There are plenty of ways to celebrate fall. Norman’s arts community has chosen giant parade puppets, steamroller printing, live metal pours, craft beer, and a downtown zombie crawl.
Artoberfest is bringing a series of creative happenings to Norman this fall, with events popping up across downtown and the University of Oklahoma from September 19 through October 30. The lineup comes courtesy of Norman’s independent art spaces and craft brewers.
Here’s what’s on the calendar.
Ink the Block Party
September 19 | 1 to 8 p.m. | Crawford Avenue in front of Opolis
Ink the Block Party takes over Crawford Avenue on September 19, complete with prints made using an actual steamroller. (Why use a printing press when you have heavy machinery?)
The day also brings live mural painting, music, an art market, and demonstrations, with artists and musicians coming in from around Oklahoma. Oscillator Press, Uncanny Art House, and Opolis are behind the annual event.
Brewtoberfest
October 3 | 4 to 10 p.m. | The Depot
Brewtoberfest brings Lazy Circles Brewing, Legally Brewed and BIG Brewing together at The Depot for an evening celebrating craft beer.
There’ll be live music and activities throughout the evening, plus the OU Print Club doing what you might expect at this point in Artoberfest: making art on the spot. They’ll have their mobile relief press fired up for live T-shirt printing.
Al Paldrok: RAW
October 9 | 6 to 9 p.m. | Uncanny Art House
Estonian artist Al Paldrok makes a stop in Norman with RAW, an exhibition of mixed-media photography featuring images from performances by his international performance art collective, Non Grata.
For more than two decades, Non Grata has performed around the world, earning a reputation for work that can be provocative, chaotic, and difficult to forget. RAW pulls from those performances, with Paldrok’s photographs bringing some of that energy to the walls of Uncanny Art House.
The exhibition opens during the October 9 Art Walk.
Dennis McNett: Here One Day, Gone the Next
October 9 | 7 p.m. | 300 Block of Main Street
Virginia-based artist Dennis McNett returns to Norman for October’s Art Walk, this time leading a procession of giant handmade puppets and masked revelers down Main Street.
Here One Day, Gone the Next is part parade, part performance, with a live drummer and guitarist joining the procession and McNett leading a ceremonial call to live life to its fullest. Even better, this isn’t a watch-from-the-sidewalk situation. Anyone with a mask is welcome to join in.
And if you don’t have one yet, you’ve got time to fix that.
Mask-Making Workshop
October 5-8 | 1 to 8 p.m. | Resonator
In the days leading up to the procession, McNett will be at Resonator helping participants make papier-mâché masks of their own. Pick an animal, build out a cardboard form, and finish it with McNett’s hand-printed patterns. Or take the design in your own direction.
The workshop is $30, materials included, and you’ll leave with a mask ready for its Main Street debut on October 9.
Dennis McNett Public Artist Talk
October 7 | 5 p.m. | OU School of Visual Arts, Room 205
Before the puppets hit Main Street, McNett will stop by the OU School of Visual Arts to talk about how he got here. He’ll trace his path as a printmaker, sculptor, and social practice artist, with a look at some of the large-scale public projects he’s created over the past two decades.
Stick around afterward for a Q&A.
Metal Shop
October 16 | 6 p.m. | Lazy Circles Brewing
Yes, there will be molten metal.
Metal Shop starts outside Lazy Circles with a live aluminum pour by sculpture clubs from OU and East Central University. Then things move inside, where Bugnog and Mushroom Goblin take the stage, and local artists Chris Johnson and Barry Zimmerman make work live throughout the night.
And that aluminum pour? You can have a piece of your own cast in it.
Aluminum Scratch Mold Workshop
October 10 | 2 to 5 p.m. | Lazy Circles Brewing
A few days before Metal Shop, OU Sculpture Tech Andy Denton will show you how to design and carve your own scratch mold at Lazy Circles.
Your mold will be cast during the October 16 pour and turned into a custom aluminum tile you get to keep. The workshop is $30.
A Night to Dismember
October 30 | 7 p.m. | Downtown Norman
Halloween for the grown-ups.
A Night to Dismember sends the undead into downtown Norman for a night benefiting Norman Music Festival. Get some help with your zombie transformation from artists at The Depot, then join the hunt for hidden brains scattered around downtown.
Eventually, all zombies lead to Jones Avenue for the Blood Harvest Ball, with Sisteria, King Witch Mother, and more playing live until, as Artoberfest puts it, “the undead drop.”
It’s free to come out and join the fun. A $20 wristband donation to Norman Music Festival gets you makeup, a few extra perks, and entry into door prize drawings during the scavenger hunt.
Plan Your Artoberfest
Check the official Artoberfest website for workshop registration, event updates, and the latest details before heading out.
