Shoes, the designers who create them, and the artists who interpret, have taken the runway in Science Museum Oklahoma’s latest smART Space exhibit, “Sole Expression: The Art of the Shoe.”
“Sole Expression: The Art of the Shoe” features 25 shoe designers and artists from throughout the state, nation, and the world, and includes six unique elements, from how shoes have been interpreted in art throughout history to local artists’ interpretations of their relationships with shoes. For every shoe, there is a story and some, such as Alyson Atchison’s display, are tearjerkers.
“‘Sole Expression’ has a lot of layers and includes artists from Oklahoma City to Indianapolis to Israel and the Netherlands — and their creations are incredible,” said Scott Henderson, director smART Space.
Guests can explore modern artistic interpretations of the shoe, the enchanted shoes featured in fairytales and folklore, a materials touch wall, as well as an installation that explores people’s relationships with footwear that was created from donated shoes.
Oklahoma artists for Sole Expression are Artus, Alyson Atchison, Nick Bayer, Erica Bonavida, Kim Camp, Kjelshus Collins, Gayle Curry, Douglas Shaw Elder, Klair Larason, Nathan Lee, Sean Vali and Julie Yang. Shoe designers and their country or city of residence include Zita Attalai, Hungary; Amber Ambrose Aurele, Netherlands; Suhandan Ozay Demirkan, Turkey; Gabriel Dishaw, Indianapolis; Costa Magarakis, Israel; Hugh Meade, Oklahoma City; Mark O’Brien, England; Mark Schwartz, New York; Kelly Jo Shows, Kennebunk, Maine; Lisa Sorrell and Paige Sorrell, Guthrie, Oklahoma; and Col-lec-tion artists Liza Snook and Charlotte Visser, Netherlands.
Admission to the museum’s smART Space galleries is included with the cost of general admission and is now open during regular hours. While there, be sure to see the photo-documented joint art exhibit by husband-and-wife team Scott and Katie Henderson in, Off the Beaten Path. The photos tour many of Oklahoma’s unusual, intriguing and lesser-known areas through Off the Beaten Pat.
Science Museum Oklahoma is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday; 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday; and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. Daily general admission is $15.95 for adults (ages 13 to 64) and $12.95 for children (ages 3 to 12) and seniors (65 and older). Annual memberships begin at $95.
For more information about smART Space at Science Museum Oklahoma, visit www.sciencemuseumok.org/smart-space.
