North Gallery
Oklahoma Today
Image Makers
September 18 thru November 26, 2006
Image
Makers, the Oklahoma Today exhibit,
features ten of our state’s
finest photographers who have documented the people, places, history
and culture of Oklahoma. The photographers in this exhibit are
Kim Baker, Shane Brown, John Elk III, Michael
Hardeman, John Jernigan, Yousef Khanfar, R.E. Lindsey, Chad Love, Tom
Luker and Fred Marvel. Oklahoma Arts Council executive director Betty
Price says the North Gallery at the State Capitol is devoted to Oklahoma’s
finest photographers. “The exhibit generates the sense of pride
and discovery readers have come to expect from Oklahoma
Today, the
official state magazine for more than fifty years,” says Price.
For native Oklahomans, the beauty that surrounds us is sometimes lost
in familiarity. While thumbing through the pages of Oklahoma
Today,
we are reminded of the splendor just outside our windows or within
a day’s drive. In Image Makers, the photos reveal the understated
magnificence of a lonesome plain or the nostalgia evoked from an old
barn. The land communicates the story of our past and the promise of
our future. That same story is retold in a photograph of neighbors
whose wrinkled faces and gnarled hands have hardened from years of
building a community.
“Photographs are as much about vision as they are about journalism,” says
editor in chief Louisa McCune-Elmore. “The artists and their
work selected for this exhibit are passionate, singular, motivated
and even groundbreaking. Each image represents more than a moment in
time. It represents a feeling and a way of being, a point of identity
for our readers, many of whom stay connected to Oklahoma primarily
through the magazine. These photographers tell a story not only about
Oklahoma but about the talent and passion required to make an award-winning
magazine like Oklahoma Today.”
The inaugural issue of Oklahoma Today appeared on newsstands in January 1956. Throughout fifty glorious years, Oklahoma Today has been the voice of Oklahoma, highlighting the state’s best attributes. The magazine offers a plethora of valuable knowledge for natives and visitors, from the best roadside cafes and high-end delicatessens to cabin lodging and local festivals. Not only a guide of activities and locations, Oklahoma Today reports the stories that have yielded international accolades for the state of Oklahoma.
In 2006, the magazine was named Best Magazine in Oklahoma by the Oklahoma
Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and received an
Oklahoma Book Award from the Oklahoma Center for the Book. In 2005,
the International Regional Magazine Association named Oklahoma
Today Magazine of the Year for the fifth time. Also in 2005, the magazine
received a Katie Award for Best Magazine Illustration, the San Francisco
Honorary Publications Award for Fiction and the Oklahoma Writer’s
Hall of Fame Distinguished Achievement Award.
Oklahoma Today would like to thank Crowe & Dunlevy for supporting this exhibit and Arden and Associates for providing the framing.
Sponsored by the Oklahoma Arts Council. For more information contact
Scott Cowan or Karen Sharp at 405.521.2931 or scott@arts.ok.gov.
The North Gallery is located on the 1st floor of the State Capitol and open daily from 8:00-5:30.