Please join us on Zoom for a conversation between exhibiting artist Ivan McClellan, and two cowboys Ronnie Davis III and Margey Givings. McClellan’s exhibition, Eight Seconds, is on view at Blue Sky from through Sat, Jun 29.

This event will take place on Zoom.

Image ©Ivan McClellan

Join artist Ivan McClellan in conversation with Ronnie Davis III, a working rodeo cowboy and Margey Givings, a trainer and breeder of race horses. Both hail from Oklahoma and their portraits are featured in the McClellan's exhibition Eight Seconds, a project that documents the lives of Black men and women who live a western lifestyle across America. For the past 9 years McClellan has travelled to rodeos and farms interacting with people in this rare, dying, and extraordinary culture hearing their stories and taking their photos. This work has transformed perceptions about identities in the west, challenging the myth of the American cowboy and expanding this archetype to include people of color.

Ivan McClellan (American, b. 1982, he/him)  is a photojournalist and designer based in Portland, Oregon. His work reveals marginalized aspects of black culture and challenges broad assumptions and myths about racial identity in America. Ivan's work has been acquired for the permanent collections of Phoenix Art Museum, Tucson Museum of Art, Portland Art Museum, Eiteljorg Museum and Booth Museum. He is the winner of the 2022 Getty Inclusion Grant. 

Ronnie Davis III

Ronnie is a father of 2 and a working rodeo cowboy in Oklahoma. Ronnie competes in an 8 man horse relay event called Pony Express. His aim is to bring the sport out of Oklahoma and expand it to the national stage. Ronnie also works as a truck driver and an fitness trainer for youth football. 

Margey Givings

Margey is a trainer and breeder of race horses in Oklahoma. You can see her on TikTok working her 40 horse stable with her 1 year old son Maverick strapped to her back. Margey competes in rodeo in barrel racing and bronco riding and has aspirations to be a horse jockey.