Recent OVAC-funded Artist Projects

Congratulations to our recent grant recipients! Artist project support for the quarter totals $4,714 to 6 artists. he Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition's Grants for Artists help artists realize their potential. Thanks to OVAC donors who make these transformative awards possible. www.ovacgrants.org



January 2014 OVAC-Funded Artist Projects:

Heather Clark Hilliard, Anatomy, commercial and
hand spun wool, tree cages, 3’ x h 8’ x d 3’, 2013

Heather Clark Hilliard, Norman
Creative Projects Artist Grant

Heather Hilliard Clark uses dyed wool, thread and other natural and found materials to create abstract two-dimensional and three- dimensional forms. Hilliard intends to create nine new installation works for a an exhibition called Fettered Unfettered, New Work  at Oklahoma City University’s Hulsey Gallery from August 25  to October 17, 2014. This exhibition will explore the dynamic exchange between physical and mental responses to the environment and will be the first time the artist has shown at a university setting.
www.heatherclarkhilliard.com

Katy Seals, Burger Baby. Mixed Media on Panel. 6’x5’. 2012.

Katy Seals, Ada
Artist Education Grant

Katy Seals, a printmaking professor at East Central University, will attend Frogman's Print and Paper Workshop in July at the University of South Dakota to study the intaglio printmaking technique. She will study under Michael Kruger, a professor from the University of Kansas. The workshop will allow Seals to gain new skills as well as network with a wide range of printmakers from across the U.S. She plans to integrate these new skills into her own work as well as her teaching. www.katyseals.com

Alexandra Knox, Pursuit, Dyed muslin, poplar, 120”x60”x48”. 2013.

Alexandra Knox, Norman
Creative Projects Artist Grant

Alexandra Knox, a sculpture professor at East Central University, will attend the Keen Foundry Invitational Symposium in Houston with one of her students. There she will have the opportunity to create a large scale cast iron sculpture allowing her to create freely without size restrictions. This symposium will be a once in a lifetime opportunity for Knox and her student and will allow them to make important connections for their university, their community, and their own careers.
www.alexandranadiaknox.com

Jason Cytacki, See the USA (In Your Chevrolet), Oil on Canvas, 42” x 62” 2012

Jason Cytacki, Norman
Creative Projects Artist Grant

Jason Cytacki’s intricate paintings explore themes of American identity by using imagery of pop culture and the American West. Cytacki will create new work for an exhibit at the Science Museum of Oklahoma Satellite Gallery entitled Fortresses of Solitude, an exploration of imaginative secret lairs in pop culture. By branching into three-dimensional art, Cytacki intends to leave his comfort zone of 2D painting and explore new imagery.
www.jasoncytacki.com

Casey Pankey, Sunday Sickness, Plaster, fabric, Bible pages. 

29” x 27” x 18”. 2013.

Casey Pankey, Stillwater
Professional Basics Grant

With this grant, Casey Pankey will purchase a high-quality Nikon camera to document her work for upcoming shows in the immediate and long-term future. Her current body of work, Childhood Memories, is a series of sculptural forms that tap into intimate memories from her childhood. With the vital tool of a camera, Pankey will be able to photograph this work for potential shows at Small Art, Big Impact in Manhattan, Las Laguna Art Gallery in California, and the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition’s Momentum.
http://caseyepankey.wix.com/artist

Sarah Day-Short, Stellar Companions, 

acrylic, spray paint, paint pen on canvas, (8) 6" X 6", 2013.

Sarah Day-Short, Oklahoma City
Professional Basics Grant

Sarah Day Short plans to show with FRINGE artists Mary James Ketch and Jessica Craddock for a “three woman show” in mid to late 2014, and plans to show existing work as well as produce 7 to 9 new pieces. Her work focuses on abstract forms and color with reference to the cosmos. She will use the grant funds to create frames for some of her existing and new work so she will be able to present more clean and professional work for gallery exhibitions.
www.sarahdayshortart.daportfolio.com

Applying for Exhibitions & Grants

Hoping this will help other artists, I want to share my presentation from our Artist Survival Kit workshop last weekend. We focused on writing proposals for grants and exhibitions. 

