Kirkpatrick Foundation

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Kirkpatrick Foundation Private Foundation in Oklahoma City

• Oklahoma Roundtable for Animal Welfare: September 22, 2017 (Oklahoma City Golf and Country Club)
• National Urban Ecosystems Forum: September 28 and 29, 2017 (Oklahoma City)
• INTERSECTION, the Oklahoma Link Coalition Conference: November 7, 2017 (Oklahoma History Center)
• The ANIMAL Conference of Ideas, Impact, and Inspiration: October 21 - 23, 2018 (Skirvin Hotel)

Where animals fare well, people fare well. Join us in making Oklahoma the safest and most humane place to be an animal b...
10/16/2026

Where animals fare well, people fare well. Join us in making Oklahoma the safest and most humane place to be an animal by 2032.

Something extraordinary is coming to Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center today.80” Truncated Triangular Trapezohedron by A...
10/15/2026

Something extraordinary is coming to Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center today.

80” Truncated Triangular Trapezohedron by Anthony James—the first visual artist to exhibit on all seven continents—transforms light into an immersive experience through mirror-polished stainless steel, glass, and LEDs. As you move around the sculpture, its mirrored surfaces and illuminated interior continuously shift, turning what appears static into something dynamic and alive.

Kirkpatrick Foundation is proud to support Oklahoma Contemporary and the world-class exhibitions that make Oklahoma City a destination for contemporary art. We hope you’ll visit.

📷 Anthony James Studio

Are animals entitled to legal rights? Dr. Sean Butler, co-director of the Cambridge Centre for Animal Rights Law, spoke ...
10/14/2026

Are animals entitled to legal rights? Dr. Sean Butler, co-director of the Cambridge Centre for Animal Rights Law, spoke at The ANIMAL Conference, sharing that for some, sentience is the requirement for rights. For others, “life itself is so remarkable that being alive is enough to give you rights.”

Butler suggested that when laws are written to protect people, add “and animals” or clarify that “persons” “shall include animals.” After all, they’re our co-workers, and Butler said he believes strongly held beliefs can change.

📷 Eye of Redd Photography

In 2022, Kirkpatrick Foundation became an early supporter of Music Will, a nontraditional music education program that t...
10/14/2026

In 2022, Kirkpatrick Foundation became an early supporter of Music Will, a nontraditional music education program that teaches children to play instruments using music they like rather than with scales and beginning songs. They can play in bands, produce beats, and write lyrics.

Today, Music Will’s Oklahoma City modern band programming has achieved its goal to complete local integration and long-term sustainability. The infrastructure, teacher network, and ongoing funding have been absorbed and sustained directly by the Oklahoma City Public Schools. In four years, 97 metro teachers have taken Modern Band 101, bringing modern band music education to more than 27,800 students.

📷 Music Will

This Sunday, October 18, don’t miss an ArtDesk Conversation on The Intersection of Dance and Art, featuring RACE Dance C...
10/13/2026

This Sunday, October 18, don’t miss an ArtDesk Conversation on The Intersection of Dance and Art, featuring RACE Dance Collective Founder Hui Cha Poos, Metropolitan School of Dance, Incorporated Executive Director Frances Pitts, and visual artist Denise Duong Art, moderated by Keigwin + Company Artistic Director Larry Keigwin.

The talk will take place from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Oklahoma Contemporary Art Reference Library on the second floor of the downtown Metro Library. Free and open to the public—see you there!

Cockfighting is alive and well in Oklahoma, despite a 2002 law prohibiting it, and it’s not just a local problem but a g...
10/12/2026

Cockfighting is alive and well in Oklahoma, despite a 2002 law prohibiting it, and it’s not just a local problem but a global industry, with roosters being shipped overseas through the US Postal Service, Kevin Chambers reported at The ANIMAL Conference. At fights, blades are strapped to roosters’ legs, and the birds are worked up into a frenzy until they begin attacking each other, he described. Dying roosters are tossed on a pile after the fights. Chambers, Oklahoma director of Animal Wellness Action, said he has seen children at every cockfight he has attended, and the atmosphere “sucked the empathy out of these children.”

Such animal cruelty is not only illegal but wrong.

