Community Initiative | RISD Stands Against Gun Violence
To mark and remember the 20th anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre on April 20, RISD will launch a multidisciplinary community response to the rampant gun violence that plagues America. Last November, after the 307th incident of gun violence in the US in 2018 alone, President Somerson and Vice President of Social Equity + Inclusion Matthew Shenoda called for RISD to respond in a unique way that would transcend simple statements of values and sympathy.
Gun Violence Exhibition Opens April 17, 2019
20 Washington Place
Running the Numbers
A public art project by Scott Lapham 90 PH and One Gun Gone Saturday, April 20, 1-4 pm
Contemporary Art Gallery, RISD Museum
Digital Quilt Display April 22–26, 2019, 8–10 pm
Digital screens in 20 Washington Place, the Met, Portfolio Café and the RISD Museum
Digital Quilt Artists
Anthony Azanon BArch 19
Boris Bally, Community member
Josh Chodorow, Coordinator, RISD Global
Elizabeth Debs, Critic, Interior Architecture
Ningyi (Jessica) Fang 21 IL
Daniel Fidoten 22 EFS
Malaika Franks 20 ID
Karyn Lynn Gilman, Parent
James Goggin, Assistant Professor, Graphic Design
Blue Gregor 21 PT
James Harvey 87 PT
Jamie Murphy Hlynsky, Senior Critic, Illustration
Max Hu 21 ID
Amelia Huang 22 EFS
Nicole Juen, Assistant Professor, Experimental and Foundational Studies
Ting Loetaphirom 19 GD
Tim McFate, Site Manager/Chef, Watermark Cafe
Hector Munoz-Guzman 21 PT
David Porter, Assistant Professor, Illustration
Portfolio Cafe Team, Dining Services
Brenda Rodriguez 21 IL
Rebecca Schena 19 JM
Nancy Skolos, Professor, Graphic Design
Adam Smith, Associate Professor, Industrial Design
Tori Torres, RISD Store Sales Clerk
VF Wolf, Night Watchman, Museum
Isabel Yang, Pre-College 2018, Drawing Major
38th St. Louis Storytelling Festival from Saint Louis Story Stitchers on Vimeo.
The 40th Annual St. Louis Storytelling Festival is drawing near!!
For the past four years Saint LouisStory Stitchers have participated in this great St. Louis tradition. As the Festival draws near we will look back on some past performances and ahead to the Story Stitchers 2019 contribution.
Looking back at 2017…
The 38th St. Louis Storytelling Festival
Story Stitchers were proud to perform as Regional Storytellers in the
38th Annual St. Louis Storytelling Festival.
University of Missouri Extension Services Community Arts Program
Saturday, May 6th, 2017 in the Old Courthouse Gallery
As part of the NEA-funded “Parks Come Alive” project, a collaboration between Jefferson National Expansion Memorial and St. Louis Storytelling Festival, a variety of storytellers showcased community reflections of what this iconic national park in the heart of St. Louis means to them. Featured were the Arch Builders, Bobby Norfolk and other park rangers, Story Stitchers (an urban storytelling troupe), and school and community groups presenting community art projects. This project was supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. Story Stitchers program was also supported by Kranzberg Arts Foundation.
Film with live performances by Stitchers Youth Council members Elijah Foggy and Branden Lewis and Story Stitchers Artists in Residence Bobby Norfolk, K.P. Dennis and Ntegrity.
Film with live performances by Stitchers Youth Council members Elijah Foggy and Branden Lewis and Story Stitchers Artists in Residence K.P. Dennis and Ntegrity. Following the performance join Story Stitchers and a Shaw Nature Reserve naturalist for a hike to the prairie!
Saint Louis Story Stitchers Artists Collective presents To The Prairie, a rendition of Peace in the Prairie for all ages. The piece is an original video exploring the concept of peace through exposure to natural landscapes. Story Stitchers are interested in the juxtaposition of urban life as experienced by African American people living in the city of St. Louis, Missouri and the state’s unique endangered prairie lands.
Is the path towards peace through Missouri’s native prairies?
Saint Louis Story Stitchers is working collaboratively to create an approach to health issues affecting Missouri’s urban youth. Story Stitchers bring the humanities to the forefront through a unique form of “urban storytelling”.
