South Gallery: Drug Addiction: Real People Real Stories by INTO LIGHT Project

October 4 – December 14, 2025

The Oklahoma Center for the Humanities is honored to house the Oklahoma exhibition for INTO LIGHT Project. This exhibit remembers the lives of 30 Oklahomans who have lost their lives as a result of substance abuse. It pairs an original graphite portrait with a narrative of their lives.

North Gallery: West(of Eden)

November 1, 2024 – January 25, 2025

West(of Eden), a series of 13 oil paintings, pays homage to John Steinbeck’s novel East of Eden, which tells the story of a family that lived on the same land in California for generations. The artist, M. Walker Nelson, felt trapped in the West and that her life would begin once she could leave for the big shiny city. From reading Steinbeck, she learned some essential lessons about life that she shares in her work. The series is a picture book torn from artist M. Walker Nelson’s life. Each piece is a like a chapter of that book relating to the idea of what it is to live West(of Eden). Each piece references Steinbeck’s writings and how it parallels Nelson’s life.