by Justen Parr on May 19, 2009

Adell Tucker Strickland, Cherokee, Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, Ghislain d’Humières, Osage, Red Earth Native American Cultural Festival, Richard Strickland, Spirit Red: Visions of Native American Artists

For Rennard Strickland, collecting art has been a major part of his life and he now wishes to share his collection with the world.  Strickland, after 5 decades of collecting art, has recently donated his collection to the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art.  Opening on June 4th, Spirit Red: Visions of Native American Artists will show highlights of his collection to the general public.

Rennard Strickland is a native Oklahoman of Osage and Cherokee heritage.  In 2007 he decided to donate his collection of more than 200 pieces including paintings, baskets, pottery, textiles and sculptures in memory of his mother Adell Tucker Strickland.  Ghislain d’Humières, director of the FJJMA, where Strickland was the curator of Native American in the early 1990s, commented on the collection:  “I would like to express my gratitude to Rennard Strickland for his amazing gift  to the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art and the University of Oklahoma,” said d’Humières. “The addition of major contemporary Native American pieces to our permanent collection, as well as the Eugene B. Adkins Collection, will escalate our institution to the level of leading museums in this field and also will give our students a unique opportunity to better understand and appreciate Native American art.”

Spirit Red: Visions of Native American Artists runs from June 4th through September 13th.  Spirit Red will open with a special reception at 6 p.m on Wednesday, June 3, in conjunction with the annual Red Earth Native American Cultural Festival.

The Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art is located in the OU Arts District on the corner of Elm Avenue and Boyd Street, at 555 Elm Ave., on the OU Norman campus.

Admission to the museum is free to all OU students with a current student ID and all museum association members, $5 for adults, $4 for seniors, $3 for children 6 to 17 years of age, $2 for OU faculty/staff, and free for children 5 and under. Admission is free on Tuesdays.

[ed note: We originally incorrectly named Rennard Strickland as Richard Strickland. Our apologies!]

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