When you exit I-244 onto MLK Jr. Boulevard and head southeast, you’ll see two Black boys with their arms linked, cowboy hats atop their heads and a pair of alluring gazes.
It’s a portrait of twin calf ropers Trenton and Trevor Whayne. The piece is the next mural in a series of rotating art on the wall of the downtown Tulsa Artist Fellowship building.
Titled “Brothers in Life & the Arena,” it’s the work of photographer and artist fellow Adam Davis.
Davis’ mural replaces a piece based on a 1968 photo of three Black women standing and staring ahead. Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, who is curating the series, says the intent isn’t just about featuring African American subjects. But if it grabs your attention, it’s working.
“They are looking at you with this very forward-facing gaze that is not looking away, that is not shying away, that is not necessarily happy,” she said. “It is this interesting sort of concept in placing imagery within the public space that we don’t normally see, particularly of Black folks.”
Davis’ piece centers both Black boyhood and rodeo culture, Fazlalizadeh says.
“We don’t normally see Western culture and Blackness together,” she said. “The idea is to sort of place imagery in the public space that makes you think, that makes you question, that sort of amplifies a conversation or a community that isn’t normally amplified.”
The installation is part of the “Road to the Rodeo” week of events celebrating Oklahoma’s Black rodeo culture in the lead up to the 24th Demery Family Rodeo in Beggs — about a 40-minute drive south of Tulsa.
The festivities start Sept. 30 with a screening of Jordan Peele’s “Nope” at Circle Cinema. On Oct. 2, there’s a First Friday rodeo takeover at the Tulsa Artist Fellowship building, 109 MLK Jr. Blvd. It culminates with the Oct. 3 event in Beggs.
The mural will stay up through December. Fazlalizadeh wouldn’t give too much away about what will follow it other than to say: “The next one will not be photography … It’ll be a complete departure from this, but something that I think that Tulsa needs to see.”
Disclosure: The Tulsa Artist Fellowship is a program of George Kaiser Family Foundation (GKFF). GKFF also provided financial support for The Oklahoma Eagle. News decisions at The Oklahoma Eagle are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
