2016 CONTEMPORARY ARTS, PERFORMANCE, AND THOUGHT CONVERSATIONS Please enjoy this annual supplement that accompanies our twice-yearly magazine.

Gobba, zoppa e collotorto (1985) is featured in Frank Stella: A Retrospective at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth through September 18.

CONTENTS

ARTDESK CONVERSATIONS...... 3 What is ArtDesk? DANCE THIS WAY...... 4 New publishing about regional exhibitions and art education Five companies to watch HAPPENINGS...... 5 artdesk is a contemporary art magazine with a focus on platform for expert voices to educate audiences on the art regional visual arts, dance, performance, and thought. and ideas of our time. Our team of world-class contributors BEST BETS...... 7 Published twice yearly by the Kirkpatrick Foundation are knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the subjects REGIONAL ART...... 11 in City, ArtDesk highlights the need-to-know they cover and proud to work for a publication celebrating people, ideas, trends, and happenings in the world of new thought. This makes for rich and informative articles, • Marfa • Green Mountain Falls contemporary art. compelling images, and smart design. IN MEMORIAM...... 12 We believe the world’s art capitals are best served by Our primary locations of interest are Oklahoma City; Ellsworth Kelly • strong programming and arts education—for all ages—in Marfa, Texas; and Green Mountain Falls, Colorado. Our all regions. In ArtDesk, local art communities are celebrated efforts support three community arts organizations— IGNITE CURIOSITY...... 14 as stepping stones where artists can learn and thrive. We Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center, Marfa Contemporary, Curiosity grows from the difficult, messy believe community engagement in the arts promotes and the Green Box Arts Festival—and our goal is to spark interplay between skills and knowledge creative literacy and appreciation; ArtDesk serves as a interest in local arts education, incubate initiatives, and connection to these communities and the skills they foster. provide positive influence for artistic endeavors near and far. SQ777: RIGHT TO HARM?...... 16 From Texas craftsmen and animal-behavior experts ArtDesk can be found on newsstands in twenty-five foreign to social sculptors and modern dancers, ArtDesk provides a countries and across the U.S. and Canada. ART SOCIETY...... 19 I’m not in control of my muse. My muse does all the work.

Ray Bdra bury CONVERSATIONS ARTDESK CONVERSATIONS

In July 2015, at Green Box Arts Festival, ArtDesk magazine debuted the ArtDesk Conversations. By gathering contemporary art and performance experts and thought leaders from around the country to engage in productive discussion, ArtDesk Conversations have sparked inspi- ration through a wide array of voices. In 2016, our dialogue continues with artists, writers, designers, and thinkers who provide an educational flair to contemporary discussion. All conversations are free and open to the public.

ArtDesk managing editor Alana Salisbury; assistant curator for the Nasher Sculpture Center, Leigh Arnold; and art journalist Carol Kino Marfa, Texas at Marfa Contemporary in October 2015. photo by alex marks MARFA CONTEMPORARY I Must Be Living Twice with Eileen Myles Hear the Dance, See the Music with Adam Crystal and Larry Keigwin May 2016 Saturday, July 2, 11 am An icon to female writers looking to challenge the norm, Eileen Myles’ Inspired by their work together in Green Mountain Falls, Green Box Arts Festival underground presence is rising to the surface due to her influence on co-founder Larry Keigwin of New York’s KEIGWIN + COMPANY talks through the modern media, such as the acclaimed TV series, Transparent. Author of more creative process of building a new dance in collaboration with Emmy-nominated than twenty books, including poetry, fiction, criticism, and memoir, Myles’ and composer-in-residence, Adam Crystal. deliberate artistry redefines what it means to be a poet, engaging radical literary reverb with one feminist manifesto after another.

Gravity Waves Are Real! Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Saturday, October 8, 11 am (includes lunch) Coinciding with Chinati Weekend and Mexican artist Francisco Ugarte’s OKLAHOMA CONTEMPORARY ARTS CENTER new exhibition at Marfa Contemporary, the ArtDesk Conversations series Magazine Designer of the Year with Steven Walker will continue with a conversation from a leader in contemporary art as Friday, July 15, 6 pm (includes hors d’oeuvres) well as astronomy. In fall 2015, Oklahoma Today’s art director Steven Walker was named Magazine Designer of the Year by Folio magazine. The Walker Creative founder started his career in skateboard and poster design and continues to spearhead dozens of design projects, including The Oklahoma Animal Study (2016). This conversation is Green Mountain Falls, CO in partnership with AIGA and UCO School of Design. GREEN BOX ARTS FESTIVAL Stick-to-itive-ness with Patrick Dougherty Sunday, June 26, 1 pm Outdoor installation artist Patrick Dougherty, born in Oklahoma and living in North Carolina, will take us through the evolution of his career into becoming a world-renowned sculptor of twisting, twirling branch-work. Dougherty and his large-scale artwork made from sticks was featured on CBS Sunday Morning in 2015.

