NBC Oklahoma unveils 13th painting in its Artist Series

See original work by Sonya Terpening on display at each of the bank’s locations in the coming weeks. While there, pick up a poster or a postcard of the work.

PRESS RELEASE Nov. 14, 2017

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A new painting by Sonya Terpening, an artist with deep Oklahoma ties, is the latest in NBC Oklahoma’s Artist Series. Her work, “Prairie Oasis,” is the 13th painting commissioned by NBC Oklahoma for this series. It also includes high-quality prints and posters of the work, which the bank offers to customers.

The public can see the original painting as it travels to NBC’s various locations between now and Christmas:

  • ALTUS, 123 W Commerce, through Friday, Nov. 17, with a meet-the-artist reception from 10 a.m. to noon on Friday, Nov. 17;

  • TULSA, 8120 S Yale Ave., from Nov. 27-Dec. 1;

  • KINGFISHER, 801 S Main, from Dec. 4-8, with a Christmas Open House from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Dec. 6;

  • ENID, 3202 W Owen K. Garriott, from Dec. 11-15, with a Christmas Open House from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Dec. 12;

  • OKLAHOMA CITY, 13401 N Pennsylvania, from Dec. 18-22.

The painting, “Prairie Oasis,” depicts a prairie scene of a mother and her children wading in a river with a covered wagon and two steer in the background being led to the water to drink. The original measures 30-by-36 inches and is an oil-on-linen painting. Terpening said the scene captures a moment in their lives as pioneers, whether the family settles there or moves on.

“I personally feel like the American West was explored by the frontiersmen and the cowboys but it was not really settled until the women and children came along. It was for the families that homes were established and farms and ranches were carved out of the wild prairies,” Terpening wrote about the painting. “These pioneers came with a love for the land, a great sense of adventure and a willingness to adapt to the conditions of Oklahoma. This is what I call the ‘softer side of the west.’ In “Prairie Oasis” I am telling the story of my own ancestors who settled in Oklahoma but it is a common story in the history of our great country.”

Terpening graduated from Sequoyah High School in Claremore and from Oklahoma State University and currently lives in Grapevine, Texas.

She has been painting professionally for more than 30 years, in both oil and watercolor media. For 23 years she has been an invited artist to the Prix de West Invitational at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City and for 12 years to the Masters of the American West at the Autry Museum in Los Angeles.

At the Masters show in 2008 she won the gold medal in watercolor. She also was a featured artist at the 2006 Rendezvous at the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa and participated in the museum’s Rendezvous Retrospective in 2014. She also received the Women in the Arts Recognition Award in 2014 from the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). In 2010 she was first Smelser-Vallion Visiting Artist for Oklahoma State University’s Doel Reed Center for the Arts and received its Visiting Artist Award again in 2013.

NBC Oklahoma Chairman Ken Fergeson has a lifelong interest in art and a personal mission to support artists and help as many people as possible enjoy the beauty of it. NBC’s Artist Series has included many prominent pieces by artists with Oklahoma ties, as well as a calendar and a book.Previous artists include Mike Larsen, Harold T. Holden, Jean Richardson, Kenny McKenna, Otta Duecker III, Mitsuno Ishii Reedy, Benjamin Harjo Jr., Mikel Donahue, Brent Learned, Tom Palmore, Carol Beesley and Bert D. Seabourn.

“NBC Oklahoma is thrilled to have an artist of Sonya’s caliber added to the bank’s Artist Series,” Fergeson said. “This series offers a glimpse of the diverse artistic talent that Oklahoma has produced, and I think everyone will enjoy seeing a ‘softer side of the West’ with ‘Prairie Oasis.’”

See more of her work at sonyaterpening.com. Stop by any of the bank’s locations during the week her painting is on display and pick up your own copy of the poster.

About NBC Oklahoma

NBC Oklahoma is a $650 million state bank with eight locations across Oklahoma. It is an Oklahoma-owned bank. Member FDIC. Website: nbc.bank.

For media inquiries, contact Communications Director Lillie-Beth Brinkman at 405-748-9182 (office), (405) 203-1449 (cell) or lbrinkman@nbcok.com.

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