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NORMAN, OKLAHOMA - On September 8th, "Friends of Thunder", an exhibit of Cherokee fine art and cultural expression, will begin at The Jacobson House Native Art Center in Norman. A one-day outdoor art market featuring Cherokee artists and artisans showing their paintings, baskets, flutes and other works will start the exhibit at 10am. The market will be on The Jacobson House grounds and end at 7pm. Indian tacos and refreshments will be for sale.

Paintings by internationally acclaimed opera singer Barbara McAlister will be a highlight of the show displayed inside The Jacobson House along with the works of Ruth Waltrip, contemporary weaver; Lorene Drywater, doll maker; Daniel Horsechief, woodcarver; Judith Houston Emerson, painter; Murv Jacob, painter; Sam Kidd, visual artist; America Meredith, painter; Danny McCarter, blow gun maker; Victoria Mitchell Valquez, potter; Mary Stone, basket weaver and 2001 Red Earth Honored One, Dorothy Sullivan, painter. A public reception for the artists will take place at The Jacobson House on Friday night, September 13th from five to 9 o’clock.

The exhibit is a collaboration between The Cherokee Heritage Center and The Jacobson House. The Cherokee Nation is the largest tribe of American Indians in the United States and its national headquarters is in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Living in what is now North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee, almost all Cherokees were removed to Oklahoma in 1838 where they re-established their culture and government. The best known Cherokee is Oklahoma’s favorite son, Will Rogers, but many prominent Cherokees are among Oklahoma’s leaders in business and government. The exhibit concludes on October 6th.

At 6:30pm on September 21st, Cherokee prima ballerina Yvonne Chouteau will be honored at a dinner. Ms. Chouteau had an illustrious dance career before she founded The University of Oklahoma School of Dance with her husband, Miguel Terekov. In 1996, she was named an Oklahoma Treasure by Governor Frank Keating. Tickets for this dinner are $ 75.00; reservations can be made by calling The Jacobson House.

Cherokee storytelling will resound throughout The Jacobson House on the evening of September 27th beginning at 7pm. Stories will be told by Cherokee language professor Durbin Feeling and by Blue Clan Cherokee scholar Ryan MacKey.

Funding for "Friends of Thunder" was provided by the Oklahoma Arts Council and the Norman Hotel\Motel Tax through The Norman Arts and Humanities Council.

The Jacobson House in on the National Register of Historic Places and has been designated a State Centennial Site by The Oklahoma Centennial Commission in celebration of the one hundredth anniversary of Oklahoma statehood in 2007.

For more information, or to arrange a tour, please contact John Parrish or Kendra Koassechony, phone: 405- 366-1667 or visit on-line. The Jacobson House is located at 609 Chautauqua Avenue in Norman, Oklahoma 73069.