Living Local: Civic Leadership in Rural Colorado “Often the public imagines that Friday, July 1, 11 am a work of art should be made Mountain Road Corner to last,” says artist Patrick During this extraordinary political season, enjoy a lively discussion Dougherty. “But I believe with a prominent Colorado mayor about the importance of leadership and that a sculpture, like a good flowerbed, has its season.” the relationship between a city government, business, and community. photo by sam wolfe

ARTDESK 03 DANCE

1 northwest dance project DANCE Artistic director and founder Sarah Slipper is responsible for Portland’s “laboratory of dance.” Here, all works are original and the dancers are at the top of their game. To note, four of their nine current dancers have received Princess Grace THIS WAY Awards while with this company. In June, NW Dance Project will perform Summer Splendors at the Lincoln Performance Check out the new Hall in Portland. Featuring three new works from Slipper, Yin Yue, and Carla Mann, these performances embody the spirit work of these top of NW Dance Project. nwdanceproject.org contemporary dance companies around the USA. by Larry Keigwin & Alana Salisbury 1 2 portland bodytraffic Founded in 2007, this -based company has been creating waves in the 4 contemporary dance world. Artistic directors and founders Lillian Barbeito and Tina Finkelman Berkett, lead a troupe 3 of internationally renowned colorado choreographers and dancers springs such as Kyle Abraham, Loni Landon, James Gregg and Christina Bodie. In 2016, BODYTRAFFIC is bringing their 2 gritty, raw LA sensibilities los across the Deep South angeles and Colorado with four new works as well as a performance at The Hollywood Bowl. bodytraffic.com 5 houston

3 4 5 ormao dance company hubbard street dance chicago metdance Ormao Dance Company has provided Colorado Springs Hubbard Street Dance began in 1977, and since has Celebrating 20! presents a retrospective of the last with an award-winning modern dance company, classes grown to become a powerhouse of modern dance. The twenty years of METdance in the Houston arts scene and that are open to the public, and a unique program teaching company’s eighteen members make up one of the only the diverse repertoire of this extraordinary company. math through dance to schoolchildren. This year, the ensembles in the US to perform all year long. Some Season programming includes a nod to the future with company is celebrating twenty-five years, their season highlights for 2016 include a world premier of LONG world premiere performances by Kate Skarpetowska, includes a program of must-see shows, including Converging WHITE LINE by NYC-based choreographer and VIM Joshua L. Peugh and METdance 2016 Emerging Choreog- and Diverging Memories—a site specific performance in VIGOR artistic director Shannon Gillen in Switzerland, rapher, Caterina Rago. METdance will also feature works the former Colorado Springs Gazette warehouse print a collaboration with legendary sketch-comedy troupe, by award-winning choreographer Camille A. Brown, shop. Choreographed by Ormao director Jan Johnson and the Second City, and a performance of William Forsythe artistic director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, choreographer Shawn Womack, the audience and the dancers works at the American Dance Festival in North Carolina. Robert Battle, and ArtDesk dance editor, Larry Keigwin. interact in this urban, concrete environment. ormaodance.org hubbardstreetdance.com metdance.org

green Where Great Art is box Made and arts Experienced

IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS GREEN MOUNTAIN FALLS, COLORADO

FESTIVAL / RESIDENCIES / CLASSES / CONVERSATIONS / DANCE / MUSIC / INSTALLATIONS / GREENBOXARTS.ORG HAPPENINGS

SUMMER & FALL 2016

HappeningsOK + CO + TX

Shapiro’s prolific sculptural works invite visual and spatial observation, often joel shapiro appearing to break the rules of gravity as we know them—namely Shapiro’s most recent vibrant, suspended forms. A series of his sculptural works and drawings Nasher Sculpture Center / will be on display alongside pieces from the Nasher’s permanent collection. , TX Through Aug. 21 nashersculpturecenter.org

MPA: THE INTERVIEW: Sightings: Mai-Thu Perret Mark Flood: Gratest Hits Red, Red Future Nasher Sculpture Center / Dallas, TX Contemporary Arts Museum Houston / Contemporary Arts Museum Houston / Houston, TX exhibition Houston, TX exhibition Swiss-born Perret’s imagination fuels her exhibition latest installation, telling the story of a CAM Houston presents the first survey of CAM Houston presents an entirely new fictional feminist commune and the women Mark Flood’s work, including pieces from body of work commissioned by California- who live within Perret’s utopian society. The the 1980s to 2015. Although Flood has based artist MPA, showcasing her three- installation embraces a Modern aesthetic managed to elude the museum spotlight— year hypothetical investigation of the while providing political commentary on “Flood believes that when artwork is human colonization of Mars. Combining Perret’s feminist ideals, which are present overly glorified it is hard to experience sculpture, light, and photography Judith Scott: Bound and Unbound throughout her body of work. it as “art,” per se,” according to the with celestial inspiration, MPA’s work Aspen Art Museum / Aspen, CO Through July 17 museum—his active career has produced explores the relationship between nashersculpturecenter.org confrontational paintings, collages, and exhibition scientific and mythical beliefs. sculptures in which he questions the Through June 5 The first solo museum survey of Scott’s work influence of art on the viewer and public camh.org reveals thoughtful use of color and form perception. Through Aug. 7 in these unique mixed-media sculptures. camh.org Born with Down’s syndrome, Scott was Xu Bing: Book from the Sky introduced to art at Oakland’s Creative Blanton Museum of Art / Austin, TX Growth Art Center, which sparked the Discarded: Photographs by beginning of her seventeen-year career. Anthony Hernandez exhibition Through July 10, aspenartmuseum.org Amon Carter Museum of American Art / In its first full-scale installation in Texas, Fort Worth, TX Chinese artist Xu Bing abstracts literacy exhibition with hundreds of books and scrolls Irving Penn: Beyond Beauty depicting 4,000 original characters Dallas Museum of Art/ Dallas, TX Hernandez’s newest photographs designed by Bing in a post-Mao statement explore themes of abandonment and exhibition that earned her a MacArthur “genius” the disposable qualities that land, grant. Although it mirrors Chinese text, At last! The first retrospective of Penn’s work buildings, and even people possess. native speakers and readers find the in nearly twenty years has been organized by Hernandez captures the weight of work illegible, stripping the text of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Of empty space and American’s proclivity any deliberate meaning, and creating the more than 140 photographs in this exhib- to discard what we no longer want in a tension with the written word. it, viewers will find Penn’s most iconic works pictorial cultural analysis. June 19 - Jan. 22, 2017 as well as never-exhibited photographs. Through Aug. 7 blantonmuseum.org Through Aug. 14, dma.org cartermuseum.org

