(PCM+) Making the World Less Beige: Kestrel Tinklenberg and the Creative Heart of City Arts

Story by Charles Gerian | Staff Writer

The following article appeared in the print issue of Ponca City Monthly magazine, which includes hyperlocal stories about Ponca City. Get full access to all online articles, videos, and content by becoming a paid subscriber. We offer free and paid subscription plans. Find rack locations to pick up your free print copy here, or subscribe here to get online access plus exclusive content.

For Kestrel Tinklenberg, creativity has never been a phase or a pastime—it has been a constant. Long before she became Executive Director of City Arts, long before leadership titles and nonprofit strategy, art was simply part of how she understood the world.

“I was lucky enough to have my mother as my art teacher,” Tinklenberg says. “She spent a lot of time outside of school fostering my creative spirit.” While she was growing up, creativity wasn’t treated as optional or extracurricular. It was encouraged, nurtured and taken seriously. Every art class, every contest, every project became an invitation to explore self-expression.

That early foundation—paired with a career path that includes psychology, military service and the arts—has shaped Tinklenberg into a leader uniquely equipped to guide one of Ponca City’s most enduring cultural institutions.