Deborah Richards, Associate Professor of Architecture at OU, was recently featured in a PBS News Hour story on “How art is retelling powerful stories of Tulsa massacre, capturing community’s hopes.” The video was created for the 100-year anniversary of the massacre and highlights how art and history keep the memories of victims alive in the Tulsa community.
Along with artist Alexander Tamahn, Richards aims to connect the past to contemporary Black entrepreneurial spaces. They design and 3D-print large, terra-cotta blocks, a nod to Tulsa’s art deco tradition, to enhance today’s business spaces. Richards states, “The history of Greenwood is one of resilience and also building and rebuilding over time, because of what happened. And so we thought, how can we kind of build a workflow for this project for Tulsa that is about rebuilding and building and this ceramics history?”
The Greenwood Ceramic Storytelling Project has been featured in front of three businesses in Tulsa since May 25th, 2021.
For more information on the project, visit www.greenwoodartproject.org/, and to watch the PBS feature, visit www.pbs.org/newshour/show/how-art-is-retelling-powerful-stories-of-tulsa-massacre-capturing-communitys-hopes.
Examples of the 3d-printed terracotta blocks in Greenwood.
Robert L. Wesley, a pioneering architect and beloved mentor, has died at age 88. A graduate of the University of Oklahoma, Wesley joined Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) in 1964 and became the firm's first Black partner in 1984. Throughout his career, he contributed to significant architectural projects while maintaining a strong commitment to civic engagement and professional mentorship.
The Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture is proud to celebrate a series of recent accomplishments by Dr. Jim Collard, Professor of Practice in the Division of Planning, Landscape Architecture, and Design, whose work continues to shape conversations around Indigenous economic development nationally and internationally.
University of Oklahoma Gibbs College of Architecture Dean Hans E. [PA1.1]Butzer returned to one of his most significant works on December 15, joining survivors and past and present board members for the groundbreaking of a $15.8 million expansion of the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum.
