A Personal Note| The "Keithley Collection of Native American Art Works"

One of the things which brought a great deal of joy in a previous phase of my life was buying and collecting various pieces of contemporary Southwest (US) and Pacific Northwest  art.  For those of you that know me now, developing that collection, although minor, was as much a passion at one time as music -- and catching up with and supporting various musical artists -- is to me now.

Thinking through what to do with the collection when I sold my house in Oklahoma (within the historic boundaries of the Chickasaw Nation) was difficult. The collection included some larger pieces that would have been difficult to ship and, frankly, place here.  After thinking through the options I ultimately decided to gift the collection to the local university that I had supported in other ways -- and enjoyed participating in -- during my time there.  They were very appreciative and supportive.

Today, I learned that the collection has been named the "Keithley Collection of Native American Art Works" and that some of the pieces are being displayed for the first time over the next three weeks as part of "Native Traditions:  Then and Now," a show at the Centre Gallery on the campus of Southeastern Oklahoma State University.  There are some beautiful pieces in the collection -- the one on the right in the flyer above is one of them.  I can't think of a better use for the collection than for it to be available to be shown and studied at the regional university serving portions of the historic Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations.