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The OU Institute for Quality Communities (IQC) 2024 collaboration with the Historic Threatt Filling Station has been recognized in the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City's newly released Byways Report: The Scenic Route to Rural Prosperity – a story-driven publication exploring how road trip culture and place-based tourism can fuel economic growth in rural communities.
Built in 1915, the Threatt Filling Station outside Luther, Oklahoma, holds a singular place in American history as the only known Black-owned and –operated gas station along Route 66 during the Jim Crow era. Situated between two sundown towns, the station served as a safe haven for Black travelers who faced discrimination and danger on the road, and as a vibrant community gathering place, hosting dances, baseball games, and weekend events that drew hundreds of people.
IQC's Interim Director at the time and current OU Professor of Practice, Vanessa Morrison, brought the project in and students to the site in 2024, where they met with Threatt family members and heard firsthand accounts of the station's legacy. As part of a broader collective retreat experience the IQC curated, the collaboration supported the Threatt family and two additional Oklahoma towns through technical assistance and placemaking support as they prepared their communities for the Route 66 Centennial. Morrison was interviewed for the report, offering insight into the design and placemaking strategies that shaped the partnership.
The Byways Report also recognizes IQC Program Manager Molly O’Connor, formerly Director of Rural and Community Outreach at the Oklahoma Arts Council, whose deep knowledge of Oklahoma towns and people is credited with helping make the publication possible.
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.
In May, students from the Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture's Architecture, Environmental Design, and Interior Design programs participated in an intensive five-day Studio in Residence at Taliesin West, the iconic winter home and desert laboratory of Frank Lloyd Wright.
