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Exhibition Development

The American Indian Cultural Center & Museum exhibition program will be diverse and dramatic, with strong appeal to audiences of all interest. What distinguishes American Indian Cultural Center & Museum exhibitions from other institutions may be illustrated in its curatorial approach. The American Indian Cultural Center & Museum will offer exhibitions that include elements of natural history and the general history of Oklahoma’s native cultures, while also augmenting the stories of the past with contemporary native stories presented from first-hand accounts by contemporary native cultural expression in its various forms of traditional cultural materials and contemporary art.When possible, the American Indian Cultural Center & Museum will present native cultural history and life from the first-person perspective, as native culture is conveyed by community members. The American Indian Cultural Center & Museum exhibition development includes proactive outreach to native communities in order to record these firsthand accounts of each of the respective native cultures in Oklahoma.

The South Gallery exhibits address basic contextual topics such as who we are as a community and where we came from, as well as contemporary issues relating past, present and future. The presence of indigenous people in this geography now known as Oklahoma dates back to at least 13,000 BC., establishing that this is and always has been Indian Country. Accounts that portray the heartbreaking and inspiring historical journey of the American Indians in Oklahoma are presented through the chronological context of U.S. history. Circumstances that have challenged Oklahoma Indians to survive, adapt and rebuild give way to optimistic episodes of the historic journey.

The American Indian Cultural Center & Museum is developing its exhibition content and design in conjunction with Ralph Appelbaum Associates (RAA), New York. RAA has created an exhibition design that integrates interior and exterior spaces in an immersive experience. Design and exhibition content have been guided by a group of cultural advisors, tribal elders and scholars to build a framework within which themes and values that reflect the American Indian community are organized and structured to provide the most appropriate experience for all visitors.

Arts Development

The Arts Development program coordinates the American Indian Cultural Center & Museum's Art in Public Places (AIPP) Program, which commissions public art by local artists to complement the American Indian Cultural Center & Museum's various construction phases. Working in conjunction with the Oklahoma Art in Public Places program, the American Indian Cultural Center & Museum establishes and administers developing criteria and protocol for public art projects as well as administering the commission and execution of public art projects on the site. The Arts Development program is assisted by an appointed Site Committee that is comprised of community leaders from diverse professional and cultural expertise who assists in the selection of the art projects. The Arts Development program currently is developing a site-wide Art Plan, including priorities for Art in Public Places and commissioned art both on the interior and exterior of the American Indian Cultural Center & Museum.

Presently, the Art in Public Places is approaching completion of its first public art commission. Bill and Demos Glass, a father and son team from Locust Grove, OK, who are members of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, received the inaugural commission for the American Indian Cultural Center & Museum's first public art project, which is to be situated on the east side of the newly constructed American Indian Cultural Center & Museum Visitor Center. As construction continues on the nearly 300-acre site, the American Indian Cultural Center & Museum will maintain public art as a component of each of the several building phases. Now that the inaugural project is in progress, the American Indian Cultural Center & Museum encourages all Oklahoma artists to respond to future Requests for Proposals (RFQ) in order to be considered for participation in upcoming Art in Public Places projects.

Milestones