Best Bets for Nov. 4-6, 2011: Paul Simon, “Hamlet,” The Girlie Show and more
Paul Simon (AP file)
Here are my picks for the Best Bets happening around Oklahoma City this weekend. For more events happening around the state, go to www.wimgo.com.
1. Catch Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Paul Simon in concert at 7:30 p.m. Sunday at the Civic Center, 201 N Walker. Information: 297-2264 or www.okcciviccenter.com.
2. Watch Reduxion Theatre launch its “Original Sins” 2011-12 season in tragic fashion with William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday at 1613 N Broadway Ave. Information: 651-3191 or www.reduxiontheatre.com.
3. Take in hands-on art activities, story times and tour the special exhibits during “Faded Elegance” and “Poodles and Pastries and Other Important Matters” during Family Day from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive. Information: 236-3100 or www.okcmoa.com.
4. Experience art, food and music by talented women at The Girlie Show from 7 to 11 p.m. Friday and noon to 5 p.m. Saturday at Farmers Public Market, 311 S Klein. Information: www.thegirlieshow.net.
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Oklahoma City Museum of Art receives $50,000 grant from the Hearst Foundation
Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation researcher Dr. Jordan Tang works with a patient as part of the Oklahoma City Museum of Art's new Healing Arts Program.
The William Randolph Hearst Foundation recently awarded a $50,000 grant to the Oklahoma City Museum of Art in support of educational programs and outreach efforts. Museum School classes and camps, Family Day events, Drop-in Art every Saturday afternoon, lectures, and group tours are just a few of the ongoing activities that will benefit from this generous gift. Outreach efforts include establishing relationships with underserved communities and individuals through the museum’s new Healing Arts Program at The Zone at OU Children’s Hospital as well as at Epworth Villa and Cypress Springs memory care centers.
“The William Randolph Hearst Foundation’s grant award is a prestigious affirmation that the Museum’s educational efforts are significant programs for the community,” said Museum President and Chief Executive Officer Glen Gentele in a news release.
The William Randolph Hearst Foundation is a part of The Hearst Foundations, which includes The Hearst Foundation Inc. Combined, they are national philanthropic resources for organizations and institutions working in the fields of education, health, culture, and social service. Their goal is to ensure that people of all backgrounds have the opportunity to build healthy, productive, and inspiring lives.
The charitable goals of The Hearst Foundations reflect the philanthropic interests of William Randolph Hearst. The Hearst Foundation Inc. was founded in 1945 by publisher/philanthropist William Randolph Hearst. In 1948, Hearst established the California Charities Foundation, renamed the William Randolph Hearst Foundation in 1951. Both foundations are national private philanthropies operating independently from The Hearst Corporation. The two foundations are managed as one entity, The Hearst Foundations, sharing the same funding guidelines, leadership, and staff. In addition, it administers two operating programs, the United States Senate Youth Program and the Hearst Journalism Awards program.
Accredited by the American Association of Museums, the Oklahoma City Museum of Art serves more than 125,000 visitors annually from all 50 states and more than 30 countries and presents exhibitions drawn from throughout the world. The museum’s collection covers a period of five centuries with highlights in European and American art from the 19th through 21st centuries, a growing collection of contemporary art, and a comprehensive collection of glass sculpture by Dale Chihuly. The museum boasts the region’s premiere repertory cinema, which screens the finest international, independent, and classic films, and is home to the Museum School, which offers classes for students of all ages as well as art camps for children. Amenities include the Museum Store, a roof terrace, and the Museum Cafe, a full-service restaurant, offering lunch, dinner, Sunday brunch, afternoon tea, a full bar, and catering services.
For more information, go to www.okcmoa.com.
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OKC Museum of Art featuring American Indian Cinema Showcase today-Saturday
The Oklahoma City Museum of Art’s American Indian Cinema Showcase, co-presented with the American Indian Cultural Center and Museum, is tonight-Saturday at the museum’s Noble Theater, 415 Couch Drive.
