Norman Oklahoma

It's no wonder Money Magazine recently ranked Norman as the 40th best place to live in the United States. That ranking is higher than any other city in Oklahoma. It has gotten even better since then.  Streets are wide, architecture is unique. 

ART is the rage here.  Statues, carvings, murals, and museums are scattered throughout.  Much of the focus is Native American, with a second look at cowboy life but from that point on there is an explosion of culture from anywhere and everywhere in the world.  Greek food may be served right next to Thai.  Outdoor dining competes with Chinese cuisine served amidst jade fountains.  The Medieval Fair is one of the funnest events in the whole state.  Below are some links you should visit first.

The Norman Transcript is one of the finest papers in the country.
Norman Now is a terrific fount of information.

Twenty Nine Minutes from anywhere in the Oklahoma City metro area you’ll find huge savings... of money AND time! The Miracle Mile in Norman has nine major car dealerships with seventeen different automotive lines competing for your business in one convenient location. That means instead of driving all over the city looking for your new or used vehicle, you can spend more of your valuable time shopping for a perfect deal!

If you're coming from Dallas Texas it is only natural to be tired by the time you reach Norman on I-35.  Pull over and rest for the night in this friendly little town.  While you're staying in Norman you can enjoy the rich heritage of Native American culture, the wonders of Oklahoma's natural history, fantastic arts events and exhibits, and even bump into a Sooner all in the same day! Great culture, a solid community and a down-home pioneer spirit wrapped up in a charming, contemporary university town located just minutes from Oklahoma City. Whether you've been here before or you're new to our fine city we're confident you'll find something fresh and unique.

ATTRACTIONS

The Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History is a wonderful experience.  Plan to spend at least half a day here.  Tickets are good for all day, in case you want to go out for lunch and come back.  Everything inside is bright, clean, and dynamically arranged for YOU to see everything in its most favorable light.  There are lots of places to just sit and ponder.  An elevator can take you to the second story and it is easily accessed.  The exhibits are fascinating.  Cameras are allowed but professional photographers are asked to review their work with the museum before publication.

The Jacobson House confused me. I went there expecting a Native Art Center featuring "The Kiowa Five", maybe one block square and three stories high.  Don't ask me where I got that concept!  Instead it is a small house turned into a small museum. Inside I am confused again because I expected to see Kiowa art from the nineteenth century.  Again, don't ask me why I expected this.  Then the first paintings I notice throw me for a real loop and I hunted out the curator.  "This painting has Navajo symbols in it.  It is so good it could hang in the finest galleries in Gallup.  Here's another Navajo painting, and that one is Hopi.  Was there that much interaction between the Kiowa and these western tribes?"
So then it was all explained to me.  Oscar Brousse Jacobson built this house.  He was a successful artist in his own right before he came here.  He directed the Art Department at the university here, AND he encouraged Native American artists to study here. The Kiowa Five became Internationally famous and they traveled extensively.  While they were indeed Kiowa by birth, they were ARTISTS first and they were absorbing culture from everywhere they went.  Through their paintings here you are seeing a world strange to them through their eyes. 

The work of other artists is also featured here. You must also understand that Oscar Jacobson was born in Sweden, and this is HIS home that is being honored, because of the things that happened here and the almost constant flow of visitors through here.
Then the curator took us from room to room pointing out the best qualities of each work.  Our eyes were opened, our wonder increased and this became a thoroughly beautiful experience of learning and appreciation. 

Russ Tallchief added: "We have recently acquired the house just to the south of the gallery at 617 Chautauqua as our administrative office. Due to the limited parking here and around campus, we paved a 12-space parking lot behind our office and also have parking spaces located diagonally across the street to the north and west that are reserved for our guests. The additional spaces come in handy when we host groups and special events, which we often do. We even have tailgate packages available during the OU football season!"

If you have a desire to learn the modern potential of Native American Artists you really should schedule this visit in.  Bring some money with you because there are also numerous prints that you can buy at extremely low prices.  Then there are some original works for sale, and beautiful handicrafts too, not to mention Swedish jams and jellies.  On top of all that, virtually everywhere you look there is a stack of something for free; free calendars, free pamphlets, free posters - oh how beautiful were the posters - and free information. The Jacobson House may be small but inside beats a mighty heart.
 

Something for everyone

The Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art on the University of Oklahoma campus is billed as one of the nation's finest university art museums with 34,000 square feet of space.  ACCESSIBLE is the word to best describe this experience.  Once you know where the door in IS found you can get in and you can get close to all the paintings, busts, statues and artifacts there.  Strolling guards ensure that you don't take out anything dangerous, like an ink pen, but they are also grateful for any excuse to stop and talk.  A sense of reverence pervades the entire museum.  Everyone there whispered, everyone there SLOWLY worked their way from one painting to the next, one exhibit to the next, as if wanting to treasure or at least try to understand why others were treasuring, the works. 
Works are featured from masters like Georgia O'Keeffe, Vincent Van Gogh, Degas, Gauguin, Monet, Pissarro, Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec, and others.  For me the most fascinating exhibit was the native American section but it was quickly obvious this also included some Euromerican artists that thought they were being Natives.  Second on my list was the masks from around the world. 

Dining

There are so many good places to dine in Norman that mentioning only one should be a sin.  You have your choice of cuisines here, and many are combinations.  Somehow even Mexican and Chinese run together here without raising suspicions too high.  Still, the one place I go to celebrate good fortune is a run down old barn called Saltgrass Steak House.  Quite often you have to call ahead to get a seat at all, so I know others agree with me.  Saltgrass is derived from the Beaumont Texas region where seafood and steak go together and those are the specialty of this house too.  The menu tells you that the steak comes from Black Angus.  The staff is delighted to tell you exactly where your slice of steak will come from.  Now, I'm pretty stingy with my tips left behind, but here a meal for two almost demands a $10 tip from me.  Yes, the service is that good, and the food -- delicious.  There is so much food brought out that taking some home is a foregone conclusion.  The address is 650 N. Interstate Drive and the phone number is 405-292-5600.  The one complaint I have, well two, is that the music is too loud. 

Then there is a huge public compost facility that takes yard clippings and other such products and turns it into compost that any resident citizen of Norman can pick up for free.  And STILL, the city still collects 500,000 TONS of assorted garbage per DAY.  Even when it is all queezed together and compacted, there are 22 tractor-trailer loads of garbage hauled out of Norman every day.

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