Lawrence Magazine | Summer 2023

Graduates from KU’s innovative architecture program continue its legacy across the world

EDITOR

Nathan Pettengill

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Shelly Bryant

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CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Katherine Dinsdale Amber Fraley

Cheryl Nelsen Michael Pearce

Nick Spacek Bill Stephens

Elizabeth Walters Darin M. White

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Carter Gaskins Brian Goodman

Michael Pearce David Rintoul

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begins on page 35.

Scotto encountered this heron while walking through the Wakarusa wetlands early one morning in the spring of 2020.

“I had the place all to myself, and directly south of the Discovery Center on the boardwalk I noticed a great blue heron fishing,” he recalls. “There was absolutely no wind, and I was able to capture the bird’s reflection in the water, which created a very peaceful scene.”

So, in a sense, the photo was a chance meeting between a man, a bird, and a Canon 7D MK II.

Of course, in another sense it wasn’t chance at all.

The encounter was a pre-arranged meeting shaped long ago by the imposition of a bypass and a wetlands restoration project that put a boardwalk in that specific place and preserved sections of the land to shelter the heron.

And perhaps equally important, the opportunity to take this photo came about because Scotto, after a full career in education, decided to take up wildlife photography, a hobby he approached with patience and deliberation.

For each of Scotto’s photos that we were able to include, there is a story of learning about sightings, planning for the photograph, and strategizing the best approach.

The image of a fox was captured after hearing about its appearance, driving to Topeka, and waiting for at least two hours in a makeshift blind.

Scotto captured a portrait of a painted bunting after hearing rumors it was flitting about Lake Clinton and tracking it for hours through stands of cedars.

And then there was one particular northern parula, which Scotto describes as “a small bird with a big attitude.” It sent Scotto on a wild chase through bushes and trees around Wyandotte County Lake until it deigned to pause for a photograph with an almost sardonic glance down at Scotto.

It seems with Scotto’s photography that he approaches his subjects guessing what he might discover, but also knowing there will be surprises and rewards for following through—the completion as much or more of a reward than the anticipation.

And putting together this summer edition, we hope to create the same satisfaction for you as a reader. Another summer, another edition … another collection of stories about people, places, and events in and around Lawrence—and yet, hopefully, one that contains new and interesting discoveries about our shared community and the people who call Lawrence home.

This residential house, known as the 10101 home, is a 1950s ranch renovation project by mademan design, a St. Louis architectural and fabrication firm run by Studio 804 graduates Nick Adams and Patrick Knobloch. Photograph by Matt

contributors

JASON DAILEY / FEATURE

The former head photographer of Lawrence Magazine and Sunflower Publishing, Jason Dailey now runs an independent commercial and portrait studio in Lawrence. You can see more of his still and video images at daileyimages.com.

KATHERINE DINSDALE / FEATURE

Katherine Dinsdale has contributed stories to Lawrence Magazine for many moons, enjoying the fortune of hanging out with prairie chickens, contra dancers, bead artists and more. When she’s not writing, she loves spending time with the parents and kids of Family Promise of Lawrence, as well as her own six grandchildren.

AMBER FRALEY / FEATURE

A writer, mom and wife, Amber Fraley earned an English degree from the University of Kansas. She has a background in journalism, loves Lawrence and is a giant doofus (if you ask her daughter). She is currently working on the sequel to her novel, The Bug Diary

CARTER GASKINS / PLACES

Carter Gaskins developed a love for creating dramatic images as a tattoo artist in Charles Town, West Virginia. Since 2014, he has lived and worked in Lawrence, operating Carter Gaskins Photography.

BILL STEPHENS / PEOPLE

A regular contributor to Sunflower Publishing for the past 15 years, Bill Stephens is a retired network engineer who runs his own photography studio and plays guitar and mandolin for bluegrass ensembles.

ELIZABETH WALTERS / BOOKMARKS

Originally from Omaha, Nebraska, Elizabeth Walters moved to Lawrence to attend the University of Kansas. Now an incoming senior, she plans to graduate with a degree in journalism and a minor in creative writing.

WE’RE ALL ABOUT GREAT SERVICE .

THAT’S THE STEPHENS APPROACH

It doesn’t matter how many houses we sell. What matters is your house, whether you’re a homebuyer or you plan to list your home for sale. We put in the time to understand what you want and where you want to go. Then we help you get there. That’s the Stephens approach. We’re all about great service. If that’s what you’re looking for, let’s get started today! stephensre.com

features The Studio 804 Pros

After nearly three decades, Dan Rockhill’s innovative, hands-on architectural program has created a new generation of professionals producing striking homes and landmarks of their own

Decrypting a Hawk

The Red-Tailed Hawk Project aims to unravel the remarkable mysteries of North America’s most common raptor

what’s inside

smorgasbord

10 ‘How We Feel About the World’

Two fan favorites are sharing their take on the world—floors are made for dancing and karaoke nights are made for both the shy and the bold

14 Releasing the Monsters

Lawrence young adult author Sarah Henning takes readers to a camp of self-discovery

18 Where Todd’s Art Got Its Start

For Lawrence High School teacher

classroom is also a return to the spot where his lifelong career as an

people

28 Blues Are Back

To the delight of anglers and conservationists, blue catfish are now thriving in area rivers and reservoirs after disappearing for at least a half-century

34 Through Len’s Lens

Photographer Len Scotto captures images of all the area’s creatures, the great and the klutzy places

38 Almost MidCentury Again

A house designed for simplicity and economy returns to its form

61 Summer 2023 Events

‘HOW WE FEEL ABOUT THE WORLD’

VCMN—One Year, Going Strong

Victoria and Emmanuel “Manny” Cable have been popping up on stages all around town since they released their debut album, The VCMN Project, in spring 2022. Since that time, the duo has revised their overture and honed their image.

“We’ve learned a lot about what to do next time with regard to marketing and prepping for releases,” Manny says. “We’re grateful for what we were able to do with this project, but it’s so long ago, now.”

“It seems like a whole ’nother lifetime that we’ve been doing that,” Victoria agrees. “And it hasn’t been a year yet since we released it, but it just seems like so much has happened since then.”

The VCMN Project is an unabashedly entertaining and forward blend of R&B, alt-rock, and hip hop; songs like “Overdose” see the pair emotionally delving into their relationship while also moving bodies on the dance floor. And, just like any couple changes and grows, the songs in this album have changed dramatically, explains Manny as he and Victoria sit down to talk about their music over a cup of coffee at Sunflower Bike Shop.

Manny says the songs have changed a lot. “I think the songs are still great, but our live versions? We got live arrangements made and played with bands sometimes, and it’s just better. The energy is different, and then we got little breaks and there’s little things in there.”

Manny describes the live shows as the “whole VCMN experience,” while Victoria says the rewards of performing onstage, interacting with the audience, and finding a base have been an eye-opening journey for two musicians who began as industry novices.

“We were coming into this game brand-new, without any friends,” she explains. “The Replay is kind of like our home. We’re there so much that it’s like a second home, so being able to debut new music there and kind of get everyone’s vibe—it’s a blast.”

“That’s our spot,” Manny says. “Everyone is so genuine. No matter what’s going on, actually. I’ve seen them cheer, I’ve seen ’em throw people out who have been irate. It’s all very real, and I really like that about them.”

The Cables say all the experiences of the live performances— but particularly the connections they have made—will be reflected in their next release.

“Last time,” Victoria says, “it was our journey and our story. This time we want to stick with that and really hone in on positivity and love and the different phases that you go through, but stick together.”

“Our last album was very centered on us,” Manny agrees. “That was the focus. It was just an introduction to who we are, but also the story of how we became.”

The next project, whether an album or EP, is likely to be less focused on the couple.

“This one’s not about us,” Manny says. “We want people to know how we feel about the world, how much we care about people, how our hearts are out for people we consider misfits or people that don’t necessarily fit in.”

The pair see themselves as something akin to foster parents for some of the young people they see at their shows. You can see this in their Instagram posts where they frequently start off with “Kiddos!” or “Hi, Kiddos!” which feels like a genuine expression of love.

“We started doing the “hey, kids” thing on our post because we know a lot of people that were kicked out of their homes for their sexuality or just for anything,” Manny says. “We want to be that safe space and not like just on an entertainer–fan level, but on a ‘call me’ level, and we want to make that message clear this next time.”

