Sustainers’ Preview Event Schedule:
Wednesday, February 15
5-6 pm Cocktail Reception | Museum Lobby
6-7 pm Conversation with Turry M. Flucker | Noble Theater
8 pm Galleries Close
Sustainer members and exhibition sponsors are invited to celebrate and preview two unique exhibitions opening at OKCMOA: Art and Activism at Tougaloo College and Fighters for Freedom: William H. Johnson Picturing Justice. Please join us for a conversation with Turry M. Flucker, Vice President of Collections and Partnerships for the Terra Foundation for American Art, to learn more about the history of Tougaloo College and the diverse group of people in both Mississippi and New York who came together to form Tougaloo’s one-of-a-kind collection of modern art. Flucker curated Art and Activism at Tougaloo College while previously serving as Director and Curator of Tougaloo College Art Collections.
Art and Activism at Tougaloo College and Fighters for Freedom: William H. Johnson Picturing Justice will each be available to preview from 5-8 pm during this exclusive event.
RSVP to Cole Pettis at rsvp@okcmoa.com or 405-278-8207.
About Turry M. Flucker:
Turry M. Flucker has served as the Vice President of Collections and Partnerships for the Terra Foundation for American Art since August 2022, where he oversees the foundation’s American art collection as well as fosters collaborative partnerships throughout the field. Previously director and curator of Tougaloo College Art Collections in Tougaloo, MS, Flucker provided the artistic vision guiding the stewardship of the college’s art collections and cultivated a range of national partnerships. He curated and authored the traveling exhibition and catalogue Art and Activism at Tougaloo College, co-organized by the American Federation of Arts, and he organized the teaching exhibition FREEDOM: Abstract Expressionism, Tougaloo College and the Civil Rights Movement.
About Art and Activism at Tougaloo College:
Established in the 1960s as Mississippi’s first collection dedicated to modern art and while civil rights protests swirled across the fiercely segregated state, the collection of Tougaloo College was envisioned as “an interracial oasis in which fine arts are the focus and the magnet.” Comprised of approximately thirty-five artworks in a range of media by artists such as David Driskell, Elizabeth Catlett, Alma Thomas, Pablo Picasso, Richard Mayhew, Charles White, and Hale Woodruff, the exhibition gives insight into a complex American collection at the intersections of modern art and social justice. This exhibition is on view February 18-May 14, 2023.
Click here to learn more.
About Fighters for Freedom: William H. Johnson Picturing Justice:
Painted in the mid-1940s, William H. Johnson’s Fighters for Freedom series pays tribute to black activists, scientists, teachers, performers, and international heads of state working to bring peace to the world. Some of his twenty-eight Fighters—such as Harriet Tubman, George Washington Carver, Marian Anderson, and Mahatma Gandhi—are familiar historical figures; others are less well-known individuals whose determination and sacrifice have been eclipsed over time. Johnson celebrated their accomplishments even as he acknowledged the realities of racism, violence, and oppression they faced and overcame. This exhibition is on view February 18-May 14, 2023.
Click here to learn more.
