Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts

Patricia OlynykPatricia Olynyk has been named director of the Graduate School of Art, part of the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis. Olynyk is an internationally known artist whose prints and installations frequently employ microscopy and biomedical imaging technologies to explore the intersections between art and the life sciences. She previously served as professor in the School of Art and Design at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, as well as a research associate professor in Michigan’s Life Sciences Institute.

Washington University in St. Louis is creating a new International Center for Advanced Renewable Energy and Sustainability (I-CARES) to encourage and coordinate university-wide and external collaborative research in the areas of renewable energy and sustainability — including biofuels, CO2 mitigation and coal-related issues. The university will invest more than $55 million in the initiative, according to Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton.

The newly established International Center for Advanced Renewable Energy and Sustainability (I-CARES) at Washington University in St. Louis will encourage international collaborative research on energy and environmental issues by working closely with a global partnership of leading universities forged recently by the University’s McDonnell International Scholars Academy.

The International Center for Advanced Renewable Energy and Sustainability (I-CARES) at Washington University in St. Louis will be shaped and supported by advisory and steering committees comprised of both internal and external leaders, Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton announced.

PakrasiThe International Center for Advanced Renewable Energy and Sustainability (I-CARES) at Washington University will operate under the direction of Himadri B. Pakrasi, Ph.D., the George William and Irene Koechig Freiberg professor of biology in Arts & Sciences, and professor of energy in the School of Engineering.

The Kemper Art Museum presents “Andrea Fraser, ‘What do I, as an artist, provide?'” — the artist’s first Midwest solo exhibition — opening May 11.

El Museo Cultural de Santa FePeter Elsbeck, Cristina Greavu and Eric Rang, all graduate students in architecture in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, have won an international competition to create a sculptural façade for El Museo Cultural de Santa Fe. The group’s winning design was selected from more than 100 entries submitted by architects, artists and designers representing 10 countries. The team will receive a $5,000 first-place cash award.

The Kemper Art Museum will present “Ansel Adams: Reverence for Life,” an exhibition of photographs showcasing works from the personal collections of the Adams family, in conjunction with the International Symposium on Energy and Environment, sponsored by the McDonnell International Scholars Academy.

Nancy and Kenneth Kranzberg, passionate supporters of artistic, educational and cultural organizations throughout the St. Louis region, received the eighth annual Jane and Whitney Harris Saint Louis Community Service Award at a ceremony at the Harbison House on Feb. 20. Their prize, a $50,000 cash gift, will be distributed to six non-profit organizations of their choice. The award is the gift of the late Jane Freund Harris and Whitney Harris. In 1999 they established the award, to be given to a husband and wife who are dedicated to improving the St. Louis community.

Dickson Street stationA collaborative light-rail master plan involving close to 50 architecture students from the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts and the University of Arkansas has won a national Education Honor Award from the American Institute of Architects. The award, one of only three given this year, will be presented in May during the AIA National Convention in San Antonio.