The showcase begins at 7:30 tonight with a screening of “GRAB,” an intimate portrait of the little-documented Grab Day in the villages of the Laguna Pueblo tribe, who annually throw water and food items from the rooftop of a home to people standing below.
It continues at 5:30 p.m. Friday with “Good Meat,” about one-time star athlete Beau LeBeau (Oglala Lakota) who has grown to weigh 333 pounds—an unhealthy weight that has triggered the onset of Type II Diabetes. His mother’s untimely death from complications due to diabetes motivates him to drop the excessive pounds. Enlisting the help of a physician and nutritionist, he starts exercising and takes up a traditional Lakota diet of buffalo meat and other Native foods.
At 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, the showcase will feature “A Good Day to Die,” which recounts the life story of Dennis Banks, the Native Americanwho co-founded the American Indian Movement (AIM) in 1968 to advocate and protect the rights of American Indians.
The series will include at 5:30 p.m. Saturday a series of documentary short films Sterlin Harjo and Matt Leach made for Tulsa’s This Land Press.
After the screening, the Oklahoma Film Critics Circle will present Harjo with the Tilghman Award in a short ceremony. The awards celebrates achievement in cinema in the state.
Harjo, a 31-year-old member of the Seminole and Creek Nations, has earned international acclaim for films examining contemporary life of Native people. But his feature-length narratives – “Four Sheets to the Wind” in 2007 and “Barking Water” in 2009 – are emotionally rich motion pictures populated by complex characters.
“Sterlin’s films are invested with a humanity and depth of emotion that eludes many of his older, more experienced peers,” says OFCC President Rod Lott in a news release. “In a short period of time, Sterlin has really raised the bar for Oklahoma filmmakers. He more than deserves the Tilghman for his commitment to his art.”
OFCC’s 19 member critics choose as recipients of the award those individuals who have made significant contributions to film, advanced awareness of film in Oklahoma or highlighted Oklahoma as the home of talented and productive filmmakers, actors and others in the industry. All The Oklahoman’s full-time film critics, including me, are members of the group.
For more information on the showcase, go to www.okcmoa.com.
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Oklahoma Film Critics Circle to honor Sterlin Harjo with Tilghman Award for achievement in film
Sterlin Harjo
The Oklahoma Film Critics Circle has honored filmmaker Sterlin Harjo with the 2011 Tilghman Award celebrating achievement in cinema in the state.
The OFCC will present Harjo with the Tilghman Award in a short ceremony Saturday after a screening of his most recent works, a series of documentary shorts for Tulsa’s This Land Press. The screening, which begins at 5:30 p.m., will be at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive, as part of the museum’s American Indian Cinema Showcase.
Harjo, a 31-year-old member of the Seminole and Creek Nations, has earned international acclaim for films examining contemporary life of Native people. But his feature-length narratives – “Four Sheets to the Wind” in 2007 and “Barking Water” in 2009 – are emotionally rich motion pictures populated by complex characters.
“Sterlin’s films are invested with a humanity and depth of emotion that eludes many of his older, more experienced peers,” says OFCC President Rod Lott in a news release. “In a short period of time, Sterlin has really raised the bar for Oklahoma filmmakers. He more than deserves the Tilghman for his commitment to his art.”
OFCC’s 19 member critics choose as recipients of the award those individuals who have made significant contributions to film, advanced awareness of film in Oklahoma or highlighted Oklahoma as the home of talented and productive filmmakers, actors and others in the industry. All The Oklahoman’s full-time film critics, including me, are members of the group.
Raised in Holdenville and now living in Tulsa, Harjo began his filmmaking career while he was an art student at the University of Oklahoma. He credits a film class of Misha Nedeljkovich there with introducing him to the motion pictures of John Cassavetes and other independent-minded directors.
“It really opened my eyes to foreign films and independent films,” Harjo says in the release. “He (Nedeljkovich) introduced me to all these different filmmakers and … the fact that you could make your own kind of film and it didn’t have to be like the stuff you see coming out of Hollywood.”