The artistic components for To The Prairie, include the creation of music, stories, and video. The work represents a collaborative exploration of the psychological and physical differences involved in a peaceful natural environment and an urban environment where violence is common. The resulting work is unique to Missouri, generated by local artists reflecting on loss, resilience and rejuvenation in nature and in the human experience. Leading Story Stitchers adult artists in residence Troy Anthony, KP Dennis, Bobby Norfolk, Ntegrity, and Superhood and contributing artist Susan Colangelo explored the experience of violence affecting black families in St. Louis through organized collaborative learning experiences and sharing, recording some of these stories. The artists explored and recorded native prairie landscapes via trips to Missouri prairie reserves including Prairie Day at Shaw Nature Reserve of the Missouri Botanical Garden in Gray Summit, with the Missouri Prairie Foundation at Prairie Star Restoration Farm in Osage County, and Prairie State Park in Mindenmines, Missouri in Barton County near Joplin, and Dunn Ranch Prairie of The Nature Conservancy in Hatfield, Missouri. During creative sessions, artists generated an original work that adds to the critical artistic discourse, contributes to the archived experiences of the state’s African American community and archives an endangered natural resource through art.
Peace in the Prairie expands the artistic body of work of African American 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.
Financial assistance for this project has been provided by the St. Louis Storytelling Festival, Community Arts, University of Missouri Extension Services. The project is supported by a grant from the Missouri Foundation for Health. 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. The project created with support from Missouri Arts Council, a State Agency and from Kranzberg Arts Foundation.
Branden performing at Gateway Arch National Park, February, 2019
Peace in the Prairie explores urban violence and peace experienced in nature. For the 40th Annual St. Louis Storytelling Festival, Saint Louis Story Stitchers commissioned two Stitchers Youth Council members, Branden Lewis and Elijah Foggy, to write a new hip hop piece explaining their experiences as young men living in St. Louis. They will open the presentation To The Prairie at the Festival with this new piece.
Excerpt from the lyrics to
This Is Why
Verse I
Branden Lewis
I’m trying to show you I’m more than just gifted
I’m more than my issues, more than statistics
I’m more than the chasing of money and women
I’m more than the bundles of graves that they digging
I’m more than potential that’s lost in the system
I’m more than a criminal, more than a victim
There’s more to my image, immortalize this
That there’s more to the morals of stories you hearing
(Hold up)
Aye, how many fears must I face in a day
How many friends can be taken away
How many planned to spend life in a cage
How many wish they got that but in graves
How many wish they got that but in chains
How many wish they enacted a change
(Yea)
How many wish they enacted a change
40th Annual St. Louis Storytelling Festival
TO THE PRAIRIE
Peace in the Prairie For All Ages
Family-friendly, free and open to the public.
Saturday, April 27, 2019
12:00-12:35 PM
Gateway Arch National Park
Tucker Theater
11 N 4th St.
St. Louis, MO 63102
Film with live performances by Stitchers Youth Council members Elijah Foggy and Branden Lewis and Story Stitchers Artists in Residence Bobby Norfolk, K.P. Dennis and Ntegrity.
Film with live performances by Stitchers Youth Council members Elijah Foggy and Branden Lewis and Story Stitchers Artists in Residence K.P. Dennis and Ntegrity. Following the performance join Story Stitchers and a Shaw Nature Reserve naturalist for a hike to the prairie!
Saint Louis Story Stitchers Artists Collective presents To The Prairie, a rendition of Peace in the Prairie for all ages. The piece is an original video exploring the concept of peace through exposure to natural landscapes. Story Stitchers are interested in the juxtaposition of urban life as experienced by African American people living in the city of St. Louis, Missouri and the state’s unique endangered prairie lands.
Is the path towards peace through Missouri’s native prairies?
Saint Louis Story Stitchers is working collaboratively to create an approach to health issues affecting Missouri’s urban youth. Story Stitchers bring the humanities to the forefront through a unique form of “urban storytelling”.
