Reopening Sequoyah Lodge

Some years it feels like everything happens, just in time — and always being on pushed to deadlines that cannot be pushed can be so taxing on the nerves. I would like to believe that I have been getting better at accepting that I am not in control of pesky time. That people believe me when I say “Everything is fine.” “Everything will be okay.” But I honestly feel it in my soul, the gratitude of not being in charge — and knowing the God who is.

Five months and 10 days after a fire in the restaurant closed Sequoyah Lodge, we reopened the main lodge to guests and park visitors — and just in time for Memorial Day Weekend.

I honestly may have broken my stress hormone from all the raw nerve endings that became exposed with the fire, and being told that we would open with a big white wall running through the lobby and drop ceilings — but everything is okay, and big white walls gave me an opportunity to have an “art gallery.” And maybe someday, because of this, I’ll get my dream to have a permanent art gallery in the lodge featuring Cherokee Nation artists, here in the heart of Cherokee Nation.

I am so proud of how our staff handled themselves, and the constant changes and waiting, and helping guests navigate their plans and their own changes and waiting. I am beyond grateful for the executive staff that attended to and share in my concerns for our guests and groups — working in Oklahoma State Parks never feels lonely. There is always someone to share it all with — the bad, and the good, and all the in-betweens.

This is me celebrating that guests can return to this special piece of “home away from home” called Sequoyah Lodge.

Give me all the lemons, it’s lemonade season here. xo

About the Featured Artists

The art being featured on 2 of the 3 temporary art gallery walls are serigraph prints from Dan Kiacz that were given to the Department of Tourism and Recreation in relationship with Quartz Mountain Lodge and the Oklahoma Arts Institute. Cowboys roping tornadoes feels very 1950s to me, especially with the bright colors — so they make for a fun feature in our 1956 landmark lodge.

Daniel T. Kiacz (1948-2004) — Dan Kiacz earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master of Fine Arts from Ohio University. He then began his career as a distinguished artist, printmaker, and professor at the University of Oklahoma where he was a popular and honored professor for thirty-one years. In 1987, he received the Distinguished Lectureship Award given by the OU Associates. Ten years later he was named the Irene and Julian J. Rothbaum Presidential Professor of Excellence in the Arts, and in 1998, he was named the Brian and Sandra O'Brien Presidential Professor. Kiacz is well known for his serigraphs which explore folk tales from the Mexican/Hispanic Southwest and often involve animals or tell of multicultural myths. His work is held in many private and public collections including a large selection of works in the Oklahoma Arts Institute Collection at Quartz Mountain.

Because there was a third wall, and I couldn't leave it empty... The third wall features art prints that I pulled from my own collection from artist Clare Elsaesser.  Clare is one of those special Instagram Stranger Friends, someone that I have loved following. We share a love for all things water and serenity in nature, as well as a heart for those are grieving and healing. She makes her art affordable and available to every budget -- and has been so generous to send me pieces that really hit my heart. 

Clare Elsaesser (1982-) — Clare Elsaesser was born in 1982 in Pasadena, California. After attending public art high school in Los Angeles, she went to Boston for college, at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts. Clare’s paintings are inspired by daydreams, retreat and the formidable nature outside my window... long walks in the forest, and an exploration of the intuitive self and the unknown.. She currently resides in the town of Inverness, California with her artist husband Kai Samuels-Davis.