ARTDESK 05 HAPPENINGS

Summer Wheat: Performance on Paper: The Posters Everything Under the Sun of Phil Risbeck and John Sorbie Oklahoma Contemporary / Art Museum / Denver, CO Oklahoma City, OK exhibition exhibition The work of two Colorado designers Summer Wheat’s work explores what come together in a collection of posters happens when the details of a classic dated from the 1960s to the 1990s, painting are thrust into an abstracted, highlighting the designers’ use of high- contemporary context. As part of her contrast photography, photomontage, and artist-in-residence position at Oklahoma hand-drawn illustrations. From film to Contemporary, Wheat’s first solo show in dance to opera, these posters promoted her home state will feature works inspired performances at Colorado State University. by Johannes Vermeer’s The Milkmaid. July 10 - Jan. 8, 2017 Through Aug. 12 denverartmuseum.org oklahomacontemporary.org

Texas Contemporary George R. Brown Convention Center / Houston, TX art fair Four days of site specific installations, artist talks, panel discussions, and gallery tours bring in nearly 15,000 collectors, dealers, and curators to the Lone Star state annually. For the second year, Texas Contemporary will partner with brian bress, Organizing The Physical Evidence (2014) the Department of Cultural Affairs at the Courtesy of the artist /Cherry and Martin, Los Angeles Mexican Consulate to highlight the white- hot Mexico City arts scene. Sept. 29 - Oct. 2 Brian Bress: Matisse in His Time: texascontemporary.com Make Your Own Friends Masterworks of Modernism Museum of Contemporary Art Denver / from the Centre Pompidou, Paris Denver, CO Oklahoma City Museum of Art / Paola Pivi: Ma’am Oklahoma City, OK exhibition Dallas Contemporary / Dallas, TX exhibition A survey of the past ten years of exhibition Jose Dávila this young artist’s career presents Matisse’s work provided a critical Marfa Contemporary / Marfa, TX Inspired by the inhabitants of manufactured “friends” that transform foundation for European modernism, Anchorage, Alaska, Pivi’s work is clearly across dimensions, from works on and his influence in modern art lives on exhibition a testament to the sassier side of the paper to sculpture and video. As part of in this exhibit of nearly fifty paintings, Architecture and art history come to life in arctic. Neon polar bears, whose classic MCA Denver’s 2016 winter exhibition sculptures, drawings, and prints from Jose Dávila’s newest body of work. A series fur coats have been replaced with program and a joint effort between the the early nineteenth century to post- of sculptures and other media pop off the feathers, lounge and dance with each MCA and the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, World War II. walls, bringing viewers into a world where other. Sculptures with personality and Bress’s artistic endeavor gives new Through Sept. 18 nature and man-made construction collide, photographic prints provoke thought on meaning to friendship in a digital age okcmoa.com Arte Povera-style.May 6 - Sept. 4 our animal counterparts. where “friend” is a verb. marfacontemporary.org Through Aug. 21 Through July 3 dallascontemporary.org mcadenver.org Frank Stella: A Retrospective Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth / Art Aspen Fort Worth, TX Paola Pivi, Okay, you are better than me, so what? (2013) Aspen Ice Garden / Aspen, CO photograph by Guillaume Ziccarelli retrospective art fair Co-organized by the Whitney Museum The seventh edition of Art Aspen of American Art, an extensive survey of features works from the 1950s to the Stella’s work combines paintings, reliefs, present. Limited to thirty dealers, sculpture, and drawings from the mid-1950s this modern marketplace provides an to the present. These 120 works comprise intimate setting for fairgoers to view and the most comprehensive presentation of buy art in a smartly designed setting. Stella’s work to date. Through Sept. 18 August 4 - 7 themodern.org art-aspen.com

After Effect Ballroom Marfa / Marfa, TX exhibition This group exhibition includes the works of Dan Colen, Raymond Jonson, and Florence Miller Pierce. Landscape, sublimity, and spirituality transform at the hands of these artists and more, as new artistic Oscar Bluemner: Forces of Nature interpretations unfold. and Industry Through Aug. 21 The Philbrook Museum of Art / ballroommarfa.org Tulsa, OK exhibition A tragic figure of American modernism—he committed suicide at age 70—Bluemner’s bright colors and use of contrast have influenced many contemporary artists. This exhibit, envisioned by chief curator of the Philbrook, Catherine Whitney, focuses on Bluemner’s black-and-white drawings of architectural and industrial landscapes. Through Nov. 6 philbrook.org

06 ARTDESK BEST BETS

irving penn, Ball Dress by Olivier Theyskens for Nina Ricci, 2007, New York Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Irving Penn Foundation, © Condé Nast

This summer, the Dallas Museum of Art hosts Beyond Beauty a retrospective of the work of legendary photographer Irving Penn. The exhibition includes both well-known and unseen photographs from Penn’s Best Bets seventy-year career and is organized by the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Through August 14.

