FREDtalks

Zoë Alexandra Scharf is a graduate from the Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Art at Washington University in St. Louis where she studied Communication Design and French, as well as a designer at Dachis Group since February 2011. She participated in team Brain Drain in GOOD Ideas for Cities in March 2012 and continues to work on pursuing the group’s mission & goals.

Matthew Ström is a designer, developer, musician, photographer, director, and high school swing dancing champion. Having studied physics and philosophy at Washington University, he now fanatically works free-lance on any creative project that comes his way.

As a lifelong St. Louisan, Chris is proud of his place in the St. Louis arts scene. He graduated from St. Louis University High School in 1979 and with honors from Webster University in 1985. Using his background in film studies, mass media, and public-event coordination, he has implemented many important changes to the logistical and artistic directions of the St. Louis International Film Festival (SLIFF) and the growing number of annual film-related events produced by CSL, including the LGBT film event called QFest. In January of 2004, he was named one of the top North American “Festival Programmers and Directors to Know” by Film Festival Today magazine and has served on several prestigious festival juries throughout the country. The 21st annual SLIFF in 2012 marks the 13th consecutive year that he has programmed this nationally and internationally acclaimed event. This is a dream job for Chris and he plans to keep it indefinitely by living forever. So far, so good. He and his partner of eight years, Adrain, plus two dogs, Saki and Dahlia, live happily in Maplewood, MO.

Rick Stockburger, one of the founding members of Saving Cities, is a former Non-Commissioned Officer in the United States Army and a go-to mind on all things Rust Belt. While in the army he received the combat infantry badge and two army commendation medals while serving in Kosovo, and Afghanistan. He is a producer of the highly anticipated film “Red, White and Blueprints: A Rust Belt Documentary”. Rick has also traveled the Rust Belt Region extensively, collecting first-hand knowledge on all things rusty, and has an unquestionable love for the citizen-entrepreneurs of this region.

Jack grew up in and around the entertainment industry and later fell in love with cities and urban renewal efforts as a result of his travels as a touring musician. He originally developed Saving Cities (www.savingcities.com) as a small idea bank for his hometown of Cleveland; the idea was to simply encourage and raise support for specific organizations and causes. However, through hundreds of conversations with amazing revivalists all over the Rust Belt, the idea has grown into what is today: a movement of small movements, aimed at creating lasting change in local communities throughout the region. He spends a majority of his time listening to other passionate city-lovers tell their stories, while managing the day-to-day at Saving Cities. Some of Jack’s favorite things are his family and friends, a neat glass of Gentleman Jack, reading about all things Kennedy, and obsessing over LOST (yes, even though it’s been over for quite some time now).

Lyndsey Scott loves the open conversations that art starts. Trained as a visual artist, her early paintings remixxed mythology into modern narratives that oozed the technicolor humor of history repeating itself. A move to the collaborative environment of south St. Louis invited a shift in focus from 2D to Now-We: exploring the ‘container’ of public school classrooms, nursing homes, community centers, museums, and street corners, Lyndsey began to explore participatory public acts as opportunities to co-create “Thistory” – a celebration of our present moment as we choose it. Current work has her delving into more interpersonal & rural spaces: she recently created a stop-motion animation with her kids yoga class about intergalactic yogis and inner confidence, and just finished a 21-foot mandala mural with a support group for high-schoolers dealing with depression. Next stop—a stint on the farm at an intentional community in NC and a small-town bike trip in MI with the Biking Superheroes. She loves learning to deejay the social shapes and spiritual practices that best support enjoyable, sustainable societal transformation.

Joan Lipkin divides her time between St. Louis, New York City and other parts of the country. A playwright, lyricist, director, educator, activist and social critic, her award-winning work has been featured on network television, National Public Radio, the BBC and the Associated Press and published in numerous anthologies including HERE COME THE BRIDES (Seal Press), BEST AMERICAN SHORT PLAYS (Applause), FEMINIST DISABILITIES STUDIES (University of Indiana), UPSTAGING BIG DADDY: DIRECTING THEATER AS IF RACE AND GENDER MATTER (University of Michigan), MYTHIC WOMEN/REAL WOMEN (Faber & Faber) and AMAZON ALL STARS (Applause), and her play THE STATE OF MARRIAGE was featured in American Theatre in March.

Joan specializes in creating work on topical issues and with marginalized populations including people with disabilities, LGBT youth and adults, women with cancer, people with Alzheimers and early stage dementia, college students and youth at risk. A James F. Hornbeck Ethical Humanist and recipient of a Visionary and many other awards, Joan was recently honored as the 2012 Arts Innovator of the Year by the Arts & Education Council. Her work has been published and presented throughout the US, Canada, Great Britain, Ireland and Australia. This year, she will return to Yale University to direct the Kaleidoscope Project and will help implement Mosaic, a new student advocacy theatre ensemble at Auburn University.

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Architectural historian Michael Allen is the Director of the Preservation Research Office, which he founded in 2009. The Preservation Research Office synthesizes Allen’s professional expertise and practice in public architectural history, started in 2003 when he began writing the well-read website (and now blog) Ecology of Absence. From 2005 through 2009, Michael worked at Landmarks Association of St. Louis, where he served as Assistant Director from 2007 through 2009. In recent years, Michael has lectured on architectural history, preservation and public history at Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis University, Fontbonne University, the St. Louis Artists’ Guild and other institutions. He frequently gives architectural tours around the city.

Allen is regular contributor to the NewsLetter of the Society of Architectural Historians, Missouri Valley Chapter, a regional journal of original research. Additionally, Michael has written on architectural and urban history, historic preservation and development for Next American City, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the St. Louis Beacon, The Vital Voice and the St. Louis American
and has been a guest commentator for St. Louis Public Radio. In 2010, the national magazine Next American City named Michael Allen to its annual Next American Vanguard of young leaders working on shaping urban policy.

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