It's odd to imagine a May without a downtown Mayfest, but here we are: thanks to its leadership changing hands, Tulsa's preeminent art festival will be spread around through the Route 66 Centennial celebrations instead of concentrated into one weekend. That leaves plenty of room in the Arts District and elsewhere for you to take in some things you've been missing. Pack a picnic and plan your gallery outings and cute dates with our handy guide, which includes May First Friday events as well as exhibits, talks, and live art experiences coming throughout the month. —Alicia Chesser
New Stuff
SAMPLE
The Canopy, 19 E. Reconciliation Way
May 1, 5pm
SAMPLE is a pre-art-crawl mixer from Experience Tulsa, and this is the last one until August. Meet your creative neighbors alongside micro-host ThunderWof., featured artist SZRTAIL, and sound curator DJ noname.
5x5 Show And Sale
TAC Gallery, 9 W. Reconciliation Way
May 1-16
Doors open at 5:55pm for this annual show, but Tulsans in the know line up even earlier for the chance to own a tiny piece of art for only $55. Local artists get very creative with these 5x5 canvases, and some of Tulsa's finest will be participating.
First Fridays with Tulsa Artist Fellowship
Tulsa Artist Fellowship Studios, 109 M.L.K. Jr. Blvd.
May 1, 6pm
This month's TAF First Friday features a collaboration with Tulsa Opera. "Art at the Opera" invites visual artists to attend a Tulsa Opera production and create new work in response. This season, nine artists were inspired by The Pirates of Penzance and will present and sell their work during First Friday. Tulsa Opera’s Filstrup Resident Artist Company performs on the rooftop terrace at 7pm. Also on view: "Futuro Imperfecto," presented in partnership with The Hulett Collection, featuring Tulsa Artist Fellow Miguel Braceli. Throughout the evening, visitors can meet artists and learn about their processes firsthand. Complimentary beverages will be provided by Heirloom Rustic Ales.
First Friday at 101 Archer
101 Archer, 101 E. Archer
May 1, 6pm
In the South Gallery, see “Unexpected Company,” featuring Andrea Kowch’s renowned painting of the same name, alongside works by Cherokee artist Richard D. York. In the North Gallery, you'll find "Finding Oklahoma", a photography exhibit by Leonid Furmansky showcasing the state’s built landscapes.
First Friday Live Performances: "Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Decides?"
Living Arts of Tulsa, 307 Reconciliation Way
May 1, 7pm
JustArts and Living Arts present an evening of live poetry and music within the current exhibition “Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Decides?” Performances feature Claire Maracle, Damion Shade, and Sage.
Inspyral Fire Circus: "The Traveler's Atlas"
Guthrie Green, 111 Reconciliation Way
May 1, 8pm
All ages are welcome to this free, after-dark show during First Friday at Guthrie Green, featuring professional fire performers, acrobatics, comedy, and contortion.
"A People's Museum" by AK/OK
Positive Space Tulsa, 1324 E. 3rd St.
May 2-30
A People’s Museum of LGBTQ2S+ History is a living archive of hand-drawn portraits and personal stories, created by people from across the US and internationally and curated by Tulsa-based art and design collective AK/OK. To date, hundreds of people from more than a dozen cities have contributed to this intergenerational and intersectional project, which stands as a tribute to the LGBTQ2S+ people we collectively remember from our everyday lives, whose stories have largely remained untold. During the exhibition, the public will be invited to contribute to this international participatory artwork by adding their own memories to the archive.
"Inherited Vision" by Jean Richardson & Karen Tyler
Royce Myers Gallery, 1706 S. Boston Ave.
May 7
Renowned Oklahoma artist Jean Richardson and her daughter Karen Tyler have collaborated on an exhibition of work and will be showing together for the first time at Royce Myers Gallery. Karen paints domestic interior scenes in strong colors and textured layers. Jean’s work embodies the beauty, movement and spirituality of the horse in her contemporary style.