After launching into film, Harjo was selected to the Sundance Institute Filmmaker Lab. There he met producer Chad Burris, a Weatherford native, and the pair collaborated on a short film, “Goodnight Irene,” before tackling a larger project based on Harjo’s screenplay.
That resulting work, “Four Sheets to the Wind,” premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. The film tells the story of a young man named Cufe Smallhill (Cody Lightning) who goes to live with his troubled sister after the death of their father. The movie drew strong critical acclaim and earned a Sundance Special Jury Prize for Tamara Podemski, who portrayed Cufe’s sister. The actress later earned an Independent Spirit Award nomination for her performance.
In 2009, Harjo wrote and directed “Barking Water,” a haunting road film about a dying man and his ex-lover traveling across Oklahoma to visit the man’s estranged son. The movie also premiered at Sundance and has been screened around the world.
“I just don’t see myself making films about any other place,” Harjo says. “I mainly tell stories about contemporary Native people from specific tribes — usually Seminole and Creek — and the history of those tribes are that they were displaced from their homeland and put in Oklahoma. There’s a whole dynamic there that’s already created; it’s already complex, and it’s already going to influence my storytelling.”
Previous Tilghman Award recipients are documentary filmmaker Bradley Beesley, Oklahoma City Museum of Art film curator Brian Hearn and Circle Cinema Foundation president Clark Wiens.
The Tilghman Award is named for William Matthew “Bill” Tilghman, widely credited with being the first individual to make a feature-length movie in what is now Oklahoma. He served as a deputy U.S. marshal and police chief in Oklahoma City, among other law-related positions. Tilghman also served as a state senator. In 1908, he made “A Bank Robbery,” which starred real-life bank robber Al Jennings recreating one of his crimes.
It was the first of several films Tilghman set in the state. In 1915, the lawman-turned-filmmaker made “Passing of the Oklahoma Outlaws,” again starring actual criminals and the good guys who chased them. He is known for his attempts to deglamorize the outlaw villain and for striving to prove there are no outlaw heroes.
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Halloween is the season for frights and fun across Oklahoma
Carved pumpkins sit on display at the Oklahoma City Zoo for the annual Haunt the Zoo. (By Paul Hellstern, The Oklahoman)
From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman. For more Halloween-related events, go to www.wimgo.com.
‘Tis the season for frights and fun
From spine-tingling terrors to family-friendly adventures, venues across Oklahoma are offering a variety of entertainment options leading up to Halloween.
The Headless Horseman will gallop back to the Golden Age of Radio, a sampling “Master of Suspense’s” top cinematic offerings will receive a high-definition upgrade, and a legendary silent movie will get an eerie organ accompaniment this weekend as Oklahomans prepare for Halloween, which falls on Monday this year.
From zombie invasions to magic lanterns, an uncanny array of Halloween-theme events is taking place across the state over the next few days. For even more spine-chilling and family-friendly options, go to www.wimgo.com.
Janet Leigh is shown in character as Marion Crane in the famous shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 thriller "Psycho." A high-definition version of the movie will be screened Friday at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. (AP file photo)
Hi-Def Hitch: Watch some of Alfred Hitchcock’s classic films on the big screen for the first time in high definition at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art’s Noble Theater, 415 Couch Drive. This weekend’s movie lineup: “Psycho” at 5:30 p.m. Friday, “The Birds” at 8 p.m. Friday, “Torn Curtain” at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, “Topaz” at 8 p.m. Saturday and “Frenzy” at 2 p.m. Sunday. Information: 236-3100 or www.okcmoa.com.
Harding Fine Arts Academy’s “Zombie Prom”: See the horror/comedy, loosely based on a 1950s comic book, at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday at the school, 3333 N Shartel. Information: 702-4322 or www.hardingfinearts.org.
