GROUNDED IN TULSA
Founded in 2015 with visionary support from the George Kaiser Family Foundation (GKFF), Tulsa Artist Fellowship continues to grow alongside the artists and communities it serves.
Tulsa sits on the ancestral homelands of the Osage, Cherokee, and Muscogee Nations. This place holds layered histories of Indigenous presence, forced removal, migration, racial terror, resilience, and renewal. The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, segregation, economic transformation, and ongoing efforts toward repair continue to shape the city’s civic and cultural life.
These histories are not distant—they inform Tulsa today.
JOY HARJO
“The Tulsa Artist Fellowship has given me the time and resources to pursue my creative practice, here, near my tribal community. And the fellowship locates me within an inspirational community that inspires my art-making.”
COMMITMENT TO PLACE
Every community is shaped by intertwined stories of belonging and displacement, opportunity and injustice. We believe truth and acknowledgment are essential to building mutual respect and meaningful connections.
Tulsa Artist Fellowship is committed to honoring the full complexity of this place. Through intentional programming, partnerships, and sustained investment in creative practice, we support artists who engage Tulsa’s history and communities with care and rigor.
We believe artists are essential to Tulsa’s civic future. We are committed to strengthening a city grounded in equity, dialogue, and shared cultural life.
Tulsa Artist Fellowship is a growing community of artists, alumni, collaborators, and audiences. Through exhibitions, readings, performances, and conversations, Fellows contribute to Tulsa’s cultural landscape.
Rehab El Sadek, 2025-2027 Awardee
Arts practitioners in their own right, the Tulsa Artist Fellowship team brings specialized expertise and cultivates partnership opportunities to ensure that awardees thrive creatively.
