“They’ll say, ‘What’s a WOMPA?’” Hill said, laughing. “Even when I try to explain it, they sometimes don’t really understand the scope of this place. But once they come out here, they get it.”

WOMPA is an acronym for West of Main Producers Association, which for the past year or so has been providing creative types ranging from artists and filmmakers to theater companies and hair stylists, internet radio stations and commercial photographers to acupuncturists and bio-engineers with unique spaces in which to work.

Artist Skip Hill is one of several visual artists who work at WOMPA. -Daniel Shular, Tulsa World

The campus, located a couple of miles west of downtown Tulsa in a greatly refurbished former manufacturing plant at 3306 Charles Page Blvd., also includes six venues that can be rented for private events, an onsite Airbnb, and an RV park.

“I know some people have referred to WOMPA as an artists’ community,” said Maggie Fox, one of the co-founders. “But as our name says, our membership is made up of people that ‘produce.’ They produce all kinds of things, and there is an artistry in all of that.”

 “Of course, I still remember the first time he brought me out here to see it,” Fox said, laughing. “I was terrified. He’s showing me all the parts of the property, and there was evidence all over of people who had been squatting. I remember there was a woman who passed out on a sofa, and I could have sworn she wasn’t breathing, but once we started making a little noise she got up. But in the end I had to admit that it was a very cool building with great bones, and I began to see all the endless possibilities Dean and the others imagined for it.”

Regardless of what discipline or field of endeavor WOMPA members pursue, all operate on a month-to-month membership basis, depending on the scope of the project and the amount of access they need to the WOMPA campus to complete that project.

It is an area that members of the artistic community who call it home calls the Riverbend Arts District, and they are wanting to introduce it to the rest of Tulsa with the inaugural Riverbend Arts District tour, taking place Saturday, Nov. 2.

 

Eight venues, from private artist’s studios to collectives such as WOMPA, will be open to the public, hosting special events from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. (See the sidebar/bottom of this article for a full list of venues and activities).

 

Rachel Rose Dazey, co-owner of Dillon Rose, a studio that creates custom-designed jewelry, was the principal instigator of the tour.

 

“I just realized that some of Tulsa’s most established, high-end artists and crafters were here in this district,” she said. “And these are artists that I think many Tulsans don’t know about, or realize the level of talent that’s here.

 

“I wanted to shine a light of them, to say, ‘Look at how amazing these people are,’” Dazey said. “There are a lot of artists who are in mid-career, who are fairly established and know that this is what they’re doing with their life. They are creating wonderful things in these beautiful, creative spaces that we want Tulsa to know about.”

 

And, on a more practical level, Dazey said, she wants people to realize the Riverbend Arts District is very much a part of Tulsa.

 

“A lot of people think we’re in Sand Springs,” she said. “I think it’s because our address in on Charles Page Boulevard. But this neighborhood is just a couple of minutes from downtown.”

 

The Riverbend Arts District begins around Newblock Park, where David Phelps’ sculpture “Glide” stands — the sculpture also serves as a logo for the district — and continues west for about 2 miles.

 

Several of the venues taking part in Saturday’s event are, like WOMPA, in buildings that date back to Tulsa’s early days, which have been greatly refurbished. These include Station No. 13, a former fire station now converted into an event center, complete with a old Chevrolet fire truck parked out front; and Belafonte, the latest incarnation of the small building at the corner of Phoenix Avenue and Charles Page Boulevard.

 

The building is often referred to as “the Fish House,” thanks to the eye-catching, slightly surreal mural of a fish that adorns its north wall. The mural, by Ana Maria Ortiz, is a relatively new addition to the building, which dates back to 1935, when it was built to be a furniture store.

The original owners soon sold the building to a Church of Christ congregation, which used it as its house of worship for close to 60 years. Then, Miriam Mills, a longtime resident of the Crosbie Heights neighborhood in the building stands, purchased it and set about refurbishing it for its new life.

“Miriam did a lot of work on the building’s infrastructure, because not much had been done for the past 60 years,” said Chris McCabe, one of the co-owners of Belafonte. “And she spent a good deal of time and money keeping it in shape, so when we took it over, it wasn’t as if we were starting from scratch.”

