Join us in welcoming the newly appointed Executive Director of Saint Louis Story Stitchers Artists Collective, Dr. Edwin Williams, as we celebrate his leadership and experience in arts management.
Immediate Release
Join Susan Colangelo, Story Stitchers Founder and Board President, to celebrate our new Executive Director,
Dr. Edwin Williams, D.M.E.
Dr. Edwin R. Williams, a Saint Louis native and the newly appointed Executive Director of Saint Louis Story Stitchers Artists Collective, holds a doctorate in music education (D.M.E.) and specializes in arts management. Williams has also earned master’s and bachelor’s degrees in music performance and is an educator at heart. His resume includes work as a School Programs Administrator for the Department of Education at the Metropolitan Opera (New York), an Arts and Youth Specialist for the City of Cambridge (Massachusetts), the Dean of Arts and Artistic Director for Saint Louis Public Schools, and a Voice Instructor and Arts Consultant. Williams remains extraordinarily passionate about young artists, providing them the tools to develop professionally and socially, a safe space to foster artistic expression and creativity, and a platform to promote social justice by using art to turn pain into beauty.
“I am thrilled and honored to join an organization as vibrant and positively impactful as Saint Louis Story Stitchers. As its Executive Director, I am deeply committed to fostering diversity, accelerating community engagement, and meeting fundraising goals. I aim to support emerging artists, expand our outreach, and co-create innovative programs that stitch together our individual and collective narratives. Together, we will grow as a dynamic and inclusive cultural hub that inspires and enriches lives and tells the stories of our people,” said Dr. Williams.
MetroTix Link: https://www.metrotix.com/events/detail/saint-louis-story-stitchers-10-year-anniversary-celebration
Event Landing Page: https://storystitchers.org/10-year-anniversary-celebration/
Sponsor Page: https://storystitchers.networkforgood.com/projects/221687-10-year-anniversary-celebration
Support 10 Years with $10 Campaign: https://storystitchers.networkforgood.com/projects/229126-support-10-years-with-10
10 Year Anniversary Celebration!
Over 10 years, Story Stitchers have collaborated with artists 16 to 83 years old on music, storytelling, neighborhood block party performances, public service announcement campaigns, and multi-year signature projects focusing efforts on high quality art and innovative youth violence prevention programs. Artists have built an archive of Black voices from 2014, through Ferguson and Michael Brown’s death, the Covid-19 pandemic, and through years of heartbreaking violence in our beautiful city to bring unheard voices to light. Together, with you, we are reshaping the future of our region through youth empowerment that builds from exposure and experiences in high quality artistic practice.
Our History –
Once upon a time there was a stitcher who liked to embroider stories from the newspaper. One day she was stitching about two sisters who were shot on their porch in University City. One sister died. Two brothers were arrested for the crime. The stitcher reflected on the power of stitching throughout history; of the Aids quilt and quilts on the Underground Railroad. She determined to join with others to create change. In August 2013 eight artists gathered in Old North St. Louis and founded the Saint Louis Story Stitchers Artists Collective — to make change. On December 24, 2014, Saint Louis Story Stitchers was incorporated as a charitable organization in the Great State of Missouri.
Since that time, we have made great strides, working with people to stop the violence and to empower youth to make a change for Saint Louis through creative youth development.
Accomplishments by the numbers since 2014 include —
- 8 founders
- 800 teens and young adults have participated in free programs
- 105 artist mentors
- 37 board members
- 185 public performances to 62,000 live audience members
- 30 songs written
- 2 books, 1 game, and 1 portfolio published
- 3 plays written and produced
- 15,000 hours open for youth
- 4 studios including The Center
- 30 Saint Louis neighborhoods visited
- 153 podcasts published
- Revenue growth from $59,324 in 2015 to $701,593 in 2023
- In 10 years, with your help, we have brought $792,795 national dollars home to STL to support young artists and artists of color in building bridges to peace for all.
- Local awards include Proclamations from both Mayor Lyda Krewson and Mayor Tishaura Jones for youth empowerment and service to the community, Pitchin’ In for Community Award from St. Louis Cardinals and Bally Sports.
- Local grant awards through the 10 years include City of St. Louis Department of Public Safety, St. Louis Mental Health Board, St. Louis Area Violence Prevention Commission, Cardinals Care, YouthBridge Community Foundation, Trio Foundation of St. Louis, Tegna Foundation, Ameren Equity in the Arts, Arts & Education Council, Spirit of St. Louis Women’s Fund, Deaconess Foundation, and Kranzberg Arts Foundation, where Story Stitchers is a proud resident organization.
- State and regional grant awards include Missouri Arts Council, Missouri Humanities Council, Regional Arts Commission, and Mid-America Arts Alliance.
- National awards include 3 grants from the National Endowment for the Arts totaling $70,000, a 2021 Accelerator Award for $500,000 from The Lewis Prize for Music, $73,611 from the CDC Foundation, $25,000 from the Obama Foundation, and $30,000 from The Charity Pot.
About Saint Louis Story Stitchers Artists Collective
Saint Louis Story Stitchers is a nationally recognized Artists Collective known for high quality art and innovative youth violence prevention programs.
Story Stitchers is committed to placing youth at the center of the work both in identifying topics for exploration as well as the methods for engagement. This approach builds a community of youth and professional artists who respect one another. Gun violence continues to be a pressing public health crisis that consumes the attention of the engaged youth, and artistic expression helps youth work through the pain and loss they have experienced.
Stitchers collect stories, reframe and retell them through art, writing and performance to promote understanding, civic pride, intergenerational relationships and literacy. Projects create a platform for community engagement through an artistic lens and with it the Saint Louis Story Stitchers work to shift perceptions and realities and bring hope to the Saint Louis community. Our goal is to promote a better educated, more peaceful and caring region through storytelling.
In 2023, Saint Louis Story Stitchers opened The Center for creative youth development in keeping with the vision of Stitchers Youth Council for creating a healthier and happier region through storytelling and the arts. Youth ages 16-25 may join for free by filling out a form:
https://storystitchers.wufoo.com/forms/zeinv521f4w9ez
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