Shawnee, OK— You won’t want to miss the Shawnee’s newest and most innovative arts happening--Arts Trek!  This event takes place at St. Gregory's University and the Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art on Saturday, May 22 and is free and open to the public.

The Arts Trek begins at 10am at the abbey church, where the event begins with a discussion of the church’s amazing stained glass windows, conducted by Br. Benet Exton and stained-glass artist Jan Pasienski.  Then, visitors embark on a walking tour in one large group, winding through the campus, discovering theatrical, dance, instrumental, spoken word, and other performances in various locations.  Each performance is 5-15 minutes in length and there is ample time to walk from one performance to the next at a leisurely pace.  Bathrooms and water fountains are available across campus.  Visitors are welcome to bring portable chairs.  A map of the walking tour revealing performance times and locations will be available by May 15th on this site and at the museum.

Guests on the Trek should look forward to an exciting and varied performance line-up.  Artist Joel Carmichael amazes spectators as before their eyes he creates a large-scale painting to the sounds of classical music.  Students from Oklahoma Baptist University take visitors back to the past as they enact a Greek Tragedy.  Young and old alike are mesmerized by the haunting notes resonating from Teresa Swadley’s cello.  A variety of dancers, including native dancers from the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, the Kiss Me I’m Irish dancers, and contemporary dancers from SGU, fascinate the audience with sound and motion.  Poet and author, Ben Meyers, weaves a spell around guests with words, rhythm, and inflection.  The notable sounds of the choral group Sine Nomine enthrall all those present. 

The walking tour ends at 12pm.  Guests can then grab a bite at the available concessions, managed by the SGU athletics department, and venture over to the Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art where over 20 Oklahoma visual artists are creating art inside and outside the museum.  Painters, photographers, mosaic artists, jewelry artists, sculptors, ceramicists, and a variety of others will be making and selling one-of-a-kind artworks.  Some artists will be doing custom art on the spot, creating quick-draw portraits and caricatures.

From 12-4pm, many of the participating visual artists are giving demonstrations, introducing visitors to the techniques involved in their crafts.   Beth Wilhelm demonstrates a contemporary use of the ancient art of hot-wax batik; members of the wood carver’s guild turn blocks of wood into fantastic sculptures; Debra Christian and Arisha Burlingame reveal the methods behind their beautiful mosaic works; Robb Kopp and Sr. Eugenia Brown demonstrate acrylic and watercolor painting techniques; Becky Emerson Carlberg takes pen to paper, illustrating her mastery of pen and ink; Douglas Gordon introduces guests to digital art; Jan Pasienski reveals the intricate methods for stained glass creations. 

Children and families will delight in the many free hands-on activities available on the museum grounds. They create hand-made kites from newspaper, courtesy of Sustainable Shawnee, and fly them on the campus grounds.  Visitors make origami boats with museum volunteers and float them in the museum's fountain.  Volunteers from Canine Companions for Independence help guests create delightful dog masks and weenie-dog puppets.  Museum volunteers assist guests with making funky foam bookmarks and bracelets.  Kids line up to get their faces painted by artist Kathy Berry!

Additionally, beginning at 12 pm, visitors are invited to make their mark on a collaborative community art work sponsored by Red Bud Arts Council and Vision Bank.   Participants paint non-representational lines, shapes, and patterns in a variety of bright colors on three canvases.  Following, members of the Arts Council, in a few strokes, turn these canvases into multi-colored masterpieces.  Vision Bank will display the paintings following the event.

During Arts Trek, the museum is waiving admission fees, making both the current exhibit, Objects of Devotion:  Spanish Colonial Religious Art from 1650-1950, and the permanent exhibits free and open to the public.  While browsing the galleries, visitors have the opportunity to interact with objects from the museum’s study collection.  Ancient objects from Egypt, Greece, Rome, Mesopotamia, and artworks from other cultures can be held and touched by visitors during the event.

The Arts Trek is a collaborative venture between the Mabee-Gerrer Museum of Art, St. Gregory's University, Oklahoma Baptist University, and the Red Bud Arts Council.  Support has also been given by the Citizen Potawatomi Nation and Vision Bank. 

For more information, please contact Donna Merkt at 405-878-5300 or dlmerkt@mgmoa.org.

10 am, Saturday, May 22, 2010

FREE & Open to the Public!

• Free make-n-take art projects:  kites, puppets, masks, bookmarks, origami! Face painting!
  
• Performances by vocal, instrumental, dance, theatrical,  spoken word, & fine-arts performance artists!
  
• Collaborative art project--help create a community masterpiece!
  
• Visual arts demonstrations & artistscreating on site:  painting, sculpture, ceramics, photography, jewelry, & more!
  
• Fine art available for purchase.
  
• Concessions available on site.

Performance Walk 10am-12pm

Visual Arts Demos 12-4pm

Community Art Project 12-2pm