Museum of Art to offer art-making activities, pictures with Santa, Noon Year’s Eve Eve balloon drop, Japanese holiday film series, and more
OKLAHOMA CITY (December 1, 2023) – The Oklahoma City Museum of Art (OKCMOA) today announced the return of Saturdays in December for the second year and the theme of its annual holiday film series – a retrospective of timeless masterworks by beloved Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki.
“December is one of my favorite times of the year. We offer a variety of programming that appeals to Museum members, frequent Museum visitors, families, teens, and film lovers,” said Museum Head of Education and Public Programming Bryon Chambers. “Additionally, most of our galleries will be open, including First Look: New to the Museum, which opens December 16, and our current special exhibition, Preston Singletary: Raven and the Box of Daylight. It’s a great time to visit the Museum, especially with children under 18 years old receiving free admission year-round.”
Below is a complete schedule of all OKCMOA holiday, film, and exhibition-related events.
Every Saturday in December will feature Drop-In Art activities, access to the galleries, and more. All activities are free for members or with paid admission.
Saturday, December 2 | 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
- Art-Making: Holiday Cards (Founders’ Hall)
- Drop-In Drawing (Galleries)
Saturday, December 9 | 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
- Art-Making: Shrinky Dink Ornaments (Founders’ Hall)
- Drop-In Drawing (Galleries)
Saturday, December 16 | 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
- Art-Making: Winter Wonderland Watercolor Paintings (Classrooms)
- Drop-In Drawing (Galleries)
Saturday, December 23 | 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
- Photos with Santa (Founders’ Hall)
- Art-Making: Holiday Frames (Classrooms)
- $2 Cookies and Free Hot Chocolate (Museum Store)
- Elven Storytime, Offered at 11:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m., and 1:00 p.m. (Galleries)
Saturday, December 30 | 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Noon Years’ Eve Eve, Sponsored by MetroFamily Magazine
Click HERE to purchase tickets.
- Scavenger Hunt, Available All Day (Galleries)
Complete your scavenger hunt and turn it into the Museum Store for a prize!
- Art-Making: MetroFamily Crowns (Classrooms)
- Cookies and Punch, 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. (Founders’ Hall)
- Balloon Drop, 12:00 p.m. (Lobby)
PRESTON SINGLETARY: RAVEN AND THE BOX OF DAYLIGHT PROGRAMMING
Preston Singletary: Raven and the Box of Daylight, organized by Museum of Glass, Tacoma, Washington and Preston Singletary, and presented by The Chickasaw Nation, offers a multi-sensory experience through dozens of glass sculptures, projections, and sound. This immersive exhibition presents a Tlingit origin story, passed down from generation to generation through storytelling traditions, of Raven and how he brought light to the world by releasing the stars, moon, and sun.
Saturday, December 17 | 2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Public Exhibition Tour: Studio Glass
$25 for members | $35 for non-members
Register for a staff-led tour at OKCMOA where the experience will provide attendees with conversation-based insights and deliver an up-close look at the Museum’s exhibitions, Chihuly Then and Now: The Collection at Twenty, Preston Singletary: Raven and the Box of Daylight, and more.
MEMBER EVENTS
Saturday, December 2 | 2:00 p.m. – 3:15 p.m.
Moderns: ‘Tis a Day for Theatre
Join OKCMOA Moderns at the theatre! Moderns members and their families are invited to experience an immersive holiday production of Little Women by Storyteller Theatre Arts Co. at a specially discounted rate. This outdoor production at the Harn Homestead will showcase warmth, sorrows, triumphs, struggles, and joys alongside the March Family.
Monday, December 4 | 4:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Members’ Holiday Sale at the Museum Store
OKCMOA members are invited to privately shop at the Museum Store during an exclusive holiday sale. Members receive an increased 20% off the entire store and a gift with a $75 purchase (while supplies last). Attendees will also enjoy complimentary hot cider, wine, and holiday treats while shopping for the perfect gift for everyone on their holiday shopping list, plus be entered into a raffle for an exclusive holiday gift.
