PLUS FIVE DAY FORECAST. ALL RIGHT JONATHAN THANK YOU FOR THAT. A NEW EXHIBIT OPENS THIS WEEKEND AT THE OKLAHOMA HISTORY CENTER MUSEUM. IT’S CALLED INTO THE MIRROR, AND IT FOCUSES ON ARTWORK BY NATIVE AMERICAN ARTISTS. JOINING US NOW DIRECTOR OF THE MUSEUM LEON NATTER. LEON, GOOD MORNING TO YOU. AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING HERE. MY PLEASURE. THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME. OF COURSE. HAPPY TO HAVE YOU HERE JUST RIGHT OFF THE TOP HERE. TELL US ABOUT THE EXHIBIT AND WHAT PEOPLE CAN EXPECT. OKAY. WHAT I’M FOCUSING ON IN THE EXHIBIT, THEIR PIECES FROM OUR PERMANENT COLLECTION. AND WHAT WE WANT TO SEE IS NATIVE ARTISTS ACTUALLY REPRESENTING NATIVES. THERE’S ALWAYS BEEN, YOU KNOW, CONTROVERSY SINCE COLONIZATION ABOUT HOW WE REPRESENT INDIGENOUS PEOPLE. SO THIS IS AN EXHIBIT THAT’S ABOUT HOW INDIGENOUS PEOPLE ARE REPRESENTING THEMSELVES. YEAH. AND TALK ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF THAT. WELL, IT’S REALLY SIGNIFICANT BECAUSE NUMBER ONE, THE THE LOOK CHANGES OVER TIME. THE FIRST PIECE IN THIS EXHIBIT IS BACK FROM THE 1870S. WOW. SO THIS IS AND THIS WAS A A CHEYENNE ARTIST WHO WAS IN PRISON AT FORT MARION IN SAINT AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA. AND THE THE WHOLE CONCEPT OF HOW TO REPRESENT THEMSELVES IS CHANGING AT THIS POINT. AND THEN WE HAVE IN OKLAHOMA, WE HAVE ONE OF THE MOST SIGNIFICANT SCHOOLS OF NATIVE AMERICAN ART COMING FROM FROM OU IN THE 1920S, OSCAR JACOBSON HAD ALL OF THE KIOWA ARTISTS. THIS GROUP OF KIOWA ARTISTS THAT REALLY, REALLY INFLUENCED HOW THE WHOLE ART SCENE HAPPENED ALL OVER AMERICA. I MEAN, IT WAS TREMENDOUS FOR NATIVE ARTISTS, BUT THEY ALSO HAD A BIG INFLUENCE ON THE ART WORLD IN GENERAL. OH, WOW. SO THESE ARE PIECES FROM YOUR PERMANENT COLLECTION. HOW DID YOU DECIDE WHICH ONES TO PICK FOR THIS EXHIBIT? WELL, THAT WAS HARD. WELL, THE FIRST CRITERIA WAS OF COURSE ARE THEY ACTUALLY REPRESENTING PEOPLE? THAT’S WHAT I WANTED TO SEE. THIS IS ALL ABOUT PEOPLE. HOW THE FACES LOOK, HOW THE THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE LOOK AND THEN IT WAS A, YOU KNOW, OUR COLLECTIONS, WE HAVE SOME VERY SIGNIFICANT COLLECTIONS THAT HAVE BEEN GIVEN TO THE MUSEUM OVER THE YEARS BY OKLAHOMA COLLECTORS AND WE WANTED TO FEATURE THESE AND TO FEATURE THESE ARTISTS. AND THAT’S THAT’S THE OTHER CRITERIA. WERE THEY OKLAHOMA? WE HAVE MANY NATIVE AMERICAN ARTISTS IN OUR COLLECTION THAT HAVE BEEN GIVEN TO US OVER THE YEARS, BUT THIS IS ABOUT OKLAHOMA NATIVE AMERICANS REPRESENTING THEIR PEOPLE. OKAY. WE LOVE TO SEE THAT. AND FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE GOING TO BE HEADING OUT TO CHECK THIS OUT, WHAT DO YOU HOPE THAT THEY TAKE AWAY FROM THE ARTWORK THAT THEY SEE AND THE AND THE EXHIBIT? WELL, I HOPE THAT THEY THAT IT MAKES THEM THINK THAT IT MAKES THEM THINK HOW THE PEOPLE SEE THEMSELVES AND HOW, UH, HOW WE’VE MAYBE MISREPRESENTED FROM OTHER, YOU KNOW, OTHER ARTISTS HAVE MISREPRESENTED INDIGENOUS PEOPLES OVER THE YEARS. AND THAT THEY SEE THAT IT’S A VIBRANT AND AN ONGOING ART FORM THAT THERE IS THAT THE MOST RECENT PIECE WAS DONE LAST YEAR. SO THIS IS SOMETHING THIS IS NOT SOMETHING FROM THE PAST. THIS IS SOMETHING THAT’S ONGOING. IT HAS A TRADITION. IT’S GROWN, IT’S CHANGED. AND I WANT THEM TO SEE THAT IT’S IT’S LIVELY AND THAT THERE’S A WONDERFUL NATIVE AMERICAN ART SCENE OUT THERE FOR THEM TO EXPLORE A VERY IMPACTFUL CULTURE. AND WE’RE SEEING SOME OF THAT WORK THERE. IT LOOKS BEAUTIFUL. OKAY, JUST TELL US HOW LONG THIS EXHIBIT RUNS, HOW LONG PEOPLE HAVE TO GO CHECK IT OUT. OKAY. IT OPENS THIS SATURDAY AND THEY HAVE UNTIL THE END OF THIS YEAR. IT’LL CHANGE NEXT JANUARY AND WE’LL BRING OUT ANOTHER EXHIBIT. OKAY. PLENTY OF TIME TO GET OUT THERE AND SEE IT. NOW, THIS IS JUST REGULAR MUSEUM ADMISSION, RIGHT? TO GET IN REGULAR MUSEUM ADMISSION. IT IS IN THE ONE OAK GALLERY. IT’S CONTAINED WITHIN THE OTHER NATIVE AMERICAN GALLERY. AND WE HOPE THAT THEY’LL ALL COME OUT. BRING THE CHILDREN. THERE ARE SOME PIECES THAT ARE HUNG SPECIFICALLY AT HEIGHT FOR YOUNGER CHILDREN. AND TO MAKE THEM THINK A LITTLE BIT, YEAH, I LOVE THAT. AND WE’LL HAVE ALL THAT INFORMATION POSTED IN THE AS SEEN ON SECTION OF OUR WEBSITE AS WELL FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE INTERESTED. LEON, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR COMING IN. IT LOOKS LIKE IT’S GOING TO BE A GREAT EXHIBIT, A GREAT SUCCESS, AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FO