Raise Money for OAI while you Shop!

Did you know you can raise money for the Oklahoma Arts Institute just by shopping online? More than 1,300 top retailers, including Amazon, Toys ‘R’ Us, Best Buy, Apple, Gap and more will donate a percentage of your purchase to the Oklahoma Arts Institute. Just go to GoodShop.com, designate us as the cause you support, and then click through to your favorite store. You pay nothing extra - and you can even save money! GoodShop lists thousands of money-saving coupons and free shipping offers. Or, add GoodShop’s toolbar to your browser and your purchases will count even if you forget to go to GoodShop first! Please spread the word, and happy shopping!

Toy Quartz Mountain?

OFAI photography faculty member Ben Long snapped this picture of Quartz Mountain during the last Fall Arts Institute weekend. It looks like a model version of the resort, but it's not! Not only that, there's no post-production or doctoring of the image. Ben explains:

The photo was created with a special type of lens called a tilt/shift. You can tilt and slide different parts of the lens to either correct perspective, or throw depth of field way out of whack.

When we see something with really shallow depth of field, we immediately assume it's small, because when you look at something up close, you don't see a lot of depth of field. So, by compressing the DOF to a thin slice across the middle, our brain interprets the resulting image as a miniature.

 I just climbed up behind the amphitheater with that lens. There's no post-production on that image. You can also shoot video through it, which is cool.

Quartz Mountain Converts

Fair warning to our friends who hail from the coasts – we’re going to have a little bit of fun with you. ;)

As you probably know, every summer and fall artists from across the U.S. and beyond teach at Quartz Mountain. Most have never been to Oklahoma before, and almost none have been to Quartz. All are usually a bit apprehensive at the idea of teaching at an arts camp in the middle of nowhere in a state known more for its football programs than for its arts scene.

Each faculty member arrives with different expectations; some are thrilled at the prospect of spending time in a beautiful setting thirty miles away from the nearest drive-through, but for others, Quartz Mountain is just a little too “natural.” The staff often gets quizzed about exactly what types of bugs, reptiles, and animals might be lurking around the lodge.

My favorite faculty members are always the ones who undergo a complete evolution at Quartz Mountain – the ones who arrive fearful of the fauna, desperate for a Starbucks, and uttering “in New York…” every other sentence. But give them two weeks in southwest Oklahoma, and they are extolling the deliciousness of chicken friend steak, proudly sporting a new piece of western wear, and asking when they can come back and teach again. And then, they utter our favorite phrase – “Why doesn’t my state have something like this?”

Certainly, we wish every state had an Oklahoma Arts Institute. While there are similar programs in other states, there’s nothing like OSAI anywhere in the world. So while we wish we weren’t quite so unique – every artist deserves to participate in a program like ours -- we do feel gratified when our faculty recognize just how special our programs, location, and of course, our students, truly are.

We’ve said it before, but it’s impossible to experience Quartz Mountain without leaving a little bit of your heart behind. Until we can gather at Quartz again, under those modest hills we call mountains, please keep in touch.

Meet Bobby

Today, we'll meet the third in our trio of new Oklahoma Arts Institute staff members.  Bobby Lee recently joined our permanent staff as the Public Relations & Programs Specialist.

Bobby is a lifelong resident of Oklahoma City with many years of experience in PR and multimedia production. He is also a visual artist, best known for his figurative woodcuts and linoleum cut prints. Before joining OAI, Bobby managed exhibitions and other operations for JRB Art at The Elms.  Bobby spent two summers at Quartz Mountain as an OSAI counselor and two autumns as an OFAI participant. Soon thereafter, he began designing promotional materials for OAI on a freelance basis. Barricaded in their Oklahoma City office, Bobby refused to leave, and OAI had no choice but to add him to their permanent staff. Bobby has a BA in philosophy with a minor in political science from the University of Central Oklahoma. Among other things, he enjoys playing musical instruments, making movies, reading the news, gardening, and chasing various animals around his backyard. Bobby is an Eagle Scout and can tie knots faster than you can.

Bash the Trash: Composing over Decomposing

“Don’t throw that out, I can use it!”

If you’re like me, you have trouble throwing anything away. Boxes, bottles, rubber bands, scraps of wood, you name it: each item is a friend, sharing fond memories of projects gone by and filling us with inspiration of all the things it could someday become. Unfortunately, these companions can sometimes pile up and outstay their welcome, like a slumber party that never ends. TV shows like Hoarders have brought attention to the more extreme examples of this affliction, and have motivated myself and others to thin out our treasures, pare down our dreams, and send them to the landfill.

But for the next week, we can hoard with impunity, knowing that all of our junk will be put to good use in the very near future. “Bash the Trash,” taught by renowned composer and educator John Bertles, will show us how to transform the world’s rubbish into beautiful music.  John will teach us how we can use the science of sound and sustainability to design and craft increasingly complex instruments out of the things we were so smart to keep, and then, of course, write and perform with our new instruments!  

The class is next week at Quartz Mountain, during the second week of our Fall Arts Institute. Learn more and register here: http://oaiquartz.org/programs/falldesc.cfm

Here’s a video from John’s website:

Meet Chantry

The Oklahoma Arts Institute recently added three new members to the permanent staff.  We've already met Michelle Moseley, Development Specialist and Grantwriter, and today, we're meeting Chantry Banks, Office Manager and Executive Assistant.

Chantry Banks has served OAI as an OSAI acting liaison and counselor coordinator, and he is excited to join the permanent staff. A native of Hammon, Oklahoma, he received his bachelor of arts degree in acting from Southwestern Oklahoma State University and attended the graduate program at The University of Central Florida in Orlando. Chantry’s first role was that of Tom Turkey in Tom Turkey’s Thanksgiving in second grade. He has worked with Orlando Shakespeare Theatre, Orlando Repertory Theatre, City of Maples Repertory Theatre, and Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park. Chantry also has a successful sewing business, creating quilted handbags and hemming clothes for his niece and nephew. An avid gardener, Chantry had a bumper crop of tomatoes this year.

Welcome, Chantry!  Next week, we'll meet Bobby Lee, PR and Programs Specialist.

I'm a Lifer

I’m an Oklahoma Arts Institute lifer.  You might be one, too.  For many of us, Quartz Mountain has played a part in almost every stage of our lives.  I attended the Summer Institute as an orchestra student for three years, spent one year as an OSAI counselor, and I’m now in my eighth year as a member of the permanent staff.  I’ve spent twelve summers at Quartz Mountain, meaning I’ve had a longer relationship with the Oklahoma Arts Institute than I’ve had with almost anything or anyone.

But I’m certainly not the only lifer.  My fellow staff member, Stephanie Currey, spent five years as an OSAI student and recently celebrated her tenth anniversary on the permanent staff.  Our President and CEO, Julie Cohen, is the first OSAI alum to lead the organization.  Our Board of Directors includes OSAI alums and parents of alums.  Then there are OSAI section faculty Virginia Sircy and Michael Murray, who have served so much time with OAI they should probably be released for good behavior – 25 years and counting.

Every year, we meet OSAI alumni whose own children are now attending the summer program.  We see summer alums return and take Fall Arts Institute workshops, and fall alums who become OSAI counselors.  And let’s not forget the couples who were bitten by the Quartz Mountain “Love Bug,” like former counselors Ben and Sara Collins, who fell in love at Quartz and later married there.

What role has Quartz Mountain played in your life?  How many OAI programs have you attended?  Share your story in the comments section below.