Sam Fox School

Emily Rauh Pulitzer established an endowment in 2004 to support joint collaborative projects between the Sam Fox School and the Pulitzer Arts Foundation that enhance the creative life of St. Louis. This endowment has spurred a variety of collaborative endeavors including Design openings, an initiative open to Sam Fox School faculty that supports art and design projects and installations in the Grand Center Arts District.

The Design Futures Public Interest Design (PID) Student Leadership Forum from the Sam Fox School is an interdisciplinary convening that fosters capacity-building for future leaders hoping to use design as a tool for social equity and positive change in and with historically marginalized communities. Design Futures seeks to build the next generation of leadership in design; diversify the ecosystem of public interest design in terms of discipline, race, gender, and beyond; and curate a national network of thought leadership.

“Architecture for Non-Architects” is designed for WashU undergraduates who are not enrolled in a traditional architecture studio. The course introduces students to the processes architects use to think about, view, and produce the built environment.

CityStudioSTL from the Sam Fox School at WashU supports a number of community engagement, student enrichment, and collaborations that bring students and faculty from different fields together with community partners. Fellowships support students in architecture, art, and design partnering with those in the St. Louis community to conceive, plan, design, and construct projects for local community groups and residents. Faculty can also receive support for community engaged scholarship and courses.

The Resilient Cities initiative from Sam Fox School engages the St. Louis community regarding complex issues of environmental and social resiliency. Current projects focus on the establishment of Peace Park in the College Hill neighborhood and engagement with the Great Rivers Greenway (GRG) Brickline Greenway Project.

Since 1986, Sam Fox has partnered with the Municipal Commission on Arts & Letters of University City to share their artwork with their community. For students, this poses an opportunity to explore the social aspects of University City and the civic responsibilities of being an artist.

Since 2007, the Alberti Program has brought young people from across the St. Louis region to the Washington University campus for a hands-on experience tackling 2- and 3-dimensional problems in architectural design, with an eye toward the greater environment. They are introduced to the field of architecture through lectures, discussions, and reviews about design projects. They explore campus and connect with WashU graduate and undergraduate students, who serve as teaching assistants.

Established in 1881, the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum serves both WashU students and St. Louis residents as the one of the oldest teaching museums in the country. Through numerous and diverse programs and exhibitions, the Kemper Art Museum vast collection allows residents to peer into diverse artwork both in-person and virtual at little cost.

“The Divided City” works to bring humanities scholars into interdisciplinary dialogue with architects, urban designers, landscape architects, legal scholars, etc. This initiative includes a number of different projects such as the Sumner Studio Lab, a lab that runs through the academic year to bring together Sumner High students, WashU students, and Ville residents.