“We’re definitely focused on mental health and being a safe space for the LGBTQAI+ community and for underrepresented communities,” Victoria adds. “We really want to drive that in and make it our little family.”

Two fan favorites are sharing their take on the world—floors are made for dancing and karaoke nights are made for both the shy and the bold

“The Replay is kind of like our home.We’re there so much that it’s like a second home, so being able to debut new music there and kind of get everyone’s vibe— it’s a blast.”

—Victoria Cable

Karaoke Jones Has Got Your Back (No Matter the Song)

Brothers Mitch and Colin Jones can be found leading karaoke several nights a week all across town, with regular Monday late-night and Saturday matinee shows and at places as diverse as the big stage of Liberty Hall or the patio of Gaslight Gardens.

Appearing as Karaoke Jones, the brothers attribute their success to “trying to make sure we try to get everyone to clap for everyone and make it as welcoming and positive as possible”—it’s a set of skills they call the “Sam Gunnerson approach.”

Gunnerson started what was then called Sam’s Club Karaoke at the Jackpot Saloon in the early 2010s, and Mitch became the cohost almost purely by happenstance. It was late 2013 or early 2014 as Mitch recalls. He was hanging out at the Jackpot on a Monday night when bartender Emily Parker “asked me—or basically told me—‘Hey, I’ll pay for the rest of your drinks tonight if you help Sam host,’ and that’s how I became co-host.”

Somewhere around 2016 or 2017, Colin came into the picture as a co-host, and the brothers have been Karaoke Jones ever since, while still holding true to the Gunnerson method.

“Sam is just such a charismatic and positive guy that if you were getting up there and messing up, he was always quick to reassure someone,” Colin says.

“If we know the song and someone’s struggling with it, we’ll sing a little bit,” continues Mitch. “Not through the microphones, but just kind of where they can hear it enough to get back on track and stay with the flow of the song and or find the key if they’re searching for it.”

Colin hops in to explain that sometimes the brothers call on their musical system to help stranded signers as well.

“It actually will have the lead vocal track that you can just slowly mix in just enough for them to hear it. A lot of those times you can just turn it off once as soon as they catch it, but they’re good. It’s like training wheels, a little bit.”

Of course, some folks don’t need those training wheels. There are local musicians who hop on stage to do songs that might fit in their regular sets, for instance. The Monday night we popped in to hang out and catch the vibe, Cheery’s Katlyn Conroy performed a version of “Let’s Duet” from the biopic comedy Walk Hard.

And other stage guests sometimes surprise the crowd. Colin says he’s come to learn that bar crowds harbor former singers.

“Lots of people who clearly were involved in musical theater growing up or in high school,” Colin explains, adding you can tell who has experience based on small signs. “Sometimes, based on the obvious song choices of just full-on doing musical numbers, but some of it’s just the level of approach to it.”

“You can tell they’re comfortable on stage,” adds Mitch.

“They’ve had someone yell at them to sing louder before,” jokes Colin.

However, it’s the folks who might not be as familiar with being onstage behind a microphone who seem to thrive at Karaoke Jones. The people who came as part of a bachelorette party or after dinner with the folks at work—that’s who can count on the Jones brothers’ full support.

“They’re not alone in their car, singing along with the radio, but once they kind of get comfortable here, our group of regulars is super-welcoming and friendly and super-supportive,” Mitch says. “I’ve seen people show up as strangers and then within a month they are part of the crew getting up on stage, getting weird singing songs that they probably wouldn’t have dared to try even a few weeks before.”

RELEASING THE MONSTERS

Lawrence young adult author Sarah Henning takes readers to a camp of self-discovery

Sarah Henning’s latest young adult novel, Monster Camp (Simon & Schuster/Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2023), follows 11-year-old Sylvie Shaw’s life-defining adventure during the summer before seventh grade. Drawn to the supernatural as an avid costume role-player (a LARPer), Sylvie frequently adopts a vampire persona with the help of stick-on fangs and waterproof eyeliner. Her persistent attempts to recruit classmates into a monster role-playing club are met with little success until she receives a mailed invitation to a mysterious and amazing location: Monster Camp.

Layered with symbolism about the youthful process of personal identity, self-realization, and self-confidence, Monster Camp is a delightful coming-of-age story that reflects issues and themes that Henning has often explored.

Now with eight books to her name, and two more on the way, the prolific Lawrence author has covered an array of topics from contemporary love stories against a backdrop of highschool gridirons to action-packed fantasies with mermaids or a disputed crown.

“Princesses, sports, witches, it really does hit all over the map,” Henning says. “But I think the one thing my characters have in common is that they’re all really resilient.”

That description certainly fits Henning’s latest hero, who hoodwinks her father to check into Monster Camp and find the thrill of her life: vampire-mansion housing, elaborate costumes, and dramatic werewolf portrayals from other campers. In this idyllic setting, Sylvie begins to forge friendships of shared interests.

But after witnessing some suspiciously true-to-life costuming and special effects, Sylvie realizes she has made a crucial mistake: Monster Camp is not for humans.

Turning to survival mode, Sylvie fully commits to concealing her homo sapien identity. She substitutes the

mess hall’s monster delicacies with protein bars, maintains her vampire complexion with a thick layer of sunscreen, and deceives fellow campers into thinking her fruit punch is blood. These complex deceptions work for a time, but soon collapse the foundations of friendships and the trust of those who had been the first creatures to embrace her unusual spirit.

Like Henning’s previous YA novels, Monster Camp carries an overarching theme of empathy, albeit with a monstrous flavor. The youth at Monster Camp are subject to daily Human Understanding and Resource Training (HURT) sessions where they are lectured about humankind—the danger people present and the rare instances of acceptance. The skeleton and yeti counselors who conduct the course convey many inaccuracies through their instruction but also stumble upon important lessons, for young monsters and humans alike.

“My editor and I talked about it, and we really wanted it to feel like that scene in The Little Mermaid where she’s looking through her treasures from humans and she’s wrong; she combs her hair with a fork,” Henning says. “It was really fun to think about what would someone looking at us from the outside mistake.”

Henning says the theme of establishing personal identity was also a key force in her decision to set the story at a summer camp.

“That’s the thing about summer camp; it’s so intense and it’s so short,” Henning notes. “I’m sure there’s somebody going to a sleepaway camp this summer who’s going to be like ‘I’m going to go by a different nickname for a week.’ You kind of try on a different personality sometimes when you’re in a situation like that, but it’s still important to try to be yourself. That can get lost when you’re trying to be something different.”

Henning, who released her first book, Sea Witch, in 2018, says that part of the reason she was drawn to YA and has continued to focus on the genre is because of the gap in age-

The Henning Collection

One of Lawrence’s most prolific and commercially successful authors, Sarah Henning has now released eight young adult books, with two more to be released. Henning’s work appears in an anthology of girls’ sport stories, Out of Our League —set for release in January 2024 by Macmillan/Feiwel & Friends. She is also author of a yetannounced young adult contemporary fantasy set for release in fall 2024 from Macmillan/Tor Teen. Here is an overview of Henning’s other works, grouped by series.

ABOVE Monster Camp released in April 2023.

SEA WITCH SERIES (2018–2019 BY HARPERCOLLINS/ KATHERINE TEGEN BOOKS)

SEA WITCH AND SEA WITCH RISING

A retelling of The Little Mermaid fairy tale, but with more epic background and even higher stakes.

relevant literature she experienced growing up as an avid reader.

“They didn’t have a lot of YA when I was a kid, so I ended up reading adult murder mysteries; it was that or what was in class,” Henning says. “You went from Ramona Quimby to adult books.”

THROW LIKE A GIRL (2020 BY POPPY/LITTLE, BROWN AND COMPANY)

And you thought Tom Brady had a complicated love life?

Imagine being a talented female high-school quarterback with a sidelined romantic interest.

Henning has spent her career introducing characters who aren’t afraid to push boundaries as they find themselves in the situations and worlds that fill this thematic gap for young readers. She says she believes it’s important for her audience to connect with protagonists trying to find their place in the world, a feeling she trusts her audience will appreciate.

As Henning notes, “I think younger readers are more perceptive than we give them credit for.”

KINGDOMS OF SAND & SKY TRILOGY (2020–2022

MACMILLIAN/TOR TEEN)

THE PRINCESS WILL SAVE YOU, THE QUEEN WILL BETRAY YOU, AND THE KING WILL KILL YOU

A princess rescues her stable boy, causing devotion and courage to oppose cynicism and courtly intrigue.

