TULSA, Okla. — The BOK Center revealed a new art installation made with over 45,000 guitar picks depicting Hanson and Leon Russell.
“One of the things that we wanted to really do is have this be an extension of why you come to the BOK Center,” explained Matt Pendergraff, the Creative Director behind the piece. “We wanted it to be part of that event, part of that venue that you come to and part of that core memory that you create. We wanted to create something that would almost be a destination within a destination.”
Pendergraff said it took over 2,000 hours to put the piece together.
“It was definitely experimentation. What we thought was going to work the first time didn’t because of the thickness of the pick and how we were adhering them to the wood, the substrate that was behind it, so it took a lot of trial and error. Ultimately, what we landed on was finding the right thickness of pick and they were put on with an air gun, with a staple. We had to work really hard so it didn’t crack the pick and then the second layer that went on was put on with epoxy. That just took a lot of time, each one put on by hand either by staple or with the epoxy.”
The piece is set to remain at the BOK Center on display for the next five years.
You can find it on the main concourse outside of section 104.