Creating a in Medicine Park
revival A By Jeff Kaley
debate about the importance of visual arts has prevailed since the fi rst humans were drawing pictures on the walls of their caves. Everyone has their own per- ception about what is—and isn’t—art, but in Med- icine Park, Okla., there are many folks who agree the arts are transforming their town at a key time in its history. Just a couple decades ago, Medicine Park and its populace had bottomed out. Once known as the “Jewel of the Southwest,” by the 1990s the town in the Wichita Mountains, a 20-minute drive north of Lawton, was marked by a sharp decline in the pop- ulation and a lack of direction. A fi rst sign there was a light at the end of the tunnel came when city government and several vol- unteers began clean-up projects meant to restore the infrastructure and esthetic appeal of the village that was built in 1908. But moving into the 21st century, something was needed to attract tourists and poten- tial residents—and that something turned out to be the visual arts. “We started the Red Door Gallery with seven art- ists and now it represents 76,” said Jean Schucker, an artist and Cotton Electric Cooperative member who runs the gallery with her business partner Cynthia Kent. “There were 13 artists when the Art Walk started, but we partnered with the Flute Festival in 2010 and within two years people were begging us to get in. Now we have to cut off the number of artists at 50. The Art Walk has open-air collections that are jur- ied, no crafts allowed. It is very unique and lots of fun. And it makes money; we made $2,500 last year that was used for internships for students.” The Art Walk is one of eight art shows annually.
Bath Lake in Medicine Park, Okla., is one of the many attractions bringing visitors back to the tourist spot once known as the “Jewel of the Southwest.” Photo by Joshua Rouse
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Kent, an art collector and 20-year veteran of the Lawton Community Theatre, said about 70 of the artists represented at the Red Door Gallery are Oklahomans. “About 10 or 12 of them are here in town,” she noted, “and we hope to make Medicine Park a cen- ter for the arts. There’s a lot of enthusiasm.”
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