Photos from the Easter Celebration held at the Chickasaw Cultural Center in Sulphur Ok.
Photos from the Youth Arts Month Celebration Day held at the Community Center in Ada Ok.
Photos from the Three Sisters Spring Celebration at the Cultural Center in Sulphur, OK.
Trina Jones
Arts Specialist, Trina Jones, is an Oklahoma certified teacher in Art K-12 and has eight years teaching experience. She is a graduate of the University of Central Oklahoma. Previously an educator in the Oklahoma City Public Schools, she has worked in Title One Schools dealing with at-risk youths and gangs.
Some of the past honors her students have received are: Young Talent in Oklahoma Jurors Choice Portfolio winner, Young Talent in Oklahoma Exhibitors, Oklahoma City Museum of Art Student Art Show exhibitors, University of Central Oklahoma "High Arts" student contest, winners in fiber arts and drawing, Oklahoma City Native American Students Art Contest and winners in cultural arts and jewelry making.
Trina is a member of the National Art Educators Association, the Oklahoma Art Educators Association and Kappa Delta Pi (an International Honor Society for educators). She is also a certified Advanced Placement® teacher for Studio Art and Vertical Team structure. During her tenure in the public school system, she was awarded a $5,000 grant from the Oklahoma State Department of Education for her Advanced Placement® Studio Art class. She also received a Model Classroom grant from Oklahoma City Public Schools.
Trina's work has been shown in the University of Central Oklahoma Student Art Show (juried). She works in several types of mediums and recently studied with Lena Beth Frazier in the discipline of sculpture.
Trina Jones, Arts in Education Specialist trina.jones@chickasaw.net
Elizabeth Ward
Elizabeth Ward has a Bachelor of Arts from East Central University and is pursuing a master's in education, specializing in art. She serves as arts instructor for the Chickasaw Nation Division of Arts and Humanities and taught art at the Chickasaw Summer Arts Academy in 2010 and 2011. She has also taught art classes at Murray State College, Pontotoc Technology Center and at ECU's Center for Continuing Education and Community Services. Her artworks are owned in private collections and she exhibits throughout Oklahoma.
Elizabeth Wards, Art Instructor elizabeth.ward@chickasaw.net
Laura Stewart
Laura Stewart comes from a noble heritage and helps to preserve American Indian culture. She earned both a bachelor's degree in art education and a master's degree in education from East Central University. A public school educator for six years, she taught students of various cultural backgrounds. Many of those students were of American Indian descent; some had knowledge of their culture, while others did not. She felt compelled - not only for them, but for herself- to integrate Indian culture through art. As the Arts in Education manager for the Arts and Humanities Division of the Chickasaw Nation, she feels blessed to be able provide to Chickasaw citizens, students and the community at large with culturally based art projects designed to preserve American Indian culture.
"As I work within the tribe, I am always learning more about cultural ways and traditions," Laura said. "We must pass these ways on to our children and preserve the knowledge for the future."
Laura's ancestors came from the Alabama area prior to the removal of the Five Civilized Tribes. Her great-great-grandparents, Judy and Yartubby (Cohea Harjo) Barnett, made the journey by riverboat to Indian Territory. They established their home at an Indian settlement between Ft. Gibson and Okay about 1830. James Yarda Barnett, her great-grandfather, was born near Okay and grew up to become a Baptist minister. He then took the name Barnette (adding an "e"). Her grandfather, John Fushata Barnette, born in 1893, attended Haskell Institute and later worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs as a bookkeeper. Her father, James Yartubby Barnette, is a retired Southeastern Oklahoma State University art professor. Laura serves as manager of the Arts in Education Department as well as art educator working in the public schools throughout the Chickasaw Nation.
Memberships/Skills include:
Honors:
Laura Stewart, Arts in Education Manager laura.stewart@chickasaw.net