Magic Lantern Celebration: Experience “a night of light instead of fright” Sunday at this annual Paseo Arts District event, organized by Theatre Upon a StarDanceSwan. From 3 to 6 p.m. Sunday, children can make their own costumes, and from 6 to 7 p.m., they can participate in the “Spin and Sparkle Parade.” Information: 525-2688 or www.thepaseo.com.
Martin Nature Park’s Haunted Hike: Take a guided 30-minute walk in the woods among spiders, bats and snakes and other creepy creatures starting at 5 p.m. Saturday at the park, 5000 W Memorial. Pre-registration is required. Information: 755-0676 or www.okc.gov/parks/martin_park.
“Nosferatu,” Norman: Hear John Schwandt and the mighty Möller Municipal Theatre Organ add the soundtrack to the silent film classic “Eine Symphonie des Grauens” (“Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror”) at 8 p.m. Friday at the University of Oklahoma’s Sharp Concert Hall, Catlett Music Center, 500 W Boyd. A pre-concert lecture is set for 7 p.m. Information: 325-4101 or www.ou.edu/finearts/events.
Ancient Radio Players’ “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow: Ride Across America,” Ada: Watch the Oklahoma-based radio troupe’s voice actors and Foley artists participate in a nationwide campaign performing live radio dramas based on the Washington Irving classic at 7 p.m. Saturday at Faust Hall at East Central University. Information: http://ancientradioplayers.tripod.com.
“Evil Dead: The Musical,” Drumright: See the horrifically humorous stage show based on Sam Raimi’s cult classic film franchise at 8:30 p.m. Friday and 7:30 and 10:30 p.m. Saturday at Scream Country Haunted Forest, 15853 W 101 St. S. Performances continue Nov. 4-5. Information: (918) 409-0274 or www.evildeadok.com.
Scream Country Haunted Forest, Drumright: Get caught up in the zombie apocalypse with the long-running Halloween attraction’s new theme, “Forest of the Dead,” from 7:30 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Information: (918) 607-3327 or www.screamcountry.com.
Bright Night of Not-So-Frightening Fun: Explore science in three haunted laboratories from 6 p.m. Friday to 8:30 a.m. Saturday at Science Museum Oklahoma, 2100 NE 52. The event will last all night. Select museum exhibits will be available as sleeping areas for guests who want to spend the night at the museum. Information: 602-6664 or www.sciencemuseumok.org.
Speakeasy’s Halloween Party: Listen to local bands Gum and Defining Times, participate in a costume contest and take advantage of Mustang Brewing Co. beer specials at 9
Theatre Upon a StarDanceSwan performer Patric Wilson appears at a past Magic Lantern Celebration. (Photo by Ken Bird)
p.m. Saturday at 51st Street Speakeasy, 1114 NW 51. Information: 463-0470.
Ghostlight Theatre Club’s “The Man from Earth”: Watch Ghostlight’s production of the last great work from acclaimed science-fiction writer Jerome Bixby, writer of the original “Star Trek” and “The Twilight Zone,” at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday at 3110 N Walker. Information: 286-9412 or www.ghostlightokc.com.
Museum of Osteology’s Halloween Bash: Look at the bones, do a little trick-or-treating and get discounted admission from 6 to 9 p.m. Monday at the skeleton museum, 10301 S Sunnylane. Information: 814-0006 or www.museumofosteology.org.
Bricktown Haunted Warehouse: Venture into the “Pitch Black” with this longtime local favorite, which opens at 6 p.m. Friday-Monday in its new locale, the Coca Cola Bricktown Events Center, 425 E California. Information: www.bricktownokc.com or www.stubwire.com.
Ultimate Terrors Haunted House: Experience the terror beginning at 7 p.m. Friday-Monday at 7000 Crossroads Blvd Suite 3000 at Crossroads Mall. Information: www.ultimateterrors.com.
“The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” Norman: See the cult classic film shown with a live cast at 10 p.m. Monday at Sooner Theatre, 101 E Main. Information: 818-7238.
