one: Bal Chat Noir celebrates 19th Century France, supports Norman Arts Council

The cat is out of the bag! This year’s Norman Arts Council fundraiser is one: BAL CHAT NOIR! Join us as we revel in the café, cabaret, and artistic life that defined early 20th Century Paris.

Whether this is your first ONE event, or you spend every year battling the after-the-holiday blues by anxiously awaiting THE party of the year, you will not be disappointed by your attendance of this night!!

Held from 7 to 11 p.m. on Saturday, March 24 at MAINSITE Contemporary Art, 122 E. Main, it's a night you don't want to miss. 

The Chat Noir was a café, shadow theatre, dance hall, publishing house, and gathering spot for writers, poets, artists, and anyone wanting to mingle with the like. For one night, step into MAINSITE and you will experience the Belle Epoque.

Enjoy drinks, food, art raffle + auction items, live entertainment, music and much, much more, all while supporting Norman Arts!

The Bohemians - VIP ($100) ticket includes:
 

• Access to VIP Seating Area
• Premium Open Bar
• Gourmet French Delicacies by Legend's
• 9 p.m. Absinthe Pour by the "Green Fairy"

The Revolutionaries ($60) ticket includes:
 

• Limited Open Bar
• French Bites by Legend’s

ONE Chairs: Liz Barfield, Jin Jo Garton and Lesha Maag
ONE Committee: Nathan Andrew, Gabriel Bird, Dennis Brigham, Cher Duncan, Erinn Gavaghan, Susan Greer, Josh Hinkle, Rhett Michael Jones, Bree Montoya, Lisa Reed, Shevuan Williams

Avant Garde Sponsors:
Republic Bank & Trust and Fowler Toyota

Royalty Sponsors:
Top of the World | Republic National Distributing Company 
Legend's Restaurant & Catering

Bourgeois Sponsors:
Fancy Couches | The Cigar Company | Scratch Kitchen & Cocktails
Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art

Publique Sponsors: 
The Abner Ale House | A Small Vintage Affair | Adair & Associates
Andy Alligators Fun Park & Water Park | BancFirst
DM Wealth Management | Essential Insanties Photography
Guestroom Records | Hickman Law Group | Ideal Eyecare
StateFarm - Julia Chew | Salon Audace | Shevaun Williams & Associates
The Spirit Shop | Sublime Signs | Tri Studios | Visit Norman
Benvenuti's/Volare | Yeaman Signature Health Clinic

PLEASE PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS AT THE DOOR! THANK YOU!

Norman Arts Accepting Applications for 2018 Featured High School Artist Award

Deadline:  Friday, February 16, 2018 @ 11:59pm

REQUIREMENTS:

All applications must be completed online. You will be required to upload the following:

·       Artist Statement – One Page

·       Proposal Narrative – One Page. Proposal of exhibit must fit within the Library Gallery space: 56 linear feet of wall space, 160 square feet of floor space.

·       Up to 15 images of previous work 

·       Up to 15 images or sketches of proposed works for consideration

MISSION:

The Norman Arts Council will feature one high school artist an exhibit in 2018. Artists will submit proposals according to the guidelines listed below for review by a selection panel. 

The selected exhibit will represent the visual arts through craft, design, media arts, photography, paint, works on paper, digital arts, or sculpture. Performance art may be considered if there is an accompanying installation.

Featured High School Artist exhibits will occur in the Library Gallery within MAINSITE Contemporary Art.

ELIGIBILITY:

All artists must: 

• Have resided in Norman, OK for one year 

• Submit an exhibit proposal

• Submit a digital archive of previous work done by the artist 

• Attest that the submitted concepts, proposals and works of art are executed solely by the artist 

• Be a junior of senior in high school.

Works for the exhibit may be executed in any medium or combination of mediums, which conform to the guidelines. Works must be suitable for viewing by all age groups.

At least thirty percent (30%) of the works in the exhibit must be for sale. All sales, including prints, cds, videos, books, catalogues provided by the artists are subject to a 30% commission to the Norman Arts Council. 

The selection panel will evaluate the proposals based on the criteria listed below:

• Clarity, originality, and depth of the proposal 

• Quality and originality of the work, based upon the examples provided 

• Impact upon the development of the artist 

• Feasibility of project completion.

Selected artist will receive a $600 honorarium for their project. This will be paid at the conclusion of each exhibit along with 70% of any sales.

EXHIBIT SCHEDULE: 

(NAC reserves the right to adjust any deadlines as necessary) 

Friday, February 16 @ 11:59pm - Deadline for submissions for featured artist program 

Friday, March 2 – Selected Artist notified

April 13 – May 12 - Exhibition

___________________________________

All decisions made by the selection panel and the Norman Arts Council are final.

The Norman Arts Council reserves to right to use images of the artwork and photos of the artists in future marketing of projects sponsored by the NAC. As conditions of this permission, the NAC shall credit the artists.

All federal, state and local taxes on awards and sales are the sole responsibility of the awards recipient.

Entries void if NAC determines the entry to not be an original, or if the entries are illegible, incomplete, damaged, irregular, altered, counterfeit, produced in error or obtained through fraud or theft.

The Norman Arts Council reserves the right to cancel any exhibit or awards based on a lack of qualified proposals. In addition, the NAC shall retain overall artistic control of the exhibitions to insure the quality and appropriateness of the public exhibits.

For additional information, contact the Norman Arts Council at 405-360-1162 or cher@normanarts.org.   

