Allied Arts

Today, on International Women's Day, we'd like to take a moment to celebrate the achievements of four of Allied Arts' leading ladies.  Jenny Love Meyer, Julie Hall, Lori Hill and Jeannette Sias were honored last weekend at the Oklahoma City University Awards of Excellence for their exceptional work in the community.

These women have all served Allied Arts in very important capacities.  From serving as the chair of a fundraising gala to being a member of the board of directors to working hard to raise funds for the arts during the annual campaign, each of these ladies has played a large part in the success of our organization.

Congratulations, ladies on your recognition!  Thank you for all the wonderful things you do for Allied Arts and the many other causes you serve. 



Deborah, Allied Arts President/CEO, was able to snap a photo of Lori, Jeannette, Julie and Jenny at the dinner.  They all look lovely!

As of the City Council meeting this morning, it has been proclaimed that February be recognized as Allied Arts Month in Oklahoma City! 

Here's why (in true proclamation form):

Whereas, the arts enhance and enrich the lives of every Oklahoma City resident;
 
Whereas, the arts play a unique role in the lives of our families, our communities, our city, and our country; and 

Whereas, the nonprofit arts industry also strengthens our economy by generating nearly $500 million to local governments and by supporting the full-time equivalent of more than 4,000 jobs in Oklahoma County alone; and 

Whereas, since 1971, Allied Arts has raised more than $42 million as the champion of Central Oklahoma's art community.

Yahoo!!  Now the entire city is celebrating the arts and culture in our community!

We'd like to thank Mayor Cornett and City Council for recognizing the contributions of Allied Arts to the cultural community and also for the important role the arts play in the unique fabric of our city.   

We'd also like to thank the large contingency of arts supporters that came to the meeting this morning to show their excitement for the proclamation.  Representatives from our board of directors, staff and member agencies were in attendance.  We are thrilled to have such a close community of friends that support the arts!

Happy Allied Arts Month!



Mayor Mick Cornett reads the proclamation in the company of Allied Arts Board Chair Ann Johnstone and President/CEO Deborah McAuliffe Senner.

If you missed Mayor Mick Cornett's State of the City address last week, you missed hearing about all of the great strides Oklahoma City made in 2010 in business, education and quality of life.  And what did the Mayor mention as one of the factors contributing to this growth? The arts!


Check out what he had to say: 

"You don’t get compared to cities like Dallas, Seattle and New York very easily unless you can compete in the category of quality of life. We have reached big league status in sports with the Oklahoma City Thunder and as many of you know, even though there is no official designation, we have become big league in the arts. The quality of the arts in our community exceeds our visitors’ expectations time after time. And the people that move here, not knowing what to expect from our arts community, tell me over and over again, that they never knew Oklahoma City had such a strong arts community. And just like our basketball team, the ascension in the world of arts is relatively new. Ten years ago, what we offered in the world of arts was pretty average. What we offer today is pretty extraordinary."

We'd like to thank Mayor Cornett for recognizing the accomplishments and the importance of the arts in our city.  We are proud to support Central Oklahoma's arts community and look forward to another banner year of progress for Oklahoma City.

Want to hear more of Mayor Cornett's speech?  Click here for the full text and a video of the delivery.  And be sure to scroll down on the page to see all of the awards Oklahoma City received in 2010. You can't miss it - the list is huge!  Way to go, OKC!

Hi guys,

Today is the last day to vote in the Oklahoma Gazette's "Best of OKC" Survey. PLEASE vote for Allied Arts for best local nonprofit!

We're category #64. www.okgazette.com/bestofokc



And be on the lookout for our member agencies that made the top 5 in their categories!  Don’t forget to cast your vote for these great organizations:

• Festival of the Arts (by Arts Council of OKC) – best annual event
• IAO Gallery – best art gallery
• Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma – best dance or theater company
• Oklahoma City Ballet – best dance or theater company
• Oklahoma City Museum of Art – best museum
• Science Museum Oklahoma – best family entertainment, best museum

And of course, we always want to support our OKCityCard partners. There are 53 of them on the Gazette ballot. Holy cow! Congrats to these great restaurants, shops and entertainment activities:

