The Rest of the Story on Carolyn Hill
The story you’re reading this weekend in the Sunday Oklahoman is just a glimpse at the career of Carolyn Hill. What follows is my full story:
BY STEVE LACKMEYER
Business Writer
Hill, who retires as director this week, smiles as she explains the six-year-old carpeting was worn out by the thousands of visitors who have flocked to exhibits such as this year’s Roman Art from the Louve.
Frank Hill, the museum’s trustees chairman (and no relation to Carolyn Hill), isn’t surprised by the last minute flurry of activity.
“She wants that museum to be as beautiful as the first day it opened,” Hill said. “She’s very demanding, but she’s fair.”
Frank Hill is part of a chorus of admirers who credit the retiring director with turning a fractured, anemic community arts organization into a regional attraction that drew 70,000 just for the Roman art exhibition. And her admirers know that Carolyn Hill is loathe to accept such praise.
“There are a lot of people who deserve substantial credit — the Kirkpatrick family, we couldn’t have done it without them, the Meade family, Chuck Nelson, the Payne family, George Records, the Inasmuch Foundation … But she brought a lot of those people into the museum and developed those relationships. Without her, I really don’t think the museum would be what it is today,” Frank Hill said.
Boomeranger
As civic leaders attempt to woo back Oklahomans who have become success stories elsewhere, they might look at Carolyn Hill as the quintessential “boomeranger.”
Hill grew up in Oklahoma City, attending Culbertson grade school, Webster Junior High and the old
Central High School.She loved music and art — but she also took an interest in science, even winning the E.K. Gaylord Science Award in the ninth grade. At the University of Oklahoma she majored in zoology with the intent to enter the pre-med program. But it was there she was exposed to music majors practicing in her dormitory.
“I saw them writing harmony, practicing dictation,” Hill said. “Doing those things intrigued me.”
It didn’t take long for Hill to switch her focus to music and fine arts. Two weeks after obtaining her master’s degree, Hill headed off to an uncertain future in New York City. Her first tasks: finding a job, a place to live, seeing the Steinway Piano shop on West 57th and listening to a performance at the Met.
Hill continued her studies in New York City and then started teaching music at the Chapin School, where the city’s elite sent their daughters for an education that often led to admissions to Harvard, Princeton and Yale.
Music instruction continued at home, and Hill was spending time in homes adorned with priceless works of art. And like many teachers at Chapin, Hill also was being invited by students’ parents to openings at the Met and New York City’s most exclusive art exhibitions.
“I was like a dry sponge to water,” Hill said. “I couldn’t get enough.”
Working Overtime
Hill’s career continued upward with a stint teaching at the United Nations International School. She loved the diversity — but the work days were brutal. A typical day started with rehersals at 7 a.m. and ended with gigs as a choir minister and symphony conductor at night.
“I kept four brief cases in the car,” Hill said. “And they were packed for whichever job I was going to.”
In the early 1980s Hill embarked on an entirely new adventure and opened her own art gallery in the SoHo section of
New York City. Hill figured she could rely on the international artists she had met during her teaching years, pair up art showings with live classical music performances and also set her own hours.
“I was meeting accomplished artists from all over the world who were in my gallery,” Hill said. And I thrived in that environment.”
ABOVE: Rex Reed was one of the celebrity visitors at Carolyn Hill’s SoHo art gallery. Below: the gallery
But home was beckoning. Little did Hill know that she was about to take a failing, fractured art museum that was drawing a few hundred visitors a month, at best, and turn it into a regional destination with prestigious exhibits drawing 130,000 people a year.
Throughout her 30 years in New York City, Carolyn Hill maintained ties to home visiting Oklahoma City for the holidays once a year and through letters from her mother, Flora.Her parents were proud of their city, and on each visit they showed off the newest development — a new Oklahoma City Boat Club at Lake Hefner, the Omniplex (now Science Museum Oklahoma), Waterford, Remington Park.
Hill’s mother sent her numerous clippings from local news reports the Oklahoma City Times and The Oklahoman about the transformation of downtown. It was the death of Hill’s father and brother that convinced her to return home in 1993 to take care of her mother.
“I knew what I was leaving,” Hill said. “I didn’t know what I was coming to outside my mother and sister-in-law. When I got back here, I was lost. I was used to a much more rapid-paced life.”
Hill continued to work with artists she had represented in SoHo and even gave two showings at an empty gallery she rented at the Omniplex. And it was there she met John and Eleanor Kirkpatrick, who were founding supporters of the Omniplex and the Oklahoma City Museum of Art.
A friendship developed and Hill was offered the director’s job at the struggling museum. No promises were made; Hill was advised the museum had been dropped from the city’s $370 million Metropolitan Area Projects program. The museum was split into two homes and was running short on cash.
Hill took over in September 1994 and immediately packed her days visiting with every single museum trustee.
“I wanted to try to get my arms around what was going on here, what was the story,” Hill said. “And based on that, I made a report on what the story was.”
Hill told trustees she didn’t hear a single voice, she only heard noise. She saw confusion. She saw good and decent people “running in quicksand.”