“The Ghostbusters Halloween Show,” Tulsa: Who you gonna call? How about Ray Parker Jr., The BusBoys and Otis Day, who will play their hits and Halloween favorites like Parker’s “Ghostbusters” theme, at 7 p.m. Friday at River Spirit Event Center, 8330 Riverside Parkway. Information: www.creeknationcasino.com.
Arcadia Lake’s Storybook Forest, Edmond: Take the family on a hayride, roast marshmallows and collect goodies from storybook characters from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. nightly through Monday at Spring Creek Park. Information: 216-7471 or www.edmondok.com.
Haunt the Zoo for Halloween: Spend a fall evening with exotic animals, intricately carved jack-o’-lanterns and eco-friendly candy from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. nightly through Monday at the Oklahoma City Zoo, 2101 NE 50. Information: 424-3344 or www.okczoo.com.
HallowZOOeen, Tulsa: Tour the Tulsa Zoo, 6421 E 36 St. N, with your treat-or-treaters from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. nightly through Monday. Information: (918) 669-6600 or www.tulsazoo.org.
Oklahoma City University’s “Little Shop of Horrors”: Feed your love of classic 1950s horror spoofs with OCU’s production of one of the longest-running off-Broadway shows of all time at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday at the Burg Theater, 2501 N Blackwelder. Information: 208-5227 or www.okcu.edu.
Max Schreck appears in a scene from the 1922 film "Eine Symphonie des Grauens" ("Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror"). John Schwandt and the mighty Moller Municipal Theatre Organ add the soundtrack to the silent film classic at 8 p.m. Friday at the University of Oklahoma's Sharp Concert Hall. (Photo provided)
Frontier City’s Fright Fest: Brave the Nightmare Haunted House or take your tot through BooVille from 6 to 11 p.m. Friday, noon to 11 p.m. Saturday and noon to 10 p.m. Sunday at Frontier City, 11501 N Interstate 35 Service Road. Information: 478-2140 or www.frontiercity.com.
Trail of Terror, El Reno: Get spooked along the trail or in the Haunted Barn from 6:30 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday at 2701 W 10. Information: www.trailofterror.org.
Haunted Castle Halloween Festival, Muskogee: Find thrills for the entire family from 6 to 10 p.m. Friday and Sunday at the Castle of Muskogee, 3400 Fern Mountain Road. Information: (800) 439-0658 or www.okcastle.com.
The Hex House, Tulsa: Explore an extreme haunted attraction based on a real event in Tulsa’s past from 7:30 to 11 p.m. nightly through Monday at the southeast corner of 71st and Memorial. Information: www.thehexhouse.com.
HallowMarine, Jenks: Celebrate the season with trick-or-treating, mermaid and pirate dive shows and a bouncy pirate ship from 6:30 to 9 p.m. nightly through Monday at the Oklahoma Aquarium, 300 Aquarium Drive. Information: (918) 296-3474 or www.okaquarium.org.
Terror on 10th Street Haunted House: Be terrorized from 7 to 11 p.m. nightly through Monday during a tour telling the ghostly history of the actual house at 2005 NW 10. Information: 232-1816.
Trick-or-Treat Halloween Spectacular: Take in a giant corn maze, pumpkin patch and hayrides, along with trick-or-treating, from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday at the Orr Family Farm, 14400 S Western. Information: 799-3276 or www.orrfamilyfarm.com.
The Melting Pot’s Murder Mystery Dinner: Bring your sleuthing skills and a hearty appetite to the fondue restaurant’s Bricktown location, 4 E Sheridan, for a special Halloween-theme supper from 7 to 9 p.m. Sunday and Monday. Information: 235-1000.
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“Passages” exhibit closing today at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art
The vast "Passages" exhibit of rare biblical artifacts and manuscripts ends its world-premiere run at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. (Photo by Chris Landsberger, The Oklahoman)
Today is the final day for history buffs, art lovers, cultural explorers and faithful Christians to see “Passages,” a monumental event focusing on the most copied, most quoted, most printed, most banned and most influential book of all time.
