Ahha’s Hardesty Arts Center closes
The ahha’s Hardesty Arts Center is closing.
This sudden news shook the community. Community members and artists are sad and shocked by the brutal news.
On Friday, artists could be seen moving their work and supplies out of the building. Artist Bill Derrevere was one such artist. He tells me that he found out about the closing on Thursday evening and that he was not given a reason.
Noelle Keely, who lives downtown, has visited ahha’s Hardesty Arts Center several times. For her day job, she specializes in artist activations. She says that for the Tulsa Arts District and creatives like her, ahha was seen as an opportunity.
“The director would come to us and say if you had an idea, let’s execute it. So that opportunity was so exciting for all of us and now that it’s gone, I think it just doesn’t give the creatives much hope. So it’s really sad,” Keeley said.
Now she worries about what will happen to the building and the arts community now that it is closing.
“If nothing’s happening here, it’s just a burnout of the Tulsa Arts District,” Keeley said. I mean we were growing and it was such an opportunity for us to grow that now that it’s removed I feel like we’re going to have to go through a lot more hurdles and it gives the opportunity for others negative things to enter.
She is also worried that the building will become a place for the homeless without anything happening inside the building.
The last day of operations is November 4. 2 News Oklahoma reached out to officials on Thursday to learn more about the shutdown.
We have made the difficult decision to announce the closure of the Hardesty Arts Center at ahha on Friday, November 4, including the halting of operations of our programs for the time being. We are working closely with our partners to ensure that we find a long-term future for some of our programs and do so as quickly as possible.
For our artists, partners and vendors, please know that we are working as quickly as possible to get in touch with you. If you have immediate questions, please email ahhaTulsaOK@gmail.com.
We thank our employees, guests, donors and partners for over 60 years of support and look forward to bringing our programs back to continue focusing on the creativity of Tulsa.
Founded as the Arts and Humanities Council in 1961, ahha’s goal was to “bring the arts to the community through innovative programming and to facilitate collaboration among Tulsa’s diverse arts organizations.” Originally run from the historic Harwelden Mansion, the organization was renamed ahha and opened the Hardesty Arts Center in the downtown Tulsa Arts District in 2012.
- Programs offered included
- artists in schools
- Community Arts Partnerships
- Any Given Child-Tulsa
Given programs and partnerships with area school districts, we reached out to Jenks Public Schools. The district says many of their students were scheduled to take school field trips in the coming weeks.
We are saddened to learn of the closure of Ahha Tulsa. Jenks Public Schools is grateful for everything it has done to enhance our students’ experience with the arts, whether through programs like Artist in the Schools or field trips. More recently, several third-grade classes visited Ahha Tulsa, and students, families, and teachers raved about their time watching, immersing, and creating art. We regret Ahha’s closure and hope that this type of arts focus will continue in Tulsa in the near future.
Cathryn McCarthy, Executive Director of Teaching and Learning at Jenks Public Schools
2 News Oklahoma reached out to officials again with ahha on Friday to better understand what led to the closure and what the future holds for the organization and programs. We received this response:
Unfortunately, it has been increasingly difficult to make ahha work in its current form due to the most difficult economic and social times in recent history.
We are working closely with our partners to ensure that we find a long-term future for some of our programs and do so as quickly as possible.
For our artists, partners and vendors, please know that we are working as quickly as possible to get in touch with you. If you have immediate questions, please email ahhaTulsaOK@gmail.com. We ask for patience as we reach out to all who contact us.
We thank our employees, guests, donors and partners for over 60 years of support and look forward to bringing our programs back to continue focusing on the creativity of Tulsa.
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