Narciso Arguelles is an Oklahoma visual artist who uses any art medium necessary to dictate the issues that are important to indigenous, Latino and Chicano people. With, Agruelles jokes, his “perfect Chicano credentials,” he seeks to educate people with his work, which he calls “border art.” Arguelles teaches at Oklahoma City Community College and the Oklahoma City Museum of Art.
How has your experience as a Mexican-American influenced your art?
I describe myself as a Chicano artist. A Chicano recognizes and celebrates the indigenous side of our culture with Aztec and Mayan references. Being a Chicano also celebrates the European or Latino side of who we are, so you see Spanish references in our art, too. The third aspect we celebrate is the mixture of the indigenous and the Spanish: “Mestizo.” For example, I sometimes use Day of the Dead imagery in my art, which has its origins in Aztec religion, and it was mixed with Roman Catholic traditions.
What does the term “border art” mean?
Border art describes the art movement that developed around the U.S. and Mexico border around the early ‘90s. My people were dealing with issues of immigration, poverty and racism. Border art provided an interesting metaphor about living on the edge of society and acceptance.
It seems that whenever there is a problem with the U.S. economy, undocumented workers [become the] scapegoats. Border art developed organically as a way to educate people and protest injustices with the goal to bring about economic change, cultural inclusion and understanding.
What projects are you currently working on, and what are your artistic goals for 2015?
I am working on two big projects for 2014. I co-curated an art exhibit with the world-renowned graphic designer David Carson that opened in January at Mainsite Gallery in Norman. The exhibit, Balance: Art + Design, is a group show of graphic designers in Oklahoma.
The second big exhibit (under the working title The Occupied) will be at Living Arts of Tulsa in May. The artwork, based on photography, will document Latino cultures as well as Native American peoples – historically disenfranchised groups in Oklahoma.
My artist goals are the same every year. The goal is to change the world for the better. Sounds like a lofty goal or like a dream, I know, but the little impact that I have in my little part of the world is my motivation.
Not many years ago, cosmetic procedures were few and far between and sought out primarily by women. Today, though, women and men seek out procedures, both cosmetic and minimally invasive. There have also been considerable advancements in terms of both the types of procedures available and the materials used in such procedures, as well as in techniques reducing risk and recovery time. In fact, every year seems to bring some sort of improvement or new technique; in some cases, costs are decreasing, which makes procedures available to more people and increases their overall popularity.
Those advancements and other factors have changed the face of cosmetic surgery and procedures and have led to an overall expansion of the industry as well as its appeal to Americans across the board.
Evolving Marketplace
Trends are difficult to identify in terms of popular procedures in Oklahoma.
“I don’t know if there have been any real changes in trends the past year or two,” says Dr. James R. Koehler of Tulsa Surgical Arts. “The only trend I would point out is a higher percentage of men [seeking out cosmetic procedures]. Typically, 90 percent of my patients are women because of the type of practice I do, but I am seeing more men.”
Koehler says breast augmentation and rhinoplasty are the most common procedures sought by younger women.
“When they get into their 30s, women who have had children are getting breast lifts and augmentations and tummy tucks,” he adds. “That hasn’t changed much.”
Dr. Tim Love, an Oklahoma City surgeon, agrees that there has not been much change in terms of popular procedures with women – the most popular revolve around breast, body and facial work – and while new technology has periodically threatened to change the nature of those procedures, they haven’t proven to have the staying power.
“All technology tends to cycle pretty quickly,” says Love. “The biggest challenge is investing in the proper equipment. There’s lots of niche marketing. Something will show up on Good Morning, America, and suddenly it becomes a trend.”
Love can’t say whether or not men today make up a larger percentage of the overall market share, but he says he has noticed an uptick in male interest.
“There are statistics available, and I think as the total number of procedures goes up, there is a little move-up for men,” he says.
Love adds that men tend to seek out hair transplants and “some liposuction.”
“I think non-surgical procedures in major metropolitan areas, where men are generally more interested in their appearance, there’s probably more demand for (them),” he continues. “Guys tend to do things for themselves. Hair replacement, for example, makes them feel good.”
Dr. Angelo Cuzalina of Tulsa Surgical Arts says that for a while, the “mommy makeover” was popular. He explains the term is a reference to “breast and tummy” work.
“Typically, women get stretched from child-bearing effects, and many want to try to get back their appearance from before child birth, and they usually love the results,” Cuzalina says.
Procedures of all types have gained in popularity because of what Cuzalina says is a change in perception of the practices.
“In cosmetic surgery, people aren’t as worried about perception anymore,” he says. “It was once thought of as a rarity, but it’s becoming more commonplace.”
Cuzalina also sees a rise in the number of men undergoing procedures.
“The percentage of men [in the marketplace] was always under 10 percent, and it’s now just over 10 percent. The number of men has slightly increased. However, demand is still dominated by women,” he says.
“The most common procedures sought out by men are liposuction of the belly to address love handles,” Cuzalina continues. “One thing that has slightly increased in demand is for [male breast reduction]. A lot of times, men don’t even like to admit need for it, but it’s an older treatment that has become more popular.”
Cuzalina says that both overall and in terms of Tulsa clientele, the Brazilian Butt Lift is a popular procedure.
“It’s really lipo of the hips, then adding that to the butt,” he says.
The procedure is particularly sought out by women who have had gastric bypass surgery.
“Here in Tulsa, it’s definitely becoming more popular,” Cuzalina says of the Brazilian Butt Lift. “It’s a lot less risky than gluteal implants and more curvy.”
Price sensitivity is also driving an increase in demand for cosmetic procedures. Breast augmentation has notably decreased in price, and Cuzalina cites this as particularly true at Tulsa Surgical Arts. He also notes that procedures cost considerably less in Oklahoma than in major urban areas.
“In New York City, for example, the cost is about three times that of what it is in Oklahoma,” he says. “The industry is lower priced here than in other places.”
Dr. Nicole Patel of the Aesthetic Surgery Institute of America, based in Tulsa, offers a different, if shorter-term, perspective on trends.
