Students at Wichita’s Gordon Parks Academy connect with namesake’s experiences in Paris

A short film documenting the journey of nine middle-school students from Wichita’s Gordon Parks Academy to experience Paris much like their school’s namesake will be shown at 4:15 p.m. on Saturday, March 15, at Wichita State University.

The screening of “I Needed Paris” is free but donations will be accepted to help pay for students to go to New York City in 2026 to continue experiencing cities that influenced Gordon Parks’ career as a prominent photographer, filmmaker and writer. Because of seating limitations in 210 McKnight Art Center, the audience is limited to 80 guests.

Before the film, photographs that the photojournalism and yearbook students took during their seven-day trip in May 2024 will be available for purchase during a 3 p.m. public reception at the Ulrich Museum of Art. The photo sales will also help fund the 2026 trip, according to LaTonia Kennedy, the Gordon Parks Academy principal.

“I Needed Paris” was produced and directed by D. Michael Cheers, an award-winning photojournalist, filmmaker and educator whose own career was inspired by Parks.

Kennedy said Cheers reached out to her in July 2023 to pitch the idea of having students from a school named for Parks be part of his film.

“His initial thought for the film was to watch the kids follow in Gordon Parks’ steps and how his time in Paris changed his trajectory … and how this could be a trajectory-changing life experience for the kids,” Kennedy said.

Parks took his entire family with him when he was assigned to the Paris bureau of Life Magazine in 1950. In the film, Parks’ son, David, recalls the ship voyage to France and the trip in the Parks’ family car to Paris. For the film, the students recreated a photo of the Parks family arriving in the car with the Arc de Triomphe in the background.

Parks spent two years in Paris, and his fashion and street photography appeared in various publications.

The students used twin-lens reflex cameras like Parks did to capture the City of Light during their trip. They were joined by a group of French middle-schoolers during a fashion shoot of models on the streets of Paris, much like Parks had done, Kennedy said.

They also spent time visiting with Black American ex-pats who, like Parks, have found creative success in Paris, including former Wichitan Joan (Huff) Minor. After a long career at Stanford University, Minor — who in 1969 was the first Black cheerleader at WSU — has had a lucrative career as a jazz artist since moving to Paris more than two decades ago.

Several of the Wichitans who accompanied the students are also featured in the film, including four members of the ARISE choir who performed at the American Cathedral in Paris and retiree Harvey Nero, who was among the community contributors that financed the students’ trip.

Within a few months, donors contributed $40,000 to cover the students’ trip. Some philanthropic groups also helped buy luggage, Kennedy said.

Cheers sponsored one academy student who had placed in a photography competition organized by the Gordon Parks Museum in Parks’ hometown of Fort Scott, Kan. Before the trip, Cheers traveled from his home in California to Wichita to teach a two-day photography workshop for the students.

Last fall, the nearly 39-minute documentary was screened at the Fort Scott museum and the Tallgrass Film Festival in Wichita. The film was also shown recently on the local PBS channel and can be viewed on the KPTS YouTube channel, youtube.com/@kptspromotions.

‘I Needed Paris’ film screening

What: Screening of a documentary that followed a group of students from Wichita’s Gordon Parks Academy who went to Paris in May 2024 to follow in the legendary Parks’ footsteps as a photographer

When: 4:15 p.m. Saturday, March 15

Where: 210 McKnight Art Center, Wichita State University campus, 1845 N. Fairmount. A 3 p.m. reception, where photos from the trip will be sold, will be held in the Ulrich Museum of Art.

Admission: Free; donations are encouraged to help fund a 2026 student trip to New York City, another city influential in Parks’ career. Seating is limited to 80 audience members.

More information: 316-978-3664, ulrich.wichita.edu/programs