ARTDESK 07 BEST BETS

p atrick dougherty, The Royals, 2016, Vero Beach, Florida photo by sam wolfe for ArtDesk, 2016

Patrick Dougherty lives and works in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. In June, he will be in Green Mountain Falls building his site-specific sculptures made of saplings and sticks. Part of the Green Box Arts Festival, Dougherty will participate in an ArtDesk Conversations series on June 26. Open June 26 and expected to be on view at Dorothy Conn Park for two years.

08 ARTDESK BEST BETS

summer wheat, Gloves, 2015 photo courtesy of the artist

In Pry the Lid Off, visual artist and native Oklahoman Summer Wheat explores Johannes Vermeer’s iconic work, The Milkmaid. “I’m interested in changing the perception of a female domestic worker,” Wheat says in the upcoming Issue 06 of ArtDesk magazine. On view through August 12 at Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center.

ARTDESK 09 BEST BETS

jose dÁvila, Joint Effort, 2015 Galleri Nicolai Wallner, Copenhagen, Denmark | photo by anders tune berg

In Jose Dávila's The Elephant and the Feather at Marfa Contemporary, each piece in the series explores what the artist calls “the universal struggle of humanity against gravity.” The artist was born in Guadalajara, Mexico, in 1974, and credits Marfa icon Donald Judd as an inspiration. On view through September 4.

10 ARTDESK OC / MC / GBX

Suppo rting the REGIONAL ARTS OKLAHOMA CITY + MARFA + GREEN MOUNTAIN FALLS Q

oklahoma city, oklahoma Oklahoma & Contemporary Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center, formed in 1989 as City Arts Center by Christian Keesee and Kirkpatrick Foundation director Marilyn Myers, is committed to providing quality, A accessible, and affordable arts Born and raised in Osage County, Oklahoma, programming and education. Through jeremiah davis left home for Bennington College, corporate funding and private in Vermont, where he received degrees in theater donations, Oklahoma Contemporary and social science. He then traveled to Istanbul to educates through adult classes and teach English, literature, and history. After landing at workshops, art camps and classes for Columbia University to complete his graduate degree youth, art exhibitions, lectures, and in Dramaturgy, Davis worked extensively in immersive additional educational programming. theatre with the Woodshed Collective in New York City. Davis returned to Oklahoma in January 2016, to take on the role of artistic director for Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center. He joins the organization at a time when change is on the horizon. A new facility, marfa, texas in the heart of downtown is set to break ground in fall 2016 and with that, expansion of not only space but also Marfa Contemporary programming for the community. The first regional extension of Oklahoma Contemporary is located in Marfa, Texas, — You come from a theatre background. How does that made famous by artist Donald Judd and inform your decisions about other genres of art? the film Giant featuring James Dean and jeremiah davis — [I think] of Wagner’s explorations Elizabeth Taylor. Marfa Contemporary of the total work of art, Gesamtkunstwerk, Picasso and advocates for creative practice and Cocteau’s collaborations with the Russes, or artistic appreciation through exhibits the interdisciplinary experiments at Black Mountain and education, which are free of charge College. With any artwork, the key question for to the public year-around. Exhibitions me is, What’s the idea, and how does it reach us? have featured recent works by regional, national, and international artists such as Laurie Frick, Spencer Finch, and — Why Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center? Gonzalo Lebrija. jeremiah davis — When I left Oklahoma for college, I knew I wanted to pursue a career in the arts and humanities. I thought this pursuit would entail living outside of the state until retirement. Then along comes this position at Oklahoma Contemporary, whose mission, vision, green mountain falls, colorado and values are closely aligned with my own. The more I learned about Oklahoma Contemporary The Green Box and the extraordinary staff, the more I wanted to jump on board. A lot is happening in the city and Arts Festival the state, and I think Oklahoma Contemporary The mission of the Green Box Arts is an important part of our cultural landscape. Festival is to bring dance, site-specific art, music, and culinary education to — What is your advice to someone pursuing a career in Green Mountain Falls every summer. the arts, particularly in the regions? In 2006, the first artist-in-residence program was launched with acclaimed jeremiah davis — If pressed, I would say a few choreographer Larry Keigwin (dance things: Experience as much local art as possible and editor for ArtDesk) and his company, build relationships with local artists and institutions. KEIGWIN + COMPANY. Since 2009, the Practice your craft every day. And travel. Travel and annual festival has provided artists cultural exchange are vital components of any and visitors with a celebration of artist’s creative life. creativity against the stunning natural environment of the Rocky Mountains. — Is there advice you would give your younger self?

jeremiah davis — It’s okay for the dream to evolve, just keep it going.

dram·a·tur·gy The focus of my work as a dramaturg has been to provide context, pose critical questions, and offer constructive feedback to my creative collaborators. For me, the goal of dramaturgy is to We asked artistic director Jeremiah Davis to explain what a dramaturg is. catalyze a collective transformation, from the architectural blueprint of a text into a fully realized edifice inhabited by audiences.In other words: I translate theory into action. “A dramaturg (translation: “theater worker”) is a scholar/practitioner versed in performing arts who collaborates with a creative team as a consultant for many The practice of dramaturgy traces its roots to Gotthold Ephraim Lessing’s work at the Hamburg aspects of a given production. National Theatre in the eighteenth century.”

