Designing for Health and Wellness with Architects Marlon Blackwell and Wesley Walls

Presented in partnership with the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design at the University of Arkansas, join us for a conversation amongst architects Marlon Blackwell, FAIA, and Wesley Walls, AIA, on designing the Heartland Whole Health Institute building and the Alice L. Walton School of Medicine.

The discussion will explore the influences of nature, community, and wellness in the architectural designs on the Crystal Bridges campus and give a first look at what’s to come when these two buildings open in 2025.

Tickets are $10 ($5 for members), reserve your spot online or with Guest Experience at (479) 657-2335 today.

Marlon Blackwell

Marlon Blackwell, FAIA, is the founding partner of Marlon Blackwell Architects (MBA) in Fayetteville, Arkansas and the E. Fay Jones Distinguished Professor at the University of Arkansas. Blackwell is the recipient of the 2020 AIA Gold Medal, the Institute’s highest honor recognizing those whose work has had an enduring impact on the theory and practice of architecture. Blackwell is a lifetime member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a 2023 inductee of the American Academy of Arts and Science, a 2019 Resident Fellow of the American Academy in Rome, and a 2014 United States Artists Ford Fellow. Work produced in his professional office, MBA, has received recognition with significant publication and more than 180 design awards including the 2016 Cooper Hewitt National Design Award in Architecture. A monograph of Marlon’s early work, “An Architecture of the Ozarks: The Works of Marlon Blackwell”, was published in 2005 and a new monograph titled “Radical Practice”, was published in 2022.

Wesley Walls

Wesley Walls, AIA, is an architect and design principal with Polk Stanley Wilcox. A native Arkansan, Wesley has been captivated since childhood by both the natural and built environment. Channeling his interest in manipulating the space around him, he pursued the discipline of architecture and has been instrumental in helping elevate Polk Stanley Wilcox to regional and national acclaim for design excellence.

Wesley’s approach to design is innovative, collaborative, and exploratory, with a relentless commitment to both placemaking and relationship building. His inclusive approach to teamwork, problem solving, and project management has cultivated an exceptional reputation with both clients and the broader architectural community. With more than 30 years of experience, his award- winning portfolio of work has primarily focused on large institutional projects with a particular focus on higher education and healthcare commissions.

Peter MacKeith

Peter MacKeith is dean and professor of architecture at the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design at the University of Arkansas. Appointed in July 2014, he is the fifth dean of the school.

MacKeith is a nationally recognized design educator and administrator. From 1999 to 2014, he was associate dean, professor of architecture and adjunct associate curator for Architecture and Design at the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis.

MacKeith was the director of the Master of Architecture – International Program at the Helsinki University of Technology Finland from 1995-1999, and he held previous academic appointments at the University of Virginia and Yale University. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Literature and International Relations as an Echols Scholar from the University of Virginia (1981) and his Master of Architecture from Yale University (1985).

This event is sponsored by Ken and Liz Allen, Andrea Albright, and MailCO USA.