After 10 years and $20M in grants, Arts Alliance Tulsa enters next chapter under new leader

Anna Inhofe-Hull’s understanding of, and her appreciation for, the arts was something of a family affair.

“My mother was the one most responsible for inculcating me in anything and everything that had to do with the arts,” she said. “She was a head docent at Philbrook, so I spent a lot of time there growing up. She also was involved in the Tulsa Chautauqua, and we had season tickets to just about everything at the Tulsa PAC. So I sort of grew up surrounded by the arts in Tulsa.”

Such an immersion into Tulsa’s diverse and expansive arts and culture scene made Inhofe-Hull realize, at a fairly young age, that the performances and events she attended were more than just entertainment.

“The arts in Tulsa do much more than just enriching people’s lives, although they certainly do that,” she said. “I think that the arts really define who we are as a city, one that values expression and shared experience. You can think of the arts as part of the infrastructure of Tulsa’s identity.”

That idea is one that Inhofe-Hull hopes to share with her fellow Tulsans as the new executive director of Arts Alliance Tulsa, the city’s united arts fund. Inhofe-Hull succeeds Todd Cunningham, who helped found Arts Alliance Tulsa in 2015 and retired as executive director late last year. 

A united arts fund operates in a manner similar to organizations such as the United Way, where donations from individuals, companies and corporations are then meted out to nonprofit groups that provide services to the community.

Arts Alliance awards grants to local arts groups, ranging from major organizations such as Tulsa Ballet, the Philbrook, the Signature Symphony at Tulsa Community College and Tulsa Opera; community theater companies such as Theatre Tulsa and Theatre North; visual arts centers including 108 Contemporary, Living Arts of Tulsa and WaterWorks Arts Center; and education-oriented entities such as the Discovery Lab, Tulsa Glassblowing School and the Tulsa Girls Arts School.

Organizations apply for unrestricted operational grants, which can be used to cover the costs of running a nonprofit arts enterprise so it can focus more on providing programs to the public.

About 40 Tulsa-area groups apply for and receive grants each year. Over the past decade, Arts Alliance has distributed more than $20 million in grants.

“Some people and organizations support specific arts groups, and we certainly want them to continue doing that,” Inhofe-Hull said. “But part of the reason we’re here is that Tulsa has such a broad, diverse arts community that does a lot of great work. And a single donation to Arts Alliance Tulsa is a way to support all these groups in what they do, from performances to educational outreach and more.”

A graduate of Booker T. Washington High School, Inhofe-Hull earned a bachelor’s in English language and literature from the University of California at Berkeley. One of her first jobs after graduating was as an intern at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. 

“I was considering going to law school even though the lawyers in my family discouraged me from doing that,” Inhofe-Hull said, laughing. “I noticed that the center’s law office was across the hall from where I worked, and so I thought law and arts had to have a connection.”

She earned her law degree from the University of Oklahoma and then worked for a local firm for a couple of years. She quickly learned she “really wasn’t the big law firm sort of person.” 

Then a friend told her about a new organization that was searching for a development officer. She got the job at Arts Alliance TUlsa and spent about four years with the organization before departing in 2021 to be the development director at OU’s law school in Norman. 

When the opportunity to return to Tulsa and the Arts Alliance presented itself, she realized this was a potential step forward for both herself and the organization.

“We’re taking the time to look at every piece of the puzzle, from the executive director’s role, to how marketing has changed over the last 10 years, to additional opportunities for funding to make sure we are reflecting our community’s needs as that community changes,” Inhofe-Hull said.

Bob O’Neal, the president of the alliance’s board of directors, said Inhofe-Hull was the first person who came to mind when the executive director job came open. 

“Her passion for the arts, leadership ability, organization skills and personal connections throughout the Tulsa community made her the perfect fit for Arts Alliance Tulsa as we begin our second decade as an organization,” O’Neal said. “She has big aspirations for the organization that aligns perfectly with those of the board of directors. We couldn’t be more thrilled to have her leading the charge.”

While the number of groups served by Arts Alliance Tulsa has remained around 40 (the 2026 contingent is 42), the makeup of that group changes. This year, six groups will receive grants for the first time — Tulsa Theatre Works, Prancing Pearls of Excellence, Echo Theatre Company, the Tulsa Foundation for Architecture, Tulsa Chautauqua and the Four Mothers Collective.

Inhofe-Hull said she was recently asked about what motivates her in life. After a bit of reflection, she said that whenever she needs a bit of inspiration, she always turns to some form of the arts.

“The arts get at something within us that help open up your perspective on the world around us,” she said. “That’s why I think the arts are fundamental to people of all ages. The arts provide us with those moments of curiosity and expression and confidence and joy — especially joy, which is something we all need to keep alive these days.”

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