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Hardesty Arts Center

                Project  Timeline  Location  Donations  Committee  Architects

THE PROJECT

As we break ground on the Hardesty Arts Center in 2011, we celebrate 50 years of Arts & Humanities Council programming in the community. We invite you to celebrate with us throughout the year and at our opening events in 2012 in the vibrant and growing Brady Arts District in Downtown Tulsa.

Council programs give voice to the diverse cultural and ethnic communities that define our city. Now more than ever, area school districts rely on the Council as funding cuts impact the arts, particularly for at-risk students from low-income neighborhoods. Outside the schools, the larger community has come to rely on Council arts education programs through partnerships with local social service agencies.

Our history as the arts education leader in Tulsa positions us during the next fifty years to impact the lives of millions who remain unreached. To meet this responsibility we are building the Arts Center.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES

Access for All – the Council works to ensure that quality arts are accessible to all Tulsans regardless of age, race, creed, color, national origin, sex, marital status, sexual orientation or physical disability.

Cultural Diversity – the programs of the Council give voice to the diverse cultural, ethnic, and alternative lifestyle communities that define the City of Tulsa and foster artists, audiences, and organizations that represent this diversity.

Partnership Cultivation – the Council seeks to collaborate with local arts organizations, individual artists, patrons, school districts, colleges and universities, educators, community groups, businesses, and government.

 
Exhibition Space                                                                              Exhibition Space from above

TIMELINE

1961 – Arts & Humanities Council of Tulsa (AHCT) established
1980s – Idea of ‘visual arts center’ concept first discussed among local artists
2003 – AHCT decides to spearhead Arts Center project
2006 – Tulsa voters support the creation of a visual arts center with the Third Penny Sales Tax 
           Extension
2006 – Selser Schaefer Architects selected for the project
2008 – Billie & Howard Barnett selected as Arts Center Campaign Co-Chairs
2009 – AHCT signs 99-year lease with the City of Tulsa, Billie 
           Barnett assumes role as primary Arts Center Campaign Chair
2011 – Hardesty Arts Center breaks ground in the spring
2012 – Hardesty Arts Center to the public in the fall

Entrance                                                                               2nd Floor Classroom Studios

LOCATION

The Arts Center will welcome visitors as they cross the pedestrian bridge into the Brady Arts District, a few blocks from the new ONEOK Field, Cain’s Ballroom and the John Hope Franklin Center for Reconciliation.

Arts Center & AHCT Program Locations

The Hardesty Arts Center will be a commutable distance from the neighborhoods most lacking in arts availability. Our arts education programs currently take place at area schools, social service agencies, parks, hospitals, or anywhere agencies request our programs. With the Hardesty Arts Center, we will have a home for our programs where participating youth and adults will be able to use our classrooms and galleries to further develop skills and creative expression. Visual artists will be the foundation for programs at the Hardesty Arts Center that will reach youth and adults who do not have access to the arts.

The total project cost is $18.3 million and includes construction, equipment and program funds. When completed in 2012, it will be an arts hub for every person in Tulsa; a central place where creativity and dreams thrive; and a place where persons of any race, class or culture are welcome to express themselves. 

South Elevation - Archer Street

DONATIONS

We are more than halfway to our goal! There are many ways to make a valuable contribution to the Hardesty Arts Center and help us reach our goal.

The Campaign helps us to meet the following strategic objectives:

• Build an Arts Center, providing a much-needed place for our current programs to reach greater numbers of youth and adults who do not have access to the arts. 
• Support essential professionals to create the building and site infrastructure during planning and construction.  
  
• Supply specialized visual arts equipment, furnishings and technical components to meet the varied needs of all participants.
  
• Establish a building maintenance fund and a program support fund for ongoing operations, programs, and facility maintenance – assuring the availability of crucial programming in future years.
  
• Launch the Hardesty Arts Center programs and facility and the first full year of service in the new location.
  
• Build a stable foundation to secure and sustain current Council programs during the campaign.

You may contact Ken Busby at 918 584 3333 x13 or kbusby@ahct.org to discuss levels of giving and naming opportunities. 
 

West Elevation- Boston Avenue

North Elevation- Brady Avenue

CAMPAIGN CHAIR
Billie Barnett

Hardesty Arts Center COMMITTEE
Grey Gray, Chair & VP of the Visual Art Center
Bill Andoe
Jean Ann Fausser
Royce Kelly
Craig Rainey
Sandy Sober
Edith Wilson

Ken Busby, Director & CEO of AHCT
Kathy McRuiz, Hardesty Arts Center Director 

ARCHITECTS

Selser Schaefer Architects, Tulsa

Principals, Janet Selser & Bob Schaefer

Project Manager, Paul Moore

Project Leader, Bret Pfeifer 

CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT

The Flintco Companies, Inc.