IT’S ALL IN HOW YOU FALL (2022, LITTLE, BROWN/ POPPY)

An elite athlete’s life is turned upside down as her body recovers from an injury and her heart chooses its own path.

“Princesses, sports, witches, it really does hit all over the map. But I think the one thing my characters have in common is that they’re all really resilient.”

–Sarah Henning

WHERE TODD’S ART GOT ITS START

For Lawrence High School teacher Todd Poteet, a return to the classroom is also a return to the spot where his lifelong career as an artist began

“How did people become excellent at the job they do for a living? Is it something they picked up overnight and the next day were serving 5-star entrees as a professional chef? Did they wake up suddenly knowing how to calculate the moon’s gravitational pull, repair a sports car, or figure out how to cure a disease?”

Artist, designer, and teacher Todd Poteet asks his students at Lawrence High School to consider this question and understand that no profession, including that of an artist or a teacher, develops overnight.

“Art is not magical or even mysterious. Art is a discipline and skill,” he explains. “If someone is better at drawing, it’s simply because they have put in more time and focus working at that ability than those who have not,” he continues. “Some people may be predisposed to color or have a better understanding of pattern, but everyone can create incredible art. If you want to learn and grow as an artist you must put in the work. If you want

to learn, you will. The skills and thinking surrounding art can be taught. That is why there are teachers.”

Poteet’s choice to enter teaching and pass on his skills follows a long career in art and design and a childhood in which none of his current professions seemed likely.

Growing up in Alvin, Texas, Poteet didn’t have plans— grandiose or otherwise—of becoming an artist. His family had little money although his parents helped their family feel like they always had what they needed, and Poteet’s mother provided him a myriad of tools and supplies to encourage his creative focus.

Poteet enjoyed making art and developed an ability to draw anything he saw. Friends would ask him to draw images for them, and teachers encouraged him to add illustrations to his schoolwork by providing extra credit. With this encouragement, he entered and won many art contests. But despite this success, Poteet never saw art as a career, and he expected that he would most likely study medicine and concentrate on science and math.

The Art of Todd Poteet

In addition to teaching over the last 30 years, Todd Poteet has continued to work as commercial artist for international and national businesses such as Revlon. This type of commercial art often goes into the world without an artist’s signature, but Poteet’s creations have appeared on television advertisements, publications and products throughout American homes.

While working as a commercial artist, Poteet has not actively shown his personal art until recently, drawing on years of almost-daily sketches and other creations.

“There are hundreds on my shelves,” he explains. “Simple and mundane, from the condiments on my lunch table to electrical poles. Small moments, like my wife braiding my daughter’s hair. These sketches then become thoughts and ideas, themes within my practice.”

Poteet says that sometimes the themes in his sketches “get sort of stuck within my mind and I have to explore them to create larger, more meaningful works.”

When he does this, his sketched subjects can move into paintings, and his painted subjects back into his drawings. “I try not to limit myself on what I use,” he says.

When drawing landscapes, Poteet says he attempts to create an entire visualization of the experience. “I can’t seem to let go of the immediacy of painting something in the limited time and constraints of the space,” he notes. “I want to capture the moment; not just what it looks like, but what I felt and thought.”

A recent conversation with one of his students caused Poteet to think about applying that concept of totality to “visualizations and how

we see things in our mind’s eye,” He describes this as trying to create a “merger of all my explorations, but moving inward now.”

An example of this is a recent creation, Mind’s Eye: Skull

“I have attempted to demonstrate what my mind sees when I hear the word ‘skull,’” Poteet explains. “It is not one skull, or even a particular animal skull, but a collection of various skull images and parts from a variety of things I have drawn numerous times. Yet, it is incomplete due to my lack of ability to capture the entire image. It moves in and out of focus as I think about the components, like how adding a new word to a search bar changes the results the engine will generate. If I think ‘skull,’ but then gravitate towards ‘teeth,’ my mind’s image changes and morphs into a new undulating set of overlapping forms that includes human teeth, dog teeth, northern pike teeth, large elephant molars, the teeth on pliers and other tools as well as baleen, narwhal horn, and strangely even stalactites and stalagmites.”

While this approach is, by definition, visually ambitious and abstract, it is also very grounded by being so technically sound in its drafting and by incorporating natural objects.

How an artist can show what they are thinking and still make some type of intellectual or emotional connection with the audience is

a question generations of artists have grappled with. The Surrealists, for example decided to show their consciousness in a very dreamlike way, where real objects could become something they normally are not, such as the melting clocks of Salvador Dali’s The Persistence of Memory. Before this, Marcel Duchamp’s painting Nude Descending a Staircase (No. 2) created a stir as the Futurist movement tried to capture the movement of figures in time and space. Many of these artistic movements began in word form, perceived verbally before visually.

And that process of creation is something Poteet very much identifies with.

“I see words as images, and the greater the relationship or experience is that I have with the word, the greater and more complex the image is,” Poteet explains. “However, it is not like the image becomes more clear the better I understand it, but it becomes more complex, layered, moving, transparent, and interconnected. The word ‘shirt’ is not simply a T-shirt in my mind, but a collection of numerous shirts that I have seen, worn, torn, wadded up, washed, hung, and discarded. Each of the overlapping images however is a visual connection to another set of images that interrelate and allow me to think about my world in new ways. I am now trying to develop a way of sharing these images. How can I show others what I see?”

Expectations for this future changed when Poteet moved to Lawrence and attended Lawrence High School his senior year. Here, he found himself in the classroom of Pat Nemchock, an influential art instructor who led many Lawrence students into successful art careers. Nemchock allowed Poteet to enroll in her classes even though his transfer status meant he did not have the standard prerequisites. Under Nemchock’s tutelage, Poteet received seven full-ride scholarship offers to art schools and chose to attend the prestigious Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York.

It was at Lawrence that Poteet also met his future wife, Kathryn Poteet, who chose to go to The Cooper Union, an equally prestigious art school in Manhattan’s East Village. Together, they owned and operated a design business for many years as they continued their own career paths.

Poteet remained at Pratt for graduate school and then took a job teaching art at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, which inspired the 1980 film Fame. Poteet continued teaching until 1996, when he moved to Poughkeepsie to run The Art Effect’s Art Institute, a program that trains students in advanced practices of art making to allow them to receive a scholarship and attend college.

“Since its inception, 100% of the students received scholarships to college with the average student receiving over $116,000 to attend school,” Poteet says of the Institute. “This was my largest piece of ‘art’ that I ever worked on.”

In 2018, Poteet returned to Kansas, taking a teaching certification and then a job at Lawrence High School … just in time for the Covid shutdown. Despite the challenges that came from the pandemic, Poteet says he is thrilled to work with students again.

“The pleasure of seeing my students achieve their dreams and become successful creators is humbling,” he notes. “My students having been on Ink Master, designed for NASA, created special effects for Batman, made sets for Broadway, designed costumes for Snow White and the Huntsman, built window displays for Saks 5th Ave., illustrated children’s books, designed plate ware for Method, sold paintings for over $100K, designed museum exhibitions for the Whitney, created toys for Fisher Price, invented new technologies for Google, made Ninja Warrior courses, directed worldwide marketing campaigns, created interactive software designs, and so much more. This keeps me going and causes me to learn and explore new things so that I can help guide them.”

Tying his own career path back to his teaching, Poteet says he encourages each student to find their “unique purpose” in their life and work.

“I tell my students all the time that everyone has a unique purpose,” Poteet explains. “Life is about discovering and pursuing that purpose.”

“Art is not magical or even mysterious. Art is a discipline and skill. If someone is better at drawing, it’s simply because they have put in more time and focus working at that ability than those who have not.”

–Todd Poteet

LAWRENCIUM

The numbers and details behind one of the city’s favorite summer events

Compiled by Amber Fraley

Begun as a fundraiser and celebration of Lawrence’s Mexican American community, which has deep ties to St. John the Evangelist Catholic Parish, the festival continues as an all-city celebration of Mexican American heritage and Lawrence’s cultural diversity with musical performances, dancing, and food vendors.

2023 Date Location

saturday june 24th

1234 Kentucky St. (blacktop playground area of St. John Catholic School)

Number of years the St. John’s Mexican Festival has been held Volunteers needed to run the festival.

