Last Updated on January 18, 2024, 2:17 PM | Published: January 18, 2024
OKLAHOMA CITY — Following changes to the Arts Festival and the end of Opening Night in 2023, Arts Council OKC is focusing on two program expansions in 2024 that involve coaching and supporting artists.
This year, they will focus on their All-Access Arts program, which includes their new Emerging Artists program and the Fresh Paint Mural Project.
Free Press spoke with the Arts Council’s Seth Lewis, Festival of the Arts Director, and Angela Cozby, Executive Director, to discuss the new initiatives.
“Emerging Artists programs have been growing throughout the nation. We’ve researched for the past two years on how we wanted to build it here in Oklahoma City,” said Lewis.
Eight new emerging artists
“The Arts Council has accepted eight new artists from a candidate pool of twenty applicants. The eight participating artists will be involved in this two-year program and have a chance to be mentored by a professional artist for the duration of those two years.” Lewis explained.
“Professional Mentors will help the emerging artists with every aspect of working the Arts festival, from unpacking their vans, setting up their artwork, and working with them on the ground during the Festival. The Mentors will even watch how the artists interact with buyers and how they sell their artwork. There will also be training about the logistics and business aspects of being a working artist. There will be a lot of time to work one on one with the artists in the program.” Lewis explained.
“It’s so hard to jump into a festival headfirst without someone to help you. This program is going to be a great way for new artists to grow.” He said.
Lewis also mentioned the commitment that the mentors are bringing to this effort and to Arts education programs.
“The professional artists that are mentoring the candidates are all volunteering their time as part of this Initiative to help educate the Art World as a whole. Traveling festival artist is a much different type of work in the world, as far as planning routes and how to even pack your work into a van to travel to the festival. That one-on-one education with professional artists is a great opportunity for all the participants to develop their work into a supportable business” Lewis said.
In year two of the program, the Arts Festival will feature the participants in their own Emerging Artists tent during the 4-day event. At the end of the Festival, one candidate will be selected as Emerging Artist of the Year.
“This initiative is providing a way for new artists to learn how to make a living as professional artists outside of the Gallery world,” said Lewis. “Connections between established and new artists will help give them the tools and education on how to make a living and not just go into it blindly.”
‘Fresh Paint’ Mural Project
The second initiative that The Arts Council is working toward in 2024 is the Fresh Paint Mural Project.
This project features Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) Artists from around the community and art world at large and gives them an opportunity to work on public murals with professional guidance along the way.
“The Arts Council started Fresh Paint four years ago.” Lewis explained. “It was a way for us to encourage BIPOC artists to get involved in the Art world. We partnered with the Oklahoma City Thunder Basketball for this project. The participants are all young artists in the 18-25 age range from the local BIPOC community. Around twenty artists applied, and those selected will be mentored by two professional muralists; Denise Duong and Jaiye Farrell.” Lewis said.
Participants in Fresh Paint will complete an 8-foot mural, while the Professional Mentors will help them with every aspect of the project, from design to completion.
The murals will be unveiled at the OKC Thunder game on April 14th as the series launch and be on display during the 2024 Arts Festival. The series will be open to community vote. Patrons to the Arts Festival can view the artworks and cast their votes for the best mural of the year.
“This project is a way for new artists to learn from amazing professional muralists.” Lewis said. “Both of these artists (Duong and Farrell) travel all over the world with their art. They’re bringing some of that expertise and leadership to local artists in the BIPOC community. The Fresh Paint Mural project also gives the participants a chance to think outside the box and expand their experience base. It’s a chance to step into large mural work.” He said.
“There aren’t a lot of options to be mentored as new artists, which is why we called it Fresh Paint. We wanted to provide a way to create inclusive art in OKC. There is a place for these young artists in our community.” Lewis added.
Lewis discussed the potential success that comes with the program, adding a note about previous winners. “The artist who won the first year of the program, Verdean [Evergarden], is now doing national art pieces, and he has become a professional muralist from this Initiative,” Lewis said.
Angela Cozby, Executive Director of the Arts Council, OKC, added, “We are partnering with the OKC Farmers Public Market for the Fresh Paint project. Artists will be painting their murals there, and they will have multiple sessions with their mentors in the space.”
“It’s exciting that these murals are not only promoted at Thunder games, but they will also be displayed during the Arts Festival. Over 550,000 people will be able to see and vote on the murals during the Arts Festival. That is huge exposure for these artists. For a young artist just starting out, being able to work with Denise Duong and Jaiye Farrell, and to reach hundreds of thousands of people is really life-changing.” Cozby said.
For more information on the upcoming changes to the Arts Festival and Arts Council Initiatives, visit artscouncilokc.com.
Adrienne Proctor is a theater and arts writer in Oklahoma City. She's been contributing to the arts reporting space since 2017.
