Stillwater Artist Lynn Schwartz

Stillwater artist Lynn Schwartz is exhibiting her oil and acrylic paintings at the Oklahoma State Capitol. You'll have to find your way to the Governor's Gallery on the second floor to see her extraordinary work but it is worth it! The show, entitled "Movement: Oklahoma Heritage to Horizons" is sponsored by the Oklahoma Arts Council and will be up through August 17.

Louisa McCune and Oklahoma Today Magazine

Oklahoma Today magazine is celebrating the state’s centennial year by publishing the top forty-six images of the last one-hundred-plus years. The landmark twenty-four-page portfolio appears in their July/August 2007 issue. Louisa McCune says, “The images tell the story of our state in an unpredictable but timeless way. From the Dust Bowl and Civil Rights struggles to quiet family life, this portfolio is simply arresting.” Photographs by Alfred Eisenstaedt, Nina Leen, Dorothea Lange, and A.Y. Owen are included in the collection as well as two Pulitzer Prize-winning images. J. Pat Carter’s image of the May 3, 1999, tornado, which won the Alfred Eisenstaedt Award, also appears in the portfolio. If you don't already subscribe to this remarkable magazine, you'll want to pick up a copy of this issue.

Kalyn Free to be Honored by National Education Association

Oklahoman Kayln Free will be honored by the National Education Association July 1st. Read story here.

Creating the Oklahoma Women's Coalition

I am inviting women's groups and organizations interested in improving the status of women and girls in Oklahoma to help organize a loose-knit coalition to do the following:

(a) Produce a Kids Count-like annual report on the status of women in Oklahoma

(b) Establish a coalition of groups committed to protecting the rights of and improving the status of women and girls in Oklahoma

(c) Select four or five issues to be addressed in the 2008 legislative session and get authors to introduce bills -- and let legislators know about our support for these bills

(d) Raise funds to hire a part-time lobbyist to keep coalition members informed on the status of these bills during the session

(e) Use the Internet and area meetings to encourage coalition members to lobby their legislators and the Governor on these bills

(f) At the close of the 2008 legislative session, produce a “report card” that identifies which legislators voted for these bills

If you belong to an organization that has a legislative agenda that addressess women's issues and you think it might like to participate in this coalition, please let me know (see my profile for contact information). I especially want to include women's groups from all across the state.

Donita Huddleston Thomas Moves to MidFirst Bank

Donita Thomas has left Bank America and is now senior vice president for business banking at MidFirst Bank - Oklahoma City's largest bank. Bank America advertises itself as "the nation's leading financial institution" and, indeed, they have banks literally everywhere. So I always worried they would transfer Donita to New York or California or (heaven forbid) Texas. I have a hunch she is less likely to get away from Oklahoma at MidFirst Bank which is good because that would be a terrible loss for Oklahoma.

Elizabeth Waner is New Edmond City Council Member

REMINDER TO MYSELF: As soon as I get caught up on last weeks (neglected) email, I want to post about Edmond's new city council member.

Update on Amy Poloncheck

I had a nice visit with Amy Polonchek recently. She assures me that she wasn't run off from her position as Executive Director of the Department of Commerce. She tired of the commute - something I can relate to as I, too, tired of commuting to OU when I was running the N.E.W. Leadership Oklahoma program. Amy is happy to be working at the State Dept of Career Tech. The Polonchecks own a home in Stillwater. Her husband works at OSU and she is glad to be back home in Stillwater.

Update on OK author Bellie Letts

From Barbara Santee:

A lot of people have been asking what happened to Tulsa author, Billie Letts, who was arrested when she demonstrated against the Bush Administration's war policy in Iraq when Dick Cheney was in Tulsa several weeks ago. Billie went to court on Thursday, June 7; and the case was dismissed because the policeman who arrested her did not show up as a witness for the prosecution. So, Billie is free as a bird and working on her next novel! By the way, be sure to see her son's (Tracy Lett's) movie, Bug, showing at the AMC. It is an amazing experience!

Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher Portrait to be Unveiled in House of Representatives

I am so old, I can remember when there was almost NO art at the State Capitol. Now it is everywhere and it is beautiful but more importantly some even celebrates Oklahoma women! So of course I am thrilled that a portrait of Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher will be unveiled in the House of Representatives at 11 am Tuesday, June 19. Read the story here --> http://www.ok.gov/newsroom.php?page_id=22&type=1

Jeanette Gamba is AAA National Chair

Jeanette Gamba was recently elected national chairman of AAA. Gamba is chair of Jordan Associates, an Oklahoma City-bassed advertising and public relations company. she is the first woman to hold the position. AAA has over 50 million members.

When US Women Got the Vote

Tom Clapper reminded me today that it was on this day in 1919 that the 19th amendment to the Constitution was passed by Congress giving women the right to vote!
:-)

Full Circle Bookstore to Feature Oklahoma Women Authors

On Thursday, June 7, at 6:30 p.m., Dana Bagshaw will sign her book Mama Grace at the Full Circle Bookstore in 50 Penn Place, Oklahoma City. A historical novel based on an original manuscript by the author's grandmother, Letha Crossman, it tells the story of her family homesteading in Oklahoma in the early 1900s. The book has been selected as an official project of the Oklahoma Centennial Commission and includes photos of the period.

And on Saturday, June 9, at 3 p.m., M.J. Alexander will sign her new book Salt of the Red Earth: A Century of Wit and Wisdom from Oklahoma's Elders. Her newest photography book is a collection of portraits of Oklahomans born in or before 1907.