Three WashU undergraduates are among 11 St. Louis-area students selected for the Gateway Foundation’s 2026 Gyo Obata Fellowship program. Named for the late architect and WashU alumnus Gyo Obata (1923-2022), the fellowships aim to nurture the next generation of arts administrators through paid 10-week summer internships with local cultural institutions.
Nitzia Y. Davalos Reyes, a senior design major with minors in architecture and creative practice for social change, all in the WashU Sam Fox School, will work with Counterpublic. She previously served as a community engagement intern with the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival and, at WashU, as a TRIO mentor with the Taylor Family Center for Student Success.
Ren Klein, a senior in film and media studies with a minor in linguistics in WashU Arts & Sciences, will work with the Saint Louis Art Fair. Klein has worked as a youth mentor at Venice Arts in Los Angeles, exhibited photographic work in both Los Angeles and St. Louis, and currently serves as a lead facilitator for St. Louis Contact Improv.
Carlos Madrid, a first-year student with majors in art history and archaeology and in Latin American studies, both in Arts & Sciences, will work with The Luminary. An Annika Rodriguez Scholar and a James E. McLeod Scholar, Madrid also is associated with the WashU student magazine Latinxpresión and has a minor in the Olin School’s Business of the Arts program.
In addition, José Garza, a 2013 Sam Fox School alumnus and museum academic programs coordinator for the Kemper Art Museum, will serve as one of 11 mentors to the 2026 cohort.
Founded in 1986, the Gateway Foundation seeks to enrich life and culture in the St. Louis area by supporting efforts to acquire, create or improve tangible and durable art and urban design. Read more about the Obata Fellowships on the foundation website.