ARTDESK 11 IN MEMORIAM

In Memoriam ELLSWORTH KELLY

MAY 31, 1923 – DECEMBER 27, 2015 by Michael duty

very few artists can truly be described Works on Paper, produced in part by the as “originals,” someone whose aesthetic then Fort Worth Art Museum in 1987, vision is unique, powerful, and he said, “I realized that from then on, groundbreaking. Ellsworth Kelly, who painting as I had known it, was finished died at his home in Spencertown, New for me. The new works were to be York, on December 27, 2015, at the age of objects, unsigned, anonymous.” ninety-two, was one of those artists. Soon he was experimenting with His boldly colored geometric geometric shapes and vibrant colors. abstractions of familiar shapes defy He was quoted in the New York Times simple classification. From the colorful describing those early days, saying, “I birds he studied as a boy in upstate wondered, ‘Can I make a painting with New York to the abandoned post-World just five panels of color in a row?’ I loved War II buildings of Paris—where it, but I didn’t think the world would. he lived following his stint in a U.S. They’d think, ‘It’s not enough.’” Army camouflage unit—Kelly found He returned to New York in 1954 inspiration in everything. and slowly began catching the attention After the war, as part of the G.I. Bill, of leading dealers such as Betty Parsons. Kelly enrolled at the École des Beaux- He preferred working far from the hustle Arts. Instead of attending classes, he and bustle of the New York art scene immersed himself in the museums and eventually retreated to the relative and cathedrals of the area and visited solitude of his Spencertown studio. By the studios of a few artists whose work the 1970s, he had proven his own predic- he admired, such as abstract sculptor tion about his work to be false. The world Constantin Brancusi. thought his work was more than enough: Kelly spent much of his time in Ellsworth Kelly is now one of the most Paris carefully observing the world widely collected artists in the world, around him, both the natural and the with works in many major museums and manmade. He never affiliated himself prestigious private collections. with any particular group of artists or Kelly was engaged in every facet artistic movements; instead he focused of his work, from conception to on expressing his ideas in new and installation, and at the time of his innovative ways. death had just completed a number of Far from the swirling energy of new pieces for an upcoming gallery early abstract expressionism in New exhibition. In the catalogue for a show York, Kelly worked to develop his own of his work at the Stedelijk Museum approach to making art. His first major Amsterdam in 1979, he said, “...I felt piece, completed in 1949, was inspired that everything is beautiful, but that by a window at the Museum of Modern which man tries intentionally to make Art in Paris. The work, Window, Museum beautiful; that the work of an ordinary of Modern Art, Paris was constructed of bricklayer is more valid than the artwork two canvas panels and a wood frame, of all but a very few artists.” Today most and proved to be a breakthrough in his people would agree that Kelly himself artistic development. In Ellsworth Kelly: was one of those very few.

12 ARTDESK IN MEMORIAM

MYRA YVONNE

The Oklahoma City Museum of Art has two works by Ellsworth Kelly. One, CHOUTEAU Yellow Relief with White (2005), was purchased in honor of Marilyn Myers, the first director of the Kirkpatrick Foundation. It is currently on display through August 28 as part of Our City, Our Collection. The museum’s second piece, Red Blue (1963), was acquired in 1968 with the MARCH 7, 1929 – JANUARY 24, 2016 purchase of the Washington Gallery of Modern Art collection. It is on view by Cynthia archiniaco through December 31 as part of The Modernist Spectrum.

Ellsworth Kelly at Peter Carlson Enterprises, Sun Valley, in 1996. photograph by clarence williams, LA Times

myra yvonne chouteau dances in Les Sylphides, staged in her home state of Oklahoma in 1963 and 1964. photograph courtesy of the Kirkpatrick Family Archive

myra yvonne chouteau, prima ballerina of the Russe de Monte Carlo, who gained worldwide fame in the twentieth century, died January 24, 2016, after a long illness. She was eighty-six. Often celebrated as a dancer of great radiance, Ms. Chouteau was one of five prominent Native American dancers from Oklahoma; , , and are also deceased, leaving Maria’s sister, , now the last survivor. Chouteau began dancing at two-and-a-half years old. She received early training in Oklahoma before going on to study at the School of American Ballet in New York. By fourteen, Chouteau was the youngest dancer ever accepted into the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. Three years later, she danced her first solo role with the company, interpreting the Prayer in Coppélia. She was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1947 at eighteen, becoming its youngest member. In 1997, Governor designated Chouteau an Oklahoma Treasure. In 2004, Chouteau was honored with the inaugural National Cultural Treasures Award, celebrating her contribution to the nation’s cultural heritage at the opening of the ’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington D.C. She is portrayed in the mural Flight of Spirit by artist Mike Larsen in the rotunda, and in The , a set of bronze sculptures by artists Monte England and Gary Henson at the Tulsa Historical Society & Museum. In 1956, Chouteau married principal dancer , and left the Ballet Russe in 1957 when expecting their first child. Together, Miguel and Yvonne along with philanthropist John Kirkpatrick created the Oklahoma City Civic Ballet (now the ). In 1961, the couple established the first accredited dance department in the at the . Chouteau was featured in Ballets Russes, a documentary film by Dayna Goldfine and Dan Geller that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2005. Chouteau herself once described the spirit that propelled her to international acclaim. “The Indian people are very artistic as a whole,” she told the New York Times in 1982. “We are also very non-verbal, and so I think dance is a perfect expression of the Indian soul.”

ARTDESK 13 CURIOSITY

IF STAKEHOLDERS WANT RESULTS, LET’S SHOW THEM DELIGHT, COMPASSION, INNOVATION, AND LAUGHTER.

