Author: Liam Otten

Original cover art, “Love and Rockets” #15There is no shortcut from popular art to cultural respectability, but few have wandered longer than comic book, which has only recently begun to receive its critical and scholarly due. In October, the School of Art at Washington University in St. Louis will present The Rubber Frame: Culture and Comics, a book and a pair of complementary exhibitions that together trace the evolution of comics from early precursors in 18th and 19th century England and Switzerland to turn-of-the-last-century newspapers, the raucous undergrounds of the 1960s and ’70s and the literary alternative comics of today.

Edited by D.B. Dowd, professor of visual communications in the School of Art, and 2002 alumnus M. Todd Hignite, The Rubber Frame: Essays in Culture and Comics investigates a series of key themes and moments in the history of comics. Angela Miller, Ph.D., associate professor of art history & archaeology in Arts & Sciences, observes […]

Legendary jazz guitarist Ralph Towner, perhaps best known as lead composer, guitarist and keyboardist for the acoustic jazz ensemble Oregon, will present a free solo concert at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 19, in Washington University’s Graham Chapel.

Harpsichordist Maryse Carlin, instructor in Washington University’s Department of Music in Arts & Sciences, will perform a concert titled “J. S. Bach and the French Clavecinistes” at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 17, in Karl Umrath Hall Lounge.

“The Invisible Man”What does it mean to become invisible? Find out Oct. 29 and 30, when The Aquila Theatre Company, one of the nation’s finest producers of touring classical drama, present an origianal stage adaptation of The Invisible Man, H.G. Wells’ timeless morality tale, at Washington University’s Edison Theatre.

Detail of the 1899 plan for Washington University’s Hilltop Campus.One hundred years ago, the eyes and ears of the world turned to St. Louis — and the newly built campus of Washington University — for the 1904 World’s Fair. On Oct. 17, Washington University will honor that centenary with a performance by the Saint Louis Wind Symphony. A Grand Concert of Band Music Performed at the 1904 World’s Fair will feature a representative sampling of music heard at the fair, including works by Philip Sousa, Peter I. Tchaikovsky, Johann Strauss, Jr., and Carl Maria von Weber.

Mezzo soprano Mary Ann Hart and pianist Dennis Helmrich will present Washington University’s annual Liederabend at 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 10. Literally translated as “evening of song,” Liederabend is a German term referring to a recital given by a singer and pianist, particularly of works by 19th-century Austrian or German composers. The program will include lieder by Johannes Brahms, Antonín Dvorák, Edvard Grieg, Charles Ives, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann and Hugo Wolf.

Eric Mumford, Ph.D., associate professor and director of the Urban Design Program in the School of Architecture, will speak on “Modern Architecture in St. Louis” at 7 p.m. Sept. 29 in Steinberg Auditorium. Mumford recently edited Modern Architecture in St. Louis: Washington University & Postwar American Architecture, 1948-1973 (2004), the first in-depth survey of modern […]

Poet and translator Heather McHugh, the visiting Fannie Hurst Professor of Creative Literature in the Department of English in Arts & Sciences, will speak on the craft of poetry at 8 p.m. Sept. 28. In addition, McHugh will read from her poetry at 8 p.m. Sept. 30. Both events, part of the Writing Program Reading […]

This fall, the Sam Fox Arts Center began construction of two buildings designed by Pritzker Prize-winning Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki. When completed in 2006, the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum and Earl E. and Myrtle E. Walker Hall will be integrated with the adjacent Bixby, Givens and Steinberg halls to form a state-of-the-art, five-building arts […]