“I think what you see is determined a lot by the type of practice you have and the services you offer,” she says. “Breast augmentation and body contouring remain very popular. A new procedure, labiaplasty, is also more in demand. However, I might find that because I am a woman, and women might seek me out for that (reason).”
Patel says that non-surgical facial procedures remain high in demand.
“Anti-aging procedures are also very popular,” Patel adds. “People are looking for not just surgical practices.”
Patel says that her perspective also is affected by the fact that she is a relatively new practitioner.
New And Noteworthy
Given the different types of practices they have and their various areas of expertise, it is little wonder that cosmetic surgeons have different perspectives on what is new, noteworthy and otherwise coming down the pike to bring any major change to the industry and to cosmetic practices overall.
Koehler cites an improved form of breast implant, which is new in terms of technology and has just been approved by the FDA.
Form stable breast implants are “pretty new in the U.S.,” he says. “They are completely solid implants that can’t leak like others. They haven’t yet taken a lot of the market share, perhaps because of cost or that they tend to provide a more conservative look. They are more for a woman who is an A or B cup and who wants to be a C cup. They’re solid, nice implants and very safe. They are nice for certain women, and they suit certain patients.”
Koehler also mentions significant improvement with dermal matrices, which he says have been around for years but have benefitted from recent technology.
Acellular dermal matrix (ADM) has been used as a soft tissue replacement since its introduction in 1994. ADMs are soft tissue matrix grafts created by a process that results in decellularization but leaves the extracellular matrix intact. This matrix provides a scaffold upon and within which the patient’s own cells can repopulate and revascularize the implanted tissue. The introduction of ADM has provided surgeons with alternative means of obtaining sufficient vascularized soft tissue to cover the implant, thereby alleviating some complications.
Most cosmetic surgeons believe that recent advancements and those on the near horizon revolve around better materials – everything from better laser-type devices to sutures that don’t need to be removed because they are absorbed into the body.
However, some point out that procedures tend to come and go, become very popular and then fade away. The result is an ever-changing marketplace that can, at the very least, appear erratic.
“My biggest concern, not to sound negative, is that there are so many technologies,” Love says. “There is about a 24- to 30-month cycle when it comes to new things, and often they don’t deliver or don’t become very popular. In some cases. it’s because the machinery is not cheap, and that makes it impractical for many practitioners.
“There will always be improvements,” Love adds. “But the ratio is like 10:1, with the ‘one’ being the advancement or improvement that actually has the staying power to actually stick around.”
If there is one potential advancement that fosters disparate opinions, it is the application of fat-derived stem cells. These stem cells possess potential in both traditional medicine and in cosmetic applications. However, since they are not derived from fetal material, they would seem to prompt less controversy than previous discussions over stem cells derived from such material.
“Stem cells harvested from fat makes moot the arguments against fetal stem cells,” Love says. “Stem cells in fat peak in a person’s mid-20s. When you do liposuction, those cells go with you, but they aren’t isolated. There has long been evidence that there are applications for these cells, as a facial agent, for example. There are potentially numerous other applications. It’s only a matter of time before new hair can be grown with them. In application today, they are useful for liposuction and grafting facial volume. The most beneficial effects are when I’ve applied them in breast reconstruction after breast cancer.”
Love sees numerous other applications on the horizon in medicine and cosmetic procedures.
“The thing that excited me most is finishing my career and seeing these stem cells help stroke patients and others,” Love says. “There have been a number of studies that show they can also be effective to combat congestive heart failure. We already have these cells, so the case is closed on the [fetal/infant] factor. In our field, the point is that these could have a huge implication when it comes to burn scar victims and people with other serious damage. The potential applications across the board in medicine are impressive. It’s an exciting time.”
Patel says it might be some time before these particular types of stem cells are ready to introduce into numerous applications.
“Stem cell technology is quite something,” she says. “The technology is evolving. We’re learning more all of the time, but I think it will still be a while. I think this is particularly true in medicine. Because the cosmetic surgery world has many patients that pay cash, the technology might actually advance faster in the cosmetic world than in medicine.”
Koehler has a more conservative view of fat-derived stem cells than some of his colleagues in the industry.
“As it stands right now, the technology is not far enough along to use it,” Koehler says. “It shows great promise on the horizon. There are people out there marketing stem-cell facelifts, but they aren’t really using stem cells. It’s just fat-grafting. A lot of research on stem cells is being done in other countries. It may be very positive in the future, but it’s maybe 10 years off from being common. Even if they perfect procedures in the next four years, it would take another four years or so to go through the approval process in the United States.”
Making The Choice
It isn’t just that there are more procedures and new technologies in the cosmetic procedures world today, there are also more practitioners, both medical doctors and aestheticians – and they offer their services both in the United States and abroad.
While most cosmetic surgeons report that very little of their work is repairing damage done by other practitioners with one designation or another, cosmetic surgeons also believe that, with the right training and in the right environment, some minimally-invasive procedures can be safely administered by non-M.D.s.
“Aestheticians are only able to do certain procedures, and as long as they are doing those procedures for which they are trained, that’s okay – such as laser hair removal and such,” says Koehler. “There are things they cannot do. There are clinics out there in which nurses might be injecting Botox and other fillers, but for some minor procedures, it’s generally safe. I haven’t seen any disasters from fillers being done in med-spa environments.
“Actually where you run into problems is physicians doing cosmetic procedures even if they are not experts in the field,” Koehler continues. “Any medical doctor, for example, can do liposuction, but they might have had only a weekend training session in it.”
Cuzalina points out that the ease of access to some procedures might well cross the line of appropriateness and safety.
“I’ve heard of Botox parties, but how would one know if there is anyone there licensed to do that?” he asks. “Someone would have to be crazy to do that. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”
Love says that various practitioners are trained for non-surgical procedures.
“You’ve got all of these levels of experience,” he says.
Each physician agrees that the potentially most precarious decision is a “cosmetic” vacation overseas, where procedure prices can be much lower and where procedures not approved in the United States can be purchased. There are distinct concerns about that, despite the fact that just because a doctor is overseas doesn’t mean he isn’t competent and capable.
