(Cushing, Okla.) — The Oklahoma Arts Institute’s Tour de Quartz is currently on display at Cushing’s Lachemeyer Art Center. The exhibition features woodblock prints and photographs produced by Oklahoma high school students during the 2012 Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute at Quartz Mountain (OSAI), held in June. The Tour de Quartz will be displayed at the Lachenmeyer through December 14.
Tour de Quartz is a selection of artwork created by students from across the state during their two-week residency at Quartz Mountain. For the first time in many years, OSAI drawing/painting students had the opportunity to explore printmaking. While most students had never worked in this medium, they proved to be creative and skilled printmakers. The photography students experimented with alternative processes, including DASS transfers and gel transfers, as well as digital and darkroom processing.
During their time at OSAI, students are immersed in one of nine fields taught by nationally renowned artists. Former faculty members include winners of the Pulitzer Prize and the Academy, Tony, Emmy and Grammy awards. The 2012 drawing and painting students were taught by Marwin Begaye of Norman, Okla. Susan Kae Grant of Dallas, Texas led the photography students.
The Tour de Quartz student artists are selected by competitive statewide auditions, and every accepted student automatically receives a full scholarship to the program, worth over $3,000. Auditions for OSAI 2013 begin in January at locations across the state. For more information about auditions and the program, visit www.oaiquartz.org.
The Lachenmeyer Art Center is open Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Admission is free. More information about the art center is available at (918) 225-7525. For more information about the Oklahoma Arts Institute or the Tour de Quartz, visit www.oaiquartz.org or call (405) 605-7500. The Tour de Quartz is sponsored by Williams and SONIC, America’s Drive In.
The Oklahoma Arts Institute is a private, non-profit organization developed in 1977, with a mission to provide exceptional multidisciplinary arts experiences that develop individual talent and inspire a lifelong passion for the arts. OAI administers a program for talented Oklahoma youth every June and a series of continuing education workshops for adults every fall.
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