On Thursday, Washington University’s Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts will laud a 94-year-old professor who’s still a working artist.
Leslie Laskey will receive the Dean’s Medal for outstanding service at an annual awards dinner. Besides Laskey, the event honors six other alumni and friends of the school.For 35 years, Laskey headed what was then called the Washington University College of Architecture. He was known as a stern but effective instructor. Laskey continues to teach and mentor art students and colleagues. Each summer, he holds an Art Kamp at his second home in Manistee, Mich.
He’s also a prolific painter and multi-media artist who creates a new body of work every year, and enjoys regular exhibitions, most recently at Bruno David Gallery in the Grand Center area. In 2012, Laskey was the subject of a documentary about his work and life. Last summer, he participated in an exhibition of "Selfies" at PHD Gallery.
Laskey was a protégé of the founder of the renowned Bauhaus German art school. But one of his proudest accomplishments is that he was among the troops who landed on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day during World War Two.
Laskey and his partner, sculptor Frank Schwaiger, were featured in the first installment of St. Louis Public Radio’s arts and culture podcast, called “Cut & Paste.”
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