Rivers & Roads: Steven Yazzie in Action Opens at Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art

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NORMAN, OKLA. – The Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art at the University of Oklahoma will open Rivers & Roads: Steven Yazzie in Action on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025. The exhibition presents works created in Colorado from two of Yazzie’s ongoing series—Drawing & Driving and Drifting & Painting—which explore movement, place, and our evolving relationship with the environment. In these projects, Yazzie introduces motion into the creative process itself, producing spontaneous works shaped by speed, rhythm, and natural forces.

Drawing & Driving began in 2006 at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture and has evolved to include works made in Denver’s urban parks. Drifting & Painting extends this approach to Colorado’s rivers. Both series are accompanied by video, emphasizing the role of movement, environment, and chance.

"The process of unpredictable travel translates into a visual language all its own," Yazzie said.

During the exhibition, Yazzie will create a new work in his Drawing & Driving series on the OU Norman campus in collaboration with the OU Crimson Camera Club and Emilie Upczak, Assistant Professor for Film and Media Studies in the Dodge Family College of Arts and Sciences. Yazzie, a Gulf War veteran with the United States Marine Corps, will build on a long-standing museum partnership by meeting with the Recreation Therapy Department at the Oklahoma City VA Medical Center. On campus, Yazzie will meet with veteran students through the Military Connected and Veteran Student Success Center. OU’s military-connected community comprises over 12% of the student body.

“Steven Yazzie’s work reminds us that art is not separate from the world around us. It is shaped by motion, environment, and human connection,” said Thomas Smith, Wylodean and Bill Saxon Director of the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art. “We are thrilled to welcome our community into his process.”

Multidisciplinary artist Steven J. Yazzie (Diné/Pueblo of Laguna/European Ancestry, born 1970) works across painting, installation, video/film, photography, and community collaboration. He is a member of the Navajo Nation and a veteran of the Gulf War, serving honorably with the United States Marine Corps from 1988 to 1992. Yazzie received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in intermedia at Arizona State University. A founding member of Postcommodity, an indigenous arts collective, and the co-founder of the Museum of Walking, Yazzie has participated in numerous residencies and exhibited widely across the United States and abroad. He currently lives and works in Denver, Colorado. Rivers & Roads is his first exhibition in Oklahoma.

Rivers & Roads: Steven Yazzie in Action will be on view Sept. 9, 2025, through March 15, 2026. The installation in the museum’s Hobson gallery includes fifteen drawings and watercolor paintings along with the artist’s driving vehicle and video footage. New works and video produced during Yazzie’s visit will be added to the exhibition later in the fall.

The Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art is located in the OU Arts District at 555 Elm Ave., on the corner of Elm Avenue and Boyd Street, Norman, OK.

For more information about this exhibition or visitor accommodations, call (405) 325-4938 or visit fjjma.ou.edu.