Ends Sunday, Dec. 15
If you haven’t had a look at the Philbrook Festival of Trees, this weekend is your final chance to see this special exhibit and sale of holiday décor and gifts. The 2013 edition of this annual tradition has featured all the highlights making Philbrook a holiday attraction – including the Garden Glow garden lights display and special art parties. See what makes Philbrook Festival of Trees uniquely Tulsa at 2727 S. Rockford Road. For more, go online to www.philbrook.org.
Sunday, Dec. 15
Once upon a time, people believed the sound of cannon fire and gunfire kept bad spirits afraid of the loud blasts far away as families celebrated Christmas. The idea sounds foreign to us today, but some rituals are worth remembering to remind us of our heritage. Historic Fort Reno does just that, building on the best aspects of such tradition. The 17th Christmas Guns Celebration will be 2-4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 15, at Historic Fort Reno, 7107 W. Cheyenne St., El Reno (approximately 35 miles west of downtown Oklahoma City). Children can visit with Father Time and get a bag of treats, everyone can partake of the chili cook-off, and all can enjoy this old-fashioned salute to the holidays at an historical landmark from another lifetime. For more, call 405.262.3987.
Through Dec. 21
The Tulsa Artists’ Coalition presents The Best of Edition Prep: Exceptional Art by Edison Art Students at the TAC Gallery, 9 E. Brady St. This juried art show of work by students at Tulsa’s Edison Preparatory School is an annual event highlighting the skill and work of exceptional high school students working in a variety of media. Like many other events from last week, the opening night event and reception on Dec. 6 – slated to coincide with December’s regular Brady Arts District First Friday Art Crawl – was postponed because of snow to Friday, Dec. 13, at 6 p.m. Check it out this time around and meet today those artists who move Tulsa’s creative side tomorrow. For more, visit www.tacgallery.org.
Thursday, Dec. 12, 7:20 p.m.
Christian music goes beyond church choirs and hymns when recording artist TobyMac comes to town for the next stop of his Hits Deep Tour. The six-time Grammy Award winner is scheduled to play the BOK Center, 200 S. Denver Ave., at 7:20 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 12, with guest artists Brandon Heath, Mandisa, Jamie Grace, Colton Dixon, Chris August and Capital Kings. Singing music more in the style of hip-hop and pop music, TobyMac is a multiplatinum-selling artist with instant recognition everywhere he plays, and T-Town is certainly no exception. Tickets are $20-$39.50 at www.bokcenter.com.
Saturday, Dec. 14, 4 p.m.
The University of Tulsa Golden Hurricane men’s basketball team is about to find itself in Sooner territory. TU takes on the University of Oklahoma at the Lloyd Noble Center, 2900 S. Jenkins Ave., on the OU campus in Norman at 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 14. Will OU continue its offensive excellence in play, or will TU find a way to break up the party? Tickets are $5-$30 at www.soonersports.com.
Wednesday, Dec. 18, 8 p.m.
First it was Mrs. Carter, now Mr. Shawn Carter (AKA Jay Z) is calling on Oklahoma City and the Chesapeake Energy Arena, 100 W. Reno Ave. The hip-hop, media and sports mogul brings his Magna Carter World Tour to these shores at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 18, making it the second time in as many months that Jay Z has been in the City – he and wife Beyonce caused more than a little stir at an Oklahoma City Thunder game in late November, most likely taking in the game of Kevin Durant, star client of Jay Z’s Roc Nation Sports. Can we expect to see the lovely Mrs. again? There’s only one way to find out. Tickets are $32.50-$125 at www.chesapeakearena.com.
In an ideal world, there would be little connection between politics and art. In my mind, art of all types is the singular expression of one artist's perception of the world around him – be it sociological, aesthetic, philosophical or political. Overt politics expressed in art tends to turn off half of potential viewers and diminishes what might be a terrific work. Art is the ongoing search for human truth while politics if the ongoing search for some human's power.
The nexus of art and politics has always disturbed me. From the days of World War II and portrayals of the "yellow devils" to other propaganda-driven works throughout our history, this nexus has served politics more than it has art. Just a few years ago, a recorded conversation involving White House staff demonstrated the desire the political class has to control art, when it was asserted that artists seeking NEA support would have a better chance of support if artists' work somehow advanced the political agenda of the President of the United States. We have also seen for years how financial support for artists tends to flow to artists who are amenable to acting as agents of the state.
It's a repugnant tactic with a historical basis – and it is certainly not new.
Through January 5, 2014, the delightful Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art in Norman is taking a unique look at how the nexus of art and politics shaped Cold War art in Latin America. While propaganda art from the U.S. and the former Soviet Union have often been explored in exhibits, this exhibit takes a look at another important Cold War part of the world and how art was… influenced to shape public perception and opinion.
From the museum: "During the Cold War, the Organization of American States, formerly the Pan American Union, actively promoted artists from Latin America and the Caribbean that demonstrated affiliation with influential modernist styles such as Constructivism, Surrealism, Art Informel and Abstract Expressionism.
Jose Gomez Sicre, the Visual Arts Specialist of the OAS, exhibited artists sympathetic to international trends in contemporary art with the intention of demonstrating the cosmopolitanism of Latin artists and emphasizing freedom of expression in the American republics.
