4theVille: Part One

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. 

After a little bit of a hiatus, we're back! 

This week we talked with Dee Drenning, who's not only an awesome human being, but also our new co-host. 

In this episode, we get to know Dee, do a refresher on what this podcast is all about and why we love what we do, and talk briefly about what Jayvn and Anna have been up to since the last episode release. 

Did you know that we're doing all of our episodes via IGTV these days? Be sure to check us out and follow us at @stlbydesign on Instagram. 

And as always, thanks to: 
Critical for the awesome music
You, our listeners! 

This week, we spoke with the new executive director of Continuity, a local nonprofit that addresses the disparities and lack of equity in the film and media production industry. 

We talk about why Continuity is such an important program in St. Louis, how COVID-19 has affected their curriculum and what they've done to pivot, and how media has changed as social media and technology have become more accessible. 

In this episode, we talked with the duo that created the few-week-old initiative called Painted Black STL , Jayvn Solomon & Tyson Baker. That's right-- One of the STL by Design co-hosts is both the interviewer and interviewee this time!

Painted Black STL began as an initiative to support & boost black artists and their voices by paying them to paint businesses that were boarded up due to property destruction. In the past few weeks of it's short existence, it's gained more steam than either of them expected. In this episode, we discuss more of it's origin, present, & future.