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City Style 12.1.08 President’s Letter
Well, it’s time for the Christmas Parade and once again I’d like to thank Public Service Company of Oklahoma as our main sponsor. In addition, KTUL NewsChannel 8, televises the Parade at a tremendous cost to them and a benefit to the community. We’d like to single out these two Corporate leaders for their dedication and hard work in making the PSO Christmas Parade of Lights a reality. Thanks also to Heather Pingry and Sarah Brown for the work they’ve done this year putting the Parade together. It only lasts an hour, but it literally takes months of planning to make this happen. Tulsa’s unique in that we’re one of the few communities that still have a Christmas parade downtown, and one of even fewer that have it at night. I hope everybody has had a chance to go to an event at the BOK Center and see what an absolutely fabulous facility we’ve built for ourselves. Work has started on the Convention Center improvements which should be a tremendous boost for our Convention and Visitors industry. Also, the Tulsa Development Authority has completed the sale/gifting of the land for the ballpark and foundations in town have stepped up to the plate to assemble property around the new baseball stadium so that it can truly be an economic development tool to create lots of activity Downtown. I hope everyone has a joyous and happy holiday season and don’t forget to come Downtown to the Christmas Parade. Very truly yours, Jim Norton Experience the Magic of the Holiday Season at the 2008 PSO Christmas Parade of Lights Join us for the 19th Annual PSO Christmas Parade of Lights, scheduled for Saturday, December 13, 2008 at 6 p.m. The Parade will return to its original route this year, after changing last year due to downtown construction. The Parade will begin at 8th and Cincinnati, travel north on Cincinnati to 4th, turn west on 4th to Boulder, then south on Boulder to 9th. A map of the parade route can be found at www.tulsadowntown.org. Be sure to bundle up and stake out your spot along the parade route early. As always, parking is available on surrounding streets and surface lots. Parade organizers are delighted to have American Idol Finalist and Oklahoma native Alaina Whitaker serve as the Grand Marshal. Whitaker was featured on season seven of American Idol where she made it all the way to round four, featuring the top 24 contestants. Since American Idol, Alaina Whitaker has returned home to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she is a student at Metro Christian Academy. Whitaker continues to be busy performing solo shows as well as part of the trio Whitaker Malloy, formed by Whitaker, her sister Brittney Whitaker and American Idol contestant Kady Malloy.
Get into the spirit the evening before the parade, December 12, 2008, as the floats are on display in the Convention Center’s Exhibit Hall C. Judging begins at 6 p.m. and is free and open to the public for a “sneak peak” of what to expect at the parade. Trophies will be awarded on Saturday immediately before the parade begins. Categories include Best of Show, Best Use of Lights and Most Creative. We hope to see you at the parade! If you can’t make it to the parade, please be sure to watch it on KTUL NewsChannel 8. The PSO Christmas Parade of Lights is sponsored by Public Service Company of Oklahoma, KTUL NewsChannel 8, Burggraf Disaster Restoration, Conner & Winters, Million Dollar Elm Casino, Oklahoma Central Credit Union, Tulsa Ballet, Verizon Wireless, American Airlines and MidFirst Bank and is produced by Downtown Tulsa Unlimited. 2008 Collectible Downtown Tulsa Ornament Celebrates the New BOK Center
Made exclusively for Downtown Tulsa Unlimited by The Charleston Mint, these limited edition ornaments are a beautiful collector’s item. Each ornament comes numbered with a certificate of authenticity. Ornaments are brass with a 24 karat gold overlay. The BOK Center is featured in silver hand baked enamel to spotlight its position in Downtown. Not only is the 2008 ornament a great collectible in our series, it is also a great way to commemorate the opening of the BOK Center. It makes a great holiday gift for friends and family as well as Downtown employees and clients. The 2008 ornaments, as well as previous editions, are available at Downtown Tulsa Unlimited, 321 South Boston Avenue, Suite 101 and at Tulsa Treasures at 411 East 11th Street. Ornaments are only $17, sales tax included, and stands are available for $4. Discounts are available for large purchases. Proceeds from the sale of the ornaments benefit downtown promotions in an effort to make downtown Tulsa a great place to live, work, and play. Be sure to get your ornaments soon. This limited edition is selling quickly and last year’s ornaments sold out! For more information about collecting the Downtown Tulsa ornaments, please visit DTU or call 918.583.2617. Membership Breakfast Thank you to the many members and guests that attended our Membership Breakfast November 5th at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, which featured Mayor Kathy Taylor as the speaker. We would like to thank our table sponsors American Parking, Argue Properties, Arvest Bank, Bank of Oklahoma, Borden Dairy, Chase Bank, City of Tulsa, First Street Lofts, Flintco, Kanbar Properties, MidFirst Bank, Oklahoma Manufacturing Alliance, Public Service Company of Oklahoma and Tulsa Metro Chamber. Stay tuned for information on our next Membership Breakfast scheduled for the 1st quarter of 2009. Mayfest is Seeking Visual and Performing Artists for 2009 Festival The 37th annual Tulsa International Mayfest, May 14-17, 2009, is seeking visual and performing artists for the 2009 festival.
