Kelsey Karper

Co-Curators & Co-Founders: Kelsey Karper & romy owens
Opened March 2016

1218 N Penn Ave, Oklahoma City, OK 73107
www.currentstudio.org
www.gofundme.com/currentstudio

Current Studio is an artist-run space in Oklahoma City, providing experimental and experiential opportunities for artists and audiences.

Current Studio is committed to offering challenging, thought-provoking experiences to the public for the next 18 months.

Current Studio is different from the art destinations that currently exist in the city. What that means: We are not a commercial art gallery driven by the need for art sales. We want to provide a space that affords artists an opportunity to take risks and develop ideas while being supported financially (and curatorially) through the process. We want to provide challenging and thought-provoking experiences for the audience. We want to explore the possibilities of what an artist-operated space can do to be reactive to community needs.

We are creating a space of our own where we can easily share in the atmosphere of conversation, culture, and conviviality.

Curated by Kelsey Karper
June 3-July 30, 2016
Tulsa Community College Center for Creativity, Tulsa, OK

Visitors are invited to break the rules of traditional art exhibits at the unique “Please Touch the Art” show at the Center for Creativity. Twelve Oklahoma artists, including two who are blind, have created new work for the exhibition in a wide range of media, including sound, scent, sculpture, installation, and more. Most of the artwork can be touched, while others feature high-contrast imagery or interactive components. The show is designed to engage all the senses, with a particular focus on accessibility for visitors who are visually impaired.

ARTISTS
Sumpa Akhter
Tahlia Ball
Marwin Begaye
Daniel Brookshire
Lydia Cheshewella
Cathleen Faubert
Pete Froslie
Heather Clark Hilliard
Mark Kuykendall
Katie Pendley
Amy Sanders
Mark Wittig

PRESS
Stationary Travels: Sound Impression: The New Honey Shade - Sightless Seasons

Tulsa World: TCC lets you put your hands on art at new exhibit

Tulsa World: Arts Scene: TCC Center for Creativity

News on 6: 'Please Touch the Art' Workshop Breaks Sight Barrier

Good Day Tulsa: Please Touch the Art

TulsaPeople: Exhibit breaks 'rules' of art

Co-curated by Kelsey Karper and Julia Kirt
January 11-22, 2016
Oklahoma Contemporary, Oklahoma City, OK
Click for details and event tickets.
 

ArtNow is an annual exhibition and art sale showcasing works from Oklahoma's top artists. The ArtNow event helps to raise funds to keep Oklahoma Contemporary exhibitions free of charge. 

ARTISTS
Tommy Lee Ball
Amanda Bradway
Cynthia Brown
Zachary Burns
Anita Fields
Bill Hawk
Jonathan Hils
Kalee Jones W.
Debby Kaspari
adam Lanman
Tiffany McKnight
Traci Martin
Sunni Mercer
RC Morrison
Christie Owen
Katy Puterka
Marissa Raglin
Kelly Rogers
Amy Sanders
Laurie Spencer
Kyle Edward Van Osdol
Charleen Weidell
Shevaun Williams
John Wolfe

PRESS

KOSU Backstage Pass: ArtNow 2016

NonDoc: ArtNow features ceramics made while blindfolded

Oklahoma Gazette: ArtNow kicks off 2016 in Oklahoma City's art scene

405 Magazine: The Present is Perfect at ArtNow

Literati Press: The Oklahoma Sky is Falling, But Art Will Be Our Umbrella

Rise & Shine Oklahoma: ArtNow Exhibition 

NewsOK: What to do in Oklahoma

The Lost Ogle: Taking a look at Oklahoma Contemporary's ArtNow 2016

EVENT PHOTOS

Photos by Quit Nguyen

Photos by 405 Magazine

Co-curated by Kelsey Karper & romy owens
July 10 - August 21, 2015
Individual Artists of Oklahoma gallery, Oklahoma City, OK
Click for additional documentation and details.

Fifty-four diversely talented Oklahoma artists worked together to create a large visual art collaboration at IAO Gallery in downtown Oklahoma City. The Elaborate Collaborate emphasizes the possibilities that exist when artistic talents are combined, with collaboration as a key element of the process. 

Forty-two artists created a series of 42 multi-media works on paper that connect and evolve over five weeks of in-gallery collaboration. Ten video artists and one sound artist created a 10 minute video collaboration to be screened during the exhibition. Local poet and visual artist Kerri Shadid led a participatory Poetry Event, inviting the public to create collaborative poetry through a series of facilitated games.

Throughout the run of the exhibition, the public was invited to observe artists at work in the gallery, while watching the large-scale collaborative artwork take shape. Nothing of this kind has been done in Oklahoma. The project is inspired by the Surrealist drawing game known as “The Exquisite Corpse.”

This experimental exhibition was organized by independent curators Kelsey Karper and romy owens, both of Oklahoma City. Artists were chosen based upon how they complement and contrast with each other, and represent a diversity of style, media, technique, and experience within the art community.

ARTISTS
Jennifer Allen-Barron
Lisa Jean Allswede
Alyson Atchison
Ginnie Baer
rs barnes
Nick Bayer
Jerry Bennett
Bombs Away
Amanda Bradway
Dylan Bradway
Eli Casiano
Erin Cooper
Jason Cytacki
Glenn Herbert Davis
Adrienne Day
Samantha Dillehay
Denise Duong
Cathleen Faubert
Pete Froslie
Sarah Hearn
Tim Hearne
Geoffrey Hicks
Michelle Himes-McCrory
David Holland
Kalee Jones W
Mark Kuykendall
adam Lanman
JP Morrison Lans
Trent Lawson
Beau Leland
Stefanie Leland
Mike Litzau
Tiffany McKnight
Lauren Miller
George Oswalt
Jason Pawley
Angie Piehl
Haley Prestifilippo
Marissa Raglin
Tessa Raven
Kelly Rogers
Amanda Sawyer
Kerri Shadid
Erin Shaw
Gloria Shows
Rick Sinnett
Clint Stone
Cassie Stover
William R Struby
K Edward Van Osdol
AK Westerman
Libby Williams
John Wolfe
Bill Zorn

PRESS

Southern Living: Hot List

NewsOK: Diverse artists collaborate in OKC show

SLICE Magazine: Creativity on the Spot

NewsOK: Elaborate Collaborate brings together Oklahoma artists

KFOR: Is this a great state or what?

KFOR: Is this a great state or what? Follow up story

Literati Press: Picking at the corpse

OK Gazette: Project seeks funding to unite local artists, foster collaboration