Bartlesville artists draw a crowd for "Smells Like Home Spirit" gallery opening
Andy Dossett | The Wiley Post
Oct 15, 2026
The music was nostalgic, the conversations were flowing and the little green dots were multiplying Thursday night as the Lyon Gallery at The Center celebrated the opening of "Smells Like Home Spirit," featuring Bartlesville artists Erinn Rakes and Jon Lindblom.
The Oct. 8 reception brought together art lovers, friends and familiar faces for an evening that felt a little like a reunion — fitting for an exhibition built around memories of home.
Jon Lindblom's "Buyer's Remorse" hangs among colorful landscapes by Erinn Rakes at the Lyon Gallery, where the two Bartlesville artists' distinct styles complement and contrast with one another in "Smells Like Home Spirit."
Andy Dossett | The Wiley Post
Sisters Ann-Jannette Webster and Ashlee Elmore provided a live soundtrack of '80s and '90s favorites while guests mingled among more than 70 paintings inspired by the places, people and experiences that shaped the two artists.
Rakes and Lindblom approach painting from different directions, but their work shares a surprising visual chemistry. Their colors and shapes complement one another even as their individual styles stand apart.
And the paintings gave everyone plenty to talk about.
Guests swapped stories, explored the meanings behind the artwork and occasionally discovered that someone else had beaten them to the checkout counter.
Green dots marking sold paintings began appearing throughout the gallery, and more than one would-be buyer learned that the piece they had their eye on had already found a new home.
Apparently, nostalgia sells. Especially when it's painted.
"Smells Like Home Spirit" is the third installment of the Lyon Gallery's First Impressions: Emerging Artist Series, following Josh Waddell's "Rise of the Robots" in July and AJ Uphold's "Fragments of Imagination" in August.
Missed the opening? You still have time to explore the show — and perhaps find a favorite of your own.
The exhibition remains open to the public through October 30 during regular gallery hours, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and during ticketed weekend events, at the Lyon Gallery inside The Center, 300 S.E. Adams Blvd.
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