Office for Socially Engaged Practice EST. 2014
The Sam Fox School’s Office for Socially Engaged Practice connects students and faculty to communities in St. Louis and beyond to collaborate on meaningful projects in art, architecture, and design. These collaborations allow students to experience St. Louis outside the WashU campus while supporting education, innovation, and connection in our community.
Our Work page 4
Courses page 8
Get Involved page 10
Illustrations: Noah Jodice, BFA ’17, MFA-IVC ’22 Photo: Carter Voss / Arbolope Studio
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Our Work The Office for Socially Engaged Practice facilitates a variety of programs, from the longstanding University City Public Art Series and Alberti Program: Architecture for Young People, to newer initiatives like student fellowships through CityStudioSTL and faculty course grants. In each case, the office connects WashU students and faculty to community partners working on real-world issues.
Featured projects → Design Openings
Open to Sam Fox School faculty, Design Openings is a collaboration with the Pulitzer Arts Foundation that supports art and design projects and installations in the Covenant Blu Grand Center neighborhood.
→ Designerin-Residence
The Sam Fox School and Pulitzer Arts Foundation collaborate to host a designerin-residence in both a teaching position and as a collaborator in community engagement.
→ Engaged City
The Engaged City initiative focuses on reclaiming St. Louis’ cultural legacy through interrelated projects such as a cultural asset map, community fellowship program, and seed grant opportunities. Photo: Whitney Curtis / WashU
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Photo: Caitlin Custer / WashU
→ Peace Park
Peace Park is community-driven and community-owned, developed in collaboration with St. Louis Development Corporation, featuring a bamboo pavilion, landscape design, and wayfinding created by WashU faculty and students.
→ Sumner StudioLab
Sumner StudioLab is a collaboration with Sumner High School and local nonprofit 4theVille to offer space for Sumner High School students, WashU students, and local residents to come together to discuss and design the future of the historic high school and surrounding neighborhood.
Photo: Devon Hill / WashU
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Ongoing programs → Alberti Program: Architecture for Young People
Launched in 2007, the Alberti Program: Architecture for Young People offers St. Louis students in grades 4–9 the opportunity to explore architecture and design through hands-on learning each summer.
Photo: Jennifer Costello / WashU
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→ CityStudioSTL Fellowships
CityStudioSTL Fellowships provide funded opportunities for architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, and visual art students to work with a local firm to address challenges in St. Louis through a socially engaged design lens.
→ Summer Public Design Workshop
The Summer Public Design Workshop invites community organizations, neighborhood groups, and nonprofits to submit project ideas for a collaboration with the Sam Fox School. This opportunity is for groups looking to advance their mission and vision through a design project.
→ University City Public Art Series
This collaboration between the Sam Fox School and University City is the longest-running partnership of its kind in the country. Since 1986, more than 200 students, 18 professors, 4 deans, 2 chancellors, 60 commission members, and 2 mayors have collaborated on the series, producing more than 200 temporary public works.
Photo: Rebecca Clark / WashU
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OURSES • COURSES • COURSES • COURSES • COURSES • COURSES • COURSES • COURSES
Courses Open to all WashU students, courses emphasizing socially engaged practice give students the opportunity to broaden their perspective and contribute to projects that have a tangible impact in their community— from creating 3D-printed sculptures installed in St. Louis’ Cortex Innovation District to designing and building unique upcycled bicycles with St. Louis youth.
Photo: Devon Hill / WashU
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Sample courses Visit our website at samfoxschool.washu.edu/engage for more socially engaged courses offered at WashU.
→ Architecture for Non-Architects
Architecture for Non-Architects introduces students majoring in programs other than architecture to the process in which architects think about, view, and produce the built environment.
→ Community Design Sprints
Students provide scoping, phasing, programming, and conceptual design for small-scale yet pressing St. Louis needs through selected projects for community members and small organizations.
→ Fields + Frames
Students moved between the design of a frame and a ceramic field, collaborating with a community partner to create a temporary public art installation.
→ The Racialized Sporting Landscape of St. Louis
This course considers the racialized landscape of St. Louis through the lenses of sporting cultures and creative practices. Photo: Caitlin Custer / WashU
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Minor in Creative Practice for Social Change The minor provides undergraduate students with a deeper understanding of how to use creative practices in art, design, and architecture to address systemic economic, environmental, and social challenges. Students are challenged to think creatively across a broad spectrum to understand and create new systems and solutions, learn about the fundamental constraints of a challenge, and lead the process of change.
“The minor is about understanding your role as a designer in community partnerships, understanding the work you take on and your position in it. For me, it has sparked the recognition of ways we can do better. I think I’m a much more observant, considerate, and cautious designer having had these conversations.” Eve Wallack BFA ’20 in Communication Design Intern, Office for Socially Engaged Practice
Undergraduate Track in Socially Engaged Practice The major track in socially engaged practice, open to undergraduate architecture students, underlines creativity as a catalyst for social change. Students study the role of design in promoting the creation of spaces that prioritize inclusivity, resilience, and holistic wellbeing; and explore topics like sustainable development, affordable housing, and communitydriven design.
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Get Involved
The Office for Socially Engaged Practice offers a variety of ways to connect the WashU community with the St. Louis region, including conferences, grants and awards, partnership opportunities, and more. We invite you to get in touch with us to explore opportunities relevant to your goals.
Apply for grants and awards Students and faculty are invited to apply for funding through the Office for Socially Engaged Practice for community projects, courses, and fellowships. Funding is available in the form of fellowships, internships, course grants, and more. Visit samfoxschool.washu.edu/engage for more information.
Partner with us Community members can connect with us to bring their projects to life through partnership with WashU faculty and students. Submit a Community Request Form to get started.
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Connect with us
SFS-25-0173
samfoxschool.washu.edu/engage @washu_samfox_engage samfox-engage@wustl.edu
Photo: Kevin de Miranda / WashU