Help a Sister Out

Tulsa Girl's Art School Project has been raking in the dough lately--and deservedly so.

Since it opened last year, TGAS has been steadfast in providing quality arts education to young, underprivileged girls. And the real testament to its value is the art being churned out by its students.

The girls, most between the ages of seven and 10, showed some natural talent when they began the school. But, under the tutelage of the school's executive director and educator extraordinaire, Matt Moffett, their ability has progressed beyond belief.

Now, at the girls' monthly openings/sales, patrons buy the art, not only in support of the school's mission, but also because they genuinely admire and enjoy it.

It's the reason I bought a piece at the school's August fundraiser with Joe Andoe at Dwelling Spaces.

And it's what attracted Lindley Welch to the organization.

Welch heard about TGAS last year and was inspired by what the school was doing for its young students.

"I personally had a connection with it because I was really involved with art in high school," said Welch. "And my art teacher caught on that I had a passion for it and really encouraged that. It was something that was really good for me to connect with in high school. And I thought, 'What a great thing [Moffett's] doing with these girls, and at such a young age.'"

Welch contacted Moffett and said she wanted to host a fundraiser for the school. At the same time, she was trying to help her friend, Shelly Lewis Stanfield, and Oklahoma City-based artist, establish herself in the Tulsa market.

So, she paired Stanfield's art with the school's mission to create ART 4 ART.

By charging at the door and donating a percentage of proceeds from the sale of Stanfield's art to the school, Welch raised $19,000 for TGAS.

This year's event will be even bigger, she said. Sponsored by law firm Smolen, Smolen and Roytman and featuring work by Stanfield, Darshan Phillips and Aaron Wisner, the event will inhabit KEO Restaurant and Aberson Exhibits, next door to each other in Center One, near 35th Street and Peoria Avenue.

Stanfield, Phillips and Wisner (Live4This ring a bell, anyone?) will show new work at Aberson Exhibits through the month of October, with the opening on Thursday from 7-10pm. Twenty-five percent of sales from artwork that evening will go to TGAS.

TGAS students' work will be on display at KEO at the same time, and the restaurant will serve wine, beer, cocktails and hors d'oeuvres.

Tickets to the event are still available and are $75 per person. Funds help TGAS continue its mission of providing underserved girls with education in art history, technique and application.

The school is free to the girls. Donations pay for supplies, teachers' time and transportation for the girls to and from the school. The more money they raise, the more girls they can serve. So give 'em your money.

Work will be on display through the month of October, and there will be a second reception on Oct. 8 at Aberson Exhibits for those artists only. For more information about the school, go to www.tulsagirlsartschool.com.

Master of the Craft

Presenting work at The University of Tulsa's Alexandre Hogue Gallery this month is Warrington Colescott, an award-winning printmaker, who at 88, is one of the country's legendary statesmen of printmaking.

Colescott, an Oakland native, earned his master's degree in art from the University of California at Berkeley shortly following World War II. He's served a stint as a Fulbright Scholar in London and has enjoyed a long career as an art professor.

He is internationally recognized for his trademark style of blending several printmaking techniques to create one piece of work, according to the Rockford Art Museum, which owns 11 prints from the artist's "History of Printmaking" series.

Most often, the artist's work deals with themes from popular culture, addresses American social issues and pokes fun at those in power.

In an essay about the artist, Mary Weaver Chapin, PhD, associate curator of prints and drawings at the Milwaukee Art Museum, writes, "Warrington Colescott's prints are riddled with complexities and contradictions, stinging satirical barbs and playful jokes, and exuberant color and subtle tonal variations of black and white.

"As a technician, Colescott is a master. He is known for his practice of cutting his intaglio plates to create unique effects, a technique he credits to a frustrated printmaking student in the 1960s."

Colescott will present "Suites and Singles: Color Etchings" Oct. 1-30 at the Alexandre Hogue Gallery in TU's Phillips Hall, 2935 E. Fifth St. The exhibit opens on Thursday with a reception from 5-7pm. Colescott will present a lecture prior to the reception, at 4pm, in room 211 of Phillips Hall.

The exhibit, reception and lecture are free and open to the public. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 8:30am to 4:30pm.

More on Thursday

Also opening on Thursday are exhibits at Color Connection Gallery, 2050 Utica Square, and the gallery at Dennis R. Neill Equality Center, 621 E. Fourth St.

At Color Connection Gallery, Anke Dodson will exhibit a new series of monotypes called "One At a Time: The Art of the Monotype."

A monotype is a print that is unique becuase the plate is inked or painted and hand-pressed once. Dodson has said she finds that the process results in "beautiful, softened images."

Dodson's work is on display Oct. 1-31. The artist will be at the gallery Saturday, Oct. 3 from 11am-3pm. Gallery hours are 10am to 5:30pm.

At the Equality Center gallery, painter Patty S. Porter presents new work from her "Flow" series.

According to folks at the gallery, "Patty paints big and bold, and with great pleasure. Her technique incorporated many layers of vivid, bright acrylic colors painted on various surfaces. Her work combines feeling and emotion, greatly influenced by music.

The exhibit opens Thursday with a reception from 6-9pm and will hang through the month of October. The exhibit and reception are free and open to the public. Gallery hours are Monday through Saturday, from 3-9pm.

First Friday

On Friday, Oct. 2, galleries in the Brady Arts District will open in conjunction with the district's First Friday Art Crawl.

Participating locales include Gypsy Coffeehouse, The Project Gallery, Brady Artists' Studio, CFC Chocolatier, Tulsa Artists' Coalition Gallery, Chrysalis Salon, Lola's at the Bowery and Club 209. Start anywhere and pick up a guide to help you find your way along the crawl.

I don't have info on what each gallery has in store, but I do know that Tulsa Glassblowing Studio will offer free demonstrations from 6-9pm (Saturday, too) and "glass pumpkin madness."

And at TAC, fine art photographer Don Emrick presents "Analog: Low Fidelity Photography," which attempts to prove to the viewer that film photography is not dead, despite the public's almost total shift to digital.

In his artist's statement, Emrick says, "'Analog: Low Fidelity Photography' is part of my continuing use of alternative cameras and film techniques. In this case, I am using plastic medium format cameras--the Holga and Diana--a couple of pinhole cameras and a vintage 4x5 Crown Graphic.

"The interesting aspect with this choice of cameras are the inherent flaws that make the images so compelling. Each camera has its own unique signature."

The exhibits on display at the First Friday Art Crawl are free and open to the public, and most will hang through October 31.