FEB.2016 – We start out our new year at the Ulrich Museum of Art! Thank you to Kent Williams for co-organizing this talk and to Torin Andersen for moderating. Our orange couch featured panelists: Paula Cody, Michael Downs, & Pat O’Connor who discussed their experience and creative life IN and OUT of the Wichita Vortex. find their bios below  –  thank you to Rick McPherson for photography!

PAULA CODY has worked for the Wichita Beacon and the National Enquirer. She is a Master Gardener known to tend numerous gardens in addition to her own within Riverside. Paula is a great story teller and food artist. A graduate of Wichita Southeast, Paula has lived in the LA area, in Great Falls, Illinois, and for two decades in West Palm Beach, FL while meeting her husband Bernie here in the vortex.

PAT O’CONNOR was born in Wichita; schooled in nine schools.
Attended WSU in the 1960s…finished in the 1980s. Tested out of 50 hours. MA in Communications. During the 1960s, lived briefly in the LA area, San Francisco, Lawrence, and Cleveland. Returned. In the early 1970s, he lived in London and Sussex for a year. He was hired as a Letter Carrier—retired as a Letter Carrier. He went through an experimental period in the late 1960s and wrote in invisible ink. Also, a musician who plays the blues on piano and guitar.

MICHAEL DOWNS is a career designer of events, experiences and environments. For over 34 years, he has filled roles as varied as Experiential Creative Director, Production Scenic Designer and Art Director, and he has over 785 productions to his credit…in 42 countries spanning 5 continents, and across 49 of the 50 in the US. Michael owns and operates Downsart, Inc. and is an Emmy Award Nominee for NBC’s Democracy Plaza in Rockefeller Center and a 2011 Reggie Award Nominee for his work on the History Channel Pop Shop.