📷 Eye of Redd Photography

More than 76% of Oklahomans agreed it’s wrong to keep pigs and hens in cages too small to turn around or fully extend th...
10/09/2026

More than 76% of Oklahomans agreed it’s wrong to keep pigs and hens in cages too small to turn around or fully extend their limbs, according to a study conducted last month by the Animal-Human Policy Center at Colorado State University. Dr. Rebecca Niemiec presented the findings at The ANIMAL Conference in Oklahoma City this month. Support was consistent across Oklahoma’s demographic groups, with agreement among political parties and in rural areas and small towns. Farming and ranching families equally agreed.

Co-presenter Leah Garcés, global ambassador for Compassion in World Farming, shared that farmers are “trapped just like the chickens, just like the hogs. It’s not one bad apple. It’s a bad system.” Co-presenter Jake Davis, co-founder of UpRoot Center, shared that many farmers are stuck using gestation crates for pigs and other forms of extreme confinement for animals because of their contracts with multinational food companies.

Spay and neuter is one of the most impactful ways to improve animal wellbeing by addressing pet overpopulation in our co...
10/08/2026

Spay and neuter is one of the most impactful ways to improve animal wellbeing by addressing pet overpopulation in our communities. Pooch Carriage Crew tackled this issue by hosting a free spay and neuter surgery day for those without reliable transportation in Oklahoma City. More than 70 dogs and cats were able to receive this valuable veterinary service. Additionally, through two outreach clinics for homeless encampments, vaccinations and parasite prevention were provided to 44 animals. With support from Kirkpatrick Foundation, Pooch Carriage Crew offered both preventative care and surgical intervention for animals in need.

📷 Pooch Carriage Crew

“People want to know animals are being treated well,” Will Lowrey, legal counsel for Animal Partisan, said at the 2026 A...
10/08/2026

“People want to know animals are being treated well,” Will Lowrey, legal counsel for Animal Partisan, said at the 2026 ANIMAL Conference. But many food products are labeled to mislead consumers, he said. According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, for instance, “cage-free,” “free-range,” and “humanely raised” are unreliable labels, with chickens not housed in cages but crammed tightly in warehouses. Jake Davis, co-founder of UpRoot Center and an ANIMAL 2026 speaker, said most of the US’s largest meat packers perform self-inspections for animal safety. ASPCA recommends independent welfare certifications and offers a Certification and Label Guide for public awareness at aspca.org/shopkind/guide/food-certification-label-guide.

“Change advertising,” Lowrey said, “and theoretically consumption is reduced.”

Kirkpatrick Foundation believes the public should know how food-system animals are treated, and we advocate for the humane treatment of all living creatures. “Humane-washing” makes big money but harms animals.

What’s more, laws to protect animals must be enforced, said Dr. Sean Butler, co-founder and co-director of the Cambridge Centre for Animal Rights Law. “The gap between what the law says and what is enforced is huge.”

Dr. Temple Grandin believes the No. 1 accomplishment she has made for animal welfare was implementing audits at McDonald...
10/07/2026

Dr. Temple Grandin believes the No. 1 accomplishment she has made for animal welfare was implementing audits at McDonald’s beef facilities. Stunners had to work perfectly 96% of the time, only 1% of cattle could fall down, and more. “If you want to work on an industry,” she said, “big buyers have to work on it. … We’ve got to work on preventing suffering.”

During her keynote at The ANIMAL Conference in Oklahoma City, Grandin condemned animal breeders for allowing foot abnormalities in pigs, heart failure in cows, squished noses in dogs, and other features that make life more difficult for animals. She advocated for surprise audits, vaccines, and high standards from farms all the way to slaughter houses. “We’ve got to get rid of the most extreme confinement,” she said.

Grandin also advocated for a distributed food system, which she described as more expensive but more durable. “Big is fragile, and big can break extremely easily,” she said. She offered the b**r industry as an example, where microbreweries can operate in the same city as a major producer. Grandin advised those who care about animals to solve one small problem at a time and share how they did it so others can follow.

📷 Eye of Redd Photography

Address

1001 W. Wilshire Boulevard
Oklahoma City, OK
73116

Opening Hours

Monday 8:30am - 5pm
Tuesday 8:30am - 5pm
Wednesday 8:30am - 5pm
Thursday 8:30am - 5pm
Friday 8:30am - 5pm

Telephone

+14056080934

Website

https://oklahomaanimals.org/uploads/the-way-forward-a-report-by-kirkpatrick-foundation.pdf

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