For Immediate
Release: July 15, 2004
Audio Clip
(L-R) Artist Charles Banks Wilson, Sen. Charles Ford, Betty
Price, Mary Jo Edgmon and Arlo Guthrie
Portrait of Historical Folksinger Woody Guthrie Dedicated
at the State Capitol
The spirit of nationally acclaimed folk singer
Woody Guthrie will forever rest in the halls of the State
Capitol, Senator Charles
Ford announced today. The portrait by veteran painter
Charles Banks Wilson is the latest in a series of paintings
commissioned by the Oklahoma State Senate Historical Preservation
Fund, Inc.
The portrait entitled Woody Guthrie - This Land Was Made
For You And Me will be on permanent display in the rotunda
of the State Capitol.
Guthrie was inducted into the Songwriters’ Hall of
Fame in 1971 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.
He also received numerous awards, including the Folk Alliance
Lifetime Achievement Award in 1996 and a Grammy from the
National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences in 1999.
Guthrie’s music has influenced subsequent generations
of musicians including Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen
and continues to be an inspiration to songwriters across
the nation.
“When I commissioned artist Charles Banks Wilson,
I gave him freedom to paint something or someone that depicted
Oklahoma’s history,” said Senator Ford, President
of the Senate Historical Preservation Fund, Inc. “When
I first viewed the portrait of Woody Guthrie, I was shocked
and at the same time very pleased with the once again wonderful
artistic expression by such a talented individual. Woody
Guthrie did play a vital in role the shaping of Oklahoma’s
history and it is only proper for his portrait to hang in
the State Capitol along with other Oklahoma historical figures.”
Guthrie traveled the nation during the 1930’s voicing
his political views through his songwriting, championing
the causes of labor unions, and the plight of migrant workers
and Dust Bowl refugees.
“Being a conservative from Tulsa, there are many points
of Guthrie’s ideology that I may not agree with today.
However, I am also very adamant about properly displaying
Oklahoma history through art to further enhance the beauty
of the State Capitol. This portrait achieves that goal,”
stated Ford.
Woody Guthrie passed away October 3, 1967 after his battle
with Huntington’s Disease. The ailment is an inherited,
degenerative brain disorder that results in progressive
loss of control of the mind and the body. Guthrie’s
mother suffered and eventually fell victim to this disease
when he was a young boy.
The Huntington’s Disease Society of America (HDSA,
www.HDSA.org) is working to increase awareness of this devastating
disease and fund research into treatments. The artist of
the Woody Guthrie portrait, Charles Banks Wilson, is donating
his artist’s commission in the amount of $20,000 to
the Huntington’s Disease Society for further medical
research into this disease.
“There are approximately three hundred Oklahomans
currently affected by Huntington’s Disease and many
of them have not been identified. The contribution by Mr.
Wilson will help to further facilitate the mission of the
Society for the treatment of this debilitating disease,”
stated Dr. Kenneth Hensley, President of the Oklahoma Chapter
of the Huntington’s Disease Society. “The portrait
of Woody Guthrie that will hang in the State Capitol will
also serve as a reminder to Oklahomans how important it
is to treat this disease that has robbed friends and family
members and cost society one of its greatest cultural treasures
of the 20th century.”
Artist Charles Banks Wilson is a native Oklahoman, whose
work is well known in the Oklahoma State Capitol. He painted
the four large portraits in the 4th floor rotunda, including
Sequoyah and Will Rogers. Wilson met Woody Guthrie in New
York City in the 1940’s.
The portrait is sponsored by Oklahoma’s largest weekly
and third largest newspaper, the Oklahoma Gazette and their
readers. The paper ran a feature piece on Woody Guthrie
several weeks ago and has spearheaded a fundraising drive
to raise the necessary amount associated to cover the costs
of the artist’s commission, framing and hanging of
the portrait of Woody Guthrie.
Woody Guthrie’s son and granddaughter, Arlo and Sarah
Lee, performed songs written by the historical singer, songwriter
and author including This Land is Your Land. Many other
Guthrie family members were in attendance of the ceremony,
along with Woody’s sister Mary Jo Edgmon of Seminole,
OK.
This and other art commissioned by the Oklahoma State Senate
Historical Preservation Fund, Inc. can be found on the Internet
at: www.oksenate.gov.
For
more information contact:
Senate Communications Office -
(405) 521-5774