Many of these cash awards and exhibitions have quick deadlines. But, I think the proposal tips should translate to other artist applications. 

This was the second proposal writing workshop we've offered, hoping to encourage more and even better artist applications to our opportunities.  Let us know if you have questions. 

Artist Proposals 101: Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition from Julia Kirt

Showing Caddo Pottery Across the Country: Jeri Redcorn

Guest Author: Cayla Lewis

JERI REDCORN

Professional Grant: Pedestals Booth Upgrade

Jeri Redcorn, Hasinai Twins, Caddo pottery, 2012

Jeri Redcorn, a Caddo potter, is claimed to be responsible for “single-handedly [reviving] Caddo pottery traditions.”  She currently uses native and commercial clay to produce pieces from clay that she coils, burnishes with stone, and then wood fires. She uses her practice as a “gift,” and a way to connect with her ancestors and connect to her Caddo culture today.

One of her greatest honors is having her work displayed in the White House Office as a selection by President Barack and Michelle Obama. Redcorn’s work is known nationally and is also a part of collections from Supreme Court Justice, Sandra Day O’Connor, US Senator David and Molly Boren, and Eagle’s band member, Don Henley.

Each year, Jeri Redcorn attends 5 art shows annually, including Oklahoma’s Red Earth. OVAC’s Professional Basics Grant will allow her work to be presented more effectively with an upgrade of new pedestals for her booths at these art shows.

The Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition invests in artists’ project through grants for growing careers, creative projects and exceptional continuing education. Find grant guidelines and application here. A free workshop about how to apply will be held October 13. 

Reanimating Cimarron County: MJ Alexander

Guest Author: Cayla Lewis

MJ ALEXANDER

Creative Projects Grant: IN NO MAN'S LAND: Portraits of the OK Panhandle

M.J. Alexander, Mike Leonard, outside the Loaf & Jug, 

photography, 2012

Oklahoma City resident, M.J. Alexander, has recently been exploring the lesser-populated areas of Oklahoma in her recent project, IN NO MAN'S LAND: Portraits of the OK Panhandle. She starts in western Cimmaron County, where the population is less than 2 people per square mile, and makes her way east through Texas and Beaver counties.

With help from OVAC’s Creative Projects Grant, Alexander hopes to travel to these places, photographing and interviewing the residents of western Oklahoma. Using her background in Journalism and American Culture, she will create a series of photographs displaying the dwindling population of pioneers living in the far-western counties of Oklahoma.

MJ Alexander, The De Casas Twins
Andrea and Alexis, photography, 2012

Her creative project will include larger-than-life portraits installed on storefronts and abandoned buildings in April 2013, with the intention not to portray a poverty or drought-stricken world but to “allow residents the vantage point to consider their everyday selves as epic and larger-than-life portrayal.” IN NO MAN'S LAND: Portraits of the OK Panhandle  will be a a “celebration of the spirit of Cimarron County the spirit that has kept Cimarron County going through boom and bust,” and the attitudes and personalities of the people that reside there.

Alexander has shown in many solo and group exhibitions all over the state and country as well as provided photography and interviews for many books regarding the American West, including Salt of the Red Earth and Portrait of a Generation: Sons and Daughters of the Red Earth, both of which she is the author and illustrator.

The Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition invests in artists’ project through grants for growing careers, creative projects and exceptional continuing education. Find grant guidelines and application here. Free workshops about how to apply will be held September 8 & October 13. 

Chronicling Artists & the Environment: Kimberly Baker

Guest Author: Cayla Lewis

KIMBERLY BAKER

Professional Grant: Earth Chronicles Project Group Exhibition

Kimberly Baker, Illinois River Misty Morning, photography

Meeker resident and current University of Oklahoma natural sciences student, Kimberly Baker is a conservation photographer with a large emphasis on the Illinois River. She uses her work to promote the conservation of water and the environment, and uses the promotion as the motivation and empowerment for her creative process.

