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Commission highlights summer exhibits, Juneteenth events and Americans for the Arts conference; NEA funding uncertainty noted
Summary
Commissioners and staff summarized upcoming exhibitions and community events, reported on the Americans for the Arts conference in Cincinnati, and flagged uncertainty about National Endowment for the Arts funding; staff also noted a Bloomberg asphalt-art grant application while city policy currently prohibits painted crosswalks.
Commission members used their June 16 meeting to highlight summer exhibitions, community events and to report back from a national arts conference.
Commissioner Ontiveros reviewed local events: the Prix West invitational at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum runs June 6–Aug. 3; the Oklahoma City Museum of Art's Ansel Adams exhibition runs June 7–Sept. 28; and the Paseo monthly art walk will continue on Fridays in June and July. "This exhibition and sale showcases nearly 300 western paintings and sculptures," Ontiveros said of the Prix West event.
Commissioner Williams outlined Juneteenth week events on the East Side, including a fashion and art panel at Innovation Hall with Brooklyn-based designer April Walker, a Friday 5K run in partnership with Red Coyote, a family festival Saturday and a new mural by Ebony Iman Dallas.
Robbie Jones and Leandre Lattimore reported on attending the Americans for the Arts conference in Cincinnati. Lattimore said the conference offered opportunities to meet counterparts from other cities and to discuss ways municipalities can support arts organizations amid funding uncertainty. "There was definitely a lot of conversation about ways to proceed and support each other, moving forward, with these uncertainties in mind," Lattimore said, noting that many organizations rely on the National Endowment for the Arts.
Jones and Lattimore also shared photographs and examples of public art from Cincinnati and described program ideas discussed at the conference. Jones noted the office had applied for a Bloomberg grant to support asphalt art, but said Oklahoma City's current rules do not allow painted crosswalks: "Right now, on our sidewalk on our crosswalks, they have to be the way they are now. You're not able to paint on them," Jones said. Commissioner Aiken encouraged commissioners to follow updates on NEA funding through Americans for the Arts and Oklahomans for the Arts.
No formal actions were taken on these updates; the remarks were informational and intended to connect commissioners with ongoing events, grant efforts and national conversations about arts funding.
