Webster University’s photography gallery has been a showcase of local and national photography works for decades. Established in 1988, the Kooyumjian Gallery (formerly known as the May Gallery), started out as a simple hallway exhibit in Sverdrup Hall. Remodeled in 2022 with a generous donation from the Thomas A. Kooyumjian Family Foundation, the gallery is able to provide professional and student-produced photography with the space it deserves.
Welcoming students, faculty and the public for opening receptions of exhibits has been a highlight of the Kooyumjian calendar. In addition to the featured exhibit, food, drinks and music greet those who venture in and peruse the art. With each opening, eye-catching postcards announcing the exhibition are distributed throughout campus and mailed to alumni – a tradition that’s been in place since the ‘90s.
The works of photographer Jinny Angelis were shown in the winter of 1999. This is the earliest postcard found in the gallery’s archive.Images by award-winning photojournalist Benedict J. Fernandez were exhibited in the spring of 2000. Fernandez is most notable for capturing iconic photographs of the 1960s-era protest movements, including an image of Martin Luther King Jr.’s children viewing his body as it lay in state.This 2003 postcard features a photograph by Webster alum Heidi Rudolph. Every year, the gallery hosts an exhibition where students submit their work, which is then reviewed and voted on by a jury.The first exhibit of the Fall 2006 semester featured photographs from Paul Goldman, an Israeli photojournalist whose work remained largely unknown during his lifetime, when photo credits were not a norm. This exhibition was presented in collaboration with Congregation Neve Shalom, a former Jewish synagogue in St. Louis.This photograph from the fall of 2007 was an advertisement for Theresa Marshall’s exhibit, “Get Out and Live: A Journey to Awareness.”The 2008 exhibit “new york is a friendly town,” by Webster alum Chad Schneider, who currently works as a short film creator, photographer and screenplay writer.Hosted in 2010, “CREATORECORDER” showcased photos featuring a variety of landscapes taken at angles to manipulate the images. The featured photo is by Sarah Carmody, a Webster alum.The 2012 spring exhibit featured a variety of industrial scenes throughout New York captured by Stephen Mallon, including an image of a decommissioned subway car being dumped in the Atlantic Ocean.The image promoting 2013’s “Circle of Confusion” was created by a team of 14 Webster students.The “Of the Post-Dispatch” exhibit showcased decades of photojournalism from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.The gallery’s 2024-2025 season brought concert photographer and Webster alum Gaby Deimeke, nature and wildlife photographer Noppadol Paothong, and Matika Wilbur, who has dedicated her career to capturing the richness of Indigenous culture and life.
