The new gallery is located in the former Regional Arts Commission building. (Photo: Carol Green/WashU)
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2025-11-26 • Caitlin Custer
WashU Sam Fox School Gallery opens in Delmar Loop
2025-11-26 • Caitlin Custer
“Dream Machines” (Photo: Theo Welling/WashU)
WashU’s Sam Fox School is celebrated for its expansive facilities and making spaces, helping artists, architects, and designers work at scales ranging from the object to the city. And when it’s time to show that work, there’s a new space in town: the WashU Sam Fox School Gallery.
The gallery, located at 6128 Delmar Boulevard and across the street from The Pageant and Delmar Hall, comprises 2,950-square-feet in two distinct, first-floor spaces. The building was previously occupied by St. Louis’s Regional Arts Commission before being acquired by WashU in 2023.
“It’s important that students and faculty have myriad opportunities to show their work publicly — sharing with our community really is the reason behind why we make what we make,” said Carmon Colangelo, the school’s Ralph J. Nagel Dean. “We enjoyed our former gallery space downtown, the Des Lee Gallery, for many years. Now, as we mark the 20th year of the Sam Fox School, it felt like the right time to bring our gallery space closer to home, within walking distance of campus.”
The WashU Sam Fox School Gallery opened Sept. 11 with an exhibition of work by second-year MFA in Visual Art students, “Lucky 13.” The show featured work in a range of media, from drawing and painting, to sculpture, photography, and installation.
Following “Lucky 13,” the gallery featured work from Senior Lecturer Lindsey Stouffer’s course, “Dream Machines,” on view through Dec. 6. The course, funded in part by the school’s Office for Socially Engaged Practice, partnered with St. Louis Bworks, a nonprofit that helps kids earn free bicycles while learning about bike safety and maintenance. Nine young BWorks alumni sketched ideas — the wilder the better — which Stouffer’s students then translated into full-sized, fully functional rides.
Beyond these first two exhibitions, the gallery already has a full slate of shows and programming for the year, including a selection of work by faculty, capstone exhibitions for undergraduate students, and an exhibition of work by graduate fellows in the Sam Fox School Ambassadors cohort. In addition to student and faculty work, the gallery is planning future curatorial projects to show work by widely known contemporary artists.
“Lucky 13” (Photo: Carol Green/WashU)
“Lucky 13” (Photo: Carol Green/WashU)
“Lucky 13” (Photo: Carol Green/WashU)
“Dream Machines” (Photo: Theo Welling/WashU)
“Dream Machines” (Photo: Theo Welling/WashU)
“As an artist, you’re making work constantly,” says Jeff Robinson, the gallery’s director. “Maybe it’s in the classroom, maybe it’s in your studio. You have ideas about what you want the work to be. But there’s something about that moment of presenting in a formal space. Yes, you may have had critiques. But now it’s out in the world.”
Robinson also shared that he’s excited to welcome newcomers into the gallery, which is free and open to the public. “The Delmar Loop is such a dynamic neighborhood with amazing culture — I’ve already met many neighbors and look forward to seeing them in the gallery more often,” he said. “Getting to be part of this community is an amazing opportunity.”
The WashU Sam Fox School Gallery is located at 6128 Delmar Boulevard and open Wednesday-Saturday, 12-5 p.m. or by appointment. For more details, visit samfoxschool.washu.edu.