St. John’s Mexican Fiesta

This year’s St. John’s Mexican Fiesta scholarship amount

Two $1,000

Scholarship money is awarded for post-secondary education of Mexican youth in Lawrence. Total scholarship money awarded: More than $45,000

How much food will the St. John’s Mexican Fiesta serve?

Number of beef tacos:

1,800

Number of beef tostadas

Number of pork & bean burritos

Number of pork tamales

1,200

Number of enchiladas

1,200 500 700 500

100 pounds of raw rice prepared and served

BLUES ARE BACK

To the delight of anglers and conservationists, blue catfish are now thriving in area rivers and reservoirs after disappearing for at least a half-century

As a young angler in the 1980s, Josh Hackathorn daydreamed of fishing in the long-gone glory days of the Kansas (or Kaw) River. Hackathorn, now 44, had heard tales from old-timers of the gargantuan catfish of 100 and more pounds coming from the Kaw River, just a block from his home. Those stories seem to have had some truth to them. Hackathorn had seen a copy of the faded and fuzzy 1896 photo displayed at Ernst and Sons Hardware of Lawrence that showed fishing legends Abe Burns and Jake Washington holding up a catfish said to have weighed 90 or more pounds. There was also a 1915 photo showing fisherman Doug Smith with a catfish said to be 120 pounds.

Those were blue catfish from the Kaw. During the early years of Lawrence and into the early 1900s, that species of fish made many meals for visitors on steamships or at downtown hotels. Lawrence residents bought blue catfish steaks at local markets. Peddlers sold the fish from carts that canvased residential areas.

Then, the blue cats were all but gone for longer than a half-century.

“For a lot of my younger life, it was like there weren’t many, and no big ones,” Hackathorn says. “There were none caught above the Bowersock Dam for so long. The occasional blue cat caught below the dam was always small.”

A blue catfish even half the size of legendary catches would cause a stir. In the late 1980s, Hackathorn’s uncle, Denny Hackathorn, and a friend set the local fishing community abuzz when they caught catfish from the river that weighed 58½ pounds.

“Even fishermen who’d been on the river most of their lives weren’t sure what it was, and all got really excited when we found out it was a blue cat,” Hackathorn recalls.

Since the state did not keep official fishing records in the 1800s and early 1900s, this 58½-pound blue catfish became the new record catch.

“Most had no clue fish like that even existed in our river,” Hackathorn recalls.

And to add further wonder and surprise, this was only the first of even bigger fish to be found.

Record Blues

102.8 pounds

Current Kansas state record blue catfish, from Missouri River in 2012.

130 pounds

Missouri River record blue catfish, also world record at the time, caught near St. Louis in 2010.

143 pounds

World-record blue catfish, caught in Kerr Lake, Virginia, in 2011.

“Man, so much has changed since then,” Hackathorn says of the catch from over 35 years ago. “That wouldn’t even be considered a big blue cat if it was caught these days.”

Since the early 2000s, Hackathorn and other good anglers regularly cast lines into the Kansas River expecting to

catch such fish. Blue cats of 30 to 40 pounds won’t raise many eyebrows along the river.

Hackathorn’s personal best is an even 70 pounds. He once helped another angler who had caught a blue catfish that weighed 95 pounds on portable scales.

It now seems no longer a question of if someone will catch a 100-plus pound blue from the river, but when.

A success story, even if somewhat mysterious Biologists aren’t sure what led to the disappearance, then the amazing return, of blue catfish from not only the Kansas River but the entire Mississippi River system.

Jeff Koch, Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks fisheries research supervisor, said ending the legal commercial harvest of blue catfish in the Missouri River in the early 1990s may have contributed. He said it’s also possible that growing populations of invasive silver and bighead carp within the river system may have influenced food webs and positively influenced aggressive blue catfish.

As well as what’s naturally spawned in the Kansas River, the mighty Missouri River sends blue cats of all sizes toward Lawrence in years of high water. Water released from area reservoirs also stocks the Kansas River.

Northeast Kansas lakes like Clinton, Perry, Tuttle Creek and Milford reservoirs have become some of the best blue cat fisheries in the nation.

The basins of these impoundments are as fertile as the farm fields they submerged. In 1990, Tom Bowman, a state fisheries biologist, first released tiny blue catfish into Milford Reservoir, hoping to establish a population of predators large enough to eat nongame fish that bass and walleye could not consume. Bowman also hoped to create a trophy fishery. Nearly 35 years later, Milford Reservoir has become nationally known for quality blue catfish. Earlier this year, an 85-pounder was caught at Milford. Fiftypound blue catfish are common there when conditions are right. Other northeast Kansas lakes aren’t far behind.

Lucas Kowalewski, Wildlife and Parks fisheries supervisor for northeast Kansas, says blues are doing well at all reservoirs in his region, both in terms of quality and quantity.

Hackathorn knows of blue cats weighing up to 60 pounds that have been caught from Perry Reservoir. The population at Clinton Reservoir is a few years younger, but Hackathorn knows of blue cats weighing around 50 pounds. He expects those figures to increase steadily as the fish continue to grow.

A change in fishing

Kowalewski and Hackathorn both comment on the skyrocketing interest in catching blue catfish. Catfish tournaments that mostly target blue catfish are becoming increasingly common and draw anglers from across the nation to eastern Kansas.

The size of behemoth blues has brought about some major changes in the approaches and equipment used to catch them. Blue cat anglers launch onto reservoirs in barge-like metal boats made to weather rough water and give occupants the room needed to use pool-cue–stiff fishing rods and winch-like hand reels to battle blue catfish into the boat.

Basics of the blue catfish (Ictalurus furcatus)

When young, blue catfish greatly resemble their bewhiskered cousins, channel catfish. But as they grow, blue catfish generally develop a thicker build than channel catfish while also developing a natural hump between their head and dorsal fin. Biologists count the rays in the anal fins to be sure of identification. Blue catfish have 30 or more rays, and channel catfish have fewer.

Blue catfish coloration varies from deep gray to white.

The fish are voracious predators. Anglers have found everything from squirrels and gulls to five-pound fish within larger blue catfish. With a possible lifespan of 30 years, they can reach impressive weights.

Meanwhile, on the Kansas River, equally nice boats are powered by shallow-running “mud motors” that allow the craft to pass over a few inches of water on their way to the deeper holes where big blues await to be caught, and, usually, released.

Unlike market anglers of 100 or more years ago, Hackathorn and others are aware of the fish population’s historic fragility. Hackathorn references an unwritten law among serious anglers that all blue cats over 10 to 15 pounds get released. Kowalewski said his agency is looking at length limits that restrict anglers to no more than one large blue catfish, such as over 30 or 35 inches depending on the lake, but allow anglers to keep several smaller fish for a meal.

Hackathorn and others take reviving and releasing huge blue catfish as a serious obligation. It’s possible that record-breaking fish have been caught but not officially weighed. Serious blue catfish anglers prefer to know a great fish survived than possibly kill it for recognition.

Hackathorn refers to the time he and fishing buddy Thomas Finch came across that angler with the 95-pound blue catfish. After helping the angler weigh the fish riverside, they all made sure the fish survived.

“Tom spent about 45 minutes in the water with that fish, helping it to revive,” Hackathorn recalls. “He stayed with it until he was sure the fish could swim away. Those fish are too special to just let die or be killed to eat.”

THROUGH LEN’S LENS

Photographer Len Scotto captures images of all the area’s creatures, the great and the klutzy

Len Scotto has achieved the kind of success that other wildlife photographers respect or envy. His images are razor sharp, close-up, and tell something about an animal’s habitat and how the animal functions in that habitat.

Scotto, a retired Lawrence educator in his early 70s, says he owes much of his success to having free time and thoughtful friends.

“Great photos happen because my friends call to tell me that there are red foxes roaming in their yards west of Topeka or there is a nest of baby owls near their house,” Scotto explains. “When my friend in Great Bend called to tell me about some burrowing owls she had been seeing nearby, I didn’t think twice about loading up my equipment and going on a road trip.”

Photography is relatively new to Scotto, who picked it up just six years ago. But he shows a natural instinct for the art, gifted with a good eye for composition and mastery of technological skills, such as using very fast shutter speeds to freeze the motion of a bird’s wings rather than allow them to blur.

Scotto also brings knowledge to his photo shoots. While not a biologist or ornithologist, he researches the backstories of the wildlife he photographs and tries to tell a story with his photos, emphasizing their habitat, nesting and burrowing preferences, and food-gathering techniques.

