Tulsa to host the 2015 Internation Surface Design Conference

Tulsa to host the 2015 International Surface Design Association Conference.

This event will help to "enhance the Tulsa metro region's reputation as an arts and culture destination to an international audience," officials with VisitTulsa said at a press conference Thursday at Living Arts of Tulsa."Tulsa boasts a number of world-class arts and culture venues," said Ray Hoyt, senior vice-president of VisitTulsa. "Now it's time to share these assets with the world."The Surface Design Association is a 35-year-old organization devoted to promote critical thinking about, and education in, surface design - a term that encompasses all varieties of textile and fabric craft and art.Its more than 4,000 members, the organization's president Jane Dunnewold said, range from "professional artists to people who I would never dream of calling amateurs but who are enthusiasts with very high standards."The conference is expected to bring up to 500 visitors to Tulsa - working artists, collectors, curators and academics - for an event that will span about 10 days."Typically," Dunnewold said, "our conferences have a core session over a weekend, with as many as five days of workshops before and after the main session. It also gives us the opportunity to explore all these marvelous cities, like Tulsa."
Mike Neal, president of the Tulsa Chamber of Commerce, said the International Surface Design Association conference will likely have a direct economic impact of $500,000, with

the greater benefit of having the conference in Tulsa being that it will help spread awareness of Tulsa and its continually evolving cultural and entertainment resources, which he described as products "primed for consumption."
Mayor Dewey Bartlett said that "the arts served as a window into the soul of a community," and the conference will be "a great opportunity to sell the city of Tulsa ... as a real home base for the arts."