Tulsa Museums, Concert Halls Find Ways To Connect With Public

Museums and concert halls may be closed right now, but that doesn’t mean you can’t access the arts.

"I think we always need art," said Scott Stulen, the president and CEO of Philbrook Museum of Art. "We need things that bring us joy. Art brings me joy and I know it brings joy to a lot of other people. We need more joy right now.”

Teams like the one at the Philbrook Museum of Art have made that connection a full time job.

"All of our gardens bloomed while we were closed so we put cameras out in the gardens and let people see the gardens when they couldn't be in them," said Stulen. "We have had all sorts of online programming from kid’s art lessons, to having live musicians preform from our log cabin, and paying local musicians to come and do that."

Everyone has their own special way of connecting with their communities.

The Tulsa Opera has been posting virtual performances from artists all over the world.

Gilcrease Museum has been posting videos and art, conversations from Curators and mindful mediations.

Organizations have also been focusing on giving back despite the money they may not be making right now.

The Philbrook said they are tripling the size of their vegetable gardens, and growing food to donate to the food bank. They say they have also been giving 10 percent of membership dollars to the United Way COVID-19 Relief Program.

"We really feel like it will come back to us in the long run but now is not the time to be hoarding things, it is not, now is the time to be giving when we can," said Stulen.