IN ADDITION TO THE PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION, THE WORK OF 10 LOCAL CRAFT ARTISTS WAS ON DISPLAY. THE FEATURED ARTISTS WERE CERAMICISTS BIRTHNE FLEXNER, PATTY HANKINS, SUZETTE HATFIELD, AND V'LOU OLIVIERA, TEXTILE ARTISTS CLAUDIA WYLIE, PAMELA HUSKY, STEPHANIE GRUBBS AND SUE MOSS SULLIVAN, AND JEWELERS ELYSE BOGART AND GAIL SLOOP.
"Oklahoma City-based World Neighbors has created an international photography exhibition titled Work of Women, featuring four female photographers, Linda Lambert and Gayle Younghein, both Oklahomans; Christy Gavitt and Margaret Woodson Nea. The exhibition features stories and more than 40 photographs of working women from Nepal, Guatemala, Peru, Burkina Faso, Mexico, Ecuador, India, Mali and Kenya. The four photographers captured the spirit of women working to improve their own lives and the lives of their families in different parts of the world.
The international photography exhibit debuted in New York City at the United Nations headquarters in conjunction with Women's Day 2003. The display is being shown here in partnership with Mercy Health Center and Laura Warriner's Untitled (Gallery) to raise awareness in Oklahoma and throughout the country to build support for World Neighbors' work around the world.
World Neighbors is a 51-year-old international development organization established in Oklahoma City by the late John Peters. The agency works with people in rural communities throughout Asia, Africa and Latin America to overcome the challenges of hunger, poverty and disease. By teaching people to help themselves, they are empowered to work hard and invest in the long-term success of their communities."
- Joan Gilmore, The Journal Record
"I write with clay. Just as a novelist uses words to tell a story, I use minerals from the earth. When the face of one of my sculptures begins to take on character, I receive a jolt of joy. Even so, I know it's just a nano-smidgen of what God felt when he made humans out of the same materials.
Art should be interesting and interactive. Hearing 'pretty bowl' or 'nice vase' about my work is about as satisfying as cold coffee. That's why I like to make objects with faces - people or animals that demand an audience. If people laugh or frown at one of my sculptures, I know they are thinking.
Inspiration is everywhere. A news story... a quote... a facial expression... my pug dog - any of these may provide the seed that becomes one of the people who reside in the clay village."
- Suzette Hatfield, artist
