New Public Art In Altus OK

Parking Meter In Deep Ellum In Dallas.

Decorated Box In Altus.

Lindsay McKenzie’s Mural In Altus.
Deep Ellum is described as an “arts and entertainment” neighborhood in Dallas Texas in guides to that metropolis, and its name is said to have originated from the mispronunciation of the name of one of its main thoroughfares, Elm Street, by immigrants from Eastern Europe who operated a variety of retail stores there in the early years of the last century. In time it became  the center of African American  life and culture in Dallas, and entertainers  such as Blind Lemon Jefferson and Robert Johnson performed  and recorded  there. After the Second World War it entered into a period of decline but has been gentrified in recent years and is now  home to clubs, art galleries  and renovated structures  that are home  to prosperous young Millennials. Like many neighborhoods throughout the nation  that have experienced a renaissance,  it is known for  the public art found there  that includes  parking meters painted in bright colors that have paisley designs on them. And a somewhat similar display of municipal art was recently unveiled in the community of Altus in Southwest  Oklahoma, where  a silver box situated on the northeast corner of the Courthouse Square  that regulates  a traffic light there was transformed into an   intriguing work of art    that  displays  a young woman’s face and yellow flowers. That image is the creation of a local artist, Rocky Santana, who is a  disabled  military veteran according to Lynna Wilmes of the Altus Main Street organization   that oversaw the project. The downtown Altus area  features a surprising amount  of public art, that includes a series of murals on the back of buildings that face Main Street that have painted by local artists.
The National Palace in Mexico City is situated  on the Zocalo, the central plaza of that city, and on It’s stairways and stairwells are the  four murals that Mexican artist Diego Rivera painted  that told the history of Mexico in colorful and vivid detail, and featured  an image of Rivera’s wife, the flamboyant   and controversial  artist Frida Kahlo.  A somewhat similar mural is currently being painted in Altus, where local  artist Lindsay McKenzie has filled a wall of pink bricks  with the letters of “ Oklahoma”  with the individual letters filled with the  cotton, blue sky, aircrafts, and other things that  the state is known for with vivid colors that are reminiscent of Rivera’s work. Mc Kenzie’s art  is  suggestive of a  cheerful and optimistic psyche,  and can be found in both public and private locales throughout the community of Altus. And it is possible that other communities may call upon her to endow their public places with her art.

Iron Monk Brewery Beer Comes To Granny’s Kitchen In OKC

Mohammad Mahmoud Of Granny’s Kitchen

Histories of Russia document that how before the Soviet era being exiled by the government to Siberia did not entail being forced to labor on construction projects in that cold area but consisted instead of being compelled  to reside in small towns there. There wasn’t much to do in those places, but one festive  event that all of the people there celebrated was the arrival of the community’s allotment of vodka by train from Moscow, which was commemorated by a procession  from the railroad station   in which the liquor was brought into town  by the local  Russian Orthodox priest  who led the hymn singing  procession by holding a large  metal cross in his hands. And the arrival of the beer brewed at the celebrated Iron Monk Brewery  and  Tap  Room  in Stillwater Oklahoma made its way to the recently opened  Granny’s Kitchen that is located at 2121 W Memorial in Oklahoma  City  last week  without  much festive ceremony  but with  equal enthusiasm for  those citizens  of Oklahoma’s capital city  who have developed a fondness for the beer prepared by that  brewery . That craft  brewery, which has been in operation for several years,  serves a variety of beers to a  diverse clientele  of people that was known to  expand geometrically  during OSU sporting events and on occasions when local musicians performed within its walls, and aficionados  could often be seen  carrying  cases of it’s concoctions to their cars and trucks.  It’s formal arrival in Oklahoma City was heralded by the owner of Granny’s Kitchen, Mohammad  Mahmoud,  handing to a patron who was picking up a to go order a  blue can labelled “Stilly Wheat”  that he refused to accept payment for since it was a gift. The customer, who was an alumni of OSU and had previously worked in Stillwater, thanked the restaurateur  and inquired  as to   what other brews from Iron Monk would be available. He further told of how Stilly Wheat and several other brews made there are made from wheat grown in Oklahoma and  also has other  ingredient that originated in the state.  Mahmoud, who owns  and operates the original Granny’s Kitchen in Stillwater, is a popular figure in that community due in large part  to his affable and generous nature,   and the operators of the brewery may have seen him as the appropriate party to introduce their beers to Oklahoma City. It has been said that the  consumption of the Mimosas and Bloody  Mary’s  that his Stillwater location dispenses  is now a weekend  ritual for many customers, and he has had to purchase a large dispenser of champagne to satisfy the demand for the former concoction as a result.  And the restaurateur is looking forward  to his new restaurant hosting patrons from throughout the Oklahoma City area.

