Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts

Thaddeus Strode, *Absolutes and Nothings*Since the late 1980s Los Angeles-based painter Thaddeus Strode has created wild, vibrantly colored mash-ups in which California surf and skateboard culture collide with Zen philosophy, rock music, literature, film, comic books and other popular motifs, all mixing freely with the artist’s own inventions. In February, the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum will present the first major museum exhibition dedicated to Strode’s work as part of its Contemporary Projects series.

The Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at WUSTL has announced the recipients of its first annual Faculty Creative Activity Research Grants. Five faculty members from the College of Art and the College of Architecture will each receive $5,000 to support a variety of projects, from publications and video documentary to large-scale public sculpture.

St. Louis Cold Storage CompanyThe Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis is accepting registrations for its 2008 Steedman Traveling Fellowship Competition. Granted since 1925, the biennial Steedman Fellowship is open to citizens of all countries with not more than eight years of experience following receipt of a professional degree in architecture. The competition carries a $30,000 first place award to support study and research abroad — the largest such award in the United States.

Courtesy ImageThe Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum will present three classic Hollywood films as part of its Iconic Blonde Film Festival Dec. 4-6. Held in conjunction with the exhibition “Beauty and the Blonde: An Exploration of American Art and Popular Culture,” the festival will feature screenings of “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” Dec. 4, “Vertigo” Dec. 5 and “Bonnie and Clyde” Dec. 6 at the Tivoli Theatre, 6350 Delmar Blvd.

The Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design, part of the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, has been ranked fifth in the nation by Architect magazine in its first annual education survey. The survey, published in the magazine’s November issue, examined 117 programs recognized by the National Architectural Accrediting Board.

The Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum will present three classic Hollywood films as part of its Iconic Blonde Film Festival Dec. 4-6. Held in conjunction with the exhibition “Beauty and the Blonde: An Exploration of American Art and Popular Culture,” the festival will feature screenings of “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” Dec. 4, “Vertigo” Dec. 5 and “Bonnie and Clyde” Dec. 6.

Washington University’s Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design, part of the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, has been ranked 5th in the nation by Architect magazine in its first annual education survey. The survey, published in the magazine’s November issue, examined all 117 programs recognized by the National Architectural Accrediting Board.

Andy Warhol, *Marilyn 1/10,* 1967.The Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum will present three classic Hollywood films as part of its Iconic Blonde Film Festival Dec. 4 to 6. Held in conjunction with the exhibition Beauty and the Blonde: An Exploration of American Art and Popular Culture, the festival will feature screenings of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Dec, 4), Vertigo (Dec. 5) and Bonnie and Clyde (Dec. 6).

Pioneering performance artist Lynn Hershman Leeson and feminist scholar Maria Elena Buszek will join Catharina Manchanda, Ph.D., curator for the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, for a panel discussion at 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 16, before the opening of “Beauty and the Blonde: An Exploration of American Art and Popular Culture.”

This month, the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum will present “Beauty and the Blonde: An Exploration of American Art and Popular Culture,” the first museum show to investigate the strategic use of the blonde in contemporary art. The show starts Nov. 16 and runs through Jan. 28, 2008.