Patel says her practice does see patients who had gone abroad for procedures.
“Hey, there are good physicians all over the world,” she says. “The biggest problem is what happens if there are complications? Who takes care of you? Are you going to fly back to the country where you had the work done? Here, doctors might be afraid to take on the liability risk for someone else’s work overseas. You should have procedures done near where you live, so that follow-up and any complications can be addressed by the initial surgeon.”
Other physicians agree that having work done near one’s home is an important factor in deciding on whom to seek out for procedures.
Domestically, there are certain words of advice each surgeon has to offer. Visit facilities, inquire about experience and expertise, ask to see before and after photos of prior patients who had the procedure you’re seeking done by the practitioner, ask about hospital privileges and where procedures take place and even ask to speak to previous patients about their experiences. Surgeons of repute should have no problem addressing these concerns and questions.
You’ll also want to deal with a surgeon who is open and honest about potential risks and complications. Finally, something more esoteric to consider: Chemistry is important when it comes to a patient’s relationship with his or her doctor. Does that chemistry exist? Do you feel comfortable with the doctor, the staff, the environment? All are the primary factors one should take into consideration when making a decision, according to each surgeon interviewed.
Taking these considerations in mind and being an educated consumer can greatly enhance any cosmetic procedure one might seek.
The London House in Okemah was Woody Guthrie’s childhood home. Photo courtesy This House Is Your House.
In summer 2014, pilgrims to the annual Woody Guthrie Folk Festival in Okemah will have an all-new destination: A living museum dedicated to the life and era of the famed folk singer.
This House Is Your House, a local nonprofit, has purchased the lot where Guthrie’s childhood home, the London House, once stood. Although the house was torn down many years ago, miraculously, the wood and stone from the home were salvaged. Now the home will be painstakingly reconstructed through the efforts of This House Is Your House, a group of three partners: Matthew Bridwell, Johnny Buschardt and Daniel Riedemann.
Reidemann, the partner overseeing the historic reconstruction of the home, recently made a living museum of TV personality Johnny Carson’s childhood home. According to media and fundraising liaison Bridwell, it was Riedmann who approached Bridwell and his partner, Buschardt, with a dream of seeing the London House rise from the dust.
“While researching his next project, [Riedemann] found out that Woody’s childhood home (the London House, as described in Woody’s autobiography, Bound For Glory) had been torn down, but the wood and stone from the house had been kept and stored away,” Bridwell says. “It was at that point that he set his sights to rebuild Woody’s London House using the saved wood and stone. On one of his many visits (this time during the 2013 Woody Guthrie Folk Festival) to Okemah, he met my partner, Johnny. Daniel told Johnny his hopes and dreams for the site but that his biggest hurdle was raising the money to make those hopes and dreams a reality. Johnny explained that we could fill that void.”
In addition to rebuilding the home itself, the site also will include a 2.5-acre compound that includes a visitors center and gift shop, outdoor performance space, and camping and RV grounds, all kept self-sustaining by a solar power station. Bridwell says they plan to have the project completed in time for the 2014 Woody Guthrie Folk Festival in July.
Bridwell says the project is yet another way for fans who already travel to Okemah for the festival to honor Guthrie’s life and achievements.
“For many years now, thousands of people made the pilgrimage to Okemah every year to view the site where Woody grew up,” Bridwell says. “Each July, almost 10,000 people have come to take part in the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival. For almost all of those festivalgoers, part of their journey also includes paying respect to the place where Woody grew up – the London House.”
Any festivalgoers who visited the spot last summer would have found little – a hilly, vacant lot dotted with a few foundation stones drowning in the overgrowth of weeds and vine. That is about to change.
Once the construction is complete, Bridwell and his partners plan to turn the compound over to the Okemah Community Improvement Association. “The economic impact will be large,” he says. “It will become a whole new tourist attraction for Okemah. It will mean more money coming into that community through increased business from local retailers, such as restaurants, gas stations, retail stores and, of course, the museum itself. It will also mean more tax dollars coming into our great state of Oklahoma from visitors that will be from out of state. It truly will be a win-win situation for everyone.”
According to Bridwell, This House Is Your House has received an enormous outpouring of encouragement from the community, Guthrie’s family and even some celebrities.
“We have had so much interest from outside parties,” he says. “Obviously, the Guthrie family has been supportive. Woody’s sister, Mary Jo, and his son, Arlo, have made it clear they will do whatever they can to help the project. We have had other artists express interest, such as legendary singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson headlining a benefit concert last fall.”
Guthrie’s fascist-killing instrument also will live on in legend with the London House project. Gibson Guitar Corporation – the company that produced Guthrie’s machine of choice – is partnering with the project to create a limited edition series of eight guitars, each made from the recovered wood of Guthrie’s childhood home. The instruments will be auctioned off in early 2014, with all proceeds going to benefit the London House and compound.
“With so much interest from so many people, this project truly is a success on all levels,” Bridwell says.
The London House project is just the latest manifestation of the enduring respect for Oklahoma’s legendary troubadour. In 2013, the already renowned Woody Guthrie Center was established in Tulsa’s Brady Arts District. In addition to exhibits and public events, the center also houses the Woody Guthrie Archives, including correspondence, lyrics, recordings and more.
Although the two centers share the same mission and intend to provide each other with support, Bridwell says the London House compound will differ from its partner in Tulsa.
“Unlike the Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa, which is nothing less than a world-class museum, our project will be a living museum, a place that will allow visitors to see and touch those things of the time that influenced Woody,” he says. “Fans, artists and historians will be able to walk down the same hallways Woody walked and stand in the same rooms Woody stood in.”
Will Carpenter was a second-grader in the mid-1970s in the industrial city of Milwaukee, Wis., when he was first exposed to theater.
“They took our class to the Repertory Theater in Milwaukee. It was a great theater,” he recalls. “We were watching a kid’s show; there were dinosaurs and big costumes and sets, and the lights are on in this big, dark theater. It was so much cooler than a movie. They were right there, sharing the same space, the same air. They could hear us and we could hear them. I had tunnel vision – either my eyes dilated or my brain did – but I was so zeroed in on this and watching with crystal clarity. I remember thinking, ‘Wow, it would be really neat to be a part of that.’”
