Predictions for 2022 by St. Louis experts, innovators and leaders
The past few years have shown how fruitless the prediction game can be. With so much in flux and unknown, it feels futile to even hazard a guess.
That didn’t stop us from asking some of the area’s leading thinkers, innovators and experts to give it a shot. Here are some of their ideas on what may come in areas ranging from higher education to the arts to the travel industry.
Andrew Martin
Andrew D. Martin
Chancellor, Washington University in St. Louis
Higher ed institutions will need to step up to help meet the needs of a local job economy that’s been transformed by the COVID-19 pandemic. At Wash U, we’ve been examining all aspects of our teaching, research and patient care missions through the lens of community impact, with a commitment to being in St. Louis for St. Louis. As part of that commitment, we’re investing significantly in our professional and continuing education division, building accessible pathways for economic mobility and career advancement for the residents of St. Louis. I see 2022 as a year of opportunity for the regional workforce and for institutions like ours to serve adult learners on their path to career advancement.
Dr. Clay Dunagan
Dr. Clay Dunagan
BJC HealthCare senior vice president and chief clinical officer and co-lead of the St. Louis Metropolitan Task Force
I think in 2022, St. Louis will continue to experience challenges with COVID. Omicron is likely to dominate the scene early in the year, but COVID activity may well fall off by summer. If there’s a silver lining, perhaps having a hyper-transmissible variant sweep through the population could help speed its transition to a more typical seasonal respiratory disease. This virus has fooled us before, so there isn’t much certainty in any COVID predictions, but my hope is we can get to a point where it’s no longer a crisis. We are fortunate to have first-class health care systems in St. Louis, and our health care heroes will continue to fight for the health and wellness of the community. If you are unvaccinated, please make 2022 the year you choose to get vaccinated.
Marie-Hélène Bernard
Marie-Hélène Bernard
President and CEO, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra
Music without boundaries and connecting with each other — and to our own humanity — through music will be the focus of 2022. For 142 years, the SLSO has been in constant service to our community as a source of joy, inspiration, celebration, reflection, comfort and healing. I foresee a year of connection and engagement, teaching and learning, entertaining and of welcoming everyone to experience for themselves the uniquely transformative power of music. It will be the year of rich partnerships, when we truly come together to elevate our St. Louis region as one of the great American cultural centers. 2022 absolutely will be about celebration, as we come together for performances and educational programming, as we honor the remarkable artists of the SLSO and of our region, and most importantly, as we celebrate our amazing St. Louis community.
Betsy Cohen
Betsy Cohen
Executive director, St. Louis Mosaic Project of the World Trade Center-STL, St. Louis Economic Development Partnership, author of “Welcome to the U.S.A.-You’re Hired!: A Guide for Foreign-Born People Seeking Jobs.”
The Afghan newcomers and other refugees coming to the St. Louis region will fill hundreds of job openings at all skill levels in the region, which will help our economy and neighborhoods to prosper. Our community will have open arms for these new arrivals.
Amy Hunter
Amy Hunter
Vice president of Diversity Equity and Inclusion at Caleres
Diversity and humanity are linked together. In 2022 I predict we will fall in love this year, with each other, ourselves and our beautiful St. Louis region. We will understand that there is not only an abundance of love but that our love for the Earth and humanity are connected to the pride and joy we will leave for generations to come. We will understand there is not a scarcity of love, only a scarcity for understanding how to apply, grow, share and heal with love.
Caroline Fan
Caroline Fan
Founder and president, Missouri Asian American Youth Foundation
Young people and people of color will lead the way in changing our politics and how our region operates, if only the rest of us will make space. We will create our own tables to educate and empower. Also, the Loop Trolley will die and be reborn a few more times like an obnoxious zombie.
Brandin Vaughn
Brandin Vaughn
Fashion designer, owner of the Brandin Vaughn Collection
Fashion is forever evolving, and this moving change is usually led by a shift in the clothes. Right now, the shift is being led by designers. Designers of color are coming to the forefront, and their perspectives, insights and ideas are leading the way to this change. Fashion-focused followers are more in tune with the bigger picture and fed up with fast fashion trends for the lack of quality, exclusivity, unsustainable and wasteful methods. These followers are stitching to brands that are smaller, more independent and tend to be designers of color. Silhouettes are undergoing a revision. People have been confined to their homes and have grown complacent with leggings, sweatpants and loungewear, but they are anxious to get back into the world and express their creativity. People are no longer waiting for a special occasion to wear that over-the-top sequin or statement fringe piece. The sidewalk is the new runway and bold and brave is the new attitude.
Arnold Donald
Arnold Donald
CEO, Carnival Corporation and St. Louis resident
It’s likely we’ll see the broader leisure travel industry continue to push forward with more customizable vacation options, along with technologies enabling frictionless and touchless travel. This has been accelerated by the pandemic and will continue to improve. In terms of the market, we know from the World Travel & Tourism Council that the U.S. travel sector could surpass pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2022, with a 36% rise this year and a further 28% next year. Research by the global tourism body also shows that international spending will increase significantly next year, up 228% over 2021. And at the same time, for the cruise industry, we know guests are very excited about sailing again, and we look forward to welcoming everyone back on board to enjoy their cruise vacations. We’re anticipating an important year in the overall recovery of travel and tourism both here and abroad.
Dr. Madhavi Kandula
Dr. Madhavi Kandula
Cosmetic dermatologist in Frontenac
The trends that began surfacing in the last few years will continue in 2022. Patients are coming in for treatments at a younger age. The goal for this age group is to try to preserve their looks. In more mature patients, there is a strong trend to avoid surgery. Injectables at this point are being used for restoration of faces. Injectables are evolving to match the needs of facial rejuvenation, so there are specific fillers for different regions of the face. It is no longer a one-product-fits-all category. All patients in my office want to avoid looking done or altered. The end result is to preserve and restore what nature gave you.
Cliff Froelich
Cliff Froelich
Executive director Cinema St. Louis
Given the arrival of the COVID-19’s omicron variant — and the threat of still other mutations to come — any prognostications about what the next year in film will bring require some serious hedging. But for cinephiles who long to return to viewing movies in a darkened theater, on a properly sized screen, and with an actively engaged audience, the recent performance of “Spider-Man: No Way Home” offers at least a small measure of hope. This latest product to roll off Marvel’s endless assembly line took in a reported $260 million on its opening weekend in the U.S. — the second-best performance in movie history. Non Marvel films may continue to struggle to draw in-person crowds — as evidenced by the anemic numbers for even Steven Spielberg’s rapturously reviewed “West Side Story” — but it’s clear that the attractions of the theatrical experience still exert some impressive pull, even after two years of our being conditioned to stay anchored to the couch by the undeniable ease of streaming. At some point in 2022, I therefore predict that even the most fearful of moviegoers will find their tentative way back to the theater: The glittering light of the silver screen will prove irresistible.
Rick Hummel
Rick Hummel
Sports columnist, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
There will be baseball … at some point in 2022. But, as objectionable as the owners-players stalemate is, the good news is that when a labor agreement is finally reached, we won’t have to worry about it for four or five more years. But, sadly, this agreement probably will include a designated hitter in the National League, so we may have seen the last of Adam Wainwright swinging a bat. He likes doing that, and I enjoy seeing him do that.