In celebration of National Native American Heritage Month, the Roberson Gallery will exhibit the basket art of Mary Aitson. This exhibit will run from November 2nd through November 30th, 2024 with an artist reception on Saturday November 2nd from 2-4 PM.

Mary (Rector) Aitson was born and raised on her mother’s allotted land in Adair County.  She grew up in Scraper Hollow, named in honor of her great, great grandfather, Captain Archibald Scraper.  She graduated from Stilwell High School and earned both a Bachelor of Science and a Masters Degree from Northeastern Oklahoma State University in Tahlequah.  She retired after teaching sixth grade for 38 years in Kansas and northwestern Oklahoma.  Mary learned to weave baskets from Mavis Doering before she began to work on her own.  Ms. Aitson has been weaving baskets for 25 plus years.  Materials used in her weaving are honeysuckle, buck brush and palm reed along with natural dyes and commercial dyes.  She takes great joy in creating natural dyes, especially black walnut and blood root to enhance her traditional baskets.  In addition to the traditional dyes, she has also created dyes using elderberries, pokeberries, red onion skins, blueberries and peach leaves.  She is proudly 90 years young.

Don’t miss your chance to see these beautifully crafted baskets.

Our annual photography contest exhibit is open to the public for viewing in the Robert Roberson Exhibition Gallery. The show will close on Saturday, October 19, 2024, after a reception for the winners from 2:00pm to 4:00pm. Awards will be given out at 2:30pm. We had an abundance of entries and there was a lot of great photography entered into this years contest. We invite you to come see it for yourself!

Additional questions can be directed to mrobinson@nwok-pipm.org or by calling the Museum at 580-256-6136.

All entries must be received at the Plains Indians & Pioneers Museum no later than 5:00pm, August 30, 2024. Entries may be submitted starting August 1, 2024. Each entry must be accompanied by a completed entry form and fee. Submissions for the Theme Award should be marked as such on the entry form. Entry fees are $10 per entry or $25 for three. The judging will take place on Saturday, August 31, 2024, with the show opening to the public on Thursday, September 5, 2024. The show will close on Saturday, October 19, 2024, after a reception for the winners from 2:00pm to 4:00pm.

Additional questions can be directed to mrobinson@nwok-pipm.org or by calling the Museum at 580-256-6136.

Warren Little is a retired Oklahoma rancher, spending his retirement days making art. He uses gouache water color, acrylic, colored oil pencil, charcoal, and wood carving. Warren is known for his caricatures on napkins in cafes in Kansas and Oklahoma.

We invite you to attend his artist reception on Saturday July 27th from 3-5pm, you can meet Warren and maybe if you ask nice he may do a napkin portrait of you!

The Plains Indians & Pioneers Museum of Woodward is bringing an exhibit of western art and photography by noted artist and photographer Dale Hirschman.

The exhibit opens in the Museum’s Roberson Gallery on Saturday, June 1st and there will be an artist reception that evening from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

“It’s rare to find someone who is so talented in so many ways and produces art born of those life experiences,” Plains Indians & Pioneers Museum Executive Director Mikel Robinson said. “Dale Hirschman is all that and more. We’re very happy to have him exhibit in the Museum’s gallery for the month of June.”

Dale Hirschman is a retired high school art teacher of more than 30 years. He also had a pro-rodeo career that spanned 26 years as a PRCA bareback rider.

He currently serves as a PRCA Photographer and in 2020 was a Top 5 finalist for PRCA Photographer of the Year.

He serves as the Rodeo Chaplain for the Central Plains Region of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association.

Museum Executive Director Mikel Robinson said of the upcoming exhibit, “We are so very proud and pleased to host Dale in his first exhibit in this Museum.

He is very well known throughout Oklahoma and the pro rodeo circuit. And the fact that we’re able to open during Rodeo Week makes it even more special. We certainly hope everyone will be able to attend the artist reception and meet Dale.”

Hey there everybody! The Plains Indians & Pioneers Museum has been chosen as the first Museum to exhibit a new display by the Oklahoma Conservation Historical Society. We'll have the exhibit up and open on June 1st and run throughout the month. There will be a reception and presentation on Saturday, June 8th from 3-5PM. Come on by and enjoy light refreshments and learn more about the critically important work of this organization.