The vast exhibition is closing its world-premiere run at 7 tonight at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive. It is next headed to St. Peters Square in Vatican City. Hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. today at the museum.
“Passages,” which celebrates the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible, is the nonsectarian, worldwide traveling exhibition of The Green Collection, among the world’s newest and largest private collections of rare biblical manuscripts and artifacts. The collection is named after the Green family, founder-owners of Oklahoma City’s arts and crafts retailer Hobby Lobby.
More than 50,000 people have visited “Passages” since it opened in May, said Leslie Spears, the museum’s communications manager. It next is headed to St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City.
To read my story about the final weekend of “Passages,” click here.
For more information, go to www.okcmoa.com or www.explorepassages.com.
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Video: “Passages” exhibit entering final weekend at Oklahoma City Museum of Art
History buffs, art lovers, cultural explorers and faithful Christians have only a few days left to check out a monumental event focusing on the most copied, most quoted, most printed, most banned and most influential book of all time.
The vast “Passages” exhibition, making its world premiere right here in Oklahoma, is closing Sunday at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. It is next headed to St. Peters Square in Vatican City.
In this video, NewsOK host Angi Bruss takes a look at “Passages,” the nonsectarian, worldwide traveling exhibition of The Green Collection, among the world’s newest and largest private collections of rare biblical manuscripts and artifacts. The collection is named after the Green family, founder-owners of Oklahoma City’s arts and crafts retailer Hobby Lobby.
More than 50,000 people have visited “Passages” since it opened in May, said Leslie Spears, the museum’s communications manager. The exhibit, which celebrates the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible, closes Sunday at the downtown museum. It next is headed to St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City.
To read my story about the final weekend of “Passages,” click here.
For more information, go to www.okcmoa.com or www.explorepassages.com.
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Beer-tasting, biblical artifacts, breast cancer awareness planned this weekend at OKC Museum of Art
A selection of Bibles is part of the "Passages" exhibit at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. The exhibit that tells the history of the King James Bible will end its run at the museum on Sunday. (Photo by Chris Landsberger, The Oklahoman)
From Friday’s The Oklahoman. To read more about the closing weekend of the “Passages” exhibit of biblical artifacts and manuscripts, click here.
Oklahoma City Museum of Art hosting an array of events this weekend
The museum’s offerings Friday-Sunday cover a wide range of interests — from biblical artifacts to beer-tasting to breast cancer awareness
Biblical artifacts, beer-tasting and breast cancer awareness will be part of a busy weekend at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive.
From 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. Friday, the museum will host its eighth annual ARTonTAP beer-tasting event. More than 80 different beers will be on tap and served up with food from local restaurants and live music from Born in November. The sold-out event, which raises money to support the museum, will be in the Stella Artois Roof Terrace Beer Garden.
Franco Mondini-Ruiz
Texas painter, sculptor and performance artist Franco Mondini-Ruiz, whose exhibit “Poodles & Pastries (and Other Important Matters)” is on view at the museum, plans to put on a new “6 Pack O’Paintings” performance and sell a new selection of free-spirited paintings created especially for the event. Possible titles he is considering for his ARTonTAP paintings include “Fun on Foam,” “Girl in Michael Kors Light” and “Man with a Six Pack.”
In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Mondini-Ruiz also will be at the museum from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday for more painting, pontificating and peddling. Visitors who show their Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure bib will be entered into a free raffle for one of his paintings. A portion of his sales that day will benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
The world premiere run of the vast “Passages” exhibit of rare biblical artifacts and manuscripts will close Sunday at the museum.
Celebrating the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible, “Passages” is the nonsectarian, worldwide traveling exhibition of The Green Collection, among the world’s newest and largest private collections of rare biblical manuscripts and artifacts.
The collection is named for the Green family, founder-owners of Oklahoma City-based arts and crafts retailer Hobby Lobby, who opted to launch the world premiere of “Passages” in their hometown.
