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Dave Boeck, an associate professor in the Division of Architecture, recently developed an art workshop in the Barefeet Theater in Lusaka, Zambia. Working with Chipika Simanwe, a Lusakan artist, and Betty Wilkinson, former CEO of Financial Sector Deepening Zambia, Boeck created a two-week workshop titled “ARTitude.”
The workshop involved working with twenty local youth from the compounds around the Barefeet Theater. The workshop taught the youth several art techniques, including sketching, watercolors, acrylics, stitchery, and beadwork. The workshop took place over two weeks and ended with a weeklong exhibit and art sale of the student’s work. The students’ art was purchased by local Zambians as well as friends connected to the workshop online through social media.
Workshop participants after finishing their paintings, which are displayed on the wall.
Boeck has been traveling to Lusaka since 2014. He recently published a book of sketches related to service-learning trips he has taken with students to Lusaka, Zambia. The sketches reflect life on the streets of Lusaka, the capitol of Zambia. These sketches depict community members in Lusaka, especially the workforce of wheelbarrowers who transport products from one place to another. To read more about the book, click here.
Participants hearing from a prominent Zambian painter who’s work is displayed at this gallery.
The University of Oklahoma College of Architecture is proud to announce that Model Schools in the Model City, authored by Director of the Institute for Quality Communities, Amber N. Wiley, Ph.D., has been named one of ten finalists for the 2026 ASALH Book Prize for Best New Book in African American History and Culture.
This semester, students in the LA 5535 Studio: Ecological Planning and Design, led by Prof. Afsana Sharmin, took on an ambitious hypothetical project to redesign key parts of the OU campus. Their mission: to tackle the critical real-world challenge of stormwater management through innovative green design.
Petya Stefanoff, Chair of the Educational Committee with the American Planning Association, Oklahoma Chapter (APA-OK) and Gibbs College PhD candidate, has developed a new training program for local government officials. The program, focused on land use, zoning principles, and land development, recently certified its first graduates with Certified Citizen Planner status.
