Living Arts of Tulsa Podcast

To purchase tickets on Eventbrite
Lyrics & Laughter Tickets, Sat, Mar 19, 2022 at 7:00 PM | Eventbrite

Jeff sits down with David Boynton as he shares deeply about his life journey and how his experiences and evolution informs his artistic perspective and his process.

To learn more about David and his work, visit
https://www.dabakhstudios.com

Artist Statement
Custom wood and resin artwork and fine art paintings created right here in the USA by a retired Air Force 21-year veteran. My work is inspired by my career in the USAF, the aviation industry and as a master diver doing deep sea SCUBA diving. 

I am deeply moved by the images of deep space that are sent back from international space projects and NASA research teams. Ocean currents and solar systems have colors and movement that greatly inspire my work and put me into motion as a painter. I am also inspired by the aura that some of my clients put out and it has produced some amazing results! 

I create resin and wood vases, decorative objects, and funeral urns. My wood and resin coffee tables and end tables are in the “river table” style. (And even the occasional hand-turned wood and resin wizard wand!) My philosophy of turning is that I reveal what is already within the wood and I find that if I try to bend it to my will, rather than listen to what the piece is telling me what it is, it ends in disaster or a wasted blank. 

The same goes with my paintings, they are created with various acrylic pouring techniques depending on what I want to convey in each painting and relaying what the painting wants to be. Custom work can be ordered to complement your color palette and aesthetic and there will never be another piece like it in the whole world, be it wood or acrylic.

Jeff sits down with DJ Hejtmanek to hear about her experiences and perspective since she started her paining practice and about what it has been like for her at a deeper level to have work showing in the Oh.Tulsa exhibit at Living Arts of Tulsa.

Her website/art gallery/blog can be found at www.djhejtmanek.com, Instagram at
www.instagram.com/djhejtmanek
and FaceBook at www.facebook.com/DJHejtmanekCreates.

DJ Hejtmanek (pronounced HATE’-mon-ik)
discovered a passion for painting during the
pandemic, which is inspiring her to spark beauty,
balance, and freedom – one brush stroke at a time.
With no formal training, she is learning on the fly and
loving it. DJ has worn many hats – most recently
serving as a fundraising professional for an
international non-profit organization, “Dovie” to five
granddaughters, JoJo’s dog trainer, and licensed
minister.

DJ creates paintings and mixed media art, and her
intensely personal artwork depicts whimsical creatures
of land, sea, and air, and dreamy, subconscious
landscapes. Her creations examine our existence and
original design, often splashing her interior world
across a canvas, complete with transparency,
imagination, whimsy, muddle, and God-focus.

A native of Louisiana, she and husband Louis live in
Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, with their grown children and their families nearby.

Jeff sits down with Brittany White as she shares deeply about her artistic perspective, about how she got started taking photographs and film, and about her work that will be in the upcoming Oh, Tulsa exhibit at Living Arts of Tulsa.

To learn more about Brittany and her work, visit
Website:  www.brittanykelleywhite.com
Instagram handle:  @brittanykelleywhite

Brittany is a photographer currently based in the Tulsa area. Her work is a means of self-expression and illustrates a combination of documentary and staged narrative.  Through the use of analogue photographic processes, she explores various themes such as childhood reflection, personal identity and the community in which she lives and works.  Her work is heavily influenced by filmmakers and cinematographers such as Wim Wenders, Robby Müller and Andrei Tarkovsky.

Watch on youtube
https://youtu.be/2CeFHULhGow

Jeff sits down with Maggie Boyett And Marwin Begaye as they reflect very deeply about their experiences in co-creating over the past 5 years and about what this project means to them a few weeks after the opening of their collaboration for OVAC Art 365 at Living Arts of Tulsa, Body Acknowledgement: The Body as Land

Through their collaboration Body Acknowledgment: The Body as Land, printmaker Marwin Begaye and performer Maggie Boyett investigate their identities as Urban Indians. 

Like many Native people, they have wrestled with the concept of "living in two worlds"—the idea that colonization has forced Indigenous people to navigate American culture and create space to live out their Indigenous values. 

This perspective fragments cultural experience, impacting their relationship to land and their communities. 

The recent uptick in land acknowledgments at public events and in the media inspired the artists to use the concept of land acknowledgment as an entry point for deepening their kinships with land, self, time and wellness.

