Vanessa Morrison, the Associate Director of the OU Institute for Quality Communities and co-founder of Open Design Collective, recently authored a column in The Oklahoman titled “Let’s celebrate everyday, unseen roles Black women play in Oklahoma communities.”
Vanessa discusses the vital roles that Black women often play without garnering recognition or attention. She writes, “Black women continuously work to restore and uplift our community even in the absence of the resources to do this intentional work. Collectively, Black women tirelessly serve our community to solve many of the challenges we face, and it is because of the wildly visionary capabilities of the Black women who’ve come before us, and the ones who now stand beside us, that many of us are driven to be achievers today.”
She calls on readers to celebrate the everyday roles that Black women play – ones that might go unseen but are incredibly impactful to the community. She mentions hair stylists and chosen big sisters as just some of those unseen roles that help support her and the community. Vanessa recognizes the Black women that came before her, writing, “We carry these women in our spirit and lean on them to guide us, not only in the work we do, but in the life that we live.”
Read the entire article on The Oklahoman's website.
Telesis, a journal produced by students in the University of Oklahoma Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture, has earned first place in the 2026 Douglas Haskell Award for Student Journals for its seventh volume, “Unfold.” This marks the fourth time the publication has earned recognition for excellence in student architectural journalism. It shares the honor with student journals from Columbia University, University of Michigan, and Cal Poly.
Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture congratulates Thinh "Henry" Duong, a master's student in the Division of Interior Design, for earning first place in the 2026 Robert Bruce Thompson Annual Student Light Fixture Design Competition.
Gibbs College of Architecture Institute for Quality Communities (IQC) Director and Division of Planning, Landscape Architecture, and Design (PLAD) faculty member Amber N. Wiley, Ph.D., recently published a new book, Collective Yearning: Black Women Artists from the Zimmerli Art Museum.
