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Max Chambers Library
2nd floor, Rm 215
(405) 974-2882
Nicole Willard, Senior Director
nwillard@uco.edu
Artworks from the Murrah Federal Building
On April 19, 1995, a truck bomb explosion ripped through the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City. The blast killed 168 people, including 19 children. Most of the children were in the building's daycare center. Firefighters, law enforcement officers, and rescue workers worked tirelessly to save the injured and recover the dead.
Personal belongings and government property were also recovered, including works of art that were purchased or commissioned for the Murrah Federal Building. Of the 32 works of art installed in the building, 20 were recovered with little or no damage, most from the upper stories.
Some of the pieces found a home at Chambers Library on the campus of the University of Central Oklahoma, where they serve as a teaching tool within the university's visual arts and arts education programs. Fourteen of the original artists were able to attend the opening of the exhibit in 2000.
Today, 19 pieces are on exhibit in Chambers Library, and 4 are on exhibit at the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum.
Prior to the selection of the artworks for the Murrah building, public art for Federal buildings typically consisted of one or two monumental sculptures or murals commissioned from nationally recognized artists. For the Murrah building, GSA broadened its search by choosing artists chosen by a panel appointed by the National Endowment for the Arts. Among the 23 surviving pieces are the first photographs, ceramic sculptures, finger weaving, and quilts chosen by GSA's Art in Architecture Program.
Joan Mondale, wife of Vice President Walter Mondale and a skilled potter and arts advocate, played a significant role in this shift toward inclusion of locally produced pieces. Of the 26 artists represented in the Murrah collection, about half came from Oklahoma and the rest from other regions. The group was almost equally divided between men and women, and represented racial diversity, including several artists of Native American descent.
At the dedication ceremony for the building in June of 1978, Joan Mondale said, "You have a model here of what can be done when good architecture and art are combined in a truly human environment."
Special thanks goes to Pam Husky, former assistant chair of the Department of Art at the University of Central Oklahoma, and Ronald Lane, former GSA regional fine arts officer, for their commitment and dedication to researching, documenting and initiating the 2000 and 2003 Chambers Library exhibition of works of art saved from the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.
Artwork Tour
"Monolith IV" by Franklin Simons
Position on map: 1
Location in Murrah: 4th floor elevator lobby window
Dimensions: 28.5" wide by 46.5" high, 11" depth
Video talk: Watch Video
Active in the Oklahoma Designer Craftsmen organization, Simons joined the art faculty of the University of Central Oklahoma in 1967. He taught courses in ceramics while continuing to create sculptural vessels in stoneware, porcelain, and low-fire clays. His interest in cultural meaning and the history of craftsmanship are revealed in "primitive" forms tied to ancient traditions. Simons has exhibited his ceramics throughout Oklahoma and his work is in the permanent collection of the University of Oklahoma Museum of Art.
"Morning Mist" by David Halpern
Position on map: 2
Location in Murrah: 3rd floor public corridor
Video talk: Watch Video
David Halpern's powerful landscapes, Morning Mist and Charon's Sentinels were photographed in Oklahoma's Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge. Prints of the pair were purchased by GSA for the Murrah Federal Building and hung next to each other.
These photographs represent the start of Halpern's career. In 1974, the Nashville-born photographer exhibited his black-and-white photos in Little Rock, Arkansas, and sold a print of Morning Mist to a New York gallery. Since then, his photographs have been exhibited in museums and galleries across America, and he has been the recipient of numerous awards.
"Charon's Sentinels" by David Halpern
Position on map: 3
Location in Murrah: 3rd floor public corridor
Video talk: Watch Video
David Halpern's powerful landscapes, Morning Mist and Charon's Sentinels were photographed in Oklahoma's Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge. Prints of the pair were purchased by GSA for the Murrah Federal Building and hung next to each other.
