Unexpected Company

The Oklahoma Center for the Humanities is pleased to feature Musonium Grand Prize Award winner Andrea Kowch’s “Unexpected Company,” as well as works by Cherokee Nation artist Richard D. York, in the South Gallery on from May 1 – June 27.

Andrea Kowch is an internationally recognized American painter whose work in magical realism has earned her widespread acclaim across major museums, galleries and global publications. A graduate of the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, where she earned her BFA summa cum laude with High Honors, Kowch has built a distinguished career defined by evocative, narrative-driven paintings that bridge the real and the surreal.

Kowch’s work has been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions, most recently Mysterious Realms at the Museum of Art – DeLand (2023), a sweeping retrospective that solidified her place among leading contemporary figurative painters. Her paintings have also been exhibited widely in prestigious group exhibitions, including Truthful Illusions: Realism in the Age of Abstraction at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art (2025) and Transcending Tradition: Selected Works from The Bennett Collection of Women Realists at the Muskegon Museum of Art (2025). These exhibitions highlight her continued relevance in conversations surrounding contemporary realism and narrative painting. Read more about Andrea Kowch and Richard D. York here!

This exhibit runs May 1 – June 27, at UTulsa’s 101 Archer in the South Gallery. Our galleries are open Wednesdays through Saturdays from noon until 5 p.m. Special closures for private events will be announced on our social media pages. As always, admission is free.