Representative Ajay Pittman’s Critique Of Plan To Reopen

Democratic Representative Ajay Pittman Of OKC

“There are opportunities in opposition,” a senior member of the British Parliament advised   a young Margaret Thatcher who had lost her junior cabinet position in the Conservative government of Edward Heath when  the opposition  Labour Party won a majority of the seats in that body  in 1974 and Labour’s   Harold Wilson became prime minister. As documented in a recent biography of Thatcher, she had been disheartened by the   electorate’s rejection of the Conservative Party  and wondered if she would ever be able to again  be part of a Conservative government as a result of the Labour victory. And  Thatcher, who had retained her parliamentary seat in the Labour triumph,  developed her formidable skills as a parliamentary debater  in the subsequent  legislative sessions as she sparred with  Labour  representatives and became as a forceful and knowledgeable   critic of their policies.  Eventually Thatcher would challenge her former mentor Heath for the leadership position of the Conservative Party in Parliament, and after ousting him  would lead her party to victory in the general election of 1979 and would go on to  become one of the longest serving prime ministers  in  British history.
In recent years it would seem that several  Democratic female lawmakers in the Oklahoma Legislature have learned, just as Thatcher did, of the opportunities that are open to them  in their efforts to oppose the programs of the  state’s Republican governor and GOP majority in the  Oklahoma legislature. Democratic state lawmakers  Emily Virgin and Kay Floyd and Chelsey Branham  are often a presence at gatherings in the state capital when groups who seek to add the less fortunate are meeting, and often make forceful presentations about how the their  counterparts in the GOP   do not share their commitment to assist the marginalized and powerless and often seem to be more intent  on fostering  divisions among  Oklahomans.  And   the response made by Oklahoma City   Democratic  Representative Ajay Pittman to  Governor’s Stitt’s stated plan to  “reopen” the state  after the onslaught of the Coronavirus  is of the  type of the penetrating and thoughtful  critiques made by Thatcher’s  of the Labour Party’s proposals. Pittman pointed out that  the Democratic lawmaker’s input was not sought by the chief executive, and they only became aware of it  when he began to discuss it’s  terms in a press conference that he had called for that purpose, and that talk of  “reopening” the state was premature since it had never been adequately shut down. She further detailed that  there are no plans being made to ascertain who in the state is either  suffering from  or is a asymptomatic carrier of   the dread virus, and that more tests and protective  equipment are  needed.  She praised  Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt, who was formerly a Republican member of the Legislature, for his continued efforts to have people “Shelter in Place,”  and asked her constituents  in House District 99  to continue their sheltering at home. Pittman  further said that a premature opening of the state could result in an increase in the number of lives lost to the virus, and if the governor’s plan as written is put in place the lawmaker’s warning may prove to be tragically prescient.

Simply Falafel In The Time Of Coronavirus

Magid Assaleh Of Simply Falafel
A visit to restaurants in the Oklahoma City area  at this time is a somewhat somber  and unsettling experience at this time, with  main doors often being closed or locked   and what had previously been dining rooms filled with patrons now darkened places with chairs on tables and staffers bringing packages of food to patrons who then carry them to their vehicles.
But an expedition to Simply Falafel at 343 S. Blackwelder Avenue  in Edmond  reveals an establishment that is surprisingly similar  to the  condition it was in prior to the onset of the Coronavirus. While the several tables located there have their chairs on them, the booths that were formerly occupied by a variety of patrons remain in place, and the lights that illuminate the establishment continue to glow with their characteristic luster . The cooking staff  that were often visible through a window into the kitchen can still be frequently seen and heard speaking with the other staffers in a combination of English and Arabic, and the cooler that dispenses a wide variety of soft drinks continues to be fully stocked.  On a recent sun drenched afternoon  customers could be seen entering the place  and picking up orders and exchanging greetings with the place’s proprietor, Magid Assaleh, who may have perceptively realized that ensuring such a degree of continuity would be reassuring to both his staff and his customers. The  establishment   has an atmosphere that is somewhat similar  to that of the bar that was the featured in the classic television show “Cheers,” with Assaleh asking his customers about their spouses and children in a friendly and familiar manner and often  being shown selfies of them, and staffers being on a first name basis with many of those who walk through the door.  When one patron who was placing a to go order  said that the place was one of his wife’s favorite eateries, Assaleh told him what his wife usually ordered, and said that his staff knows how she likes it to be prepared and that  it would be ready in short order.  The restaurateur’s   smiling son  Andrew  was also in attendance, and when he was not manning the cash register he  was often seen taking  large silver containers  that may have been family dinners to  still running vehicles in front of the place.  The senior Assalaeh frequently makes arrangement  for an immigration attorney to meet with his foreign born employees who are eligible to become lawful US residents  at the restaurant  and the attorney was briefly  seen  at one of the booths with one of those employees  conferring about those lengthy  forms. And Magid Assaleh said that he misses many of his customers who hasn’t seen since the Coronavirus descended upon us, and that he  longs for the day when he can began to take chairs off of his tables and seat people there.