The artistic components for To The Prairie, include the creation of music, stories, and video. The work represents a collaborative exploration of the psychological and physical differences involved in a peaceful natural environment and an urban environment where violence is common. The resulting work is unique to Missouri, generated by local artists reflecting on loss, resilience and rejuvenation in nature and in the human experience. Leading Story Stitchers adult artists in residence Troy Anthony, KP Dennis, Bobby Norfolk, Ntegrity, and Superhood and contributing artist Susan Colangelo explored the experience of violence affecting black families in St. Louis through organized collaborative learning experiences and sharing, recording some of these stories. The artists explored and recorded native prairie landscapes via trips to Missouri prairie reserves including Prairie Day at Shaw Nature Reserve of the Missouri Botanical Garden in Gray Summit, with the Missouri Prairie Foundation at Prairie Star Restoration Farm in Osage County, and Prairie State Park in Mindenmines, Missouri in Barton County near Joplin, and Dunn Ranch Prairie of The Nature Conservancy in Hatfield, Missouri. During creative sessions, artists generated an original work that adds to the critical artistic discourse, contributes to the archived experiences of the state’s African American community and archives an endangered natural resource through art.
Peace in the Prairie expands the artistic body of work of African American 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.
Financial assistance for this project has been provided by the St. Louis Storytelling Festival, Community Arts, University of Missouri Extension Services. The project is supported by a grant from the Missouri Foundation for Health. 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. The project created with support from Missouri Arts Council, a State Agency and from Kranzberg Arts Foundation.
To become part of Peace in the Prairie contact the Collective.
Email storystitchers@gmail.com or call 314-899-9001.
Aniya Betts interviews Mr. Martin Mathews at the 37th Annual St. Louis Storytelling Festival in 2016.
The 40th Annual St. Louis Storytelling Festival is drawing near!!
For the past four years Saint LouisStory Stitchers have participated in this great St. Louis tradition. As the Festival draws near we will look back on some past performances and ahead to the Story Stitchers 2019 contribution.
Looking back at 2016…
Saint Louis Story Stitchers Artists Collective presented a live performance entitled, Not Another One! as part of the 37th Annual St. Louis Storytelling Festival based on the Collective’s ongoing work on gun violence prevention. Along with music and a video screening, Story Stitchers added a new dimension through the live onstage interview of invited senior citizens Mr. Martin Mathews and Mr. Robert Powell in collaboration with the Celebrating Art for Senior EngAGEment Festival. Stitchers Youth Council member Aniya Betts led the discussion.
Film with live performances by Stitchers Youth Council members Elijah Foggy and Branden Lewis and Story Stitchers Artists in Residence Bobby Norfolk, K.P. Dennis and Ntegrity.
Film with live performances by Stitchers Youth Council members Elijah Foggy and Branden Lewis and Story Stitchers Artists in Residence K.P. Dennis and Ntegrity. Following the performance join Story Stitchers and a Shaw Nature Reserve naturalist for a hike to the prairie!
Saint Louis Story Stitchers Artists Collective presents To The Prairie, a rendition of Peace in the Prairie for all ages. The piece is an original video exploring the concept of peace through exposure to natural landscapes. Story Stitchers are interested in the juxtaposition of urban life as experienced by African American people living in the city of St. Louis, Missouri and the state’s unique endangered prairie lands.
Is the path towards peace through Missouri’s native prairies?
Saint Louis Story Stitchers is working collaboratively to create an approach to health issues affecting Missouri’s urban youth. Story Stitchers bring the humanities to the forefront through a unique form of “urban storytelling”.
The artistic components for To The Prairie, include the creation of music, stories, and video. The work represents a collaborative exploration of the psychological and physical differences involved in a peaceful natural environment and an urban environment where violence is common. The resulting work is unique to Missouri, generated by local artists reflecting on loss, resilience and rejuvenation in nature and in the human experience. Leading Story Stitchers adult artists in residence Troy Anthony, KP Dennis, Bobby Norfolk, Ntegrity, and Superhood and contributing artist Susan Colangelo explored the experience of violence affecting black families in St. Louis through organized collaborative learning experiences and sharing, recording some of these stories. The artists explored and recorded native prairie landscapes via trips to Missouri prairie reserves including Prairie Day at Shaw Nature Reserve of the Missouri Botanical Garden in Gray Summit, with the Missouri Prairie Foundation at Prairie Star Restoration Farm in Osage County, and Prairie State Park in Mindenmines, Missouri in Barton County near Joplin, and Dunn Ranch Prairie of The Nature Conservancy in Hatfield, Missouri. During creative sessions, artists generated an original work that adds to the critical artistic discourse, contributes to the archived experiences of the state’s African American community and archives an endangered natural resource through art.
