2014 Leadership Arts Class Members Announced
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Joel Gavin, Director of Marketing & Communications
(405) 521-2037
joel.gavin@arts.ok.gov
OKLAHOMA CITY ?Thirty-one individuals from 13 Oklahoma communities will soon be better equipped to develop and advance their communities through the arts. The Oklahoma Arts Council today announced the names of its 2014 Leadership Arts class members. Members receive in-depth instruction on using local arts and cultural resources for economic development, improved education and enhanced quality of life.
The 2014 class includes small business owners, educators, artists, attorneys, child advocates, community developers, nonprofit arts managers and others. When the members of the 2014 class graduate from the program they will join 176 individuals from 69 communities statewide who have completed the program since 2008. Past members are actively working in areas where the arts are making a noticeable difference such as Oklahoma City's Plaza District, Tulsa's Brady Arts, Guthrie, Alva, Enid, Medicine Park, Norman and elsewhere.
During four two-day spring sessions, class members participate in panel discussions, group activities and tours of community art spaces. 2014 sessions will take place at the Quartz Mountain Resort and Arts Conference Center near Lone Wolf (February 19-20), Tahlequah (March 19-20), Enid (April 23-24) and Tulsa (May 21-22). Class members will graduate during the Oklahoma Arts Conference in Norman, October 22-23, 2014.
Oklahoma Arts Council Executive Director Amber Sharples said Oklahoma is reaping the rewards of the program.
"As with every year, this year's class members have a wide range of backgrounds. After completing the program, these individuals will return to their places of business, their government offices, their nonprofit organizations and schools ready to make a difference in their communities. What shined through in each of their applications is their love for Oklahoma and a desire to see it prosper through the arts."
Leadership Arts is sponsored by the Oklahoma Arts Council and funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. The program is a project of the Oklahoma Arts Council is cooperation with Quartz Mountain Resort and the communities of Tahlequah, Enid and Tulsa.
The Oklahoma Arts Council places a high priority on geographic diversity during the application process. Listed by community, members of the 2014 class of Leadership Arts include:
Ada, Samantha Dillehay (East Central University)
Alva, Mary Cline (Graceful Arts Gallery and Studios)
Ardmore, Julie Aultman (Sutton-Williams, L.P.)
Ardmore, Elizabeth Waltz (Art Studios Office Manager)
Bartlesville, Nancy Warring (City of Bartlesville)
Guthrie, Shirley Clifford (Prairie Gothic)
Lawton, Jordan Godlewski (Arts for All, Inc.)
Locust Grove, Shaun Perkins (Rural Oklahoma Museum of Poetry)
Muskogee, Jim Blair (Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame)
Norman, Jennifer Baker (The Sooner Theatre)
Norman, Jon Knudson (Karmatone Productions)
Norman, Laura Reese (Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition)
Oklahoma City, Gregory Arnold (performing artist)
Oklahoma City, Leslie Blair (Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department)
Oklahoma City, Kendall Brown (IAO Gallery)
Oklahoma City, Nathan Gunter (Oklahoma Today magazine)
Oklahoma City, Matt Latham (Stand for Children Oklahoma)
Oklahoma City, Cayla Lewis (Plaza District Association)
Oklahoma City, Kiona Millirons (Smart Start in the Schools)
Oklahoma City, Nancy Nortz (Oklahoma State Fair)
Oklahoma City, Douglas Sorocco (Dunlap Codding, PC)
Oklahoma City, Erin Woods (Reduxion Theatre)
Stillwater, Meghan Brasuell (University of Central Oklahoma)
Stillwater, William Miller (Multi Arts Center)
Tahlequah, Renee Fite (Tahlequah Daily Press)
Tahlequah, Anita Thompson (Sequoyah Institute - Northeastern State University)
Tulsa, Ariana Jakub (Tulsa Public Schools)
Tulsa, Emily Kern (108 Contemporary/Brady Craft Alliance)
Tulsa, Matt Moffett (The Tulsa Girls Art School Project)
Tulsa, Jesus Villarreal (Tulsa Camerata)
Tulsa, Wilma Whitaker (Mayors Commission Greater Tulsa American Indian Commission)
About the Oklahoma Arts Council
The Oklahoma Arts Council is the official state agency for the support and development of the arts. The Council's mission is to lead, cultivate and support a thriving arts environment, which is essential to quality of life, education and economic vitality for all Oklahomans. The Council provides more than 500 grants to over 300 communities statewide each year, organizes professional development opportunities for the state's arts and cultural industry and manages hundreds of works of art in the public spaces of the state Capitol.