Ongoing Programs

The school maintains several ongoing publicfacing programs, including the Pulitzer Endowment, the Alberti Program: Architecture for Young People, and the University City Public Art Series.

Pulitzer Endowment

Established by Emily Rauh Pulitzer, the endowment supports joint collaborative projects between the Sam Fox School and the Pulitzer Arts Foundation that enhance the creative life of St. Louis. Through this partnership, a variety of collaborative endeavors have emerged to bring socially engaged art practices, nationally acclaimed artists- and designers-in-residence, and public art programs to St. Louis.

The program launched in 2013 as PXSTL—which stands for Pulitzer Arts Foundation, Sam Fox School, and St. Louis—with the creation of a site-specific structure that functions as a venue for communitybased programming, while activating a vacant lot in the Grand

Andres L. Hernandez and Amanda Williams worked with Sam Fox School students on a site-specific project to activate a vacant building in St. Louis’ Grand Center neighborhood through a series of community-based interventions and engagements.

Center neighborhood. In recent years, the program has hosted artists- and designers-in-residence for yearlong residencies working with St. Louis-based groups and organizations to focus their practice on current civic issues.

Jordan Weber speaks at the opening of All Our Liberations, 2022, a public art project created during his artist residency, located in the recently renovated Spring Church in Grand Center.

Virginia Harold © Pulitzer Arts Foundation

Internationally celebrated landscape architect and 2022-23 designer-inresidence Kotchakorn Voraakhom gathers students and faculty for a selfie following a panel discussion on climate change and design at the Pulitzer Arts Foundation.

Virginia Harold © Pulitzer Arts Foundation

The Alberti Program: Architecture for Young People

James Byard / Washington University

The Alberti Program offers young local scholars in elementary and middle school an inside look at the field of architecture and design through hands-on learning. Since its inception in 2008, the Alberti program has reached thousands of students throughout the region. The curriculum focuses on teaching architecture and design with an emphasis on sustainable environments while also supporting the growth of personal skills and confidence in young scholars. The program is led by Sam Fox School faculty, graduate students, and industry professionals from around the region.

The program is supported by PGAV Destinations and The Divided City.

University City Public Art Series

Initiated in 1986, the collaboration between the Sam Fox School and the Municipal Commission on Arts & Letters of University City— WashU’s neighbor to the north—is the longest-running partnership of its type in the U.S. This collaboration is a high honor for participating students, providing an opportunity to collaborate, propose, and install public art in University City while engaging with the social and civic responsibilities of being an artist.

More than 200 students, 18 professors, 4 deans, 2 chancellors, 60 commission members, and 2 mayors have collaborated on the series, producing almost 200 temporary public works.

Support for the University City Public Art Series is provided by the Marvin Levy Fund, the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, and the Municipal Commission on Arts & Letters of University City.

Sarah Theis. A Play of Perception, 2013. Installed in Mooney Park, it was one of five works included in the 2013 University City Sculpture Series. Photo by James Byard / Washington University.