Doing wildlife photography correctly and capturing an image that explains the animal and its surroundings take effort.

“When I go out in the field, I usually don’t find what I’m looking for, and, if I do, it won’t sit still for very long,” Scotto says. “It’s very difficult to get close to your subject without becoming proficient using an ultra-long zoom lens. It’s a numbers game, and the more I get off the couch and into the field, the more likely it is that I’ll find something interesting to shoot. I have spent countless hours combing our rivers, forests and lakes searching for wildlife to photograph.”

Often, Scotto will discover that finding the best images means looking in unusual places. “My wife, Mel, told me that there were 50 cedar waxwings in our backyard. With camera in hand, I went about trying to get a photo of some of the birds in the trees,”

“Great photos happen because my friends call to tell me that there are red foxes roaming in their yards west of Topeka or there is a nest of baby owls near their house.”

–Len Scotto

Starting Up

Len Scotto’s interest in wildlife photography began with some walks.

“After some serious medical issues several years ago, I decided that a good, low-impact exercise would be helpful, so I started walking the trails out at the Baker Wetlands, Lake Perry and other quiet, scenic places.”

Those walks would last for two or three hours. Often, Scotto would find some wildlife, usually birds, and spend 20 or 30 minutes observing them.

“I started to notice the wildlife on these walks and decided to try my hand at photography during my walks,” he explains.

He found himself being calmed by the beauty of the landscape and the creatures who lived there. He began taking pictures, enjoying the effort to identify, concentrate, and frame the wild creatures. “It was like putting on a set of blinders and shutting out the unpleasant events that stressed me outside of my viewfinder,” he says.

Scotto began capturing images with his phone and choosing not to bother with the best camera in his house, a DSLR (digital single lens reflex) camera that his wife, Mel, had bought.

“It quickly became obvious to me that in order to get the kind of photos I wanted I, too, would need a DSLR camera and some telephoto lenses,” he notes.

He started out with a Canon T7i, 7D Mark II DSLR and moved to the mirrorless EOS R5. The resolution of the mirrorless body is 45 megapixels, which allows him to increase sizes of his images without losing much detail. His lens of choice for wildlife images is the Canon 800mm f:/11, easily allowing him to work with small birds at a distance of 30 or even 40 yards. He also has a Canon 100-400mm that he will use when he is closer to the animals.

It’s a been a steep learning curve for the past six years, but Scotto enjoys the process.

“I love the challenge that this type of photography incurs,” Scotto explains.

he recalls, noting that he was unable for a long time to get a good image because the light in the sky was overexposing everything. But then he noticed a small group of the birds drinking from puddles in a back alley. “That proved to be a much more effective place to get a decent photo, so I sat on the wet ground behind a trash can to get a better view and ended up with a very pleasing photo of several of the waxwings drinking out of the water hole.”

Honing his ability to see the intrinsic beauty in nature has its rewards. A friend insisted he enter some images in the “Art Is Ageless” contest sponsored by Presbyterian Manor. His photo of a Mandarin duck in Topeka placed first in the photography division and won both the People’s Choice and Best in Show awards.

But it was a Canada goose along the Kaw River that provided Scott with one of his most memorable photo shoots.

“They are such magnificent birds to watch on the wing,” Scotto begins. “I was following one in particular who was coming in for a graceful landing like all of the others. As he approached the water, he must have lost his concentration for a moment because he did a face plant in the water and flipped head-overheels in as ungraceful a display as could be imagined! It just shows that there are klutzes among all species.”

Though he is proud of his best photos, Scotto notes there are moments when it is important to know what not to photograph.

For instance, snowy owls sometimes come through this way toward the end of their lives. Although he knows where to find them, he chooses not to take photographs and add extra stress to the birds at a time when they are already stressed. So he simply avoids these opportunities.

“I operate under the premise that the animal is more important than the photo,” Scotto says. “I will always give the bird its space rather than stalk him too close and stress him out.”

ALMOST MID-CENTURY AGAIN

A house designed for simplicity and economy returns to its form

“When you build, plan for Simplicity and Economy,” Better Homes and Gardens’ July 1959 issue recommended, presenting a plan for a midcentury modern house. Two years later KU industrial design professor Downer Dykes, Sr., followed that plan for a new home on Harvard Road, including a walk-out basement doubling the original floor plan’s 1,200-square feet.

“The architect has made sure every square foot in this house is usable space,” the BH&G article promised. “Yet this is a quality house—one you’d be proud to own.”

That wasn’t the case as recently as late last year. Dykes’ once sleek and stylish home had fallen into disrepair, left vacant for years after Dykes and his family moved out of state.

A giant dead live oak loomed threateningly over the neighbors’ roof until the City required its removal. Yews as

tall as the roof line hid the front of the house. Various out-ofcommission vehicles, a sailboat, china plates crusted with last century’s leftovers, rusted tools and broken folding chairs littered an overgrown carport. Dog walkers and runners complained about the blight and dreamed of buying and renovating the house. Prospective owners left notes on the door, alongside flyers and junk mail. Opportunistic robins fledged generations in the mailbox.

And then, a transformation was underway.

Mike Randolph began flipping houses in 2001, a time he says that in Lawrence, at least, most folks spoke only of flipping pancakes. Some 22 years later, the former financial industry worker has bought and improved approximately 130 homes, some of which required only cosmetic improvements, but others—like the Harvard Road home—needed a full resuscitation.

Randolph began with the yews. When they came down, the attractive bones of the house revealed themselves. A quick walk-through showed promise. Sunlight flooded the house through large windows on the first and basement levels, allowing a deep and wide southerly view. Quartersawn tiger-striped oak floors cleaned up handsomely. Existing pendant, can and spot lights were restored to their mid-century gleam and glory.

The simple virtues BH&G writer John Normiles praised rose to the occasion. Normiles touted the rugged, natural appearance of the house plan, with “no needless ornament to distract the eye,” and sure enough, with Randolph’s coaxing, the house again sparkles with elegant simplicity. On the main floor, outrigger rafters allow for a pattern of light and shadow. A brick fireplace on a three-quarters–height brick wall separates the kitchen from the living room and permits a vaulted open ceiling to run the length of the house.

“Dining space is surprisingly liberal for a house as compact as this one,” Normiles wrote. And speaking of generations to come, “This house suits the informal living small families prefer today.“

Randolph chose solid mahogany cabinetry for the kitchen to match existing window and door casings, baseboards, on the main floor, and mahogany skirting along the stairs to the basement. Quarter-sawn oak rift floating shelves in the kitchen keep an uncluttered and clean design. Corrugated plastic, original to the house, covers the interior front foyer ceiling lighting. Recessed accent lighting shines from the soffits in the kitchen. Three mahogany surf-board–shaped pendants provide light over the white quartz kitchen island.

Throughout the main floor, two-inch by six-inch car siding, chosen for its economy and simplicity, provides a milk-paint–stained Douglas fir ceiling.

The two and one-half bathrooms include midcentury modern tiles on the walls and floors of black and white hexagons. The main-floor primary bath has galleystyle mirrors over the double vanity, and the primary bedroom has original recessed lighting.

An aluminum starburst created by Pat Slimmer adds one more mid-century mark on the chartreuse front door. Alongside the door is an original “Security by Radio Shack” decal that Randolph was delighted to preserve.

Structurally, the house was in good shape when Randolph acquired it. Now the yard is reclaimed, a new roof is in place, and new windows of the original style welcome the sunshine. A 10-foot–deep deck along the back of the house has a steel-cable railing that brings the house up to the modern standards of a new century’s almost mid-century.

Decrypting a Hawk

The Red-Tailed Hawk Project aims to unravel the remarkable mysteries of North America’s most common raptor

Lucas DeCicco grew up in Alaska, a state known for its wildlife, including a huge variety of birds of prey. Now, as a doctoral candidate with the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Kansas, DeCicco spends much of his time on the Kansas plains trapping and recording data on red-tailed hawks for the Red-Tailed Hawk Project. This research places DeCicco among a rare group of ornithologists because, ironically, North America’s most successful, thriving hawk is one of the least-studied birds of prey.

“They’re one of the more common raptors in North America, which makes them less appealing to study because people like to study rare things, generally,” DeCicco explains. “There’s a phenomenal amount we don’t know about them.”

