Last week IQC staff and OU students traveled to Tahlequah, Oklahoma for the Statewide Preservation Conference.
Seminary Hall in Tahlequah, Oklahoma.
Director Blair Humphreys, Associate Director Hope Mander, Professor Ron Frantz, Professor Emeritus Arn Henderson, OU Urban Design Studio graduate Meagan Vandecar, and five OU students attended the conference. College of Architecture students were actively involved with all activities. Students included Tori Ledue and Daniel Ofsthun (Regional and City Planning), Caroline Kingsolver (Interior Design), Jacob Hunt (Architecture) and Andrew Gourd (Anthropology).
Ron Frantz praised the OU students, noting that “This group desperately needs younger participants, and I saw these young adults mix right into the crowd. I heard many comments about the caliber of OU students from many of my long-time Main Street and preservation colleagues. ”
Additionally, Blair Humphreys, Ron Frantz, and Meagan Vandecar delivered a presentation to the conference titled “Building Quality Communities: Small Town Studio Student Teams and Local Design Issues.” Blair discussed the work of the IQC and Ron focused on new ideas to stir design conversations in communities. Meagan summarized her DesignWorks project in Depew with the Urban Design Studio and IQC, and the exciting success that Depew has had since the project last summer.
The conference was an excellent way to interact with people who care about their communities from across the state of Oklahoma.
Next year’s conference will be in Perry, Oklahoma.