Carpenter would parlay that second grade experience into a successful acting career, performing with the prestigious Steppenwolf Theatre Company and Shakespeare Chicago, among others. He has performed in theaters in cities across the country; now he can be seen gracing stages in Tulsa.
The Will Rogers Effect
Oklahoma has produced a sizable share of stage actors in its relatively short existence. Tony Randall, Rue McClanahan and Patti Page all got their starts on Oklahoma stages. Contemporary actors like Kelli O’Hara, Joe Sears, Alfre Woodard and one of the most popular Broadway stars in recent history, Kristen Chenoweth, also began their careers in the Sooner State.
Jeffrey Moore, project manager for the Oklahoma POP Museum, believes the wealth of actors, singers and entertainers that come from Oklahoma can be traced back to the career of one man: Will Rogers.
“As we’ve worked on the Oklahoma POP Museum, one of the things that has become very apparent is the circle of influence that Will Rogers has had on the state,” Moore says. “The fact that he was able to go from stage acting to this huge icon is something that is in the back of everyone’s mind, and it lends itself to the idea that being a stage actor is a possibility.”
Mateja Govich, an Oklahoma City native and actor, sees the talent that this state has to offer on the stage. A performer since age 5, Govich first appeared as a munchkin in The Wizard Of Oz (his lone line was, “If any.”) and later as Grumpy in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. He went on to act in various productions during college and ended up on the Great White Way as part of a production of Cabaret with Brooke Shields as the lead, which was performed at historic Studio 54.
But home beckoned, and in 2008, Govich moved back to Oklahoma and has since “gotten to do the most challenging work I’ve done,” he says. Such work includes portraying Don Quixote in Man of La Mancha at the Sooner Theatre; Fred Graham in Kiss Me, Kate at Edmond Summerstock and Tateh in Ragtime, a Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma production.
Rogers once said, “If you want to know how a man stands, go among the people who are in his same business.” Govich shares the same principle.
“I was shocked at how good Ragtime was,” Govich says. “(Lead characters) Tateh, Mother and Coalhouse, all three of us had Broadway experience…the quality of actors that we have available to us that are in Oklahoma, we’re very lucky. I’ve been on Broadway, I’m a decent performer, and I’m shocked when I go to rehearsal and see a show that people can see for 15, 20 bucks [in Oklahoma], and they’re better than the ones people pay $150 to see in New York.”
Bare Bones
Theater companies have been around in Oklahoma since the 1920s when Theatre Tulsa, opened its doors. It’s the oldest continuously operating theater company west of the Mississippi.
Groups like Theatre Tulsa and, in Oklahoma City, Lyric Theatre, are integral to a city’s cultural scene. But there’s always room for one more. That’s exactly what Tyler Woods was counting on when he brought Reduxion Theatre Company to Oklahoma City.
“Any time you can specialize in something, I think, means you’ll be better at it than anyone else,” he says. “I think a certain degree of specialization is wonderful, but too much can be a bad thing, and it’s important for theaters to [not become] too niche or too small so they can offer one thing and one thing only. It’s important to do what you do with your own unique voice…in that way, we are, I believe, fulfilling a niche of theater that is intimate and literally in your lap in that it is pared down and reduced.”
“As far as the development of theater companies, from a historical standpoint, it goes to the idea of Oklahomans having this ability to create and come up with ideas and new concepts. It’s kind of the DNA of the state to explore acting or music,” says Moore. “The other thing that bears is the link between opportunity for creative endeavors and economic prosperity. Oklahoma has been in a cycle of prosperity the last 10 years or so, so I think that if there are economic conditions to allow people to pursue these types of activities, they will.”
Reduxion Theatre Company presents Shakespeare productions at their most minimal.
“My wife Erin and I started this thing,” Woods says. “We were living in New York City in 2006, and we were both acting and directing a little bit. We wanted to take an approach to Shakespeare that was bare-bones, stripped down, to get in touch with the beautiful poetry of Shakespeare.”
Reduxion’s first performance was Hamlet, performed off-off-Broadway with seven actors. The production was well received; it ran for 12 performances. The next year, Reduxion produced As You Like It with 14 actors.
The couple eventually decided to move back to Woods’ home state to lay down roots and to become part of Oklahoma’s theater scene.
“We wanted to be here and bring our unique voice to Oklahoma City,” he says.
Reduxion has performed for thousands in Oklahoma over its last six seasons. “We have the ability to create opportunities for other artists to practice their crafts and open doors to residents to see the talent we have in this town,” Woods says. “That is my ultimate triumph. Playing MacBeth on a national tour was wonderful, and being on All My Children was wonderful, but seeing this happen has been my real joy.”
For The Love, Not Money
Will Carpenter moved to Tulsa when he was a teen. His acting took him all around the country, from Chicago to L.A. He appeared in a short film, Nines, that won an award at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival. But it was a need to be near family that brought him back to Tulsa.
“I was really bummed when I first moved back here,” he admits. “I was bummed because I was like, ‘I don’t get to be in the game anymore.’ I didn’t do anything for the first two years. Then I [performed in] Educating Rita at Theatre Tulsa, and it clicked again, and I’ve been inspired ever since. I’ve run into other people that have similar journeys, and it’s nice to have a common past with these people. It’s been fantastic to share these experiences with new people in Tulsa.”
Carpenter has been acting professionally for more than 20 years. It’s a far cry from his second-grade dream of being a pilot, but he says he feels lucky that he has found a career that keeps him inspired and enthused.
“It’s rare to find something that you’re so passionate about. It’s like becoming a monk. You’re committed to more,” he says. “You’re not going to live well, you’re not going to have a lot of stuff, but you’ll have the magic of performing in front of a lot of people, telling stories that have been around for hundreds of years, and that to me is amazing. That was my road.”
In addition to acting, Carpenter is an artist-in-residence instructor at Harwelden Institute, which means he travels to classrooms, from pre-kindergarten to sixth grade, teaching acting. “It’s tough, because the first thing to go [out of the classroom] is arts, theater, things that help kids listen and with interpersonal skills.”
