“A sense of optimism…”


Saturday, April 14, 2018 7:30 PM

KDHX and St. Louis Poetry Center present Bullets Into Bells: Poets & Citizens Respond to Gun Violence

At The Stage at KDHX

Special thanks to Erin Quick from the St. Louis Poetry Center for the invitation to participate.

3524 Washington Ave, St. Louis, MO 63103

Free, open to the public

STORY STITCHERS PERFORMANCE:

Representing The Collective: Leading performing artists in the Stitchers Youth Council will perform their original poems, Different by Emeara and Different II by Branden. The poems draw from stories collected by the artists from St. Louis neighborhoods and reflect on the pressures of gang violence.

The Saint Louis Story Stitchers Artists Collective is a non-profit organization engaged in urban storytelling whose mission is to document St. Louis through art and word to promote understanding, civic pride, intergenerational relationships and literacy. Collective artists work alongside 15-24-year-old urban youth to collect stories, reframe and retell them using the arts to promote a better educated, more peaceful and caring society. Current projects focus on public health issues including gun violence.

Poets and panelists:
Dana Levin, Aaron Coleman, Mary Jo Bang, Cheeraz Gorman, Kenneth J. Pruitt, MO State Rep. Stacey Newman, Becky Morgan from Moms Demand Action, Emeara and Branden from Saint Louis Story Stitchers Artists Collective, Dr. Laurie Punch from Washington University in St. Louis and moderator, co-editor of Bullets into Bells, Brian Clements.

This program is presented in conjunction with:

I.M.A.G.I.N.E. Peace Now at Craft Alliance

Saint Louis Story Stitchers presentation is sponsored in part by a grant from Missouri Foundation for Health to Saint Louis Story Stitchers. The Foundation is a resource for the region, working with communities and nonprofits to generate and accelerate positive changes in health. As a catalyst for change, the Foundation improves the health of Missourians through a combination of partnership, experience, knowledge, and funding.

To learn more about Saint Louis Story Stitchers visit the exhibition Pick the City UP at the Sheldon Art Galleries through April 21st.