Libertad de Expresión examines how both the OAS and its cultural institution, the Art Museum of the Americas, advanced Latin American art and democratic values during the Cold War. Ironically, Gomez Sicre’s support for freedom of expression did not include artists of a socialist or communist bent, and he refused to exhibit leftists at the museum.
The exhibition features more than 60 artists, including Joaquin Torres Garcia, Roberto Matta and Jesus Rafael Soto."
This fascinating exhibit is a must-see for scholars seeking a better understanding of the role of the arts in manipulating public opinion. It may also be revealing to those interested in the complex nature of this country's relationships with Latin America. Interestingly, by restricting art communicating Leftist/Marxist messages, the OAS might well have set in motion Leftist activism in Latin America today. Censorship is censorship, no matter the goal, and the end result of the art community is often to revolt against all types of censorship.
Being old enough to remember the Cold War, and being fortunate enough to have traveled to oppressive dictatorships, it isn't a personal distaste for the above-mentioned policy that makes this exhibit most interesting to me. It's the backlash. The act of creating art is not a clinical thing; it's an almost violent struggle with the individual artist's personal perspective and observations combating the need of the aesthetic. I might loathe the messages of collectivism and servitude to the state; but more repulsive to me are any efforts to restrict the observations of true artists. From the example accentuated in this exhibit to today's American policy of financially supporting only counter-culture artists, art and politics are like oil and water. They do not – and should not – ever mix.
This terrific exhibit is a good illustration why that is so.
Libertad de Expresión continues at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art continues through January 5, and is well worth the effort to see – and to study. For more information, visit www.ou.edu/fjjma/.
-Michael W. Sasser is Oklahoma Magazine’s senior editor and an award-winning journalist. For comments or suggestions, reach him at [email protected].
Estate sales are like the older, wiser sister of garage sales. They matured, got an education and saw the world. When there are goods to be sold, many people call specialists like Lottie Stevens, a professional appraiser who runs Sales by Lottie, an estate sale company in Tulsa that has garnered an impressive number of followers.
“I have people who have said to me, ‘I can’t come to anymore of your sales, my house is full,’” recalls Stevens.
Stevens says that these days, people have estate sales for different reasons. “It used to be mainly death or they were moving into a facility,” she explains. “Now, it is either downsizing or moving across the country for job-related business.”
When delving into the world of lifetime accruals and collections, one may get used to seeing unique items, but some pieces cannot be forgotten. In the Oklahoma City area, Matt McNeil of McNeil Liquidations says his company specializes in large and unusual sales. He once had the unique challenge of trying to sell a collection of erotic Japanese netsukes, ceremonial ivory carvings.
“They were pretty graphic,” he says. “The customers would have to ask to see them because obviously we’re in the heart of the Bible Belt, and there are too many people who could have been easily offended.”
Stevens says one of her most memorable finds was three pieces of Royal Copenhagen Flora Danica, dishes originally designed for the Dutch king and queen. She says it is the most expensive dishware out there, something she has searched for but never expected to find in Tulsa. Maybe it shouldn’t have been that surprising because, she considers, “We forget we have incredible roots, and we attracted money with oil and gas for so many years that there are some really cool things.”
It takes a lot of training to be able to identify and value the diverse array of items that are sold at estate sales. Both Stevens and McNeil have more than 20 years of experience, and they continue to educate themselves in new areas. Their vast expertise allows their clients to trust them wholly.
“It’s a trust industry, if you think about it,” says Stevens. “They’re handing me keys. It’s probably a hard step for a lot of families that have lost their family member.” Stevens believes that being an advocate for the families is a crucial part of her job. “I do exactly what I love,” she says. “I have a passion for it in my own little weird way.”
While this blog might be mostly focused on the visual and live performing arts because of my own personal interests and the emphasis of my exploration of the local scene, as a relatively new Tulsan, music will occasionally find its way into this (cyber) space. Even without theater to accompany it.
Timeliness dictates this announcement that Kings Of Leon announced today the second leg of their American tour, which includes a return visit to the BOK Center on April 8, 2014, in support of their latest album, Mechanical Bull. The second leg of the 2014 Mechanical Bull Tour begins on March 19, 2014 at the Ak-Chin Pavilion in Phoenix, AZ. Produced by Live Nation and presented by Klipsch Audio, this leg will feature opener Local Natives. Tickets for the general public go on sale starting Friday, December 13 at www.livenation.com.
Kings of Leon, of course, have a strong connection to Oklahoma with all four founding members with Oklahoma roots. Moreover, their crossover sound and appeal shows influences of their roots in the Sooner State.
The result?
Tremendous appeal in Oklahoma and an expected surge of interest when tickets go on sale is the result.
With a venue as universally praised as the BOK Center, a team like the gang at SMG Tulsa and Kings of Leon, this will be a huge night for music lovers in Tulsa.
What: Kings of Leon tickets on sale
When: December 13, 2013 (for April 8, 2014 concert)
Where: BOK Center
How: www.livenation.com
-Michael W. Sasser is Oklahoma Magazine’s senior editor and an award-winning journalist. For comments or suggestions, reach him at [email protected].
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