Press Release
December 27, 2018
Contact: Steve Hawkins
Oklahoma History Center, Oklahoma Historical Society
Office: 405-522-0754
shawkins@okhistory.org
www.okhistory.org/historycenter
Oklahoma History Center Opens New Exhibit “Will Work For …” by Artist Mike Wimmer
OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma History Center (OHC) is proud to announce the debut of the latest Mike Wimmer project, “Will Work For …” on Tuesday, January 15, 2019. This exhibit is comprised of 17 portraits and will be displayed in the Vose Atrium Gallery of the OHC. It will be open for public viewing Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The exhibit is projected to close in June 2019.
Wimmer describes himself as a “natural observer of people and all the differences that make us unique.” It was this diversity that he wished to portray in the “Will Work For …” project. His inspiration for this came to him when he noticed all of the people on street corners holding the signs that state that they “Will Work For Food.” He began to ask people of every social group what they would work for; what inspires them as individuals to sacrifice their lives, their labor and their love enough that they will work for it. His models for this project have included a carpenter, mayor, museum director, other artists, a TV weatherman and a former Miss America, among others. In each portrait, the individual is holding the iconic cardboard sign that completes the phrase “Will Work For …”
Wimmer is an Oklahoma-born artist who began sketching and painting at age 6 and began selling his artwork at age 11. He received his undergraduate degree in fine arts from the University of Oklahoma and his master’s degree at the University of Hartford in Hartford, Conn. He has produced artwork for some of the largest corporations in the world including Procter and Gamble, Nabisco and Disney, and has painted portraits of some of the nation’s most prestigious citizens. Wimmer has painted more than 300 covers for almost every major publisher in the United States. More than 40 of his pieces have hung in the Oklahoma Capitol Building. He is currently professor of illustration at the prestigious Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Ga.
“The greatest enjoyment of being an artist is the extreme joy of bringing an idea to life that, just five minutes before, did not exist,” said Wimmer.
The Oklahoma History Center is located at 800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive in Oklahoma City. For more information about “Will Work For …” or other OHC exhibits and programs, please call 405-522-0765 or visit www.okhistory.org/historycenter.
The Oklahoma History Center is a division of the Oklahoma Historical Society and is an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, National Archives and is an accredited member of the American Alliance of Museums. The mission of the Oklahoma Historical Society is to collect, preserve and share the history and culture of the state of Oklahoma and its people. Founded in 1893 by members of the Territorial Press Association, the OHS maintains museums, historic sites and affiliates across the state. Through its research archives, exhibits, educational programs and publications the OHS chronicles the rich history of Oklahoma. For more information about the OHS, please visit www.okhistory.org.
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