Make up a story…
For our sake and yours forget your name in the street;
tell us what the world has been to you in the dark places and in the light.
Don’t tell us what to believe, what to fear.
Show us belief’s wide skirt and the stitch that unravels fear’s caul.
― Toni Morrison
If, since 1920, The Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis can count among 100 years of accomplishments more than 12,000 area students awarded interest-free loans and grants, then there are surely many more than 12,000 stories to be told. Perhaps you know some of those stories. Perhaps you’ve lived them yourself. Maybe you think you know, but realize you’ve not heard from those who lived the experience.
Join us, on Thursday, January 23, from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. in the Grand Hall of the Missouri History Museum for an opening reception of KNOW US: Stories of St. Louis Students Finding Their Way. If you have not already registered (and by that I mean entered your information and received confirmation, not just mentioned it casually or clicked “interested” on Facebook), please stop reading and click here to register.
That evening, we’ll have big screen viewings in addition to the exhibit, original art on display, plenty of food and beverage, a formal program lasting a scant 30 minutes, and a host of friends of The Scholarship Foundation, including board members past and present, students and graduates, donors, community partners, and those with keen interest in learning more.
Whether or not you can be at the January 23 kickoff celebration of The Scholarship Foundation’s centennial year, you can view the digital stories being told and see the exhibit in Missouri History Museum’s Grand Hall through March 29, 2020. Do not miss it!
KNOW US is the intention behind the digital telling of nine unique student stories, exhibited at the museum alongside related documentation of the history and mission of The Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis. The pieces follow no prescribed format; each offers a facet of the perspective of students seeking to find their way to and through education and emerging adulthood. The author-artists worked together to explore narrative, creative visual style, and ultimately to give the audience a glimpse of what it is like to be in their shoes, here and now. Throughout the project they worked with Foundation staff, art and writing instructors from the region, and visiting artists Yosimar Reyes, Marithza Quiroz, and Junot Diaz to situate their own stories.
If you still need convincing, take a sneak peek in this fast-paced medley of the nine pieces. And now, scroll back up to the link to register and assure your place at the January 23 celebration.
The 12,000 Scholarship Foundation students of the past 100 years deserve our attention. The legacy of The Scholarship Foundation of St. Louis is cause for a yearlong community celebration. And, personally and sincerely, I really want to see YOU there.
– Faith Sandler
