Exhibits

In the Fred and Enid Brown temporary exhibition gallery we began the year with Fluent Generations: The Art of Anita, Tom and Yatika Fields. This exhibition and its accompanying catalog featured the ceramic and fabric works of Anita, the photography of Tom and paintings by their son Yatika. Programs in conjunction with the exhibition included gallery talks by the artists and the painting of a mural-sized work in the gallery by Yatika over the course of several weeks. Our summer exhibition was Megalodon: Largest Shark that Ever Lived. This exhibition generated great public interest and supported a very successful year for the museum. We held a number of breakfast-themed, family events, Munch with Megalodon, with a great response from the community.

BROWN GALLERY

Fluent Generations: The Art of Anita, Tom and Yatika Fields

1/20/2018 - 5/6/2018


The works of ceramist Anita Fields (Osage), along with her husband photographer Tom Fields (Muscogee) and son painter Yatika Starr Fields (Cherokee, Creek, Osage) were displayed together for the first time ever to illustrate their creativity, passion, and to celebrate the vitality of Indigenous cultures. The exhibit featured a number of never-before-seen pieces of artwork as well as loans from the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, Oklahoma State University Museum of Art, the Arkansas Heritage Museum, private collections and the artists’ own collections.

Megalodon: The Largest Shark that Ever Lived

5/26/18 - 1/6/2019


At 60 feet long, Megalodon was the largest shark that ever lived and a dominant marine predator. Though Megalodon vanished 2 million years ago, its fascinating story inspires lessons for science and shark conservation. Visitors entered through the massive jaws of a full-size sculpture of Megalodon and discovered the shark’s history and the world it inhabited, including its size, structure, diet, lifespan, relatives, neighbors, evolution and extinction. The exhibit also provided details on improving the health of our oceans and survival of threatened species. This traveling exhibit was produced by the Florida Museum of Natural History, Gainesville, with support from the National Science Foundation. The exhibit is sponsored by Fowler Honda.

HIGGINBOTHAM GALLERY

Celestial Siblings: Parallel Landscapes of Earth and Mars

1/27/2018 - 4/29/2018


Internationally known astronomer and fine art photographer Stephen Strom combined his two talents to create this intriguing exhibition that reveals the hauntingly similar patterns on Earth and our planetary neighbor. At once simple and profoundly beautiful forms that result from the action of universal physical processes on vastly different spatial scales and terrestrial surfaces. The display was arranged in four segments that reflect the roles of each of the Aristotelian elements in shaping the surfaces of Earth and Mars: air, earth, fire and water. Terrestrial images drawn from Strom’s landscape interpretations were paired with Martian photographs selected from long strip maps taken by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. This travelling exhibition was organized by Stephen Strom and is circulated through GuestCurator Traveling Exhibitions.

Putting Baskets to Work in Southwest China

6/8/2018 - 8/12/2018


The photographs and baskets featured in this exhibit were gathered between 2013 and 2015 in Yunnan, Guangxi, and Guizhou provinces. They were collected among the Bai, Bouyei, Miao, Dong, and Yao people. These groups are just a few of the ethnic groups found in China’s southwestern provinces. Putting Baskets to Work in Southwest China was produced and loaned to the Sam Noble Museum by the Mathers Museum of World Cultures, Indiana University.

MUSEUM LOBBY

Native Voices

12/6/2017 - 1/17/2018


This traveling exhibit explored the interconnectedness of wellness, illness and cultural life for Native Americans, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians. The exhibition was developed by the U.S. National Library of Medicine and was displayed from 2011 to 2015 at the Library of Medicine in Bethesda, Maryland. Through a partnership with the American Library Association (ALA) Public Programs Office, the exhibition is touring across the country to public libraries, academic libraries, tribal libraries, tribal college libraries and special libraries.