September's First Friday art crawl kicks off with a 2v2 dance battle at Guthrie Green, followed by a sampling edition of Record Club, which sounds like a pretty strong way to start a month. (Keep an eye out for artist Trueson Daugherty, who'll be hosting an adoption event at Build in Tulsa for his delightful "creative spirits.") But don't be that person who only goes to see art on First Friday! Here's our guide to exhibitions happening this month, from Brookside to the Pearl District to Greenwood and beyond.
NEW STUFF
“One Foot in the River” by Jonathan Sobol + “Color Dialogues: New Work by Abstract Artists”
M.A. Doran Gallery, 3509 S. Peoria Ave.
Exhibit opening: September 4, 5-8pm
On view through October 9
Before the leaves change color, the art in these two shows on Brookside will get you thinking about shifting hues. Jonathan Sobol regularly exhibits his vigorous, meditative oil paintings in Tulsa and Taos, New Mexico; the artists in “Color Dialogues” use media from wax to acrylics to textiles in abstract works that encourage you to unfocus your eyes a little bit and let some skillful color, pattern, and light hit the pre-verbal part of your brain.
Please Touch the Art
TCC Center for Creativity, 910 S. Boston Ave.
Exhibit opening: September 5, 5-7pm
Do it! Designed with a special focus on visitors and artists who are blind or visually impaired, Please Touch the Art invites everyone to experience art through all their senses. The opening reception will include the collaborative community art project “Strut Your Crown” with artist Katherine Penny Mitchell.
"The Professional And Other Forms” by Charisa Dené Jacobs
TAC Gallery, 9 Reconciliation Way
Exhibit opening: September 5, 6-9pm
On view through September 27
With her life-sized oil portraits of Black men in suits, inspired by her father, Tulsa artist Charisa Dené Jacobs explores the complexity of Black male identity. Jacobs gives an artist talk on September 25.
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“STATE OF THE UNION” by Val Esparza & “Dinkum Hokum” by Austin Gober
Living Arts of Tulsa, 307 Reconciliation Way
Exhibit opening: September 5, 6-9pm
On view through October 11
Designer and photographer Val Esparza (who was born in Mexico, grew up in Tulsa, and now lives in Miami) has questions about what the American flag symbolizes: Fear? Hope? Both? In this new show at Living Arts, he combines paintings of twisted and tangled flags with photographs of the Stars & Stripes in landscapes across the country: on Native American land in Utah, hanging from bannisters in Brooklyn, dangling from boats in Miami, or fluttering on the backs of trucks in rural towns.
In the West End gallery, Tulsa painter Austin Gober asks a different set of questions: about absurdity, ambiguity, and celebration, proposing to “take the meaning and purpose out of familiar objects and turn them into flat, unnatural entities, and … take flat, meaningless shapes and compose them into familiar forms.”
Tulsa Artist Fellowship Open Studios
TAF Archer Studios, 109 S. MLK Jr. Blvd.
September 5, 6-9pm
Meet artists building bridges between Tulsa and the global art world at TAF's Open Studios, where you can tour creative workspaces, see projects in progress, and ask lots of questions. The Cherokee Art Market will be in residence this Friday, along with many other activations. There are also, by the way, incredible snacks.
“Meat Engine” by Beedallo
Positive Space Tulsa, 1324 E. 3rd St.
Exhibit opening: September 6, 5-8pm
On view through September 27
Ever feel so disconnected from your body that it might as well be a hunk of meat? Albuquerque-based artist Beedallo decided to embrace that image, and their show “Meat Engine” arrives to challenge your perceptions with paintings where bodies are squeezed through buildings, copied and pasted and blown up and shrunk down, turned into just another material in a material world. Beedallo’s work is dark and absurdly funny; one of their paintings became the album art for Future Islands’ People Who Aren’t There Anymore. They’ll give an artist talk on September 27, the day the show closes.
Book Arts: Beyond Expectations + Treewhispers by Pamela Paulsrud
Liggett Studio, 314 S. Kenosha Ave.
