Together We Are One

The 25th annual Tulsa Indian Art Festival will be held Friday, February 11 through Sunday, February 13 at Central Park Hall in Expo Square.

The 25th annual Tulsa Indian Art Festival will be held Friday, February 11 through Sunday, February 13 at Central Park Hall in Expo Square. The festival features an art market, storytelling, delicious American Indian food, a student art exhibit, cultural demonstrations and music. A project of National Indian Monument & Institute, Inc., the Tulsa Indian Art Festival is a non-profit, all volunteer network sponsoring scholarships in visual and performing arts to qualified American Indian students. Monetta Trepp and Fran Kimmel are co-directors and founders of the festival.

This year’s theme is “Together We Are One.” On Premiere Night, Tulsa County Commissioner Karen Keith will emcee, and musician Don White will provide entertainment. Don plays and sings his own style of country blues, developed through years of writing, recording and performing. The “new traditionalist” sings new songs in old-fashioned ways.

An art auction will also be featured on Premiere Night, with Jay Litchfield as auctioneer. One of the items to be auctioned off is a silver and pewter set with malachite stones, designed by Linda Stone Callery (daughter of famed sculptor Willard Stone). The 13” by 13” framed piece demonstrates the theme “Together We Are One” as described by the artist: “In this piece, the center stone signifies God. He created all people. The piece around the center stone represents all good things, which come from God. Around this are four pairs of feathers, a pair from each direction on Earth – North, South, East, and West, a male and female at each direction. The small stone in each feather matches the large stone in the center. A part of the Creator exists in each of us if we choose to have fellowship with Him. Through Him we can do all things.”

Each day of the festival will feature storytelling by the performance company Mahenwahdose. The group has performed in over 3,000 schools and universities and before private audiences across the United States since it was founded in 1991, and it is the only American Indian performance company that can boast of being on the roster of 27 different local and state arts councils across the nation.

Will Hill, the artistic director of Mahenwahdose, based in Tulsa, is dedicated to portraying American Indians authentically and accurately through high-performance theater. Hill is a full-blood Muscogee/Cherokee and the traditional Nagonagogee Oni-yah (storyteller) in his generation and family from Alabama Corsadee. Hill told his first story at the age of four and has performed all over the United States, as well as appearing in television and movies.

The talented American Indian actress performing with Hill is Jehnean Washington, of Cherokee, Yuchi and Seminole descent. Washington is a native of Los Angeles and a graduate of The American Musical and Dramatics Academy of New York City. She and Hill each bring 20 years experience to the stage.

The festival got its start 25 years ago when The American Indian Theatre Company of Oklahoma performed “The Trial of Standing Bear,” and Randy Mantooth came from California to Tulsa to portray Standing Bear. He commented to Monetta Trepp that since Tulsa is in the heart of Indian Country, American Indian artwork should play a prominent role in the city, and he found none.

In November of 1986, Monetta and five of her friends met for lunch, and the Tulsa Indian Art Festival was conceived. The goal was to showcase the outstanding artwork of Oklahoma’s Indian Country and to create an awareness of the rich and diverse culture of the American Indian. At that time, there was no other annual Indian fine art market in Oklahoma.

On March 20, 1987, the first Tulsa Indian Art Festival was held. Throughout its history, the festival has survived snow storms, tornado sirens, electrical failure, lack of funding and numerous moves. Two of the founders have remained active, and the Tulsa community has become more involved. American Indian art has become a household word. Many American Indian students have benefitted from the TIAF scholarship program, and Tulsa has become known as a destination for American Indian art.

For more information, contact

Tulsa Indian Art Festival

(918) 298-2300

www.tulsaindianartfestival.com