Peace in the Prairie expands the artistic body of work of African American 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.
Financial assistance for this project has been provided by the St. Louis Storytelling Festival, Community Arts, University of Missouri Extension Services. The project is supported by a grant from the Missouri Foundation for Health. 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. The project created with support from Missouri Arts Council, a State Agency and from Kranzberg Arts Foundation.
Good For Your Health from Saint Louis Story Stitchers on Vimeo.
YOUTH COUNCIL Receives Support to present After School Programs!
Stitchers Youth Council members Shawn Prather, She’Kinah Taylor, and Cali Flemming have applied for and received an “It Starts With Us” Youth Project Sponsorship from the St. Louis Mental Health Board and St. Louis Violence Prevention Commission for the school program called “Good For Your Health” that they are developing with peers Emeara Burns and AnnaLise Cason.
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The grant will support further development and at least two school performances.
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The program includes music, a skit, games and dance and covers nutrition and bullying in fun and innovative ways.
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The team presented a pilot program in March for children at Laclede Elementary School in the West End. This outreach program was supported with funds from LUSH Corporation’s The Charity Pot as part of a youth leadership development program.
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To nominate a school to serve as a host for this program please contact Stitchers Youth Council at storystitchers@gmail.com.
Emeara at the St. Louis Storytelling Festival 2015 from Saint Louis Story Stitchers on Vimeo.
The 40th Annual St. Louis Storytelling Festival is drawing near!!
For the past four years Saint LouisStory Stitchers have participated in this great St. Louis tradition. As the Festival draws near we will look back on some past performances and ahead to the Story Stitchers 2019 contribution.
Looking back at 2015…
Saint Louis Story Stitchers presented at UMSL in Grand Center April 30th, 2015 as part of “We Live Here”, an exploration of post-Ferguson St. Louis. The event was presented by the St. Louis Storytelling Festival and the University of Missouri Extension Office.
Stitchers Youth Council member Emeara Burns, a junior in high school at the time and one of the team of Stitchers that performed, presented her original poem, “Don’t Act Like You Didn’t Know.”
Film with live performances by Stitchers Youth Council members Elijah Foggy and Branden Lewis and Story Stitchers Artists in Residence Bobby Norfolk, K.P. Dennis and Ntegrity.
Film with live performances by Stitchers Youth Council members Elijah Foggy and Branden Lewis and Story Stitchers Artists in Residence K.P. Dennis and Ntegrity. Following the performance join Story Stitchers and a Shaw Nature Reserve naturalist for a hike to the prairie!
Saint Louis Story Stitchers Artists Collective presents To The Prairie, a rendition of Peace in the Prairie for all ages. The piece is an original video exploring the concept of peace through exposure to natural landscapes. Story Stitchers are interested in the juxtaposition of urban life as experienced by African American people living in the city of St. Louis, Missouri and the state’s unique endangered prairie lands.
Is the path towards peace through Missouri’s native prairies?
Saint Louis Story Stitchers is working collaboratively to create an approach to health issues affecting Missouri’s urban youth. Story Stitchers bring the humanities to the forefront through a unique form of “urban storytelling”.
The artistic components for To The Prairie, include the creation of music, stories, and video. The work represents a collaborative exploration of the psychological and physical differences involved in a peaceful natural environment and an urban environment where violence is common. The resulting work is unique to Missouri, generated by local artists reflecting on loss, resilience and rejuvenation in nature and in the human experience. Leading Story Stitchers adult artists in residence Troy Anthony, KP Dennis, Bobby Norfolk, Ntegrity, and Superhood and contributing artist Susan Colangelo explored the experience of violence affecting black families in St. Louis through organized collaborative learning experiences and sharing, recording some of these stories. The artists explored and recorded native prairie landscapes via trips to Missouri prairie reserves including Prairie Day at Shaw Nature Reserve of the Missouri Botanical Garden in Gray Summit, with the Missouri Prairie Foundation at Prairie Star Restoration Farm in Osage County, and Prairie State Park in Mindenmines, Missouri in Barton County near Joplin, and Dunn Ranch Prairie of The Nature Conservancy in Hatfield, Missouri. During creative sessions, artists generated an original work that adds to the critical artistic discourse, contributes to the archived experiences of the state’s African American community and archives an endangered natural resource through art.