Created to promote the arts and humanities, this four day Tulsa tradition invites approximately 100 fine artists and 20 craftspeople to exhibit their work. Entries are professionally judged according to strict guidelines. Please apply at www.zapplication.org by January 15, 2009. If you have any questions or need additional information, please call the Mayfest office at 918.582.6435 or email the Visual Artist Chair at vachair@tulsamayfest.org. For performing artists, Mayfest features three outdoor stages, where performers have the opportunity to receive exposure and recognition from over 350,000 attendees during the four- day festival. In the past, Mayfest has asked performers to fill out a paper application and mail it in with their CD. New for Mayfest 2009 is the option of applying online at www.sonicbids.com: bands create an electronic press kit connecting musicians and promoters. Over 14,000 promoters are using Sonicbids including SXSW Music Conference and Festival, Lollapalooza and Warped Tour. The Performing Arts Committee is always looking for ways to make the process of applying faster and easier for performers, and we feel that Sonicbids does just that. We’ve had great success with our online application process for visual artists and we think Sonicbids is the tool we need to do the same for our musicians. Applicants can receive more information about applying here. The deadline for applications is Monday, January 12th, and the application fee is $10. For questions regarding the application process, please email comments@tulsamayfest.org or call 918.582.6435. Mayfest Seeks Art from Tulsa’s College Students The 2009 Mayfest specialty gallery has been created to showcase the artwork of Tulsa’s most promising creative class: college students. Tulsa International Mayfest is seeking entries from area college students to participate in the Mayfest Exhibition of College Artists. The visual arts exhibition will be held in the Park Centre lobby during Tulsa International Mayfest, from Thursday May 14th- Sunday May 17th. This year’s show is “The Urban Landscape,” which was chosen for its focus on Tulsa’s growing recognition of a strong core, an embracing of urbanity, and the way that Tulsa’s creative class views that space. Interpretations of this theme are left up to the artist and creativity is both encouraged and expected. Submissions are due on April 7th, 2009. Artists may submit works in the following mediums: ceramics, clay, digital art, drawing, fiber, glass, graphics/printmaking, metal, mixed media, painting, pastel, photography, sculpture and wood. All artists submitting work must be currently enrolled as an undergraduate student of a Tulsa area college or university. All artwork submissions should be made via email, one image per email. Please put “Mayfest College Gallery Submission” as the subject and provide artist name, phone number, email, title, media and price (if applicable) in the body of the email with each submission. Then, attach the image of your artwork to the email, no larger than 1 MB, and send to collegegallery@tulsamayfest.org. Please limit your submissions to two works. Artists whose work is selected will be notified by email by April 24th. For more information, please contact Elizabeth Downing, College Gallery Chair, at 918-277-3786 or collegegallery@tulsamayfest.org. BOK Center’s Winterfest Provides Family Fun during the Holiday Season! Visit Downtown Tulsa this winter season for the inaugural BOK Center Winterfest celebration! Experience the thrill of outdoor ice skating beneath the sparkling skyline, enjoy delicious holiday concessions and live entertainment on the plaza, or take a magical carriage ride with your family through the streets of the city. There's plenty of holiday cheer for the entire family. The month-long community celebration began the day after Thanksgiving and runs through New Year's Eve. Be part of Tulsa’s newest winter tradition! Be sure to visit the 6000 square foot outdoor Arvest Ice Rink. Bring your own skates or rent them at the rink. Group and private party rates are available. It's worth a trip to Winterfest just to see Oklahoma’s tallest outdoor holiday