 

Mills was the person who commissioned the building’s distinctive mural, and over the years, the small building was home to a variety of businesses, including a grocery store, a yoga studio, a school, a concert venue and the rehearsal space for World Stage Theater Company.

 

McCabe and his wife, Erin, approached Mills about buying the building in 2022; the sale was completed in April 2023, and Belafonte opened for business in October of that year.

“My wife and I have run a series of house concerts called Vox Pop for the last five or six years,” McCabe said. “We’ve done more than 60 concerts, and we really loved that experience of artists performing in an intimate setting. We love bringing people together, creating that sense of community, and that was a big part of our vision for Belafonte.”

 

McCabe brought in friends Will and Charis Retherford to help with the venue. “Will is a musician and does a lot of professional sound production around town, while Charis’ day job is in marketing,” he said. “We asked if they wanted to help us start this new business, and they immediately said yes.”

 

In addition to events that include concerts, comedy nights and visual art shows, Belafonte also offers residencies for those wanting to conduct classes, workshops or special events.

 

“The residencies are done on a per-hour basis, anywhere from six to 16 hours a month,” McCabe said. “Right now, we have a yoga teacher who holds her classes here.”

 

McCabe said the desire to create a sense of community is what drives Belafonte.

 

“There are so many things that divide us these days, that can seem insurmountable,” he said, “but what I’ve learned from doing the house concerts is that it’s usually the little things that can bring us together, and art is a powerful way of bringing people together. We want Belafonte to be one of those ‘third places’ that is centered around the arts.”

McCabe, Dazey and Fox all agree the Riverbend neighborhood offers some unique benefits for artists.

 

“Twenty years ago, downtown Tulsa was pretty affordable for artists, where they could live and work,” McCabe said. “But now that it’s the Arts District, it’s no longer a place that artists can afford. This area, on the other hand, is affordable with flexible zoning that would allow people to create unique environments.

 

Riley, the 6-year-old office dog for Hues of Hope, lies under a desk at WOMPA. - Daniel Shular, Tulsa World

 

“It’s also a pretty neighborly, collaborative place,” he said. “I mean, how do you take a hundred-year-old industrial part of town that’s been largely abandoned for decades and make it vibrant again? It’s something you can’t do alone. There is a unique collaborative experience in Tulsa that’s happening among the artistic community that I really appreciate, and it just fosters that sense of community.”

 

Riverbend Arts Festival

Eight arts-related businesses currently make up the Riverbend Arts District and will be offering special events during the inaugural Riverbend Arts Festival, Saturday, Nov. 2.

Every tour stop has a special stamp you can add to your Riverbend Arts District Passport, which will be available at all participating locations.

Belafonte

306 S. Phoenix Ave.

Art and community events space, hosting The Wurst food truck with live performances, a gallery show and comedy performance.

Dillon Rose Fine Jewelry

1229 Charles Page Blvd.

Fine custom and fashion jewelry made in-house, hosting an up-close visit with Artemis, a red-tailed hawk from the Sutton Center and a capsule fashion release with Cult Love live screen printing.

Ever Something

1229 Charles Page Blvd.

Floral design and event specialists, hosting a build-your-own bouquet flower bar.

Golden Plains Wood Shop

2302 Charles Page Blvd.

Home to three talented woodworkers, featuring the craftsmanship of Jake Fowler and Andrew Bones hosting a tour of their work and workspace.

Tulsa Artist Studios

1221 Charles Page Blvd.

The studios are home to 10 working artists, including the studios of James Andrew Smith and Suzanna Smith, Raygen Treat and Kayley Giacomo of Hightail Creative Company, and Blue House Media.

3rd Street Clayworks

3121 Charles Page Blvd.

Multi-ceramicist studio hosting live clay throwing.

WOMPA

3306 Charles Page Blvd

Co-working spaces, multiple artist studios and venues, including "Poppa Nite" of Radio IDL, a sponsor of the event who will host a food truck, artist studio tours and entertainment.

Station 13

3924 Charles Page Blvd.

Historic fire station converted to event space hosting indoor and outdoor children's activities with an outdoor bar.