Inclusion in Art

03/22/2025

Another huge congrats 🎉 to Emerge 2025 artists and .v.art and curator . The Middle Space Exhibition was excellent and has come to a close. We hope that you were able to visit to see it in person.

Interested in becoming a future Emerge artist or curator? This IIA program is biannual and our next round of applications will go out in 2026. Keep following us for more opportunities and exhibitions.

02/04/2025

12/22/2024

✨ Announcing Inclusion In Art’s Emerge 2025 artists Krystal Solis and Maywadee Viriyapah, and Emerge 2025 curator Lexi Rodriguez! ✨

Mark your calendars for the upcoming Emerge 2025 Opening Reception taking place in Chickasha, OK on February 7, 2025 from 5 to 9 pm. The Emerge Exhibition will be up through March 21, 2025. Check back to learn more about Krystal Solis, Maywadee Viriyapah, and Lexi Rodriguez's artistic practices.

Emerge is IIA’s biennial art mentorship program. The Emerge 2025 artists are currently working towards creating a new body of work. The Emerge 2025 artists and curator work together with IIA’s distinguished board made up of practicing artists and curators to make Emerge exhibitions possible.

Are you interested in applying to be an artist or curator for Emerge 2027? Emerge artists and curator selections will begin in summer 2026. This program is open to any emerging artists and curators living in Oklahoma who identify as a person of color, including BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color). Emerging artists and curators are anyone who is in the early stages of their career in art, no matter their age.

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12/21/2024

We are pleased to introduce Inclusion In Art Board Member Leticia Bajuyo!

Biography
From a small, rural town on the border of Illinois and Kentucky, Filipinx-American artist Leticia Bajuyo began creating long before realizing what she was tinkering with could be called art. She creates drawings, sculptures, installations, and public art that highlight crafted materiality, collected stories, and community engagement. Her interest in unpacking value perceptions finds its roots in the time and space of quiet landscapes outside and the multi-national dialogues inside her family’s house. This influenced the development of her critiques of consumer capitalism, domestic desires, and internalized pressures of assimilation.

Currently based in Norman, Oklahoma, Bajuyo is an Assistant Professor at the University of Oklahoma. Upcoming projects include residency at the Muscarelle Museum of Art in Williamsburg, Virginia; a solo-exhibition at the Nona Jean Hulsey Art Gallery in Oklahoma City; and installation of a permanent, roundabout sculpture for Fort Worth, Texas.

In addition to exhibitions of her individual artworks, Bajuyo seeks community by participating in artist collectives including Land Report Collective, Project Vortex, and Enid Generations of Women Sculptors and serving on Boards of Directors for Public Art Dialogue and Mid-South Sculpture Alliance.

We are honored that Leticia has joined our IIA board team and look forward to working with her as this organization continues to grow and promote ethnically, racially, and culturally diverse artists in Oklahoma.





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12/21/2024

We are pleased to introduce Inclusion In Art Board Member Marlon Ladd Edwards.

Marlon Ladd Edwards (stage name Marlon Ladd) is known for being on the hit show, Tulsa King and in the Lionsgate film, Ghoster. He is an award-winning filmmaker, content creator and college professor at world renowned HBCU, Langston University in Langston, Oklahoma. The son of a Black History and Geography professor (now deceased) and a former Minister and Social Justice Activist, Ladd grew up with big dreams. A talented high school athlete and state champion, Marlon Ladd earned basketball scholarships at the colleges he attended where he went on to earn an Associate’s, Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in English/Creative writing Cumme Laude. After graduation he became a state police officer and sniper for almost 9 years. In his law enforcement experience, he served hundreds of arrest and search warrants, and conducted numerous high level wiretap investigations.

After law enforcement, his film career began to take off. Ladd is credited with producing, writing and directing the first feature film (Black Marshal: The Hunt for Dozier) about legendary African American lawman, Bass Reeves. After that, Ladd went on to write, produce, direct, act and edit more than 25 short films (including the award-winning Bass Reeves film and Tulsa 1921) and 6 features. He was recently honored to receive The Trailblazer Award from the 3 Rivers Museum in Oklahoma and is slated to release 3 films in 2024.

Ladd is currently finishing up a suspense-thriller feature film, The Deal that he wrote and directed starring Patrick Byas (Wu-Tang TV Series) and Billie D. Merritt from Full Out 2 (Netflix), The Glorias and Tazmanian. In addition to his own films being completed, he recently starred in the Lionsgate film, Ghoster which will be out this year.

We are honored that Marlon has joined our IIA board team and look forward to working with him as this organization continues to grow and promote ethnically, racially, and culturally diverse artists in Oklahoma.

12/21/2024

We are pleased to introduce Inclusion In Art Board Member Maria Anderson .anderson.art

Maria Anderson is a Vietnamese-American artist from Muskogee, Oklahoma. She currently resides in Norman and holds a Certificate in Painting from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Artist Statement
“I explore trauma, memory, and kinship through my art. My family, and particularly my mother, are a central theme in my work. My art practice includes painting, drawing, fiber, and installation art. Viewing mediums as tools, I start with a concept and then choose what materials and methods will most effectively express my ideas to the audience. Fiber art holds a weight of nostalgia for me; I remember when I was young watching my older sisters pass time working with their hands, cross stitching. Because of my background, using traditionally female affiliated work helps me emphasize the labor involved in production and the undervaluation of “women’s work”. I question societally imposed delineations on what is considered craft and what is considered art with my large-scale hand embroidered pieces.”

