Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts

Architect Eric Cesal, a Washington University alumnus who is now directing design and reconstruction initiatives in Haiti for the group Architecture for Humanity, will return to campus to discuss his work at noon Wednesday, Oct. 20. The talk, titled Starting From Zero: How Haiti Can Save Architecture, is presented by the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts as its annual Eugene J. Mackey Jr. Lecture, part of the school’s fall Public Lecture Series.  

Landscape architect Tom Leader, founder and principal of Tom Leader Studio in Berkeley, Calif., will discuss his work for the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts’ fall Public Lecture Series Oct. 11. Formed in 2001, the studio is among today’s most innovative and experimental landscape architecture practices, known for balancing speculative and constructed designs.

Brazilian conceptual artist Rivane Neuenschwander will discuss her work with Richard Flood, chief curator of the New Museum in New York, at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 9,in Steinberg Auditorium. The dialogue is held in conjunction with Rivane Neuenschwander: A Day Like Any Other, the artist’s first major midcareer survey, which opens at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 8.

An entrepreneur who has helped thousands of people in poverty-stricken countries throughout Africa says she couldn’t have done it without the help of students and professors at Washington University. The Blessing Basket Project bestows its annual World Changer award on WUSTL. Video history and thank you from artisans in Africa included.

Brazilian conceptual artist Rivane Neuenschwander creates playful, ephemeral and often participatory artworks that blur distinctions between author and viewer, object and memory, permanence and temporality. This fall, the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum will present Rivane Neuenschwander: A Day Like Any Other, the artist’s first major midcareer survey. Covering a decade of work, the exhibition reveals a wide-ranging interdisciplinary practice that merges painting, photography, film, sculpture, installation and collaborative action.

A multidisciplinary team led by landscape architect Michael Van Valkenburgh has won an international competition to reshape the area surrounding Eero Saarinen’s iconic Gateway Arch. Also on the team is artist Ann Hamilton, who is serving this fall as the inaugural Arthur L. and Sheila Prensky Visiting Artist in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts.  

The Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts has announced the recipients of its 2010 Faculty Creative Activity Research Grants. Five art and architecture faculty members from the Sam Fox School will each receive between $1,000 and $8,000 to support projects ranging from reportage and publication to architectural case studies and GPS mapping of the Mekong River. 

A search is under way to fill a new vice provost position in the Office of the Provost whose initial focus will be on diversity and faculty development, among other areas of university-wide importance. An advisory committee has been formed that will identify and recommend candidates from within the Washington University community.

Architect Julie Eizenberg and visual artist Ann Hamilton will launch the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts’ fall Public Lecture Series with a pair of talks Sept. 13 and 15.

The Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts will host a traveling exhibition of design concepts by five architectural teams vying to reshape the area surrounding Eero Saarinen’s iconic Gateway Arch. The teams — which among them include seven faculty from the Sam Fox School’s College of Architecture and Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design — are finalists in an international competition organized by the CityArchRiver 2015 Foundation. Titled “Framing a Modern Masterpiece,” the competition aims to improve connections and transitions between the Arch grounds, downtown St. Louis and the Mississippi riverfront.