Due to popular demand Peace in the Prairie will be live online for virtual viewing as an encore presentation through July 5th, 2022!
The film and Peace in the Prairie 2022 were part of a feature article in St. Louis American that has generated additional interest.
The full Peace in the Prairie film can be viewed at the link here
Saint Louis Story Stitchers Artists Collective presents Peace in the Prairie, an original multimedia presentation newly expanded in its 4th iteration, exploring the concepts of peace and violence, juxtaposing urban life as experienced by black and brown people living in the city of St. Louis, Missouri and the state’s unique endangered prairie lands.
Peace in the Prairie is a lively, multimedia presentation that combines original music, discussion, and storytelling with videography. Peace in the Prairie is unique to Missouri, generated by local artists and residents reflecting on loss and resilience in the human experience and rejuvenation in nature.
The film will be on view online as an encore from May 26-July 5, 2022. Screenings are available. Please contact us at storystitchers@gmail.com to inquire.
Over the past five years, the artists have explored and recorded native prairie landscapes via trips to Missouri prairie reserves including Shaw Nature Reserve of the Missouri Botanical Garden in Gray Summit, with the Missouri Prairie Foundation at Linden’s Prairie in Mt. Vernon, Missouri and Prairie Star Restoration Farm in Osage County, Prairie State Park in Mindenmines, Missouri in Barton County near Joplin, and Dunn Ranch Prairie of The Nature Conservancy in Hatfield, Missouri. Peace in the Prairie expands the artistic body of work of black and brown artists in the Collective, addresses the community need of understanding violence while seeking peace, supports the exploration of new natural settings by both artists and audiences, and supports the greater understanding of Missouri’s unique natural heritage in its native prairie lands.
Peace in the Prairie has been presented at Laumeier Sculpture Park, the National Blues Museum, and Central Stage at Kranzberg Arts Foundation in 2021 and at the World’s Fair Pavilion in Forest Park on Earth Day, April 22, 2022 where we joined our community in celebrating the earth we share and its power to heal us from the trauma of exposure to violence and loss. Partners included Cabanne Library, St. Louis Public Library, Perennial teaching people creative skills to upcycle materials, Audubon Center at Riverlands, Alive and Well, Crime Victim’s Center, Flora Conservancy will be offering plants for sale, Missouri Prairie Foundation, Missouri Department of Conservation, Powder Valley Nature Center & Tower Grove Park Office, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, Creative Reaction Lab, Women’s Voices Raised For Social Justice providing free gun locks and gun safety education, Power4STL aka The T with Punch Love! with TWheels with make your own first aid kit and PunchLove Boxing, Yoga and Mindfulness with Michelle Fleming, Master Storyteller Bobby Norfolk, Story Stitchers Who’s Ready? Music Video Cameos with Troy Anthony, CommUNITY Arts Pop UP performances by MoSTLy Tap, Big Plate Dance + CS Academy, CS Academy Landscapes and Loukidz, Sierra Club, Missouri Chapter, and Ars Poetica! A live performance by Saint Louis Story Stitchers artists and 3-channel film screening of Peace in the Prairie under the stars capped the event.
Peace in the Prairie 2022 is presented with support from Missouri Arts Council, a State Agency, which receives support from the State of Missouri.
Story Stitchers is supported by The Lewis Prize for Music’s 2021 Accelerator Award. The mission of The Lewis Prize is to partner with leaders who create positive change by investing in young people through music.
Additional support for Saint Louis Story Stitchers is provided by the Spirit of St. Louis Women’s Fund, City of St. Louis Youth at Risk Crime Prevention grant of 2021, March For Our Lives, Aid & Alliance, Edward Jones Giving and Philanthropic Giving, and Kranzberg Arts Foundation.
Saint Louis Story Stitchers Artists Collective is a non-profit organization engaged in urban storytelling. The mission of Saint Louis Story Stitchers is to document St. Louis through art and word to promote understanding, civic pride, intergenerational relationships and literacy. Collective artists work alongside 16-24-year-old urban youth to collect stories, reframe and retell them using the arts to promote a better educated, more peaceful and caring society. Saint Louis Story Stitchers are a resident organization at Kranzberg Arts Foundation where members rehearse, present and perform in the Foundation’s first-class spaces. The Collective also maintains the Stitchers Storefront Studio in the historic Loop District for recording, editing and publishing. Current projects focus on public health issues including gun violence.
Learn more at storystitchers.org/
