The Norman arts community is coming together for the first Ink the Block Party, a free festival featuring music, art, a steamroller printmaking demonstration and more.
Hosted by Oscillator Press, Uncanny Art House and the Norman Firehouse Art Center, the festival aims to support local businesses and connect OU students with Norman’s art scene.
“We’ve wanted to do something like this for several years now,” said Jenna Bryan, co-owner of Oscillator Press. “It’s going to help financially stimulate downtown, and really just getting the OU students connected with the local community in Norman is a key part of this event.”
The event will feature an outdoor stage donated by The Depot, with live music from Oklahoma-based talent, including Prom Mom, The Geoffs, Douglas, DJ BiFurious and more.
Visual art will also be showcased through live mural painting hosted by Uncanny Art House. Abstract multimedia artist Chris McDaniel and chalk artist Barry Zimmerman will be featured, and a community mural will allow attendees to add their own creative mark.
Oscillator Press will host an arts market featuring artists, including Star Baby Heaven and ceramic artist Katie Pendley. Norman organizations, including nonprofit Red Dirt Collective and Norman Music Festival, will also table at the event.
The Pioneer Library System will provide a pop-up with laser-cutting demonstrations and live wood block carving. OU art professor KT Duffy and their class will create a large inflatable art piece with projected animations.
The festival’s main highlight is a steamroller woodblock printing demonstration using equipment from Silver Star Construction. Woodblocks carved by local artists, including Derrick Adams and Jared Power, will be inked up, covered in printing blankets and run over by the steamroller to create large-scale prints.
Map for the inaugural Ink the Block Party.
Food and drinks will be provided by Gray Owl Coffee, Sooner Daiquiri, Prohibition Lounge, The Custard Factory and Opolis. Bars including The Standard and The Garage will show the Oklahoma-Auburn football game.
Eric Piper, co-owner of Oscillator Press, said the festival was inspired in part by his experiences as an OU student.
“When I was going to school there, I would go to the Opolis back in the day and see shows,” Piper said. “It’s interesting after we graduate, trying to find a way to keep these sorts of things going on. We were able to find ways to do that in Norman.”
He also said the festival will help bring the community together.
“I think in any creative scene, or any scene in general, you get little bubbles of people, and so when you do these festivals, you just bring all of that together.”
Organizers are seeking community support through online donations, festival T-shirt pre-orders and volunteer sign-ups.
Ink the Block Party is 2 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 20, in the Alley Stage Parking Lot behind OSC-Press.
This story was edited by Madisson Cameron. Hannah Lambert and Mary Ann Livingood copy edited this story.
