"We Believed in the Sun" at Oklahoma Contemporary by Ebony Iman Dallas

Article by Greg Horton at 405 Magazine

“We Believed in the Sun,” an installation featuring Oklahoma City artist Ebony Iman Dallas and Pennsylvania artist Ron Tarver will run through Sept. 20 at arts center Oklahoma Contemporary, 11 NW 11th St. Curated by Christina Beatty and Pablo Barrera, the exhibition features new and previous works by Dallas, as well as photographs and mixed media by Tarver, a Guggenheim Fellow, and Pulitzer Prize winner (Philadelphia Inquirer).

Both Dallas and Tarver have deep roots in Oklahoma. In fact, Tarver’s father was a photographer in the state for decades, and his son uses the elder Tarver’s photographs of Fort Gibson from the 1940s and 1950s as part of the show, whose name comes from a Clara Luper quote: “I came from a family of believers. We believed in the sun when it didn’t shine. We believed in the rain when it wasn’t raining. My parents taught me to believe in a God I couldn’t see.”

The entire article may be read here.

'WE BELIEVED IN THE SUN' OPEN AT OK CONTEMPORARY THROUGH AUGUST, SUMMER CAMPS AVAILABLE by Ebony Iman Dallas

Article and photos by Perrin Clore Duncan

Oklahoma Contemporary’s newest exhibition, We Believed in the Sun, celebrates the enduring legacy of the Civil Rights movement in Oklahoma City. The exhibition, which opened in the Mary LeFlore Clements Oklahoma Gallery on May 6, features the work of Ron Tarver, an Oklahoma-born, nationally recognized artist and recent awardee of the 2021 Guggenheim Fellowship in photography, and Ebony Iman Dallas, an emerging artist based in Oklahoma City. Both artists share their powerful, difficult and liberating personal narratives of the Black experience in Oklahoma through their work.

Entire article may be read here.

Featured Artist of the Month with Stage IV by Ebony Iman Dallas

Ebony Iman Dallas was named the October 2018 Artist of the Month by Stage IV organization in San Francisco, CA. Stage IV is “a global network of leaders who champion for creative arts therapy, integrative medicine, patient advocacy, and healthcare innovation. Inspired by founder Amy Li’s Stage IV cancer journey and the pursuit of super happiness.”

Please click here to learn more.

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Waano & Words: Ebony Iman Dallas - Discovering My Somali Heritage by Ebony Iman Dallas

In this episode of Waano & Words, we sit down with Ebony Iman Dallas to explore her journey of discovering her Somali family, her Somali heritage. Its an amazing story of perseverance, patients and eagerness to find her Somali family which she never knew. She shares some Words with us about the experience and offers Waano (advice) on exploring who our parents are/were and how this is relevant to us today.