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Oklahoma Arts Council Announces Members of its 2017 Leadership Arts Class

OKLAHOMA CITY (February 1, 2017) – The Oklahoma Arts Council has announced the names of individuals selected to participate in its 2017 Leadership Arts program. The list includes 33 individuals from 18 Oklahoma communities who will convene at four two-day spring sessions to learn how to advance their communities through the arts and arts education. Members of the 2017 class will join more than 280 individuals from 80 communities statewide who have participated in the program since it began in 2008. Three new communities will be represented in the class: Broken Bow, Sapulpa, and Stroud.

Oklahoma Arts Council Executive Director Amber Sharples called 2017 a banner year for the program.

“This is our tenth Leadership Arts class, representing a milestone for our agency,” Sharples said. “Leadership Arts and our statewide Oklahoma Arts Conference were established because, as the state’s arts agency, we recognized the opportunity to lead in building Oklahoma’s cultural infrastructure. Ten years later, through these programs and others, we are positioned to continue to help meet vital needs within our state.”

The Oklahoma Arts Council places a high priority on geographic, cultural, and professional diversity during the application process. Listed by community, members of the 2017 class of Leadership Arts include:

Scott Ambler (Bartlesville)
Sandra Kent (Bartlesville)
Dedra Morgan (Bartlesville)
Dian Jordan (Broken Bow)
Adam Heilman (Chickasha)
Linda Moore (Enid)
Glenna McBride (Eufaula)
Andrew Ray (Eufaula)
Sharon Cheatwood (Lawton)
LaTasha Duncan (Locust Grove)
Cindy Scarberry (Moore)
Jermaine Mondaine (Muskogee)
Brian Grider (Mustang)
Robert Arrington (Norman)
Wilmari Ruiz (Norman)
Maya Hering (Oklahoma City)
Susan Marshall-Armstrong (Oklahoma City)
Anne Oakley (Oklahoma City)
Erin Oldfield (Oklahoma City)
John Selvidge (Oklahoma City)
Jarica Walsh (Oklahoma City)
Shoshana Wasserman (Oklahoma City)
Bayly Wright (Park Hill)
Bruce Carter (Pawhuska)
Addie Roanhorse (Pawhuska)
Jennifer Barretto (Sand Springs)
Susan Teeters (Sand Springs)
Sheri Ishmael-Waldrop (Sapulpa)
David Timmons (Stroud)
Aaron Beck (Tulsa)
Krystle Brewer (Tulsa)
Krystal Grizzle (Tulsa)
Sarah Wright (Tulsa)

About Leadership Arts
Through the Leadership Arts program, individuals receive in-depth training and strategies for using arts and cultural resources to strengthen local economies, improve education, and enhance quality of life. Approximately 30 class members are selected each year to meet during four two-day spring sessions where they participate in panel discussions, group activities, hands-on learning, and tours of community art spaces.

Class sessions for the 2017 program will take place at the Chickasaw Conference and Retreat Center in Sulphur (February 22-23), Lawton (March 22-23), Pawhuska (April 26-27), and Tulsa (May 24-25). Class members will graduate during the 2017 Oklahoma Arts Conference in Enid (October 25-26).

Nationally recognized, the Leadership Arts program is sponsored by the Oklahoma Arts Council and funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. The program is a project of the Oklahoma Arts Council in cooperation with the communities of Sulphur, Lawton, Pawhuska, Tulsa, and Enid.

About the Oklahoma Arts Council
The Oklahoma Arts Council is the official state agency for the support and development of the arts. The agency’s mission is to lead in the advancement of Oklahoma’s thriving arts industry. The Oklahoma Arts Council provides approximately 450 grants to almost 250 organizations in communities statewide each year, organizes professional development opportunities for the state's arts and cultural industry, and manages works of art in Oklahoma Public Art Collection and the public spaces of the state Capitol. Additional information is available at arts.ok.gov.

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