A new exhibit in the University of Oklahoma’s Bizzell Memorial Library invites visitors to step into more than a century of storytelling and innovation in media. “An Age of Dreamers & Storytellers: Media, Mass Communication and the University of Oklahoma” celebrates Gaylord College’s 25th anniversary while tracing the evolution of journalism, advertising and media across campus and beyond.
The exhibit was envisioned and brought to life by Associate Professor of Advertising Ray Claxton and Kennedy Patrick, assistant to the deans at Gaylord College and a current master’s student in library and information studies at OU. Claxton led the design and thematic development of the exhibit, while Patrick spearheaded the research, coordination and archival discovery that shaped its foundation. Working together with support from Bizzell Library and Dean Andrea Miller, the pair transformed an ambitious idea into a vivid exploration of media history and innovation.
Left: Ray Claxton and Kennedy Patrick at the opening of Gaylord College’s new exhibit in Bizzell Library. Right: The exhibit space.
The idea for the exhibit emerged in late 2024, when the college began planning ways to mark its milestone year. Claxton recalled that Dean Andrea Miller invited faculty, staff, students and alumni to collaborate on ways to celebrate Gaylord College’s 25th anniversary, and that Patrick suggested an exhibit in Bizzell Library. The idea quickly gained traction with the committee, and Patrick began developing the concept.
Patrick proposed a mixed-concept exhibit that combined a history of media with a look at Gaylord’s own evolution. After her proposal was approved, she spent the spring and summer months gathering research, artifacts and photographs, including a historic 1800s printing press that became one of the exhibit’s centerpieces. “We have this printing press sitting in a storage unit doing nothing and being of use to no one,” she said. “It’s a very cool piece, and the 25th anniversary was a perfect way to bring it back to life.”
An antique printing press, recently brought out of storage, serves as a centerpiece of the new exhibit.
Printing blocks and typesetting tools on display.
Claxton said Patrick’s early research laid the foundation for the storytelling structure that followed. “After Kennedy kicked the project off with a lot of the research, finding the information from our centennial book and the research she did on her own, my job was to kind of put it all together and design it in such a way to help make it look nice but also think about it thematically,” he said. The two worked together to determine what story they were telling, whether it was the history of media, the history of the school or something that encompassed both.
That story emerged from a mountain of material including archival photos, student artifacts, building plans and historical documents that Patrick had gathered over months of research. She also worked closely with Bizzell Library exhibits coordinator James Burnes, uploading old photos and building plans and reaching out to former faculty and staff for additional resources.
A display highlights the evolution of journalism at OU with historic and modern editions of the student newspaper.
From there, Claxton began shaping the visual narrative. Drawing on his early career experience in exhibition design, he said the challenge was to make the space tell a cohesive story. “We didn’t want it to just be a collage of photos,” he said. “There had to be a theme running through it.”
They settled on the name “An Age of Dreamers & Storytellers,” a nod to the college’s anniversary theme and the spirit of innovation behind the work. Claxton said the title reflects both the 25-year legacy of Gaylord College and the dreamers and storytellers who came before, from early journalism students to the pioneers of media technology dating back to Gutenberg and the invention of movable type.
As the design came together, Claxton worked wall by wall, envisioning how visitors would move through the space. He described the process as similar to designing a book or ad, carefully plotting how each visual element would contribute to the story. The result is a sweeping timeline that spans the history of communication technology, the development of OU’s journalism program and Gaylord College’s 25-year story. “The first part of the timeline is the history of media technology,” Claxton said. “The second part is the timeline of OU and Gaylord. And the last part is the future, both opportunities and challenges.”
A timeline in the exhibit traces major developments in media and communication, beginning with Gutenberg’s printing press.
The second timeline outlines the growth of journalism education at OU, from the founding of the H.H. Herbert School of Journalism to the creation of Gaylord College.
Artifacts from the OU Daily, the Western History Collections and the college’s own archives round out the display, including typewriters, vintage cameras and broadcast equipment contributed by faculty and staff. Patrick said they wanted the items to represent not only Gaylord College but its place in a broader history of media, both in Oklahoma and beyond.
Both Claxton and Patrick said narrowing down what to include was one of the hardest parts. Patrick noted that they had far more material than could fit in the space, while Claxton added that some ideas, such as incorporating interactive displays, were not possible due to library limitations.
Still, the result was exactly what they had hoped for: a visual story that honors the past, celebrates the present and sparks curiosity about the future. “All of our majors, Advertising, PR, CMP, PW, and Journalism, are all represented in the space. We also wanted to talk about the evolution of communication itself, and about how we as humans use technology and media to facilitate that communication,” Claxton said. “Including the timeline of media made sense, and we wanted to show how quickly technology advances.”
Visitors and colleagues have praised the exhibit since its opening, and Claxton said one of the most rewarding moments came when students saw themselves reflected on the wall. Patrick said she especially enjoyed seeing students recognize their own names on the ambassador wall and realize they are part of the college’s story.
A vintage television set and video camera on display. Above, images highlight practicum programs available to Gaylord students.
Dean Andrea Miller and Associate Professor Ray Claxton at the exhibit’s opening reception.
For Claxton, the project brought everything full circle. “I want to thank the Dean for giving us this opportunity to tell our story to the greater OU population, and of course to Kennedy for kicking it all off and for all of her research" he said at the reception. “And I also wanted to thank Bizzell Library and particularly James Burnes for his assistance in getting this set up.”
As the exhibit continues to draw visitors, Patrick said she hopes it helps people see themselves in the broader story of communication. “I would say that especially both our students and people who see themselves as having some part in media, not necessarily in their career, but that they see themselves in a bigger picture.”
The exhibit will remain on display in Bizzell Memorial Library through March 2026.
