Tonight will be the last night to experience "Living Arts Over Time," the interactive, multimedia exhibit that chronicles the evolution of this organization that has been the city's leading proponent and catalyst for the avant garde for four decades.
Living Arts is having a "closing party" from 5 to 9 p.m. Thursday Sept. 24, for the exhibit, along with "Landscape with Floating Biology," the installation of textiles and soundscapes created by Nebraska artists Wendy Weiss and Jay Kreimer.
One hopes that the wealth of materials assembled and on display for "Living Arts Over Time" are carefully packed away once the show closes, so that this exhibit could be revived. It is a fascinating collection, and one that requires a good deal of time to experience -- and "experience" is the only proper word, given the variety of media in the show: copies of typewritten manifestos, hand-painted posters, video and film, audio installations, wall hangings, hundreds of photographs and 40 text panels that highlight Living Arts' history, influence, and some of the personalities who have made this one of Tulsa's truly unique arts organizations.
For one thing, the exhibit shows that, while Living Arts is a relative small entity as far as budgets and number of people involved may go, it has had a profound effect on the Tulsa arts community, spawning such things as the American Theatre Company, the Southwests Film Festival and Philbrook's programs of movies shown on its grounds. Tim Blake Nelson, now a noted actor, playwright and director, had his first exposure as a writer as part of the Living Arts Poetry series.
Artists who might never have visited Tulsa -- from the Kronos Quartet to Meredith Monk to John Cage to Philip Glass -- were presented or co-presented by Living Arts.
Of course, the whole purpose of Living Arts is looking toward what is ahead -- what new mix of media is out there, what artists are striking out in new directions. But at the same time, Living Arts should rightly be proud of its past. A book about the organization's first 40 years is in the works, which should do much to create a permanent slice of that history. But until then, take a moment tonight to experience that history for yourself. It is certainly worth the time.
