Obituary

Don Emick passed away May 10, 2019 at Clarehouse dying from lung cancer.

He was preceded in death by his father Ward Emrick and mother Ann (Hase) Emrick. Don was a gifted photojournalist, fine art photographer and adjunct photography instructor.

Don worked for both the Tulsa Tribune and The World in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s as lab technician and staff photographer. He freelanced for the Associated Press, Oklahoma Today, Uptown News, and others. Until his illness, he had taught photography as an adjunct Instructor at Rogers State University and Tulsa Community College.

In his fine art photography, he utilized both traditional and digital processes in order to achieve his personal vision – a vision that ranged from the whimsical to the lyrical, from the bold to the ephemeral. In his pinhole work, he captured the passing of time, of the present slipping into the past, and yet, paradoxically, freezing this past forever in the present images – all without becoming nostalgic. His manipulation of Polaroid film with a spoon before the chemicals solidified exemplify his willingness to push the limitations in order to create an impressionistic effect.

He had numerous solo exhibitions in galleries in Tulsa and Claremore:

Koney Korner, a series of black and white prints, 1991 and 1992, at Pictures Gallery in Tulsa and Rogers State College, respectively; Manipulations 1 in 1993 at Pictures Gallery and Manipulations 2, 1994, at Rogers State College; Digitations 1, 1995, at Living Arts and Digitations

2 at Rogers State; Digital Art by Don Emrick , 2005, and Analog: Low Fidelity Photography, 2009, both at the Tulsa Artists’ Coalition; and, his pinhole images of the AHHA as it was being built in 2012 at AHHA. His Found in Abstraction hung at the State Capitol’s Gallery in 2009.

Emrick also participated in numerous group shows, including the Tulsa Photography Collective’s yearly Members shows, Gallery Artiste, Devena’s Gallery for Fine Photography, the North Tulsa Documentary Project, and the Mayfest Invitational Gallery (1994, 1995).

He belonged to several professional and arts organizations: National Press Photographer’s Association, Tulsa Photography Collective, Tulsa Artists’ Coalition (a Board Member and served on the publicity committee), New Mexico Archeological Society, and the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition (on the Art Focus committee). Don was instrumental in advising the architects as to the darkroom specifications of the Visual Arts Center for the Arts and Humanities Council of Tulsa (known as AHHA).

Don graduated with a B.A. in Journalism/Professional Writing in 1980 and a M.A. in Journalism/Mass Communication in 1987 from the University of Oklahoma, Norman.

The Tulsa Artists’ Coalition is paying tribute to Don Emrick,  July 23, 2019, from 5pm to  7pm at its gallery, located at 9 East Brady, Tulsa.

Come share your memories of Don