10 Mother’s Day outings across Oklahoma
After the COVID-19 pandemic made Mother’s Day 2020 — along with most everything else — a lackluster experience, 2021 is offering ample opportunities to treat Mom right. h With vaccine rates up and coronavirus cases down, many Oklahoma events are making a comeback this year, which means plenty of springtime fun is planned across the state, just in time for Mother’s Day on Sunday. From dancing nuns to animatronic dinosaurs, here are 10 possible outings for your mama this Mother’s Day weekend (and they all should pair nicely with dinner, flowers and maybe some chocolates):
1. Mounds of fun at the National Cowboy Museum
Mother’s Day is the last chance to see three exhibits at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63, including the sprawling “Spiro and the Art of the Mississippian World,” considered the first major presentation on Oklahoma’s historic Spiro Mounds undertaken by a museum. Almost a decade in the making, the exhibit marks the first — and likely last — time nearly 200 artifacts and artworks gathered from collections across the country will be shown together.
The Spiro Mounds exhibit is heading to the Birmingham (Alabama) Museum h
of Art and the Dallas Museum of Art after it ends its run Sunday here in OKC, so catch it before it’s spirited away.
Returning to the museum’s vast vault next week are the companion exhibitions “Blazing a Trail,” which honors the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment and U.S. women winning the right to vote, and “Find Her West,” a stereotype-shattering photo spotlight focusing on everyday Western women and girls and their real-life stories.
Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. For tickets and information, go to https://nationalcowboymuseum.org.
2. Guthrie hosts first Renaissance Faire
The inaugural Guthrie Renaissance Faire is promising “family fun in the open air,” including theatrical warfare, jousting, music, dancing, juggling and magic shows, artisans, food trucks, a Viking encampment, a raptor show by Birds of Prey and reenactments by the Medieval Society of the University of Central Oklahoma.
The festival is set for 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Cottonwood Flats, 308 N Fifth. Tickets are $10, and children 2 and younger are admitted free with paid adult. For information and tickets, go to www.facebook. com/GuthrieRenaissanceFaire.
3. Singing nuns star in Lyric Theatre’s ‘Nunsense’
Singing, dancing and wisecracking nuns are the stars of Lyric Theatre’s outdoor production of the crowd-pleasing musical-comedy “Nunsense,” which has its final performances at 8 p.m. Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at the Myriad Botanical Gardens’ Water Stage, 301 W Reno Ave.
Although Dan Goggin’s musical comedy about the misadventures of five nuns trying to put on a fundraiser has been popular since its 1985 debut — it is the second-longest-running offBroadway show in history — this is the first time for Lyric Theatre to stage “Nunsense.”
COVID-19 protocols include limited, socially distanced seating, required face masks for patrons and the outdoor setting. Bottled water is supplied for free, and complimentary sunscreen and umbrellas are provided for matinees. For tickets and information, go to https://lyrictheatreokc.com.
4. Midwest City gets Covered in Color
The annual Covered in Color arts festival and sidewalk chalk competition will brighten Midwest City’s Charles J. Johnson Central Park, in Town Center Plaza at SE 29 Street and Mid-America Boulevard, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Parking will be available in Town Center Plaza and admission is free.
The festivities will include live entertainment on the Central Park stage, Oklahoma art vendors and exhibitors, food trucks, three live chainsaw art performances and a demonstration tent featuring sessions on stained glass, pottery and weaving.
The centerpiece of the event will be the sidewalk chalk art competition: From noon to 3 p.m., contestants will create vivid temporary works on 4foot-by-4-foot concrete “canvases.” For more information, go to www.midwest cityok.org/parksrec/page/coveredcolor.
5. Dinosaurs roar into OKC Zoo
For moms who prefer an experience that’s a real throwback, the Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden, 2000 Remington Place, is showcasing Dino Safari, a new immersive attraction featuring 15 life-sized animatronic dinosaurs with realistic movement and sounds, plus eight skeleton replicas.
