How this neon sign maker blends art and science to keep Oklahoma City aglow
OKLAHOMA CITY — Neon artist Katherine Reynolds has kept Oklahoma City aglow, but she blazes even brighter than her art.
"It's sexy, and it's kind of dangerous," Reynolds said of neon signs. Her work can be seen downtown, such as the large, blue Buick sign perched atop a building in Automobile Alley or the Sunshine Dry Cleaner's sign.
Decades ago, Katherine began her art career working with stained glass. But by 1984, she was lured by the neon glow.
However, Reynolds said it wasn't easy to enter the male-dominated field. "When I started, there was no women," she said, "It was old glass benders that had worked in sign companies forever."
Eventually, she was able to convince someone to teach her how to make neon signs, and how to control and bend the glass at its melting point. This involves knowing how to harness five rare gases in the atmosphere to make different, glowing colors.
"You have to be part artist, part scientist, part glass bender, part electrician, part mechanic to do this job," she said.
Reynolds opened her studio to OETA's "Gallery America" for a look inside her studio.
This report originally appeared on OETA's "Gallery America."
Support Canvas
Sustain our coverage of culture, arts and literature.
In death, Leonard Cohen is having a rebirth. The legendary singer is being remembered by older and younger generations alike…
Alec Baldwin's Western "Rust" had its world premiere Wednesday at a film festival in Poland, three years after the shooting…
In her new collection of columns from The Wall Street Journal, Pulitzer Prize-winner Peggy Noonan takes readers on a journey…
If you've ever wanted to own a piece of Hollywood history, now's your chance. A pair of Dorothy's ruby slippers…
When Centurion was founded, it was the first group of its kind working to overturn wrongful convictions for people facing…
As major American museums reexamine their collections to ensure diversity and inclusion, there's a growing realization that they need more…
As a dancer, choreographer, director and speaker, Jamison's distinguished career leaped over barriers of race and gender.
In the 1980s, about 70 percent of clothes sold in the U.S. were made in the country. Today, it's down…
This is her first time receiving nominations in the country and Americana categories.
For many Muslim and Arab Americans, Israel's wars in Gaza, Lebanon, and the wider Middle East are personal, and so…
A giant in the music and entertainment industry has died. Quincy Jones, known to many as 'Q,' was revered as…
Jones rose from music school dropout to the very heights of show business, becoming one of the first Black executives…
Kamala Harris made a surprise appearance on "Saturday Night Live" in the final days before the presidential election, playing herself…
During the final days of this tense election, we take a look at a project fostering a different type of…