Major 4-Block-Long Public Art by Gordon Huether & Marlon Hall ‘Doorways to Hope’ Memorializes 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre

With dedication today, artwork’s 20 repurposed doors with murals and stories mark gateway to historic location of homes of Black Tulsans destroyed in riots

TULSA, OK, UNITED STATES, August 19, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- A major site-specific artwork by Gordon Huether and Marlon F. Hall has reached completion and is being dedicated today, Aug. 19, in ceremonies by local and national officials in Tulsa. “Doorways to Hope”, honoring victims of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, is comprised of 20 repurposed doors, murals, special lights and sound and QR codes linking to experiential story-telling. It spreads across two sets of walls of the Interstate 244 underpass along Elgin Avenue, one of the traditional gateways to access the historic Black neighborhoods of Tulsa. The artwork is an element of a larger series called the “Pathway to Hope Public Art Trail,” which includes six distinct large-scale works of public art installed along I-244 underpasses in Tulsa’s historic Greenwood district. The series was made possible by the Oklahoma Arts Council Art in Public Places program with funding from the Oklahoma Department of Transportation.

“With ‘Doorways to Hope’, we wanted to reposition and honor the voices and experiences of generations of Black Tulsans who, despite horrific violence, urban displacement, societal ignorance, discrimination and disregard, have survived, flourished and embody the principles of hope, equality, and community,” said Huether. “With this simple yet bold and straightforward gesture, we seek to include and engage the community with iconic, familiar and visually stunning portraits of community members.”

QR codes applied to the walls contain a link to audio and visual digital materials that contain voices, stories and images gathered through a Tulsa community engagement process. Each door is an architectural and historic reference to the homes of Black Tulsans that were destroyed in the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. The doors also have metaphorical meaning, acting as a portal and passageway towards a better future, towards hope. Lighting is not only practical but also conveys a message of a hopeful and illuminated journey.

The formal dedication of “Doorways to Hope” and other installations is 10 a.m. Tues, August 19, 2025 at the Greenwood Cultural Center, as part of the Pathway to Hope Public Art Trail.

About Marlon F. Hall
Marlon F. Hall is an artist whose work is rooted in social practice and shaped by anthropological listening. His life’s intention is to cultivate human potential while unearthing beauty from perceived community brokenness. As an art-making storyteller, Marlon was recently named a Fulbright Specialist by the U.S. Department of Educational and Cultural Affairs, is a 2021 Tulsa Artist Fellow, and served as Visual Anthropologist and Social Media Archivist for the Greenwood Art Project. For more information, visit www.marlonhall.com.

About Gordon Huether Studio
Gordon Huether is a Napa, CA-based artist specializing in large-scale, site-specific permanent art installations. With hundreds of projects across a decades-long career, Huether's most complex commission to date is the seven architecturally integrated installations for the Salt Lake City International Airport, completing in stages from 2015 to 2025. For more information, visit us at www.gordonhuether.com.

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