The Tulsa Artists’ Coalition’s Annual Members Show
June 2 – July 23, 2017
The Tulsa Artists’ Coalition is pleased to announce that we have once again partnered with the Arts & Humanities Council of Tulsa to hold our annual juried members’ exhibition at the beautiful Hardesty Arts Center (AHHA) gallery space in the Brady Arts District.
The TAC Gallery has been a fixture in the Brady Arts District for 30 years and continues to host monthly exhibitions of contemporary art by emerging and established artists. This event is free and open to the
public and is part of the Brady Arts District’s First Friday Art Crawl.
This juried exhibit has been chosen by local artist and art instructor Kristal Tomshany. Best in Show and four Merit Awards will be announced during First Friday Art Crawl.
Kristal Tomshany, M.A., M.F.A. from The University of Tulsa, is an adjunct Art Instructor at Tulsa Community College. She has had several solo exhibits featuring her magical realistic paintings. Tomshany has participated in numerous group shows as Mayfest (2016, 2017); the Faculty Show at TCC (2011, 2016); the TAC at AHHA Members Show (2016) and TAC’s “Compendium 25″ (2011); and, the National Small Oil Painting Exhibition (in Wichita, KS in 2010, 2016).
Kristal Tomsahny’s juror’s statement, in part, says, “I am grateful to the Hardesty Arts Center for hosting the Tulsa Artist Coalition annual members’ show. Their generosity provides a venue which allows for larger scale work, including large scale two dimensional work, sculpture, and installation. This year the overwhelming majority of the work entered was two dimensional, with less than five percent three dimensional in nature.
I was happy to see a growing number of abstractions, fiber works, and non-traditional materials. This year’s entries reflected a growing variety of styles, mediums, and approaches, all which contribute to an interesting group show. Each juror makes choices based on what he or she values as most important in a finished work of art. After twenty five years of evaluating art on a daily basis (my own art as well as TCC student art) this process has become almost instinctive. Below are my three main criteria as a juror:
1. Formal Decisions. This includes composition, use of the art elements and principles of design, choice of materials, size, and presentation.
2. Idea and Content. This can include such things as psychological, political, spiritual, aesthetic, or philosophical expression. Idea and Content engages both the maker and the viewer in the intrigues of imagination, invention, visual phenomenon, irony, humor, interpretation, memory, narrative, point of view, or commentary, to name but a few.
3. Technical Skill. This includes the physical reality of getting the materials to perform to their full capacity, appropriate to the artist’s intention.
Most TAC entries exemplified a command of at least one of the above criteria, many two criteria, and good number of the works accepted contain all three. I would like to encourage emerging artists who had good ideas to keep improving their technical skills and formal decision-making so that they can better express these ideas. I also want to encourage those who have achieved a high level of technical skill to further consider the exploration of idea and content. To the many mature artists represented, I would like to express my thanks for your participation and for your excellent and inspiring work.
In closing, I am thrilled to be part of two local organizations that have been so instrumental in showcasing local and regional talent residing here in Oklahoma.”
Hardesty Arts Center hours: Tuesday & Thursday: 10:00 AM – 8:00 PM;
Wednesday & Friday: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM; Saturday & Sunday: 12:00 PM – 5:00 PM; and,
First Fridays open until 9:00 PM. For more information, contact TAC through email: info@tacgallery.org. or check out our website: www.tacgallery.org.
TAC and the Arts & Humanities Council of Tulsa are members of Arts Alliance Tulsa.