Block by block

The Refinery joins art, life, and play

Head west down the little alley between Detroit Avenue and M.L.K. Jr. Boulevard and look left. Amid the sounds of music from Guthrie Green or of construction in the newly-renamed Tulsa Arts District, you might see light peeking out from a half-open garage door, a stack of meticulously colored graphic designs leaning against a sawhorse, and the two sneakered feet of nationally-recognized mural, tattoo, and print artist Codak Smith.

Smith’s new space is one of 29 studios and 14 apartments in Tulsa Artist Fellowship (TAF) Studios @ The Refinery, an airy two-story live/work facility in the newly renovated Archer Building. TAF was established two years ago by the George Kaiser Family Foundation to bring new life to Tulsa’s arts community. Chosen from hundreds of applicants in literary and visual arts from across the country, TAF fellows receive an unrestricted stipend and free studio and apartment space while they dive into their creative work.

There are currently 34 fellows. Most have been scattered around town during their tenure in the program.

“Almost all the artists are in one building [now], which is great,” said TAF visual artist Molly Dilworth. “It’s nice to bump into people when you’re working.”

The Refinery’s aesthetic is perfectly 2017: minimalist and artisanal, mostly concrete and white with touches of brick, motion-sensing lights, and non-gender-specific bathrooms.

“We worked with Lilly Architects, who are the brains behind the entire Archer Building renovation and many other GKFF projects throughout the district,” said TAF Program Director Julia White. “With them we put together a branding activity, working closely with another company out of Oklahoma City, to ask what this building means and how we envision it being used.

“We wanted to make sure its history would remain intact. It was a mill at one point. It was a space where the railroad tracks went through the back. There was even a brewery here. It was a working building that connected different cities. Hence the name ‘The Refinery’: people are going to be redefining and refining their practice here.”

“We’re growing, evolving, learning,” White continued. “It’s nice to finally have a space that’s ours. The fellows can cook in the common kitchen and use the gallery walls to photograph their work. We can host workshops, conversations.”

The Refinery also features a ceramics studio, a woodworking shop, and a second-story terrace overlooking Hardesty Arts Center.

“My favorite time is when my office doors are open, White said, “and I look down the hall and Molly’s doors are open, and Joel Daniel [Phillips]’s doors are open, and we’ve got the dogs running around the hallway and you can hear music from other studios. The community that’s grown in this program has been really special. It will be great to see these relationships grow, alongside relationships with the surrounding community, as this building makes the program more accessible.”

During First Friday on October 6, TAF Studios @ The Refinery will celebrate its grand opening with an open house featuring cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, and Scott Stulen of Philbrook Museum of Art will DJ. Studio doors will be open and TAF artists will be present. Those who aren’t in town will have their work on the walls, curated by Christina Burke, curator of Native American and Non-Western Art at Philbrook.

“It’s a chance to meet these artists and get to know their work and the TAF program,” White said. “This is our way of saying, ‘Hi, Tulsa. Let’s work together.”

The Archer Building

At the corner of East Archer Street and M.L.K. Jr. Boulevard

With its pedestrian-friendly mix of pleasures and necessities, the Archer Building feels like a microcosm of the George Kaiser Family Foundation’s hopes for the Tulsa Arts District in general. With TAF Studios @ The Refinery is its first tenant, GKFF turns up the volume on one of its core assertions: that creativity is critical to the health of the community, and that artists need community in order to thrive.

But the building isn’t intended just for the artists who will live and work there. Having books, restaurants, housewares, gifts, and groceries within walking distance of public events and workplaces is good for everybody.

It’s shaping up to be a meticulously curated collection of businesses both scrappy and urbane: Magic City Books at the anchor corner, The Goods Bodega, Lone Wolf, Press Café + Yoga, Shuffles Board Game Café, Guitar House of Tulsa, Made: An Indie Emporium, and several other tenants yet to be announced.