Arts & Culture

What can art learn from ecology? It’s a question posed both implicitly and explicitly by visionary artist Tomás Saraceno, whose plans for an airborne city render obsolete the very idea of “environmental footprint.” At 4 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 27, the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum will present “A Sustainable Future,” an interdisciplinary panel discussion held in conjunction with the exhibition Tomás Saraceno: Cloud Specific.

Ten cutting-edge Sukkahs by architects and designers from around the nation were installed Oct. 17, just south of the Ann W. Olin Women’s Building. The projects, which remain on view through Saturday, Oct. 22, are winners of Sukkah City STL, an ambitious contemporary design competition that challenged participants to reimagine the traditional Jewish Sukkah through the lens of contemporary art and architecture

The Brookings Institution, a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, D.C., and Washington University in St. Louis announce recipients of grants from the joint Academic Venture Fund. The purpose of the AVF is to support collaboration between scholars at WUSTL and the Brookings Institution, particularly long-term projects that impact research, education and policy.

Patrick Henry Academy is an historic elementary school located in St. Louis’ Columbus Square neighborhood. Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church and School is a longtime Hyde Park anchor. Last summer, students and faculty in the Sam Fox School completed design/build projects at both locations under the auspices of CityStudioSTL, a new program offering community engagement and architectural outreach projects throughout the St. Louis area. On Oct. 19, visiting artist Theaster Gates Jr., who led the Hyde Park project, will discuss his work in a public lecture. 

Julie Andrews versus The Jackson 5? Bluegrass on the Swiss Alps? Led Zeppelin meets “The Lonely Goatherd”? Whatever has happened to “My Favorite Things”? Brooklyn Rundfunk Orkestrata, that’s what. On Oct. 28, this cutting-edge New York ensemble will make its St. Louis debut with The Hills Are Alive, a genre-bending adaptation of songs from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music.

In a musical partnership stretching back nearly 40 years, the Fischer Duo has drawn critical acclaim for its performances of classical repertoire, for rediscovering neglected works of the past and for commissioning new works by contemporary composers. At 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 26, the Fischer Duo will showcase all three themes in a free concert for the Danforth University Center Chamber Music Series.

Legendary guitarist Ralph Towner is one of the finest improvisers in modern jazz and one of the few to specialize in acoustic guitar. At 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 27, Towner will present an evening of both standards and original music for Washington University’s Jazz at Holmes Series. In addition, on Oct. 26, Towner will take part in “The Music of Ralph Towner and The ECM Movement,” a symposium exploring both Towner’s work and the music of other artists associated with ECM Records.

Ward Stare is a rising star in the world of classical music, serving as both resident conductor of the St. Louis Symphony and as music director for the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra. This fall, Stare adds to his portfolio as conductor of the Washington University Symphony Orchestra. On Oct. 23, Stare will make his regular-season debut with the WUSTL symphony in a performance featuring music of Ralph Vaughn Williams, Franz Liszt and Jean Sibelius.

Nationally acclaimed poet Lucie Brock-Broido will present a talk on the craft of poetry at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 11, for the Writing Program Reading Series. Brock-Broido is the author of three books of poetry: Trouble in Mind (2004), The Master Letters (1995) and A Hunger (1988). Her work often explores obsessions and anxieties — of influence, ritual, mortality and modernity — using shifting syntax and diction to create vivid, and sometimes disorienting, portraits of mind.

Ten cutting-edge Sukkahs by architects and designers from around the nation will be installed Oct. 18-22 on the campus of Washington University in St. Louis. The projects are winners of Sukkah City STL, an ambitious contemporary design competition that challenged participants to reimagine the traditional Jewish Sukkah — a small, temporary structure erected each fall during the weeklong festival of Sukkot — through the lens of contemporary art and architecture.