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The life and work of the celebrated sculptor (and native Oklahoman) Willard Stone.

By Rich Fisher

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kwgs/local-kwgs-825681.mp3

Tulsa, Oklahoma – Today, we chat with Tulsa-based documentary filmmaker and producer Scott Swearingen. With his wife Sheila, Swearingen recently made a documentary film about Willard Stone, the famed sculptor (and Oklahoma native) who died in 1985. A new exhibit collecting more than fifty of Stone's works, "Willard Stone: Storyteller in Wood," is now on view at the Gilcrease Museum --- and Swearingen's film about Stone, "With the Grain: The Life and Art of Willard Stone," is being shown as a part of this exhibit. As we learn on today's program, Stone was an artist-in-residence at Gilcrease during the mid-to-late 1940s --- indeed, his considerable ability as an artist had basically been "discovered" by Thomas Gilcrease. And Stone's son, Jason, also works as a sculptor to this day. (Editor's note: You can learn more about the Gilcrease exhibit at [www.gilcrease.org/cal_details.aspx?ID=760]. And you can learn more about Stone's life and work, and view many examples of his artistry, at [www.willardstonemuseum.com/index.htm].) "Willard Stone: Storyteller in Wood" is on view at Gilcrease through June 14th of this year, and two notable Stone-related events are happening at Gilcrease this coming weekend. First, there will be a Membership Coffee Reception for the Stone exhibit on Saturday, March 14th, at 4pm. Second, another documentary film about Stone --- called "Willard Stone: Sculptor in Wood and Bronze" (first released in 2002) --- will be shown on Sunday the 15th at 1:30pm and 2:30pm. For more information about these events, or about the Stone exhibit itself, call Gilcrease at (918) 596-2700.