The Red-Tailed Hawk Project intends to close the gap on what researchers don’t know about these birds by humanely trapping red-tailed hawks in various states in the US; photographing each bird; drawing blood for genetic analysis; documenting age, sex and molting characteristics; taking measurements; and even collecting

feathers for isotope work that reveals what the birds have been eating. The collaborative project combines DeCicco’s findings with work from ornithologists around the country, including project founders Bryce W. Robinson with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Mark Robbins, collections manager at KU’s Natural History Museum. Researchers from other hawk-populated states like Idaho, Minnesota and Michigan also collect data for the project.

Once scientists have trapped and recorded data from the birds, they affix solar-powered transmitters to the hawks and release them. The transmitters record GPS data—location, altitude, and speed—to identify each bird’s breeding grounds and migratory patterns.

DeCicco says each hawk in the project allows researchers to collect “a ton of data,” which is shared in the project and with other researchers.

The Red-Tailed Hawk Project scientists focus largely on attempting to tease out the evolution and speciation of red-tailed hawks in North America and how their physical characteristics

and coloration are determined by geography, genes, or both. Plumage, DeCicco says, is “critically variable.”

“Not all red tails look the same,” DeCicco emphasizes. The standard nonmigratory redtail hawk native to Kansas doesn’t show much variation in plumage. “It has the trademark brickred tail, a pale belly with a bit of streaking and a brown head,” he says. DeCicco notes these native red tails make up about half of the winter red-tail hawk population in Kansas. Every winter, Kansas, along with other Midwestern and Western states, sees an influx of wintering red tails with different plumage. These birds come down from Canada and Alaska to hunt on the plains in the winter, then return to forests up north to nest and breed.

“In general, the farther north the bird nests,” he says, “the darker the plumage, as it blends in with the big forests there.” DiCicco explains hawks that live and breed on the plains have a distinct geographic variation—lighter undersides to more sneakily swoop down on prey. Western US birds, however, are often polymorphic, which is visible

More Hawk Facts

To learn more or to support the research of the Red-Tailed Hawk Project, go online at redtailedhawkproject.org. The Red-Tailed Hawk Project is just one of the many research projects that have been featured as part of the Science Sundays at the KU Field Station. Science Sundays are free monthly talks about a variety of topics given by the researchers studying them. Registration is capped at 40 people, so an RSVP is necessary. For information about the next talk and how to register, check the KU Field Station’s Facebook or Instagram pages, or check the KU Events Calendar at https://calendar. ku.edu/. The KU Field Station is managed by the Kansas Biological Survey & Center for Ecological Research.

variation within a population due to genetics. “It’s like hair color in us,” DeCicco says.

So far, research seems to indicate plumage variation isn’t connected to where the hawks spend their winters, if they’re migratory. “Almost all the variation in plumage we see is based on where they’re breeding,” DeCicco says. “Are these birds that we’re finding in the winter that show odd plumages—are they from an undescribed variation in red-tailed hawks? Is there a population we don’t know about?”

Another interesting fact coming out of the GPS data shows red-tailed hawks travel their migration routes in much the same way humans use highways.

“They’re really creatures of habit. They do the exact same migration route going north as going south, they winter on the same telephone poles in Kansas, and they breed in the same trees in Alaska or Canada,” DiCicco says. Red tails even use the same rest stops on their migration routes, year after year. “We can see they’ll stay in the same farmyard in Nebraska,” DeCicco says. It’s DiCicco’s suspicion that redtailed hawks navigate their migration visually as opposed to sensing the Earth’s magnetic field, as some birds do. Being raptors, red-tailed hawks have powerful binocular vision.

There are other aspects that still remain largely unknown about the red-tailed hawks. For instance, researchers assume red-tailed hawks mate for life and breed with the same partner year after year, but they don’t know for sure because pairs don’t winter together. Ornithologists also don’t know if there’s any correlation between where a bird hatches and where it breeds. “We have a very poor understanding of nesting areas,” DeCicco says.

Since 2020, scientists with the Red-Tailed Hawk Project have tagged about 60 red-tailed hawks with GPS transmitters. DeCicco says he wouldn’t be surprised if the project continues to deploy about 10 more transmitters per year to collect as much information as possible about a raptor that is a common sight but still very much a mystery.

After nearly three decades, Dan Rockhill’s innovative, hands-on architectural program has created a new generation of professionals producing striking homes and landmarks of their own

nearly 30 years ago,

Dan Rockhill began teaching what is now Studio 804, a handson architectural design course at the University of Kansas. Since his first class, hundreds of students have earned their first professional degree, a master’s in architecture, and in the yearlong process they have dreamed up a project, acquired land and financing, researched in every direction, designed and redesigned, aspired to consensus, and finally, sometimes weeks after graduation ceremonies, the group of two dozen or so students finish, tired, wise and ready to take on the world and build their own career in architecture.

Studio 804 is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 corporation that began after 1995, the year that Rockhill, then teaching ARCH 804, the final design studio in KU’s graduate architecture program, proposed to his students that they work together to stabilize the Barber School ruins, the remains of a small stone structure built in 1872 on what became the grounds of Clinton Lake State Park. Harris Stone, a fellow professor and the preservationist for the project, was terminally ill, and Rockhill thought his colleague deserved to see the project completed post haste.

As work began, Rockhill noticed his students’ new enthusiasm. There they were, with their hands in wet concrete, willing to innovate; even parking their cars in a circle around the site and using their headlights to shed light on the structure in order to continue working after dark.

By the time renovations of the Barber School were complete, Rockhill was sold on a new way of teaching. Studio 804 was formed to allow students to produce real and sustainable designs committed to beautiful, ecological and

resource-neutral building. Design conversations expanded over the years to include resource stewardship and fairness across societies.

If you ask the graduates, many will note that the idealism comes with a dose of no-nonsense.

Rockhill is well aware of his gruff reputation among students.

“I walk this fine line between being an angry father and a friend,” he says. “We live in a fairly coddled society. I have to be stern and keep students moving forward because I am the institutional memory. I am the one who knows where we are at the beginning of 804 and I know where we have to go. Often, I just have to tell them, ‘You are not working hard enough.’ They have to learn to work hard every day. That is the way the real world works.”

But Studio 804’s record of graduate success helps students focus and endure.

Rockhill says as many as six different firms come directly to Studio 804 to conduct interviews because they want new hires with the skills these students acquire.

“People think any architectural education would include aspects of actually putting together a building. That isn’t the case,” Rockhill notes.

Studio 804 is a rarity in architectural education—a fully immersive process, a course in gaining a tactile knowledge of life that is increasingly hard to come by.

“These students get dirty, think hard, and their confidence and competence sky rocket,” Rockhill says. “The payback is the rest of their lives.”

Adams & Knobloch

Nick Adams and Patrick Knobloch met as Studio 804 students in 2007. Since then, they were in each other’s weddings, and Knobloch joined Adams’ architectural firm, mademan, soon after Adams founded the St. Louis-based residential and commercial design studio and fabrication workshop in 2012.

Adams’ and Knobloch’s website celebrates their firm’s roots in Studio 804. Studio 804 was part of what drew Adams to KU as an undergraduate, but it took time for him to fully adopt the program’s ethos.

“I showed up at KU as a punk,” Adams recalls. “I went to college to party and then, all of the sudden, it was my fifth year. I had to get real serious about architecture. There was no more time for goofing off. I knew I had a choice to get involved with a program where I could learn and become an adult ready for living in this world. Or not.”

Part of Adams’ final push at KU involved signing up for Studio 804, which he says “was even harder than I expected, but it was also more rewarding than I expected. Every other studio class I’d had resulted in styrene or CAD or balsa models, but at the conclusion of 804 we’d built a real and usable house.”

Adams learned, along with the 22 other students in his group, to do all the design work for the project. “We had to meet every day. We’d discuss various options and share what was going on in the world of architecture. Soon, we began sharing solutions to the problem of our real lot. We started with no knowledge of finances or of acquiring money to build; of meeting with real estate agents, banks or government officials. We had to identify land for our project and figure out HVAC, plumbing and electric designs. We had no experience doing any of this, but we learned that with teamwork, delegation and hard work, you can literally do anything.”

Adams says his dad was his first model of tough love, so he was ready for Dan Rockhill’s famously irascible ways.

