Marjorie P. Callahan, an Architecture professor, has been selected to receive the University of Oklahoma Ed Cline Faculty Development Award which will allow her to attend a two-week intensive workshop at the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Maine.
The Haystack Mountain School of Crafts is a famous campus on the coast of Deer Isle, Maine. Founded in 1950 by Edgar and Marjorie Sewell, Elizabeth Crawford, and William and Estelle Shevis, the school was created to provide research and studio programs in the arts. Haystack was designed by Gold Medal Architect Edward Larrabee Barnes. The school offers workshops throughout the year, allowing artists and scholars to focus on their work and learn from each other and visiting faculty.
Professor Callahan will attend the Haystack school’s two-week Intensive Sustainability and Bio-Materials Contemporary Session in July, where she will learn to use 3-D computer applications and techniques to create press fit joints for high performance lattice structures. These lattice structures are part of Callahan’s research surrounding new architectural techniques used to improve conditions in Oklahoman jails and prisons. The lattice aims to allow natural light into incarceration facilities.
Callahan writes, “Instead of the horrific box and uninspired surroundings, maybe we could see architecture that repositions the narrative. Architecture that considers light, air quality, textures and materials, and forms contextually situated safely, sustainably and built-out communities. Architecture that contributes to hope.”
Professor Callahan’s work at Haystack’s workshop this summer will continue her important research into improving conditions for incarcerated Oklahomans.
Gibbs College of Architecture is proud to recognize Petya Stefanoff, who is pursuing her doctorate in the Planning, Design & Construction (PDC) program, has been appointed the new role of Director of Community Development for the City of Shawnee, Oklahoma. She joined the city in 2024.
Gibbs College of Architecture is pleased to announce that Amber N. Wiley, Ph.D., associate professor in the Division of Planning, Landscape Architecture and Design and director of the Institute for Quality Communities, has received national recognition for her book Model Schools in the Model City. The book has been named a finalist for the 2026 the PROSE Awards.
Gibbs College of Architecture Regional + City Planning Professor of Practice Vanessa Morrison and Associate Professor of Architecture Deborah Richards’ Open Design Collective received top honors at the inaugural BlackSpace Urbanist Collective Studio KIN Pitch Night Competition, held last month in Brooklyn, New York City.