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Location:
706 W. Sheridan
Downtown OKC
between Lee & Shartel

Gallery Hours:
Tuesday - Saturday
Noon - 6:00pm

Other times available by appointment

Closed Sunday & Monday

VISUALART

April 18 to May 8, 2009

RETHINK: RECYCLE: REDESIGN

A network of progressive Oklahoma City artists, professionals, and businesses are joining forces for an Earth Day event that encourages Oklahomans to take a fresh look at their ecological footprint.

The juried exhibit Rethink: Recycle: Redesign incorporates art, geospatial mapping, local foods, and green design to promote creative approaches to environmental awareness.

Sustainable OKC organized the event in partnership with Individual Artists of Oklahoma.

“This show deals with the most pressing issue of our time: sustainability,” said Jeff Stokes, IAO director. “Change is in the air. We all feel it,” said Shauna Struby, president, Sustainable OKC. “This year’s event is just a seed. Our goal is to sprout this into an annual Earth Day event that celebrates our community and planet with thoughtful, creative, fun events and activities focused on capturing the power of people’s imaginations; creating awareness for rethinking how we live in the world; and building resilient, happy, healthy, sustainable communities.”

The preview party and project was co-chaired by Jacine Arias, creative director, M-D Building Products, and by Vicki VanStavern, founder and president of VanStavern Design Group, Inc. “Rethink: Recycle: Redesign was born out of Arias' MFA thesis project exploring green design as an effective instrument for social change. Our group's hope is to help people consider all the ways we impact our planet, and to serve as a catalyst for rethinking how we use the earth’s resources,” said Arias.

Corporate sponsors are Sonic America's Drive-In; Sierra Club; Weatherizationsouce.com; Arts Council of Oklahoma City; and Frankfurt-Short-Bruza Associates.

Inspired by Rethink: Recycle: Redesign, students from the Center for Spatial Analysis at the University of Oklahoma are using geospatial information technology to highlight the availability and diversity of local food resources within 100 miles of Oklahoma City, track local waste, and explore food security themes in a series of digital maps. The mapping project is the collaborative effort of Melissa Brown and Matthew Collier, University of Oklahoma; Adam Lanman, Elliott + Associates Architects; and OU art and architecture students, using information from the Kerr Center, Oklahoma Food Cooperative, and other sources.

The exhibit features the work of two dozen Oklahoma artists. Stokes cited the art of Oklahoma City artist Sue Moss Sullivan as exemplifying their creative approach. “She asks us to take a fresh look at the overlooked detritus from our coffee machines and by extension, at the world around us. Sullivan brings forth beauty, possibility and purpose where we normally see trash. Her sculptures poignantly nag at us, asking; “what other beauty and possibility for reinvention is lost when we treat our world as disposable?”

In addition to Sue Moss Sullivan, featured artists are Jacine Arias, Paul Bagley, Nick Bayer, Bryan Dahlvang, Bill Derrevere, Ron Ferrell, Helen Grant, John Green, Preston Greer, Aaron Hauck, Susan Horton, Reta and Vana Howell, Brad Humphreys, Amy Jones, Trent Lawson, Darci Lenker, Tanya Mattek, Michelle Himes, Regina Murphy, Rebek & Holmes, Diana Smith, Julie Strauss, and Davey Surls.

The artists in the Rethink: Recycle: Redesign exhibit have found creative ways “to reinvigorate debate and move our ideas of sustainable living forward,” Stokes said.

Bryan Dahlvang, Bullbous Box Skullpture

Recycling and green products are components of the April 18 preview party, with food from The Wedge, Earth Elements, Hardesty Cheese, Seasons, Kam's Kookery, Cuppies & Joe, Flip's Wine Bar & Trattoria, Prairie Gypsies, and Pure Prairie Creamery. Trattoria il Centro will create a special dish for its spring menu to highlight local ingredients.

Live music will be performed by Oklahoma City band 13 Seeds.

A silent auction will offer items including a stay at an Oklahoma state park, a basket of made-in-Oklahoma items, Oklahoma City Thunder tickets, and a stay at the Colcord Hotel.

As part of the exhibit, educational displays include winners of an art contest open to Oklahoma students, a Green Event Guide, a Guide to Green Living, trash factoids, and a short film on world population.

“What does it mean to live responsibly?” Struby asked. “It means conscious living with minimal impact — including using fewer natural resources, reducing waste, and considering the quality of life that future generations will experience when making your own lifestyle decisions.” “IAO expects the show to continue stirring up the dialogue on just how we deal with these issues on a community wide scale, as well as in our daily lives,” Stokes said.

The exhibit runs April 19–May 8 and is free to the public. Proceeds from art sales and the silent auction will benefit Sustainable OKC, an all-volunteer 501(c)3 organization founded in 2005.

For even more information about Rethink: Recycle: Redesign, visit www.sustainableokc.org or download press release here.

Darci Lenker, Trashy Poinsettia