New Gilcrease Exhibit Showcases Immigrant Contributions To Life, Culture

The Gilcrease Museum's newest exhibit is titled "Americans All" and showcases the contributions immigrant artists have made to our life and culture.

Gilcrease's Curator of History Mark Dolph said when they realized they had more than 30 first-generation immigrant artists represented in the Gilcrease collection an idea came.

“This would be a great idea for an exhibition," he said.

There are more than 50 paintings and pieces of sculpture, all from immigrant artists, many whose names are so familiar they're not known as immigrants, like Thomas Moran.

"The first reaction is exactly that, ‘I didn't know Thomas Moran was an immigrant,’" Dolph said.

All the works are arranged intentionally to spark conversation.

"Where we as Tulsans can, in a civil and safe way, talk about this very important subject," Dolph said.

One that has been with us almost from the beginning of our country.

It’s the first time for an exhibit like this, and, for the first time, the context panels for each work are in both English and Spanish.

Dolph said, historically, immigration has always created sharp disagreements. That, notwithstanding, here are a couple of dozen artists whose contributions are significant, and although immigrants are Americans All.

The exhibition will be at the Gilcrease at least through the end of next year.