FROM THE TULSA RACE MASSACRE TO AN INDIGENOUS MURAL SERIES, GET TO KNOW THE ARTISTS AND PROJECTS TO RECEIVE THE $25,000 TULSA ARTIST FELLOWSHIP ARTS INTEGRATION AWARDS
Brandy McDonnell
Updated October 13, 2020
‘Corrected Pathways’ by visiting artist Nani Chacon is part of the Indigenous Mural Series, an Arts Integration Award project led by Yakika Starr Fields. Photo Courtesy of Melissa Lukenbaugh.
TULSA - The Tulsa Artist Fellowship, an initiative of the George Kaiser Family Foundation, has announced six recipients for the 2020-2021 Arts Integration Award.
The year-long award package includes a $25,000 stipend, up to $10,000 in project resources, as well as free living and studio space, according to a news release.
Arts Integration Awards are project-based and reviewed by a panel of regional arts and socially engaged professionals. Selected proposals were determined focusing on the impact projects will have on the Tulsa and Greater Oklahoma communities prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Resources provided through this award will extend and deepen the community engagement initiatives of Tulsa Artist Fellows in Tulsa, in addition to supporting the development of new artistic works.
Due to the community engagement focus of these projects, award recipients have been uniquely challenged to strategically modify their original proposals to accommodate virtual, physically-distanced audience engagement or both, according to the news release.
The award recipients, whose program participation ranges from two years to four years, are Rafael Corzo (multidisciplinary artist), Shane Darwent (multidisciplinary artist), Kristi Eaton (journalistic storyteller), Elisa Harkins (composer and artist), Rhett McNeil (literary translator), and Joel Daniel Phillips (charcoal and graphite draftsman).
They are joining current Arts Integration Award recipients Crystal Z Campbell (multidisciplinary artist), Anita Fields (clay sculpurist and fabric artist), Yatika Starr Fields (painter) and Nathan Young (multidisciplinary artist).
Here's a little bit of information about the 10 artists and their projects:
1. Shane Darwent, who is scheduled to begin a large-scale public sculpture for the grounds of the forthcoming USA BMX headquarters in winter 2020, plans to partner with numerous local organizations and civic leaders to participate in a community engaged, educational bike riding series.
“One of my collaborators on the public sculpture project is Kolby Ari,” says Darwent in a statement. “We are both artists and avid bike riders, and as such, we saw the potential of our sculpture to not only be a set of physical objects, but a jumping off point for a conversation with the community. Our educational bike riding series will happen throughout spring 2021 exploring North Tulsa. We’ll look at issues of food access, entrepreneurial efforts of the African American community, the Native American history of the land, as well as the pedestrian infrastructure that unites/divides North Tulsa from the rest of the city.”
2. Elisa Harkins, whose original proposal included an in-person Indigenous concert series, has shifted her project online and is excited to be able to reach a larger audience than originally anticipated.
"I am proud to use my grant to produce an online concert series called 6 Moons,” says Harkins in a statement. "It's called 6 Moons because it will take place over the course of 6 months and also it's a reference to The 5 Moons, the 5 Indigenous ballerinas."
The five Native American prima ballerinas from Oklahoma who earned international acclaim in the 20th century are Maria Tallchief, Marjorie Tallchief, Rosella Hightower, Moscelyne Larkin and Yvonne Chouteau.
3. Crystal Z Campbell, who is a multidisciplinary artist, filmmaker and writer of African American, Filipino and Chinese descents, is working on a series of film screenings and public art interventions generated by conversations around the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.
The Tulsa Race Massacre was one of the worst episodes of racial violence in U.S. history. Between May 31 and June 1, 1921, mobs of white residents attacked, set aflame and ultimately destroyed the Greenwood District, which was at that time one of the wealthiest black communities in the United States, earning it the name "Black Wall Street."
The deadly tragedy was covered up for decades and omitted from history books even in Oklahoma. As the event's 2021 centennial approaches, several projects are in the works to finally tell the story.