“In the quest of just surviving the oil bust and inadequate funds, most everybody thought that money was the paramount issue,” Hill said. “It was a big issue. But I didn’t see it as the issue. To me the issue was ‘who is this museum for and why does it exist? What is its function? What is the mission?’”
Hill gave trustees and staff a choice: They could either “pull the plug” or “cease and desist and put our mission first and never, never again refer to any excuse,” she said.
“We needed to take command of our own destiny, tighten our belt and do whatever it takes,” Hill said. “We needed to turn this facility in service of the community. That’s what it was here for. The trustees deserved that. They love this place — they’ve been keeping it afloat.”
Trustees stood by Hill as she began a painful trimming of the budget. They closed the Buttram Mansion and downtown Artsplace locations and consolidated operations at the aging State Fair Park location. Trustees scoured financial records and created a reliable set of books. No debt would be incurred; the museum under Hill would operate under a strict budget. The museum was to be operated as a business and the community was its customer.
“We had so little money we could not afford a ream of paper,” Hill said. “We recycled letters and memos that came into us. We printed and photocopied on the reversed side. I’d get memos from staff and I had to look at both sides to be sure of what I was looking at.”
Hill believed that with trustees and staff at her side, sacrificing and rebuilding the museum’s reputation, they could earn some much needed credibility.
“It’s a business and we’ve got to run it like a business,” Hill said. “It cannot be a country club or a private club. It’s either in the service of the community or it is not. It’s a business and something was wrong with the product if the business is not showing evidence of its ability to serve and inspire.”
Carolyn Hill’s demand that the Oklahoma City Museum of Art be run like a business might have been painful, but it also gained the institution some much needed credibility.
During the planning in the early 1990s for the city’s Metropolitan Area Projects program, the museum had been cut from the list of final projects.
Years afterward, then-City Manager Don Bown confirmed the museum was deemed too fractious, too disorganized in those pre-Carolyn Hill years.
Hill stuck to her vows against deficits and debt and insisted on independent audits. Expenses dropped, finances stabilized and support grew for a new permanent home for the museum.
Hill saw downtown as a natural fit. She wanted the museum to be at the center of the city and liked the idea of pairing it with the Civic Center Music Hall and Stage Center and creating an arts district.
The old, dilapidated Centre Theater was deemed a perfect spot. Hill negotiated a purchase of the property from the Oklahoma City Urban Renewal Authority just as it was preparing for the building’s demolition. Armed with a major grant for construction and endowment from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, the museum’s trustees approved Hill’s plan to turn the downtown site into the museum’s new home.
The $40 million museum opened in 2002 with a theater for independent films, an upscale cafe and exhibit space that dwarfed the old digs. Long lines formed to get the first glimpse of the new Oklahoma City Museum of Art.
Hill kept pushing trustees to go one step further, to bring in exhibitions they couldn’t have dreamed of attracting prior to her hiring.
“She has a vision on maximizing revenues,” Frank Hill said. “She has stepped up and inspired our board to go through with very special plans for exhibitions…. she inspired us to buy the Chihuly opening exhibit…. and we put ourselves on the map with all this.”
Looking back, Carolyn Hill admits her 30 years in New York City might have been preparatory for taking the reins at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art.
But she’s quick to add, “New York was a very selfish experience.”
”“It was a place that gave me an incredible quality of life,” Hill said. “But it was very self indulgent in that there was so much joy coming in for me, but what was I doing for New York City and what did New York City need me to do? New York was overrun with lots of Carolyn Hills.”
TOMORROW: THE POWER OF DREAMING AND THE FUTURE ACCORDING TO CAROLYN HILL
Getting to Know a Living Legend
When this job gets really tedious, when the grind threatens to burn me out, it’s then that I’m often reminded of how lucky I am – how blessed I’ve been to meet people of greatness.
One of the true legends in this town – a person I’d point my kids to and say “that’s a great person, consider her a role model in living life to its fullest” – is Carolyn Hill.
In relatively short period of time, she led the Oklahoma City Museum of Art from a floundering mess to a source of pride for the entire region. I have a story set for this Sunday about her retirement, and here is just one quote that reflects Carolyn’s brilliance:
“It takes a lot of energy to dream. You have to analyze it, you have to fall in love with it. And that takes a lot of energy and strength.”
The Latest from the Oklahoma City Museum of Art
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
I'm Stunned
Downtown is about to undergo changes that could arguably rival the original MAPS program. Developing ….
Update on Hobby's Hoagies
The folks at the Edmond shop say the downtown location will be open this month. I will soon have a new favorite downtown lunch spot.
Rock Star Thinks Illegal Advertising is OK?
Rock Star Energy Drinks seems to think it’s OK to hang up illegal advertisements like the one above in front of the Sheraton Hotel and below along Main Street, across from Stage Center.
And since they seem to want us to know more about their product, I figured I’d help out with the following links:
- Misleading ingredient labels and potentially deadly? Read here.
- Are energy drinks bad news for athletes? Read here.
- “It tasted terrible.” Read here.
- Severe stomach pain. Read here.
