Reanimating Cimarron County: MJ Alexander

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GuestAuthor: Cayla Lewis
MJ ALEXANDERCreativeProjects Grant: IN NO MAN'SLAND: Portraits of the OK Panhandle

M.J.Alexander, Mike Leonard, outside the Loaf& Jug, photography, 2012

Oklahoma City resident,M.J. Alexander, has recently been exploring the lesser-populated areas ofOklahoma in her recent project, IN NO MAN'S LAND: Portraits of the OK Panhandle. She starts in western Cimmaron County, where thepopulation is less than 2 people per square mile, and makes her way eastthrough Texas and Beaver counties.
With help from OVAC’s Creative ProjectsGrant, Alexander hopes to travel to these places, photographing andinterviewing the residents of western Oklahoma. Using her background inJournalism and American Culture, she will create a series of photographsdisplaying the dwindling population of pioneers living in the far-westerncounties of Oklahoma.

MJ Alexander, The De Casas Twins
Andrea and Alexis, photography, 2012

Her creative project will includelarger-than-life portraits installed on storefronts and abandoned buildings inApril 2013, with the intention not to portray a poverty or drought-strickenworld but to “allowresidents the vantage point to consider their everyday selves as epic andlarger-than-life portrayal.” IN NO MAN'S LAND: Portraits of the OK Panhandle  will be a a“celebration of the spirit of Cimarron County the spirit that has keptCimarron County going through boom and bust,” and the attitudes andpersonalities of the people that reside there.
Alexander has shown in many solo and group exhibitionsall over the state and country as well as provided photography and interviewsfor many books regarding the American West, including Salt of the Red Earth and Portrait of a Generation: Sons andDaughters of the Red Earth, both of which she is the author andillustrator.
The Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition investsin artists’ project through grants for growing careers, creative projects andexceptional continuing education. Find grant guidelines and application here. Free workshopsabout how to apply will be held September 8 & October 13.