Author: Liam Otten

Celebrated editor, publisher and art collector Larry Warsh recently gifted 56 works of Chinese photography to the Kemper Art Museum at Washington University in St. Louis. This spring, the museum will publicly display 43 of those works, all made between 1993 and 2006, for the first time in “Looking Back Toward the Future: Contemporary Photography from China.”

Architectural historian Mary McLeod, conceptual photographer Wang Qingsong and multimedia artist Clarissa Tossin will discuss their work for the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts spring Public Lecture Series.

Countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo is “a perfect musician” (Le Monde), at once “vocally brilliant and dramatically fearless” (New York Times). On Jan. 25, Costanzo will launch WashU’s 2026 Great Artists Series.

Ron Himes, the Henry E. Hampton Jr. Artist-in-Residence in Arts & Sciences and founder of the St. Louis Black Repertory Company, has won a Lifetime Achievement Award from New York theater group AUDELCO.

Influential collector Komal Shah discusses “Making Their Mark.” Currently on view at WashU’s Kemper Art Museum, the exhibition places work by renowned figures such as Howardena Pindell, Joan Mitchell and Jaune Quick-to-See Smith in dialogue with contemporary practitioners such as Katharina Grosse, Lorna Simpson, Sarah Sze and Mary Weatherford.

Robert E. Hegel, in Arts & Sciences, has won the Aldo and Jeanne Scaglione Prize from the Modern Language Association of America for his translation of “The Heroic Adventures of Qin Shubao,” from “Forgotten Tales of the Sui” by Chinese dramatist and writer Yuan Yuling (1599–1674).

In his new book “Look Out: The Delight and Danger of Taking the Long View,” WashU’s Edward McPherson explores the human desire for “big picture” perspectives — and how such perspectives cultivate both awe and arrogance.

WashU’s Performing Arts Department in Arts & Sciences will present “Silent Sky,” which explores the life and work of celebrated astronomer Henrietta Leavitt, in the A.E. Hotchner Studio Theatre Nov. 20-23.

“Something is Happening,” the 2025 WashU Dance Theatre performance, will take place Nov. 14-16 in Edison Theatre. The evening-length concert will feature original works by visiting choreographers Ron K. Brown and Xi Zhao, by faculty choreographers Elinor Harrison and David Marchant, and by graduate student Liz Lloyd.

Aki Ishida has been named the Sam and Marilyn Fox Professor in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts. A lecture and reception to celebrate her appointment were held Sept. 25 in Steinberg Hall.