The Art of Bruce Springsteen And Lindsay Mc Kenzie

Lindsay McKenzie’s Unfinished Mural “Oklahoma.”

In early 1973 a then  obscure performer from coastal  New Jersey, Bruce Springsteen, released an album, “Greetings From Asbury Park N.,J,.” that’s  cover was a replica of a postcard from the Jersey Shore resort town.   That work that was  acclaimed  by several Rock critics who were aware of it’s release, but did not generate impressive sales, and it wasn’t until Springsteen’s subsequent work became popular that it  became a top selling album. Several observers praised Springsteen for creating art out of  young life in what was then a declining shore resort community,  and decades later the artist would write  in his memoirs,   “That most of those songs  were twisted autobiographies that found their seed in people, places, hangouts and incidents I had seen and things that I had lived . I wrote impressionistically and changed names to protect the guilty. I worked to find something that was identifiably mine.” Rolling Stone would  later conclude in an appraisal of Springsteen’s contribution to Rock  that the album “was packed to the gills with wild  rhymes, humorous asides, vivid characters, and breathless stream of consciousness imagery.”
And an  artist  who works in another medium  who is based in the community of Altus in  Southwest Oklahoma, Lindsay McKenzie, is in the process of creating a public mural  that is reminiscent of that album cover, and the work that she has completed to date is indicative of the fact that she, like Bruce Springsteen, sees art in the every day  life that surrounds her. Her mural also resembles a postcard and is being drawn on a structure in downtown Altus, and  will feature  the letters of  “Oklahoma” filled with images that are contained in the state, including cotton fields, oil wells, buffaloes, aircrafts, and several other items that  are found there.  Springsteen had been an artist featured in many clubs and bars along the  South Jersey Atlantic coast when he first secured that contract for that album, and McKenzie is an artist that is found throughout Altus and neighboring communities, and her recent public murals of flowers that have been placed conspicuously on  downtown structures in Altus  have been the source of reassurance to a place that is concerned about the effects of the Coronavirus especially since the neighboring town of Mangum has recently lost several citizens who were residing in a nursing home to that disease. And  the artist, who is a mother of two small children and  possesses a strong Christian faith, said that she hopes that her most recent project will fill people with pride in the state of Oklahoma and a belief in a  bright future for all of its citizens.

Public Murals In Altus OK

Lindsay Mc Kenzie’s Most Recent Public Mural In Altus, Oklahoma

Recently the peripatetic  travelers who host the History Channel production “American Pickers” made their way to the community of Vernon in North Texas, which is located across the Red River from the town of Altus Oklahoma. The pickers  had apparently been directed to that locale by the woman in their headquarters in Iowa who works the phone to locate individuals who have memorable items in their possession that they have indicated that they may be willing to part with if the price is right. Their destination was  a seemingly empty building situated at 1903 West Wilbarger Street there that formerly  housed the Robert L More Tire Company, and the elderly owner of that location told them how his family had operated a gas station and later a tire company there.  While the travelers found many  metal signs and other items that they wished to purchase,  Mr. More indicated that most of them had to much sentimental value for  him to sell, and they departed after they placed  several items in their iconic  panel truck.
The images that were shown of Vernon conveyed the image of a somewhat somber downtown  area  without much signs of activity, and it was explained that an adjacent vacant structure had decades ago been a hotel that the station provided overnight parking for. But if the pickers had seen fit to take their show across the adjacent Red River and gone to Altus, Oklahoma, they would have found a downtown area  bustling with activity despite the onslaught of the Coronavirus. Several structures there are being revitalized and will soon be hosting new or renovated  businesses.   A local artist of some renown, Lindsay  McKenzie, has been commissioned to place bright murals on several different locations there, and the pickers’ cameras would have shown a variety of bright flowers there that gleam  under a sky the color of robin’s eggs and seem to convey a message of hope in these troubled times. And the sight of McKenzie working on downtown murals there  has  also been  a sign  of hope and reassurance to an understandably frightened populace, and selfies taken of her in the course of her work have been widely distributed. Another of McKenzie’s  public creations is an intriguing series of pastel colored  boxes that has prompted speculation as to what they symbolize. The artist has also seen fit to take her art onto Facebook where she gave guidance and direction to children on how to draw rabbits.  People have  taken  photos of themselves and their children in front of those murals, and decades from now they will probably be shown to friends and descendants with the explanation that some of  the subjects were wearing surgical  masks because they were taken during the time of the Coronavirus. During the Second World War entertainer Vera Lynn sang “There Will be Bluebirds Over the White Cliffs of Dover” that  became a popular anthem to the British people, and the bright murals of Altus, Oklahoma may play a similar role to the citizenry there.

