Leslie J. Laskey

1921 - 2021

Laskey, Leslie J.

Leslie J. Laskey, Professor Emeritus, Washington University in St. Louis, Architecture...In the sleepy village of East Lake in Michigan, on July 02, 1921, Leslie and his identical twin Lester came into the world. They were joined by sisters Elsie and DeeDee. Lester didn't make it past 9, but Leslie went to high school in near\by Manistee and then on to Chicago to a Jesuit seminary to become a priest. Alas, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, and he enlisted in 1941 in the army instead. Shipped overseas, Leslie hit the beaches of Normandy, with the first wave of soldiers, with a camera documenting the events. Having survived, he went to England, where, as it was discovered that his father had been in "Codes and Ciphers" with the army in WWI, Leslie was assigned personal aid and courier duty directly under General Dwight Eisenhower at SHEAF Headquarters (between them, they smoked 6 packs of cigarettes daily- Lucky Strikes, of course). And, they were not happy when Leslie lost the boxcar he was guarding on its way to Bletchley Hall full of invasion plans. Nevertheless, he continued working behind enemy lines and a courier and spy until the Germans arrested him. When they had done with him, Leslie was interned in a German concentration camp. Eventually freed by U.S. troops, Leslie recuperated and was discharged in 1946. Returning to New York, he resumed his education and supported himself as a nightclub singer.

Moving on to Chicago and the Institute of Design, he studied with Bauhaus great Laszlo Maholy-Nage. Subsequently, teaching at the School of Design in Raleigh, N.C., he received a Rockefeller Foundation Grant to pursue a Master's degree from Indiana University and then returned to Raleigh to teach design. At the same time, he was married and divorced without issue. In 1956, Leslie was hired by Dean Buford Pickens to develop a radical undergraduate Basic Design curriculum for the School of Architecture at Washington University in St. Louis. With the support of the new dean, Joseph Passoneau, Leslie and his booming voice commanded the lower level of Givens Hall for decades: conducting woodblock printing classes, requiring Saturday morning figure drawing classes, expanding student use of the shop, and most of all, conducting the Sophomore Design Program. Building chairs with corrugated cardboard, lights with sheet metal and objet d' arts with wire instilled a lifetime understanding of the nature of materials in students. There were good projects and not-so-good projects in Leslie's evaluation, but there was no such thing as the "right" project or "right" answer. In addition, he brought visiting world-renowned artists and architects to St. Louis to teach. These included Torsten Johansson, Carel Visser, Peter Prangnell, Imre Kocsis and Buckminster Fuller. Perhaps, most importantly, Leslie brought Shiko Munakata to St Louis. Munakata's and Leslie's works are owned and have been exhibited by the St Louis Art Museum.

Leslie always maintained that his students fed his thinking and art work. As Leslie returned each summer to his home town along the lake, starting in 1968, he invited students for summer visits to work in a studio setting. The studio might be his courtyard, an empty store front, an empty garage, or a one room school house. A rusted rotary lawn mower could inspire a summer of projects for students. Assigning drawing, collage, and sculpture projects made from toilet paper rolls, Leslie kept students guessing. Leslie continued teaching prior students and introducing new people to making art in summer Art Kamp through 2019. Thus, Leslie transformed hundreds of students into creative thinkers and grateful lifelong friends.

The list of exhibitions of his works, the books of poetry he wrote, the films made of him and the catalogues of his art are amazing. In 1982, Leslie received the Washington University in St Louis Distinguished Faculty award; upon retirement, 1986, he was named Professor Emeritus at Washington University; in 1987, he was presented the Distinguished Professor award from the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture. Leslie has exhibited work at venues that include: The Columbia Foundation for Visual Art, the Bixby Gallery at Washington University, the North Carolina State Museum, the Eliot Smith Gallery in St Louis, the Martin Schweig Gallery in St. Louis, the Talisman Gallery in St. Louis, the Art Snake, Manistee, and the Ramsdell, Manistee. Since 2006, the Bruno David Gallery, St. Louis, Leslie's official art representative, has hosted 20 exhibitions of Leslie's work. Celebrating the Leslie Laskey Centennial, Bruno David staged Leslie's "Then and Now" exhibition in March - May 2021. This summer two metal sculptures, each 7-feet tall, will be permanently installed in the City of Manistee.

In 2003, Frank Schwaiger along with Leslie, founded the Columbia Foundation for the Arts in St. Louis, establishing an archive of Laskey's work and life. Contributions to support the archive and to promote his legacy may be directed to the Columbia Foundation. Beginning with its first award in 2008, friends and former students formed Studio L to endow an annual charrette to honor the legacy of Leslie on design thinking. The classic two-day event funds winners' stipends for Laskey Fellows and the guest facilitators who guide sophomore students, as Leslie did, in the exploration of materials and hand crafting of their designs.

Leslie's life was an unlocked door! Whether at his lakeside hand-built house in Manistee or his home in St. Louis (bought from the famous architect, Fredrick Dunn in 1962), he was surrounded by friends, students of all ages and his dogs. A few of his dogs' names will bring back memories: Toddi, Basho, Sumi, Shogan, Zizzy, Joop and finally, Louie. Leslie was a great designer, teacher, sculptor, wood-block cutter, cook, poet, gardener, advisor, painter in oil and collage and host to the world. He read every book, every magazine and everybody. He remembered every detail regardless of how long ago he read it or how long ago he met someone. And, he loved the latest news of who was doing what. He slept 5 hours a day.

Leslie left this world on 17 June, 2021, just 2 weeks shy of his 100th birthday, and all the celebrations he had been planning. He touched us all and we will miss him.

"The things we do, whether from the unconscious impetus of heritage or the chosen, even selfish, push that impels on a singular track of sharp purpose - such is life and its myriad ways. In the end, it is all of us and for naught, for we still die.

It is not despair that drives these words; it is the profound respect for all who forged their way. It is not the start, not the end; it is the fight between, the spark of light in the dark.

He who possesses that spark is our champion; he who speaks that word that is the hinge of our lives, alters our universe." by Frank Schwaiger

Columbia Foundation for the Arts

5333 Columbia Ave

St. Louis, MO 63139