1. 1492 New World Latin Cuisine
2. Arts Council of Oklahoma City (Festival of the Arts)
3. Aspen Athletic Club
4. Balliet’s
5. Big Truck Tacos
6. Bolero Tapas Bar & Spanish Grill
7. Bricktown Brewery
8. Bruno’s Home Furnishings
9. Cheever’s Café
10. Colcord Hotel
11. Collected Thread
12. Cuppies & Joe
13. deadCENTER Film Festival
14. Earl’s Rib Palace
15. Flip’s Wine Bar & Trattoria
16. Grand House China Bistro
17. IAO Gallery
18. Iguana Mexican Grill
19. Irma’s Burger Shack
20. Iron Starr Urban BBQ
21. Java Dave’s
22. JRB Art at Elms Gallery on Paseo
23. La Baguette Restaurant
24. Lyric Theatre
25. McNellie’s
26. Mickey Mantle’s
27. Musashi’s
28. Naifeh Fine Jewelry
29. National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum
30. Nonna’s Euro-American Ristorante & Bar
31. Oklahoma City Ballet
32. Oklahoma City Museum of Art
33. Oklahoma City Thunder
34. Oklahoma City Zoo
35. Oklahoma History Center
36. Pearl’s Oyster Bar
37. Pops 66
38. Red Prime Steak
39. Rococo
40. Sam Noble Museum of Natural History
41. Schardein & Co.
42. Schlegel Bicycles
43. Science Museum Oklahoma
44. Shoe Gypsy
45. Skirvin Hilton Hotel
46. Spencer Stone
47. Sushi Neko
48. The Lobby Bar (Will’s Coffee Shop)
49. The Velvet Monkey
50. The Wedge Pizzeria
51. Tony Foss Flowers
52. Trochta’s
53. UCO Jazz Lab

Deborah McAuliffe Senner, Allied Arts president and CEO, recently shared an article with our staff that was required reading. This article outlined a lofty challenge issued by the Gates (as in Bill and Melinda) and Warren Buffett to our country's wealthiest individuals.

The article (and the challenge) is so amazing, we had to share it with you all. In a nutshell, the Gates and Warren Buffet tare meeting with the nation's billionaires and asking them to pledge at least half of their net worth to charity.

When I first read this, I thought - HOLY COW! A. Do you know how much money that is? (at least $600 billion) and B. Can we even imagine what a difference that would make? I mean, that concentration of wealth could almost wipe out certain needs in the world!

It's hard to not get excited about this. I'm inspired that three of the world's wealthiest would be so generous and have such a heart to tackle such an ambitious task. I'm also hopeful that more will follow suit and accept the challenge. 

It got me thinking - what can we do locally? While none of us may have the resources of the Gates or Warren Buffett, we are giving and committed bunch, who truly care about the well-being of each other and our city. Of course, I would love to see a similar challenge issued with OKC's heavy hitters, but I think we can all be part of giving more and really making difference.   

So, you must check this article out for yourself - it's required reading: The $600 Billion Challenge.



Warren Buffett meeting with Bill Gates at a diner in Omaha. In case you're wondering, Warren paid for lunch.

   

The Facebook and Twitter worlds are a-buzz because the OK Gazette’s “Best of OKC” ballot is out. So why is Allied Arts also buzzing? Yes, we were nominated for “best local nonprofit” (we’re thrilled – thanks for your votes!) and some of our member agencies made the top 5 in their categories as well (wahoo!).  But, we’re excited for 53 more reasons – lots of our OKCityCard partners are also your favorites!

These businesses not only provide incredible products and services, but they support the arts community in Central Oklahoma. Now that’s a reason to give them your vote! Click here to do so now!

1. 1492 New World Latin Cuisine
2. Arts Council of Oklahoma City (Festival of the Arts)
3. Aspen Athletic Club
4. Balliet’s
5. Big Truck Tacos
6. Bolero Tapas Bar & Spanish Grill
7. Bricktown Brewery
8. Bruno’s Home Furnishings
9. Cheever’s Café
10. Colcord Hotel
11. Collected Thread
12. Cuppies & Joe
13. deadCENTER Film Festival
14. Earl’s Rib Palace
15. Flip’s Wine Bar & Trattoria
16. Grand House China Bistro
17. IAO Gallery
18. Iguana Mexican Grill
19. Irma’s Burger Shack
20. Iron Starr Urban BBQ
21. Java Dave’s
22. JRB Art at Elms Gallery on Paseo
23. La Baguette Restaurant
24. Lyric Theatre
25. McNellie’s
26. Mickey Mantle’s
27. Musashi’s
28. Naifeh Fine Jewelry
29. National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum
30. Nonna’s Euro-American Ristorante & Bar
31. Oklahoma City Ballet
32. Oklahoma City Museum of Art
33. Oklahoma City Thunder
34. Oklahoma City Zoo
35. Oklahoma History Center
36. Pearl’s Oyster Bar
37. Pops 66
38. Red Prime Steak
39. Rococo
40. Sam Noble Museum of Natural History
41. Schardein & Co.
42. Schlegel Bicycles
43. Science Museum Oklahoma
44. Shoe Gypsy
45. Skirvin Hilton Hotel
46. Spencer Stone
47. Sushi Neko
48. The Lobby Bar (Will’s Coffee Shop)
49. The Velvet Monkey
50. The Wedge Pizzeria
51. Tony Foss Flowers
52. Trochta’s
53. UCO Jazz Lab

