Message from the Dean

Welcome to the online home for the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, which includes the College of Architecture, the College of Art, and the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum. Now in our 15th year, the Sam Fox School has built a reputation for disciplinary excellence and interdisciplinary innovation. Deep legacies across art, architecture, and design form the foundation for rigorous practice-based academic programs focused on fostering critical thinking, iterative problem solving, and leadership in our fields.

The Sam Fox School’s dynamic new website offers multiple points of entry to explore our diverse community of artists, architects, designers, and scholars. I am particularly excited about the student work featured across our site—this is the heart of what we do and how we make an impact on the world. I hope you will take some time to engage with the wide range of projects showcased from each of our programs. The site also provides rich opportunities to get to know our leaders, faculty, staff, and alumni and to experience their inspiring stories and achievements. Collectively, the members of our community continually showcase the excellence we strive for as a school and demonstrate the power of our professions in the world.

Looking ahead, we are working to maximize linkages across our programs both internally and externally. As an architecture, art, and design school housed in a major research university, we have amazing opportunities to pioneer research and creative practice that address timely issues of social and environmental justice. Take a look our collaborations section to learn more about how we are building partnerships with schools, departments, and research centers across Washington University to harness the power of art and design as we address society’s pressing challenges.

Our presence online reflects a physical home that boasts beautiful open studios, cutting edge technology, ample facilities for teaching and learning, and welcoming spaces for connecting and gathering. Located at the “front door” of the University’s Danforth Campus, the Sam Fox School is a bridge to the community with an ongoing series of public programs, including lectures and exhibitions, featuring some of the today’s most innovative creative thinkers. I invite you to visit us in St. Louis to experience all that the Sam Fox School and this vibrant city has to offer—or take a tour of our facilities online. We look forward to welcoming you—in person or virtually—to this exceptional place.