Saint Louis Story Stitchers youth and young adults, artists, staff, board of directors, say a collective THANK YOU!
To our community partners, parents, grandparents, families, audiences, sponsors, thought partners, donors, to the foundations, government officials, friends, peers, we say, THANK YOU!
We lean on you, count on you, rejoice with you, struggle through loss with you, cope with you, live our lives together with you, breathe in and out with you.
Thank you for sharing your love, your lives, your gifts, with us so that we can turn around and share them with others. We appreciate you. We learn from you.
Saint Louis Story Stitchers is pleased to announce we have received a 2024 award of $3,000 from Cardinals Care in support of technology for Story Stitchers creative youth development programs.
Story Stitchers is also a 2023 Honoree of the Pitching In for Community Award from the Saint Louis Cardinals and Bally Sports.
Thank you for your support! We’ll see you at Busch Stadium! Let’s Goooo Cardinals!
The Saint Louis Zoo’s One Health One Climate Fair is a Party for the Planet, and we are so excited for your participation in this robust new event format!
Saturday, April 27, 2024 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Free for all guests
Saint Louis Story Stitchers will participate in the Saint Louis Zoo’s Party for the Planet this year with a vendor table and two live performances.
10:00-2:00 Vendor Table
11:00 AM and 1:00 PM
20 minute Performances from Peace in the Prairie
STORY STITCHERS WILL PERFORM IN ANHEUSER-BUSCH THEATRE
INSIDE TO THE LIVING PLANET, NORTH ENTRANCE
We’re keeping the momentum going after Earth Day! Join us for Party for the Planet. It’ll be a day of fun — activities, music, a raffle and more — as well as provide opportunities to learn how we can help keep our planet and its climate healthy.
Youth, ages 16-25 years old, will discuss the relationship between Black youth and the police, rights and responsibilities, and more in a live podcast recording on stage with guest Sgt. Stephen Perry from St. Louis Police Academy. A live art interlude will be incorporated into the presentation. Learn about the community through the words of young leaders.
HIGH LOW
3301 Washington Ave
6:00 Doors open
6:30-8:00 Podcast
8:00-9:00 Open Mic
Free
Cash bar
Watch and be a part of Story Stitchers live podcast discussions, presented on the state-of-the-arts stage of 3301 Washington Ave. Story Stitchers artists and guest artists will round out each presentation with live art interludes.
Youth, ages 16-25 years old, discuss current topics in live podcast recordings on stage. Live art interludes are incorporated into the presentations. Learn about the community through the words of young leaders.
Youth, ages 16-25, lead meaningful dialogues that inspire original content in mentor-led workshops based on participants’ lived experiences in economically disadvantaged, high crime areas. Podcasts focus on the streets, gun violence, and finding solutions to issues that are coming at our youth hard. The project goal is to gain greater understanding of the needs and desires of the youth served and to give them an amplified voice to create needed changes in society, to support youth in a successful transition to adulthood, and to reduce youth crime in St. Louis. Youth artists use dialogue, adult guests, original poetry, and music to highlight their personal experiences with gun violence, life transitions, and mental health, promoting mutual respect for diverse ideas, greater understanding, and a more peaceful society.
In 2024, Saint Louis Story Stitchers’ StitchCast Studio LIVE! is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. On the web at arts dot gov.
Support for Story Stitchers creative youth development programs is provided in part by The Lewis Prize for Music 2021 Accelerator Award.
This project has been supported by the Missouri Department of Economic Development’s Youth Opportunities Program.
Additional support for StitchCast Studio and Story Stitchers youth programs has been provided by Kranzberg Arts Foundation where Saint Louis Story Stitchers is a proud resident organization.
Story Stitchers young artists take on the topic of mental health crisis and addiction with guest Hassan Shariff, in this edition of StitchCast Studio LIVE! Recorded live at High Low in Saint Louis, Missouri on March 26, 2024.
Guest: Sgt. Stephen Perry, St. Louis Police Academy
High Low
Listening Room
3301 Washington Ave 63103
Doors Open 6:00
StitchCast and Art Interlude 6:30-8:00
Open Mic 8:00-9:00
Free and open to the public
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
In 2024, Saint Louis Story Stitchers’ StitchCast Studio LIVE! is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. On the web at arts dot gov.
Support for Story Stitchers creative youth development programs is provided in part by The Lewis Prize for Music 2021 Accelerator Award.
Additional support for StitchCast Studio and Story Stitchers youth programs has been provided by Kranzberg Arts Foundation where Saint Louis Story Stitchers is a proud resident organization and by the Missouri Department of Economic Development’s Youth Opportunities Program.
ABOUT
Watch and be a part of Story Stitchers live podcast discussions, presented on the state-of-the-arts stage of 3301 Washington Ave. Story Stitchers artists and guest artists will round out each presentation with live art interludes.
Youth, ages 16-25 years old, discuss current topics in live podcast recordings on stage. Live art interludes are incorporated into the presentations. Learn about the community through the words of young leaders.
Youth, ages 16-25, lead meaningful dialogues that inspire original content in mentor-led workshops based on participants’ lived experiences in economically disadvantaged, high crime areas. Podcasts focus on the streets, gun violence, and finding solutions to issues that are coming at our youth hard. The project goal is to gain greater understanding of the needs and desires of the youth served and to give them an amplified voice to create needed changes in society, to support youth in a successful transition to adulthood, and to reduce youth crime in St. Louis. Youth artists use dialogue, adult guests, original poetry, and music to highlight their personal experiences with gun violence, life transitions, and mental health, promoting mutual respect for diverse ideas, greater understanding, and a more peaceful society.