For more information, call 236-3100 or go to www.okcmoa.com.
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“Passages” exhibit closing Sunday at Oklahoma City Museum of Art
Ron Hambrick listens to an iPod Touch audio tour as he views the "Passages" exhibit at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art on Monday, Sept. 19. The exhibit that tells the history of the King James Bible will end its run at the museum on Sunday. (Photo by Chris Landsberger, The Oklahoman)
From Friday’s The Oklahoman. To read more about what’s going on this weekend at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, click here.
“Passages” runs through weekend at Oklahoma City Museum of Art.
The vast exhibit of rare biblical artifacts and manuscripts is nearing the end of its world premiere run.
Dottie Liwai wasn’t about to let a historic event pass her by when it was right in her home state, so last week, she and her family made the trek from Durant to Oklahoma City to see the “Passages” exhibit.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” the mother of two said, standing amid cases of ancient biblical texts. “Everybody should see it. It’s who we are.”
The Oklahoma City Museum of Art is preparing for a huge crowd this weekend for the closing weekend of “Passages,” the nonsectarian, worldwide traveling exhibition of The Green Collection, among the world’s newest and largest private collections of rare biblical manuscripts and artifacts.
The collection is named for the Green family, founder-owners of Oklahoma City-based arts and crafts retailer Hobby Lobby, who opted to launch the world premiere of the exhibit in their hometown.
More than 50,000 people have visited “Passages” since it opened in May, said Leslie Spears, the museum’s communications manager. The exhibit, which celebrates the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible, closes Sunday at the downtown museum. It next is headed to St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City.
“It’s turned out to be a huge success on so many levels. We’ll always consider Oklahoma City our home because this is where it started,” said Scott Carroll, director of The Green Collection. “It’s been very gratifying to be here. It’s a wonderful museum.”
“Passages” spans 2,000 years to tell the story of the translation and publication of the Bible in English. The 14,000-square-foot multimedia exhibit takes up the museum’s entire third floor and features rarities such as a portion of the Gutenberg Bible and a first-edition King James Bible from 1611, animatronics of historical figures such as Queen Anne Boleyn and St. Jerome, replicas of the Gutenberg and King James presses, and more.
Taking her second tour of the exhibit, Dawn Hardy of Yukon was thrilled to see a Dead Sea Scroll fragment, watch workers print pages on the old-fashioned presses and listen to lifelike video figures of two medieval women talk about their wish for a Bible they could read in their own language.
“It just speaks to the importance that the Bible has to us on a personal level,” said Hardy, a member of Westgate Christian Assembly in Yukon. “It’s so comprehensive. It’s such an assortment of items, it just fascinates me.”
For Edmond resident Luther Blissett, touring the exhibit appealed to him as a person of faith and a student of history.
“I’m interested in history generally, and so the process involved in something passing down several centuries is intriguing to me,” said Blissett, a Baptist who has visited Istanbul and the ancient city of Ephesus in Turkey. “You don’t have to be a Christian to appreciate it.”
For Liwai’s two children — son Maika, 13, and daughter Kai, 9 — “Passages” was an eye-opening educational experience. As the family, who is Presbyterian, followed the exhibit’s scavenger hunt and iPod audio tour, the youngsters were amazed to discover that people like William Tyndale actually died in their quest to translate the Bible into English.
“You learn more about the history of your faith, about the Bible and its languages,” said their father, Jack Liwai. “But it’s for everybody, for people of all walks of life.”
ON EXHIBIT
“Passages”
When: Through Sunday.
Where: Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive.
Tickets: $19.95 for adults and $11.95 for ages 6-18. Seniors age 62 and older pay $16.95, and military pay $10. College students with ID pay $14.95. Multiday tickets and group tickets are available.
Information: 236-3100, www.okcmoa.com or www.explorepassages.com.
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Oklahoma City Museum of Art receives 50 prints by photographer Brett Weston
Brett Weston, "Pines in Fog, Monterey," 1963.
