Envisioning Tomorrow is an all-ages photography exhibit by award-winning photographer, Anitra Lavanhar. The exhibit, which is supported by the Artists Creative Fund, consists of 26 large-scale black and white portraits, each paired with a short narrative that draws from the subject’s hopes and dreams for the future. Visitors will be invited to participate in the exhibit by contributing their own written narratives on a designated wall.
“Envisioning Tomorrow was born from my deep concern about the fear and division shaping so much of our national conversation, and from a belief that another story is possible,” says Lavanhar. “This portrait series reflects a small but powerful cross-section of the remarkable diversity found in the Tulsa area and challenges the assumption that differences in belief, background, and lived experience must inevitably divide us.”
Lavanhar asked each of her subjects to imagine the future they hope to create.
“By speaking our hopes aloud and making them visible, Envisioning Tomorrow reveals the common threads of humanity that bind us together, reminding us of our collective power to turn what we imagine into what we can build, together,” she says.
This exhibit premieres at the First Friday Art Crawl on Friday, March 6, 6-9 p.m. and runs through Saturday, April 25, 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.
Join us at 101 Archer for March’s edition of the First Friday Art Crawl!
In the South Gallery, we’ll be debuting “Envisioning Tomorrow”, a photography exhibition by Anitra Lavanhar that explores common threads of humanity in a divided nation. This exhibit, supported by the Artists Creative Fund, consists of 26 large-scale black and white portraits, each paired with a short narrative that draws from the subject’s hopes and dreams for the future.
In the North Gallery, come check out “American Myth”, curated by UTulsa students Emmalie Maez, Aeric Beck, and Katherine Renteria. Don’t miss the chance to add your own American Myth to the interactive wall as well!
Plus, we’ll have live entertainment provided by Michael Loman: Native American Elvis impersonator, guitarist and flute player from Tulsa, OK. You won’t want to miss this incredible Art Crawl!
OCH welcomes two-time American Book Award winner Debra Magpie Earling (Bitterroot Salish, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes) for a reading and discussion on what history hides—and how we might continue to experience it in its uncovering. “Forget evaluative fairness,” says Magpie Earling. “Lewis and Clark may have been unaware of the hidden stories within their narratives but what of the historians who study the journals and retell their tales—fabricate, ignore evidence and perhaps outright lie to support legendary mythologies? And yet, fabulous wonders and hidden truths can illuminate history when we take a closer look.” Author of The Lost Journals of Sacagawea and Perma Red welcomes UTulsa and the community at large to gaze deeper, look again, and read between the li(n)es.
Debra Magpie Earling is the author of the novels Perma Red and The Lost Journals of Sacajewea, long listed for the Andrew Carnegie Medal, and winner of the 2023 Montana Book Award. Both novels received the American Book Award. She is the recipient of a Montana Governor’s Arts Award and has received both a Guggenheim and NEA fellowship. The Atlantic Monthly lists Perma Red as one of the Great American Novels of the last 100 years. She was named professor emerita at the University of Montana. She is Bitterroot Salish and a citizen and member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribes of the Flathead Nation.
Join the Oklahoma Center for the Humanities in welcoming Sarah Bond, associate professor of ancient history at the University of Iowa, to 101 Archer. Bond will discuss Strike: Labor, Unions, and Resistance in the Roman Empire, the first book to explore how Roman workers used strikes, boycotts, riots and rebellion to get their voices—and their labor—acknowledged.
Bond retells the traditional story of Ancient Rome to show that the history of labor conflicts and collective action goes back thousands of years, revealing a world far more similar to our own than we realize. Workers often turned to their voluntary and involuntary associations for solidarity and shared identity in the ancient world. Some of these groups even negotiated contracts, wages and work conditions in a manner similar to modern labor unions. As the world begins to consider the value—and indeed the necessity—of unionization to protect workers, this book demonstrates that we can learn valuable lessons from ancient laborers and from attempts by the Roman government to limit their freedom.
About the guest speaker:
Sarah Bond is the Erling B. “Jack” Holtsmark Associate Professor in the Classics within the Department of History at the University of Iowa. She blogs on antiquity and digital humanities, and is the author of Trade and Taboo: Disreputable Professions in the Roman Mediterranean and Strike: Labor, Unions, and Resistance in the Roman Empire (Yale University Press, February 2025). She is a contributor to Hyperallergic and has written for Forbes, the New York Times, the Washington Post, MSNBC, and even Sports Illustrated for Kids.
Join the Oklahoma Center for the Humanities, co-sponsored by the UTulsa Kendall College of Arts & Sciences and Nimrod International Journal, for a conversation with Shane McCrae, award-winning poet and memoirist, on the legacy of John Berryman (1914-1972).
A poet, critic and novelist, the McAlester, OK-born Berryman was one of the major literary figures of the mid-20th century, whose innovative 18-line “Dream Songs” proved to be as influential as they were controversial. McCrae, some of whose own poems bears traces of Berryman’s influence, has brought together a trove of previously uncollected “Dream Songs” in Only Sing (FSG, 2025). He will discuss and read from these poems, as well as from his own work, which includes New and Collected Hell: A Poem (FSG, 2025).
This event is open and free to the public. We hope to see you there!
American Myth is a student-led exhibit which started as a Tulsa Undergraduate Research Challenge (TURC) project. This exhibit represents a deep dive on American myths, stories that have shaped what today is called “America” and its people. The pieces in this collection reflect something that is deeply, truly and comprehensively American in nature and origin, from Indigenous stories to political narratives that frame this land’s history. Join us at 101 Archer to look at myths through five different lenses: Invention/Creation, Cryptids/Fears, Doomsday/Violence, Hope/Heroes, and Reinvention/Resilience.
The project was spearheaded by Emmalie Maez, with research support from fellow TURC students Aeric Beck and Katherine Renteria.
This exhibit runs Friday, Feb. 6–Saturday, April 25, at UTulsa’s 101 Archer in the North 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.
Don’t miss February’s edition of the First Friday Art Crawl at 101 Archer!
In the North Gallery, we’re unveiling a NEW exhibit entitled “American Myth”, a project curated by UTulsa TURC (Tulsa Undergraduate Research Challenge) students. This project is led by Emmalie Maez, with research support from Aeric Beck and Katherine Renteria, and additional support from Danika Bryant and Jessica Mehta.
We’ll also have live music provided by Steve Liddell, as well as a cash bar. We hope to see you there!!
Close out Season XX with Nathan Daughtrey’s Edge of the World—an explosive percussion ensemble premiere that musically narrates life’s journey in the architecturally striking 101 E. Archer under Tulsa’s night sky. Enjoy complimentary drinks, hors d’oeuvres and an exclusive Q&A intermission with the musicians for an immersive finale.
Buy your tickets HERE!
Professor McLaughlin and Professor Walker wrote the dissertations that would later become books on the topic of popular science in early America as office neighbors in Philadelphia in 2015. They quickly became close friends and incisive readers of each other’s work. Professor Walker’s book, “Beauty and the Brain: The Science of Human Nature in Early America”, published in 2023, has received numerous accolades, including the Mary Kelley Book Prize in Gender and Women’s History from SHEAR in 2024. Join us for a discussion of early popular science and psychology as we celebrate Professor McLaughlin’s 2025 book, “Phobia and American Literature, 1705-1937: A Therapeutic History.”
