Author: Liam Otten

German conceptual artist Tobias Rehberger is known for creating a wide range of playful-yet-pointed objects and installations that explore the boundaries between public and private, function and aesthetics, original and reproduction. At 6:30 p.m. Monday, April 26, Rehberger will discuss his work for the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts’ Public Lecture Series. The free talk is cosponsored by the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum. 

Kevin Prufer and Teddy Wayne, both alumni of The Writing Program in the Department of English in Arts & Sciences, will read from their work at 8 p.m. Thursday, April 22. Prufer is the author of four books of poetry as well as editor of Pleiades: A Journal of New Writing. Wayne (right) is the author of the forthcoming novel Kapitoil. 

Poet Kerri Webster, who is completing a three-year appointment as visiting writer in residence in The Writing Program in the Department of English, will read from her work at 8 p.m. Thursday, April 15. Webster is the author of the collection We Do Not Eat Our Hearts Alone, as well as a pair of chapbooks: Rowing Through Fog and Psalm Project.

Sharon Lockhart is internationally recognized for creating conceptual films and photographs that meticulously observe the quiet details of everyday life. On consecutive Saturdays April 10 and 17, the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum will present special screenings of two recent feature-length projects: Pine Flat (2005) and Double Tide (2009). Both are presented in conjunction with the exhibition Sharon Lockhart: Lunch Break, on view at the Kemper Art Museum through April 19. 

The Performing Arts Department in Arts & Sciences will present its fourth biennial Young Choreographers Showcase Friday, April 9, through Sunday, April 11, in the Annelise Mertz Dance Studio. The concert will feature more than a dozen dancers in nine original works created by student choreographers in the Dance Program. Tickets are available through the Edison Theatre Box Office at (314) 935-6543.  

Writer Tatyana Tolstaya, one of the foremost chroniclers of post-Gorbachev Russia, will present a pair of events at Washington University April 5 and 6. Tolstaya is the Visiting Fannie Hurst Professor of Creative Literature in The Writing Program in the Department of English in Arts & Sciences. 

Evan D. Kharasch, MD, PhD, the Russell D. and Mary B. Shelden Professor of Anesthesiology and professor of biochemistry and molecular biophysics, has been appointed vice chancellor for research at Washington University in St. Louis, effective April 5. He had served as interim vice chancellor since July 2009. As the chief officer responsible for the university’s research mission, he will oversee an enterprise that generates more than $500 million annually for sponsored research from a wide array of funding sources.

The Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts honored seven outstanding architecture and art alumni at its third annual Awards for Distinction dinner March 18. The awards recognize graduates who have demonstrated creativity, innovation, leadership and vision through their contributions to the practices of art, architecture and design as well as to WUSTL and the Sam Fox School. 

The rise of film as a commercial medium in many ways parallels the rise of industrial production. For three days beginning Tuesday, March 23, the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum will explore three influential depictions of factory life with the Factory Film Festival. Held in conjunction with the exhibition Sharon Lockhart: Lunch Break, the festival will include screenings of Modern Times (March 23), Norma Rae (March 24) and 24 City (March 25).

Ralph Rucci is among the most accomplished American fashion designers working today. His women’s-wear label, Chado Ralph Rucci, is known for thoroughly modern garments defined by sculptural silhouettes, innovative materials and precise construction. At 6:30 p.m. Friday, March 26, Rucci will discuss his life and work for the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts’ Public Lecture Series.