ARTWORKS at Stage Center in the thumping heart of Oklahoma City, has been a haven for many a budding artists over the last 22 years.

John Johansen, the internationally acclaimed architect, designed the theatre and received the prestigious American Institute of Architects Honors Award for its modern design.

The theatre has been home to Mummers Theatre Company and others, until the building closed in 1988. A year later the Arts Council of Oklahoma City purchased the structure for $2 million. Local Architectural firm Rand Elliot completed the renovations, winning design awards as well.

“STAGE CENTER reopened in 1992 and has been a hub of activity in the Downtown/Midtown area ever since. Architects and students from around the world visit the facility regularly as it is considered among the century’s finest examples of modern architecture. The original model is on display in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

Stage Center

STAGE CENTER currently operates as a multi-use facility for the arts. Consisting of three cement pods connected by steel tunnels, StageCenter houses two theatres: a 210-seat theatre in the round and a 580-seat thrust stage. It also includes a cabaret room, dance studio, rehearsal studios, art gallery space and offices. ”

Johansen’s creation is a living, breathing replica of what the arts consist of. Unique, diverse, confusing to find your way around without one more experienced, yet worth every step of the Labyrinth.

My son spent a week at ARTWORKS this summer, and between City Art Centers amazing Instructor Chad Mount and Artworks gleaming uniquness…am certain a budding Picasso with both ears shall emerge.

The Irony, our home is a resemblance in design to what Johansen created.

Re-bar protruding from walls, our entire structure a concrete haven of art, mystical magic and freedom of expression.

Designed & built by Gene Warr (Acres) during an era (1940’s) when all glass windows nestled in concrete seemed precocious at best. To see Johansen’s work only makes the greening of my flat roof seem more possible. To see the freedom these children have, makes my “Work” seem so unnecessary.

Art is magic, whether one starts with crayons before they can walk, or much later in this life. The healing energy of color, design, expression of emotion…pull together to formulate the whole human spirit.

Something I believe Johansen and others must have known.