Arts Center reveals inaugural exhibit details
“There's a bright golden haze on the meadow / The corn is as high as an elephant' s eye/ And it looks like it's climbing clear up to the sky.”
The “bright golden haze” extolled in“Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin', ” the opening number from the iconic musical “Oklahoma!” will soon reflect a new landmark in downtown Oklahoma City.
Although its dawn has been delayed to spring 2020, expectations are sky high for the new Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center, under construction on a 4.6- acre campus north of historic Automobile Alley. It will be home to a 54,000- square-foot main facility, a renovated 10,000-square-foot studio building and a three-block arts park and event space.
The nonprofit arts organization is hosting an event Tuesday in New York City, where staffers are announcing details of the opening exhibition for its relaunch. Titled“Bright Golden Haze,” the exhibit is billed as a sweeping array of works by artists of state, national and international renown.
“This is going to be a block buster exhibition, with many works that are being built specifically for spaces in our new building, and artists and museum representatives from across the country will be on hand to assist in installation. We can't wait to wow Oklahomans and visitors from around the world,” Executive Director Eddie Walker said in an email to The Oklahoman.
Spring opening
Initially set to open this fall and later postponed to January, the new Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center now is set to open March 13.
“Everyone involved in construction in Oklahoma has faced weather delays,” Walker said. “We've heard of at least half a dozen other ongoing projects that are behind based on an exceptional amount of rain.”
Artistic Director Jeremiah Matthew Davis said the building is far enough along that no further delays are anticipated.
“We know that we have one opportunity to open this building. And we need to make sure that we're taking every precaution to ensure the success of our grand opening,” he said.
Following“Bright Golden Haze,” Oklahoma Contemporary is planning a major exhibition by acclaimed artist and Oklahoma City native Ed Ruscha. Designated an Oklahoma Cultural Treasure in 2015, Ruscha has been t he honorary chairman for the new building's capital campaign, which has raised more than $22.1 million from 200-plus donors.
Founded in 1989 as City Arts Center, Oklahoma Contemporary hosted its last exhibit in its original home at the OKC Fairgrounds earlier this year.
“The space that we've had at the fairgrounds ... we've really loved it into disrepair,” Davis said. “The opening of the new facility launches us into a new level in terms of our ability to showcase work and to host educational programming. But this is not a brand-new endeavor for us. It's just an evolution of what we've been working on for years.”
`Bright' future
Along with Rodgers and Hammer stein' s beloved musical, the opening exhibit “Bright Golden Haze” is inspired by the state's landscape, including Oklahoma Contemporary's new home designed by Rand Elliott Architects.
“Rand Elliott is envisioning it as this response to this amazing Oklahoma sky,” said Jennifer Scanlan, the center's curatorial and exhibitions director. “You just have this beautiful, dramatic expanse of sky and clear, strong light. The building reflects this literally and metaphorically, so I chose artworks that really talked about how the quality of light can create a sense of place.”
Among the highlights planned for “Bright Golden Haze” are landscapes by John Gerrard that use video game technology to re-create spaces, an installation by Doty Glasco that incorporates Southwest travel photography from the 1950 sand a recent work by influential Light and Space Movement artist Robert Irwin.
“I did choose on purpose a wide variety of artists — some of them are just emerging and some of them are very well-established and really have been key figures for many years on the contemporary arts scene — and a wide variety of media. All of them use light as part of the way that they create artworks,” Scanlan said.
She said Ta var es Strachan, a native of the Bahamas based in New York, is contributing a thought-provoking neon installation; Camille Utterback, who works with new technology, is developing a motion-activated interactive piece; and Leo Villareal, one of the biggest stars of contemporary art world, is creating a magical night sky where people can immerse themselves.
In addition, native Tulsa nY atika Fields, who is Osage, Muscogee and Cherokee, will paint a new landscape commissioned by Oklahoma Contemporary for “Bright Golden Haze,” which will be exhibited in the center's second-floor main gallery.
The first exhibit in the third-floor gallery, “Shadow on the Glare,” will feature photography and video from Oklahoma artists and complement “Bright Golden Haze,” Scanlan said.
“The opening shows will give people a little taste of some of the ways in which we' re stretching and expanding our vision for exhibitions for Oklahoma Contemporary,” she said.