Baker enjoys the “solitary nature” of photography, but has recently teamed up with filmmaker Bob Demboski and New Mexico artist, Fran Hardy to create the educational documentary, Earth Chronicles Project. The Artist’s Process: Oklahoma, featuring Oklahoma artists and creative individuals. A group exhibition of artists related to this film will also be taking place that will coincide with the film’s debut on OETA. With help from OVAC’s Professional Basics Grant, Baker will display 6 large framed works in this exhibition.

Recently premiered at the Mabee Gerrer Museum of Art (MGMA), the documentary will broadcast on OETA September 13, 2012 at 7:00 p.m.  Appearing on several TV and radio stations regarding her interest in and project about the Illinois River, Baker has also exhibited work all around Oklahoma.

The Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition invests in artists’ project through grants for growing careers, creative projects and exceptional continuing education. Find grant guidelines and application here. Free workshops about how to apply will be held September 8 & October 13. 

Heading to Art Prize: Aaron Hauck

Guest Author: Cayla Lewis

AARON HAUCK

Professional Basics Grant: Art Prize

Aaron Hauck, High Technology Forager;  Break 
enamel on thermoformed acrylic plastic, 44”x14”x6”, 2011 

After receiving his MFA at Montana State and studying internationally, Aaron Hauck is an Assistant Professor at East Central University in Ada, OK and the Creative Director at MVP Sport.

His work primarily focuses on consumerism and how it affects contemporary culture and the natural environment. Hauck often references Ancient tools, such as Clovis points to show how tools have changed over time, reflecting on how today; tools are redesigned and mass-produced, with a strong focus on branding. He claims the food-service industry is also like this, and “as a result we have no personal connection with the bulk of the tools we use and the food we eat.”

These ideas inspire his particular industrial and machine aesthetic, leaving little to no trace of human hand. Hauck is greatly influenced by consumerism and sees the beauty in commercial product but also believes that the sleek and shiny will draw the viewer in and eventually leave them to “discover underlying meaning.”

Aaron Hauck, High Technology Forager; Shuffle
enamel on thermoformed acrylic plastic, 44”x14”x6”, 2011 

Hauck’s “High Technology Foragers,” a collection of six large, wall sculptures have recently been selected to be included in ArtPrize 2012. OVAC’s Professional Basic Grant will help Hauck bring national recognition to his work by transporting the sculptures to the exhibition in Grand Rapids, Michigan opening September 15.

The Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition invests in artists’ project through grants for growing careers, creative projects and exceptional continuing education. Find grant guidelines and application here. Free workshops about how to apply are this weekend and October 13. See www.ArtistSurvivalKit.org. 

Piecing it Together: Romy Owens

Guest Author: Cayla Lewis

ROMY OWENS

Professional Basics Grant: the keanues

Romy Owens, Rob (Pretty Day Blue Sky), 

photographs and thread, 37x31", 2012

Oklahoma City artist, Romy Owens has been selected as one of five photographers for To and From Oklahoma, an exhibition opening September 7, 2012 at JRB Art at the Elms. During this same time, the Paseo Arts District’s Photofest will also be taking place. OVAC’s Professional Basics Grant will help Owens professionally frame the majority her new body of work for this exhibition.

Owen’s combines multiple parts or multiple photographs to create entirely new compositions, her main inspirations being change and control. Inspired by man-made structures that are neglected or abandoned, Owens documents the change of these structures through the line, color, and textures, as though these elements tell the story of the life of the building. 

She then, with “obsessively controlled hand stitches,” pieces the composition together, to create something new – asking herself, “What am I really hoping to change and what am I really trying to control?”

The Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition invests in artists’ project through grants for growing careers, creative projects and exceptional continuing education. Find grant guidelines and application here. Free workshops about how to apply will be held September 8 & October 13. 

Encouraging Creativity & Voice: Amena Butler

Guest Author: Cayla Lewis

AMENA BUTLER

Professional Grant: Spring Elements

Amena Butler, Ball Day, collage on canvas, 2012

"…Those soft lively colors of nature, the smell of the rain coming, and the idea of skipping work to play outside.”