"Contemplation On Earth, Air, Water" by Margaret Aycock and Courtney Lockhart
C.A.T. Gallery (formerly Liggett Studio), 314 S. Kenosha
May 8-29
This exhibit blends abstract sculptures inspired by Scholar Stones, and paintings which invite the viewer to contemplate the changing seasons of the creek, hay fields and forests and life.
"Connection" Juried Art Show
Underground Gallery House, 1331 S. New Haven Ave.
May 9, 1pm
Underground Gallery House presents "Connection," its first juried exhibition, featuring work from over 40 artists from Oklahoma and beyond. Showcasing a wide range of media and practices, this exhibition highlights the importance of nurturing and sharing our creative selves, especially in times of unrest. How do we connect with and care for our past, present, and future selves? How do we remain human in tumultuous times? Can we turn connecting back into ritual? Connection to build community? Connection as means of resistance or protest?
UNcrease
Gilcrease Museum of Art
May 9 and May 28
Don't miss the last two sessions of UNcrease, a free community arts series that brings diverse artists and community members together to create, learn, and explore the new Gilcrease Museum building. The May 9 session features Tulsa Symphony Orchestra, Anitra Lavanhar, Ashley Apodaca/Carl Antonowicz, Jaslyn Ferguson, Bandelier, and Fiawna Forté. On May 28, artists include Tulsa Raqs Belly Dance, Deborah Hunter & Damian Rozell, and singers from the Girl Scouts of Eastern Oklahoma.
Mayfest Road Trip: Art Market
Mother Road Market, 1124 S. Lewis
May 15-17
It's not exactly the street festival you know and love, but you can get a little Mayfest vibe as a treat during this local art market.
In Conversation: Marie Watt & Jordan Ann Craig
Philbrook Museum of Art, 2727 S. Rockford Rd.
May 16, 3:30pm
Artists Marie Watt (Seneca) and Jordan Ann Craig (Northern Cheyenne) join a special conversation moderated by Native art curator, Kalyn Fay Barnoski, in the brand new Tandy Pavilion. Learn about the artists’ differing, but intersecting practices, cultural and community inspiration, and the stories behind them and their current solo exhibitions "Do the Patterns Notice Me?" and "Marie Watt: Heart in the Sky."
Ongoing
“Entangled Ecologies” by Shawn Smith
108|Contemporary, 108 Reconciliation Way
through May 23
"Entangled Ecologies" investigates how systems—ecological, technological, and cultural—intersect and reshape one another. Exploring how we increasingly experience nature as something distant—flattened on screens, abstracted into data, and reduced to visual information—Smith responds to this disconnection by creating sculptural forms that reintroduce physical presence, material labor, and multisensory engagement.
“Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Decides?” by Kenneth Reams and Isabelle Watson Reams
Living Arts of Tulsa, 307 E Reconciliation Way
through May 23
Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Decides is an exhibition rooted in Kenny Reams’s lived experience on death row for 31 years. Co-created with his wife and artistic collaborator, Isabelle, the work explores the history and inhumanity of the death penalty in America.
"I’m Good. How Are You?" by Zach Litwack
Belafonte, 306 S. Phoenix Ave.
through May 15
"I'm Good. How Are You?" will feature 10 new mixed-media art works by visual artist Zach Litwack. The show uses darkly humorous collage pieces to explore the role that toxic positivity plays in modern American culture.
“Homeward to the Prairie I Come” by Gordon Parks
Philbrook Museum of Art, 2727 S Rockford Rd
through June 19
“Silver Clouds” by Andy Warhol
Philbrook Museum of Art, 2727 S Rockford Rd
through June 14
“Heart in the Sky” by Marie Watt
Philbrook Museum of Art, 2727 S Rockford Rd
through June 14
There's still time to see these three exquisite Philbrook shows: photographs, poetry, and prose by legendary photojournalist Gordon Parks, Andy Warhol's experimental 1964 "floating painting," and contemporary Seneca artist Marie Watt's monumental cloud forms made from jingles and a neon wheel-of-the-year that marks time's passage with the names of thirteen moons.