ST. LOUIS — It’s a nationally recognized artist collective known to collect stories, reframe, and retell them through art, writing and performance to promote understanding and civic pride and prevent youth violence. Joining us to share more about what’s new with the St. Louis Story Stitchers are Branden Lewis and Will James.
The collective has a big event lined up with the upcoming play directed by Will James, titled “Why of My City,” which bridges historical and contemporary narratives of St. Louis. The play, which runs this Thursday and Friday at the .ZACK Theatre, delves into the city’s rich history and its impact on present-day residents.
Additionally, the St. Louis Story Stitchers provide a platform for people from 16 to 25-years-old to learn various aspects of the arts and organizational skills, all free of charge. The aim is to give them an outlet for creative expression. For more information on the collective or the play, individuals can visit their website or attend the upcoming performances at 3024 Locust.
Saint Louis Story Stitchers is part of a national cohort of creative youth development organizations created by The Lewis Prize for Music through a series of $500,000 Accelerator Awards. Story Stitchers received the Award in 2021. Now in year four of the five year award period, we have successfully opened The Center in 2023, a new facility at Kranzberg Arts Foundation for creative youth development, serving young people ages 16-25 years old through music, performing and media arts experiential learning. The Center, a safe space for creativity, music, friendships, and learning, is the vision of our young people.
Founding President and CEO Susan Colangelo has served as volunteer leader of the Artists Collective since its founding in 2013. We are celebrating our 10 year anniversary by searching for a new paid executive director, a happy milestone for the organization! The Board of Directors invites applications. Please find details on the careers page at storystitchers.org.
Two of our program staff members, Emeara Burns, Youth Recruitment and Engagement Specialist, and Branden Lewis, Youth Artistic Coordinator, will attend the 2024 National Conference for Community Arts Education in Washington DC, as part of a cohort of Accelerator Awardees from The Lewis Prize for Music.
In 2023 The Lewis Prize for Music commissioned a video that would capture the essence of Saint Louis Story Stitchers. Artists answered the call with Pick the City UP.
Pick the City UP describes the vision and story of the young artists at Saint Louis Story Stitchers Artists Collective to create a safe studio space that will fulfill the needs and dreams identified by the group. Over a year, the young artists worked with designers and mentors to identify activities, colors, technology, and furnishings for the new, expanded facility. “The Center is a place for us, a safe place for learning and opportunities, a place for music and creativity, a place to gather with friends, a place with love, a place for me,” wrote the young artists.
Pick the City UP also features a new song and music video by the same name that shows young artists performing at locations familiar to the group around the city of St. Louis, Missouri and collecting young people on a bus to join them in their mission to make the city they love a safer and healthier place for all.
(Chorus)
The peace is rising, stopping violence,
Yeah we vibing, no longer silent.
We hushing sirens, with what we writing.
Come and vibe with Story Stitchers, come and sign in.
It’s time to pick the city up, It’s time to pick it up. (All we got is us).
It’s time to pick the city up, It’s time to pick it up. (Watch we build it up)
Saint Louis Story Stitchers Artists Collective expresses special thanks to The Lewis Prize for Music and Quinsonta Boyd – Lead Videographer Troy Swanson – Videographer
Filmed on location at Kranzberg Arts Foundation at Saint Louis Story Stitchers’ The Center and Central Stage, Vintage Vinyl in the Delmar Loop, Wellston Loop Community Development Corporation, and Missouri Climate Summit, Washington University in St. Louis.
Saint Louis Story Stitchers Artists Collective, 2023 storystitchers.org
Saint Louis Story Stitchers is a nationally recognized Artists Collective known for high quality art and innovative youth violence prevention programs.
We’re celebrating our 10th year with a new Executive Director!
We’re hiring!
Saint Louis Story Stitchers Artists Collective invites nominations and applications for the position of Executive Director.
We seek a professional for the position of Executive Director based in St. Louis, MO. The ideal candidate has a solid track record in areas such as the arts, leadership, business operations, fundraising, community partnerships, and youth development. They are a strong communicator, collaborator and have a strategic mindset. The Executive Director is required to lead all aspects of the nonprofit and to secure funds through diverse sources.
Saint Louis Story Stitchers strives to increase diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice in our community. Candidates should demonstrate an ability to nurture an inclusive learning and work environment and to promote a culture and ethos that values diversity, inclusion, and equitable success. We seek diverse and enthusiastic candidates to complement and build upon our capabilities to drive sustainability and growth.
Saint Louis Story Stitchers does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran or national guard status, or any other factor prohibited by law in admission or access to, or treatment or employment in its programs and/or activities.
Saint Louis Story Stitchers is committed to ADA compliance. The Collective welcomes people with disabilities and subscribes to the goal of providing access to programs, services and facilities. The Collective’s goal is to integrate this philosophy into all activities: policies, guidelines, plans, budgets, funding proposals, meetings and outreach.
Saint Louis Story Stitchers expresses thanks to KSDK and the Tegna Foundation for your ongoing support in helping to continue and strengthen our work with young people here in St. Louis. We appreciate the lift!
