Community Calendar

The exhibit explores how Oklahoma’s 400-plus miles of drivable highway shaped communities along the route and continues to draw travelers today.

Route 66 was created in 1926 and quickly became one of the most consequential roads in American history. For Oklahomans, it was an escape route during the Dust Bowl, an economic lifeline for roadside communities, and eventually a casualty of the interstate system. “The Longest Stretch” traces that full arc, from the road’s rise to its decline, and into its revival through preservation and tourism.

Major artifacts on display include a 1915 Model T Roadster, a restored Taft Stadium sign, a Big Boy statue, and a 1961 Corvette on loan from the National Corvette Museum. Hands-on interactives will allow visitors to engage directly with the story of Route 66 and its evolution over time.

On display through Sept. 20, this free Community Gallery exhibition explores the centennial of Route 66 and its path through 14 tribal reservations in Oklahoma. The exhibit examines the highway's car culture alongside themes of tribal sovereignty, cultural tourism, nationalism and Native representation.

Guests will explore the animated world of Dia de Muertos through a unique collection of 2 and 3-dimensional artwork. From the work of early pre-Hispanic cultures to the 21st century, Lives of the Dead offers 1000 years of artistic visions of the dead. The exhibition emphasizes current and vintage Latin American folk art. From Papier-mâché (cartoneria) skulls and skeletons created by the famous Linares family to the ceramic tableaux and Catrinas of Metepec, Lives of the Dead brings together some of Latin America’s most renowned folk artists. Other exhibition highlights include antique prints by Jose Guadalupe Posada, Manuel Manilla, and Dia de Muertos, as seen in contemporary paintings and prints from Mexico. Visitors will also experience the celebration and beliefs behind Dia de Muertos with the inclusion of an elaborate Mexican style ofrenda.

Explore a monumental outdoor installation by Oklahoma City–based artists Denise Duong and Gabriel Friedman that transforms Campbell Art Park into a site of story, symbolism, and discovery. Conceived as a constellation of six sculptural forms, including a head, a hand, and four birdlike spheres, the work invites viewers to enter a world where order and chaos intertwine.

Organized to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the Museo de Arte de Ponce in Puerto Rico, "The Sense of Beauty: Six Centuries of Painting from Museo de Arte de Ponce" presents a selection of sixty paintings by European, Puerto Rican, and North American artists that reflect the scope and diversity of the museum’s collection. The exhibition is organized into five sections based on themes that have been popular in the history of art: scenes of daily life, landscapes, religion, portraiture, and the concept of beauty. This juxtaposition of masterpieces from the sixteenth through the twenty-first century fosters a visual and thematic dialogue, establishing unexpected connections between works that correspond to different historical and geographical contexts.

"The Sense of Beauty" will showcase masterworks by prominent European and North American artists, including religious paintings by Lucas Cranach the Elder, Peter Paul Rubens, and Anthony van Dyck; portraits by Joshua Reynolds, Élisabeth Louise Vigée LeBrun, and Francisco de Goya; landscapes by Frederic Edwin Church, William Merritt Chase, and Gustave Courbet; and genre scenes by William-Adolphe Bouguereau, James Tissot, and John Singer Sargent. The Museo de Arte de Ponce is also renowned for having one of the most significant collections of Victorian art outside of the United Kingdom. Their iconic painting "Flaming June" by Frederic Leighton will be featured along with works by Dante Gabriel Rossetti and John Everett Millais. Additionally, the exhibition will highlight the rich heritage of Puerto Rican art, from José Campeche’s religious images of the late eighteenth century to the work of contemporary artists such as Francisco Rodón, Myrna Báez, and Waldemar Morales Lugo.

"The Sense of Beauty: Six Centuries of Painting from Museo de Arte de Ponce" has been organized by the Museo de Arte de Ponce in collaboration with the Oklahoma City Museum of Art.

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Image Credit:

Frederic, Lord Leighton (England, 1830-1896), "Flaming June," 1895, oil on canvas, 46 7/8 x 46 7/8 in. (119.1 x 119.1 cm), Museo de Arte de Ponce. The Luis A. Ferré Foundation, Inc.

Science Museum Oklahoma presents Spin! The Art of the Modern Zoetrope, now on display in the museum’s smART Space galleries through August 2027. The exhibition features works by eight artists who reimagine the 19th-century zoetrope, an early animation device that creates the illusion of motion through rapidly sequenced images. Interactive exhibits explore motion, perception, vision persistence and animation, and are included with museum admission.

Featuring over 60 animatronic dinosaurs, skeletons, photo ops, and rides - Dinosaur Expedition will engage guests with prehistoric creatures from the Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Triassic Periods. Identify which OKC Zoo animals are the living relatives of the dinosaurs that once roamed the earth, and how supporting the Zoo's conservation efforts can help save these species!

The exhibit explores how Oklahoma’s 400-plus miles of drivable highway shaped communities along the route and continues to draw travelers today.

Route 66 was created in 1926 and quickly became one of the most consequential roads in American history. For Oklahomans, it was an escape route during the Dust Bowl, an economic lifeline for roadside communities, and eventually a casualty of the interstate system. “The Longest Stretch” traces that full arc, from the road’s rise to its decline, and into its revival through preservation and tourism.

Major artifacts on display include a 1915 Model T Roadster, a restored Taft Stadium sign, a Big Boy statue, and a 1961 Corvette on loan from the National Corvette Museum. Hands-on interactives will allow visitors to engage directly with the story of Route 66 and its evolution over time.

On display through Sept. 20, this free Community Gallery exhibition explores the centennial of Route 66 and its path through 14 tribal reservations in Oklahoma. The exhibit examines the highway's car culture alongside themes of tribal sovereignty, cultural tourism, nationalism and Native representation.

Guests will explore the animated world of Dia de Muertos through a unique collection of 2 and 3-dimensional artwork. From the work of early pre-Hispanic cultures to the 21st century, Lives of the Dead offers 1000 years of artistic visions of the dead. The exhibition emphasizes current and vintage Latin American folk art. From Papier-mâché (cartoneria) skulls and skeletons created by the famous Linares family to the ceramic tableaux and Catrinas of Metepec, Lives of the Dead brings together some of Latin America’s most renowned folk artists. Other exhibition highlights include antique prints by Jose Guadalupe Posada, Manuel Manilla, and Dia de Muertos, as seen in contemporary paintings and prints from Mexico. Visitors will also experience the celebration and beliefs behind Dia de Muertos with the inclusion of an elaborate Mexican style ofrenda.