Apply for a CityStudioSTL Fellowship

Arbolope Studio is an award-winning landscape architecture, urban design and public art practice based in St. Louis, MO. Founded in 2015 by L. Irene Compadre, our goal is to create legible, technologically innovative, sustainability-minded, and deeply impactful landscapes that help make a happier, healthier, and more connected world. We work with a variety of clients including universities, institutions, corporations, and communities, at scales ranging from intimate parks to large-scale urban plans. Our team is made of passionate practitioners with a wide range of backgrounds including landscape architecture, urban design, studio art, horticulture, architecture, and music.

We are also a St. Louis certified MBE and WBE firm, believing that design in the public realm requires a deep empathy that only comes from interacting, observing, and collaborating with as many people from different backgrounds as possible. For this reason, Arbolope Studio is committed to creating an office culture, collaborative partnerships, and built work that are welcoming and inclusive for all.

Recent St. Louis work includes the East End Transformation & Tisch Park at Washington University in St. Louis, the expansion of the America’s Center Convention Complex in downtown St. Louis, Peace Park in College Hill, and Love Bank Park on Cherokee Street.

We are a small firm and our interns typically become fully integrated into our office practice. Fellows have participated in the full range of the design process from project marketing to project development, construction documentation, client meetings, and construction site visits. In the past, fellows have worked on large regionally significant masterplans, as well as local streetscapes, public parks and plazas, guerrilla landscape architectural interventions, and public art design + build.

Christner Architects is a 50-person architecture, planning, and design firm in Clayton, Missouri with a nearly 60-year legacy of unique and programmatically-complex projects for top-tier owners in healthcare, education, science & research, workplace and cultural markets. Christner’s strategic planning services and award-winning designs are valued for providing solutions that support our clients’ vision. Our professional culture and work environment emphasize excellence, authenticity, integrity, inclusivity, and service.

The selected CityStudioSTL Graduate Fellow will work closely with a Christner project team on conceptual design and documentation of a local architectural project or masterplan. Over the course of the 12-week internship, the Fellow would be exposed to all aspects of the project assignment by each of the key team members.

A recent Fellow worked with Grand Center to conceive of a shared workspace/incubator for entrepreneurs in creative occupations (such as industrial designers, photographers, writers, animators, videogame designers, fashion designers, etc.) This included research into national models/case studies, and resulted in design proposal for a space that Grand Center owns.

The Fellow will also work independently on a research assignment, meeting regularly with research advisors to ensure that they have the resources and support needed to be successful. The Fellow will have the opportunity to present to the office about their research assignment at the middle and end of their fellowship.

PGAV Planners specializes in helping communities plan for the future, finding land use and development solutions by relying on sound urban planning practices, market analyses, and development finance expertise. Our passion is helping our clients create lasting community assets. Founded in 1965, PGAV Planners is headquartered in downtown St. Louis and is part of the larger PGAV organization.

Our clients are, for the most part, municipalities and local governments. We provide urban planning consulting services; leading planning efforts for neighborhoods, downtowns, corridors, public spaces, and entire cities. We provide development finance consulting services; helping our clients understand the fundamentals and mechanics of development finance. We also provide GIS services; helping our clients see the characteristics of their neighborhood spatially to encourage understanding.

Past fellows have worked on corridor planning and design projects in the St. Louis region, planning proposals for neighborhood parks, wayfinding studies, pedestrian placemaking plans, and other public space projects. These products are conducted in collaboration with a local community organization. The fellow is the lead on the community project and works independently with the support of PGAV colleagues.

The fellow will work collaboratively as a member of the PGAV Planners team within the broader PGAV office, drawing on the talents of the more than 120 professionals in the St. Louis office. The fellowship is in-person. Engagement with the public will be required in some format, though local health guidelines will be followed at all times.

MArch and MLA students are also encouraged to apply. The point of contact and supervisor will be Catherine Hamacher.

At Trivers, we balance creative rigor and design excellence with integrity and practicality. We share our work life with a diverse group of people with whom we share a vision and also enjoy spending time. The outcome is impact.

Trivers has been rooted within the St. Louis community and intimately involved in some of the region’s most notable projects that have served as catalysts for many of the city’s revitalized neighborhoods to deliver thoughtful environments of lasting positive consequence.

Continuing our firm’s commitment to the revitalization of St. Louis, our selected CityStudioSTL Fellow will be engaged in one or two community focused projects in our office to be determined in the Spring of 2024. The selected projects will be at varied stages of execution and will have an array of opportunities to execute over the duration of the fellowship. Example activities may include research, site visits, preparing client presentations, site analysis, construction documentation, renderings, and/or feasibility studies. We are committed that our fellows have a fulfilling and engaged 12 weeks with a firm that has been continually dedicated to the betterment of the City of St. Louis.

Fellows become an intergral part of the design team and process on socially-oriented projects for their fellowship.

Current Sam Fox School architecture, landscape architecture, or urban design undergraduate and graduate students or recent graduates (December 2023 or May 2024) are eligible to apply. Foreign nationals requiring H-1B or employment-based visa sponsorship are ineligible to apply.

The fellow must be located in the US for the duration of the fellowship and must confirm location requirements with the firm. All applicants must be in good standing with the University. Applicants must be pursuing a master’s degree for the graduate fellowship or a bachelor’s degree for the undergraduate fellowship.

Interview applicants will be expected to:

• Coordinate and schedule an interview with the firm

• Respond in a timely manner to communications to and from the firm

• Disclose other possible conflicting summer opportunities

Fellowship recipients will be expected to:

• Complete a 12-week civic or social change project in St. Louis at the host firm, working actively with firm staff to complete assigned project(s).

• Work an average of 40 hours per week in the host firm office.

• Participate in host firm social and professional development activities.

• Attend at most 3 lunches/meetings with Office for Socially Engaged Practice representatives during the summer to discuss experiences and opportunities.

• Share Fellowship experiences with other students in fall 2024 and spring 2025.

• Provide feedback on the Fellowship program.

The CityStudioSTL Graduate Fellow will receive two $4,450 stipends for the completion of their project work, totaling $8,900. The CityStudioSTL Undergraduate Fellow will receive two $3,150 stipends for the completion of their project work, totaling $6,300.

The first stipend will be available in May, and the second will be available in early July, pending successful participation in the program to that point. To receive these payments, the recipient may need to submit materials to the Sam Fox School Business Office.

Payments provided for the purpose of assisting the recipient in the pursuit of study or research may be treated for tax purposes as a grant. If the recipient is a US citizen or considered a resident alien for US tax purposes, then the transaction is taxable and reportable in the US and will be reported on a stipend letter.

If the recipient is to a nonresident alien for tax purposes for activities in the US, then the transaction is subject to withholding and is reported on Form 1042-S. The withholding amount for taxable payments to nonresident aliens is 30% by statute; however, taxable grants provided to nonresident aliens in J or F visa statuses are afforded the reduced rate of 14%.

Candidates will be evaluated based on their capacity to participate in a professional context, relevant skills to the projects proposed, interest in socially engaged work, and engagement with St. Louis. Top applicants will be interviewed by the sponsoring firm, which will select the fellow.

Application Materials Candidates should apply at the link below and include the following materials as a PDF: + Resume

• Contact Information for three academic or professional references

• Cover letter (cover letters to be addressed to firm contact.)

• Portfolio (link to an downloadable online portfolio is acceptable)