Esteemed collection of Native artworks gifted to Oklahoma State Art Collection

The most significant collection of artworks gifted to date to the Oklahoma State Art Collection was announced by the Oklahoma Arts Council on May 14, 2026. The official state agency and leader for the arts recently acquired 10 works created by some of the most influential and highly recognized Native artists connected to Oklahoma. Gifted by America Meredith and Samonia Byford in honor of the collecting vision of their parents, the works from The Howard L. and Mary Ellen Meredith Collection are available to be viewed by the public in the Betty Price Gallery at the Oklahoma State Capitol.

The state agency and leader for the arts in Oklahoma held a public reception celebrating the historic gift on Wednesday, May 13, at the Capitol.

“We are profoundly grateful for this extraordinarily generous gift of America Meredith and Samonia Byford honoring their parents’ remarkable collection,” said Oklahoma Arts Council Executive Director Amber Sharples. “With these acquisitions, we have reached an extraordinary and exciting moment in the history of the Oklahoma State Art Collection. This gift features some of the most significant voices in the visual arts from our state, whose transformative careers shaped generations of artists and established Oklahoma as an epicenter of Native art in the 20th century and beyond.”

New additions to the Oklahoma State Art Collection gifted from The Howard L. and Mary Ellen Meredith Collection include:

• “This Little Piggy Went to Market” by Benjamin Harjo, Jr. (Absentee Shawnee/Seminole)
• “Untitled” watercolor by Norma Howard (Choctaw Nation/Chickasaw/Mississippi Choctaw)
• “Untitled” mountain lion pelt quiver by Vanessa Paukeigope Jennings (Kiowa Tribe/Na’ishq Apache/Gila River Pima)
• “Funeral” by Ruthe Blalock Jones (Shawnee Tribe/Delaware/Peoria)
• “Industrial Trade Blanket #1” by Shan Goshorn (Eastern Band Cherokee)
• “Untitled” mixed media by Doc Tate Nevaquaya (Comanche)
• “Evolving Traditions” by Jane Osti (Cherokee Nation)
• “Untitled” acrylic painted rawhide shield by Juanita Pahdopony (Comanche)
• “Untitled” ceramic vase by Jeri Redcorn (Caddo/Citizen Potawatomi)
• “Four Horsemen” by Dick West (Southern Cheyenne)

“My parents knew how significant Native art was to Oklahoma and the world,” said America Meredith. “Because they knew the artists directly, they were able to collect significant works with profound meanings. It’s an honor for key artworks in their collection to be part of the Oklahoma State Art Collection where they will be cared for and shared with new audiences, ensuring the artists’ messages reach generations to come.”

State of Oklahoma Art Collection

Two other recent gifts to the Oklahoma State Art Collection are also now on display in the Betty Price Gallery. “Prairie Tales” by Enid native John Newsom represents the inaugural gift of the nonprofit Friends of the Oklahoma Arts Council, made possible through the leadership of co-chairs Ken and Mary Ann Fergeson and Jarrod Fergeson and Anna Cox, along with more than 40 individual and philanthropic donors from across the state and country. Newsom’s painting employs rich, vibrant colors to depict the flora and fauna of the Oklahoma prairie.

Acquired through the generosity of John Kennedy, “House in a Fauvist Landscape” by Robert Bonaparte, whose childhood in Oklahoma City included a friendship with famed artist and Oklahoma Cultural Treasure Ed Ruscha, uses bold colors and distorted forms to create an imaginative landscape.

About the Oklahoma State Art Collection

Established in 1971 through a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Oklahoma State Art Collection is a visual anthology of the history of artistic expression in Oklahoma. Comprised of works by Oklahoma’s most notable artists, the collection features more than 200 artworks in mediums ranging from painting and photography to ceramics, sculpture, and fiber art. Exhibitions of works from the collection are displayed in the Betty Price Gallery at the Oklahoma state Capitol.

Free and open to the public, the Betty Price Gallery is located on the second floor of the Capitol and is open weekdays, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.