Last Updated on November 16, 2023, 3:27 PM | Published: November 16, 2023
OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center Director Jeremiah Matthew Davis has stepped down from the position with no prior announcement or public indication of a departure.
This comes on the heels of turnover in leadership at some other department-level positions at Contemporary in recent months, and following a high-profile move into Downtown, a major restructuring, and a series of pandemic-era setbacks all in recent years.
Though Davis’s departure was reportedly unexpected even among other Contemporary staff and leadership, and with no public statements yet made announcing the move or a potential replacement in the position, Communications Committee chairperson Louisa McCune says it’s simply a natural part of the organization’s development.
“I think this is probably pretty natural for a growing organization to see these kinds of leadership evolutions,” McCune told Free Press. “I don’t really think of it as a shake-up at all, but just some very talented people moving on to their next big opportunities.”
First director
Though what is now the Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center has existed for decades (beginning life as City Arts Center at the OKC Fairgrounds in 1989,) the role of Director was established as recently as last year, with Davis being the first person to hold the title.
The organization’s previous leader, Eddie Walker, served with the title of Executive Director from 2019 to January 2022, at which point his planned retirement was publically announced and widely reported. Later in the same month, announcements were made of Davis stepping into the newly created Director role from his longtime position as Artistic Director.
After just shy of two years, Davis is now out as Director, with no replacement or interim yet named, leaving operations to be handled by the organization’s Executive Committee.
“They’re meeting weekly and addressing issues and day-to-day operations,” McCune said, “and I think everything is business as usual.”
As for why no announcement has been made to address Davis’s absence in the reportedly three weeks since his departure:
“I think that’s just an oversight,” McCune said.
Davis’s role has already been changed on the Oklahoma Contemporary website, however. He is now listed simply as an “advisor” to Chairman Christian Keesee.
An attempt by Free Press to contact Davis for comment yielded no response.
Recent turnover
Though Davis is the highest-ranking member of Oklahoma Contemporary leadership to leave his position in recent months, he’s not the first.
At least two other long-serving department heads have stepped down since this summer.
Former Director of Finance Salvador Ontiveros left Contemporary after seven years with the organization in August of this year to pursue his “dream job” as President and CEO of the Latino Community Development Agency.
McCune said the Director of Finance position has been filled, with an announcement set for next month.
Likewise, longtime Director of Communications Lori Brooks left her position with Contemporary this summer after nearly nine years, becoming National Senior Director of External Affairs at the nonprofit Reach Out and Read.
The role is currently being filled by Interim Director of Communications Marie Butterline.
Brooks was contacted by Free Press to discuss her departure from Oklahoma Contemporary but declined to comment.
‘Leadership transition’
As Contemporary’s high-profile “ArtNow: The Soul is a Wanderer” enters its final months, and photography exhibition “Descendents of the Black 1000” just launched in the arts center last week, questions remain about who will be leading the tax-exempt nonprofit organization.
According to McCune, those questions should be viewed within the larger context of staff and leadership shakeups citywide, a now-familiar characteristic of post-pandemic business.
“We’ve seen a tremendous amount of leadership transition in Oklahoma City, not just Oklahoma Contemporary by any stretch of the imagination,” she said. “I think it’s really a function of some greater sort of demographic shift.”
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.