Hope to see you there! As always, it's a free event.

MALORY WRIDE: ABSTRACTS EXHIBITION Artist Reception May 4, 2024, from 2-4PM

Raised as an artist and an empath, Malory has been creating commission portrait pieces for her family, friends, and piers from a very young age. In recent years Malory has studied Eastern philosophy, yogic lifestyle, and energy healing practices. Each new thing she learns is reflected in her work. She is constantly teaching herself new things so she can bring greater and more diverse ways of healing through her creativity.

“Art is a journal. My lifetime of work will be a novel. I pray I spark in other people the desire to express themselves in gentle and fun new ways. Expression comes from a place of truth. If every person in the world was speaking their truth and was accepting other people expressing their own truths, then I believe there would be more peace in the world.”

Links:

1. https://shoutoutcolorado.com/meet-malory-wride-abstract-artist-graphic-designer/ 

2. https://canvasrebel.com/meet-malory-wride/

3. https://boldjourney.com/meet-malory-wride/
   

Artist Reception Saturday, December 2nd, 2-4pm

Kim Hensal is an artist living in Woodward, OK. Kim graduated from Oklahoma Christian University with a degree in Advertising Design and a focus on Illustration. She has been married to her best friend for 23 years, and they have 4 beautiful children. She has been blessed to travel all around the world, and loves to incorporate those experiences into her artwork. As a freelance artist, she has been able to create artwork for numerous clients, including the Pioneer Women. Whether she is teaching art students, or exploring a new medium like encasutics, she loves the opportunity to create and share her view of the world with those around her.

Kim’s work includes encaustic art pieces and a variety of tea towels and ornaments that will be on exhibit and available for purchase. Come experience the unique art of Kim Hensal.

Now showing “Cheyenne’s Along the Wolf River”, an exhibition by Southern Cheyenne artist George Levi. Experience the unique ledger art of George Levi along side two of his children, Harding and Halcyon Levi. This exhibit runs through November 25th, with an artist reception the afternoon of the 25th from 2-4pm

George Levi is a member of the Southern Cheyenne tribe in Oklahoma, and he was raised in western Oklahoma. He also has ties to the Arapaho and Oglala Lakota communities who were historically, strongly allied with the Cheyenne. George’s art is influenced by the art and history of the Cheyenne people, particularly in Cheyenne and Arapaho artists of the past. “My work is about my people. It's about who I am and where I come from. It's about a history that still lives on.” Aside from ledger art, George also creates custom beadwork, rawhide items, acrylic paintings, computer-generated art, and textile art.

Come July 22nd through August 26th, 2023 we welcome Judy Barton with an exhibition of mosaic art. Judy is self-taught, creating mosaics since 2013. She attended a workshop in Connecticut to learn how to make pebble mosaics. While there, she saw an installation of a glass mosaic which peaked her interest. She ordered the book, “Mosaics for the First Time,” to learn the basic technique and connected with other artist on Facebook where she has gained a wealth of knowledge.

Much of her art is inspired by her love of nature and gardening, so the sky is the limit when it comes to design ideas. Because of the opportunities afforded by the diverse colors and shapes of glass, she finds it very therapeutic and relaxing to create each piece. Each artwork is one of a kind, and many require over forty hours to complete form design to finish.

Her work carries special reward when she sees a person’s facial expression, holding up a piece to discover how the play of light brings extra dimension and beauty to the glass. She is always interested in exploring new techniques and challenging herself with more difficult projects such as creating pieces with water and reflectivity.

Make plans to attend an artist reception on Saturday July 22nd from 2-4pm, for you chance to meet the artist and talk with her about her creative journey.

Come June 3rd through July 8th, 2023 we welcome Inga Ojala with an exhibition of western and wildlife art. A successful Artist from a family of Hollywood heavyweights, Inga Ojala has always simply considered herself an Artist and Teacher.

