For Olivia Jordan, being involved in the arts was simply a part of growing up in Tulsa.
“I fear I took it for granted in a way because I can’t think of a time in my life when the arts weren’t a part of my life,” the former Miss USA said. “It was just an integral part of my childhood — going with my parents to visit the museums, taking art classes at Philbrook, going to shows at the Performing Arts Center.
“And the schools I went to — Monte Cassino and Bishop Kelley — both had great music and art classes,” she said. “So it was all around me, and I know it pushed me into pursuing a creative life of my own.”
Jordan will be in Tulsa this weekend as the keynote speaker of the Arts Alliance Tulsa “Play Your Part” Brunch, one of the major fundraising efforts of the city’s united arts fund.
The funds raised during the “Play Your Part” campaign will go toward operational grants the alliance awards to its 40-member group. The event will also recognize some of the volunteers who contribute their time and talents to the member organizations.
“I have to admit, being asked to do this came as a huge surprise,” Jordan said.
“Writing the speech I’m going to give has been a real challenge because you never think you’ve done anything profound that needs to be shared. So I plan to talk about my own journey, about what it means to me to be an artist working in a creative industry, and on a more broad level, about how the arts have impacted and enriched my life.”
Jordan was already finding success as an actress and model when she entered the Miss USA pageant, which she won in 2015, and was second runner-up in the Miss Universe pageant. She has been featured in national campaigns for retailers, such as Target and David’s Bridal, and in magazines including Cosmopolitan, Shape and Maxim.
She just completed filming her first major film role, a suspense drama with the working title of “Attraction,” playing one member of a group of vacationers who accidentally stumble upon a terrorist plot and are forced to run for their lives.
Jordan acknowledged that winning the Miss USA title has been at once a help and a hindrance to her career.
“There is a huge stereotype associated with the pageant world that you have to overcome,” she said. “There was a top film producer that my agent had been trying for a long time to arrange a meeting, but he kept saying he didn’t have the time. Then, when I was Miss USA, he wanted to meet — although the first thing he said was, ‘I just don’t understand this pageant thing — it’s got nothing to do with acting.’
“On the other hand, there are those who appreciate the accomplishment, who realize that you’re someone who’s willing to work hard and do what’s necessary to accomplish something,” Jordan said.
But the title also gave Jordan ample opportunities to engage in a great deal of charity work for organizations that include Children of the Night, Smile Train and the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance.
One of her proudest moments was working along with her father as an advocate for the Alzheimer’s Association. Jordan and her father spoke with a number of U.S. senators about how the HOPE Act for Alzheimer’s would increase access to information on care and support for newly diagnosed individuals and their families.
“Just to be there with my dad, trying to accomplish this huge thing, and being able to use my title as a way to gain access to certain people, was one of the highlights of my time as Miss USA,” Jordan said.
She is still involved with the pageant — she was a backstage host for the 2017 pageant, held Sunday in Las Vegas. And she will be heading to New York to audition for the upcoming Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.
“I’m just blessed that opportunities keep coming my way,” Jordan said. “I remember being asked as a 10-year-old what I wanted to be and saying I wanted to be an actress and a model. And I think that was my early goal because of all the shows we went to, seeing people I knew doing creative things with their lives. It made me realize how the arts are something that really brings us all together.”
www.tulsaworld.com/blogs/scene/arts/living-creatively-former-miss-usa-olivia-jordan-heads-to-tulsa/article_ff932e4e-ff2a-5477-8010-f566ea478499.html