“People may have different thoughts about education and how gently professors are supposed to treat kids. Personally, Dan’s demeanor didn’t surprise me. I entered the program expecting the very best instruction and, maybe this sounds cocky, but his methods of teaching worked for me. I started my own company when I was 28 years old. My business partner Patrick also started his own company straight out of school. We both learned from Dan how to make it work and what to prioritize. I’ve learned that no matter what your specialty is, there are people who care a lot about being good at it and there are others who just do a job because it is their job. Dan showed me the difference.”

Latza

Danielle Latza made up her mind to participate in Studio 804 on a KU campus tour, months before she began her freshman year.

“Someone described the program to me, and I knew that was what I wanted to do,” the Chicago-born, Denver-based designer for TreanorHL says.

Latza did not know the less-than-glamorous reality of what was ahead. When she finally began Studio 804 in 2017, during her final year of graduate work in architecture, she was already working another job to pay the bills. Her shift ended at 2:30 a.m., and Latza says she would typically sleep a few hours and was ready to work with Studio 804 from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m.

“We did it all,” she says. “I was in charge of coordinating finishes, but my favorite days were the coldest ones in November when we’d be pouring concrete. Those days were grueling, but full of camaraderie and hard work. It helped me learn what construction workers go through.”

Latza adds that in coordinating and ordering materials, she had to overcome her introverted nature and make cold calls to product representatives.

She also had to learn all the details of finishing, fastening, painting, and sticking with a job until it was done.

On graduation day, students were still on the job site. “We took a break and showered,” Latza says, “walked The Hill and came back to continue working at 1220 W. 12th. This was a real house that someone would live in. If we were not done, we had to finish. Those might not have been the happiest moments of our lives as students, but we did it and we learned time management and the realities of job flow and lead times. Five years later, I still think about it and I am grateful for all I learned.”

Latza says she found Dan Rockhill’s demeanor “definitely intimidating, maybe a little jarring and really tough, at first,” but she says she got used to that and came to appreciate her instructor. “He definitely cares about students’ education and what they are producing. He made sure we did all the research and cost analysis up front. We had to exhaust every possible iteration of the design.”

With Treanor, Latza works on large school projects in Colorado, including Meeker High School and La Veta PK-12 School. Recently she’s worked on incorporating secured vestibules into existing schools and on a youth development and care center in Wisconsin focusing on restorative justice and mental health.

“We are using natural light and materials, avoiding the cinderblock look of the typical detention facility. We want the structure itself to encourage the youth housed there to continue their education and work to achieve healthy lifestyles.”

Westen

Pia Westen finished her undergraduate architecture degree at the University of Illinois and went to work drawing plans for contractors improving lab spaces at a biotechnical facility in Seattle. It didn’t take long, she says, to realize she wanted more experience.

“I realized that the plans I was putting on paper didn’t really reflect what was needed in the real world,” she says. “The big gap I recognized was the nitty-gritty know-how of how the wall meets the ceiling and the column meets the floor. I needed to learn about the kinds of fasteners required to attach “a” to “b.” I knew I had to get out there and figure this out for myself in order to have a better idea of what goes into making a building.”

To get this practical education, Westen enrolled in Studio 804, working on the team that completed 1301 New York Street in 2015.

“The program was such a unique experience from beginning to end,” Westen recalls. “We spent time onsite learning how some materials want to be put together and how others just don’t. As a result, I have more of an understanding of the challenges contractors face in having to put an architect’s plans together. There is a big difference in watching someone pour concrete and in pouring it yourself. The hands-on experience I had has been so important in giving me the understanding I need to put the pieces together in the field.”

“Our drawings are meant to communicate intent. A contractor is supposed to be able to interpret my intent. Now, having done the actual work, I have a better understanding of the materials. I can draw plans that are buildable and develop designs that are a bit more creative,” she says.

Westen is an associate with SHKS Architects in Seattle, working on public and community-focused projects such as libraries, community centers, and higher education facilities.

“Much of architecture is about problem solving. After Studio 804, I have a lot of confidence that I am going to solve the problems I face.” Westen’s current projects include the Sequim Public Library. Her approach is influenced by her time with Dan Rockhill.

“We ask the question, ‘How can this project serve the Sequim community? How do we make a building that is forward-looking and belongs in Sequim? Is what we imagine going to translate?

“I’ve learned to trust my gut a little bit. That is the fun of architecture. I have an educated gut now. And I will always have a soft spot for Dan. He’s tough, but his teaching has been so beneficial. He pushed me to do things during Studio that I didn’t believe I could do. He is the epitome of tough love. He is not friendly, but he knew how to get us where we need to be.”

Lewis

Lincoln Lewis’ Studio 804 project in 2007 had a rough start. Modular 4, the house he built with his cohorts, is a single-family house at 3914 Lloyd Street, Kansas City, where the neighbors seemed uneasy with modern architecture and didn’t initially like the idea of Studio 804 building a fourth modular house in their neighborhood.

“We had to knock on a lot of doors,” Lewis recalls. It was difficult to find land to buy, and the group of students ended up negotiating for a junkyard property. Today the just over 1,600-square-foot home’s value is estimated at $403,000.

Since this project, Lewis has grown a 34-page curriculum vitae, with 14 years of experience as a Singapore-licensed architect and time with the World Bank in urban development analysis. Lewis’ work in the civil service industry in Singapore required a security clearance because of the need to keep Singapore subway line plans top secret. Currently, the Free State High School graduate is at the University of Virginia, where he is a doctoral fellow in climate equity.

Lewis speaks fondly of Lawrence, saying the town offers lots of opportunities for people to pursue what they want to do. He studied drafting and design in high school and returns to Lawrence often to visit his parents and stay in touch with the man he credits with introducing him to architecture, David Livingood, whom he shadowed on a job site as part of a career-day assignment as a high school freshman in 1999.

Of Studio 804, Lewis says, “It’s dear to my heart. It helps students think about how things go together. More than just the physical process, it’s about getting to know the land, getting to know the community, and getting to know who the customer, the end user, will be. Many places just don’t have this culture; 804 is still cutting-edge, and being a part of it really opened my eyes.”

Lewis’ Studio 804 year was the first year in the program’s history that students had more than one semester to complete a project. “We got to have a whole academic year. We started out sitting in Marvin Hall basement, and, then, after long months of planning every detail, all of the sudden Dan Rockhill tells us it’s time to go to the warehouse. Now the program has the best building space in all of America as warehouse space, but back then our warehouse was where Van Go Mobile Arts is currently located. In that space, Studio 804 built four modular homes and then trucked them to Kansas City and craned them onto their foundations.”

Another memorable part of Lewis’ time in Lawrence was working in the sculpture studio of Kansas professor emeritus Elden C. Tefft. “I got to know him because friends of mine lived in the fraternity house across the street from his studio. I ended up doing background research for the bust of James Naismith holding the peach basket, a piece displayed in front of Allen Fieldhouse.”

Lewis remembers Tefft as a great artist and mentor who could be a bit prickly at times, a quality Lewis says Tefft had in common with Dan Rockhill. “Tefft mellowed over time,” Lewis says. “And maybe Dan will, as well. And I mean that in the nicest possible way.”

More Studio 804 Grads

Studio 804 Experience Peek’s

2014 Studio 804 group completed the high-profile Marvin Hall Forum on the KU campus. “The building blocks of my career and architectural knowledge have and will always be formed within the foundations of Dan Rockhill and Studio 804,” Peek writes. “I am so appreciative of all the knowledge I learned as a naïve graduate student with Dan Rockhill that gives me such strength and confidence in what I do today in my professional life.”

Projects since Studio 804

Continuing on to also graduate from Harvard University’s School of Design, Peek has worked as a laborer, researcher, teacher and designer. He now teaches university courses and serves as a director of virtual design and construction for a global building firm. Currently with Northeastern University and Gilbane Building Company

2 | David Vance

Studio 804 Experience A member of the first accredited Studio 804 group, the class of 1996; at that time, the students worked on projects such as the preservation of the Barber School. Projects since Studio 804 Vance has worked on several prominent Lawrence projects, including KU Memorial Stadium renovation and press box addition, the Lawrence Arts Center, the Carnegie Library addition, and Langston Hughes Elementary School. Currently with clark | huesemann of Lawrence, Kansas

3 | Ben Welty

Studio 804 Experience As a member of the 2011 Studio 804 cohort, Welty helped design and construct the Center for Design Research at KU. The facility was the first LEED-certified building on the university’s campus. “I gained a much more thorough understanding of how an architect’s designs and details are constructed, and a greater appreciation for the technical aspects of design that are pivotal to bringing a concept to life,” Welty says of his time with Rockhill’s program.

