Owa Chito- Beavers Bend State Park

Last week I traveled to Beavers Bend, OK to judge the annual Owa Chito art show.

It's a beautiful area of the state, and I was struck by how the history of the region still informs its present. Towns around the area: Broken Bow, Hochatown, Valiant sprung up due to travelling timber towns, logging and later, a paper mill. I'd known that the region was going to great lengths to revive its woodturning traditions, and being there in the woods made it all click. Like I said, it was beautiful, and it was really heartening to see a rural area find some foothold by reclaiming the things that make them unique, instead of pushing them aside for some vague notion of progress.

I think small towns, big towns, and rural areas that claim their own history are the ones that have the most "personality". The ones that are the most fun to visit.

Where you can see the local area in the artwork, and the artwork in the place.

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Judging the art show was fun, surprising, and challenging. So much strong work! Entries came from the surrounding area, which includes parts of Texas and Arkansas as well as Oklahoma.

There were 8 different categories for professional/ adult work and then some separate categories for K-12 student work. Each category had a 1st through 3rd place, and as many honorable mentions as I chose.

I was glad to have the opportunity.