N. Scott Momaday and Betty Price honored at Oklahoma Governor's Arts Awards: What to know

When former Gov. George Nigh remembers Betty Price, he thinks about a popular game show.

"What always went to my mind when I talked about her service is 'The Price is Right.' She got the right materials, she got the right programs, she went to the right places, she toured the entire state. She was right — and she was a servant, a public servant," Nigh said in a special appearance Tuesday at the Oklahoma Governor’s Arts Awards at the state Capitol.

People from across the state packed into the fourth-floor rotunda for the ceremony, in which Gov. Kevin Stitt and Oklahoma Arts Council Executive Director Amber Sharples presented the Governor's Arts Awards to 14 individuals and four organizations in recognition of their contributions to the arts.

"This year marks the 45th anniversary of the Governor's Arts Awards, and I'm honored to continue to carry this torch. Over those 45 years, we've literally recognized hundreds of Oklahomans for their work," said Stitt, who told the crowd that his oldest daughter, Natalie Stitt, is an artist who recently graduated from Baylor University.

"The individuals we'll award today will join an exclusive fellowship of honorees who've built an incredible arts community across our state. Oklahoma artists and creatives are known worldwide for their talent, skill and creativity. And it's amazing to see the work being done in the arts in places all over. ... For so many Oklahoma communities, the arts can be an economic powerhouse, offering opportunities to create unique experiences that bolster tourism, trade and the economy at large."

Governor's Arts Awards ceremony includes tributes to N. Scott Momaday and Betty Price

Along with honoring this year's Governor's Arts Awards recipients, the ceremony included tributes to two beloved Oklahomans who devoted their lives to the arts: Price, the former longtime Oklahoma Arts Council executive director who died last October at age 92, and N. Scott Momaday, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Kiowa author and Lawton native who died Jan. 24 at the age of 89.

Momaday was named an Oklahoma Cultural Treasure during the 1999 Governor's Arts Awards, and Stitt opened his remarks by offering his condolences to those in the audience who knew the internationally renowned writer.

"Scott's legacy will forever live in our hearts, and I hope that today is part of his celebration of life," Stitt said.

Nigh, 96, closed the ceremony by paying homage to Price, who spent 33 years at the Oklahoma Arts Council, including serving as executive director for 24 years, until her retirement in 2007. The crowd gave standing ovations to Price's family and to Nigh, who served as governor from 1979 to 1987.

The longtime politician was lieutenant governor in 1974 when Price joined the staff of the state Arts Council. He was serving as governor in 1983 when she was promoted to the agency’s executive director, the position she held until retiring in 2007.

"She served under seven different governors — Democrats and Republicans. Just think of an agency head under seven different governors. Every time a governor was elected, they kept Betty Price in the job, because she was it. She was the Arts Council. Now, many have followed in her footsteps," Nigh said.

"To Betty's family and Betty's friends, thank you for sharing her with us."

Oklahoma City's Ambassadors' Concert Choir also helped pay tribute to Price, performing the hymn "Amazing Grace" and the show tune "You'll Never Walk Alone," from the musical "Carousel."

Fittingly, the choir and former governor led the audience in a rousing rendition of another iconic Rodgers & Hammerstein hit, "Oklahoma," to close the ceremony. Nigh, who was at the time in his second term in the state House of Representatives, introduced the legislation in 1953 to make the spirited theme of the musical "Oklahoma!" the state song.

Who are the 2024 Governor's Art Awards recipients?

Here is the full list of the 2024 Governor's Art Awards categories and recipients who were honored at the ceremony:

The two recipients of the Governor's Award, which recognizes longtime leadership and significant contributions to the arts:

• Holbrook Lawson, of Tulsa, who was key in developing Tulsa's first municipal art grant program.

• Ann Barker Ong, of Muskogee, a driving force in the arts in the northeastern Oklahoma city for more than 40 years.

The two honorees for the Business in the Arts Award, recognizing individuals, businesses and corporations that exhibit outstanding support of the arts in the state:

• American Fidelity, a fourth-generation OKC-based family-run company that has donated nearly $1 million for central Oklahoma’s cultural landscape.

• LEAP Coffee Roasters, an OKC small business that empowers artists to develop beverage blends that express their creative visions while providing them with visibility and a stable source of revenue.

The five recipients of the Arts in Education Award, which lauds individuals, organizations or schools for their outstanding leadership and service:

• DWe Williams, of OKC, who has spent decades using storytelling, music and dance to move students of all ages and abilities.

• Jana Telford, of Chandler, whose legacy spans 40 years of inspiring a love of music and an enthusiasm for the arts in her Lincoln County community.

• Penny McGill, of Muskogee, who has built a reputation for giving students meaningful arts experiences in the arts as a drama teacher at Muskogee High School.

• Trey Hays, of Tishomingo, who has been an arts educator in rural south-central Oklahoma for nearly 20 years, inspiring hundreds of students.

• Marcelle Sharron Ahtone Harjo, of OKC, who has dedicated a lifetime of work to reviving and ensuring the continuation of the practice of ledger art, a Native American narrative pictorial style of painting on paper or muslin. A Kiowa artist, Ahtone Harjo is also a longtime arts educator who taught at the Concho Indian Boarding School before taking a position in Edmond Public Schools.

The four honorees of the Community Service Award, recognizing significant contributions to the arts in specific Oklahoma communities in the areas of leadership and volunteerism:

• Selby Minner, of Rentiesville, who operates the Oklahoma Blues Hall of Fame in Rentiesville, one of Oklahoma's historic Black towns, where she also organizes the annual Dusk 'til Dawn Blues Festival, which annually draws thousands of visitors to the rural area.

• Susan E. Brackett, of OKC, an avid proponent of dance and arts education in central Oklahoma for more than 30 years, who, with her husband, Gregg Wadley, helped Oklahoma City Ballet move into its new home in 2016.

• Suzanne Boles, of Grove, who brought community theater to the rural northeastern Oklahoma lake town nearly three decades ago.

• Darcy Reeves, of Marlow, who has served as executive director of the Chisholm Trail Arts Council in Duncan for more than a decade.

And the sole 2024 recipient of the Media in the Arts Award, honoring members of the media who demonstrate commitment to the arts in Oklahoma as documented through public awareness support and professionalism in reporting:

• Ryan LaCroix, of Blanchard, whose "Oklahoma Rock Show" is broadcast statewide, while his collaborative work with National Public Radio has brought even broader exposure to Oklahoma performing artists.

The two recipients of the George Nigh Public Service in the Arts Award, honoring Oklahoma government officials for their outstanding support of the arts:

• State Rep. Mark McBride, R-Moore, who was integral during the state Capitol restoration project to ensuring the relocation of the Betty Price Gallery to a heavily trafficked area and oversaw the commissioning of numerous works of public art for the newly restored building.

• State Sen. Kevin Matthews, D-Tulsa, who chaired the Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission, through which he spearheaded the fundraising of more than $30 million for the Greenwood Rising Black Wall St. History Center.

The two honorees of the Special Recognition Award, recognizing an individual or organization that has made unique contributions in supporting the arts:

• Mid-America Arts Alliance, which has invested over five decades nearly $3.8 million in funding and services in Oklahoma, assisted more than 20,000 Oklahoma artists and made possible programming reaching nearly 2.5 million adults and children across the state.

• Oklahoma Museums Association, which has been on a mission for more than 50 years to represent the interests of more than 500 museums in 200 communities statewide.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma arts awards ceremony honors N. Scott Momaday and Betty Price