I’d also like to give a little shout out to the 9th Street District, since Automobile Alley is our home. After its transformation into one of the coolest spots in town, you might remember this street for “best proof that Oklahoma is more than OK.”

With a list of partners like this, there is no denying that this card is LEGIT. Now that you see that all of the places you already love are on the OKCityCard, you might want start saving money by hopping over to http://okcitycard.com and donating today!

 

That’s right, the ballots for the 2010 Oklahoma Gazette “Best of OKC” awards are out. Guess who’s in the top 5 for “best local nonprofit?” Wait for it…ALLIED ARTS! I’m sure you saw that one coming.  We are honored and thrilled to make it to the run-off.  Thanks to all of you for nominating us!

Now we need YOUR help! Please vote for us! Click here: www.okgazette.com/bestofokc, scroll on down to #64 and click the box next to “Allied Arts.” We’re the first one on the list so it should be easy to remember!

We’re also really excited for several of our member agencies that made the top 5 in their categories!  Don’t forget to cast your vote for these great organizations:

• Festival of the Arts (by Arts Council of OKC) – best annual event
• IAO Gallery – best art gallery
• Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma – best dance or theater company
• Oklahoma City Ballet – best dance or theater company
• Oklahoma City Museum of Art – best museum
• Science Museum Oklahoma – best family entertainment, best museum

www.okgazette.com/bestofokc to vote!

We are so appreciative of our local media's support in helping us promote our campaign celebration and ARTini. Thank you for helping us spread the word about our campaign and our upcoming fabulous martini tasting!

Below are a few recent clips I thought you all might enjoy!

ARTini Co-Chair Misty Garrett and Upside Down Artist Dana Helms on KFOR's morning show

 

And Allied Arts President Deborah McAuliffe Senner and 2010 Campaign Co-Chair Linda Haneborg appeared on Helen Ford Wallace's "Parties Extra" blog on Newsok.com: http://blog.newsok.com/partiesextra/

Also, thank you to the Oklahoma Gazette, Edmond Life & Leisure, The Oklahoman, KOKH-TV, The Journal Record and the many other outlets who helped us promote ARTini this week!

We recently discovered Uncovering Oklahoma, a really cool Web site that features interesting things to do and places to visit in Oklahoma.

By now you should know how much I love promoting all things Oklahoma – therefore, I was a fan of the show from the start!

The other reason I’m a fan of the show? Because they support the arts in OKC!

Uncovering Oklahoma recently interviewed me about the CityCard. Check out my talk with Uncovering Oklahoma co-host, Sasha Denkinska at Café 7 – one of our fabulous CityCard partners.
 


Thanks to Dennis and Sasha for producing a great segment and helping us raise awareness about the fabulous CityCard.

For more information on Uncovering Oklahoma, check out www.uncoveringoklahoma.com. To get your CityCard, visit www.okcitycard.com.

We're THRILLED to announce that Allied Arts campaign co-chairs, Linda Haneborg and Lance Benham, will be the featured guests on Citadel Radio's "Sunday Morning Magazine" show.

THIS Sunday, Linda and Lance will speak with host Chad Smith about the campaign and how people can support Cental Oklahoma arts programs.

The interview will broadcast on all Citadel stations from 7-8 am on Easter Sunday. Citadel stations are:

• KATT (100.5 FM): Rock
• KKWD (Wild,104.9 FM): Top 40
• KYIS (98.9 FM): Top 40
• WKY (930 AM): Spanish
• WWLS (The Sports Animal, 640 AM or 104.9 FM): Sports

Be sure to tune in! To learn more about the "Sunday Morning Magazine," check out the show's facebook page by clicking here.