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In the Fall of 2020, the Institute for Quality Communities (IQC) hosted their first Quality Communities Retreat, sponsored by Mayors’ Institute on City Design and Oklahoma Municipal League.
This retreat was broken into two sessions, each attended by four community delegations who had the opportunity to get project-specific advice from a panel of professionals as well as from other community teams. The panels included Shawn Schaefer, the director of OU-Tulsa’s Urban Design Studio, and Bret Betnar, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Division of Landscape Architecture. The eight communities who participated included Davis, Midwest City, Langston, Okemah, the Asian District of OKC, Edmond, Eufaula, and Sand Springs. Each session was a one-day retreat, the first hosted on a hybrid format and the second hosted fully virtually due to COVID-19 concerns.
Before the retreat, the IQC team of OU Graduate Assistants did site visits to the eight participating communities in order to develop a case study and discussion questions for each community’s project site. This information, including site photos, were compiled into a session briefing book. The IQC team would also lead the preparation and facilitation of the two retreat sessions.
The Quality Communities Retreat held guided sessions for each community where other community leaders and members of the resource panel could offer advice and guidance. Each community team was able to go back to their cities with a better understanding of their project and paths forward.
OU Graduate Assistants on the IQC Team:
Alice Calmon, Landscape Architecture
Bethany Grissom, Landscape Architecture
Mumuchhu Gurung, Regional & City Planning
Matthew Kessler, Landscape Architecture
Naoki Tsuruta, Regional & City Planning
Read more about the retreat and the community collaborators by clicking the link below.
Quality Communities Retreats | The Institute for Quality Communities
The Gibbs College of Architecture celebrates fifth-year architecture student Haley Praytor, who has been recognized at the national level for her design work. In early March, Haley received a Graduate Division Award of Merit for her submission to the 2025 Metal Building Manufacturers Association student design competition.
Ronald Frantz Jr., emeritus professor, has been named a 2026 Mary Means Leadership Award recipient, the highest honor presented by Main Street America. The award was announced at the Main Street Now Conference in Tulsa, recognizing leaders who advance preservation-based economic development and community revitalization.
The Gibbs Design in Action Awards (GDAA) program, led by Dr. Wanda Liebermann, has announced its 2026–2027 funded student projects. The initiative supports design and research work that addresses social, cultural, and economic issues in the built environment through collaboration with faculty and community partners.