These photographs represent the start of Halpern's career. In 1974, the Nashville-born photographer exhibited his black-and-white photos in Little Rock, Arkansas, and sold a print of Morning Mist to a New York gallery. Since then, his photographs have been exhibited in museums and galleries across America, and he has been the recipient of numerous awards.
"North of Cunningham's" by Albert Durr Edgar
Position on map: 4
Location in Murrah: 3rd floor public corridor
Video talk: Watch Video
Oklahoman Albert Edgar captured this stunning view of horses grazing in front of the Grand Tetons on a trip to Wyoming. He produced the image using a massive camera that he rigged with a survey telephoto lens. Edgar's mountain scene was one of the first purchases of photography for a Federal building.
Fascination with photographic imagery led Edgar to work for IBM and develop more than 65 patents for digital processing, printing, and film-scanning.
"Cowboy in Coffee Shop" by Curt Clyne
Position on map: 5
Location in Murrah: 3rd floor public corridor
Dimensions: 17" wide by 13" high
Video talk: Watch Video
This black-and-white portrait of a cowboy slouched in a coffee shop booth reflects the Southwestern flavor of many works of art selected for the Murrah Federal Building. It was one of two Curt Clyne photographs purchased by GSA that hung on the third floor alongside other photos selected for the building. While this photo survived, Clyne's other image, Winter Scene, was lost in the bomb blast.
"Morning in Taos" by Betty Jo Kidson
Position on map: 6
Location in Murrah: 6th floor elevator lobby
Dimensions: 36" wide by 40" high
Video talk: Watch Video
Depicting a sunrise over a Southwestern landscape, Morning at Taos is made from pieces of corduroy and burlap. To create the three-foot-wide wall hanging, Oklahoma artist Betty Jo Kidson combined a number of sewing techniques, including applique and trapunto, to create layered shapes and colors.
"Sun Form" by Deena Madole
Position on map: 7
Location in Murrah: 4th floor public corridor
Dimensions: 24" wide by 69" high, 5" depth
Video talk: Watch Video
Using rya-knot techniques, artist Dena Madole created this boldly textured sculpture from wool and synthetic fibers. In 1977, Madole submitted slides of Sun Form and other pieces to the art panel through the Oklahoma Designer Craftsmen organization.
"Storm" by Richard Davis
Position on map: 8
Location in Murrah: 5th floor elevator lobby window
Dimensions: 15" wide by 5'9" high, 1'5" depth
Topped by a cloud shapes and rain drops, the four-foot-tall, tapered sculpture by Texas artist Richard Davis is appropriately titled Storm. Davis cast the bronze piece using plastic molds and clay. Pieces broken off during the blast were repaired and the sculpture was restored.
"Double Layers" by Jane Knight
Position on map: 9
Location in Murrah: 5th floor public corridor
Dimensions: 28" wide by 48" high, 3" depth
Video talk: Watch Video
Michigan artist Jane Knight created Double Layers by wrapping woolen strands around heavy lengths of jute. The four-foot-high piece was exhibited in a San Francisco gallery as part of the group show "Art Fabric '77: The Contemporary American Tapestry" before it was purchased by GSA for the Murrah Federal Building. Like many of the other three-dimensional textiles collected for the building, Double Layers reflects the colorful, textural exuberance that was characteristics of fiber art during the 1970s.
"31 Flavors" by Sally Anderson
Position on map: 10
Location in Murrah: 3rd floor elevator lobby
Dimensions: 5'10" wide by 4' high, 12" depth
Video talk: Watch Video
Created by artist Sally Anderson, this nearly 6-foot-wide sculpture is made from wool, cotton, and synthetic threads, and exemplifies the cutting-edge fiber art produced during the 1970s. Its paired spheres are covered in weft-faced fabric of neutral-colored stripes and pulled apart to expose bright, coiled wool tubes at the center.
