The Oklahoma Arts Institute is hosting 230 of the state’s most artistic high school students in southwest Oklahoma for two weeks of intensive study in their chosen disciplines – like acting, creative writing, drawing and painting, photography, orchestra and more.
The annual Summer Arts Institute at the Quartz Mountain State Park Lodge began Saturday and runs through June 23. In addition to the students, the institute also brings in well-respected artists in their fields from around the country to work with them, including winners of the Pulitzer Prize and Academy, Grammy, Emmy and Tony Awards. All students are selected based on merit during an audition and application process for visual, literary and performing arts and receive full scholarships to attend, thanks to donations to the longstanding nonprofit organization.
The JRB Art at the Elms Gallery in Oklahoma City held a reception showcasing two of the faculty artists Thursday night, and I enjoyed seeing their work and visiting with one of them there – New York photographer Janelle Lynch – along with the Arts Institute’s Rob Ward, president and CEO, and Kara Keeton, director of development. The other faculty member whose work is on display at JRB, multidisciplinary artist Daphne Arthur, from Caracas, Venezuela, couldn’t attend the reception but will be in southwest Oklahoma working with drawing and painting students.
Lynch said she is going to work with the students on taking film photos and processing them in a darkroom – the analog way.
“In particular, I’m very interested in cultivating ‘slow-seeing’ and in cultivating presence of attention,” Lynch said. “They can hopefully take some of that into the rest of life with them, in addition to what they will be learning photographically.”
You can see Lynch’s and Arthur’s work at JRB Gallery in Oklahoma City’s Paseo Arts District now.
Featured instructors for the 48th Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute in southwest Oklahoma include Jennifer Peepas, film and video, who has taught at Columbia College Chicago, The Second City and Chicago Filmmakers; Michael Joseph Barrett, chorus, a noted composer and arranger and executive director and co-producer of Capital Singers, South Africa’s largest community choir project; and Tim Blake Nelson, an actor, writer, director and producer who was an Summer Arts Institute alumnus.
I have covered the OAI for years as a journalist and attended many of the organization’s events when I lived in southwest Oklahoma. I always enjoy the “magic” – as students and faculty refer to it – that happens at Quartz Mountain when students from all disciplines pursue their own interests while also connecting with each other over art. The Arts Institute started in 1977 and has been referred to as the state’s flagship arts education program for high school students; it is worth checking out. Along the way, OAI opened a Fall Arts Institute that welcomes adults and educators who want to further their skills.
For information and a schedule, including upcoming public performances and others for the summer program, go to oaiquartz.org/.
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