Long a gathering spot for the Norman community, a “garden of quotes” in Andrews Park commemorates the words and wisdom of some notable folks who have called the city home.

In Their Words is the work of Oklahoma City artist M.J. Alexander, a park-wide installation of stencil sculptures and words from current and past Normanites sandblasted into the park’s sidewalks. Hoda Kotb, Nadia Comaneci, Vince Gill, Dr. George Henderson and more are among those celebrated.

A ribbon cutting ceremony for In Their Words takes place at 5 p.m. Friday, November 12 at Andrews Park, 201 W. Daws St., Norman. Visitors can gather at the pavilion near the amphitheater, from where they will then be led around the park.

A collaborative, community effort, In Their Words “is inspired by those who have inspired,” Alexander said in an artist statement, the pathways of Andrews Park becoming a source of discovery for “the observations, wisdom and humor of those who have walked the streets of Norman.”

The stencils were fabricated by PremiereCraft of Oklahoma City. Sidewalk sandblasting was completed by Joe Dillon of Titan Mobile Blasting of Oklahoma City. The stencils were installed in frames for display throughout the park by Chris Downey of Can-Do, LLC of Norman.

In Their Words was made possible by the Norman Forward 1% for Art Program, led by Public Art Manager Debby Williams. The program was approved by Norman voters in 2015. This is the fifth public art work created through the program, including others located in parks, athletic facilities and libraries across the city with more planned in the years ahead.

MORE ON M.J. ALEXANDER

M.J. Alexander works at the intersection of the lyrical arts, reportage, poetry and imagery, celebrating the people and places of the Great Plains. Her work has been published by The New York Times and Time magazine and featured in more than 25 solo exhibitions, including a 2018 European debut at London’s Crypt Gallery, and dozens of group shows, most recently Oklahoma Contemporary's inaugural exhibition Shadow on the Glare. She is a veteran of community newspapers and of The Associated Press in New York City, and former chair of the journalism department of St. Michael’s College in Vermont. A 2019 inductee into the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame, she is author and illustrator of two fine-art books: Salt of the Red Earth: A Century of Wit and Wisdom from Oklahoma’s Elders, and Portrait of a Generation: Sons and Daughters of the Red Earth, winner of the Oklahoma Book Award. The International Photography Hall of Fame describes her as “combining the vision of an artist with the skills of a storyteller.”