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Oklahoma Arts and the Military Initiative

Launched in 2015, the Oklahoma Arts and the Military Initiative is a strategic effort directed at meeting the needs of Oklahoma’s military community through the arts. With the military community representing nearly 10 percent of the state’s residents, the initiative will allow the Oklahoma Arts Council to extend the reach of its programs to a meaningful segment of the population that has specific needs meriting our support. The initiative is aimed at serving active-duty service members, reservists, National Guard members, family members, and caregivers.

Goals of the Oklahoma Arts and the Military Initiative include:

  • Strengthening connections between the arts and military communities
  • Service to veterans as part of their reintegration and clinical rehabilitation
  • Building the capacity of teaching artists and community organizations throughout the state to provide arts-focused programs to those who have served our country
  • Leveraging the arts as part of the military experience in Oklahoma 

Oklahoma Arts and the Military Grants

The Oklahoma Arts Council offers funding for learning-based and audience-based programs serving individuals who are connected to the military. Oklahoma Arts and the Military Grants are designed to empower organizations statewide to serve military-connected individuals through the arts. Military-connected individuals include active-duty service members, reservists, National Guard members, veterans, and immediate family members and caregivers.

Learn more about Oklahoma Arts and the Military Grants

As part of the Oklahoma Arts and the Military Initiative, the Oklahoma Arts Council has held numerous arts and military summits as preconference sessions of the biennial Oklahoma Arts Conference. Summits provide a forum for staff from arts and veterans organizations as well as teaching artists across the state to network and learn how to better serve members of Oklahoma’s military community through the arts. The agency has held the following summits:

Oklahoma Arts and the Military Summit I: Stillwater (2016)
Oklahoma Arts and the Military Summit II: Oklahoma City (2018)
Oklahoma Arts and the Military Summit III: Lawton (2023)

Norman (2016) and Lawton (2017)

View a video of the pilot arts program at the Norman Veterans Center.

In partnership with the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs and Norman’s Firehouse Art Center, the Oklahoma Arts Council piloted a series of hands-on arts learning courses at the Norman Veterans Center in 2016. Led by professional teaching artists, the program featured photography, creative writing, and visual art courses, each lasting between eight and twelve weeks. A special session in creative writing was offered for residents with dementia.

To evaluate the pilot program, an assessment of the impact of the courses on veterans center residents was conducted by a researcher from the University of Oklahoma's Knee Center for Strong Families at the Anne and Henry Zarrow School of Social Work.

Download the evaluation catalogue of the Norman Veterans Center pilot arts program.

A second pilot arts program was launched in March 2017 at the Lawton/Ft. Sill Veterans Center. In addition to multi-week courses in creative writing and visual art, Native American flute music was also offered.

With the pilot arts programs serving as case studies, the Oklahoma Arts Council aims to provide a model for public agencies, nonprofit organizations, teaching artists, and community groups to use in serving the military population statewide through the arts.

In 2016, as part of the Oklahoma Arts and the Military Initiative, the Oklahoma Arts Council and Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs began a collaboration to offer a pilot arts program to residents at the Norman Veterans Center. In conjunction with the program, a researcher from the University of Oklahoma's Knee Center for Strong Families was brought in to formally evaluate the program and work with the Oklahoma Arts Council to publish his findings. Titled "Engaging Veterans through Creative Expression," the resulting evaluation catalogue can assist individuals and organizations in providing programming for veterans and military members in their communities.

Download "Engaging Veterans through Creative Expression."

As part of the first phase of the Oklahoma Arts and the Military Initiative, the Oklahoma Arts Council distributed the Oklahoma Arts and the Military Initiative 2015 Community Survey in order to collect data from across the state to assess the presence of arts programs serving members of the military community. The survey garnered 400 responses from individuals representing 86 cities and 51 counties across Oklahoma. Survey participants expressed interest in having arts-based programs available that directly serve military personnel and their families. Respondents cited combat stress and recovery, family support, community support, engagement, physical rehabilitation, and economic empowerment as needs with the potential to be met through arts programs.

Oklahoma Arts and the Military: 2015 Community Survey Report

Questions?

Arts Learning in Communities Director
Erika Wilhite
(405) 249-7615
erika.wilhite@arts.ok.gov

Last Modified on Oct 07, 2026
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