Famous Tulsan is Mayfest Poster Artist
GTR Newspapers photo
This year’s Tulsa Mayfest will be celebrating its 35th anniversary and has invited Tulsa’s own Gailard Sartain for a repeat performance as poster artist for the event. Sartain was the chosen artist in 2001.
Long time Tulsans will remember Sartain’s early career days as host of the off-the-wall “Dr. Mazeppa Pompazoidi” show with fellow Tulsa cast members Gary Busey and Jim Millaway. Broadcast on Tulsa’s CBS affiliate KOTV and later on the ABC affiliate KTUL, the late night show featured B-movies with skits written and performed by Sartain and company between the movie segments.
Discovered by a talent scout during his stint as Mazeppa, Sartain was hired in 1972 as a regular on the television program Hee Haw, which had recently been syndicated after being dropped from CBS’s schedule. Sartain remained as a regular cast member of the popular show for nearly 20 seasons. He also served as a regular on other series as well (i.e., “Cher” CBS 1975-76; “Shields and Yarnell” CBS 1978).
Since those early days in Tulsa, Gailard has appeared in more than 40 motion pictures, most notably as The Big Bopper in The Buddy Holly Story, Sheriff Ray Stuckey in Mississippi Burning and various characters in The Outsiders, The Hollywood Knights, Fried Green Tomatoes, The Big Easy, The Grifters, The Patriot, most recently in Elizabethtown and others.
In addition to his movie career, he has continued to create his whimsical style of art illustration to the delight of many Tulsa art collectors. His artistic credits range from record cover designs such as Leon Russell’s “Will O’ the Wisp” to illustrations for nationally published magazines.
According to Mary Jo Sartain, Festival Chair of this year’s Mayfest, plans are in the works to reproduce Sartain’s poster art as a mural somewhere in the downtown area.
Mayfest 2007 will be held May 17 to 20 in downtown Tulsa on Main Street between 3rd and 6th Streets, the Green at 3rd between Main and Boston and 4th between Main and Boston. As always it will feature an array of multi-disciplined arts from dance, music and visual arts. Always one of the city’s major highlights of spring, Mayfest 2007 will be planned to encompass some of the very best in both the exhibit and performance areas. New this year are plans for pod casting from the event.
About being selected as this years Mayfest poster artist Gailard says, “When I was asked by Mary Jo Sartain, Mayfest’s Festival Chair and coincidentally my wife, to do the 2007 Mayfest poster I graciously agreed because I didn’t want to be grounded again for two months and because being a native Tulsan, it is a great honor to be part of such a wonderful event as Mayfest.”
Updated 05-14-2007
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