“Acting is what I do, that’s my job,” says Matthew Alvin Brown. “That, and I teach a couple of courses at the Thelma Gaylord Academy, some of these weird, made-up rock musical classes.”
Brown is a professional actor who has appeared in productions around Oklahoma City. His first paid acting gig was in 1993, and he finally quit his day job in 2007 and has since devoted his career to the stage and teaching the craft. “And it gets rough every couple of months, so you have to take different types of jobs to make ends meet,” he says.
Brown has several career highlights, including flying around a theater in a car during a production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, in which he played the role of Caractacus Pott.
“That was probably the coolest thing I’ve ever done as far as being on stage with the set and technology,” he recalls. “There’s a show I get to do a lot called Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and every time I get to do that it’s my favorite thing in the world. We did a version at Oklahoma City Theatre Company a couple of years ago, and that was probably, emotionally and role-wise, the coolest.
“The best thing I’ve ever been a part of was Passing Strange at The Pollard in Guthrie. Passing Strange is a rock musical that really does what I crave in my art, which is laying comfort with theater. People that don’t like musicals think they’re seeing the play, and people that don’t like plays like seeing the musical. It speaks to anyone with a pulse if they’re willing to listen to it. It was a difficult show to do, but Jerome Stevenson at The Pollard figured out how to do it.”
Brown is comfortable with his decision to act professionally but freely admits it may not be for everyone.
“Oklahoma is decidedly not a hub for the arts, but the good news is that there’s always something going on in this town, whether it be a dance show, a spectacle show, an art piece, guerilla theater…there’s always something going on, and the more people know about it, and the more the rich people will give money to theater taking risks, the better this place will be to develop a scene,” Brown says.
The Ideal Community
Liz Masters has been in the acting game for 25 years now. She appears in productions for various companies throughout Tulsa.
“In college I was a music major, but they always needed people to fill in the chorus for the spring musical, and I hung out with theater people, so I was in ‘the scene,’” she says. Her first production was Crimes of the Heart when she was a student at Northeastern State University.
During college, she was directed by the renowned playwright Edward Albee, who served as an artist-in-residence at NSU while Masters was a student.
“He’s an odd duck,” she recalls of Albee. “It was cool working with a Pulitzer Prize winner. He wasn’t my greatest director, but he was Edward Albee.”
Masters has a 9-to-5 job that allows her to pursue her passion for acting at night and on the weekends. “You give a lot of time to a show. In recent years, I’ve deliberately tried to always have a day job to allow me to have my nights and weekends free to give to the theater. I’ve sacrificed financial potential, but to me it’s worth it.”
And to Masters, performing in seven to eight productions a year is living the dream. “There are definitely more theater companies than there used to be. I’m fine with it…from an actor’s standpoint, there’s so many more options for me.”
What started as a lofty goal for Tom Berenson has now become a part of life. This Broken Arrow optometrist always had an urge to act, but he never made time to do it. Around 1980, he was invited by a patient to become a part of the Broken Arrow Community Playhouse, and his first production, The Diary of Anne Frank, was life-altering.
“I couldn’t believe how wonderful it was,” he recalls. “For the first year or so, if I wasn’t doing a show, I was working on it, doing sound, whatever, just to be there. Last time I sat and tried to figure how many shows I’ve done, it’s got to be between 90 and 100.”
Berenson has portrayed Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof three times and Kris Kringle in Miracle on 34th Street at least five. He’s also played Clem in Will Rogers Follies and appeared in the 2005 Tulsa Theatre Arts Production Camelot, which starred British actor Charles Shaughnessy and former Miss America Susan Powell.
Berenson was part of the award-winning cast of The Gin Game, a production that the Broken Arrow Community Playhouse has traveled internationally to perform and is one of Berenson’s favorites. BACP’s production follows two elderly people who strike up a friendship over gin rummy at a nursing home. The games lead to lengthy conversations about the their lives.
“The lines are hysterical, but the situation is horrible,” he says of The Gin Game. “I think as an actor, I love these kinds of roles because you can really get into them.”
But Berenson’s favorite role, he says, will always be that of Tevye in Fiddler. “The last time I did it, Theatre Tulsa put it on. I got so motivated that when I returned to my office on Monday after the production closed, I went online looking for theater companies, regional or professional, that might be doing [Fiddler] and might be having auditions.
“I was ready to chunk [the business] and go for it. If I were single, if I didn’t have the responsibilities, [I would have] 20 years ago,” he says. “I would have gone to New York. I would have loved to at least tried it.”
When George Washington Miller (“G.W.”) first saw the tall bluestem grass and wild rye spread across northeastern Oklahoma in 1879, he didn’t just see prairie country. He saw raw possibility, an opportunity to build an empire inspired by the legends and myths he dragged from his Kentucky home. This, he realized, was the Wild West, and he and his sons would be its greatest evangelists, building nothing less than a church devoted to their sacred vision of the American frontier and its pioneers. They were imagineers before their time.
G.W. and his sons – Joseph, George Jr. and Zack – parceled together 110,000 acres of Indian Territory land leased from the Ponca, Quapaw and Cherokee tribes and started construction of the 101 Ranch in 1893. Only a few miles from present-day Ponca City, it would grow to become the largest diversified ranch in American history. It also would grow into a self-sufficient colony of sorts and the operational headquarters of the 101 Ranch Wild West Show, a vehicle for spreading the religion of the Wild West across America and later to Europe.
Many tales are told about the origins of the 101’s name, but ultimately, the origin of the name is unimportant. It derives its significance as a moniker for not just a working ranch, but as a focal point for the spread of Wild West mythology. “101” became synonymous with entrepreneurial success and the free-roaming, open air, rough-and-tumble lifestyle of American cowboys.
It Started With Bacon
“The history of the 101 Ranch is worth preserving for lots of reasons. At one time, it was the largest diversified ranch in America. It had the largest herd of buffalo in America. It was the birthplace of the 101 Ranch Wild West Show. The list goes on,” says Joe Glaser, secretary of the 101 Ranch Old Timers Association.
