The Oklahoma
City Museum of Art will be open for the first time on July 4th. We’ve planned
several activities during the hours of 10a-9p from films to hands-on art making
to bringing attention to the fact that the Chihuly exhibition will be leaving
one month from that day! This exhibition is widely popular and has received
nearly 47,000 visitors from all over since opening March 16.
Museum to Celebrate July 4 in Special Ways
Colorful “glass firework” sculptures by artist Dale Chihuly, free admission
for uniformed military, art making and family films will highlight the 4th
of July celebration at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. July 4, the Museum
will be open during its regular Thursday hours of 10 a.m. to 9p.m. Admission
will be free for all uniformed servicemen and women. July 4 visitors will
be encouraged to take advantage of Dale Chihuly: An Inaugural Exhibition,
now in its last weeks at the museum. The breathtaking exhibit, which features
18 installations by renowned glass artist Dale Chihuly, will close August
4. Documentaries about the artist will be shown in the theater from 2-4p.m.
Children can enjoy hands-on red, white and blue art making from 2-6 p.m. in
the Museum classrooms. Projects will include patriotic paper hats and colorful
postcards. “Discovery Pack” tours will also be available from 10 a.m.-9 p.m.
At 6:00 p.m., a special 4th of July double feature will be shown. “Bunker
Hill Bunny” will open the show. In this classic Merrie Melodies cartoon set
during the American Revolutionary war, Bugs Bunny plays a colonial rebel fighting
off the advances of the redcoats led by Yosemite Sam. The Feature Film, Abbot
and Costello’s “The Time of Their Lives,” will follow the cartoon. In this
film, Abbott and Costello are Revolutionary War patriots competing for the
same girl. The two-some are mistaken for traitors and shot during the war,
doomed to live on as ghosts. They return from the past to 20th Century New
England to find a letter from George Washington that will prove their innocence.
After the films, visitors are welcome to enjoy light summer bar menu in the
Museum Café. At dusk, visitors can make their way to the Myriad Botanical
Gardens and Crystal Bridge to view a spectacular fireworks display. The Botanical
Gardens fireworks display will be in sync with both the Bricktown and RedHawk’s
fireworks. The Oklahoma City Museum of Art invites the public to celebrate
independence through art this July 4.
This museum which opened on Saturday, March 15, 2002 is a $40 million building downtown with 110,000 square-feet of space. It contains 15 exhibition galleries, a library, 3 teaching rooms, a 250-seat lecture hall, theater, cafe and gift store. It also opens with a spectacular collection of art, much of which Oklahoma CIty residents have never seen before. This museum will have a great impact on Oklahoma City. It will raise property values downtown and bring more money to the economy as tourists and residents visit the museum, as well as other attractions.Building name is The Donald W. Reynolds Visual Arts Center ( Donald W. Reynolds Foundation awarded the museum a $14.5 million capital grant ). The 40 million raised for the museum came from all private donations and the entire building was paid for in cash.In the entry is a 45 foot tall blown glass sculpture created by the glass artis Dale Chihuly just for the museum. It has 2,400 individually blown pieces of glass placed on a metal frame and is 12 feet in diameter. This piece is dedicated to the memory of Eleanor Blake Kirkpatricek, a longtime philanthropist and museum supporter.There are more than 3,500 works of art in the 15 galleries. The works are arranged in loosely chronological order, so that visitors can see a little bit of the history of the art as well as their subjects and themes.The second floor galleries feature European, Asian and American art created before 1950. Among the oldest works displayed are 16th century illustrated mpas of the Holy Land, Portrait of a Lady Holding a Mask (c.1690) by the Italian painter Giuseppe Maria Crespi, a portrait of George Washington (1779) by Charles Willson Peale and an undated portrait of the 18th century English actress Sarah Siddons by William Hamilton.The Museum Cafe is run by Chris Lower who owns The Metro and The Coach House. The restaurant has a Pullman ceiling and windows on three sides overlooking Hudson Avenue. Diners may eat inside or outside on a patio.
Hours- 10am to 5pm
Tuesdays through Saturdays, 5pm to 9pm on Thursdays and 1pm to 5pm on Sundays.
$7 adults, $5 seniors and students, children under 5 and museum members free