05/13/2026
A historic donation to the Oklahoma State Art Collection will be celebrated next Wednesday, May 13 at 4:00 p.m, when we open a new exhibition featuring works gifted from the Howard L. and Mary Ellen Meredith Collection in the Betty Price Gallery at the Oklahoma State Capitol. Oklahomans are invited to our exhibition opening and reception where they can view these works created by some of the most influential and highly recognized Native artists connected to the state. The 10 artworks were generously gifted by America Meredith and Samonia Byford from their parents' collection.
Artists whose works were gifted include:
Benjamin Harjo, Jr. (Absentee Shawnee/Seminole)
Norma Howard (Choctaw Nation/Chickasaw/Mississippi Choctaw)
Vanessa Paukeigope Jennings (Kiowa Tribe/Na'ishq Apache/Gila River Pima)
Ruthe Blalock Jones (Shawnee Tribe/Delaware/Peoria)
Shan Goshorn (Eastern Band Cherokee)
Doc Tate Nevaquaya (Comanche)
Jane Osti (Cherokee Nation)
Juanita Pahdopony (Comanche)
Jeri Redcorn (Caddo Nation/Potawatomi)
Dick West (Southern Cheyenne)
Also included in the exhibition is a new acquisition by Robert Bonaparte, an important figure in Oklahoma's abstract art history whose painting we acquired through the generosity of John Kennedy. And a painting by John Newsom, whose painting, "Prairie Tales," was the inaugural gift of the nonprofit Friends of the Oklahoma Arts Council in collaboration with Ken and Mary Ann Fergeson, Jarrod Fergeson and Anna Cox, and numerous donors.
The Oklahoma State Art Collection was established in 1971 through a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to acquire and preserve artwork that reflects significant artistic achievement by artists connected to Oklahoma. Rotating exhibitions of the collection are displayed in the Betty Price Gallery located on the second floor at the Oklahoma State Capitol.