About the Oklahoma City Museum of Art and Its Programs

An attorney and oil and gas executive, Duke Ligon works in and around Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The manager and owner of Mekusukey Oil Company, LLC, Duke Ligon is a member of the board of directors of several organizations, including the Oklahoma City (OKC) Museum of Art.

Formally established in 1989, the OKC Museum of Art has roots going back to 1945, before the WPA Experimental Gallery and the Oklahoma Art Center were combined into a single institution. Visited by more than 125,000 people each year, the museum houses artwork from five centuries, with a special focus on American and European art from the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries, as well as the world’s most comprehensive collection of Dale Chihuly’s glass sculptures. Housed in the Donald W. Reynolds Visual Arts Center, the OKC Museum of Art offers its members and the public at large a variety of workshops, lectures, and programs.

One example is museum classes, which are divided by age and skill level, such as the Making Memories program. Held for free on select Mondays when the OKC Museum of Art is closed to the public, Making Memories is open to people with dementia or Alzheimer's disease and the people who care for them. During the program, attendees receive a short tour of a selected gallery and then refreshments, followed by a guided art experience. Some other programs, like drop-in art classes and hands-on gallery learning, are free with the purchase of general admission.

KBH’s Sixth Annual Austin Electricity Conference

A US veteran, Duke Ligon of Oklahoma City is the senior vice president of Devon Energy. Duke Ligon of Oklahoma City is also the co-chairman of the executive committee for the new Kay Bailey Hutchison Center for Energy, Law and Business (KBH).

Recently, between April 21 and 22, 2016, KBH hosted the sixth annual Austin Electricity Conference. The conference brings together experts including engineers, policymakers, lawyers, economists, and other professionals from government, academia, and NGOs to share insights on the electric industry.

The invites-only conference is modeled around the Aspen Institute Model where presenters are each given opportunities to make very short presentations, enabling more time for cross-disciplinary discussion.

The 2016 conference’s agenda was the transformation of the electric industry and how it was affecting states and nations. It focused on trends including the proliferation of electric cars, solar panels, and other modern energy management systems. The conference looked at the administrative policies propelling the shifts in the electric industry, as well as how technological advancements also contributed.

The conference also looked at the challenges posed by such advancements in the electric industry, including transmission across the national grid, long term viability of the new models of electric generation, and the effectiveness of planning for the new system.

About Duke Ligon

With a background in the energy sector extending more than 40 years, Duke Ligon is an Oklahoma City attorney who practices corporate law. He has in-depth knowledge of the oil industry spanning the United States and abroad and is conversant in legal issues surrounding natural gas, mining, and the environment. Duke Ligon was involved in energy policy planning and regulation in the 1970s and directed programs that furthered exploration into alternative sources of energy.

Duke Ligon’s public policy background includes leading the American Energy Working Group within the OECD in 1973-1974. In charge of an oil import program at the height of the Arab oil embargo, he spearheaded efforts to collect fundamental data for use by the White House’s Energy Policy Office and the Oil Policy Committee. He subsequently guided the U.S. delegation working group that informed the establishment of an International Energy Agency. 

He owns Mekusukey Oil Company and holds board responsibilities with a number of prominent energy companies spanning Oklahoma, Texas, and California. Community involved, he sits on the Major Gifts Committee of the Board of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He is also a board member with the Civil War Trust and holds seats on the finance, audit, and battlefield preservation committees.