Three Reasons to visit the Philbrook Museum of Art

I was twelve years old when I first visited the Philbrook Museum of Art in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  The Italian-Renaissance style mansion (the first mansion I had ever entered) and gardens impressed me then and continue to do so each time I return.  

Oil tycoon Waite Phillips (1883-1964) and his wife Genevieve built Villa Philbrook on 25 acres in 1927.  In 1938 they donated their Tulsa residence to the Tulsa community to:

create a cultural institution for housing, preserving, and displaying therein works of art, literature, relics and curios, including those representative of the native North American Peoples."  --Waite and Genevieve Phillips

The Phillips would be pleased with the hard work that has taken place over generations to establish and enhance that vision. 

​What are three reasons to visit The Philbrook Museum of Art?

​#1.  The Art.

• American Indian art.  This collection is an acclaimed pillar of the museum.  During the period 1949-1979, the museum held the competitive "Indian Annual." As a result, the general public became more familiar with Native American art, private and public collectors (including The Philbrook) increased their Native American art collections, and The Philbrook gained a national reputation.
• African, American, Asian, and European art.  Purchases and donations (especially donations) have shared in the expansion of The Philbrook's permanent collection. 
• National traveling exhibits.  My husband and I visited the museum in September 2019 in order to see Wondrous Worlds:  Art & Islam Through Time and Place. Courtesy of The Newark Museum's extensive collection, objects from the Middle East and India were arrayed along with works from Africa and Southeast Asia in order to showcase the diversity and global impact of Islamic art.  Since I'm a "word person," I especially liked the handwritten Koran illustrated in still-vivid drawings. ​

#2.  The Gardens.

East Formal Garden, September 2019.

If you stood on the veranda where the lady in the yellow hat is standing in this snapshot and looked out over the gardens, you would see the East Formal Garden (shown above). The "stair step" fountain flows through the middle of the lawn.  

East Formal Garden. Informal Gardens. Tempiettto.

The East Formal Garden is in the foreground of this photo.  Below the balustrade is the Rock Garden, which you can't see in this picture.  What you can see are the Informal Gardens with a pond followed by the Tempietto at the end of the view.  To the right of the East Formal Garden, you can glimpse a fraction of the Pollinator Garden.

Tempietto

Even my amateur snapshots taken on a cloudy day show that a stroll in the gardens is worth your time.  Indeed, in the years since my first visit at age twelve, The Philbrook has been able to lavish far more tender loving care on the grounds.

​In addition to the gardens pictured here, you can visit The Philbrook's Westby Garden (near the new Kravis Wing opened in 1990), the Secret Garden, the South Formal Garden, and the Zarrow Garden. The Film Lawn is a favorite location for fans of classic films shown outdoors in the summer.  Away from the formal gardens is the Edible Teaching Garden, which supplies some of its fresh produce to Kitchen 27, The Philbrook's onsite cafe.  The "27" in Kitchen 27 honors the year the mansion was completed and the address of the museum, 2727 South Rockford Road.

Informal Gardens, September 2019.

The Informal Gardens hosted a profusion of colors during our visit.  I can't name all of the plants, but I had fun taking their pictures.  

Informal Gardens, September 2019.

Overcast skies didn't dull the vibrant hues of these blossoms.

Informal Gardens, September 2019.

A light Oklahoma breeze kept the outdoors pleasant on this humid September afternoon.

Informal Gardens, September 2019.

#3.  Leadership and management savvy.  The Philbrook is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.  The generous gift of Waite and Genevieve Phillips propelled The Philbrook toward the vision of its founding donors.  However, nurturing, growing, and sustaining The Philbrook into today's world-class art museum is an arduous endeavor. The dedication of donors, volunteers, and staff is key, as well as collaboration with other organizations, paid memberships, and admission fees.  Anyone  keen to gain insight into making it all happen would do well to study the museum's modus operandi. 

Me enjoying the Informal Gardens, September 2019.

​Are there more than three reasons to visit?  Of course.  And you can learn all about them at  philbrook.org.

Where is the Philbrook Museum of Art?  

• The Philbrook is east of the Arkansas River and south of downtown at ​2727 South Rockford Road, Tulsa, Oklahoma.
• Philbrook Downtown--Philbrook's satellite location--is in the Tulsa Arts District at 116 East Reconciliation Way.

​I hope you'll have a chance to visit The Philbrook.  In the meantime, best wishes and good reading!

Sources:
1. Andrea Martin, "Phillips, Waite," The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=PH009 (accessed October 4, 2019).
2. Philbrook Museum of Art, https://philbrook.org (accessed October 1, 2019).
3. Richard Schall, photo of Lynne Schall, September 2019.  All other photos by Lynne Schall, copyright 2019.
4. Thomas E. Young, "Philbrook Museum of Art," The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture (accessed October 1, 2019).