Momentum: Spotlight

Momentum: Art Doesn't Stand Still is a mixed media and interactive art event held annually in Oklahoma City and in Tulsa. The Momentum Spotlight is a new addition to the annual event, offering three young Oklahoma artists each a $1,500 honorarium and valuable interaction with a contemporary curator. These artists will create site-specific installations or new bodies of work for the Momentum exhibition. Addtionally, an emerging curator is selected to work alongside the lead curator to select the artists and participate in the conversation with the artists during studio visits and exhibit preparation.


Momentum OKC Spotlight 2010
Curators: John Seward and Margo Shultes von Schlageter
Artists: Amber Farnell (Okemah), Geoffrey Hicks (Tulsa), Delvie McPherson (OKC)


Momentum Tulsa Spotlight 2009
Curators: Scott Perkins and Frank Wick
Artists: Nick Bayer (OKC), Dustin Boise (Edmond), Emily Kern (Stillwater)

Curators for Momentum Tulsa 2009 are Scott Perkins, Curator of Collections and Special Exhibitions at the Price Tower Arts Center in Bartlesville and Frank Wick, Artist and Momentum Spotlight Emerging Curator. Wick was selected from a pool of applicants to participate as an emerging curator through the Momentum Spotlight program.

Three artists received $1,500 Momentum Spotlight commissions and have already been creating new artwork. The Spotlight artists were chosen in July for the program to receive cash commissions and three months of interaction with the guest curators. The Spotlight artists, Emily Kern of Stillwater, Dustin Boise of Edmond and Nick Bayer of Oklahoma City, will be exhibiting these new projects for the first time on October 10. Emily Kern will be creating a series of mixed media paintings which use her custom-made large scale spirograph, with the spirograph designs layered into her abstract paintings. The spirograph tools will be on display during the event for audiences to create their own take-home art. Dustin Boise’s installation will put the viewer up against an army of twelve-inch teeth, with the head of the troops projecting dental propaganda. Nick Bayer is making a large-scale whirligig, a kinetic sculpture inspired by his grandfather’s interest in the art form.

Momentum OKC Spotlight 2009
Curators: heather ahtone and romy owens
Artists: Grace Grothaus (Tulsa), Darryl Hillard (Stillwater), Brooke Madden (Norman)

Momentum OKC 2009 DVD
Momentum OKC 2009 DVD Catalog now available, including video interviews with the Spotlight artists, curators and still images of all artwork in the exhibition. Purchase one for only $3!



Video interview with Momentum Curator heather ahtone


Video interview with Momentum Spotlight Emerging Curator romy owens


Momentum Spotlight Artist: Grace Grothaus


Momentum Spotlight Artist: Brooke Madden


Momentum Spotlight Artist: Darryl Hillard


Momentum Tulsa Spotlight 2008
The first Momentum Spotlight was a part of Momentum Tulsa, held in June 2008. The curators were Sunni Mercer, Artist and NEA Regional Fellow and Jennifer Barron, Artist and Momentum Spotlight Emerging Curator. The selected artists were:
Liz Rodda, Norman
Tünde Darvay, Norman
Jordan Vinyard, Oklahoma City


Video Interview with Sunni Mercer, Momentum Spotlight Curator


Video Interview with Jennifer Barron, Momentum Spotlight Emerging Curator


Liz Rodda


Tunde Darvay


Jordan Vinyard