The Imperative to IGNITE Curiosity

by Chris Briggs-Hale

I am from a small town in New Politics is an influence on teaching We either teach to the test or we don’t. hair down. All children need to question Hampshire, where my family has and learning, just like money influences We either teach Columbus was a monster whether the tree in Shel Silverstein’s The published the Old Farmer’s Almanac and bridge building. But people don’t always or we teach him as an explorer. Offering Giving Tree has given altogether too much. Yankee Magazine for many generations. My superimpose their own political struggles both perspectives and teaching children And what does it mean that the tree is a father, Jud Hale, a prolific writer, thinker upon the bridge builder. Politicians and to think about it is considered dangerous. girl? If we are only searching for the main and chronicler of all things New England non-educators with strong personal Curiosity grows from the difficult, messy idea, we’ll likely sacrifice the search for the and Yankee, used to tell me, “Never, opinions do this every day in education: interplay between skills and knowledge. very thing that ignites instant curiosity ever get into an argument until you are “Poverty is not a root cause of academic Education should not be a choice in children. sure you could argue the other person’s failure.” Or, “You should teach reading between skills or knowledge: it should Reluctant readers are often unaware opinion as strongly as you can your own.” in kindergarten.” “You shouldn’t teach provide both. of the fascination that awaits them You’ve likely heard some national explicit reading until third grade.” “It’s Jim Collins, a wonderful researcher within a text. If stakeholders want us to debate about the confederate flag, the parents who make the difference.” Is it and thinker in Boulder, Colorado, dis- show results, let’s show them delight and marriage equality, immigration, health any wonder our educators are frustrated? cusses how we, in the name of efficiency, shining eyes. No test will tell you for sure care, or religious freedom. What do Education over the past thirty years often create a tyranny of “or.” Making the if a child’s heart has been moved. Some these current debates have to do with has moved away from exploring the simple choice between two options—this things—compassion, genius, innovation, education? If you immediately attach best of human knowledge. As a result, or that—is considered efficient by some or laughter—are self-evident. an opinion of right and wrong to these the dangers of offending one’s political curriculum developers. But it’s also The genius of “and” moves us issues, not much. However, if you view sensibility have forced us to revert to the intellectually narrowing. Organizations, away from fearing opinion and toward them as intellectual exercises, as a way to teaching of simple skills. State standards he argues, should consider the genius of embracing complexity in the dichotomies develop brainpower and understanding, don’t require kids to read Aesop’s Fables, but the word “and.” Learn to hold contrasting of human thinking. It moves us toward then everything. they do require they must learn the “main ideas in the mind at the same time. Learn using the content, good or bad, to add Over the last decade, there has been an idea” in passages of writing. Students are to treat each as legitimate. tension to the questions students really explosion in the number of forums where protected from Mark Twain because For example, children are not encour- want to ask. people can express their opinions without he’s considered a racist; young readers aged to consider that the forefathers of The genius of “and” says to the child, any pressure to provide factual support. instead are steered toward summarizing the United States both espoused the with discipline, you have the right to own this On social media, complex thinking is not short pieces of literature, which are best enlightened thinking of their time knowledge and to use it, evolve it, or discard it. As always the goal. And without a strong prepackaged and sanitized, molded by and also lived as slaveholders. Kids are Atticus Finch says in To Kill a Mockingbird, effort in our public schools to celebrate corporations into succinct points. not encouraged to consider why both “You never really understand a person the complexity of dichotomous thinking, We’ve inherited an assembly line of of these things could have existed at the until you consider things from his point we are in danger of increasing the levels of an educational system: teach essentially same time. Good people who thought of view—until you climb into his skin and intolerance and “rigid” thinking. basic skills, test, reward or punish teachers they were doing good created a nation walk around in it.” In a world where everyone is an and schools based on these test scores, where all men were supposedly free, yet expert, it’s interesting the things we don’t retest, and so on. Children who don’t they held slaves. have opinions about. Do you have a strong score well on these tests are subject to The books children use to learn to opinion about specific materials a bridge the actions of panicked adults who don’t read must have challenging thinking as engineer should use? Here is something relax until scores come up. In short, we’ve well as challenging words. Struggling you will likely never hear: “Steel and created a system where it’s not the deep readers don’t want to read a story about chris briggs-hale is principal carbon fiber on a bridge? No way. Why learning that matters. It’s the test score. how the wolf becomes friends with the of Ute Pass Elementary School in don’t you use good old-fashioned riveted The massive debate engendered three little pigs at the end of the story. Chipita Park, Colorado. He is also iron like in the old days?” Yet, in education, around a political group’s “view” has left They want to read that he is boiled to an educational consultant at Mid- most non-educators feel perfectly us in an environment where anything death in the vat at the bottom of the continent Research for Education comfortable telling teachers what to teach meaningful is to be taught at the expense chimney. Little children want to question and Learning (McREL). and how to teach it. of anything else that could be meaningful. whether Rapunzel should keep letting her

IN EDUCATION, WE’VE CREATED A SYSTEM WHERE IT’S NOT THE DEEP LEARNING THAT MATTERS. IT’S THE TEST SCORE.

