Tulsa Artist Fellowship will welcome the public to its downtown spaces Nov. 6–7 for Among Artists, a free weekend of studio visits, conversations, exhibitions and a community dinner. The program brings visitors into contact with artists’ work and working spaces, including a Friday reading by Joy Harjo, a Saturday discussion program and a meal on the Fellowship’s roof terrace. All events and exhibitions are free and open to the public, according to The Pickup.
The announced schedule comes from a sponsored post by Tulsa Flyer, which is paid content separate from the publication’s editorial staff. The Fellowship says the gathering is intended to bring people together around art, conversation and nourishment. About 30 artists currently live and work in Tulsa under its umbrella, according to the event information.
A public weekend inside a residency program
Among Artists offers an entry point into an organization built around longer-term artist support. George Kaiser Family Foundation says it established Tulsa Artist Fellowship in 2015 to attract artists to Tulsa and enrich the city’s arts community. The Fellowship’s award information describes a three-year package that includes a $150,000 stipend for artistic practice and project development and $36,000 in housing support. That structure is distinct from the weekend’s short-term public program: the open studios let visitors encounter work by current fellows and alumni, but the event announcement does not suggest that every artist in the program will be represented.
On Friday, Nov. 6, the opening readings begin at 6 p.m. at the Fellowship’s flagship building, 112 N. Boston Avenue. Fellow Kashona Notah is scheduled to read from his essay “Night Sky,” then introduce Harjo, a Muscogee (Creek) Nation poet and writer who served three terms as U.S. Poet Laureate. Harjo is slated to read “Remember.” From 7 to 9 p.m., the flagship building will also host “Wilderness of Mirrors,” a solo exhibition by photographer and cinematographer Shane Brown. At the same time, visitors can meet fellows and alumni and see work in progress at the studios, 109 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. A rooftop DJ set by Natty Boom is planned there, weather permitting.
The Saturday program shifts from studio visits to discussion. Between Practices runs from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at 112 N. Boston Avenue, with brunch from 10 to 10:30 a.m. The announced sessions range across artistic inheritance, Black and Indigenous solidarity, Tulsa’s changing spaces, public art and creative collaboration. Among the scheduled participants are Myiesha Gordon Beales, Colleen Thurston, Melissa Lukenbaugh, Quraysh Ali Lansana and Amir Saadiq. The breadth of topics makes the conversations a second way to encounter the Fellowship’s artists and collaborators, beyond seeing finished work.
The weekend concludes Saturday from 5:30 to 7 p.m. with A Shared Table on the roof terrace at 109 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Chef Carla Meneses and her family are preparing the meal through Que Gusto, with seasonal ingredients from Clark-Asberry Homestead Ranch, operated by Fellowship alum Dr. Rodney Clark and Sheila Clark, according to the sponsored announcement. Clark is scheduled to speak briefly about food, land and community. Music curated by Denis McGilvray, host of Public Radio Tulsa’s The Rhythm Atlas, is also part of the dinner.
A distinct strand of Tulsa’s public-art landscape
Some of the weekend’s work will also be visible outside the studio. A portrait by Adam Davis, “Brothers in Life & the Arena,” is scheduled to be projected on the studios’ façade through Dec. 30 as part of Projection, a public-art series directed by Tulsa Artist Fellow Tatyana Fazlalizadeh. The City of Tulsa says its Percent for Art ordinance dates to the late 1960s and requires one percent of vertical projects to be dedicated to art. That citywide policy provides civic context, but it does not make the Fellowship-led projection a city project, the City of Tulsa Office of Public Art and Community Partnerships says.
For visitors planning to attend, the two main addresses are 112 N. Boston Avenue for the readings and Saturday conversations, and 109 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard for open studios and the dinner. Tulsa Flyer’s announcement says street parking is free after 5 p.m. and on weekends; it also says visitors can request accessibility accommodations by emailing [email protected] or calling (539) 302-4855. The rooftop DJ performance is weather-dependent. Further event information is available from Tulsa Artist Fellowship.