Exhibit opening: September 12, 5-8pm
On view through October 2
Sure, a book can hold art. But can it be art? Underground artists have been making artists’ books for a long time, and a new group show at Living Arts—where book- and paper-making are thriving thanks to regular workshops and community expertise—brings these nontraditional structures into the foreground. This exhibit will include a special installation of Treewhispers by Chicago-based artist Pamela Paulsrud: columns of handmade paper rounds that resemble a forest of art honoring our heartfelt connection with trees.
"There's No Lie Quite As Beautiful As The Lie Of Forever" by Skip Hill
1211 ART+PRACTICE, 1211 E. Admiral Blvd.
Exhibit opening: September 12, 6pm-9pm
Drawing inspiration from 17th-century Dutch still-life painting, Tulsa-based artist Skip Hill revisits lush imagery of flowers and fruit as enduring symbols of beauty, transience, and desire. He combines acrylic paints, inks, charcoal, oil pastels, and hand-cut paper collage to create richly layered floral still lifes that are at once celebratory and elegiac. This is Hill’s first solo show at this relatively new contemporary art space, located just west of Topeca Coffee Roastery.
War Club: Native Art and Activism Convening
Philbrook Museum of Art & Tulsa Artist Fellowship Studios
September 13, 9:15am-6:30pm
It’s your last chance to take in the vital exhibition WAR CLUB: Native Art & Activism, which closes September 28. A special all-day series of events on September 13 marks its last month on view. The convening begins at Philbrook with a tour of the exhibition with the artists, Yatika Starr Fields and Anita Fields, a keynote address by New Red Order artist and activist Zack Khalil, and a panel discussion featuring Indigenous artists, activists, and scholars. In the afternoon, the convening continues at Tulsa Artist Fellowship Studios with a wheatpasting workshop led by Ernesto Yerena, a video screening by New Red Order, and a closing rooftop happy hour.
"Burning Flags": Photography by Glen E. Friedman
Woody Guthrie Center, 102 E. Reconciliation Way
Exhibit opening: September 19
On view through February 15, 2026
Need an infusion of anarchic energy? This is right on time. Photographer Glen E. Friedman’s iconic imagery of early hip-hop, hardcore punk and skateboarding arrives in Tulsa this month, after showings in Paris and Barcelona. Featuring over 50 photos and several audio essays read by the subjects, “Burning Flags” presents images of artists like Ian MacKaye, Ice-T, Tony Alva, Jello Biafra, Chuck D., Alan “Ollie” Gelfand and Darryl “DMC” McDaniels.
“Wall Flowers”: Patrick Gordon Paintings
Philbrook Museum of Art, 2727 S. Rockford Rd.
Exhibit opening: September 24
On view through January 3, 2026
If you’ve been in Tulsa longer than about a day, you’ve probably seen Patrick Gordon’s work. His hyperrealistic floral paintings have been hallmarks of Tulsa’s fine art scene for decades; now, this first-ever museum retrospective of his work reveals his career’s full dimensions, and interests that go far deeper than simple decoration. Spanning 50 years, this array of more than 50 paintings includes early watercolors, gigantic oils, portraits and still lifes, and lesser-known but no less extraordinary politically engaged works. A great opportunity to be surprised by an artist you think you already know.
"Out Of The Blue" by Matt Moffett
Oxley Nature Center
September 25, 5pm-8pm
Taking inspiration from the flora and fauna of Oxley Nature Center, its current resident artist Matt Moffett has created a collection of cyanotypes, original paintings and nature-inspired sculptures.
ONGOING
"Still" by Lissa Hunter, Jane Sauer, Jo Stealey & Carol Stein
108 Contemporary, 108 Reconciliation Way
On view through September 20
Art friendships are something special, and the art that comes out of them reflects individual and shared perspectives that shift and deepen over time. In this group show, these artists—friends over several decades—“tell stories through objects that are intended to capture still shots from our ongoing experiences … stories of objects themselves (Hunter), issues of compassion and social justice (Sauer), celebration of the mundane (Stealey) and glimpses of the psychological landscape (Stein).”
MOVEMENT :: A Fashion Art Exhibition
101 Archer, 101 E. Archer St.
On view through September 26
The Native Fashion Arts Collective presents “MOVEMENT (in place / in thought / in time / physical),” a fashion art exhibition featuring work by 14 Indigenous artists including Anita Fields and Wendy Ponca.