tree. Just steps from the rink sits a towering 35’ holiday tree that will glow nightly with over 25,000 lights. The magically-lit tree provides the perfect backdrop for holiday photographs and caroling. Enjoy a festive ride through the streets of Downtown Tulsa on a horse-drawn carriage. The exquisite old-fashioned Dreamcatcher Carriage holds up to six passengers and is a magical way for a family to spend some quality time together. Bank of Oklahoma is the proud sponsor of the live outdoor entertainment at this year's Winterfest. The 24' stage on the plaza will host live music every Friday and Saturday evening from 5:00-7:00PM. A variety of musical talent is scheduled, including school choirs, marching bands, church groups, and brass ensembles. All entertainment is free and open to the public. Nothing gets you in the spirit of the season like hearing your favorite holiday carols. Local musicians and church groups will fill the outdoor plaza with festive melodies throughout Winterfest. Grab a cup of hot chocolate or a frothy mug of peppermint cappuccino and take it all in! Visit the Winterfest Plaza on December 11, 2008 and meet some of the stars from the world-famous "Radio City Christmas Spectacular." Meet some of the Rockettes and get pictures and autographs.. Skate with the Oilers Night: Visit the Arvest Ice Rink on Wednesday, December 17, from 7:00-9:00PM and share the ice with your favorite Oilers players! Autographs will be available as well as photo opportunities with the Oilers' players, ice girls, and mascot. Visit the BOK Center’s Web site for a calendar of Winterfest events. Dwelling Spaces Opens 2nd Downtown Location Many of you who know and love the original Dwelling Spaces location at 119 S. Detroit, will enjoy visiting their second location, which recently opened in the Philcade at 511 S. Boston. The original location, which is open 11am to 4pm Sunday - Monday and 11am to 7pm Tuesday – Saturday, offers fun home accessories, unique gifts, artwork and apparel. The new location in the Philcade is open 10am-2pm Monday – Friday and features a selection of Tulsa and Oklahoma related merchandise. Visit www.dwellingspaces.net for more info. Happenings Don’t forget to check out our Web site for a calendar of Downtown events. |
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Recently a group of four downtown professionals visited Tulsa as part of an International Downtown Association Advisory Panel. The Mayor’s office coordinated the visit and their purpose was to look at the Improvement District, its implementation, and make recommendations for it to move forward for the next 30 years. One of their first recommendations was that the current custodial responsibilities, which DTU performs, are done as good as or better than anyone in the country. That’s very encouraging news for us, and it tells us that what we’ve been doing for the last 30 years has been a tremendous success. They were very impressed with the cleanliness of Downtown and with the efficiency of our operations. They made suggestions that DTU needs to reach out to the surrounding neighborhoods and to other interest groups to include them in creating a vision for Downtown that everyone buys into. They also made other recommendations regarding the marketing of our Central Business District in creating lively activities throughout the year. These are items which we have totally embraced and look forward to making the future better for everyone.
Viewers will also delight in brilliantly lit floats, high school marching bands, dance groups, dog and equestrian units, and of course, the parade would not be complete without an appearance by Santa Claus. As always, giant helium balloons are a highlight of the parade. .jpg)
Downtown Tulsa Unlimited’s 12th edition of collectible downtown ornaments features Downtown’s newest and most exciting addition, the BOK Center, as the foreground to the historically rich Tulsa skyline.
Many participating visual artists in 2007 and 2008 saw record sales, and the same is expected in 2009. In 2008, Mayfest joined other nationally known art shows in utilizing a free, one-stop universal online application system,