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Norman artist Steve Hare has made Jim Thorpe (1888-1953) the subject of his paintings more than 75 times.

There’s something he’s learned about the Sac and Fox, Citizen Potawatomi and Kickapoo Nations athlete born near Prague in Indian Territory right before Oklahoma statehood. People either have memories, possibly distant ones about Thorpe or they don’t know a thing about him. They often have never heard of the first Native to win an Olympic gold medal representing the USA in 1912. Hare curated an exhibition titled “Breaking Barriers: The Jim Thorpe Collection” that’s up now at Mainsite Contemporary Art Gallery, 122 E. Main Street with a closing reception on Art Walk night November 10.

“I believe that art encourages memory and discovery,” Hare said. “It allows us the opportunity to reconnect with things that we once knew but maybe had forgotten and it gives us the opportunity to discover new things if we weren’t familiar with the subject matter.”

That’s been Hare’s North Star since the idea for Breaking Barriers occurred to him. Thorpe has been deceased for over 70 years. His entire stellar professional athletic career and later playing parts in Hollywood films was before most Americans had a TV set in their homes.

“I think people will reconnect with Jim Thorpe through the exhibition because if they grew up in Oklahoma they learned about him as a kid,” Hare said. “The other group will be those completely unfamiliar with Thorpe.”

Breaking Barriers includes work by Norman High School art students. These 17 young people were led by NPS instructor Tauri Simms. Not a single one of the students knew who Jim Thorpe was before being recruited for this project.

“It’s a younger demographic who have not heard the stories passed down by their parents or grandparents,” Hare said. “What I hope to achieve with this exhibit is remembering or discovery.”

Hare has been painting since 2015. He’s an Executive Council member and artist with the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame which has an extensive collection of athlete themed art. Hare’s work recalls paintings by American artist Leroy Neiman (1921-2012) who also painted athletes and used brilliant colors with expressionistic flair.

“I like the way this exhibition has come together,” Hare said. “It’s been a long journey for me, it’s been well over a year. Last year, Thorpe’s two Olympic gold medals were officially recognized by the International Olympic Committee and that was the last box a collective group of people wanted to check to right a wrong.”

Thorpe’s gold medals had been rescinded because he’d played semi-professional baseball before the Olympics, violating amateurism rules of the day.

“I was coming at this exhibit from a different place before July of 2022 and all these things Jim Thorpe accomplished throughout the course of his career still had some wrongs to right,” Hare said. “There was obviously a huge celebration and at that point I pivoted to more of that for Jim Thorpe instead of a place that was a little angrier because of all the wrongs that had been done to him over the years. I’m thankful I was able to do the pivot.”

Norman artist Ginna Dowling and Corbin Leonard who is a novice artist working in metals contributed to Breaking Barriers.

“Ginna Dowling is a longtime friend, incredible artist, great storyteller and gallery windows are her fingerprint,” Hare said. “When I assembled this it was super important for me to be able to visually tell the story on the outside of the exhibit before the patrons even walked in. It sets the tone for what they’re going to see on the inside. Corbin Leonard is completely unknown, so this is a great opportunity for him.”

Hare is a Norman High School alum and reached out to his alma mater to get a fresh perspective on Jim Thorpe through student work.

“Each of the participating 17 students created work in their medium of choice, their own version of what Thorpe’s story means to them,” he said. “I’m proud to have been able to touch these 17 lives of young people who didn’t know about him before. It’s my hope that the 20 voices that are in this exhibit from an artistic expression standpoint have the opportunity to share their point of view about what Jim Thorpe meant to us.”

Hare was able to take Dowling, NPS’s Tauri Simms and the 17 students to the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame to steep in the history they’d be involved with in this project.

“The students all did their own research and I had the opportunity to spend time with each one of them,” Hare said. “They each wrote an artist’s statement and it’s awesome the way Jim Thorpe had an impact on their learnings over a very short amount of time. I’m excited for the public to see their work over a variety of mediums.”

Each year the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame presents the Jim Thorpe Award to the USA’s best defensive back in college football. Hare is both on the award selection committee and then paints a portrait of each year’s recipient.

“I’ve done that for several years now and that level involvement has allowed me to come from a really great place to understand what the Jim Thorpe award stands for,” Hare said. “And it’s the only major college football award where we evaluate the athletes by 49% what they do on the field and 51% character. That was super important to Thorpe’s family and we do everything we can as a committee to uphold that. Breaking Barriers is another opportunity to educate as many people about the Jim Thorpe story as we possibly can.”

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