SULPHUR,
OK – Artists of the Arbuckles are busy planning different events to
promote local art.
The
organization puts on different events throughout the year, including
the quilt show, and other contests for its members.
"We
have an annual art show, a student art show, an annual photography
show, and a quilt show. So we have lots of competition going on
during the year," said Mary Ruth Barnes, an artist that helps run
the group.
AotA
uses the shows and sales of things like calendars to fund themselves
and to keep their gallery in Sulphur free of charge. As a non-profit
organization, they need those sales to keep running. Members voted on
the calendar submissions to see which pieces would make it into the
pages of the calendar.
"We've
had a contest for our calendar, we had over forty entries for that.
And we featured twelve artists for that calendar and we now have that
for sale," Barnes said.
Jean
Carr got the most votes out of any other artist. Her water color
"Quince" is displayed on the front cover. Carr says "Quince"
was inspired by one of AotA's founding members, Nellie Belle
Horseman.
"She
was an art teacher in Sulphur... I always say a hundred years ago,
maybe not that long ago, but she died about twenty years ago, and I
got this quince from her yard, and did a water color of it, and now
it has shown up on the calendar here," Carr said.
Carr
says that the organization helps artists of all ages and stature get
their work displayed, which is almost as important as making the art
itself.
"(We
want) to encourage people to express themselves, and to have joy in
what we're doing. And one of our members has a slogan that he uses
all the time: What is art if not seen?" Carr added.
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