Wednesday, December 13 | 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Sustainer: Behind-the-Scenes Evening
OKCMOA Sustainer members are invited to attend a special behind-the-scenes evening featuring an in-gallery preview of new acquisitions to the Museum’s permanent collection.
More About First Look: New to the Museum
First Look: New to the Museum showcases a variety of genres and art movements, from traditional still lifes, landscapes, and portraiture to street photography, abstract paintings and sculpture, and Conceptual art. Featuring a wide range of mediums and styles, the objects on display explore the overarching idea of space: how we see it, how we occupy it, and how we choose to depict certain spaces. Placed in dialogue, these works invite visitors to consider the roles that various spaces play in our lives and the ones we create for ourselves.
The exhibition includes objects by artists with strong ties to Oklahoma City, such as Ed Ruscha, Nan Sheets, and Alexandra Alaupovic, as well as international artists such as Irish photographer Alen MacWeeney, German artist Oliver Boberg, British artist Rachel Whiteread, and Canadian artist Liz Magor.
One of the most acclaimed living filmmakers, Hayao Miyazaki, won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature for Spirited Away in 2003 and received two other nominations in the same category for Howl’s Moving Castle and The Wind Rises. After officially retiring from filmmaking for almost a decade, Miyazaki returned with a visually dazzling and deeply personal new film, The Boy and The Heron, which premiered to great acclaim at the Toronto Film Festival in September 2023.
In anticipation of The Boy and the Heron, which will open in the Noble Theater on January 19, 2024, OKCMOA is proud to host a specially curated, eight-film retrospective that explores and celebrates Hayao Miyazaki’s singular body of work. Featuring much-loved classics like My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke, and Spirited Away, the series will screen on select Thursdays and Saturdays, beginning December 14 and running through January 13. Presented in their original Japanese-language versions with English subtitles, these international blockbusters will provide both longtime fans and first-time viewers with a wonderful opportunity to experience the soaring airborne adventure and deep emotional terrain of Miyazaki’s singular cinematic universe.
Click here to view the printable Miyazaki Holiday Film Series Schedule.
As always, OKCMOA Film Society Members (including Fellow, Friend, and Sustainer members) receive $5 tickets to Museum Films screenings. Click here to learn more about joining the Film Society.
Be sure to also visit OKCMOA’s Museum Store x Ganache during regular Museum hours for a variety of beverages to enjoy during film screenings.
SAVE THE DATE
Thursday, January 11, 2024 | 5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Museum Book Club: Fusion Notes
Join the Museum for the next meeting of Museum Book Club, featuring Fusion Notes – a visual memoir diving into Preston Singletary’s life and artistic practices. Registrants will enjoy themed refreshments followed by an in-gallery discussion about Singletary’s multi-faceted spirit, Tlingit background, and enduring love for music and the medium of glass. Registration for each session of the Museum Book Club is $30 and specially discounted to $25 for members.
Fusion Notes is available for purchase in the Museum Store and online at okcmoastore.com.
Wednesday, January 17, 2024 | 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 pm
Friends’ Lecture by James Oles, PhD
“Labor and National Identity in Diego Rivera’s Embroiderer” will provide a close reading of the long-lost easel painting La Bordadora (The Embroiderer), which recently came to light after being lost for more than 90 years. Lecture tickets are $15 and specially discounted to $5 for members. Additionally, members at the Friend and Sustainer levels are invited to an exclusive pre-lecture reception.
Saturday, January 20, 2024
Moderns members (including Fellow, Friend, and Sustainer members) can save the date for a brunch-time event inspired by new acquisitions to the Museum’s permanent collection. Stay tuned for additional details and registration information.
OKCMOA will continue to announce additional programming after the first of the year. To remain up to date, please visit okcmoa.com/events, subscribe to our weekly newsletter, or connect on the Museum’s social channels @OKCMOA.
