Tulsa

Three Minutes And A Soapbox

by Jennie The Lloyd | Apr 1, 2024 11:05 am

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The Salón at The Parlour
Tulsa
March 23, 2024

The Salón at the Parlour drew a crowd of musicians, painters, writers, yoga instructors and creatives interested in seeing what might happen when art and community come together for a few hours on a Saturday morning. There was an air of playful unpredictability.

On this chilly, bright day, about 40 such kindred spirits gathered in a midtown backyard garden. Chatter and laughter, sleepy smiles and long hugs all mingled amid the steam rising from hot Origin coffee. A barista served up endless refills in mismatched mugs.

The salon is held at the private home of married Tulsa artists Trueson and Zia Daugherty. They’ve organized recurring art-focused events for the past year, with growing success. Zia welcomed guests at the gate while Trueson stood near the glassdoor entrance to their eccentric, bohemian house, nicknamed The Parlour. They’ve made the space work as both a cozy hub and art gallery.

In the center of the living room, between an antique harpsichord and a piano, sits a soapbox — about a foot high of solid, light-colored wood. But for the purposes of the salon, the box is a stage. After about 40 minutes of everybody mingling and settling in, Trueson stepped up to explain the rules of the gathering. 

First rule is, you must stand on the box. ​“No one is too good for the box,” Trueson said. The box is a place to experiment: share your latest poem, sing a ditty, play an instrument, dance, show us your latest painting and tell us about the colors and shapes your mind couldn’t let go of.

There is a three-minute limit for you to ​“do your bit,” Trueson said. He held an hourglass to keep time. If you want to share, simply get up, ring the bell on the piano and start. As Hemingway might have said if he’d been there, there is nothing to creativity: all you do is stand up on the soapbox and bleed.

Our focused energy, the present moment, became the blank canvas upon which Trueson and Zia invited Tulsa’s artists to unfurl their art — three minutes at a time. Later, I would think back on each of the artists taking their turn on the box. Some were well-known on the local creative scene, while others were newcomers. Around each turn, I heard the shushing of whispers, inspired conversations, shared laughter.

One musician hadn’t performed in front of a crowd since 2017, but she showed up to the salon with her guitar in hand. Like almost everyone who got up to offer something, she didn’t introduce herself (these events are less about ​“who you are” than about ​“what you have to give”), but I later learned her name is Deanna. She took the soapbox, some deep breaths and a couple false starts. But then she steadied herself and sang like a miracle. You could feel her gaining courage every second, and then it gave all of us a little bit more courage, too.

After an hour of three-minute bits, bassist and songwriter Jordan Hehl performed some of his recent experimental work on the double bass and ukulele. He led us in droning together, and you could feel the hum of the bass and our voices vibrating the floorboards.

We laughed and cried. We sang and recited a quote from Martha Graham together — the same one Trueson recited in his ​“Disruptive Force” performance art piece last year. We left energized, elevated.

The Daughertys have created a no-stakes stage with their Salón at the Parlour events, an opportunity for artists to express themselves in an accepting atmosphere. This is community and creativity at its most vulnerable, open, real.

Next for Jennie: Lacee Rains comedy special at LowDown, April 5