Jeff sits down with Alexa Goetzinger, the Associate Director of the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition to hear about her experiences in administering the current Art 365 exhibit at Living Arts of Tulsa.

She also shares an overview of the work of each of the artists in the exhibit.
Anyone can sign up for the artists' workshops through www.Art365.org

Alexa was born and raised in Ardmore, Oklahoma, and graduated from the University of Oklahoma with degrees in fine art and art history. While she spent time working and interning in China and Italy after college, she ultimately realized there is no place like home. 

Since returning to Oklahoma she has been a high school educator, and most recently the Education Director for ARTSPACE at Untitled. In addition to her work in the non-profit sector, Alexa co-founded an annual international print exchange called Connect: Collect and is an avid printmaker. 

She is excited to be a part of the OVAC team and assist in the growth and development of Oklahoma’s visual arts community through education, promotion, connection, and funding!

Mother Me is an interdisciplinary performance involving music, text, movement and film that explores the complex relationships, psychology and sociology surrounding motherhood. The artist untangles her own mother/daughter relationship, grapples with feelings of uncertainty as a childless woman approaching the end of fertility, and asks questions that hold particular significance for a generation in the midst of shifting personal, cultural, societal and biological dynamics.

Credits
Performers: Mary Prescott - creator, voice, piano, movement; Cara Search - voice, movement

Film Photography: Bill Phelps & Drew Hill
Photo Credit: Bill Phelps

Rebroadcast of a performance originally presented and livestreamed by Roulette Intermedium on June 14, 2021.

Mother Me is made possible with support from Living Arts of Tulsa, National Performance Network, Roulette Intermedium, Epitaph Arts, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Lanesboro Arts, The Jerome Foundation, Minnesota State Arts Board, Sanguine Arts, and Metropolitan Regional Arts Council.

WATCH ON YOUTUBE
https://youtu.be/yobsdN3UNf8

Jeff sits down with CJ Ward to hear him share some very compelling reflections about the power of conversations in bringing about healing between people and between communities.

He also speaks about his experiences in contributing work to the The Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Project at Living Arts and what it has been like for him to move to Tulsa and becoming a part of the community.

From CJ-
"There is therapy in expression, and freedom in self-expression. Whether literary, visual, musical, or physical, a unique perspective has the potential of bridging gaps - spiritually, mentally, and physically. Bridging gaps, and lapses in humanity. Gaps that may divide and separate humanity based on surface level judgment(s). I believe this is why arts & humanities will always go hand and hand. Art is beauty conveyed through the creative lenses of an artist, free spirit, and/or a free mind."    Let’s work together!

To learn more about CJ, visit
For youth mentorship and/or counseling (limited availability):
https://www.cjwardcreations.com/the-ward-wellness-services

To book for workshops, sponsorships, trainings/webinars/seminars, or speaking engagements:
https://www.cjwardcreations.com/booking-speaking-engagements

For products and other services:
https://www.cjwardcreations.com/products

WATCH ON YOUTUBE
https://youtu.be/h3DUsU27AxM

Jeff sits down with Christina Henley, co-curator of the The Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Exhibit at Living Arts to hear about what this experience has meant to her at a deeper level, about her perspective on the impact of this exhibit on people who have interacted with it, and her thoughts on how this has been a "mind altering" experience for her and for many others.

Artist Statement-
Creating is a sensory experience for me in process and execution. I think about the materials I use. How they feel to the touch, the texture I want to show and convey. Choosing colors that are striking, bold, unusual and jarring, and the emotions I want to evoke to myself and the viewer. Sometimes, I'll include three dimensional elements to push the piece even further into the sensory experience. I want the viewer to feel what I feel by what they see, while also forming their own interpretation or idea of what they are looking at. I don't want to conform and I think my artwork expresses that.

WATCH ON YOUTUBE
https://youtu.be/_rOAGN2jDOs

Jeff sits down with artist and educator Francine Campbell as she shares some incredibly compelling and meaningful stories about her experiences growing up in Deep Greenwood and about the connection between her childhood and why she chose to work as a teacher.

She also speaks very candidly about her artwork that is featured in The Race Massacre Centennial Project at Living Arts of Tulsa and about some of the other artists' work that really speaks to her.