Arts & Culture

Graham Paul, consul general of France in Chicago, will discuss “France and the Future of Europe” at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 19. Immediately following the lecture, Paul — on behalf of the French government — will formally recognize WUSTL alumna Elizabeth Gentry Sayad as a Chevalier (knight) of L’Ordre des Palmes Académiques.

WUSTL’s Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts and Tarlton Corporation will build a sample “intelligent house” next to the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum Aug. 18. The project comes as part of preparations for Design with the Other 90%: CITIES, a major survey exhibition illustrating the profound, transformative and sometimes lifesaving power of innovative design.

“What do I want?” asks Jane Eyre. “A new place, in a new house, amongst new faces, under new circumstances.” Annie Loui sympathizes. Since the early 1980s, the St. Louis native has created ambitious theatrical hybrids for prestigious venues around the nation. On Sept. 7 and 8, Loui will return to St. Louis and launch the 2012-13 Edison Ovations Series with an original adaptation of Charlotte Bronte’s beloved novel.

Solar lanterns. Bicycle-powered cell phone chargers. A personal water-purifier the size of a large straw. Today, some of the world’s most creative, challenging and sophisticated design is found not in museums or showrooms, but in the poor, makeshift urban settlements that collectively house nearly a billion people. This fall, the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum will present Design with the Other 90%: CITIES, a major survey that aims to expand contemporary definitions of just what constitutes “good design.”

Three local arts organizations will team up to host Contemporary Night Out, an evening of short, informative programs focusing on the world of contemporary art. The free event, which takes place from 5:30 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 2, will begin at Washington University’s Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, then proceed to the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis in Grand Center before ending next door at The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts. Each stop will feature food and drinks as well as a short interactive presentation.

As a medium, drawing lends itself to the theoretical and experimental. This fall, the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum at Washington University in St. Louis will present Notations: Contemporary Drawing as Idea and Process, an exhibition of more than 60 Minimalist, Conceptual and Post-Minimalist works by 39 artists, dating from the late 1950s to today. Drawn primarily from the renowned collection of Sally and Wynn Kramarsky, the exhibition focuses on practices that emerged during the postwar period — a time of great innovation in drawing — yet which continue to influence contemporary practitioners.

Talk about climbing the walls. In Leo, the gravity-defying new show from Berlin’s Circle of Eleven, the acrobatic star, Tobias Wegner, is trapped in a room seemingly absent the laws of physics. Leo is one of two striking works of physical theatre set to launch Washington University in St. Louis’ 2012-13 Edison Ovations Series this fall. In all, the season will feature 14 events by nationally and internationally known dance, theatre and musical artists.

Finland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has named Peter MacKeith its Honorary Consul for Missouri, in St. Louis. MacKeith, associate dean and associate professor of architecture in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, has long worked to deepen cultural and educational relations between Finland and the United States, particularly in the fields of architecture, education and design. Finnish Ambassador Ritva Jolkkonen inaugurated McKeith during a visit to campus June 21 and 22.

Architecture students from the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts have built dozens of outdoor benches for Patrick Henry Academy in downtown St. Louis. Constructed of cedar, oak and walnut, the benches are simply designed yet boast a telling detail: Legs attach to seat via “wedged through tenons,” a complicated form of joinery long associated with fine furniture-making. The benches are one facet of an award-winning, two-semester studio designed to help the historic elementary reinvent itself as a green school.

Architect Jason Mrdeza has won Washington University in St. Louis’ 2012 Steedman Fellowship in Architecture International Design Competition. Sponsored by the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, the biennial competition is open to young architects from around the world and carries a $50,000 first place award to support study and research abroad — making it one of the largest competition prizes in the United States. Mrdeza’s winning design was chosen from among 120 entrants representing more than 20 nations.