Walking through the halls of Stix House, home of the Gephardt Institute, it’s difficult to miss the photographs of St. Louis’s urban landscape that adorn its the walls.
The photographs were taken by Sydney Hlavaty, a WashU alumna and former Photography Intern for the Gephardt Institute in the 2023-2024 school year. The prints were donated to the Gephardt Institute last summer by an anonymous donor, and now decorate Stix House.
Hlavaty has been practicing photography since she was young, but it wasn’t something she started to take seriously until her second year of college.
St. Louis has been a main topic of her photography, and she received the Truth and Beauty Award from Washington University Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts for her photographic body of work on St. Louis’ urban landscape in 2024. Her photographic focus was sparked by how different St. Louis is from her hometown of Santa Barbara, California.
“St. Louis was the first place that I ever really saw vacant land,” she explained. “It’s developed entirely differently than the way the cities that I’ve grown up in have developed. The urban landscape, the political landscape, it’s all completely different.”
Before taking photographs of an area of St. Louis, Hlavaty conducted research on the neighborhood and the people there. She always made sure she understood the community she photographed and often found herself walking through the area without a camera before returning to take photographs.
“I think there’s inherently subtractive nature of photography, because when you’re taking a photo, you’re taking something out of that place,” Hlavaty said. “That’s why I put so much emphasis in really walking around before I took photos. I wanted to be present in the moment and understand that I’m taking literally just a frame of what this whole community is.”
“There was a lot of back-and-forth, making sure that I knew exactly what I was photographing, making sure that I understood the history of the building and the neighborhood and what might have happened to it.”
Hlavaty recognizes the role that photography can play in civic engagement.
“I think photography is a really unique art form in that you have to be in the space to create the art,” said Hlavaty. “There is an inherent act of being present in whatever your photograph is photographing, and I think when it comes to community engagement and photographing heavy subjects, it always feels really insincere to not be in the place and walking around and talking to people and trying to learn more.”
“I want other WashU students, especially those who don’t have a chance to get off campus, to start thinking about it. ‘Hey! The little bubble that WashU exists in is not representative of what this city is like!’”
“Art has a rich tradition of being a catalyst for social change, whether through telling the story of a movement, stirring emotions relating to a topic, or visual of another perspective,” added Sonia Sequeira, Director of Programs and Operations at the Gephardt Institute. “Creative expression often serves to invite people in and spark a conversation on an important topic in civic engagement.”
Sydney graduated from WashU in 2024 with a dual degree in Studio Art and Cognitive Neuroscience, and noted that her studies inspired a love for analytical research and experimental design. Now, Sydney is working as the Technical Director of the University of California Santa Barbara Department of Theater and Dance.
“Sydney is not only a wonderfully talented photographer, but when she started her photography internship here at Gephardt, it was obvious right from the start that she has a keen eye for documenting culture and her community,” said Scott Allen, Marketing and Communications Manager for Gephardt.
“I’m so thrilled that Gephardt was able to acquire some of Sydney’s prints, via an anonymous donor, for Stix House. They’re beautiful representations of our community, and supporting artists is so important to uplifting a vibrant society.”
“We love having art from students and recent alumni that showcase the perspectives of young people on civic topics,” said Sequeira. Through our art shows and this donation, we now have a collection of art pieces that are living displays of civic engagement hung up at Stix House.”