Norman Music Festival Pairs Local Microbreweries with Local Tunes

It is scientifically proven that beer and wine can taste better when it is paired with the right music, and Norman Music Festival is here to prove it with the inaugural Brew Sessions on January 13. With three different two-hour sessions, local breweries will be pouring samples of staple and brand new brews at the Main Street Event Center, 300 E Main Street.

Tasters will be provided by 405 Brewing, Lazy Circles Brewing, Crossed Cannon Brewery, Anthem Brewing Company, Prairie Artisan Ales and COOP Ale Works.

For the first round, Sipped Session, Americana group Annie Oakley is starting the night off and performing from 4-6 p.m. DJ Jon Mooneyham is hosting the Buzzed Session at 6-8 p.m. At 8-10 p.m., Helen Kelter Skelter and Gum are closing the night off at the Amped Session with material from their brand new album being released January 12 at the Opolis.

Tickets begin at $25 for VIP members of Norman Music Festival. General admission is $35 and designated drivers are $20. Tickets at the door are $40. Food will be provided by Hideaway Pizza, Pub W and The Garage.

The mission of the Norman Music Alliance is to help develop the arts community in Oklahoma through support of local original artists, support of music fans, support of art education and support of local businesses. What started as a one-day festival has now expanded to a three-day festival with over 300 artists in downtown Norman and tens of thousands of people in attendance at Norman Music Festival 10.

For more information, please visit normanmusicfestival.com.

Undercover Artists: What's Your Story? A Day of Stories and Storytelling with Al Bostick

What's Your Story? 2X4 Productions & Oklahoma StoryWorks present A Day of Stories and Storytelling with Al Bostick
9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, January 20th
Registration fee includes lunch

What’s your story? 

We all have them. Stories tell us who we are. They let us tell each other how we’re alike and how we’re different—and how that matters. 

But how do you choose which story to tell? And once you’ve chosen a story, what’s the best way to tell it? 

2x4 Productions & Oklahoma StoryWorks present Oklahoma’s own Al Bostick, leading a day-long workshop that gives you the chance to learn:

•             how to classify and analyze tales 
•             how to structure a story (beginning, middle, and end) 
•             world history through storytelling 
•             cultural behaviors 
•             critical thinking and problem solving (who, what, where, when, why, and how) 
•             world rhythms
•             rhyming and free verse storytelling

Come and find your own story to share!

The workshop ties into playwright and artist Sheryl Martin’s endeavor, entitled “Oklahoma StoryWorks: THE FOOD PROJECT.” Martin was one of 21 recipients of the Mid-America Arts Alliance Arts Innovations grants — the only hailing from Norman — for the project, which will be staged in 2018. The script will be developed through interviews with Norman area residents, the focus being on food and the stories, issues and relations with this most essential element of living. 

ABOUT AL BOSTICK

Bostick holds a bachelor’s degree in theatre, acting and directing, with additional master’s degree-level course credits in theatre. He has directed and performed his storytelling nationwide, including in educational settings. A Governor's Arts Award winner for his work in education, as well as a recipient of a Citation of Excellence in the State, Bostick is an accomplished storyteller, playwright, actor, and director who pursues excellence.

ABOUT SHERYL MARTIN (2X4 PRODUCTIONS & OKLAHOMA STORYWORKS)

Martin has been a mainstay of theatre in Central Oklahoma since her arrival in Norman in 1989. She came to Norman as a newly cast actor with Norman's then professional theatre company, The Street Players Theatre; with whom she toured children's theatre and appeared in independent, original productions for the next two years.

In subsequent years, she appeared in productions with most of Central Oklahoma's theaters, including Stone Soup Theatre, Oklahoma Children's Theatre and her own company, 2x4 Productions. While with Oklahoma Children's Theatre, and later 2x4, Sheryl began playwriting children's stories for touring programs, writing more than 15 scripts over the years.

Most recently, Martin appeared in the Two Weird Sisters production of The Vagina Monologues at The Depot in Norman.

Sarah Clough brings The Bright Side to MAINSITE

Artist Sarah Clough — a longtime Oklahoma resident who just finished received her MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) — is returning to her home state for an immersive, solo exhibition titled The Bright Side premiering with an opening reception at 6 p.m. Friday, December 8 at MAINSITE Contemporary Art, 122 E. Main, Norman.

The Bright Side will run at MAINSITE through Friday, January 12, its opening and closing receptions coinciding with the Norman Arts Council’s 2nd Friday Norman Art Walks held monthly in the Walker Arts District of Downtown Norman. Artist and musician Justin Hogan will also have works on display in The Library Gallery.

The exhibition includes a gallery-wide mural and a series of paintings, all rooted in graphology and semiotics. The works begin as words, a nod to her background in language, taking on both a chaotic but also orderly quality further twisted by the use of fluorescent and phosphorescent paint.

“These works are meant to be in sunlight, under ultraviolet light and in the dark,” Clough said, noting that visitors will be given special ultraviolet flashlight with which to uncover the layers behind the pieces and larger mural. “These works allow viewers to control their experience: What is illuminated, what is unearthed and what remains buried or unexamined.”

It’s not unlike a game of hide and seek, Clough said, the experiential nature demonstrating the subjectivity of perception.

MAINSITE Contemporary Art is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday with special receptions held from 6 to 10 p.m. on Friday, December 8 and Friday, January 12. Gallery hours will, however, be limited between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day.