The Museum of the Red River is pleased to be a Co-sponsor of the Seven-States Biennial Exhibition, along with the Nesbitt Gallery, (on the campus of the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma, in Chickasha), and the Charles B. Goddard Center in Ardmore, Oklahoma. The Exhibit is comprised of 63 works of art that include paintings, prints, photography, sculpture, ceramics and mixed media.
The exhibition includes entries by 55 artists from Oklahoma and all six states bordering Oklahoma (Kansas, Texas, New Mexico, Missouri, Colorado, and Arkansas). Every two years artists submit original works to the competition. An art juror selects winning entries in multiple categories, judges the works and awards cash prizes.
The Seven-States Biennial was created in 2001 to showcase the artistic talent in Oklahoma and adjacent states by Cecil Lee, who in 1997 founded the USAO Art Gallery, (which was renamed the Nesbitt Gallery in 2012). Lee began his long teaching career as an instructor of art for the University of Oklahoma in 1959. While there, he helped to create the Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master of Fine Arts programs during the 1960s. After retiring from OU in 1988, Lee served as Regents’ professor of art at USAO for more than two decades.