The fortune that enabled the building of his dream came from G.W.’s early investment in cattle. G.W. traded a load of bacon to a Texas rancher for cattle. What was left of the bacon was traded to Ponca Indians for leases on several thousand acres of land near modern day Ponca City. He brought cattle up from Texas and sold them in Kansas and Oklahoma markets.
The original lease served him well as a cattle run. In later years, the 101 added diversified farmlands to its offerings. Crops included wheat, cotton, corn, alfalfa and a variety of vegetables. The ranch diversified as well, providing cattle, bison, hogs, poultry and horses.
Living the cowboy life fueled G.W.’s passion for the Wild West lifestyle. He supervised the cattle drives himself. It was a rugged but completely free way to live, and he loved it. So did his ranchers. It was certainly no way to get rich, but many stayed on with the 101 – even when paychecks were sparse – because they, too, loved the lifestyle.
In 1903, G.W. died of pneumonia, passing away before seeing his dream fully realized. His sons, however, were just as passionate about the dream as their father was. By the time the 101 fell into their hands, it was an enterprise bringing in hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, an absurd amount of money at the time. And absurd amounts of money can bank big dreams.
Many products were hard to come by on the periphery of the frontier. Hard cash was no easier to find than the goods required to operate an endeavor as large as the 101, so the ranch printed its own script, exchangeable for goods and services available on the ranch.
For the most part, the Miller Brothers were clever entrepreneurs, and they independently provided the goods needed to keep the ranch running. At its peak, the 101 boasted a general store, school, cafe, hotel, smithy, leather and saddle shop, dairy, meat-packing plant, a power plant and, later, its own oil refinery. Hundreds of telephone wires kept the various operations of the 101 in touch with each other. But when entrepreneurial methods failed, the brothers weren’t afraid to gun up to make things go their way.
“They broke the laws when they felt like they had to. When somebody got in their way, they – shall I say – moved them out of the way, with whatever means it took. Sometimes it could be lethal,” says historian Michael Wallis, author of The Real Wild West: The 101 Ranch and the Creation of the American West.
Figures differ, but it’s fair to say that during its heyday the 101 employed 3,000 workers. Those workers were informed about the happenings on the ranch, as well as occasional news from the outside world, in the Ranch’s own newspaper, the Bliss Breeze. The 101 was a self-sufficient frontier colony.
Showtime
The year 1905 witnessed the origin of what later came to be known as the 101 Wild West Show. It sprang from the Millers’ newly adopted civic duty of advocating for Oklahoma statehood. The show opened that year to an audience of the National Editors Association plus 60,000 other spectators.
It was a bona fide crowd-pleaser, so the Millers took it on a national tour in 1907. However, the show wasn’t as successful as the Millers had hoped. By the time they ventured into show business, audiences already had their pick of fairs and at least a dozen similar shows, including the legendary Buffalo Bill’s Wild West.
The show did serve to feed the global obsession with the Wild West mythology, though, and a number of its performers became celebrities.
“I believe the ranch represented the ‘spirit’ of America, both to the eastern United States and to the rest of the world. Here was a land endowed with an abundance of natural wealth and also the freedom and space to allow dedicated human enterprise to produce great individual wealth,” says University of Oklahoma history professor Linda Reese.
The first performance of the 101 show featured the Apache leader Geronimo, then a prisoner of war at Fort Sill. At the time of his capture, the American public and the federal government regarded Geronimo as nothing less than a terrorist.
Authorities released him from time to time under the recognizance of show and fair owners. Predictably, he performed stunts such as taking down buffalo at long distances from a moving car. He was also permitted to sell souvenirs at the shows to earn a little money. With the help of shows like the 101, Geronimo shed his notoriety in the eyes of the public and became a hero of sorts.
Bill Pickett was another popular performer in the 101 show. He was the first performing African-American cowboy. His own show, The Pickett Brothers Bronco Busters and Rough Riders Association, born in the 1890s, garnered acclaim and established him as a circuit star. Glad to give up management, he joined the nascent 101 Wild West Show in 1905, mesmerizing crowds with his unique talent for bull wrestling. Not all crowds witnessed his performances, though. America was deeply segregated, and Pickett was forbidden to perform in many towns and cities. Today, his grave on the 101’s Cowboy Hill is one of only a handful of reminders of Pickett’s show.
By the time the 101 Wild West Show began its national tours, there wasn’t anything new about female performers. There was something new about women that could ride and shoot, though. Lillian Smith, capable of doing both well, gained fame as the hated rival of the legendary Annie Oakley. She initially performed with Oakley in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West shows. Their ongoing feud was fodder for national coverage, but after a particularly ugly quarrel, Smith left Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show and found a new home with the Miller brothers.
Smith performed as a ridiculously exaggerated character called, “Princess Wenona of the Sioux.” Over the next decade, she proved herself a better shot than Oakley but never approached Oakley in popularity and fame. After leaving the show, her star fell. In 1930, she died broke and forgotten in Ponca City.
Of all the performers in the 101 Wild West Show, Tom Mix merits special mention. As a kid, Mix dreamed of joining the circus. He spent his childhood mastering horseback riding, knife throwing, shooting and other “western” avocations. He joined the show in 1906, becoming one of its main attractions and leaving his audiences with the impression that he was a true cowboy. He attracted the attention of a burgeoning Hollywood, a film industry unsure of what it wanted to be but knowing the good stuff when it came along.
Mix’s first film, Ranch Life in the Great Southwest, gained immediate acclaim. He was wildly charismatic, embodying everything western in his films. Audiences couldn’t get enough. As America embraced the new medium and theaters sprang up around the country, Mix’s fame grew. Mix inspired Hollywood’s devotion to the western genre, a film niche that endured for five decades.
All told, Mix made 300 westerns. He became, like the Miller brothers but on a much larger scale, an evangelist of the Wild West lifestyle. During his long career, he took on another apostle of the Wild West – a young John Wayne, an actor who eventually surpassed Mix in popularity.