Haneen AlNajjar Of The Heart Hospital In South OKC

Haneen Alnajjar At Work In the South Side Heart Hospital In OKC

“ I  like Mr. Gorbachev,  we can do business together,”  then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher rather famously said after  meeting with that Soviet leader in 1984. Thatcher, who like American President Ronald  Reagan was deeply suspicious of Soviet intentions in various parts of the world, made that statement after she had hosted the  Soviet leader at the  Chequers property   in the British countryside that is the country home of British prime ministers.    And as detailed in a recent biography of Thatcher,   the prime minister was somewhat surprised when  Gorbachev brought his wife Raisa to the gathering, since her  advisers in the  British Foreign Office had  told her that the wives of Soviet leaders were rarely brought to such functions, and when they did  appear they rarely talked . And Raisa Gorbacheva,  who had been trained as a lawyer,  proved to be a formidable advocate for the positions taken by the Soviet government, and forcefully argued on their behalf  to Thatcher and the other British officials present. The British prime minister was a perceptive observer of other world leaders, and she was struck by the fact that Gorbachev’s pride in his wife’s abilities  was apparent  and that he welcomed her contributions to the ongoing exchanges between the British and Russian  officials. That experience prompted Thatcher to conclude that Mikhael Gorbachev was a new type of Soviet leader who was not wedded to the Cold War concepts that had  guided his predecessors.
And a recent conversation with restaurateur Mohammed Mahmoud, who goes by the name of  Mike and  operates the Sam’s Southern Eatery    in Stillwater and has   recently been assisting in the opening  of the Granny Kitchen at 2121 W. Memorial Road in Oklahoma City  regarding his spouse  Haneen Alnajjar  reveals him to be a man with a similar sense of pride in his wife and her accomplishments. She is a health care worker at the Heart Hospital in South Oklahoma City, and migrated  to the U.S. From the Kingdom of Jordan in the  Middle East in 2015.  He recently told of how she has worked hard to obtain that position, which frequently includes the drawing of blood  from patients, and that she considers it an honor to be working to protect her patients from the various diseases, including the Coronavirus, that could threaten their well being. And while she and her co-workers are understandably concerned about the possibility  of their incurring  infections from their patients, they continue to treat them with enthusiasm and bravery.  He further told of her admiration for the dedication of the staff at that facility, and that they long for a time when the ravages of the coronavirus are just a memory to be shared with their younger colleagues. Pictures that he shared of her from her place of employment showed a pretty young woman in a hijab who smiled cheerfully.  And the memories of the Coronavirus in Oklahoma City may include for some citizens  the presence of a cheerful young health worker  who cared for patients to the best of her ability.

Shane Jett And The Citizen Potawatomi Community Development Corporation

Shane Jett

Shane Jett formerly served in the Oklahoma Legislature as a representative of  a  house district located in Pottawatomie County, and in that capacity he  often advocated for innovative proposals that were designed to encourage economic growth in the state. The former Republican   lawmaker was an advocate for international trade for that purpose and travelled to diverse locales such as the African states  of Kenya and Rwanda  and the South American nation of  Brazil  in efforts to encourage  commerce  between Oklahoma and those nations. While he was in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, the Oklahoma lawmaker made a presentation to a group of Indian businessmen there who manufactured apparel for the American market  in which he said that he had been advised that they ship their apparel via ship to New York City where it is stored for a time in warehouses until it is transported via truck throughout the U.S. Jett then unveiled a map of the U.S. and said that they could reduce their transportation  costs by shipping them to New Orleans, Louisiana, and then placing them on barges to be transported to Claremore, Oklahoma via the Kerr McClellan Navigational Channel  where they could be warehoused at a fraction of the costs that they were being charged in New York City, and in Oklahoma   they would be in the middle of the U.S. which would cut their time and trucking  costs considerably.   In his excursion to the latter nation Jett  proposed the sale of coal deposits  located in the McAlester area to the vehicle manufacturers of Brazil for use in their steel production process. The lawmaker is an Oklahoma Cherokee, and while in the legislature he co-founded the Native American Caucus.  He is also an officer in the US Naval Reserves.
Shane Jett now serves as the chief executive officer of the Citizen Potawatomie Community Development Corporation which is located in Shawnee,  and in that capacity he is displaying his characteristic  energy and innovative ways. And a bearded  Jett was recently featured in a  Facebook presentation in which he told of how his entity has a total of $25 million in federal funds that can be disbursed to Native American tribes   and to municipalities and other public entities  in Oklahoma that have less  than 20,000 in population. Those monies can be used for  a variety of public purposes, and Jett told of how he and his staff have worked to  make the application procedure  as simple as possible, and are standing by to assist in that process.  And  the former lawmaker also said that the program will allow the state’s smaller communities to enjoy some of the infrastructure improvements that have previously have only benefitted larger municipalities.