STL by Design

In this episode, we talked to Gavin Schiffres and Jack Krewson of Kairos Academies about education, education reform, and the importance of how we learn. Kairos Academies is a free, public charter school serving 6th-12th in St. Louis. They are rethinking education for the 21st century, personalizing learning, empowering student self direction, and nurturing restorative justice within a diverse-by-design student body. Tune in for Part Three coming soon! 

In this episode, we talked to Gavin Schiffres and Jack Krewson of Kairos Academies about education, education reform, and the importance of how we learn. Kairos Academies is a free, public charter school serving 6th-12th in St. Louis. They are rethinking education for the 21st century, personalizing learning, empowering student self direction, and nurturing restorative justice within a diverse-by-design student body. Tune in for Part Two coming soon! 

*Note: We had some technical difficulties when recording this episode. We did our best, but apologize for any audio issues you might encounter*In this episode, we talked with Aaron Williams and Julia Allen, two co-founders of 4theVille. 4theVille is a community-based tourism and arts organization created by multi-generational Ville residents and volunteers to restore pride in the legacy of The Ville, a historic African American community in the heart of St. Louis, Missouri, and inspire reinvigorated community ownership.We discussed the importance of the organization and how it's helped The Ville community, and we also discussed Sumner High School and the recent efforts that were put forth to keep it open with a focus on arts and activism. Learn more about 4theVille and all the amazing work they do here: http://www.4theville.org

*Note: We had some technical difficulties when recording this episode. We did our best, but apologize for any audio issues you might encounter*In this episode, we talked with Aaron Williams and Julia Allen, two co-founders of 4theVille. 4theVille is a community-based tourism and arts organization created by multi-generational Ville residents and volunteers to restore pride in the legacy of The Ville, a historic African American community in the heart of St. Louis, Missouri, and inspire reinvigorated community ownership.We discussed the importance of the organization and how it's helped The Ville community, and we also discussed Sumner High School and the recent efforts that were put forth to keep it open with a focus on arts and activism. Learn more about 4theVille and all the amazing work they do here: http://www.4theville.org

*Note: We had some technical difficulties when recording this episode. We did our best, but apologize for any audio issues you might encounter*In this episode, we talked with Aaron Williams and Julia Allen, two co-founders of 4theVille. 4theVille is a community-based tourism and arts organization created by multi-generational Ville residents and volunteers to restore pride in the legacy of The Ville, a historic African American community in the heart of St. Louis, Missouri, and inspire reinvigorated community ownership.We discussed the importance of the organization and how it's helped The Ville community, and we also discussed Sumner High School and the recent efforts that were put forth to keep it open with a focus on arts and activism. Learn more about 4theVille and all the amazing work they do here: http://www.4theville.org

This week, Dee and Jayvn talked to Christine Ilewski, founder and executive director at Faces Not Forgotten. Don't forget to listen to part one! Faces Not Forgotten was formed in 2010 to serve the dual mission of giving comfort to families who have lost a child (age 20 and under) to gun violence and to raise awareness of this devastating loss to our society.To date, they have completed 30 FNF Quilts including over 250 portraits nationally (70 in the St. Louis area) of children age 20 and under who have died as the result of gun violence. The demographic of these portraits shows the glaring disparity in numbers of black children who are disproportionately killed by daily gun violence due to the consequences of historically systemic racism.FNF collaborates with national artists and artist students to complete the original portraits, which are donated to the victims’ families.To learn more about the organization, head to their website at www.facesnotforgotten.com. where information on how to join the project as an artist or to receive a portrait can be found. 

This week, Dee and Jayvn talked to Christine Ilewski, founder and executive director at Faces Not Forgotten. Tune into part two tomorrow! Faces Not Forgotten was formed in 2010 to serve the dual mission of giving comfort to families who have lost a child (age 20 and under) to gun violence and to raise awareness of this devastating loss to our society.To date, they have completed 30 FNF Quilts including over 250 portraits nationally (70 in the St. Louis area) of children age 20 and under who have died as the result of gun violence. The demographic of these portraits shows the glaring disparity in numbers of black children who are disproportionately killed by daily gun violence due to the consequences of historically systemic racism.FNF collaborates with national artists and artist students to complete the original portraits, which are donated to the victims’ families.To learn more about the organization, head to their website at www.facesnotforgotten.com. where information on how to join the project as an artist or to receive a portrait can be found. 

In this episode, we talk with the new Executive Director of the St. Louis Metro Market, Quinton Ward. The St. Louis MetroMarket is a non-profit mobile farmers’ market that is restoring access to healthy, affordable food to St. Louis City food deserts.They have transformed a donated city bus into a grocery store on wheels to bridge physical, financial, and educational barriers in food deserts in order to have the greatest potential towards increasing the supply and demand for healthy foods in these low-income, high need communities.

This week, we talked with Scott Gericke, who's one of the design school teachers at UMSL here in St. Louis. Scott has been a designer in St. Louis for many years, and also served as AIGA St. Louis President from 1994–1997. We talked about how education has changed because of COVID-19 for both students and teachers, and what UMSL's design program is doing to help support the graduating class during this harrowing and confusing time. Check out all of the UMSL senior thesis projects here: https://designhaspurpose.com

This week, we talked with James McAnally, founder of The Luminary. We discuss how it all started, and the journey that The Luminary has taken so far. We also talk about the new Emergency Artist Relief Fund (in partnership with the Andy Warhol Foundation), and why it's important to not only support an artist's work, but also their day-to-day lives. Check out more about The Luminary and all of their efforts at: https://theluminaryarts.comDo you know of anyone in the STL community who's facing this challenge head-on and deserves to be recognized? Have them email anna@aigastlouis.org or reach out to us via social media.Stay healthy, stay safe, and stay connected.

