Prairie Castles

by Joan Marron-LaRue

Photo by John Jernigan

Joan Marron-LaRue was assigned the task of producing historically significant works of art by the Oklahoma State Senate. After many discussions with state officials, Marron-LaRue decided upon depictions of oil derricks and a tepee village entitled City Towers and Prairie Castles, (above) respectively. Both massive acrylics on canvas works were completed in 1981. City Towers represent Oklahoma’s oil industry, in which one time twenty-four oil wells pumped diligently on the capital grounds. Prairie Castles corresponds to Oklahoma’s Native American Heritage and was inspired by Marron-LaRue’s trip to a Cheyenne-Arapaho village.

Prairie Castles by Joan Marron-LaRue is located inside the Oklahoma State Senate conference room 419-B on the fourth floor of the Oklahoma State Capitol and can be viewed daily from 8:30-5:30 when the Senate is not in session.

The Artist

Joan Marron-LaRue was born in Custer, Oklahoma. She spent her formative years in Clinton, Oklahoma and now resides in Tucson, Arizona. In 1956, Marron-LaRue earned her bachelors of art degree from the University of Oklahoma and spent the next two years teaching at O.U. She is a member of Plein Air Painters of American and American Women Artists. Throughout her career she has conducted workshops and seminars focusing on her style of painting which is reminiscent of old world French school of impressionism. She has exhibited in solo shows throughout the United States and her murals can be seen across the state including Mercy Health Center in Oklahoma City as well at the Robert S. Kerr Conference Center in Poteau.