Enid Arts Council

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Enid Arts Council Want to support Arts in Enid? Join our group! Need funding for your artistic cause? Consider applying for an Enid Arts grant.

The goal of the Enid Arts Council is to encourage and support cultural and educational events, both by our attendance, volunteer work and financial assistance for the greater Enid area.

10/02/2026

Art Sale until 9 pm! (10/2) Eldon Ames’s art and personal collection in The Barrel Room next to Enid Brewing Co. & Eatery in Downtown Enid & Main Street Enid!

🖼️ Around 90 pieces of art will be on display and available for purchase this Friday evening! On October 2nd, 6-9 pm, yo...
09/27/2026

🖼️ Around 90 pieces of art will be on display and available for purchase this Friday evening!

On October 2nd, 6-9 pm, you will have a chance to purchase the late Eldon Ames’s own works of art and many pieces from his personal collection.

Eldon was the head of the Enid Public Schools Art Department, where he coordinated the art curriculum for all the schools in the Enid Public School system. He helped motivate and inspire generations of artists through the years and never stopped learning about more beautiful architecture, artists, and paintings.

He was on the founding board of the Leonardo's Children's Museum, the Enid Chautauqua Board, and the City of Enid Oklahoma Government Public Arts Commission of Enid.

Join us at The Barrel Room, next to Enid Brewing Co. & Eatery, during Downtown Enid & Main Street Enid’s First Fridays - Downtown Enid!

Enid Arts: Center Stage with Lynn Biddle!For most of her career, Lynn Biddle spoke fluent numbers. As a corporate execut...
09/25/2026

Enid Arts: Center Stage with Lynn Biddle!

For most of her career, Lynn Biddle spoke fluent numbers. As a corporate executive and McDonald's owner, her world was intense, focused, and driven by goals, checklists, results, and performance.

Then one day a quiet thought surfaced: "I'd love to make jewelry." That single thought changed everything.

Twenty years later, Lynn is a self-taught artisan who spent a decade studying color, metals, stones, and the deeply personal way jewelry expresses who we are — then launched her craft full-time upon retirement. Her studio is now what the boardroom once was: The place where she does her most important work. Only now, the goal isn't a number. It's peace.

"I go-go-go and I come home and I have my beads and stones and all the glorious colors," she says. "My design studio is my happy place."

And here's what surprised her most: Art revealed a side of her she didn't know existed. The woman who never met a checklist she didn't love discovered she could spend an entire day in her studio without finishing a single project and feel completely at ease with that. She says art has brought out her softer side, and she’s enjoyed the discovery.

When she's not creating, Lynn is driving visitors around Enid to see its murals, reading John Grisham, or somewhere in a concert crowd singing along to The Eagles.

From the boardroom to the bead table. From checklists to color. From corporate executive to artisan. It turns out the softer side was always there. It just needed the time and place to emerge.

Welcome to Center Stage, Lynn!

Enid Arts Council - Elevating the Arts in our Community

Enid Arts: Center Stage with Eddie Lou Strimple!Eddie Lou was raised in a home so filled with music that it simply becam...
09/14/2026

Enid Arts: Center Stage with Eddie Lou Strimple!

Eddie Lou was raised in a home so filled with music that it simply became part of who she was. For her, the arts weren't something she discovered. They were something she was built from.

After a career teaching music for Enid Public Schools, she'll tell you that art gave her something unexpected: The ability to reach every kind of learner in the room. To look at a piece of music and ask not just what to teach, but how to make it land differently for every student sitting in front of her.

"The arts are a part of us — part of our culture, our personhood," she says. "They help us think creatively and bend our minds in ways we may not even realize. Whether you're a scientist, a mathematician, or a philosopher — it's the arts that allow our minds to wrap around different concepts."

When she's not thinking about music, Eddie Lou's hands are busy — gardening, knitting, sewing, baking, and cooking. She centers herself in her garden the way others center themselves in a concert hall. And when wanderlust calls, she answers: Ireland, Scotland, Alaska, & Greece are among the destinations that have earned her passport.

Welcome to Center Stage, Eddie Lou. The EAC appreciates you!

Enid Arts Council--Elevating the Arts in our Community

🖼️ On October 2nd, 6-9 pm, you will have a chance to purchase the late Eldon Ames’s own works of art and many pieces fro...
09/14/2026

🖼️ On October 2nd, 6-9 pm, you will have a chance to purchase the late Eldon Ames’s own works of art and many pieces from his personal collection.

Around 90 pieces of art will be displayed and available for purchase at The Barrel Room, 126 S Independence.

Eldon was the head of the Enid Public Schools Art Department, where he coordinated the art curriculum for all the schools in the Enid Public School system. He helped motivate and inspire generations of artists through the years and never stopped learning about more beautiful architecture, artists, and paintings.

He was on the founding board of the Leonardo's Children's Museum, the Enid Chautauqua Board, and the City of Enid Oklahoma Government Public Arts Commission of Enid.

Join us at The Barrel Room, next to Enid Brewing Co. & Eatery, during Downtown Enid & Main Street Enid’s October First Friday!