Peace in the Prairie expands the artistic body of work of African American 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.
Financial assistance for this project has been provided by the St. Louis Storytelling Festival, Community Arts, University of Missouri Extension Services. The project is supported by a grant from the Missouri Foundation for Health. 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. The project created with support from Missouri Arts Council, a State Agency and from Kranzberg Arts Foundation.
The 40th Annual St. Louis Storytelling Festival is drawing near!!
For the past four years Saint Louis Story Stitchers have participated in this great St. Louis tradition. As the Festival draws near we will look back on some past performances and ahead to the Story Stitchers 2019 contribution.
Film with live performances by Stitchers Youth Council members Elijah Foggy and Branden Lewis and Story Stitchers Artists in Residence Bobby Norfolk, K.P. Dennis and Ntegrity.
Film with live performances by Stitchers Youth Council members Elijah Foggy and Branden Lewis and Story Stitchers Artists in Residence K.P. Dennis and Ntegrity. Following the performance join Story Stitchers and a Shaw Nature Reserve naturalist for a hike to the prairie!
Saint Louis Story Stitchers Artists Collective presents To The Prairie, a rendition of Peace in the Prairie for all ages. The piece is an original video exploring the concept of peace through exposure to natural landscapes. Story Stitchers are interested in the juxtaposition of urban life as experienced by African American people living in the city of St. Louis, Missouri and the state’s unique endangered prairie lands.
Is the path towards peace through Missouri’s native prairies?
Saint Louis Story Stitchers is working collaboratively to create an approach to health issues affecting Missouri’s urban youth. Story Stitchers bring the humanities to the forefront through a unique form of “urban storytelling”.
The artistic components for To The Prairie, include the creation of music, stories, and video. The work represents a collaborative exploration of the psychological and physical differences involved in a peaceful natural environment and an urban environment where violence is common. The resulting work is unique to Missouri, generated by local artists reflecting on loss, resilience and rejuvenation in nature and in the human experience. Leading Story Stitchers adult artists in residence Troy Anthony, KP Dennis, Bobby Norfolk, Ntegrity, and Superhood and contributing artist Susan Colangelo explored the experience of violence affecting black families in St. Louis through organized collaborative learning experiences and sharing, recording some of these stories. The artists explored and recorded native prairie landscapes via trips to Missouri prairie reserves including Prairie Day at Shaw Nature Reserve of the Missouri Botanical Garden in Gray Summit, with the Missouri Prairie Foundation at Prairie Star Restoration Farm in Osage County, and Prairie State Park in Mindenmines, Missouri in Barton County near Joplin, and Dunn Ranch Prairie of The Nature Conservancy in Hatfield, Missouri. During creative sessions, artists generated an original work that adds to the critical artistic discourse, contributes to the archived experiences of the state’s African American community and archives an endangered natural resource through art.
Peace in the Prairie expands the artistic body of work of African American 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.
Financial assistance for this project has been provided by the St. Louis Storytelling Festival, Community Arts, University of Missouri Extension Services. The project is supported by a grant from the Missouri Foundation for Health. 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. The project created with support from Missouri Arts Council, a State Agency and from Kranzberg Arts Foundation.
It is with great fondness, respect and gratitude that Story Stitchers remembers our dear friend Kim Tucci today. We are deeply saddened by his passing.
In 2016, when Story Stitchers found itself almost completely out of funds, board member Chris Hansen suggested we meet Kim Tucci. Kim asked a lot of questions about the organization and listened intently to learn about our efforts to stop youth gun violence. He was deeply concerned about young people, education and public health issues.
Step by step, Kim taught us how to run a small but successful fundraising event and saved Story Stitchers in the process. Kim served as Honorary Chair to the Bowl A Thon every year. We will never forget your generosity and your big smile. You really lit up the room!