This is what inspires Oklahoma City-based artist, Amena Butler. Let’s just pause for a moment and think about these things. It is these simple joys and pleasures that have led to Butler’s recent project, Spring Series, which she started in January of 2012. 

Butler enjoys the printmaking processes of monotype, chine colle, and collagraph because of the freedom it allows her to have and how it takes her away from the usual structured lifestyle.

Amena Butler,  Lake Arcadia, collage on canvas, 8x10, 2012

Exhibiting her Spring Series at Langston University, Butler will display along with three other African-American artists. Langston currently does not have an arts department. So Butler and the other artists are hoping to encourage and inspire the students and administration to “seek out creativity and their voice in art.”

Butler is also involved in helping with free art exhibitions, demonstrations, and classes as a way to keep African-American artists pursuing an interest in the arts. OVAC’s Professional Basics Grant will prepare the work for display in the exhibition that runs through September at Langston’s OKC campus.

The Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition invests in artists’ project through grants for growing careers, creative projects and exceptional continuing education. Find grant guidelines and application here. Free workshops about how to apply will be held September 8 & October 13. 

Photography as the Beginning of Life: Andrew Lauffer

Guest Author: Leslie Fast (OVAC Intern)

Andrew Lauffer, The Protected Tree, Photography, 11x14

Growing up in Protection, Kansas, Andrew Lauffer discovered his passion for photography early in high school.

Andrew suffered through a stroke at age four, which left a tremor that he discovered can be controlled through photography. “…Ever since, I have loved taking pictures, and it does help!” Andrew writes, “I am thankful for my high school computer teacher. I started out in sports photography, which I still do, but not as much as my still life, landscapes, and contemporary.”

Andrew received an Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition Professional Basics Grant to help with installation costs for his first photography exhibition, “Where Life Began.”  The show highlighted Andrews progress from growing up in Kansas, to the present where he currently teaches full time at Northwestern Oklahoma State University in Alva.

Artist Andrew Lauffer (r) chatting with attendees of his exhibition.

After receiving funding from the grant, Andrew expressed the benefits of his first photography show he had planned since December of 2011.

“The successful thing was that people were amazed and wanted me to do an all Protection, Kansas photography show. Photography for me is a change in my life. I hope I show people a way to change the way they look at things through my photography.”

The grant not only helped Andrew fund his first show, but also gave insight for planning future photography exhibitions as an emerging artist.

The next OVAC Artist Grant deadline is July 15. See the OVAC website for more information. 

Cross Country Together: Amanda & Dylan Bradway

Amanda Bradway, Sacred Symmetry (1 of 3), 11”x11”,
Watercolor, Folded Watercolor Paper, Animal Skull on Wood

Needing help transporting new artwork cross country to exhibit in Portland, Oregon, Oklahoma City artists Amanda and Dylan Bradway received an Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition Creative Projects Grant to assist with their expenses. 

The Bradways worked together to prepare their show at TheHellion Gallery, which features their individual art arranged equally with collaborative site specific elements. Dylan and Amanda collaborate on many projects such as running their popular DNA Galleries in The Plaza District.  Their lives and artistic style intertwine smoothly this exhibition.

Dylan Bradway, Flights To Come, 12”x30”,
Found Wood, Acrylic, Spray Paint, Ink & Graphite

Besides their work fitting well with the style of art presented at The Hellion Gallery, the artists were especially eager about this gallery since it has additional spaces in San Diego, CA, and Tokyo, Japan.

Amanda & Dylan Bradway's exhibition installed at The Hellion Gallery

After many exhibitions in Oklahoma and a few in other communities, the Bradways expressed enthusiasm about developing a relationship with a gallery that represents many established artists within their chosen genre.

The exhibition is on display for a few more days. You can see more about their artwork here: Amanda or Dylan.

The Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition invests in artists’ project through grants for growing careers, creative projects and exceptional continuing education. The next application deadline is July 15. Find guidelines and application here. 

Mental Toughness & Music: Danny Marroquin's Film

Guest Author: Laura Reese, OVAC Intern



You might not know who Jabee Williams and John Fullbright are, but you should, and you will, according to Danny Marroquin.  Marroquin’s upcoming film project Skywriters details these two musicians and their lives in and out of music. 

