If you claim to be bored in Norman it’s your own fault. It means you’re not taking advantage of the smorgasbord of arts and entertainment that’s available year round. Looking back over the past year reminds that if anything there’s too much to do in Norman. With no possible way to attend every concert, art exhibition opening reception or stage play here.
Part of the dynamics in an art colony such as Norman is that people come and go. Programs flourish but often fizzle out. It’s an ever-shifting landscape. Fortunately places including Sooner Theatre, The Depot, University of Oklahoma, Resonator Institute and Mainsite Contemporary Art Gallery and others are constants. We have dedicated people whose mission is to sustain our arts scene for those who do the work and the audiences who enjoy it.
Second Friday Art Walks every month are a go-to experience for many. They’ve made the monthly event in downtown’s Walker Arts District a destination for the entire state. Norman musician Brad Fielder is a strong believer in community and the power music holds to bring us together. With guitar, vocals and blues harp he plays out on the street for all to hear.
“I play most art walks unless someone has given me an actual gig,” Fielder said. “I’ve learned from busking that music continues to delight people. They truly enjoy just walking up on someone playing music. I’m there to entertain and kids in particular like it, so I get to watch them maybe experiencing a live musician up close for the first time. They feel it and get into it which is good.”
This year marked the end of an era when Toby Keith died in February. The country music star, philanthropist and businessman would have been a natural to reside in Nashville but chose Norman instead. He loved this place for our OU sports, Norman Public Schools and Del Rancho’s Steak Sandwich Supreme. Throughout the year folks have paid tribute to Keith from those at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium football games to the Sooner Theatre. Red cups have been raised to the sentiment, “Here’s to you Toby, we’ll miss you.”
This year marked the start of a new era. The University of Oklahoma celebrated the School of Visual Arts entering its second century of creative instruction. The Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art contributed to this centennial recognition with an exhibition titled “Artists X Artists.” It was a photo show from the museum’s collection focusing on pictures of celebrity artists by well-known photographers. An undeniable highlight was Art Kane’s “Harlem 1958.” He somehow got 58 of America’s premier jazz musicians together for a 10 a.m. photo shoot on a New York City street in front of a brownstone apartment building. It’s a masterpiece of posed greats with a few amusing unintended aspects in the shot.
The 2024 Norman Music Festival remained Oklahoma’s largest free event of its kind. Multiple genres of musicians were featured on multiple stages simultaneously in the city’s center. It was NMF’s 16th iteration and the experience has improved with each year. Oklahoma State House of Representatives District 44 leader Jared Deck performed on the Gray Street Stage and demonstrated why his politician colleagues call him the “Representative for Rock n Roll.”
In addition to Norman’s establishment arts scene there’s a countercultural one that’s also welcoming to all. Resonator Institute, 325 E. Main Street has continued to operate a fully functioning community print shop, concert and exhibition space since 2016. In May they hosted “J. Chris Johnson’s Yearbook.” The title comes from the fact that artist Johnson spent 12 months painting over 100 portraits of mostly local personages. It was an ambitious show that in particular demonstrated the painter’s command of lights, darks and shadows.
So much to love about 2024 Jazz in June. As a Norman festival it has highest seniority with over forty years of groove. Among the star players this year was six-time Grammy winner and titan of trumpet Randy Brecker whose career stretches back to the 1960s. The University of Oklahoma was in its second year of sponsoring Summer Jazz Collective Project for student musicians from across the state. It’s a welcome infusion of fresh performing talent on the Jazz in June stage.
Norman Arts Council welcomed their new executive director Leslie Nottingham mid-year. She’s a Kansas City metro native whose last job was Cultural Arts Manager for Ocala, Florida. Nottingham has a particular interest in fiber arts and looks forward to growing the already vibrant programming centered in downtown’s Mainsite Contemporary Art Gallery.
OU’s Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art added “Cup of Jones” coffee shop and gift store to its visitor experience. A previous store called Muse had been inexplicably axed in 2019 during OU president James T. Gallogly’s brief tenure. Happily, The Fred has rejoined every other major art museum in the world offering a gift store and now also a bistro.
The Depot’s leadership deserve rodeo champ-style big belt buckles for organizing an exhibition by Pulitzer Prize winning photographer Ron Tarver. “The Long Ride Home: Black Cowboys in America” featured 40 large format images many of which were captured here in Oklahoma. Tarver grew up in Fort Gibson but most of his career has been on the east coast including being a Swarthmore College art professor today. A sweet backstory is that over a dozen of Tarver’s former high school classmates from decades ago traveled to Norman from eastern Oklahoma to attend his exhibition opening reception.
2024 was an extraordinary year for arts and entertainment in Norman and we’re anticipating next year will exceed it.
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