14 ARTDESK ADVERTISEMENT

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ARTDESK 15 OUTLIER

OUTLIER At ArtDesk, we venture beyond contemporary art into modern thought and issues. RIGHT TO HARM? STATE QUESTION 777

In Oklahoma, a debate rages between industry groups representing corporate-industrial agriculture and the environmental and water stewards, legal experts, and small farmers who oppose them. Here, one law professor explains why SQ777 isn’t a fit for even Oklahoma’s quirky founding document.

ignored. Constitutional “musts” and the production of kerosene. And so it Or any other profession’s, occupation’s, “shall do’s” are meaningless if no didn’t regulate it. And so some kerosene or trade’s practices? In law, we call this a by art lefrancois consequence attends their disobedience. detonated when it shouldn’t have, floodgates problem. SQ777 is different from all of these. destroying part of an Oklahoma town, Third, just what are these practices, It means to be taken seriously. It doesn’t and killing a woman and two children. and what will they be in the future? Is The issue presented by State Question 777 say, “the legislature can modify this.” There was a real need for legislation agribusiness worried about limitations is ultimately the issue presented by any It doesn’t say, “the legislature may.” It here. The lack of legislation created a on genetically modified food? The proposal to amend a constitution: Would doesn’t even say “the legislature shall” fatal problem. If the legislature had waste created by industrial poultry- and the proposal improve or worsen it? or “must.” What it says is “the legislature simply passed a plain, ordinary statute hog-farming? The cruelty that can, but First off, I have to concede that can’t.” That’s hugely different. But regulating the standards relative to need not, attend the commodification Oklahoma’s constitution is hardly the sure, in an anti-government, anti- kerosene production, lives would have of animals? standard of the constitution-maker’s regulation era, I understand the charms been saved, and the word “kerosene” So, finally, four quick points about art. Republican President Theodore of shackling the government. The idea would be absent from our constitution kerosene, the Oklahoma Constitution, Roosevelt said his opinion of our state’s being “gridlock is great; it prevents the Crucially, this is just the sort of and SQ777. First, the kerosene section constitution “was not fit for publica- bastards from doing anything.” statute that SQ777 makes difficult of our constitution, which everyone tion.” A 1935 Brookings Institution Let’s explore the attractions of to pass. The lawyer’s language of the uses as an example of that document’s report on Oklahoma’s government legislative impotence in a moment. proposal—that no law restricting idiosyncrasies and infelicities, makes concluded that the state constitution First, what does SQ777 say? It says the farming or ranching processes or much more sense than SQ777. Second, “must be viewed as one of Oklahoma’s legislature “shall pass no law” that does technology is valid unless it’s grounded the kerosene provision addresses an fundamental problems; and, in some a certain thing. We expect that thing in a “compelling state interest”— actual problem, which SQ777 doesn’t. directions, no substantial progress can the legislature can’t do to be something means that it will be very, very difficult Third, the kerosene regulation is be made until constitutional obstacles like “abridge the free speech rights of for any regulation to survive a court just the type of law (if it were a mere have been removed.” citizens,” or “take our guns away.” But challenge by industry. It means that if statute that we were to pass today The Oklahoma Constitution, longer SQ777 isn’t like any of these examples. there’s a really good reason for a law that that touched on farming or ranching), than our country’s Constitution, is What SQ777 says is that the legislature affects this industry, it will most likely that after SQ777, would have to be put nearly the nation’s longest. It fixes the can’t pass any law that “abridges the be ruled invalid in the inevitable court through a rigorous test in the courts, flash point of kerosene and its specific right of citizens and lawful residents case the proposal invites. And if the to see if it was not simply a good idea gravity test (art. XX, § 2) and prohibits of Oklahoma to employ agricultural reason for a law is merely a good one, the or a really good idea, but was instead employing children under fifteen in technology and livestock production law won’t stand a chance of surviving one that was grounded in the very occupations that are injurious to health and ranching practices without a judicial review. difficult to establish “compelling state or morals or especially hazardous to life compelling state interest.” That’s the point of the proposed interest.” Fourth, if the people, or their or limb (art. XXIII, § 3). Fifteen-year- At first, this singling out of a amendment—to shift the regulatory representatives, ever wanted to pass olds are presumably fair game. So are specific industry or vocation sounds process to the courts, where nearly meaningful laws that regulated farming fourteen-year-olds, if the work is not like a good number of other parts of our any law regarding livestock or farming and ranching, they would have to do so “especially” hazardous to life or limb. constitution. We’ve got sections of the practices will be struck down because by amending the constitution. The constitution lists more than fifty constitution devoted to railroad, car, and of the “compelling state interest” That’s the point of SQ777—to exceptions to its rule that railroads can’t express companies (art. IX, § 3) oil pipe, requirement. If you are worried that hamstring the lawmaking power of the let people ride for free (art. IX, § 13). telephone, and telegraph companies your practices will be of concern to the legislature and the lawmaking power So maybe you’re thinking my point (art. IX, § 4 & 5), coal, lead, iron, and zinc people, because of the effects of your of the people, to require expensive will be that the constitution and the mines; saw mills, and grain elevators practices on the environment, on food, and likely unwinnable-by-anyone- Right to Farm proposal deserve each (art. IX, § 33). Why not add another one on animals, or on the people, just take but-industry battles in the courts over other. It’s not, and they don’t. But what, or two? Because unlike all these other away the people’s power to regulate every effort that has the temerity to try one might say, could be the harm in examples, SQ777 tells the legislature your conduct. to bring a special industry under the adding another non-constitutional bit that it cannot curtail the “rights” of Why not extend this protection? rule of law, and to force any meaningful of randomness to our cumbersome, those engaged in certain pursuits to How about firefighting and policing regulatory effort to have to be done piece-meal, not very constitutional employ whatever technology and practices? Or medical practices? Or at the constitutional amendment constitution? practices they want to. roofing or carpentry or engineering level. This is protectionism at its most Many parts of our constitution Our constitution is one of the practices? Or pharmaceutical practices? cynical. SQ777 solves no problem. aren’t constitutional. They don’t stand longest in the world. But nowhere does Or oil and gas extraction practices? It just creates many. above the rest of the law. They say things our constitution single out a specific industry, like “Until changed by the Legislature…” profession, vocation, or trade, and say to the (art. XX, § 2) or, “the Legislature may…” legislature: hands off; you can not pass laws (art. X, § 3). When the constitution says that restrict what we do and the way we do it, “until changed by the legislature,” it’s because we’re above all that democracy stuff. ART LEFRANCOIS IS A PROFESSOR AT THE OKLAHOMA saying “we’re enshrining this thing in So here’s what is so troubling about CITY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW. IN ADDITION TO HIS WIDELY our constitution, but not really—all it this proposal to amend our already PUBLISHED SCHOLARSHIP AND MANY AWARDS, HE SERVED ON takes is ordinary legislative lawmaking bloated constitution by carving out GOVERNOR HENRY BELLMON’S CONSTITUTION REVISION STUDY to undo this part of the constitution.” a special deal for agribusiness—go COMMISSION, AS A MEMBER OF THE OKLAHOMA ACADEMY, AND AS Sometimes the constitution says, back to the constitutional amendment CHAIR OF ITS AMENDMENTS COMMITTEE ON THE OKLAHOMA CON- “X must be done.” For example, it says that, oddly, states the flash test of STITUTION. HE HAS ALSO SERVED AS CO-CHAIR OF THE SENTENCING/ that the question of whether to have kerosene­—the temperature at which RELEASE POLICY COMMITTEE CREATED BY THE STATE LEGISLATURE. a constitutional convention shall be it should combust. How did that end THE VIEWS EXPRESSED HERE ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHOR, AND NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF HIS EMPLOYER. put before the people at least every up in our constitution? Because the twenty years. This provision is routinely territorial legislature didn’t care about