Bad luck, however, plagued the 101 Wild West Show during its entire run. In its first year on the road, a railroad accident and a case of typhoid fever that put the cast out of commission dipped the show into the red.
In 1908, facing intense competition from Buffalo Bill’s Wild West shows, Zack Miller took the show on a European tour. With the growing threat of war in Europe, the British government confiscated the show’s horses for military use. In Germany, some Lakota Sioux cast members were arrested under government suspicion as spies. Fleeing Europe presented itself as the best answer to the show’s growing problems, but Zack struggled to find a ship that would take the Native American members on board. Once they finally did make it home, Joe Miller caused every Native American member of the cast to desert the show when he refused to compensate them for overtime.
The show took a long hiatus while World War I raged. After the armistice, Joe worked hard to resuscitate the show, but to no avail. By 1927, it was clear that the show didn’t have a place in the post-war world, a world embracing movies, and he reluctantly shut it down. Not long after, Joe passed away, and with him went the last interest in the 101’s contribution to the entertainment industry.
The Beginning of the End
“The three brothers carried out the vision of keeping the image of the so-called ‘Wild West’ alive,” says Wallis. “I think of them, in simple terms, as three little boys. Part of them never grew up. They also were very realistic and saw the ranch as a good economic opportunity. But they truly did want to keep the Wild West alive. They did it with the 101. It became a place, ultimately, where the West of myth and the West of reality collided.”
That passion wasn’t enough to keep the 101 intact, though. George Jr.’s death in 1929 marked the beginning of the end for the 101 Ranch. Of the original entrepreneurs and Wild West evangelists, only Zack remained; he was no businessman. For years the Miller brothers played fast and loose with the ranch’s proceeds. All of the brothers drew from the same bank account for their various investments, and nobody paid much attention to increasingly anemic profits. The 101 Wild West Show had been a huge drain on the ranch’s finances. It left behind a trail of lawsuits in the cities it visited. An overwhelmed Zack had no choice but to pay out.
The crash of 1929 and the Great Depression hit the 101 as hard as any corporate endeavor, and in 1937 Zack declared bankruptcy. The federal government seized the 101, divided it into parcels and it sold to individuals. It was an ignominious end to America’s largest ranch. But its legacy as an idea, a tribute to the Wild West lifestyle, lived on in popular culture, particularly in film and television.
In 2008, Tulsa’s Gilcrease Museum acquired the largest collection of 101 Ranch memorabilia in the nation from private collectors. The museum laid out $2 million for almost 4,000 pieces of 101 Ranch history. Among many other pieces, the collection includes many belonging to Lillian Smith. The collection was put on display in 2009, the first comprehensive exhibit of the ranch’s history.
The 101 became a National Historic Site in 1975, but all you’ll find there today are a small picnic area and the restored building that once held the ranch’s headquarters. The remainder of the ranch buildings were lost to dilapidation and fire. The grave of Bill Pickett and a monument to Chief White Eagle, a longtime friend to the Millers, sit on top of Cowboy Hill, recently acquired by the 101 Ranch Old Timers Association.
The ruins of the 101 have a quiet gravity. They mark not just the former site of the long-gone largest ranch in America; they serve as a reminder of the most important pulpit of Wild West mythology in America, a mythology that still runs deep and strong in America.
Hungry customers line up at the Lone Wolf truck in downtown Tulsa. Photo by Casey Hanson.
Not so long ago, Oklahoma City’s food truck fare was not for the faint of heart.
The only offerings to be found required a fierce appetite for both food and danger. This had more to do with location than with the quality of the food itself. For intrepid diners, venturing into crime-riddled parts of south Oklahoma City yielded a cornucopia of late-night taco and torte trucks. Another mecca for foodies – alas, one still occasionally plagued by drive-by shootings – was Bobo’s Chicken, a trailer offering the kind of fried delicacies that mouth-watering memories are made of.
It’s hard to believe that, just a few short years later, the popularity of Oklahoma food trucks has exploded. Lured by the twin siren songs of great food and ease of access, many diners in both Oklahoma City and Tulsa can find gourmet goodies just a short stroll up the sidewalk. In OKC, the revitalization of the Plaza District and Uptown, along with monthly block parties on the corner of Hudson and Eighth streets, have provided the perfect venue for mobile dining. In Tulsa, the establishment of the Guthrie Green in the Brady Arts District has proven to be a beacon for food trucks and mobile foodies alike.
“Nowhere else can you dine on Vietnamese-French fusion, Italian, street tacos, gourmet hot dogs, pizza, gyros, upscale comfort food and, of course, delectable mini-doughnuts, all in one beautiful spot,” says Laken Gooch, owner and operator of Lick Your Lips Mini Donuts. “Guthrie Green has been a major supporter of the Tulsa food truck scene, and both the operators and patrons are winners in having such a wonderful space downtown.”
“The push for food trucks at Guthrie Green was a real help,” says Tuck Curren, owner and chef of Tulsa’s Local Table. “After that, lots of festivals wanted food trucks.”
But Oklahoma has long been home to great parks, events and neighborhoods. Why, all of a sudden, the passion for mobile meals?
A Culinary Explosion
“Food trucks are taking off for several reasons,” says Mike Bausch, owner and operator of Andolini’s Pizzeria. “The popularity of food trucks on TV reality shows and in pop culture has removed the stigma associated with the concept of ‘dirty’ food trucks. Great, eclectic, niche foods can thrive in a nomadic environment to test out different groups and areas. That’s the beauty of the food truck – a location that can’t sustain sales all day long or on the weekend for a brick-and-mortar restaurant can be the ideal place for a food truck.”
“People like being able to walk up to a truck and get restaurant-quality food,” says Josh Lynch, owner and operator of The Dog House, one of Tulsa’s longest running mobile food operations.
The Dog House is the ultimate example of what many food trucks are banking on – variety and creativity in cuisine. Dog House customers can choose among such options as the Tulsa Dog with mustard, onions, jalapeno relish, bacon and barbecue sauce; the Chong (peanut butter, cream cheese, sriracha and pickles); or the Seattle Dog with cream cheese, spicy mustard and onions. Perhaps even more than ease of access, this type of innovative fare is responsible for Oklahomans’ outpouring of affection for food trucks.
