OKCMOA - Oklahoma City Museum of Art

The Oklahoma City Museum of Art stands as one of the cultural cornerstones of the region, with a history that reaches back to the early years of Oklahoma’s statehood. Emerging first through civic-minded organizations like the Oklahoma Art League and the Art Renaissance Club, the museum’s foundations were tied to the belief that a growing city needed a strong commitment to art education. That vision took more formal shape in the 1930s with the Works Progress Administration Experimental Gallery, which later evolved into a permanent institution. Officially incorporated in 1945, the museum as it exists today is the product of a 1989 merger between the Oklahoma Art Center and the Oklahoma Museum of Art, a unification that ensured the city’s cultural life remained strong during times of economic challenge.

While the museum is perhaps best known for its remarkable Chihuly glass collection and dynamic exhibitions, photography holds a meaningful place within its holdings. Over the decades, the institution has developed a photography collection that reflects both historic and contemporary approaches to the medium. From early documentary images that captured the evolving identity of Oklahoma and the American West, to modern explorations of portraiture and abstraction, the museum’s photography collection adds a rich visual dimension to its broader narrative of art.

Special exhibitions have often highlighted photography as a transformative art form, exploring its dual power as a documentary tool and a medium of personal expression. The museum’s acquisitions include works by significant American and international photographers, positioning Oklahoma City as a place where the history of photography can be appreciated in dialogue with painting, sculpture, and glass.

Through collecting, curating, and educating, the Oklahoma City Museum of Art continues to affirm photography’s role as both a record of lived experience and a vital, evolving art form that resonates across generations.