Videos

Each year since 2009, Kendall Riley and Nathan Greyson have been capturing what’s new in downtown Oklahoma City in a video series that premieres at the Dean A. McGee Awards, benefiting Downtown Oklahoma City, Inc. They have taken viewers on trolley, bicycle and walking tours, and chronicled a young family living, working and enjoying beautiful downtown Oklahoma City.

This year, the video features people engaging with public art. From street entertainers and an outdoor painted piano to OKC National & Memorial Museum’s Field of Empty Chairs, recognized by the National Endowment for the Arts, public art touches everyone who comes downtown.

– Brenda Jones Barwick, APR, Jones PR

Have you driven I-40 through downtown OKC recently and had to do a double-take when you saw a giant Ferris wheel sitting just south on the Oklahoma river?

The Wheeler Ferris Wheel, a previously well-known icon on the Santa Monica Pier, has now become a new and intriguing draw for OKC, bringing in more than 100,00 visitors its first season in 2016.

But that’s not all that’s happening in this neighborhood. The newly imagined Wheeler District, led by The Humphreys Company, will soon expand even more to include homes, townhomes, apartments, a school, dining and beyond.

– Jake Pasdach, Jones PR

Did you know there has never been a day in Oklahoma history when there were enough foster homes for children in foster care?

Oklahoma’s Kids Belong (OKB) is changing this situation for the better by helping to create permanency and belonging for every foster child. Its model is a new approach that has produced impressive results by coordinating with existing partners in the government, business, creative, faith and nonprofit sectors.

This nonprofit is a local affiliate of America’s Kids Belong, which was a founding partner of the “Oklahoma Fosters” initiative. OKB is committed to finding every child a loving home.

– Emily Anderson, Jones PR

In the mid-1970s, the Citizen Potawatomi Nation had $550 dollars in the bank and a house trailer on two-and-a-half acres of land as tribal headquarters. Today’s Citizen Potawatomi Nation has emerged as an economic powerhouse and tribal success.

Tribal Chairman John “Rocky” Barrett is the eighth member of his family to serve as tribal chairman and has been a crucial component in successfully navigating the challenges of governance leading to the tribe’s present-day accomplishments.

Today, the Citizen Potawatomi Nation has 2,400 employees, 13 tribal enterprises and will operate a $380 million budget in 2017.

– Jake Pasdach, Jones PR

Miss Oklahoma 2016 Sarah Klein’s pageant career began at only seven years old, with her earliest spotlight moments including starring in a Kidz Bop 4 commercial and waving as the Chick-fil-A cow for her first job.

Since then, Sarah has earned countless achievements through solid persistence and overcoming obstacles. The former Miss Tulsa consecutively placed top 10, then fourth, third, second and first runner-up in the Miss Oklahoma Scholarship Pageant. She won the crown her sixth and final year of eligibility.

Watch the full interview to learn more about Sarah and the upcoming Miss America Competition.

– Jake Pasdach, Jones PR

Video by Jake Pasdach