Oklahoma Arts Council News

Five recommendations for incorporating design education

By Michael Eddens, Director of Arts Education Programs

Design education is the teaching of theory and application in the design of products, services and environments. It can include disciplines like graphic, web, packaging, fashion and interior design. Design education has great potential for seamlessly fitting Oklahoma?s new C3 Standards.

Oklahoma C3 Standards allow Oklahoma PASS standards and the newly developed and widely adopted Common Core Standards to come under the same umbrella for a seamless integration of knowledge and skills deemed important for 21st century learning. Oklahoma C3 paves the way for student success in the areas of college, career, and citizenship readiness; and recognizes that while not all students will be college bound, all students should master the same basic thinking, problem solving and literacy skills to foster success in any path they choose.

So how does design education fit into the new C3 standards?

• Design education focuses on creative thought and problem solving
• Design education easily integrates into other curricular disciplines
• Design education is about literacy and communication
• Design is the lens through which today's society understands the world

In order for design education to be deliver properly there are a few things that must happen. Click here to read more...

Culture conveyed through Oklahoma public art

Have you noticed your bridges, highways, state government and university buildings looking a bit nicer these days? The enhancements you may have seen are the result of the?Oklahoma Art in Public Places?program, a department within the Oklahoma Historical Society.?

Learn more about Oklahoma public art and how educators can use public art to teach about Oklahoma history and culture. Click here to read more...

Genres in painting

In today?s society, we are constantly exposed to art in everyday life through music, movies, television, and computers. Even our phones give us the ability to look at, listen to, and share art. Where art was once a luxury only afforded by the wealthy, today anyone can access the arts at any time. With the increased access to the arts comes an increased responsibility for educators to train their students in how to understand and interpret the arts.

Click to read the full article...

Immersed in creativity: the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute

What do the television shows Law & Order, Will & Grace, So You Think You Can Dance, and the film Minority Report have in common? Answer: each featured an Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute alumnus.

Read the full article....

Registration now open for the 2012 Oklahoma Arts Conference!

How can you tap into cultural resources to foster community pride, attract tourists, and strengthen the local economy? How can you work with local artists, government, businesses, and nonprofits to make your community vibrant? These were questions asked by the City of Oklahoma City years ago when it mapped out a future that Oklahoma, and the nation, now sees.

During the 2012 Oklahoma Arts Conference we will experience the result of the city's efforts to invest in arts and culture and learn how communities statewide can benefit from doing the same. Registration is now open!

Here's what you can expect from two of our featured speakers:

• Artists (performing and visual) can learn how to reach new markets, tap into community sponsorships, benefit from cause-driven events and more during sessions hosted by Jeri Goldstein. Goldstein was a popular speaker during the 2009 conference in Stillwater.

• Arts organizations and managers will hear from Ramona Baker, a nonprofit consultant with 20 years of experience as a CEO of arts organizations. Baker will examine crisis management, board development, leadership and more in her sessions.

Be sure to check our website often for updated schedule information!

Register for the 2012 Oklahoma Arts Conference.

Governor's Arts Awards nominations due August 10

The deadline is approaching to nominate an individual or organization for a 2012 Governor's Arts Award. Nominations should be submitted no later than Friday, August 10. The annual awards are an opportunity to bring recognition to those whose efforts in the arts have made a difference in your community or schools. Categories include:

• The Governor's Award

• Arts in Education Award

• Business in the Arts Award

• Community Service Award

• Media in the Arts Award

• Public Service in the Arts Award (government leaders or workers)

To submit a nomination, complete our online nomination - or - download a nomination form.

Free Capitol Art DVD available to teachers

With the school year approaching, the Oklahoma Arts Council is pleased to offer teachers throughout Oklahoma a free DVD copy of The People's Art: A Tour of the Capitol Collection for use in their classrooms. The DVD is an episode of OETA's award-winning Gallery series. Hosted by The Honorable Robert Henry, an art enthusiast and former legislator, the hour-long DVD presentation gives students a classroom introduction to the Capitol Art Collection. The collection provides an engaging way to teach Oklahoma history through the events, people, and land depicted in over 100 permanent sculptures, murals and paintings located throughout the Oklahoma state Capitol.

Educators can register for the DVD here.

Learn how we can help with a Capitol art field trip.

Tulsa to benefit from $50,000 NEA grant

The Tulsa Performing Arts Center Trust, in partnership with the George Kaiser Foundation, has been awarded a $50,000 Our Town grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). The grant will support programming in the new Guthrie Green park in the downtown Brady Arts District. Programming will feature free community performances by local, regional, and national performing artists.

Oklahoma Arts Council Executive Director Kim Baker said she's thrilled for Tulsa. "We're excited to see an Oklahoma community benefit from the NEA's new Our Town grant category. The grant validates the community's efforts to build their downtown through arts and culture."

Our Town grants support creative placemaking projects that help transform communities into lively, beautiful, and sustainable places with the arts at their core. Creative placemaking refers to how cities and towns are using the arts to shape their social, physical, and economic characters. For more information about the grants click here.

Kirkpatrick Foundation has history of supporting the arts

Located in Oklahoma City, the Kirkpatrick Foundation has long been devoted to improving the quality of life in the region. Since 1955 the foundation has contributed over $60 million to almost 800 nonprofit organizations. With an emphasis in arts, culture, and education, the foundation offers support for nonprofits whose programs compliment the foundation's mission; the foundation also considers requests from public and private educational institutions.

Funding priority is given to organizations serving the central Oklahoma area; however, Oklahoma arts and cultural organizations are encouraged to learn more about the foundation's grant programs and how they may be able to benefit you.

Click here to visit their website.

OSU Museum of Art seeks director

Oklahoma State University is seeking a "visionary leader" to become the Director of the Oklahoma State University Museum of Art. The candidate selected for the position will develop the new museum's strategic mission and development staff, and create a model of best practice arts education and community outreach.

Since the 1930s OSU has been cultivating its art collection but until two years ago had no plans for a permanent museum for the collection. The announcement of the planned downtown Postal Plaza Gallery two years ago will meet the university's vision for a state-of-the-art venue for exhibitions, collections storage, research and teaching.

Click here to read the job posting.

Watch a video introduction of the Postal Plaza Gallery by OSU President Burns Hargis.