This week we talked with Andy Wise of Paradowski Creative. Paradowski Creative has been taking on a variety of different projects aimed at helping those in the creative community who are suffering due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Efforts include an online poster gallery and show called APART, a collaboration with previous guest MADE STL on making face masks for health care workers, a re-invigorated podcast, and t-shirt sales benefiting families who have lost jobs and income. Do you know of anyone in the STL community who's facing this challenge head-on and deserves to be recognized? Have them email anna@aigastlouis.org or reach out to us via social media.Stay healthy, stay safe, and stay connected. 

This week we talked with Lee Broughton, one of the minds behind the STLMade movement. STLMade is a movement within the St. Louis area that shines a light on the amazing things our innovative, tenacious, big-hearted people are doing. It’s supported by a region-wide collaboration of residents, local leaders, institutions, businesses, and nonprofits helping to tell our story. It’s a celebration of a region that insists on moving forward by bringing people and ideas together in bold ways that makes this a place where you can start something, you can get the support to stand out, and you can stay and make St. Louis yours.Learn more about STLMade! https://thestl.com/314day/

This week, we talked with designer, artist, and educator Shreyas R. Krishnan, who started Bad Drawing Club and currently teaches at the Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts. We discuss a lot of things, ranging from the need for Bad Drawing Club, the culture shock of moving to St. Louis, and being an artist. Enjoy a rambling episode of distracted artists doing bad drawings while talking and laughing together. 

This week, we talked to Caitlin Metz, who's a local artist and teacher. In her own words, Caitlin is "a tender queer, feisty introvert, early morning art making kind of human that wants to fuck shit up with empathy". We discuss living document manifestos, the paths through life and art we all take, and the awesome projects that Caitlin is working on in the future. 

This week we interviewed Jia Lian and Ashley Winters, co-hosts of the popular podcast We Live Here. We Live Here explores the issues of race, class and power that led to the emotional eruption in the wake of Michael Brown's shooting death in Ferguson. St. Louis Public Radio reporters Tim Lloyd and Kameel Stanley present podcasts, radio features, web stories and use social media for an in-depth exploration of how systemic racism impacts people as well as the well-being of our region and beyond.Join us on Thursday, February 27 at 6:30pm at Grand Center for a collaborative live event, where we'll be talking with three panelists about the importance of Designing Equity in Saint Louis. Panelists include Erika Horano, Antionette Carroll, and MK Stallings. https://www.stlpublicradio.org/events/

In this episode, we talked with Kaveh Razani. He’s a CAT alumn (and if you don’t know what we’re talking about, you can listen to our episode on the Regional Arts Commission to learn about their CAT program), a member of the Cherokee Street Community Improvement District, and the founder and owner of Blank Space.

In the first episode of this next season, we talked (again) to our guests Kristin Fleischmann Brewer, of the Pulitzer Arts Foundation & Chris Carl, of Studio Land Arts. They discuss their newest collaboration called Park-Like, a new green space across from the Pulitzer building, and how it came to be; the organic process of development and iteration, the importance of the local community and sustainable practices, and what the future holds.Located across the street from the museum, Park-Like is a sustainably designed green space for visitors to meander along the grass pathways, investigate plants and wildlife in an urban setting, and be delighted by unexpected perspectives. The garden comprises both native and non-native plants, as well as found building materials that have been transformed into water filtration systems, retaining structures, seating, and play space. Utilizing site-responsive land and rainscaping techniques, the project was designed by Studio Land Arts to absorb stormwater runoff and reduce the impact on urban drainage and sewer systems while creating a site for wildlife and the public to enjoy. To learn more about Chris and his practice: http://studiolandarts.com/For more information and updates on Park-Like: https://pulitzerarts.org/exhibition/park-like-by-studio-land-arts/Thanks as always to our listeners, who could be doing anything else, but choose to listen to us instead! 

For our final episode of this season, we talked with past AIGA St. Louis President and current AIGA National Board Member Antionette Carroll about her non-profit, Creative Reaction Lab. Creative Reaction Lab was founded in response to the unrest in Ferguson, MO (August 2014) in the form of a 24-hour design challenge. Since then, it's developed into a robust program that has received national and international acclaim for the way it approaches equity in design and how to make an impact. Thank you to Anna Katherine Roehm for contributing to the artwork, as well as Dustin Schaefer for his ongoing technical advice and expertise. And thank YOU, our listeners, for tuning in! 

This week, we talked with Erika Fiola, who works for the Regional Arts Commision. The Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis (RAC) is at the forefront of efforts to transform St. Louis into a more vibrant, creative, and economically thriving community by elevating the vitality, value, and visibility of the arts and culture. It is the largest annual funder of nonprofit arts in the region, and was founded in 1985. Erika also talks to us about the CAT program. The Community Arts Training (CAT) Institute is an innovative program centered on the belief that art has the power to be an agent for positive social change. The CAT Institute, founded in 1997, is a five-month training that fosters successful partnerships between artists of all disciplines, social workers, educators, community and social activists, and policy-makers with the goal of creating relevant, impactful arts programs particularly in under-resourced community settings

This week, we talked with Jeff Mazur, Executive Director at LaunchCode. We discussed how important it is for the tech industry to become more inclusive and open, and what LaunchCode is doing to help solve that problem in Saint Louis and other cities. We also talked a little bit about how we, as humans, can be better advocates for the community that we live in, and how important it is for everyone to stick together and look out for one another. Thanks again to our tech "consultant", Dustin Schaefer, and our intern, Anna Katherine Roehm for helping us out! And thanks to Critical for the awesome music.