahoma City. English rocker Beck played for ‘60s group The Yardbirds before forming his own band, The Jeff Beck Group, and filling out the trio of Beck, Bogert and Appice. He’s played across the strata of genres (including metal, blues and prog rock), and that skill has made him one of the most revered rock guitarists in music history. ZZ Top continues to get plenty of airtime for its big 1980s hit songs, which include “Gimme All Your Lovin’” and “Sharp Dressed Man.” The concert starts at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 22, with special guest act Tyler Bryant. Tickets, $39.50-$85, are available at www.thezooamphitheatre.com.
Friday, Aug. 22, and Saturday, Aug. 23 Last month, Kristin Chenoweth performed her first solo show at London’s Royal Albert Hall, crossing yet another great world stage off her theater bucket list. The audience that packed that great house quickly learned what many from Broadway and her home state of Oklahoma have known for years – no matter how many movies she films or television roles she takes, Chenoweth is a constant of theater today. The Broken Arrow native brings the point home this month when she plays the theater bearing her name at the Broken Arrow Performing Arts Center, 701 S. Main St., Broken Arrow. Kristin Chenoweth Live! is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 22, and Saturday, Aug. 23. A graduate of Oklahoma City University, Chenoweth and her unforgettable voice first caught acclaim when she won a Tony Award in 1999 for her performance as Sally in a Broadway run of the musical You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. Originating the role of Glinda in the Oz-inspired musical Wicked, she was nominated for another Tony. More notably, Chenoweth’s performance in that role set the standard in what has become one of the most popular contemporary musicals of recent decades. She’s also become the epitome of today’s entertainer, the ultimate “threat” who can navigate the terrain of mass media (television’s Glee and the forthcoming Disney Channel film Descendents) with energy and charm to spare for sold-out live engagements, such as her Carnegie Hall show in May. And through it all, even as plans are made to set her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2015, Chenoweth has Broken Arrow in mind. The inexhaustible artist is making new plans for her fine arts and community foundation. Kristin Chenoweth Live! opens the Broken Arrow PAC’s 2014-15 season. Tickets are $49-$81, available at www.myticketoffice.com. For more visit www.brokenarrowpac.com.
Update: Watch Chenoweth on the Sept. 13 airing of PBS television’s Great Performances. The program will broadcast Star-Spangled Spectacular: Bicentennial of our National Anthem live from Pier Six Pavilion in Baltimore, Md. Actor John Lithgow will host the program featuring Chenoweth and other entertainers. Check local listings for specific air times.
The temperature is soaring into the triple digits, and for some fans, there’s no better time to catch an Oklahoma City RedHawks baseball game. The team continues its play against the El Paso Chihuahuas on Thursday, Aug. 21, at 7:05 p.m. at the Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, 2 S. Mickey Mantle Drive, in Oklahoma City. The RedHawks face the feisty Chihuahuas through Saturday, Aug. 23, followed by four days of play against the Albuquerque Isotopes (Sunday, Aug. 24-Wednesday, Aug. 27) also in downtown OKC. Tickets start at $7 each. For more, visit www.okcredhawks.com.
Celebrate the joy of spinning yarns and listening to tales at the Oklahoma City Storytelling Festival, Thursday, Aug. 21-Saturday, Aug. 23, at the Oklahoma History Center, 800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive, in Oklahoma City. The annual gathering brings together storytellers, writers, Spoken Word artists and more to share in the tradition of telling stories to entertain and enlighten. This year’s storytellers include Donald Davis, Elizabeth Ellis, Lynette Ford and Bil Lepp. The festival also includes three days of workshops for practitioners and special evening performances. Workshop passes are $10-$25 per day or $50 for Friday and Saturday. Evening performances are $10 each. Festival passes are $75 for all events. For more, go to www.artscouncilokc.com.
Catch the story of a Cherokee legend at the Hard Rock Tulsa Hotel & Casino. Nanyehi – Beloved Woman of the Cherokee tells the life of Nancy Ward, a peacekeeper honored by her tribe for her council during the American Revolutionary War. Written by Bartlesville native and Ward descendent, Becky Hobbs, Nanyehi is an original work with music created for the play. Read more about Hobbs and her work in the September 2013 article by “The Insider” columnist John Wooley here. Nanyehi opens at the casino’s entertainment venue, The Joint, 777 W. Cherokee St., in Catoosa. The show starts at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 21, and continues through Saturday, Aug. 23. Tickets are $15 at www.hardrockcasinotulsa.com.
“Lava-Capped Mesa, Big Bend,” 1976, by Alexandre Hogue. Image courtesy Gilcrease Museum and The University of Tulsa.
Opens Sunday, Aug. 24
Oklahoma no longer looks like the arid, over-plowed wasteland seen in photos from the 1930s. Photographers documented the Great Depression and Dust Bowl migration of Oklahomans and their neighbors as windstorms shoved mounds of dirt and sand through the cracks of abandoned houses and across barren fields. Artist Alexandre Hogue, too, saw this landscape and painted it as victim of human insatiability and greed. Hogue’s vision, however, exceeded his criticism – he painted in a new spirit with sensuously bowed lines, vivid colors and a scope for beauty. Gilcrease Museum brings the exhibition Alexandre Hogue: An American Visionary to its galleries, featuring the works that brought him his first wave of renown as well as art focused on the American southwest and other subjects. The exhibit opens Sunday, Aug. 24, and runs through Nov. 30. For more, visit www.gilcrease.utulsa.edu.
