Spark Summit to Feature Tech, Innovation, Music & Art Sept. 16-17 in Tulsa

TULSA, OK | Sep. 8, 2022 – The Spark Summit returns to downtown Tulsa for a second year, courtesy of Holberton Tulsa and Tulsa Creative Engine. The free two-day summit features tech, immersive art, music and entrepreneurship in conjunction with the Dreamland Festival, a new music festival created by artist and community leader Steph Simon.

Spark Summit, designed to be a catalyst for creative innovation in Tulsa, will include augmented reality and virtual reality experiences, as well as keynotes from nationally known entrepreneurs, technologists, artists and filmmakers and panel conversations with local leaders. The event will take place at Holberton Tulsa (15 N. Cheyenne) on Sept. 16 – 17 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

“Holberton Tulsa is thrilled to host creative leaders in technology, business, music and art to connect, learn and build Tulsa’s future together,” said Libby Ediger, CEO of Holberton Tulsa.  “Spark Summit will cover everything from the creator economy, culture and placemaking to technological advancements in data privacy, artificial intelligence and the latest in virtual and augmented reality.”

Featured guests include Atlanta-based entrepreneur Ryan Wilson (The Gathering Spot), artist-entrepreneur LaRussell, filmmaker and head of Forbes Entertainment Travis Collins, and Mexico City-based Virtual Reality artist Alfredo Salazar-Caro.

Free musical performances are available to Spark Summit attendees outside at the Holberton Main Stage from 5 – 11 p.m. on Friday and 12 – 4 p.m. on Saturday. Friday night features popular Tulsa artists COMBSY, Dr. View, Lex, Suarez Republic, Medicensanto and Ausha LaCole. Saturday features a day party hosted by underground hip-hop collective Cypher 120, featuring performances by Murs, Written Quincey, 1st Verse, and more. A full schedule can be found at https://www.tulsacreativeengine.org/spark-summit.

New this year are immersive art and virtual reality experiences at Holberton, Aaru Entertainment and at locations throughout N. Cheyenne Ave. during the Spark Summit. The experiences include a futuristic-western exhibition by artist Rebekah Campbell McIlwain, a pop-up tattoo bar by artist JuhFayFay, an immersive walkthrough exhibit by artist Shelby Aloisio with Tulsa Artist Fellows Shane Darwent and Sarah Ahmad, and a new featured exhibit from influential art collective No Parking Studios.

“We are excited to partner with Dreamland Festival to make ‘918 Day’ weekend a full-scale celebration of everything that is Tulsa music, art and culture,” Tulsa Creative Engine executive director Chris Davis said. “With Dreamland’s 100+ local and national musical performances, and Spark Summit guest speakers, visual art and virtual reality exhibitions, this is truly a festival at the scale Tulsa has not seen in years.”

Spark Summit is free and open to the public, but attendees are encouraged to reserve their spot at TCESparkSummit.com. Limited walk-ups will be accepted on a first-come first-served basis. The full list of Dreamland performers and tickets for both single days and a weekend pass can be found at dreamlandtulsa.com.

Dreamland Festival and Spark Summit are supported by a wide array of partners in addition to Tulsa Creative Engine and Holberton Tulsa including, Downtown Tulsa Partnership, Fansub, Tulsa Remote, Fire in Little Africa, Build in Tulsa, Ascension St. John, Tulsa Artist Fellowship, Aaru Entertainment, Asemio and more.

###

Photos from last year’s Spark Summit are available to download here. (Photo credit: Ryan Cass, courtesy of Tulsa Creative Engine)

An illustrated map of Spark Summit is available for download at https://www.tulsacreativeengine.org/sparkmap.