Arts & Culture

Misi-ziibi means “great river” in the Anishinaabe language. For the Native peoples of upper Minnesota, misi-ziibi referred to the long, 1,300-mile stretch flowing south of the Crow Wing River, past present-day St. Louis and into the Gulf of Mexico. But the name was not the only thing taken from the Anishinaabe, argues Nathan Stanfield, who is about to earn his master’s degree in architecture.

Sculptor Bo Schmit scavenges thrift stores and metal suppliers for domestic detritus, building blocks of his intimate objects and large-scale installations. The result is sometimes whimsical, sometimes disturbing, but somehow familiar. Schmit is set to graduate with a degree in studio art from the Sam Fox School.

Eileen G’Sell, senior lecturer in Arts & Sciences, has published two pieces on French filmmaker Céline Sciamma as well as the Current Affairs essay “What Do Women Really Deserve?”

The Great Artists Series at Washington University in St. Louis presents affordably priced concerts by some of today’s finest classical musicians. The 2023 series will feature Grammy Award-winning mezz-soprano J’Nai Bridges, star of the Metropolitan Opera’s “Akhnaten,” as well as the England’s legendary Academy of St Martin in the Fields with cellist Johannes Moser, pianist Emanuel Ax, and violinist Augustin Hadelich.

The Sam Fox School will present its 93rd Annual Fashion Design Show April 30 in Holmes Lounge. One of the oldest such shows in the nation, the event will feature dozens of models wearing scores of outfits that explore themes of sustainability, accessibility, structure and more.

Internationally celebrated landscape architect Kotchakorn Voraakhom will serve a yearlong appointment as designer-in-residence for the Pulitzer Arts Foundation and the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis. Voraakhom is founder of the Bangkok-based design firm Landprocess as well as the nonprofit Porous City Network.

Acclaimed South Korean pianist Seong-Jin Cho will perform works by Ravel and Chopin May 1 as part of the Department of Music’s annual Great Artists Series.

Acclaimed soprano Angel Blue, fresh from starring roles in the Metropolitan Opera’s “Fire Shut Up in My Bones” and “Porgy and Bess,” will present an intimate recital April 24 as part of the Great Artists Series at Washington University in St. Louis.

More than 5,000 St. Louisans have died during the COVID-19 pandemic. On Saturday, April 23, a community-wide memorial service, organized by WashU’s Rebecca Messbarger, will take place in Forest Park. The event will include original music, guest speakers and the ceremonial lighting of 1,500 lanterns around the waters of the Grand Basin.

Diana Montaño, assistant professor of history in Arts & Sciences, has won the Alfred B. Thomas Award for her book “Electrifying Mexico: Technology and the Transformation of a Modern City.”