“I often use portraiture as a motif. It suggests intimacy in a close relationship between subject, artist, and viewer. One can feel familiar with a stranger by viewing their portrait, but I question the validity of this intimacy. How well do you truly know someone by looking at their image? Visually I create veils, noise, and distortion to emphasize distance. My hand embroidered portraits are recognizable from several feet away but when viewed closely become abstract. I find the process of hand stitching to be meditative and use the time to contemplate my own relationship with the person whose portrait I am creating. I also employ humor in my work for decompression and release. My process may start with trauma and end with levity, or vice versa.”

We are honored that Maria has joined our IIA board team and look forward to working with her as this organization continues to grow and promote ethnically, racially, and culturally diverse artists in Oklahoma.

12/17/2024

We are pleased to introduce Inclusion In Art Board Member and Vice President Lauren Rosenfelt.

Lauren Rosenfelt is Chicana, a descendant of Southern Mexico with mixed European lineages. She is a freelance, natural science illustrator, artist and plant ecologist currently living and working in Norman, Oklahoma. She recently graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a master’s in science (MS), and in 2014 she graduated from the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma with a BFA and minor in Liberal Arts. The concept of “place” plays an important role in her work as she focuses on highlighting the essence of native wildlife and plant species through research on the lifeways and adaptability of each species to their environment.

Lauren has worked with clientele ranging from private commissions to commercial and nonprofit organizations. She has worked with the City of Norman, WildCare Oklahoma, the Myriad Botanical Gardens, and has artwork on display at Scissortail Park, the Museum of Osteology, DNA Galleries, and Norman Firehouse Art Gallery. She has shown in several galleries in Central Oklahoma and has worked to bring the arts and Oklahoma environmental organizations to her community in Little Axe through her community project “This is Place”, a wildflower garden and art space. Lauren has been an active board member for Inclusion In Art since 2022 and became Vice President in 2024.

12/09/2024

We are pleased to introduce Inclusion In Art Board Member Jordan Vinyard.

By challenging society’s prolific button pushing tendencies, Jordan Vinyard’s kinetic sculptures, installations, and performances satirize the alchemizing effects of technology. Since receiving her MFA from Florida State University, she has exhibited nationally and internationally including at the International Symposium of Electronic Arts in Dubai; The Czong Institute for Contemporary Art Museum, South Korea; The Museum of Contemporary Art in Tucson, Arizona; Art Basel, Miami; The Mint Museum in Charlotte, North Carolina; Collarworks, New York, and upcoming solo exhibition art Nart Art space in Narva, Estonia. She has been the recipient of numerous awards including the Thrive Community Projects Grant, Oklahoma Artist Fellowship Award, The United Arts of Florida Grant, The Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition Creative Projects Grant, and been nominated twice for the Joan Mitchell Award.

Currently, she is The Dean of Visual and Performing Arts, Associate Professor of Art at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma and responsible for the university’s expanded media program including kinetics, bio art, installation, and performance. Additionally, she is the founder and director of Art Wrecker, an experimental space predicated on socially engaged and dialogical forms of art.

We are honored that Jordan is an IIA Board Member and we look forward to working with her as this organization continues to grow and promote ethnically, racially, and culturally diverse artists in Oklahoma.

12/05/2024

Posted • .sculpture OU FIRED UP IRON POUR!
Come out and join us as we welcome December with a little extra 🔥🔥🔥 this Saturday, Dec 7, noon - 5pm-ish or later as needed following Queenie’s royal decree 🤩

A limited number of sand block molds will be available for purchase for folks to carve. You can create your own design on site and have the piece cast during the pour! All proceeds go to the Fired UP Student Sculpture club.

11/13/2024

✨BFA Art Exhibition this Friday✨ from 5 to 8 pm in Chickasha, OK. We hope you will attend!

Learn more about the artists below:

"My name is Minnie TallBear, I am a citizen of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma. I am a senior at USAO, I am receiving my Bachelors of Fine Arts with an emphasis in expanded media. I like to utilize oil painting, printmaking, and 3D sculptures to highlight the traditional craftsmanship and talk about native hardships in a contemporary space."

"My name is Ulises Zatarain. I’m originally from Mexico City but I grew up in Oklahoma. I am a senior at USAO getting ready to graduate with my bachelors of fine arts major with a concentration in expanded media. My work focuses on Mexican culture, my lived experiences, as well as my interests and obsessions. My go to mediums are wood and video."

11/06/2024

This is Place aims to create opportunities for Oklahoma artists who can contribute to conversations about place-based concepts. This year's selected artists' works have been featured at two events, including display at Dr. Robin Wall-Kimmerer's visit to the University of Oklahoma.

Join us November 16th during the artist panel discussion where each artist will discuss their work and concepts. The selected artists are Jessica Crow , Amber Dubious-Shepherd , Liz Dueck , Sheree Greider , and Amy Heath.

Other speaker events on November 16th, include guest speakers Lyla June , Travis Andrews , Jane Breckenridge , and brothers Jessie and Justin Rosenfelt .

This is Place is an evolving art space and garden. Located in the Little Axe community in eastern Norman, OK (near Lake Thunderbird) which remains the present-day territory of the Absentee Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma and the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. These are the ancestral lands of the Kiowa, Kickapoo, Osage, Wichita, and Quapaw people.

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