WHAT IS SPARK!?

SPARK! is a nonprofit organization that employs the arts for individual and social well-being. We partner with Oklahoma Veterans to strengthen connection, expand understanding, and deepen community well-being through creative expression.

Our Veteran-centered workshops and public programs use symbolic languages such as rhythm, movement, and Morse code to help participants express what matters most to them and shape how their experiences are understood in the wider community.

Veterans bring the mission; artists bring the medium. Together we spark dialogue, expand understanding, and ensure Veteran voices are valued as an essential part of our civic life.

Through the SPARK! L.O.V.E. Initiative — Listen to Oklahoma Veterans Expression — we create an ongoing creative pathway for Veterans, families, artists, and community members: welcoming entry-level workshops, deeper artist-led cohorts, public exhibits and performances, and documentary storytelling. L.O.V.E. makes room for expression to grow into connection, helping Veterans develop and share their creative voices while inviting the wider community to listen, learn, and engage with greater humanity.

  • SPARK! Creative Lab employs the arts as a tool for individual and social well-being. Through Veteran-centered creative programs, public performances, and civic arts initiatives, SPARK! builds connection, expands understanding, and strengthens the social fabric of our communities.

  • OUR WORK

    SPARK! Creative Lab develops participatory arts programs that bring Veterans, artists, and community members together through creative collaboration. Our work is designed as a pathway from creative exploration to leadership and public expression.

    Many participants first encounter SPARK! through entry-level workshops and later return as collaborators, facilitators, and artistic leaders.

    Connecting the Dots Workshops
    Free introductory workshops for Veterans and families that use symbolic languages such as Morse code, rhythm, movement, and visual art to explore expression, connection, and creative play.

    L.O.V.E. Cohorts (Listen to Oklahoma Veterans’ Expression)
    Discipline-based creative cohorts where Veterans work alongside professional artists in movement, music, storytelling, and visual art to develop deeper artistic collaboration and leadership.

    Ditty Bops: The Art of Listening
    A multidisciplinary performance project that brings Veterans and artists together to transform Morse code messages into live music, movement, and film, sharing Veteran expression with the wider community.

    Leadership & Facilitation Pathway
    Many SPARK! facilitators first joined the program as participants. Through mentorship and collaboration with professional artists, Veterans grow into leadership roles as workshop facilitators, performers, and creative partners.

  • SPARK! believes the arts have the transformative power to unite, empower, and strengthen communities. By investing in local artists and collaborating directly with Oklahoma Veterans, SPARK! creates spaces where people can connect, express themselves, and experience a renewed sense of belonging.

    We recognize that Veterans hold essential leadership, history, and perspective within our communities. Through projects like Ditty Bops‍ and ‍Connecting the Dots workshops, Veterans participate as creative partners — reclaiming narrative, shaping meaning through symbolic languages, and helping communities understand their experiences with greater care.

    SPARK! designs interactive, participatory experiences that encourage people to gather, reflect, and find meaning in ways that are light-hearted, imaginative, and radically inclusive.

    By promoting diverse artist representation and uplifting the lived perspectives of Veterans, SPARK! fosters emotional connection among people who might not ordinarily interact, strengthening the civic fabric of Oklahoma.

    In summary, SPARK!’s theory of change centers on the belief that creative expression, shared across communities and led alongside Veterans, can shift narratives, deepen belonging, and inspire a more compassionate and connected world.

  • ORIGIN STORY

    SPARK!’s journey began in 2021 as a project by an individual artist seeking to leverage Oklahoma City's creative workforce to strengthen community cohesion during a time of isolation, loss, and division.

    In the middle of the pandemic, a dozen Oklahoma artists were paid living wages to innovate for the common good of the community. The response from the public was immediate and enthusiastic. A SPARK! was born.

    OUR FOUNDING ARTISTIC STATEMENT

    “We need spaces to heal from the isolation, division, inequity, and loss revealed by the past year.

    Live performance is uniquely poised to foster belonging, meaning, and unity. But to do so effectively, we must rethink shared space and move beyond the passive, transactional entertainment models we’ve grown accustomed to.

    Throughout my career as a collaborative performing artist, I have seen time and again that creating performance together in public space activates vibrant, light-hearted, and radically inclusive engagement.

    Research supports this. The concept of positivity resonance in evolutionary psychology explains why our heartbeats synchronize when we gather: shared positive emotion is one of the most elemental building blocks of human connection.

    At this moment, I feel called to share the collaborative practices I developed in New York and Europe with my hometown of Oklahoma City.

    Radical collaboration, combined with the beautiful diversity of the OKC community, can bring us together with curiosity, compassion, joy, and play.

    That is what SPARK! is all about.”

    Nicole Poole
    Artist & Founding Executive Director

  • SPARK! is committed to transparency and responsible stewardship of community support.

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    2023/FY2024 990
    2022/FY2023 990
    2021/FY2022 (Founding year) 990