The Oklahoma City Museum of Art has received 50 gelatin silver prints by American photographer Brett Weston (1911–93) from the Brett Weston Archive and Christian K. Keesee Collection.
The photographs date from 1940 to 1985 and highlight the range of the artist’s photography, from his early photographs of White Sands, N.M., to the glass, mud, and kelp abstractions for which he became known, to his later photographs in Hawaii. Photographs such as “Pines in Fog, Monterey “(1963), “Cut Wood, Europe” (1968), and “Ice Formation, Alaska” (1977) also reference Brett’s extensive travels.
“The Oklahoma City Museum of Art is honored to be the recipient of this generous gift from Mr. Keesee of Brett Weston photographs,” said Glen Gentele, president and chief executive officer, in the museum’s announcement. “This donation adds substantially to the museum’s growing collection of photography and is the second of three such gifts that will add another 50 Brett Weston photographs to the Museum’s permanent collection over the next year. We are grateful and thrilled by Mr. Keesee’s philanthropy.”
Brett Weston, "Banyan Roots, Hawaii," 1980.
Brett Weston, the second son of photographer Edward Weston, was born in Los Angeles in 1911. In 1925, at the age of 13, Brett began taking photographs on a trip to Mexico with his father’s Graflex camera. While there, he was exposed to the works of Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, and Tina Modotti, who influenced his sense of form and composition.
He returned to California with his father in 1926 and began to exhibit his own works, while assisting Edward in his portrait studio. Brett’s work received international attention after being included in the important 1929 Film und Foto exhibition in Stuttgart, Germany.
During World War II, Brett worked briefly as an assistant cameraman for 20th Century Fox, before being drafted into the Army. Stationed with the Signal Corps in New York City in 1944, Brett took photographs of the city when off-duty and made important contacts in the photographic world.
The following year, he was assigned to the Army base in El Paso, Texas, where he became a sergeant, and began photographing the nearby gypsum dunes of White Sands National Monument. The recent donation from the Brett Weston Archive–Christian K. Keesee Collection includes examples of Brett’s acclaimed photographs of White Sands, including “Sands and Grass, White Sands” (1946) and “Yucca and Dunes, White Sands” (1946). Brett was discharged from the Army in 1946 and spent the following year taking photographs of the East Coast on a Post Service Guggenheim Fellowship.
Brett’s work often incorporates the use of close-ups and abstracted details, displaying a preference for high-contrast imagery, which reduces his subjects to pure form. Throughout his career, he has repeatedly photographed subjects including tangled kelp, plant leaves, and knotted roots and has made numerous photography trips to Europe, Baja California, Oregon, Alaska, and Hawaii, among other locations. Brett’s work became increasingly abstract in the 1970s as he began to more fully utilize a 2 ¼-inch format reflex camera. He spent a considerable amount of time taking photographs in Hawaii, during the 1980s, before his death in his Kona home in 1993.
Between 2004 and 2010, Christian K. Keesee donated 260 photographs from the Brett Weston Archive. The recent gift brings the museum’s Brett Weston Archive–Christian K. Keesee Collection to 310 photographs. The museum, along with the J. Paul Getty Museum and The Whitney Museum of American Art, is one of the largest repositories of Brett Weston photographs.
In 2008, the Oklahoma City museum exhibited “Brett Weston: Out of the Shadow,” the first major retrospective of the acclaimed American photographer’s work in more than 30 years.
The Brett Weston Archive was established in 1997 by Christian K. Keesee, a prominent art collector who purchased the entire inventory from the critically acclaimed American photographer’s estate.
Accredited by the American Association of Museums, the Oklahoma City Museum of Art serves more than 125,000 visitors annually from all 50 states and more than 30 foreign countries and presents exhibitions drawn from throughout the world. The museum’s collection covers a period of five centuries with highlights in European and American art from the 19th through 21st centuries, a growing collection of contemporary art, and a comprehensive collection of glass sculpture by Dale Chihuly.
-BAM
