Arena artists’ contracts signed
by: BRIAN BARBER World Staff Writer
2/12/2008 12:00 AM
The $1.1 million in agreements is for four works; negotiations are continuing for a fifth.
More than $1.1 million in contract agreements has been reached with artists to create four works that will adorn Tulsa’s BOK Center.
Negotiations are ongoing with another artist for a fifth project, which would display text on the arena walls, Tulsa Arts Commission Chairman Ken Busby said Monday.
The arena has a roughly $1.37 million art budget, mostly from a local ordinance that sets aside 1 percent of a building’s construction dollars to beautify public space.
“It sounds like a lot of money, but in the grand scheme of things, when you need large, high-quality works to fill an enormous amount of space and be able to make a statement, it’s really not,” Busby said.
The artists:
Kendall
The cloudlike form will be rough ly 20 feet high, 30 feet long and 30 feet deep and will weigh more than 5,000 pounds. It is planned to be suspended in the air with cables.
Mark
The paintings will be done on aluminum panels and hung in five lines of five, creating overall dimensions of 16-1/2 feet by 21 feet. Each of the panels will be set 3 inches from the wall.
A guard rail is planned to protect the works.
Bill
Each medallion will be 22 feet in diameter, made with terrazzo, enhanced with ag gregates and framed in metal.
Joe
Andoe plans to re-create childhood memories of going to the Admiral Twin Drive-In to watch Western movies.
He will paint a black-and-white scene of two horses rearing back to resemble an old-time film clip.
It will be done in his signature ghostly style of applying paint and then wiping it away.
Each of the BOK Center’s artworks will require “hundreds of hours” by the artist to create, Busby said.
“These are very labor-intensive pieces,” he said. “They will require a lot of thought and a lot of preparation.”
Discussions are progressing with text artist Jenny Holzer, who wants to display lyrics from country songs and quotes from famous Oklahomans on the walls of the arena.
It is believed, Busby said, that enough money is remaining in the art budget to hire Holzer, of Hoosick Falls, N.Y.
The BOK Center has provided the city with the first opportunity to have a significant, cohesive art program, he said.
“With most public buildings, usually the commission’s role is to pick out a single piece,” Busby said.
“We will finally have a collection that we can showcase.”
All pieces should be in place by the time the arena opens in September.
