DUNCAN — Artists follow their creative passions — painting, drawing, photography and sculpting, mostly for their own pleasure. Many never share their work with the world.

Then there are the Marilyn Diggs of the world. Diggs truly is an artist who shares with the world, with paintings not only on display around the globe, but also paints places many Duncan residents will never visit.

When she isn’t writing or painting from her home in Brazil, she’s working to get pieces on display or selling them. And as she notes, sometimes success is determined by sales. Her solo exhibit at The Chisholm Trail Heritage Center, which ends today, brought Diggs success, in sales, but also on a more personal level.

  “That (sales) is part of it, but certainly not all of it. For me it is about the interest that was generated and the number of visitors who hopefully walked away knowing more about Brazil than when they came into the gallery. If I did that with my paintings and life experiences, then it was a successful show,” she said.

Diggs show was the highest attended opening reception for an artist to date, at the museum, said Cova Williams, museum director. More than 150 people attended and daily the show has drawn interest from visitors to the museum. Of the 32 paintings, 15 were sold, and hanging in the empty places are small photographs of those paintings.

“It was very touching to see how many people in Duncan turned up for the reception,” Diggs said. She enjoyed renewing old friends, many of whom she hadn’t seen since high school. Diggs last Duncan show was in 1996. The show attracted many people to Duncan, from San Francisco, New York, Detroit, and Dallas and throughout Oklahoma.

“For many, it was their first time to visit Duncan, and they were happily surprised at what they saw and the hospitality they received,” she said.

While all of those attending brought her great joy, there was one person’s presence that meant the most to her.

“Having my 92-year-old father, Bob Diggs Brown, at the reception was the crowning glory for me. I thought he might get tired and want to go home early, but he was so thrilled to see so many familiar faces that he was the last one to leave.”

Diggs’ sister, Marcia Diggs Menand, also attended and sang three Brazilian songs.

The artist also admitted a bit of concern when it came to doing a “Brazil” show.

“People were genuinely interested and I hope I left a clearer idea of life in Brazil.”

Leah Mulkey, museum education coordinator, said people enjoyed seeing the additional displays of historic Brazilian items.

Diggs’ also had homemade Brazilian sweets for the reception food and presented each visitor with a special wrist ribbon from a famous church, she said.

Diggs also donated an oil painting, “Sunrise on the Trail, in Brazil” to the museum. The gift was two-fold — to show her appreciation for the museum for its contribution to her exhibit and to support the arts in Duncan.

History of the painting, set in the Pantanal region in South America, depicts a cowboy herding the regional cattle, a mixture of Indian Zebu and the local breed.

“I chose this painting because of its cowboy theme and I saw a twinkle in Bill Benson’s eye from the moment he saw this particular painting,” she said.

The show is open today from noon to 5 p.m. and there are still some of the 32 paintings available for purchase. When it comes down Monday, the unsold paintings will be distributed to different galleries and a museum. One of those will be at the Museum of the Great Plains in Lawton for the “Heart and Soul of the Great Plains” a third joint invitational that opens Nov. 6. Others will go to galleries in Oklahoma and SoHo, New York City.

“Presently, I’m planning another big show to take place in São Paulo in 2011 and at the Leslie Powell Foundation and Gallery in Lawton, in 2012,” she said.

Diggs has already returned to her home in Brazil, but encourages anyone who hasn’t seen the show to visit the museum today.



— Toni Hopper is a reporter for The Duncan Banner. She can be reached at 580-255-5354, Ext. 132 or by e-mail at: toni.hopper@duncanbanner.com.