Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts

The rise of film as a commercial medium in many ways parallels the rise of industrial production. For three days beginning Tuesday, March 23, the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum will explore three influential depictions of factory life with the Factory Film Festival. Held in conjunction with the exhibition Sharon Lockhart: Lunch Break, the festival will include screenings of Modern Times (March 23), Norma Rae (March 24) and 24 City (March 25).

Ralph Rucci is among the most accomplished American fashion designers working today. His women’s-wear label, Chado Ralph Rucci, is known for thoroughly modern garments defined by sculptural silhouettes, innovative materials and precise construction. At 6:30 p.m. Friday, March 26, Rucci will discuss his life and work for the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts’ Public Lecture Series. 

Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton congratulates Sabine Eckmann, PhD (left) at a March 2 ceremony in Steinberg Auditorium installing Eckmann as the first William T. Kemper Director of the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum in the Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts.

Renowned art critic George Baker, an editor of the journal October, will discuss the work of contemporary photographer and filmmaker Sharon Lockhart for the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts’ Public Lecture Series Monday, March 15. Lockhart’s most recent project, Sharon Lockhart: Lunch Break, currently is on view at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum.

Over the past 30 years, books in all their permutations have served as both subject and medium for Franklin “Buzz” Spector, dean of the College and Graduate School of Art. Spector rips, stacks, tears, sews, bends and otherwise alters both found and custom-made volumes. The process can result in an installation, a photograph, an individual object, an editioned artists’ book or even a collage of the torn-away pieces.  

Citing the William T. Kemper Foundation and the Kemper family as among Washington University’s strongest supporters, Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton announced the foundation’s gift of $3 million.

A new book, “The Missouri Botanical Garden Climatron: A Celebration of 50 Years,” by Eric Mumford, Ph.D., professor of architecture at Washington University in St. Louis, chronicles the history and significance of the St. Louis landmark. In 1976, the Climatron was named one of the most important buildings in American architectural history by the American Institute of Architects.

Four architecture professors from the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts are part of two teams that have reached the second round of an international competition to reshape the grounds surrounding St. Louis’ iconic Gateway Arch.

Chariots, a folk-indie-pop trio that delivers stripped-down vocals and diverse instrumentation over infectious beats, will launch the annual Kemper Presents Concert Series Feb. 26. In all, the series will showcase eight St. Louisl acts working in a variety of styles and genres most Friday evenings throughout the spring. 

Undergraduate tuition at Washington University in St. Louis will be $39,400 for the 2010-11 academic year — a $1,600 (4.2 percent) increase over the 2009-10 current academic tuition of $37,800. The required student activity fee will total $394, and the student health fee will be no more than $580. Barbara A. Feiner, vice chancellor for finance, made the announcement.