Last Updated on May 20, 2024, 4:51 PM | Published: May 19, 2024
OKLAHOMA CITY — After six months with no director, the Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center in OKC has announced Trent Riley as its new Executive Director, reviving a long-disused title and capping a period of high turnover and restructuring for the arts institution.
Contemporary’s Board of Trustees announced Riley’s ascension to the position on May 9th, saying that he had assumed the role on May 1st.
“We are extremely happy that Trent has accepted the top position,” said Contemporary founder and chairman Christian Keesee in a press statement.
In their announcement, Board of Trustees President Molly Tolbert called Riley a “standout from an impressive field of candidates.”
Arts and Museum Background
Riley steps into the role of Executive Director from the position of Chief Development Officer, primarily overseeing fundraising and membership for the Arts Center. Still, he brings with him a wealth of experience in arts, education, and even museum culture.
“I got a love of arts and cultural institutions through my grandfather, who was one of the first employees at the Cowboy [and Western Heritage Museum,]” Riley told Free Press in a sit-down interview at Contemporary. “He was always my hero growing up, and I think that’s where the initial seeds of my love of arts and culture and history were planted.”
Riley turned those interests into an education and career path, studying history at Oklahoma State University with an emphasis on Indigenous Studies and Native American cultural arts.
Though he’s explored arts education, writing, and more – even editing an acclaimed book on Pawnee Native art, – he eventually landed once again at the Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum taking on a development and fundraising role.
“I took advantage of the opportunity there and really dove in not knowing what to expect,” he said. “And what I realized is that it really was an opportunity to share stories and art with people on a larger level, but also to really impact an institution in a greater way by facilitating the giving back and making the work possible.”
His success in that development position brought him to a similar membership and financial development role with Contemporary in October of 2022 and now to the newly revived Executive Director position.
Leadership Changes
The announcement of Riley as Executive Director caps a nearly year-long period of high turnover and department leadership transitions for Contemporary, during which time the institution spent six months with no established director.
Riley’s predecessor, Jeremiah Matthew Davis, served in a newly created role with a simplified title of Director from January 2022 until his sudden departure in November of last year.
No reason was given for Davis’ departure and no formal announcement was ever made.
That same period saw a string of departures and turnover of leadership in the organization’s Communications and Finance departments.
In the interim, Contemporary’s Communications Committee chairperson Louisa McCune told Free Press that the organization’s Executive Committee was “meeting weekly and addressing issues and day-to-day operations.”
The last person to use the Executive Director title at Contemporary was Eddie Walker, who served in the position from 2019 until 2022.
No reason was given for why Riley will be using the revived Executive Director title rather than the simplified Director title used by Davis, but Riley said that his new role will continue to focus on Contemporary’s business operations with funding and development in addition to overseeing exhibitions more broadly.
“I’m here to just make sure our staff has all the resources they need available to them to have the success that we all want to see,” he told Free Press. “Ultimately, that’s the biggest role I’m going to play.”
Renewed Focus
With those persistent shakeups now calming and with an established director now steering the ship, Riley said that Contemporary’s goals are focused most firmly on arts education and community.
“Recent data shows that more than a fourth of students who are coming out of Oklahoma schools are not receiving any sorts of arts education,” he said. “Our philosophy is that we don’t necessarily expect the next great artists to all emerge out of the Arts Center here, but we do want to help people facilitate creativity and getting creative in their thinking.”
Riley is quick to point out that while many people tend to think of Contemporary as a place for arts exhibitions and performances, that’s only one element of the institution’s goals, with the largest still being arts education and encouragement.
“Our studio school right now is having record growth,” he said. “Classes have almost outgrown the education building and we’ve been having classes in our main building now as well, so we’re really looking at any opportunities to expand our education programming and even expand our classes into the daytime instead of just evenings.”
Additionally, he said that the center’s goals for exhibitions and installations will remain focused on “providing a space for creativity and providing a space for dialogue around complex issues,” such as recent standout shows like HOME1947 and SHELTER and their stark confrontations of societal upheaval and refugee crises.
‘Brightest days’
The artistic landscape of Oklahoma City already looks significantly different and more densely populated with venues and spaces than even in 2020 when Contemporary moved into its new facility in Automobile Alley.
Spaces like Factory Obscura, ARTSPACE at Untitled, and JRB Art at the Elms in The Paseo have all recently been expanding and increasing their exhibitions and city profiles.
Riley said that means it’s more important than ever for Contemporary to reaffirm its place as an integral part of the city’s arts community through fostering new artists and working to bring national and international exhibitions to OKC in new and unexpected ways.
“I’ve said to the staff that I think the brightest days of the Arts Center are ahead,” he said. “We have more opportunity to grow, and more opportunity, most importantly, to expand our reach out into the community in terms of our mission’s impact, which I think is going to be huge.”
For more information about the Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center, visit oklahomacontemporary.org.
Brett Fieldcamp has been covering arts, entertainment, news, housing, and culture in Oklahoma for nearly 15 years, writing for several local and state publications. He’s also a musician and songwriter and holds a certification as Specialist of Spirits from The Society of Wine Educators.