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.
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.
