KIRBY VISITED ATT ART EXHIBIT IN OKLAHOMA CITY
On Monday, March 7, Victoria Tupper Kirby gave an illustrated talk about her grandfather’s life and work to over 150 docents at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, OK, followed by a book signing in the Museum store. She thought Allen True’s West exhibition was beautifully installed and was impressed by the Museum guards’ interest in and knowledge of her grandfather’s work and pleased by the popularity of the exhibit.
 Entrance to National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum |
 Entrance to ATT Exhibit |
 "Canyon Princess" white cougar with ATT in background |
 Largest Exhibit Gallery |
 Visitors (note cowboy hats) at ATT Exhibit |
 Visitors of all ages at ATT Exhibit |
 Museum's TV Monitor-Exhibit 'Ad' |
 Museum's TV Monitor-Book Signing 'Ad' |
 Three murals in the lecture hall. |
 Docent Audience in Lecture Hall |
She also had time to enjoy the Museum’s permanent Western and Native American art collections as well as its unusual permanent exhibitions such as Prosperity Junction, a 1900 Western cattle town at dusk with full-size buildings including a saloon, school and general store; Western Performers Gallery that includes John Wayne’s personal firearms, kachinas and artwork, as well as film clips, posters, costumes & other memorabilia illustrating the history of Western movies; and the American Rodeo Gallery set in a lifelike 1950s arena & showcasing rodeo artifacts.
 Main Street of Prosperity Junction |
 School Room in Prosperity Junction |
 Installation in American Rodeo Gallery |
 Bucking Horse in American Rodeo Gallery |
On Tuesday evening, March 8, Victoria signed copies of the biography she co-wrote with her mother Jere True, Allen Tupper True: An American Artist, at the local independent Full Circle Bookstore.
 Full Circle Bookstore |
 Author's Table at Full Circle |
During the day on Tuesday, Victoria visited the Oklahoma Museum of Art, which has a large collection of Dale Chihuly glass as well as a collection of European and American art of the 19th and 20th centuries; then went to see the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum. One hundred sixty eight bronze and stone chairs are arranged in nine rows (according to the floor on which those killed in the bombing were working or visiting) on a small hill beside a large reflecting pool. Two Gates of Time frame the moment of destruction (9:01am – 9:03am) stand at the far ends of the pool. A tree that survived the blast still grows on another hill near the Museum. The Memorial is very serene and moving.
 OK City Memorial Pool, Chairs & Gate of Time |
 Memorial Chairs |
 Memorial Pool, Survivor Tree (green one) & Museum |
The touring exhibit Allen True’s West continues at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum through May 15, 2011. It is the last venue for this show (due to the bankruptcy of the organization handling the tour).
“Allen True’s West” Opened at
Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center”
The touring exhibition Allen True’s West opened on November 12, 2010, and will run through January 9, 2011, in the El Pomar Gallery of the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center Museum, 30 West Dale Street in Colorado Springs, CO. Victoria Tupper Kirby and her sister Joan True McKibben, both granddaughters of Allen True, attended the opening reception that was held on November 11 from 5-7 pm, followed by an illustrated talk and book signing from 7-8 pm by Victoria, co-author with her mother Jere True of the biography Allen Tupper True: An American Artist. Please click on the thumbnail photos to get the full image.
 A banner for the "Allen True’s West" exhibit is hanging to the left of the entrance of the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center. |
 Exhibition signage is displayed on wall opposite the entrance to the gallery. |
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 A section of the large El Pomar Gallery as seen from near the entrance of the "Allen True’s West" exhibit. |
 Another view of the El Pomar Gallery installation. |
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 Local collectors loaned these two landscape paintings by True to the exhibit in Colorado Springs. |
 A view of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Colorado Springs where Allen True and Emma Goodman Eaton were married on June 3, 1915 (now a part of Grace and St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church). |
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 The Fine Arts Center arranged a tour of the Historic Colorado Springs Nursery School on Friday, November 12, to see True’s "Mother Goose" murals created in 1922 at the behest of Alice Bemis Taylor, patron and daughter of the school’s co-founder Alice Cogswell Bemis. In the center of the front row is Diane Price (wearing black jacket and blue jeans), President. and CEO of Early Connections, which runs seven schools in Colorado Springs, including the Historic Nursery School. To her right is Victoria and to her left is Joan. The murals wrap around the entire large room and illustrate over thirty "Mother Goose" rhymes. |
 Joan and Victoria visited the True family grave site in the Evergreen Cemetery in Colorado Springs. They learned that in addition to their grandfather, Allen True’s father Henry, his uncle Ira, his eldest son Frank and his first wife Donna Lea, as well as their two infant sons are buried there. In addition, Allen’s two sisters Margaret and Katherine and their husbands are buried in the plot. |
ATT ART EXHIBITS OPEN IN DENVER
SEPTEMBER 28, 2009
Here is a series of photographs taken by Victoria Kirby during her week in Denver (September 28-October 4, 2009) to give a book talk at the Tattered Cover bookstore in downtown Denver, and to the attend the premiere of the PBS special on her grandfather Allen Tupper True and openings of the three exhibitions of his work and life at the Denver Art Museum, Denver Main Public Library and Colorado History Museum. Please click on the thumbnail photos to get the full image.
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The last two photos were taken by Bruce Quackenbush of True murals in one of the entrances to the Quest building in Denver (formerly the Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph building).
Several of True's murals are shown in the entrance lobby of the Quest building in Denver.
True's mural in the entrance lobby of the Quest building in Denver.
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