But eager diners are not the only factor in the food truck popularity equation, Lynch says. The recent recession also played a part.
“I think when the economy took a dive, a lot of chefs had to close their restaurant doors,” Lynch says. “In turn, they purchased food trucks. A food truck is cheaper to operate than a brick-and-mortar [restaurant].”
Guy Romo, owner and chef of OKC’s Moto Chef, also credits the recent downturn in the nation’s economy.
“Recessions in major markets over the past 10 years have affected the restaurant industry in many significant ways,” he says, “especially those operating outside of a corporate chain. High-end, privately owned restaurants employ chefs at high salaries, so they are the first to go when times are tough. These chefs began seeking out a way to continue their trade on an independent basis with low overhead and very few start-up costs. Food trucks were the answer, and the public has responded to a non-pretentious environment that provides high quality food at reasonable prices.”
While less expensive to operate than a traditional establishment, running a food truck still comes with costs and complications for operators.
“There are so many pros and cons with a food truck,” Bausch says. “A full site needs so many small things that a truck never needs. Overhead [costs] that people take for granted, like maintaining a bathroom, lights, tables, chairs, underground plumbing, etc.…the truck gets to avoid most of those costs or does them on a much smaller scale. However, with a truck, nothing is a guarantee. Weather can blow an entire day, while it has significantly less impact on a brick-and-mortar site. When it comes to permits, they’re the same as a regular business. Our health department verification and business license are nearly identical between the truck and our full restaurants.”
Logistics are one of the biggest challenge for the food truck industry, says Romo says.
“One must imagine towing or driving a one-ton commercial kitchen, and combining that with the demands of an R.V. in constant motion,” Romo continues. “Propane tanks must be filled and up-to-date on inspection. Water tanks must be filled, utilizing the proper hoses and water sources. Gray water tanks must be emptied and cleaned. Equipment must be latched down and checked again. All paper goods, utensils, small wares and ingredients must be properly stored to avoid spills while in transport. Food must be kept at the proper temperatures during transport in order to meet health code requirements. A power source must be available, which in most cases requires a generator.
“A mobile food health department license must be up to date and posted within the facility, and an additional special events permit is required prior to most events that host food trucks,” Romo says. “These are only a few of an endless list, most of which I had to figure out as I went along.”
Takin’ It to the Streets
Events are where many food trucks gain much of their success and popularity.
“The whole point of a food truck is events,” Bausch says. “Some trucks, like ours, seek to have a baseline of daily sales at set locations, but a lot just live off a few days a week or even a few weekends a summer at big events. At the same time, a big misconception of large events is how profitable they are (or aren’t) for food trucks.”
Most big events charge more than just a fee, usually taking a percentage of sales – “sometimes up to 20 percent, along with a fee,” Bausch adds. “At some events, if we don’t have a crazy line, we could end up losing money. That’s because every event is a gamble…Nothing is ever guaranteed, and seeking the customer, seeking the sale, is the only way to achieve success in this business model.”
“People and location are two of the key ingredients when deciding where to sell,” says Gooch. “If there aren’t any people, then obviously you won’t have anyone to sell to. You need an area with lots of foot traffic and accessibility. Convenience is part of the allure of food trucks; no reservations are needed to visit.”
The most important consideration, however, is the food and the truck itself. According to Romo, for a food truck to be successful, it needs “a unique menu with items that are quickly and efficiently served, a visually appealing exterior, plenty of product to last through the demands of an event, as well as a smiling, informative and helpful staff.”
“It’s all in advertising and having a good enough product to back up what you’re advertising,” says Philip Phillips, owner of Tulsa’s Lone Wolf Banh Mi. “Obviously, being close to a bunch of people is not a bad thing. First thing, the event can’t rely on food trucks to be the only entertainment. You have to create a fun environment for people to want to come. You have to make good food to keep them coming.”
Many operators agree that proactive promotion is crucial for a food truck operation to be successful. Like many businesses, the use of social media is integral for mobile food vendors. Sites like Twitter and Facebook let customers know about new menu items, hang-ups with operations and, most importantly, where to find the food.
“Social media is definitely a must,” Gooch says. “We use Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for location, event and new doughnut announcements. With almost everyone always plugged into technology, you want to take advantage of possibly grabbing the attention of that potential customer walking nearby that happens across your post. We are always posting pictures of our yummy doughnuts and adventures to tempt our followers.”
As with all popular trends, some have wondered if Oklahoma’s love affair with food trucks will stand the test of time. So far, the signs are as good as the food.
“Food truck customers interact more, not only with one another, but with the chefs and cooks that are preparing their orders,” Romo says. “We know the names of our regulars, their tastes and preferences. We shake their hands and welcome them back, and I believe that sets food trucks apart from the day-to-day restaurant grind. This trend isn’t going anywhere soon.
“The food truck scene has developed in Oklahoma City due to the efforts of arts districts and small business owners that have organized events in support of this new OKC trend,” Romo continues. “I give that credit primarily to Elemental Coffee and Ludivine, and [to] the Plaza District on Northwest 16th Street. As more of these districts develop, the food truck business will continue to grow and to thrive.”
“Tulsa and OKC, respectively, both have bright, burgeoning food truck scenes,” Bausch says. “We’ve been down to OKC twice, once to help Moore tornado victims, and the second time to one of the H&8th events. What we’ve seen in OKC is right in line with what we’ve seen in Tulsa: A lot of ingenuity and craftsmanship coming together in a positive environment. The competitive nature of business is natural, but all the trucks we’ve seen are really into being a part of a larger community.”
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Oklahoma Magazine wants to send you and guest to see Sarah Brightman, the world's best selling soprano, in a special engagement.
Sarah Brightman: Dreamchaser World Tour Sunday, 10/13/13
6:00PM
BOK Center
Winners will be selected at random from all entries at 12:00 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 10. Winners will be contacted by email and tickets must be claimed at the Oklahoma Magazine office in Tulsa by 5 p.m., Friday, Oct. 11.
