This semester finds us in an exciting period of transition, with new programs, new buildings underway, and new ideas for collaboration. Perhaps most visible are our new facilities, currently under construction in what most of you will think of as the old Steinberg parking lot. Here, an impressive new building of 65,000 square feet, designed by distinguished architect Fumihiko Maki, will open next fall. To see a report on the construction plan, and to view a webcam image of the site, visit http://sfac.wustl.edu The new building will have excellent new office space, spacious and well-equipped classrooms, and will also house the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, and our expanded library and the Imaging Center. We plan to close the Department next summer in July to move less than one hundred yards to our new facility. Come see the new facilities, planned to open by fall semester!

Beyond the building, we are also working on new curricular initiatives with our colleagues in the Colleges of Art and Architecture within the new Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts. An ambitious program of public lectures-- this semester on the theme of “Unsettled Ground: Nature, Landscape and Ecology Now!” -- announces a new dynamic spirit of collaboration between the units located here on the east end of campus. We continue our extensive collaborative work within Arts and Sciences: our faculty are extremely active in such programs and departments as American Culture Studies, Women’s and Gender Studies, Comparative Literature, Classics, Anthropology, Interdisciplinary Project in the Humanities, etc. Our number of majors are at an all-time high (over eighty last year), and our graduate program is thriving, with over twenty students on campus working on either the M.A. or Ph.D. degree.

WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN FLORENCE
Changes are happening not only at our feet, but across the globe. This semester saw the opening of our own art history program in Florence, designed exclusively for our art history majors and minors. Prof. William Wallace is there this fall, teaching specialized courses to our students in residence on Italian Renaissance art, and in a specialized seminar, the art of Michelangelo. Students are also taking Italian language classes, and enjoying a special course with a local conservator on techniques of art restoration. Field trips are planned to Rome and Venice. We have our own classroom building, and students are living in apartments throughout the city. This is part of a larger study abroad initiative, in which the Colleges of Art and Architecture within the Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts send students to the same facility in spring and summer semesters. We plan to make this program a regular feature of our offerings. For more information on next fall’s program, please consult
http://artsci.wustl.edu/~artweb/washUSoa/studentResources/fall_abroad.html

FALL FIELD TRIP
This semester the Department made a trip to visit colleagues and to explore resources at what in midwestern terms is a close neighbor, the Art History Program at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. On October 1, they welcomed us and gave us a tour of their impressive museum, the Krannert Art Museum. Department Chair Prof. David O’Brian and colleagues brought our students and faculties together to discuss current research, teaching initiatives, and professional preparation within our graduate programs. We hope to create more opportunities to share our work and ideas in the future.LOCAL DEPARTMENT NEWS
One of the biggest changes in the Department is the departure of our long-time administrative assistant Melissa Miller to pursue her interests in photography, and we send with her our best wishes for this next stage of her career. We were delighted in June to welcome our wonderful new A.A., Gisela Paluga. Gisela comes to us from the Medical School, where she worked for several years in the Division of Health Behavior Research at the Medical School. The Department office is humming with efficiency and good ideas. Please stop by to extend a welcome to our newest member of the team.

TRAVEL PROGRAM
Art history leads us to the most interesting places. Several of our faculty will have the pleasure of serving as hosts on alumni trips in the coming academic year. Traveling on the ship Corinthian II, Prof. Symeonoglou will serve as guide to the sites of the ancient cities of Libya and Malta in April, 2006. Stops include Valletta, Tripoli, and the sites of Sabratha and Carthage. Prof. Childs take a group to Provence in April to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Cézanne. Cities to be visited include not only Aix-en-Provence, but also Arles, St. Remy and Avignon. And next October (2006) Prof. Wallace tours the Adriatic on the tall ship Sea Cloud, stopping at Venice, Dubrovnik and Sicily. Alumni and friends of all ages are invited to come explore with us. Details are available at http://alumni.wustl.edu, or travel@aismail.wustl.eduIt’s an active and exciting year. Come by, or send your news. We want to know what is new with you! Please send a note to artarch@artsci.wustl.edu

Best wishes to all,

Prof. Elizabeth C. Childs
Associate Professor and Acting Chair