Fox Fridays

Every Friday, one resource facility or tool space transforms into a classroom to encourage a new culture of play, experimentation, and cross-disciplinary making and dialogue across the Sam Fox and WashU campus.

Fox Fridays are about exploring new mediums, tools, and ideas, refining skills, and diving deep into alternative processes. It gives students opportunities to learn from different types of makers and different perspectives in an environment free of the stress and anxiety of studio production. It encourages the development of communities and collaborations which bridge traditional disciplines and establishes relationships outside of defined studio practices. Most of all, Fox Fridays is about celebrating the immense resources available at the Sam Fox School, sharing knowledge, and encouraging collaborative experimentation. So pick a workshop, sign up, and forge a gateway to new possibilities.

Fox Fridays are as much about culture as they are about tools. Everyone is stressed. Friday is (hopefully!) a less stressful day. Before the anxiety of Monday starts to creep up, Fox Fridays carve out a little space outside the anxiety of studio and classes. Take a few hours to try a new process, learn a new skill, experiment with a medium you have been interested in but couldn’t find time to enroll in a class. Maybe it helps augment your current studio work, maybe not. The point is to try, experiment and forge new pathways in your creative practice.

Workshops are open to anyone in the WashU community interested in exploring new creative outputs. They are free and first-come.

These workshops are generously funded by the Ralph J. Nagel Dean’s Initiative Fund and the Brabson Library and Educational Foundation. Don’t worry about materials, equipment, etc. Just sign up and show up.

No. While credit is not bestowed, knowledge and experience are. These workshops are intended to provide quick, effortless, and fun investigations into things that might not ordinarily find their way into your studio practice. By investing in workshops with new tools and resources, you may find alternative methods that might later influence your course selection and studio practice.

Yes and No. Workshops are not immediate keys to free access, but rather, gateways to form further contact points and creative pedagogies. Workshop take-aways include direct connection to classes offered in that particular medium/process as well as a way to establish contact points with experts in the workshop resource on campus. For many, the next best step might include enrolling in a future class, attending an additional workshop, or participating in classes offered through your curriculum. This ‘first date’ with on campus experts provides an experimental insight into processes you may be unfamiliar with. The workshop should put faces to spaces and make approaching about individual projects more fluid.

Absolutely! If space allows we highly encourage students of varying expertise to enroll. These are not just spaces for novices but also for those previously familiar to learn new things and also use equipment under the supervision of expert instructors.

Speak with your professor. Especially on the Sam Fox campus, many are aware and supportive of these offerings. If the workshop would benefit your studio practice many professors may be amenable to your attendance.