For this program, the Pulitzer has partnered with Jill Downen, Visiting Assistant Professor in Art at Washington University in St. Louis. The program is held in conjunction with the Pulitzer’s exhibition, Portrait/Homage/Embodiment.

Her interdisciplinary studio course explores ideas and cultural contexts of portraiture, homage, and embodiment. The exhibition at the Pulitzer provides a springboard for direct experience, conceptual investigation, and response to modern and contemporary works in the context of Tadao Ando’s architecture. The course exposes students to a series of speakers representing art historical, curatorial, artistic, and architectural perspectives. Students will focus on the identification of emergent themes from reading material and interdisciplinary dialogue in order to develop and exhibit their own creative projects. Students will consider questions such as: What systems of representation have replaced the traditional limits of portraiture? What constitutes an homage in today’s visual culture? What philosophical contexts inform the notion of embodiment?

Students will present their art in a culminating event on April 17, 2007 at The Bruno David Gallery in conjunction with an evening event and panel discussion at the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts.