This fall Pauls Valley artists RexAnn Freeman, Nancy McGee, and Belinda Stevenson joined the annual migration of artists to Quartz Mountain for an intensive weekend workshop.
They attended the Oklahoma Fall Arts Institute (OFAI), a series of retreats in the literary, visual and performing arts taught by award-winning artists.
“The arts integration workshop at the Oklahoma Fall Arts Institute provides a wide variety of experiences that can be used with the students,” said Freeman, the A+ coordinator at Jefferson Early Learning Center.
OFAI allows Oklahomans to study with nationally renowned artists without traveling far from home.
OFAI faculty has included winners of the Pulitzer Prize and the Academy, Emmy, Grammy and Tony Awards. This year's faculty included Al Young, California's Poet Laureate, winner of two Pushcart Prizes and two American Book Awards.
“The encaustic painting workshop has introduced me to a type of medium I had not experienced,” said McGee, an art teacher at Pauls Valley Junior High School.
Stevenson is a music and art teacher at Jackson Elementary.
OFAI is held at the Quartz Mountain Arts and Conference Center in southwest Oklahoma.
Nestled between the dry, cacti-dotted Quartz Mountains and the peaceful Lake Altus, the conference center is the ideal location for arts immersion. Artists gain inspiration from the natural setting, and the secluded locale allows artists to focus on their work with few distractions.
All Oklahoma public school educators automatically receive full scholarships to attend OFAI, including tuition, room and board.
Pauls Valley educators were sponsored by the Oklahoma State Department of Education, ConocoPhillips, Kirkpatrick Foundation, Inc. and the Raymond and Bessie Kravis Foundation, with additional support from the Oklahoma Arts Council and various private donors.
In conjunction with her scholarship, McGee also received a $250 stipend for classroom materials provided by ConocoPhillips.
“The Fall Arts Institute provides public school teachers from all reaches of the state an opportunity to focus their creative energies and learn strategies for bringing the arts back to their classrooms, said Julie Cohen, Oklahoma Arts Institute president.
“Last year, over 50,000 public school children from across Oklahoma benefitted from their teachers’ participation in our workshops.”
The Oklahoma Arts Institute is a private, non-profit organization developed in 1977, with a vision to cultivate established and emerging artists and educators through art workshops, immersion and awareness.
OAI administers a fine arts program for talented Oklahoma youth and a series of continuing education workshops for adults.
Inside Pages
November 28, 2008
PV artists attend arts institute
- Inside Pages
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- Looking for new and old books New books added to the shelves are “Texas! Lucky” by Sandra Brown, “Fire and Ice” by Julie Garwood, “Show No Fear” by Perri O’Shaughnessy,
- Christmas is almost here
- From the files 12-21
- From the Files 12-14
- A trio of popular choice
- A good current read The Large Print books we were given are now fixed and on the shelves ready to be checked out.
- PV artists attend arts institute This fall Pauls Valley artists RexAnn Freeman, Nancy McGee, and Belinda Stevenson joined the annual migration of artists to Quartz Mountain for an intensive weekend workshop.
- From the Files 11-30
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Man behind the blinking lights
Every December, for the last three years, the residence at 401 N. Pine in Pauls Valley has been a main attraction for motorists from all over the area. - It’s a dash to the shelve New fiction at the library includes “Dashing Through the Snow” by Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark, “One Perfect Day” by Lauraine Snelling (LP) and “Cross Country” by James Patterson.
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