Featured musician John Fullbright (L) with soundman Royce Sharp

John Fullbright is a folk singer and songwriter, whose intensity attracted Marroquin. Fullbright covers standards from greats of different eras and writes his own songs ranging from anthems and tender lullabies to songs protesting war; everything from the folk singer-songwriter tradition. Fullbright’s appreciation for and attempt to take in a whole genre of music is what drew Marroquin to feature him; “he is a student, and I've always held a very high esteem for education.”

Featured musician  Jabee Williams (middle), with cameraman Joe Cappa

In contrast, Jabee Williams is a hip-hop musician from a tough background, having even lost a brother to a gunshot wound. Yet, says Marroquin, “Jabee is constantly drawing from a rugged experience to make sweet music and tough music.” And he also works as a mentor on Wednesdays at Northwest Baptist Church in Oklahoma City. Marroquins says “every time a guy like Jabee comes along he reminds you of how much an impact one can have when they take part in the lives of others.”


As different as these two artists may sound, Marroquin “detected a same mental toughness” in both. Skywriters is an attempt not to contrast them, but rather to reveal the unexpected similarities in their two journeys “ We want to bring the viewer into two other lives as they find meaning through music ” says Marroquin. Marroquin received an OVAC Creative Projects Grant given in order to fund the completion of his film  Skywriters. Check out the trailer and stay posted on where you can see   Skywriters.

The Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition invests in artists’ project through grants for growing careers, creative projects and exceptional continuing education. The next application deadline is July 15. Find guidelines and application here. 

Nature in Many Forms: Helen Howerton

Guest Author: Laura Reese, OVAC Intern

Helen Howerton. Long Distance Calling 8”x10” Acrylic/Canvas

Helen Howerton paints nature. She has worked in commercial art, illustration, education, and has built a career on painting wildlife and the Western landscape. She said her goal is to capture the beauty of nature.

She is skilled in painting, and her skills have recently extended to sculpture as well. Her first bronze piece was created for Chemtech Chemical Co. in Geismar, Louisiana. The sculpture was of a blue merlin and was created for an award for best company employees. The Blue Merlin Award was a limited edition of 20 castings cast by the Bronze Horse Foundry in Pawhuska. She created the sculpture without formal instruction in sculpting techniques.

Helen Howerton. Blue Marlin. Bronze sculpture. 11”x5”x7” 

Howerton said she saw professional artist John Coleman’s expertise in clay at a demonstration he did at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in 2011, inspiring her to create of bronze sculptures in addition to painting. “I believe that an artist should always seek exploration and education to further their career as a professional artist”, said Howerton.

She was selected for the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition’s Education Grant in January to fund a portion of her expenses for a four day conference during June on clay sculpting techniques, taught by Coleman. Howerton said she hopes the workshop will help her begin sculpting more and add to her artistic career.

You can see more of Howerton’s work at www.howertonart.com

The Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition invests in artists’ project through grants for growing careers, creative projects and exceptional continuing education. The next application deadline is July 15. Find guidelines and application here. 

Raisin' Cain: Tate Wittenberg

Guest Author: Laura Reese, OVAC Intern

Cain’s Ballroom is an historic venue and an icon of the music scene in Oklahoma. Tate Wittenberg hopes to capture the magic and tell the untold tale of this legendary location. Wittenberg’s film Raisin’ Cain will chronicle the history of Cain’s Ballroom as a place of convergence for musical talent from all over the world.

“Cain’s Ballroom is the eye of the needle that measures all who pass through it and remains as popular as ever, hosting the biggest acts in music from around the world,” said Wittenberg, who grew up around Cain’s. Wittenberg’s passion for Cain’s is clear; it was his gateway to the music world during his formative years growing up in Tulsa and Claremore

Goals for Raisin’ Cain include showing the unique experience that Cain’s Ballroom has offered and how influential is has been. Wittenberg said he hopes the film will show Oklahoma, if not the nation, the important role that Tulsa, especially Cain’s Ballroom, has played in the role of the music industry.

