NORMAN — Visitors to the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History will get to see a mural take shape as street artist and muralist Yatika Fields paints live inside the museum’s exhibit, “Fluent Generations: The Art of Anita, Tom and Yatika Fields.”
The artist is featured along with his mother and father in the museum's new exhibit, which brings together the talented Native family to showcase their sculptures, photographs and paintings that celebrate the vitality of Indigenous cultures.
Yatika Fields will paint a 18' x 10' mural from March 12-16 and April 5-8. The public is invited to see the progress as it unfolds in the museum's Fred and Enid Brown gallery and attend a gallery talk and catalog signing featuring all three artists from 2 to4 p.m. Sunday, April 8.
“Often when you visit a museum, you’re left with a sense of wonder and awe to the works that you see,” Yatika Fields said. “This unique opportunity will allow museum visitors a chance to see the work being created and the many elements, materials and structures used to paint a mural. This glimpse into the creation will break a magic barrier to the wonderment of museums and painting.”
A guiding motivation in Yatika Fields’ work is the search for freedom.
“The objects and forms (in my work) represent the past and present from my perspective as a member of the Osage, Cherokee and Creek Nations of Oklahoma, surrounded by beautiful colors and patterns joined by rhythm and dance from tradition,” he said. “Fast-paced cities and humble highways of the plains are defined by a historical layering of cultures, art and creativity that I seek to portray.”
“Fluent Generations” is on display now through May 6. The exhibit features a number of never-before-seen pieces of artwork by the Stillwater-based family, whose works have been exhibited nationally and internationally but never before in one gallery together. The exhibit also features loans from the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, Oklahoma State University Museum of Art, the Arkansas Heritage Museum, private collections and the artists’ own collections.
Museum visitors will get the opportunity to not only develop a keen appreciation for the work of the Fields family, but a deeper appreciation for the impact of family — a building block of all cultures and communities around the world.
2018 museum exhibits and programs are sponsored by Fowler Automotive and Jones PR Inc.
The Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History is located on the University of Oklahoma Norman campus at J. Willis Stovall Road and Chautauqua Avenue. For accommodations, call (405) 325-4712 or visitSamNobleMuseum.ou.edu.
