Painter Inches Away From Serious Injury As Driver Crashes Into Tulsa Art Studio, Drives Off

Police are searching for the driver who crashed into a business near 11th and Harvard, then drove off.

Officers said a man inside the Urban Art Lab Studios was just inches away from being seriously injured. Tyler Griese said he's lucky to be alive. 

"I was just working on my oil painting, and I heard a thud and then, I turned around and there was a hole in the wall," said Griese.

Griese said last night wasn't his usual Sunday routine.

"What I thought was just going to be a Sunday night of painting, was a little dramatic," said Griese.

He said bricks were falling just a few feet away from where he was painting. What he thought was an earthquake at first, was actually a driver slamming into the building.

Griese said when the driver took off, he called the police and then got to work cleaning up.

"And amazingly everybody showed up. Pretty much friends, friend's brothers, and friend's brother's girlfriends," said Rebecca Joskey, director of Urban Art Lab Studios.

Joskey said it was a team effort patching that gaping hole in the wall and she's thankful the community showed up to repair what these artists call their "safe space". Most importantly, she's just glad no one was hurt.

"He usually sits right where I'm standing so the fact that this car came up to, you know, probably within six inches of his knees is an amazing thing in itself," said Joskey. 

Joskey said the repairs will happen soon.

In the meantime, she said nothing will change for Griese and the rest of the artists at Urban Art Lab Studios.

"You take your easel, you move it over, and you continue to paint. That's all you can do," said Joskey.