"Loyal Creek" by Carol Whitney
Position on map: 11
Location in Murrah: 9th floor public corridor
Dimensions: 9" wide by 17.5" high, 3" depth
Video talk: Watch Video
Shaped from slabs of clay and partially glazed, these Native American figures were created by Oklahoma artist Carol Whitney. The artist was drawn to her subject by her Sioux ancestry and stories told by her grandfather about Oklahoma Indian territory. Her "people of the earth" represent legends from the Kiowa, Comanche, and Cherokee tribes.
"October" by Joyce Pardington
Position on map: 12
Location in Murrah: 7th floor public corridor
Dimensions: 24" wide by 24" high
Video talk: Watch Video
Woven from waxy jute and guinea feathers, October creates an expressionistic abstraction through dynamic contrasts in materials and textures.
"Precise Notations" by Bud Stalnaker
Position on map: 13
Location in Murrah: 6th floor public corridor
Dimensions: 3' wide by 6' high, 4" depth
Video talk: Watch Video
Contrasts in color, texture, and shape contribute to the bold expression of this double-woven tapestry. The sensuous, geometric design focuses on a circle, outlined at the top in dark blue wool. The center of the circle is defined by the linen warp threads, which are left exposed and accented by shiny squares of lurex. Below the circle, a shimmering red rayon fringe allows glimpses of the tightly woven red background. Such dramatic layering is also evident in several other fiber pieces within the Murrah Federal Building collection.
"A Fallen Oak Tree" by James Strickland
Position on map: 14
Location in Murrah: 5th floor elevator lobby
Dimensions: 6' wide by 6' high, 8" depth
Video talk: Watch Video
Artist James Strickland constructed his large assemblage of carved and sawn oak pieces from a timber that fell on his uncle and killed him. Soon after GSA purchased A Fallen Oak Tree, Strickland received a commission from an Oklahoma City bank for another wood relief and went on to create several large-scale wood murals.
"Carnival" by Ann Burgess
Position on map: 15
Location in Murrah: 8th floor public corridor
Dimensions: 36" wide by 32" high
Video talk: Watch Video
The double-woven tapestry called Carnival demonstrates a skillful layering of textures. Artist Anna Burgess used linen, wool, and curly white fleece to frame a centerpiece of vertical red and white coiled threads, which allow a glimpse of gold, woven wool background behind them.
"A Fur Piece" by Rebecca Friedman
Position on map: 16
Location in Murrah: 9th floor elevator lobby
Dimensions: 32" wide by 38" high
Video talk: Watch Video
Torn, painted muslin and canvas strips form a mottled fringe around the fox furs in this hanging piece. Since completing Fur Piece early in her career, Oklahoma artist Rebecca Friedman has continued to create mixed-media paintings as well as lithographs and photo collages.
"Oklahoma Quilt" by Terry Mangat
Position on map: 17
Location in Murrah: 4th floor elevator lobby
Dimensions: 7' wide by 6'8" high
Video talk: Watch Video
Traditional symbols of Oklahoma - Indians on horseback, cowboys on bucking broncos, buffaloes, windmills, and oil derricks - proudly march across this quilt. Says Terry Mangat, "All of these images were achieved through reverse applique, a technique I find useful in making intricate shapes and in putting strong colored and printed fabrics together. The undersides of the buffalo clouds are airbrushed to reflect the setting sun."
"Canyon Wall Number 2" by Joyce Pardington
Position on map: 18
Location in Murrah: 8th floor elevator lobby
Dimensions: 5'2" wide by 5'2" high
Video talk: Watch Video
The warm tones and striated geology of the Southwestern desert inspired the fiber artist Joyce Pardington to create Canyon Wall Number 2.
"Sunburst" by Melanie Vandenbos
Position on map: 19
Location in Murrah: 7th floor elevator lobby
Dimensions: 42" in diameter
Video talk: Watch Video
Woven on a hexagon-shaped frame loom, this earth-colored textile was completed by artist Melanie Vandenbox just before the art panel convened for the Murrah Federal Building.
