Gallery | Season Four

Gallery # 509

Woody Guthrie Tribute "Bound for Glory"

A look at the legend, Woody Guthrie. This  Oklahoman left his home of Okemah not with a guitar slung across his back but with paintbrushes in his hand. Along the roads Woody traveled he influenced generations with his music, songs, poetry, journalism, novels and political activism. Labeled a communist by those who didn't understand him and a genius by those who did, Woody Guthrie, 62 years after he wrote "This Land is Your Land," is an American hero, an American hero who called Oklahoma his home.

Airdate:June 7, 2005

Gallery #508

Creative Kids

True creativity and innovation consists of seeing what everyone else has seen, thinking what no one else has thought and doing what no one else has dared. Italian artist Michelangelo said, "A man paints with his brains and not with his hands." Centuries later American photographer Joel Peter Witken shared his insight about creativity, "Artists are the people among us who realize creation didn't stop on the sixth day."
In May OETA's Emmy Award winning arts and cultural series "Gallery" will explore creativity. We'll introduce you to some amazing youngsters around the state we call, "Creative Kids."
Join us for a very special "Gallery" as we continue to explore the arts and culture of Oklahoma.

Airdate: May 10, 2005

Gallery #507

American Spirit

It started with two students and a dream in 1981. Today Oklahoma City University's School of American Dance is recognized as the best collegiate dance program in the United States. Led by world-renowned dancer Jo Rowan and her husband John Bedford, the dean of the school, OCU's program supplies dancers to Broadway shows, the Radio City Rockettes and countless other productions around the world. We'll show you how the country's best dance program came to be located so far away from New York and Hollywood and why this small school has such a big reputation.

Plus:

The Beat Goes On

Its been happening every Saturday night for the better part of 40 years. In an ever expanding barn just outside of Claremore Curtis Gunn and his friends make music and memories. Curtis is a welder by trade but he'll tell you music is his religion. That's why church pews make up the first few rows of seats for the crowds who come to listen. As many as 150 muscians will play from Saturday night all the way into Sunday morning. For most Curtis Gunn's barn has the biggest Stage they'll ever step on, a few have performed for thousands in the country's most famous venues, but they all like the homespun atmosphere of Curtis Gunn's barn the best.
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Airdate: April 12, 2005

Gallery #506

Family Tradition

Grab a bowl of popcorn and settle in for some home movies sure to spark old memories. We'll take you back to Oklahoma City's Paseo District of the 1940s and the opening of a restaurant that would spice up the city's culture forever. It's the story of Luis Alvarado, a man who came to America with nothing and left behind a legend.

Plus:

A new home for some old masters

A jewel is sparkling again in Norman. They're mostly known for scoring touchdowns at OU but now a different kind of player is scoring important points. The Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art is open again after a multi-million dollar makeover. We'll take you inside the new home of some old masters.

"Gallery" exploring the arts and culture of Oklahoma.

Airdate: February 15, 2005

gallery #505

 Boot Camp   

Some boots are made for walkin' and some are walking works of art. If you're a talented craftsman you make the same pair accomplish both goals. Years ago boot and saddle makers learned their trade from the person doing the job before them. Their fathers perhaps or a store owner. Now an Oklahoma School is stepping into the void. OSU-Okmulgee is the only university in the country offering cources in boot and saddle making. The students are young and old, men and women. Discover what it takes to succeed at "Boot Camp."

Plus:

Band of Friends

They couldn't be more different in the real world. A police chief, a school teacher, a mail carrier, a retiree, a student and a nursing home employee. Different backgrounds, different jobs, different ages but one love that brings them together as often as possible. Music. They get together and play at community events in Jones and where ever they can jam on a stage. Music is the bond that binds them together.

Chihuly

The Oklahoma City Museum of Art now has the Dale Chihuly glass exhibit as part of its permanent collection. We'll show you some of the work that went on behind the scenes to setup this fragile show and what it means for the museum to have this amazing glass collection.

Airdate: January 4th, 2005

Gallery #504

Santa’s Mustard Seeds:

He is one of America’s “real life Santas.” No glue-on whiskers or foam pillows for this Santa, his beard and his belly are real. So is his message to Oklahoma children. Find out the extraordinary story of a man known to his neighbors as Dan and to children around the state as “Santa.”

Light The Night:

It lights up the Holiday nights in Chickasha for 40 days each year. Thousands of visitors stream into town for the show known as “The Festival of Light.” We’ll show you just how much work goes into putting on this spectacle. More than a thousand volunteers work almost year round to make sure all the lights work and there are enough extension cords to go around.

Christmas Lights Around the State:

As the program credits roll, we’ll also pay a visit to other Holiday happenings around Oklahoma to show you the sights and sounds of the season around the Sooner State.

Airdate: December 7th, 2004

Gallery #503  Smithsonian National museum Special

Coming Home

Thanks to the efforts of several Oklahomans, the National Museum of the American Indian is the latest work of art along the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

The striking building appears as if shaped by the hands of time, rather than man’s. In November, OETA’s Emmy Award winning arts & culture series “Gallery” gave OETA viewers an up close view of the pomp and pageantry that marked the opening of this newest of The Smithsonian museums.

Many Oklahomans were there for the event and several of them had a hand in the design of the building. It was perhaps the largest gathering ever of Native American tribes to converge on our nation’s capital. The OETA Gallery crew was on hand too, to share this historic event with all of Oklahoma, as the spirit of Native Americans everywhere was said to be “Coming Home.”

Airdate: November 16th, 2004

Gallery #502

Stark Art

Pauls Valley is a small town with a big imagination. Kevin Stark is the "Pied Piper" leading the town toward a surprising future as the action figure capital of America. A museum is planned and a super comic hero creation like you have never seen before is ready to leap over the naysayers in a single bound.

PLUS:

The Paintings of Dennis Johnson

Oklahoma City artist Dennis Johnson has been creating art since he was 3 years old. It's just something he wanted and felt compelled to do with his life. Jon Burris, the curator of the Robert Hefner Collection had this to say about Johnsons's work.
"This is a painting that doesn't have to relate to anything, that doesn't follow the rules. It simply makes us think, reflect, to open our mind to the possiblity of that all art has to do is make us feel. And Dennis Johnson's abstract painting does that and more."
We will show you his latest works and find out why he knew from the time he was a small child that he would be an artist.

Airdate: 9/9/2004

Gallery #501

Teller of Tales

Oklahoma author Billie Letts rocketed to literary stardom with her first novel, "Where The Heart Is." It was selected by talk show host Oprah Winfrey to be one of her "books of the month." The compelling story of a young girl trying to cope with troubles also became a major motion picture starring Ashley Judd. Billie's latest book, "Shoot the Moon," is in stores now. We'll talk to her about her Oklahoma roots and what it takes to become a best selling teller of tales.

Plus:

Guitar Man

Oklahoma City's Carroll Cox has a way with guitars. He's been playing them and making them for years. The guitars Carol makes aren't just musical instruments, they are works of art. We'll show you how Carol turns a chunk of wood into a wooden wonder with strings.

Airdate:July 8th, 2004