NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
Sept. 25, 2008

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Ann Dee Lee
Public Information Director
Oklahoma Arts Council
(405) 521-2931
anndee@arts.ok.gov

LAURA WARRINER TO RECEIVE
GOVERNOR’S ARTS AWARD

Oklahoma City, OK -- Laura Warriner, Oklahoma City, will be honored by Governor Brad Henry at the 33rd Annual Governor’s Arts Awards. Warriner will receive a Community Service Award which recognizes individuals for significant contributions to the arts in specific Oklahoma communities in the areas of leadership and volunteerism.

Sponsored by the Oklahoma Arts Council, 15 individuals and three organizations will be honored for their contributions to the arts in their communities or throughout the state. The ceremony is scheduled for 4:00 p.m., Thursday, October 23rd in the 4th Floor Rotunda of the State Capitol and is open to the public. Presiding at the ceremony will be Council Chair Jim Tolbert and Oklahoma Arts Council Executive Director Suzanne Tate. A reception on the first floor of the Capitol will follow the 4 p.m. ceremony.

Laura Warriner has dedicated herself to the arts in Oklahoma as an artist, organizational pioneer, donor, volunteer and mentor. Her artistic career has led to many exhibitions and inclusion in multiple collections including the Smithsonian Institute’s National Gallery but she has most transformed Oklahoma through her efforts to support the visual arts and educating audiences.

In 1995, Warriner founded Untitled [Artspace] an important burgeoning art space in Oklahoma City. By restoring an abandoned building in a blighted area of downtown, she has created a center for creative thought and experimentation. Untitled became a nonprofit in 2003 and until 2007, she served as primary curator for all exhibitions and educational programs that remain free to the public. Her involvement in “Reclamation Re-creation” includes the hosting of many community events to encourage the redevelopment of downtown Oklahoma City.

Behind the scenes, Warriner is a tireless mentor of artists. Her focus is inherently statewide, being raised in Chandler, spending much of her adult life in Oklahoma City and maintaining strong ties to artists in Tulsa and elsewhere. As a founding board member of the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition, she supported artistic careers by serving as a key advisor and champion of artists creating new artwork.

She currently serves on the boards of the City Arts Center, Automobile Alley and the Kirkpatrick Foundation. Warriner continues to lecture and juror exhibitions throughout the region such as the 7-State Exhibition at the University of Sciences and Arts of Oklahoma in Chickasha, Mixed Media Exhibition at IAO Gallery, student exhibitions at the University of Oklahoma as well as volunteer for the Oklahoma Arts Institute for many years.

She has published numerous articles regarding the visual arts and has been awarded many professional awards. These include the Byliners Award from Women in Communications recognizing her contribution meshing economic development and art; the Neal Horton Award from Downtown Oklahoma City, Inc. presented to a visionary who creates a renaissance in a part of Downtown; the Historic Preservation and Landmark Commission Award for restoration of 1 NE 3rd St, Oklahoma City; and the Keystone Award, from the American Institute of Architects, Central Chapter in Oklahoma City, for restoration and preservation of Architect Bruce Goff’s Pollock House.

A complete list of Governor’s Arts Awards recipients and their photos are available at www.arts.ok.gov.

For more information, contact Ann Dee Lee, Public Relations Director, Oklahoma Arts Council, (405) 521-2931 or anndee@arts.ok.gov.

ABOUT THE OKLAHOMA ARTS COUNCIL

The Oklahoma Arts Council is a state agency whose mission is to improve lives through the arts by promoting and sustaining the development of a thriving arts environment, which is essential to quality of life, education and economic vitality for all Oklahomans.

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