NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
March 2, 2009

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Ann Dee Lee
Public Information Director
Oklahoma Arts Council
(405) 521-2931
anndee@arts.ok.gov

COTTON COUNTY ART COUNCIL EXHIBITED AT THE STATE CAPITOL

Oklahoma City, OK –The Cotton County Art Council is a group of very dedicated and accomplished artists. From portraits to sunsets, carvings to pastels, these artists are serious about their work. Their summer workshops, weekly painting lessons called “Paint-Outs,” and scholarships for college and high school art students have succeeded in bringing the arts to their community and the community to the arts.

Curated by the Oklahoma Arts Council, an exhibit of various Cotton County Art Council artists titled Expanding our Horizons, will be on display from March 2nd through May 3rd in the Governor’s Gallery located on the 2nd floor of the State Capitol and open Monday through Friday from 8:30-5:00.

Works by local artists including Bill Boyer, Lena Calfy, Pattie Calfy, Doris Crow, Thelma Cunningham, LaMonte Dolman, Lavonne High, Leslie Irvin, Linda Moore, Ruby Robertson, Oleta Robinson and Sharon Wiley will be on display.

Formed in 1966, the Cotton County Art Council hosted their first art show on the sidewalks of downtown Walters on May 3, 1969. Through the years, the Council has sponsored a variety of workshops and programs for the community and has presented an annual art show for the past 39 years that attracts exhibitors and tourists from across north Texas and southern Oklahoma.

In 1984 the Council took on the tremendous task of restoring the abandoned Rock Island Train Depot to use as their headquarters. Various fund raising activities resulted in a beautifully restored depot in 1987 that serves as a handsome art center for Council activities and other community events. In 1999, the Walters Depot was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

For more information, contact Ann Dee Lee, Public Information Director, Oklahoma Arts Council, (405) 521-2931 or anndee@arts.ok.gov.

ABOUT THE OKLAHOMA ARTS COUNCIL

The Oklahoma Arts Council is a state agency whose mission is to improve lives through the arts by promoting and sustaining the development of a thriving arts environment, which is essential to quality of life, education and economic vitality for all Oklahomans.

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