Arts & Culture

Courtesy photo*DesignIntelligence*Washington University’s Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design, part of the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, has risen four spots to tie for 6th in the nation according to a recent satisfaction survey by DesignIntelligence, a monthly journal published by the Design Futures Council.

David Kilper/WUSTL Photo ServicesArchitecture students have created a new plaza for visual art in Grand Center.Grand Center has long served as St. Louis’ premiere arts and entertainment district, home to the Fox Theatre, the Sheldon Concert Hall, the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra and other cultural organizations. This fall, a group of 10 architecture majors from the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts teamed up with the Pulitzer Foundation and Grand Center, Inc. to design and build a new public plaza for visual art. The plaza — located immediately south of the Symphony Orchestra’s Powell Hall, 718 North Grand Blvd. — will host outdoor exhibitions, site-specific installations, performance pieces and video and new-media work by local and nationally known artists. A formal dedication will be held Dec. 15.

Washington University’s Department of Music in Arts & Sciences will present its annual sing-along of George Frideric Handel’s oratorio Messiah at 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 10, in Graham Chapel. John Stewart, director of vocal activities, directs the program.

The Washington University Opera will present a program titled “In Women’s Chambers” at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Dec. 8 and 9, in Karl Umrath Lounge. The program will include portions of three 20th-century operas: Benjamin Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia (1946), Conrad Susa’s Black River (1975) and Little Women (1998) by Mark Adamo.

Poet Carl Phillips, professor of English and of African & African American studies, both in Arts & Sciences, has won the 2006 Academy of American Poets Fellowship, given in memory of James Ingram Merrill. The fellowship is awarded annually to a poet for distinguished poetic achievement at mid-career and provides a stipend of $25,000. The academy’s board of chancellors, a body of 15 eminent poets, elected Phillips.

David Kilper/WUSTL Photo Services*Bit.Fall* by Julius PoppChristiane Paul, adjunct curator of new media arts at the Whitney Museum of American Art, will speak on Grid vs. Network: Aesthetics of New Media Spaces at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 30. The talk is sponsored by the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum in conjunction with the exhibition [Grid Matrix], on view through Dec. 31.

Poet Susan Wheeler will read from her work at 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 30, for The Writing Program Reading Series. Wheeler is the author of four acclaimed collections: Bag ‘o’ Diamonds (1993), Smokes (1998), Source Codes (2001) and Ledger (2005). Her work has appeared in appeared in eight editions of Best American Poetry.

David Kilper/WUSTL Photo Services*Women’s Voices* by Christine Knoblauch-O’NealWashington University Dance Theatre, the annual showcase of professionally choreographed works performed by student dancers, will present BODYMIND/Art of Movement, its 2006 concert, Dec. 1-3 in Edison Theatre. Performances will feature close to 50 dancers, selected by audition, performing seven works by faculty and guest choreographers.

Jerry BauerOrhan PamukTurkish writer Orhan Pamuk, winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature, will receive Washington University’s inaugural Distinguished Humanist Medal as part of “Celebrating Our Books, Recognizing Our Authors,” the university’s fifth annual faculty book colloquium. The award — which includes a cash prize of $15,000 — is supported by the Center for the Humanities and the Office of International and Area Studies, both in Arts & Sciences. It will be given biannually to a distinguished scholar, writer or artist whose career merits special recognition for excellence and courage.

The Washington University Symphony Orchestra will present “OrganFest,” a concert showcasing the university’s recently refurbished Graham Chapel organ, at 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 19. Dan Presgrave, instrumental music coordinator in the Department of Music in Arts & Sciences, conducts the 70-plus-member orchestra. Featured soloist are William Partridge, Jr., university organist; and Barbara Raedeke, instructor in organ.