Ralph Ellison to Join Other Famous Oklahomans at State Capitol: Author's Portrait Unveiling March 6
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Joel Gavin, Director of Marketing & Communications
(405) 521-2037
joel.gavin@arts.ok.gov
OKLAHOMA CITY ? Ralph Ellison, the renowned Oklahoma author who wrote one of the 20th century’s most acclaimed novels, Invisible Man, will soon become the newest addition to the Capitol Art Collection. Ellison’s portrait will be unveiled on Thursday, March 6 at 10 a.m. in the second floor rotunda at the state Capitol.
Open to the public, the special unveiling event will feature a performance of Move on Up a Little Higher by Oklahoma City University’s Generation Blessed as well as a live jazz performance by students from Frederick A. Douglass High School, Ellison’s alma mater. The unveiling is one of several events paying tribute to Ellison during 2014, his centennial birth year. Ellison passed away in 1994.
Ellison’s novel, which focused on issues facing African-Americans in the early part of the 20th century, was a National Book Award winner in 1953. Born in Oklahoma City circa 1914, Ellison studied music and visual arts before gaining recognition for his writing.
The style of the new painting paying tribute to Ellison is contemporary realism that captures Ellison’s image from the 1950s against a backdrop reminiscent of the 1930s Deep Deuce jazz movement that inspired Ellison’s work.
Managed by the Oklahoma Arts Council in partnership with Friends of the Capitol and the State Capitol Preservation Commission, the commissioning and fundraising for Ellison’s portrait was led by Oklahoma State Senator David F. Holt, Oklahoma City University President Robert H. Henry, and Kevin Perry of Perry Publishing & Broadcasting. Artist Tracey Harris was commissioned to create the painting. Harris has painted three other portraits at the Capitol, including May Lillie, Lucille Mulhall,and Pawnee Bill.
Comprised of more than 200 permanent portraits, paintings and murals, the Capitol Art Collection at the state Capitol tells Oklahoma’s story through the events, landscape and people of Oklahoma. Each year, thousands of students and visitors from around the world visit the Capitol where they are engaged by Oklahoma’s story through the artwork.
The Oklahoma Arts Council manages and preserves the two art collections at the Capitol: the Capitol Art Collection as well as the State Art Collection, a collection by notable Oklahoma artists housed in the museum-quality Betty Price Gallery on the first floor. Council staff also curates 18 temporary exhibits by current Oklahoma artists in the North, East, and Governor’s galleries at the Capitol. 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.