And finally…. “Caffeine-Stoked Energy Drinks Worry Doctors,”:
A University of Wisconsin study of 14 students found that two energy drink ingredients, caffeine and taurine, didn’t improve short-term memory but led to slower heart rates and higher blood pressure. Since some energy drink ingredients generally speed up heart rates, the researchers could only speculate on the cause.
Carol Ann Rinzler, author of “Nutrition for Dummies,” examined the labels of the top three energy drinks.
“The labels simply don’t deliver all the facts,” she said. “For example, while all list caffeine as an ingredient, and most tell you exactly how much caffeine is in the drink, they also list guarana, a caffeine source, as a separate ingredient but don’t tell how much caffeine one gets from the guarana.”
Rinzler said energy drinks also deliver a huge hit of sugar.
“Drink more than one and you get lots of sugar — 14 teaspoons in two cans, 21 teaspoons in three,” she said. Add in megadoses of some vitamins; unnecessary nutrients (taurine) and more caffeine than plain sodas and you get “a fast up-and-down sugar high and a really rough caffeine buzz,” she said. “And drinking two or three cans a day for a period of weeks or months might trigger some side effects from the vitamin megadoses.”
Cocktails on the Skyline Tonight
Temperatures in the low 90s, not much wind … yeah, it’s not a bad night to catch Cocktails on the Skyline of the rooftop of the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. The weekly gathering runs 5 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. with music starting at 6:30 p.m. Galleries, meanwhile, stay open until 9 p.m.
Music this week is by Rexall Rangers. To sign up for Thursday roof terrace alerts, email Leslie Spears at lspears@okcmoa.com.
News From the OKC Museum of Art
|
|||||
|
|||||
Norick Downtown Library are teaming up to present Roman Art Family Day. Families can visit the Museum to view the exhibition and enjoy fun-filled activities for all ages, including hands-on art, face painting, a dress up area, mini-tours, and scavenger hunts in the galleries, door prizes, and free Little Caesars® Pizza from noon to 1:00 p.m. Then, beginning at 1:00 p.m., the Romans will invade the Downtown Library with more family fun! Both the Museum and Library will host a gladiator parade and Roman play, presented by are fabulous friends at the Oklahoma Children’s Theater, as well as puppet shows and storytelling.Event sponsors include the Ronald J. Norick Downtown Library; Oklahoma Children’s Theatre; Little Caesars® Pizza/Magnum Foods, Inc.; Remington Park; and others. All activities at the Museum of Art are included in the price of Museum admission: $12 adults, $10 students/seniors, and free to members and children ages 5 and under. There is no charge to participate in activities at the Downtown Library.
October 3. This beer-tasting event features more than 70 import and domestic beers. Spend the evening sampling beverages from across the globe along with heavy hors d’oeuvres from area restaurants, including Adobe Grill, Old Germany Restaurant, Cafe Nova, McNellie’s Public House, the Museum Cafe and more. Enjoy tastings throughout the Museum’s main lobby and theater lobby, listen to the group Who’s Joe Fazzio?, and visit the special exhibition, 
I Don't Do Party Pics … But …
I guess it’s no big deal to share some shots I took last night during the debut party for Oklahoma Today’s all OKC issue at the new Iguana Mexican Grill at NW 9 and Broadway.
Have fun and spot the downtown players … my spottings included Greg Banta visiting with Mickey Clagg (now that’s a discussion I’d like to listen in on), Bert Belanger, who was accompanied by a Houston apartment developer (just visiting, I’m sure), Chris and Meg Salyer, who I’ll bet are simply bewildered by the idea that Steve Mason has taken properties on the verge of collapse and spent millions to bring them back to life (this inside joke is a test on how much you know about the history of Automobile Alley), architect Rand Elliott and his wife Jeanette (still waiting to see what Kerr Park will look like), MidTown’s Arturo Chavez (quit following me!), the usual gang from Downtown Oklahoma City Inc., Skirvin Hilton General Manager John Williams, that crazy river guy Pat Downes, and many more.
Final note: Ah… free food and drink. Sure fire way to get a reporter in the room. This issue of Oklahoma Today is really impressive – it’s a nice recap of what’s going on downtown and throughout the city.
News From the Colcord Hotel
|
deadCENTER Film
Having end of summer blues? Celebrate with deadCENTER Film and XO LOUNGE. The first Wednesday of every month, independent filmmakers showcase their short films during shortsSUITES. The XO Lounge is located on the lower level of the Colcord Hotel; doors open at 8:00pm and films start at 8:15pm. Admission is FREE and you must be 21 to enter.
|
 |
|
Art Escape Getaway
For a limited time, The Colcord is offering the ART ESCAPE PACKAGE in celebration with Oklahoma City Museum of Art and the special collection of Roman Art from the Louvre.
Until October 12, the ART ESCAPE PACKAGE is available which includes a night’s stay in an Executive King room, tickets to the Museum, complimentary self-parking and 1:00pm late check-out. Upgraded room types available.
OKLAHOMA CITY is the last North American venue for this special exhibition. So, book your Roman-tic getaway or Rome downtown with the Colcord and OKC Museum of Art. Packages available ONLINE or by calling 405.601.4300. |