16 ARTDESK OUTLIER

The greatest sum of animal misery in the world today occurs inside consolidated industrial “livestock production” facilities— factory farms where cattle, chickens, and hogs are churned out to meet a rising demand for meat from domestic and overseas consumers. In Oklahoma, 5,640,000 hogs and 177 million chickens are slaughtered annually.

ARTDESK 17 MANIFESTO

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Christian Keesee Louisa McCune Larry Keigwin ArtDesk magazine is published twice a year; ArtDesk Conversations broadsheet is published once a year. Electronic documents about the publisher can be sent to [email protected]. CREATIVE DIRECTION MANAGING EDITOR K irkpatrick foundation is an Kirkpatrick Foundation, ArtDesk, and its Oklahoma City philanthropy assignees will not be responsible for unsolicited Polygraph Alana Salisbury supporting arts, culture, material sent to ArtDesk. Please note: ArtDesk education, animal wellbeing, is published by the Kirkpatrick Foundation; environmental conversation, and no donations to Oklahoma Contemporary Arts historic preservation. Center, Marfa Contemporary, or Green Box Arts DESIGN, EDITORIAL, AND CIRCULATION are used in the creation of these publications. Established in 1955 by Annual subscription to the magazine, $30; Angel Perricone, Kathy McCord, Kelly Rogers, John and Eleanor Kirkpatrick broadsheet, free. Copyright 2016. All rights reserved. Visit us at www.artdeskmagazine.com Tom Nawrocki, and Michael Duty and @readartdesk. Please be kind to animals.

18 ARTDESK ARTSOCIETY Art Society

2016 Oklahoma Contemporary’s ArtNow and Spring Dinner fundraisers ensure that exhibition programming remains free and open to the public. In 2016, patrons gathered to celebrate some of the best Oklahoma artists working today. At ArtNow, curated by Julia Kirt and Kelsey Karper, sales reached historic highs; at the Spring Dinner, guests enjoyed dinner amid the extraordinary works of New York City resident Summer Wheat in her first homecoming exhibition, titled Pry the Lid Off.

top left: Kim Garrett and Bob Funk, Jr. at the Spring Dinner.

ri ght clockwise: Steven Agee and Sue Ann Arnall at the Spring Dinner; Jennifer Thurman, featured artist Tiffany McKnight, Vanessa Morrison, Ebony Iman Dallas and James Varnum at ArtNow. Board member Mary Ellen Gumerson and husband Bill Gumerson at ArtNow. Deepa Ghimire and Smriti Poudel amid the dozens of ArtNow artworks by twenty-four artists. Erin Cooper and Sunshine Gadbury in the Circle Gallery at ArtNow.

All photos by Christopher Nguyen.

Ed Ruscha in Oklahoma City An intimate gathering at a private Oklahoma City residence honored iconic contemporary artist Ed Ruscha and his designation as the twelfth Oklahoma Cultural Treasure by Governor . Ruscha grew up and graduated high school in Oklahoma City.

Ed Ruscha (center) accepts his award as the twelfth Cultural Treasure of Oklahoma at the Governor’s Arts Awards at the State Capitol. Top left, Steven Agee and guests of Mr. Ruscha. Bottom left, gallerist Joy Reed Belt with Harrison Levy. Top right, Nichols Hills mayor Sody McCampbell Clements and Oklahoma City mayor Mick Cornett; Cornett was also recognized at the Governor’s Arts Awards; bottom right, city councilor Meg Salyer, host of this special evening celebrating Ed Ruscha.

A unique opportunity for artists: Become a member of Marfa Collective, Marfa Contemporary’s artist association, to support arts and arts ed in this “unlikely art oasis.” Learn more about Marfa Collective (including a group show) and individual memberships:

www.marfacontemporary.org

100 East San Antonio St. | Marfa, TX 79843 | @marfacontemp LANDING FALL 2016 OKLAHOMA CITY NW 11TH & BROADWAY

TOMÁ S SARACENO | CLOUD CITY

photograph by david lauer

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