General admission to Dino Safari is $5 a person for ZOOfriends members and $6 a person for nonmembers, plus zoo admission. Children 2 and younger are admitted free and do not require tickets for entry into Dino Safari.
For zoo guests who want the ultimate prehistoric adventure, a Dino Safari Single-Day Adventure Ticket includes unlimited walks through the attraction, unlimited lorikeet feedings, unlimited carousel and Elephant Express tram rides, plus general admission, for $31 per adult and $28 per child or senior.
The zoo is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, and advance tickets are required. For tickets and information, go to www.okczoo.org.
6. Say goodbye to Tulsa’s Gilcrease, for now
Tulsa’s Thomas Gilcrease Institute of American History and Art, 1400 N Gilcrease Museum Rd., is celebrating Mother’s Day from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday with a Mother DIY paint-by-numbers activity inspired by an artwork from the Gilcrease Collection. The relaxed event will take place in a socially distanced space where masks are required. Capacity is limited, so advanced registration is required. Cost per person is $20 for members and $25 for non-members, which includes museum admission.
The clock is ticking for people who want to make an outing to the Gilcrease Museum, which will close its doors at end of day July 4. As staffers continue to work, the City of Tulsa is finalizing plans to demolish the current structure and begin construction of a new museum on the same site. Construction on a modern new home for the $2 billion collection will begin in early 2022 and is expected to take two to three years.
Museum hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday and noon to 8 p.m. Thursday. The Gilcrease Museum’s outside gardens and park areas are open from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily with free admission. For more information, go to https://gilcrease.org.
7. Eyes get tricked at OKC Museum of Art’s ‘Moving Vision’
The exhibit “Moving Vision: Op and Kinetic Art from the Sixties and Seventies” is almost done playing tricks on the eyes of visitors of all ages to the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive.
Closing May 16, the exhibit, which features more than 40 vintage artworks, is exclusive to the OKC Museum of Art. “Moving Vision” showcases one of the strengths of the museum’s permanent collection — “Op,” or “optical,” and Kinetic, or movement, art — as well as significant loans from private collections.
Museum hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free to children 17 and younger. For information and tickets, go to https://www.okcmoa.com.
8. OKC Flower & Garden Festival blooms at Myriad Gardens
Get ready to grow as the annual OKC Flower and Garden Festival returns from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday to the Myriad Gardens. Nearly 40 vendors will be set up on the west side of the gardens next to Mo’s Carousel and the Children’s Garden.
The annual event features a plethora of plants, décor and tools for home gardening. Festivalgoers will find Oklahoma-grown herbs, perennials, annuals, native plants, culinary herbs, vegetable plants, succulents, ornamental grasses, pollinator plants, pottery, jewelry and more.
Food trucks also will be serving up tasty fare. For more information, go to myriadgardens.org.
9. 3rd Act Theatre builds ‘Heartbreak House’
For its final production of Season 2, the fledgling 3rd Act Theatre Company is staging George Bernard Shaw’s “Heartbreak House,” with opening performances 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday in the theater’s performance space inside the Shoppes at Northpark, 12100 N May Ave.
Directed by Don Taylor and set in 1914 England on a single summer day, “Heartbreak House” is full of eccentric Bohemians, lovesick Edwardians, flirting, arguing and an air raid that may or may not ruin the party.
Performances continue through May 22, with a streaming show on May 23. For tickets and information, go to www.3rdacttheatreco.com.
10. Scissortail Park brings back Night Market
Downtown OKC’s Scissortail Park, 300 SW Seventh, brings back its monthly seasonal Night Market from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. Friday, just in time for Mother’s Day.
Eventgoers can shop from about 50 local vendors offering art, home décor, jewelry, candles, antiques, bath and body products and other unique treasures. Food trucks and bar service will be available, along with live entertainment.
Booths will be scattered throughout the park’s promenade, great lawn and in front of Union Station, creating an open layout with room for vendors to be spread out.
All vendors are required to wear masks, and shoppers are encouraged to don masks and practice social distancing. For more information, go to https:// scissortailpark.org/nightmarket.