The new single “To The Prairie” by KP Dennis, Ntegrity and Troy Anthony will drop on iTunes March 21st, 2019. The song is the closing piece to the Saint Louis Story Stitchers premiere performance of Peace in the Prairie.
The presentation includes audio and video collected over the past three years by the artists Troy Anthony, Demil Johnson AKA Superhood and Susan Colangelo and combines this work with live performances by Bobby Norfolk, Ntegrity and KP Dennis.
Saint Louis Story Stitchers
PEACE IN THE PRAIRIE
March 21, 2019
7:00-8:30
.ZACK Theater
3224 Locust
Parental Warning: PG 13 for references to violence.
Saint Louis Story Stitchers Artists Collective presents Peace in the Prairie, an original performance exploring the concepts of peace and violence, juxtaposing urban life as experienced by African American people living in the city of St. Louis, Missouri and the state’s unique endangered prairie lands.
Is the path towards peace through Missouri’s native prairies?
Saint Louis Story Stitchers is working collaboratively to create an approach to health issues affecting Missouri’s urban youth. Story Stitchers bring the humanities to the forefront through a unique form of “urban storytelling”.
Peace in the Prairie expands the artistic body of work of African American 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.
To The Prairie
Lyrics Written By KP Dennis, Verses and Ntegrity, Chorus
VERSE I
Purple, yellow blue so many colors in this habitat!
Even though I’m city slick I’m not afraid to travel back!
Way out to the country side hit that native grassland.
Tranquil in the sunny meadows (we thought we was ad…vanced!
Ain’t no sounds of ambulances sirens of the boys in blue!
Tonight d’void of gun shots but nature makes some noises too!
The moist dew saturates the green pastures,
which flows like the motion of the waves in the ocean!
To master this environment acquiring and managing.
Restore it to its original state that it was planted in.
So if the planet ends at least you saw its majesty
put your phone on air plane mode and we’ll be right back after these…
Messages, reception is a barrier connect for real!
The wilderness is therapy escapism to let ya chill!
Historic region where the wild flower stretches!
Warm season grass species territory so precious!!
CHORUS
C’mon let’s go!
Let’s take a ride, hop in the car, take a drive!
To the prairie!
Where the grass always green on the other side…to the prairie!
Go! Let’s go!
C’mon let’s go! Let’s go!
C’mon let’s go! Let’s go!
C’mon let’s go! Let’s go!
C’mon let’s go! Let’s go!
On the adventure let’s venture through green pasture,
At the prairie
Solidarity, nothin’ but smiles and laughter,
At the prairie
C’mon let’s go! Let’s go!
C’mon let’s go! Let’s go!
C’mon let’s go! Let’s go!
C’mon let’s go! Let’s go!
Financial assistance for this project has been provided by the St. Louis Storytelling Festival, Community Arts, University of Missouri Extension Services. The project is supported by a grant from the Missouri Foundation for Health. 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. The project created with support from Missouri Arts Council, a State Agency and from Kranzberg Arts Foundation.
The artistic components for Peace in the Prairie include the creation of music, stories, and video. The work represents a collaborative exploration of the psychological and physical differences involved in a peaceful natural environment and an urban environment where violence is common. The resulting work will be unique to Missouri, generated by local artists reflecting on loss, resilience and rejuvenation in nature and in the human experience.
Story Stitchers Artists in Residence Troy Anthony, KP Dennis, Bobby Norfolk, Ntegrity, and Superhood and contributing artist Susan Colangelo explore the experience of violence affecting black families in St. Louis through organized collaborative learning experiences and sharing, recording some of these stories.
The artists have explored and recorded native prairie landscapes via trips to Missouri prairie reserves including Prairie Day at Shaw Nature Reserve of the Missouri Botanical Garden in Gray Summit, with the Missouri Prairie Foundation at 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. During creative sessions, artists generated an original work that adds to the critical artistic discourse, contributes to the archived experiences of the state’s African American community and archives an endangered natural resource through art.
Peace in the Prairie expands the artistic body of work of African American artists, addresses the community’s need to make sense of 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 endangered prairie lands.
The project is supported by a grant from the Missouri Foundation for Health. 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.
The project is supported by Missouri Arts Council, a State Agency.
The project presented with support from Kranzberg Arts Foundation where Saint Louis Story Stitchers is a resident organization.