Projects since Studio 804

As a senior associate and sustainability manager at his California-based firm, Welty is involved in several commercial and residential projects such as a current home and office in the mountains of the Santa Lucia Preserve.

Currently with Feldman Architecture in San Francisco

Studio 804 Experience Trenolone’s Studio 804 class of 2000 was the first group to create a residential project for the Lawrence nonprofit, city-backed Tenants to Homeowners association. The 1,300-square-foot residential project is at 216 Alabama Street.

Projects since Studio 804 The principal/creative director for Parkland Hospital, Dallas County’s 878-bed public hospital completed in 2015, Trenolone has focused on a range of residential, commercial and civic projects, from innovative bus stop designs to a centerpiece renovation at the heart of the Iowa State University campus. His recent study “Saving Main Street” has been lauded for its proposals of exploring architectural projects as elements of community health and development in rural areas.

Currently with the global architectural firm HDR Inc., where he is vice president and design director

5 | Kevin Purdom

Studio 804 Experience Purdom’s 2018 Studio 804 class won that year’s Architect magazine award for Best Custom House in the category of less than 3,000 square feet. The project, a residence near Brook Creek Park in Lawrence, was LEED

Platinum Certified and designed to target net zero energy use.

Projects since Studio 804 After graduation, Purdom focused on highend custom manufacturing offices and warehouses in the Chicago region and then turned his attention to single-family homes in the Chicago suburbs. He is the sole architect at his firm and reports that he is usually working on 15–25 projects at a time, including 3–5 new construction homes each year.

Currently with JRC Design Build in Arlington Heights, Illinois

Lawrence Farmers’ Market

Ongoing–October 24 and November 18

lawrencefarmersmarket.org

The state’s oldest continually operating farmers market welcomes visitors on Tuesdays from 4-6 p.m. (until October 24) and on Saturdays from 7:30-11:30 a.m. until November 18.

Cottin’s Hardware Farmers Market

Ongoing–September | cottinshardware.com

Gathering of local food vendors in the parking lot of Cottin’s Hardware on Thursdays from 4-6:30 p.m.

On Two Fronts: Kansans Fighting the Great War

May 2–July 30 | watkinsmuseum.org

The Watkins Museum of History hosts an exhibit focusing on trench warfare, propaganda, and the first-hand experiences of nurses and soldiers from Lawrence during World War I. The exhibit is in partnership with the Smoky Hill Museum of Salina, The Spencer Museum of Art at the University of Kansas, and the National World War I Museum and Memorial.

City Band Concerts

May 31–July 12 (TBD) | lawrenceks.org

A beloved bit of Americana in the heart of Lawrence is repeated each Wednesday night at 8 pm as the city band provides a free concert from the South Park gazebo (or in Murphy Hall on the University of Kansas campus in the event of bad weather).

Lawrence PRIDE Street Party

June 3 | lawrencekspride.com

A downtown parade and evening street party to celebrate and honor the contributions and presence of the community’s LGBTQ+ communities.

Prairie Walk

June 3 | klt.org

Reconnect with the native plants and blooms as the Kansas Land Trust sponsors a walking tour of the Akin Prairie led by ecologist and senior scientist of the Kansas Biological Survey, Kelly Kindscher.

Russia’s Continuing War in Ukraine

June 8 | doleinstitute.org

The Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics and the KU Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies host a lecture by military historians on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the use of new military technology, and possible future developments in the conflict.

Something Rotten!

June 9–25 (various dates) theatrelawrence.com

The mockumentary staging of two brothers attempting to debut the world’s first musical hit in the theatrical milieu of Shakespeare’s London.

summer 2023

events

Lens as Metaphor

June 9–July 22 | lawrenceartscenter.org

Artist Kathy Suprenant draws on her professional training as a molecular biologist to create prints, fabrics and more inspired by realistic and imaginary visions of microscopic life. Suprenant will present her gallery talk at the Lawrence Arts Center on June 29.

Deja’s Reading Rainbow

June 11 | lplks.org

Stage performer and community activist Deja Brooks presents children’s stories of love and friendship at the Lawrence Public Library.

Juneteenth

June 17 | lawrenceksjuneteenth.org

Community gathering to honor the history and contributions of Lawrence’s Black residents featuring vendors, presentations and musical celebrations.

Prairie/Prairie River:

The Art of Lisa Grossman

June 22 | spencerart.ku.edu

The Spencer Museum of Art hosts artist Lisa Grossman who talks about her landscape paintings and relationship to Kansas prairies and waterways. The presentation is part of the senior lecture series, but free and open to all members of the public.

The Night Hawk

June 24 | trailhawks.com

The Trailhawks running club hosts its annual evening race at Clinton Lake with a 50k, a 20-mile, and a 10-mile route.

St. John’s Mexican Fiesta

June 24 | stjohnsfiesta.com

Annual celebration of music, food, and dancing to honor Lawrence’s Mexican American community.

Free State Festival

June 26–July 2 | freestatefestival.org

The Lawrence Arts Center presents a week of films, lectures, concerts and more with headliners Boots Riley, Kevin Willmott, Chris Estrada, BLKBOK, and others.

Final Fridays

June 30 | unmistakablylawrence.com

This Friday (and the last Friday of every month), Lawrence galleries, studios and businesses open their doors for an evening of new art showings and artist-hosted events throughout the city’s Downtown and central Arts District.

Land of the Free

July 2 | lied.ku.edu

Organist Tandy Reussner and the Lawrence City Band present a program of music in honor of Independence Day. Held at the Lied Center, the concert is a fundraiser for nonprofit Family Promise, an organization that addresses housing needs of families in the Lawrence region.

The Snake

July 22 | trailhawks.com

The Trailhawks host a 10-mile race through the winding trails on the north shore of Clinton Lake.

Douglas County Fair

July 24–July 29 | dgcountyfair.com

Come during the day for animal showings, pie contests and more or come during the evening for concerts, carnival rides and demolition derby. A county tradition for all ages.

Llama Show

July 27

Wake up early and come to the 9:00 am Douglas County Fair ringside competition or follow our live Instagram updates as we cheer on the 4-H students and their charming companions.

Lawrence Opera Theatre

August 1–21 (various dates)

lawrenceopera.org

The Lawrence Opera Theatre presents its summer concert season with performances highlighting the music of Carmen, Disney, and more.

Katee Robert: Radiant Sin Tour

August 9 | lplks.org

The Lawrence Public Library and community partners present romance author Katee Roberts on a panel with fellow writers Ana Huang and Sierra Simone. Pre-registration for the event at Venue 1235 is required.

Galactic Empire

August 11 | thegranada.com

The rock ’n’ roll costumed baddies from a galaxy far, far away arrive in Lawrence for a one-night concert.

Civil War on the Border

August 18–20 | watkinsmuseum.org

The Watkins Museum of History hosts its annual series of lectures, tours and other events to commemorate the 1863 attack on Lawrence by Confederate guerrilla forces and the legacy of the Civil War conflict on the city’s history and character. This year’s event, in partnership with eXplore Lawrence, focuses on the theme of food insecurity during the war.

Movie on the Lawn: Lilo and Stitch

August 19 | lplks.org

The Lawrence Public Library closes out its summer reading program with a free outdoor showing of this popular family film.

Kaw River Roots Festival

August 25–26 | kawriverroots.com

A celebration of Americana music with two days of indoor concerts and events. This year’s third-annual festival features Grammy winning artist Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway.

KU Football Season Opener

August 31 | kuathletics.com

The University of Kansas Jayhawks football team opens its 2023 season with a home game against Missouri State.

Best of Lawrence Winners Bash

August 31 | bestoflawrence.com Drinks, shout-outs and recognition of all those who won the community-wide online voting in over 200 categories to celebrate the businesses, people, groups and events that define Lawrence.

Haskell Indian Art Market

September 3–4 | Haskell Indian Art Market on FB

One of the nation’s premier open-air markets for authentic Native-made art. Dances, musical celebrations, and food vendors accompany the market.

Penny Jones Golf Tournament

September 8 | lmhendowment.org

Serious networking and semi-serious golfing all for the good cause of supporting community services provided through Lawrence Memorial Hospital.