Oklahoma: A Story Through Her People

Top, left: Arts Trek! One of Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art’s award winning annual events.
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF THE SHAWNEE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.
Left: Summer Art Program—Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art, Shawnee, Oklahoma.
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF THE SHAWNEE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.
Professor Oscar Jacobson at the University of Oklahoma
tutored five young Kiowa art students whose artistic endeavors
as the Kiowa Five literally transformed American Indian art.
Apache Allan Houser became one of the nation’s leading sculptors.
Charles Banks Wilson won international acclaim for his
paintings, including major works in the Oklahoma State Capitol.
Wilson Hurley added his large-scale murals to the Sam Noble
Special Events Center of the National Cowboy and Western
Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. In the past decade,
Mike Wimmer of Muskogee has become Oklahoma’s most
famous modern painter. His landscapes and portraits are
displayed in many private and public collections.
O K L A H O M A : A S t o r y T h r o u g h H e r P e o p l e
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Above: Mabee-Gerrer Muesum of Art—the home to Oklahoma’s only Egyptian mummy, Tutu.
PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF THE SHAWNEE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.
Bottom, left: Santa Fe Depot Museum with tower, Shawnee, Oklahoma.
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF THE SHAWNEE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.
Opposite page: For Oklahoma’s 2007 State Centennial celebrations Oklahoma artists
created and painted select animals to represent various cities throughout the state. Many of
those animals still stand. While most chose horses, buffalos, or steers, Tulsa was unique
with a penguin.
PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF THE SHAWNEE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.
Donna Merkt of the Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art in
Shawnee, states:
“The Shawnee CVB and the museum have had a fruitful
partnership for over a decade. The staff at the CVB works
diligently to promote the museum and their other partners.”
Merkt, who is the museum’s curator of education, added,
“The CVB provides strong tourism development for the museum,
promoting the museum’s activities and events in ads, on
their webpage, on social media, in print media and signage,
and at tourism events, allowing the museum to focus valuable
time and dollars on education, exhibitions, and preservation.
“The CVB is a primary supporter of the annual Arts Trek
Festival, which promotes the artists and performers in the
Shawnee area. Support from the CVB assisted in getting this
festival off the ground, helping it grow from 1,000 visitors in
2010 to 3,000 visitors in 2014,” she stated.
-Mike McCormick
Shawnee Convention & Visitors Bureau