4. Nathan Young is an inter-disciplinary artist and composer whose practice incorporates sound, video, documentary, animation, installation, socially engaged art and experimental and improvised music.
For his Arts Integration Award, he will be putting on Virtual Tulsa Noise performances. Tulsa Noise is an ongoing noise music project created, curated, and led Young.
5. Born in Mexico City, Rafael Corzo is a New York City-based multidisciplinary visual artist who has been awarded diverse grants and residencies.
According to his biography, Corzo is totally ambidextrous, and his artistic creations expand to ceramics, drawing, painting, watercolor, sculpture, installations, metal casting, and neon light. He can also draw, paint, and write with the left foot and writes backwards.
Arts programming for Tulsa's Latino community will by Corzo's focus with his Arts Integration Award.
Native artist Yatika Feilds paints a mural at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History on Friday, March 16, 2018 in Norman Oklahoma. [The Oklahoman Archives]
6. Tulsa native Yatika Starr Fields (Osage/Cherokee/Creek) is a painter and muralist who has created large-scale works at various competitions and festivals around the world. He recently painted a new work for the new Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center's "Bright Golden Haze" inaugural exhibit.
He is planning an indigenous mural series focusing on indigenous representation and dialogue with his Arts Integration Award.
He is the son of fellow Tulsa Art Fellow Anita Fields (Osage) and well-known photographer Tom Fields (Muscogee/Cherokee).
7. Anita Fields (Osage) is a nationally recognized ceramics artist. Born in Oklahoma, she creates works of clay and textile that reflect the worldview of her native Osage culture. Her practice explores the complexities of cultural influences and the intersections of balance and chaos found within our lives.
For her Arts Integration Award, she will be working on a community arts project called "In the Absence of Gathering."
8. Tulsa native Kristi Eaton is an independent journalist who has reported from Asia, Africa, Europe and North America as well as the author of the book “The Main Streets of Oklahoma: Okie Stories from Every County.”
For the Arts Integration Award, she will be working on an interactive web platform connecting Oklahoma’s immigrant and migrant populations.
9. Rhett McNeil is a scholar, critic, and literary translator from Texas. His published work includes translations of novels, short stories, poetry, and nonfiction from some of the most innovative and accomplished authors on the world literary scene, including Gonçalo M. Tavares, João Almino, A.G. Porta, Machado de Assis, and perennial Nobel contender Antônio Lobo Antunes.
He is working on a translation and experimental publishing project.
10. Joel Daniel Phillips is an American artist whose work focuses on the tenets of classical draftsmanship employed in monumental formats. Inspired by the depth and breadth of human experience, he works to tell the personal and societal histories etched in the world around him.
He is working on a publication highlighting censored photographs
with accompanying writing commissions.
Although the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted the arts, a historically under-resourced field, Tulsa Artist Fellowship Executive Director Carolyn Sickles said in a statement that she is not surprised that arts practitioners are boldly navigating these unforeseen challenges.
“Finding ways to break barriers and thrive under pressure is not new for artists and arts workers -- this is what we do,” says Sickles in a statement. “I’m incredibly honored to be part of a creative community with the tenacity and fortitude to continue making critical contributions to our society. The arts have never been more essential and we are grateful that the George Kaiser Family Foundation recognizes this call to action.”
To find out more about upcoming projects, follow Tulsa Artist Fellowship at www.facebook.com/tulsaartists and www.instagram.com/tulsaartistfellowship and sign-up to receive their newsletters at www.tulsaartistfellowship.org.
About Tulsa Artist Fellowship
With the belief that arts are critical to the advancement of cultural citizenship, Tulsa Artist Fellowship supports both local and national artists while enriching the Tulsa community. Tulsa Artist Fellowship is solely funded by the George Kaiser Family Foundation, a charitable organization dedicated to providing equal opportunity for young children through investments in early childhood education, community health, social services, and civic enhancement. GKFF works primarily on initiatives developed in collaboration with Tulsa-based direct service organizations.