Amy's Rear View Mirror

Oklahoma City, OK

July 11 - 17, 2005

When it was time to leave Monument CO I took I-25 south into Colorado Springs where I took US-24 NE to I-70 east to Salina KS, then I-135/I-35 south to Oklahoma City OK.

Oklahoma is home to more than 67 Native American tribes. The Oklahoma Tribal Flag Plaza, which displays the 36 tribal government flags of Oklahoma in a plaza north of the Capitol, was designed by David Meyer, a native of Oklahoma. The Plaza was commissioned by Oklahoma State Legislature 1989-1996.

The world responded to assist Oklahoma City in the aftermath of the bombing and the building of the Oklahoma City National Memorial. The Gates of Time are twin gates, one at either end of the reflecting pool. One is engraved with 9:01, the moment before the attack; and the other is engraved with 9:03, the moment after the attack. The Reflecting Pool between the two gates was once Fifth Street which was next to the Murrah Building. The Survivor Wall houses etched survivor's names in granite panels salvaged from the Murrah Building lobby. The granite path around the Field of Empty Chairs is made of stones from the plaza. The Chairs honor the 168 people who were killed. The Childrens Tiles wall are hand painted ceramic tiles painted by children who sent messages to Oklahoma City. The original fence was installed to protect the site of the Murrah Building. People left objects of love and hope on the fence, more than 60,000 items most of which are preserved in the museum archives. Once the Memorial was opened the fence was moved to it's current location to allow people to continue to leave items for remembrance.

Myriad Botanical Gardens and Crystal Bridge Tropical Conservatory houses 17 acres of plant displays from around the world ranging from a rainforest with a 35-foot waterfall to an arid desert. Trails, bridges and tunnels take you all over the gardens. The centerpiece of the gardens, The Crystal Bridge, is a huge 224-foot long tube-shaped greenhouse which houses a tropical jungle. Some of the plants in the Conservatory are Staghorn Fern, various species of orchids, Bird's Nest Anthurium, Ponytail Palm, Floss Silk Tree, Hibiscus, Begonias and Screw Pine.

The Oklahoma City Art Museum has a permanent Dale Chihuly Exhibit. It's the largest, most comprehensive collection of Chihuly glass in the world. The display consists of 1,500 pieces of hand-blown glass including a Waterford Crystal Chandelier and a Tower in the lobby. Chihuly's style is sculptures which delve into color, line, and assembly with him being best known for his multi-part blown arrangements. The pieces have intense, vibrant color and subtle linear decoration. Chihuly's work is autobiographical with abstract flowers from his mother's garden, the series of Seaforms and Niijima Floats represent his love of the sea and his recognition of its importance to the economy of the Pacific Northwest, the Basket series was developed out of the woven Northwest Coast Indian baskets. While in Ireland, Chihuly worked with glassblowers and etchers at the Waterford Crystal factory, creating two Waterford Crystal chandeliers. One was made for Chihuly Over Venice and hung over the canal at Campiello Remei in Venice. The second was shipped home to Seattle and then sent to Oklahoma City as part of the Dale Chihuly Exhibition where it hangs in its permanent location in the 20 foot high lobby of the Museum's Noble Theater.

Red Earth Indian Center features Native American dance regalia, art, the Deupree Cradleboard Collection, and "Dwellings of the Earth," an exhibit of to-scale homes of American Indians from early history. The museum's main goal is to encourage the preservation of American Indian cultures. The center sponsors the Red Earth Festival which is the largest Native American cultural and arts exposition in the world. More than 2,000 Native American artists, dancers and singers from more than 100 tribes across North America can be seen each June at the Cox Business Services Convention Center in downtown Oklahoma City.

National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum houses one of the largest collections of Western, American Cowboy, American Rodeo, and American Indian art and artifacts in the world. There are galleries, gardens and a children's area. The displays depict the hardships and rough life of taming and living in the west through fine art, pop culture, firearms, and cowboy gear. There are three Halls of Fame that honor men and women of the American West including one for entertainers highlighting musicians and actors of TV and Western films.

The Bricktown area was the crossroads of commerce in Oklahoma City. Four railroad companies connected the city to the rest of the world ... the Santa Fe, the Rock Island, the Frisco, and the Katy. To handle the flow of commerce, unique red brick buildings were completed. The first structures appeared between 1898 and 1903 that were typically one or two stories tall with arched windows and embellished doorways. The next generation, constructed between 1903 and 1911, were usually multi-stories with less ornamentation and fewer arches. The third wave of construction, from 1911 to 1930, was marked by even taller buildings with rows of rectangular windows and large graphic signs. The revitalization started in the early 1980's which has brought various restaurants and retail shops to the area. It's similar to the Riverwalk in San Antonio. I met some friends at Nonna's for supper ... a three-story restaurant with balconies specializing in Euro-American cuisine and a gift shop.

I also spent a day in Anadarko OK ...

The Southern Plains Indian Museum has displays of various western Oklahoma tribes including Kiowa, Comanche, Kiowa-Apache, Southern Cheyenne, Southern Arapaho, Wichita, Caddo, Delaware, and Ft Sill Apache. The displays included clothing, shields, weapons, cradleboards and toys. The gift shop had prayer shawls, ribbon shirts, jewelry, and paintings by local Native American artists.

Indian City USA is a 45 minute guided walking tour of the seven replicas of Indian villages (Navajo, Chiricahua Apache, Wichita, Kiowa Winter Camp, Caddo, Pawnee, and Pueblo Villages) with details of their customs and beliefs. The guides are members of one of these tribes. The villages have been constructed with various artifacts on display in the dwellings such as tools, cradles, cooking utensils, weapons, musical instruments, games, and toys of the different tribes.

The Anadarko Post Office Murals are 16 murals that depict scenes of 19th century activities of the Southern Plains Indians by internationally known artist Stephen Mopope, one of the “Kiowa Five”.  The Native American artists who became known as the Kiowa Five were James Auchiah, Spencer Asah, Jack Hokeah, Stephen Mopope, and Monroe Tsatoke. They were young Kiowa Indians from the Anadarko area of Oklahoma. The artwork of the Kiowa Five is well known for its representation of ceremonial and social scenes of Kiowa life. Because of their talent and the opportunities presented to them while attending the University of Oklahoma, they became international celebrities.  

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