Wittenberg was a chosen for a Creative Projects Grant from OVAC to help him complete his project. You can see a teaser and find out more info on Raisin’ Cain at www.raisincainmovie.com. The project is projected to be completed at the end of 2012, and Wittenberg is anticipated to show it at Circle Cinema as well as Cain’s Ballroom itself.


The Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition invests in artists’ project through grants for growing careers, creative projects and exceptional continuing education. The next application deadline is April 16. Find guidelines and application here. 

Elements of the Cosmos: Grant Recipient Asia Scudder

Guest Author: Laura Reese, OVAC Intern

Asia Scudder, ”Escape from Eden” Baling Wire. 2001.

Asia Scudder is an Oklahoma City artist who transforms baling wire from merely a heavy duty material into delicate lines by which her works become otherworldly.

Scudder was inspired by her grandfather, a sculptor of regional-fame, to create “artistic representations of [her] own personal life experience.” Her work brings in aspects of storytelling with, as she described, “quantum timelessness”, through her simultaneous investigations of early cultures, such as the Mayans, as well as her expression of human emotion.

“I work to involve elements of the cosmos”, said Scudder. The combination of the mysterious early cultures of our world as well as the deep search for meaning and compassion she employs create an ethereal experience.

Asia Scudder, ”Creation” Baling Wire. 2008.

She hopes her works help create a “new vocabulary” with which one can “reach for compassion and agreeableness” when it comes to conflict based on our own human errors. Her work Escape from Eden uses gestural lines of the wire to create a tumbling motion; the subject has fallen out of Eden, out of the “cultural mythology of marital bliss” that Scudder implies in the title, and challenges the viewer to draw upon various sources, transcending the zeitgeist, to evaluate the parables she creates in her work

Scudder’s more recent work has moved from delicate wires to heavier materials, such as water-jet-cut steel, such as the work Compassion, to make her works sturdier and more complex. She was recently selected for a Creative Projects Grant from the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition, to give her the means to transform several of her wire pieces into steel for an upcoming show at the Leslie Powell Gallery, opening July 7, 2012.

You can see her work at the exhibit Mayan Icons in Wire during the month of February at Istvan Gallery in Oklahoma City.

Art on Location: Liz Roth

by Katlyn Roberts, OVAC Intern

Stillwater artist Liz Roth has two interesting projects that she is pursuing in the coming months.   Roth requires a travel easel to help her accomplish her ideas and has received an Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition Professional Basics Grant in order to help her with her upcoming projects. 

The first concept is titled Red Dirt Justice, where Roth has been cleared to create oil paintings in Oklahoma prisons.  Her aim is to reveal the realities of the war on drugs and the large number of incarcerated women in Oklahoma. 

The second project Roth is planning is called Overload, for which she will be painting in national parks across the nation. She wants to paint on site, rather than merely snapping a photograph to paint later. She was the Grand Canyon National Park Artist-in-Residence last summer. 

The Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition invests in artists’ project through grants for growing careers, creative projects and exceptional continuing education. The next application deadline is January 15. Find guidelines and application here. 

Collaging History: Debbie Musick

by Katlyn Roberts, OVAC Intern

Debbie Musick, Women of the West Book Cover, Mixed Media

A self-taught artist, Debbie Musick of Yukon has created a style of work that in her words is meant to “explore the layers of everyday life in the American West, past and present, in a tapestry of disparate threads, laughter shared, and stories remembered.” She adds meaningful images, artifacts, and hand rendered text onto textiles to create interesting, textural, mixed media works of art. 

Debbie Musick, Women of the West Book Cover 

[Detail: My grandmother's antique watch, once a carnival prize, 

on a layer of bed ticking, canvas and frayed edges of vintage fabric]

Musick received an Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition Education Grant to travel to the North Texas Collage Conference to attend workshops by K. C. Willis, who has been her long-time role model. This workshop will include lectures, hand-on techniques, and business information about fiber arts and collage.

The Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition invests in artists’ project through grants for growing careers, creative projects and exceptional continuing education. The next application deadline is January 15. Find guidelines and application here.