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Enid Arts: Center Stage with Tary Davis-Johnson She'll tell you herself that she can't draw a thing but if you ever want...
09/08/2026

Enid Arts: Center Stage with Tary Davis-Johnson

She'll tell you herself that she can't draw a thing but if you ever want to see anything crafted out of paper or a dining table set to perfection (think: Downton Abbey), then you'll be stopped cold. Because while flat surfaces and pencils were never her thing, give her something three-dimensional and watch what happens.

Growing up, her mother took her to plays, museums, and Broadway productions, all of which planted seeds that have never stopped blooming. Tary has performed in countless productions with Mixed Company, was part of the very first Gaslight Theatre Musical, and has contributed to 19 theater and musical fundraisers for the Enid Arts Council and Cherokee Strip Regional Heritage Center.

Familiarity and education of the arts lead to appreciation of that art. "Anytime you hear a song, you hear it again and like it better," she says. "The same with a piece of art or a symphony. It just keeps growing and building a respect and appreciation for the art form."

When she's not on stage, Tary is in her kitchen cooking, setting a thematic table, transforming an ordinary room into an experience worth remembering. Because for her, every space is a stage and every gathering deserves to be done beautifully.

She'll tell you all she can do is sing. The Enid Arts Council knows better, which is exactly why she was honored as EAC's 2026 Renaissance Award recipient, an honor that recognizes someone who embodies the arts in all its beautiful, multi-dimensional glory.

Welcome to Center Stage, Tary. EAC appreciates you!

Enid Arts Council — Elevating the Arts in our Community

On October 2nd, 6-9 pm, you will have a chance to purchase the late Eldon Ames’s own works of art and many pieces from h...
08/31/2026

On October 2nd, 6-9 pm, you will have a chance to purchase the late Eldon Ames’s own works of art and many pieces from his personal collection.

Around 90 pieces of art will be displayed and available for purchase at The Barrel Room, 126 S Independence.

Eldon was the head of the Enid Public Schools Art Department, where he coordinated the art curriculum for all the schools in the Enid Public School system. He helped motivate and inspire generations of artists through the years and never stopped learning about more beautiful architecture, artists, and paintings.

He was on the founding board of the Leonardo's Children's Museum, the Enid Chautauqua Board, and the City of Enid Oklahoma Government Public Arts Commission of Enid.

Join us at The Barrel Room, next to Enid Brewing Co. & Eatery, during Downtown Enid & Main Street Enid’s October First Friday!

Please share!
Visit Enid
Enid Buzz
NewsLink - Enid
Enid News & Eagle

Enid Arts: Center Stage!...Featuring Corey KellerWhile other kids were outside playing sports, Corey was in his room dra...
08/28/2026

Enid Arts: Center Stage!...Featuring Corey Keller

While other kids were outside playing sports, Corey was in his room drawing cartoons and creating entire worlds from scratch.

Illustrations. Mosaics. Writing. Board games. You name it! And with a personal collection of 250+ board games it's clear that creation, for Corey, has always been about one thing: Bringing people together.

Which makes his role as Partner and Community Engagement Manager at Downtown Enid & Main Street Enid a perfect fit. Because nobody understands the connective power of creativity quite like someone who has felt it from the inside.

"Art brings emotions out of people that they didn't even know were there," he says. "It adds a dimension to life."

He'll also tell you he's an introvert by nature. But watch what happens when the conversation turns to art or someone pulls out a strategy board game. Suddenly the introvert has plenty to say.

For Corey, creation has never about retreating from the world. It has always been his way of inviting it in.

Welcome to Center Stage, Corey. The EAC appreciates you!

Enid Arts Council — Elevating the Arts in our Community.

Enid Arts Council enjoyed meeting those who came to the August First Fridays - Downtown Enid. We found many talented ch...
08/27/2026

Enid Arts Council enjoyed meeting those who came to the August First Fridays - Downtown Enid. We found many talented chalk artists!

Thank you for having us, Downtown Enid & Main Street Enid!

Linda Moore, Eddie Lou Strimple & Ken Kelsey

Enid Arts: Center Stage! Shanan ConderShe'll be the first to tell you she has no artistic talent. And she'll say it with...
08/19/2026

Enid Arts: Center Stage!
Shanan Conder

She'll be the first to tell you she has no artistic talent. And she'll say it with a smile — because Shanan understands something that takes most people a lifetime to learn: You don't have to create art to be moved by it. You just have to be paying attention.

As a school psychologist and licensed professional counselor — with four master's degrees and a career devoted to understanding how human beings tick — Shanan has spent her life studying what makes people come alive. And art, she'll tell you, is one of the few things that cuts through the daily grind and reminds us we're more than our individual daily roles.

"Sometimes we become one-dimensional based on our roles — job, spouse, parent. But we're all so much more complex than that. Art pulls at our funky side. And that's a wonderful form of self-expression."

When she's not counseling, you might find her deep in a MahJong game — thinking hard, happily lost in strategy. Or on a golf course. Or simply appreciating something beautiful, which she believes Enid does remarkably well. She simply has a deep conviction that art connects people who might never otherwise find each other.

Welcome to Center Stage, Shanan.

Enid Arts Council — Elevating the Arts in Our Community

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Enid, OK
73702

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