Daughter of the legendary Hollywood gunslinger/holster innovator/gun safety and gun coach Arvo Ojala and actress/model/figure skater Doris Naga Seversen, Ms. Ojala was born in Seattle, Washington and is of Finnish and Norwegian descent. Whether it's creating one-of-a-kind murals or displaying her skills at faux finishing, Ms. Ojala admits her greatest love is Art - and her outlet. For those who do not know, Ms. Ojala's father, Arvo, is a world-renowned gunslinger, working with such luminaries as Paul Newman, James Garner, James Arness, Marilyn Monroe, Natalie Wood, Kevin Costner, Sharon Stone, Michael J. Fox, and Mari Blanchard (to name only a few of those he trained in the art of gunslinging). But perhaps he is most famous for his work in front of as well as behind the scenes of one of the greatest television Westerns, Gunsmoke. Mr. Ojala is the man who challenges Marshall Dillon in the opening sequence of each episode. His filmography, much too lengthy to mention here, includes all of Hollywood's A-List celebrities, including Ronald Reagan as well.

Ms. Ojala is also a horse and dog trainer, expert marksman. She has also worked on films as a stunt coordinator and even performed some of the stunts herself. She's also pretty handy with a bull whip, from when she was a stunt gal on ‘No Mans Land'. In all, Ms. Ojala has been in countless films – including parts in 'The Wild Life', 'The Man with Two Brains', 'Protocol' and 'Fast Times at Ridgemont High' - and numerous television programs, such as 'Love Boat' and 'Fantasy Island', just to name a couple.

"Inga specializes in paintings of wildlife, fish, and western art, although she has the ability to paint, draw, carve to sculpt just about anything her client’s request. When Inga is out fishing, kayaking, and exploring she is studying the great outdoors, to put the realism into her paintings. When she is snorkeling she studies the natural feel of the water and the fish’s natural environment and puts that into the painting. She sometimes adds one of her hand-tied one-of-a-kind flies or lures to the artwork. It adds a certain realism to the art and makes her paintings stand out. "When she is teaching, she shows the students that there are many different ways to make their art jump out at the viewer and bring them in to the painting, drawing, or sculpture.

She is working on murals this summer at the Greensburg Hospital and restoration work on the waterfall she had built at Dodge House Hotel. Other murals locally are in St John, Eisenhower Park, Dodge House, Wright Park Zoo. So many other murals are located throughout the US in both residential and commercial areas. Along with upcoming art shows, art classes and so much more. Make plans to attend her Artist reception set for Friday June 16th, 2023 from 5-7PM.

They say April showers bring May flowers, and this May brings Artist, Amber Andersen to exhibit in the Robert Roberson Exhibition Gallery starting May 6th and running through May 27th, 2023. Amber is an Oklahoma native, born and raised in central Oklahoma.  She studied art at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas.  Outside of her role as an artist she is also a mother, wife and most recently the new gallery director at the Larry K Hill Studios in Woodward, OK. Her subject matter typically involves fauna and flora with a heavy emphasis on entomology and mycology, making her a wonderful fit for the May exhibit. 

Her work often focuses on the natural balance and relationship between life and death, fulfillment, loss, and overcoming tragedy.  Her accomplishments include the illustration of a children’s book titled “Millie Finds Her Miracle.” Her other accomplishments include being in two juried group exhibitions at the Mulvane Art Museum in Topeka, Kansas. Amber has also painted a few murals, one in the court of colors behind Larry K. Hill Studios, and one on the Buffalo Main Street in Buffalo, OK.  We look forward to having Amber as a first-time exhibitor with us, please join us for an Artist reception Saturday, May 6th from to 2-4pm for your chance to meet Amber and experience her unique and beautiful work.

In the meantime, check out her Etsy Shop https://www.etsy.com/shop/AmberAndersenArt?ref=shop_sugg_market

Come experience the photography and digital art of Linda Guenther. Linda’s exhibit will be on display in the Robert Roberson Exhibition Gallery from April 1st through April 29th, 2023. Linda is an award winning photographer. Her works have been published in magazines such as the High Plains Journal, Hobby Farm Homes, and Persimmon Hill to name a few.

She is proud that her works are exhibited at the Contemporary Art Gallery in the Paseo and the Tallgrass Gallery in Pawhuska, Oklahoma. We are excited to be bringing her to Woodward in April. Many of Linda’s prints are limited additions. Linda likes to vary the print process by printing on metal, canvas, and wood. Some images are framed in vintage windows. Sizes can be customized. Join us for an Artist reception Saturday, April 1st from to 2-4pm for your chance to meet Linda.

Check out her website www.llgdesign.com