Saturday, Jan. 12

This signature gala goes “chocolate, lollipops and gumballs galore” at the Hyatt Regency Tulsa, 100 E. Second St. The Parent Child Center of Tulsa holds its annual benefit to raise money that funds its work to prevent child abuse and nurture healthy families in the Tulsa area. The ball begins at 6 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 12, with cocktails followed by dinner and the main program at 7:30 p.m. The night includes an auction of fantastic packages, such as a weekend getaway for eight on a private Lear jet courtesy of Omni Air, a private dinner for 25 at Biga restaurant, a custom piece from Susan Sadler Jewelry and a luxury condo getaway at Cabo Monte Christo in Mexico, among others. Tickets are $200 each. Lisa Antry will also be honored Saturday with the Guardian Angel Award for her work with the Parent Child Center. For more, go online to www.parentchildcenter.org.
 

Saturday, Jan. 12, at 7 p.m.

It’s been a while since Stoney LaRue called Stillwater home, but the Red Dirt music he helped define and hone as a local sound can still be heard across the region favorable to rowdy country with a rock kick. Just like a bookmarker holding open the page to a certain passage, Cain’s Ballroom, 423 N. Main St., keeps the light on for traveling song makers like LaRue to welcome them home and give the stage over to returning artists to play their latest and their favorites. LaRue plays Cain’s following opening act, the Bo Phillips Band. Doors open at 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 12, and tickets are $18-$28. For tickets and more information, go to www.cainsballroom.com.
 

Saturday, Jan. 23, at 2 p.m.

They generally don’t call it “bedlam” unless it happens on a football field, but when the Cowboys take on the Sooners on the basketball court, you can guarantee there will be a maddening buzz of competition in the air. The University of Oklahoma hosts Oklahoma State University in men’s basketball at the Lloyd Noble Center on the OU campus, 2900 S. Jenkins Ave., in Norman. Game time is at 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 12. The game will also air on ESPN2. For tickets ($5-$40), go to www.soonersports.com.
 

Saturday, Jan. 5-Sunday, Jan. 6

What’s big, bad and rolls over its competition to the delight of hundreds of spectators? That wasn’t so hard, because everyone knows that Monster Jam is headed for T-Town and the BOK Center, 200 S. Denver Ave. This event for motor enthusiasts and their families brings in custom-designed trucks and vehicles created to smash anything that gets in its way. The fun starts at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 5 and at 3 p.m. Jan. 6. Tickets are $27-$37 each available online at www.bokcenter.com.
 

Opens Friday, Jan. 4

Art can be a lonely pursuit, but it doesn’t have to be. Processed: Silkscreen Prints by Schmickle, Yang and Live4This is the next show at Living Arts of Tulsa, 307 E. Brady St., where audiences can view pieces by artists Denny Schmickle, May Yang and Live4This (Aaron Whisner and Darshan Philips). Described as the intersection of graphic design, fine art and pop culture, silkscreen printing asks an essential query: What is art and what is design? Together, these artists explore answers. The show runs Jan. 4-24, and opening night is 6-9 p.m., part of the district’s First Friday Gallery Walk features. For more, go online to www.livingarts.org.

Friday, Jan. 4, at 8 p.m.

Western swing plays on with Asleep at the Wheel. The Austin-based band plays the Sooner Theatre in Norman at 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 4. Ray Benson and his gang bring on the country, echoing the sounds of Route 66 and dusty troubadours riding train cars along with sharp-dressing cowboy jazz bands such as those under Bob Wills and his like. After four decades on the road, Asleep at the Wheel is still going, and entertains, once more, in Oklahoma. Tickets for the Sooner Theatre show are $40-$50, available online at www.soonertheatre.com.
 

Concludes Sunday, Jan. 6

Oklahoma City Museum of Art is about to wrap up an exquisite exhibit of 57 works by well-known American artists. American Moderns, 1910-1960: From O’Keeffe to Rockwell runs through Sunday, Jan. 6, and includes work by Georgia O’Keeffe and Norman Rockwell – referenced in the title – as well as Stuart Davis, Milton Avery, Elie Nadelman, Joseph Stella, Marsden Hartley, Arthur Dove and others. As a sampling of work lifted from a 50-year span, the collection from the Brooklyn Museum is unrivaled in its scope of the period. And, if it’s true that art is an exercise of the spirit, then American culture of the mid-20th century was as varied and magnificent as images it rendered. The exhibit will open next at Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, N.Y.,  on Feb. 15. OKCMOA is located at 415 Couch Drive, Oklahoma City, and hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. every day except Thursday (10 a.m.-9 p.m.) and Sunday (noon-5 p.m.). Admission is $5-$12. Go to www.okcmoa.com for more.
 

Friday, Jan. 4, at 7 p.m.

Old rivals clash again as the University of Oklahoma Sooners face Texas A&M’s Aggies at the AT&T Cotton Bowl. The game will be in Arlington, Texas, at Cowboys Stadium, but you can watch from home on the Fox television network beginning at the 7 p.m. kick-off on Friday, Jan. 4. The No. 9 Aggies may have pushed on to the Southeastern Conference and left the Big 12 to the Sooners, but there’s plenty of healthy team rivalry left between them, which should satisfy supporters of both teams. Learn more about the Cotton Bowl at www.attcottonbowl.com/gameday.
 

Ends Sunday, Jan. 6

Don’t let this be the year you swore you’d learn how to ice skate and didn’t. Winterfest at the BOK Center bids the season farewell when it closes Sunday, Jan. 6, which means the Third Street corridor will reopen once the giant Christmas tree has been taken down, the strings of lights removed, the temporary shelters and tables hauled away and the skating rink that has been the center attraction since Thanksgiving melted (or whatever is done to dismantle it). Head out now at Third Street and Denver Avenue to take advantage of carriage rides, outdoor ice skating, concessions and more fun before it’s gone. Go to www.bokcenter.com for schedules and more.