The Urban Studio Cafe WINS IdeaBounce!!!

The Urban Studio Cafe was selected as an Idea Bounce winner October 23rd!

IdeaBounce is a Skandalaris Center for Entrepreneurial Studies project that allows organizations, innovators, students, and the creatively-inclined to share innovative ideas that are related to social change. Ideas are first submitted online at www.ideabounce.com. A subset of the ideas are then selected to compete at an IdeaBounce event, where each individual or team is given two minutes to "bounce" an idea to the audience and a panel of judges. The judges select a winner based on the clarity of the idea, passion of the presenter, and the request for help.

On October 23rd, Urban Studio Project Manager Claire Wolff presented The Urban Studio Cafe concept to a group of peers and a panel of judges. The Urban Studio Cafe was selected as the winning social change idea for the evening, providing Claire with an opportunity to dine and chat with the panel of judges. Thanks, IdeaBounce!

In the next series of months, The Urban Studio Cafe will be competing in the Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation Competition, sponsored by the Skandalaris Center and YouthBridge Community Foundation. The winners of the competition walk away with a cash prize to help the idea become a reality.

We'll keep you posted...

Come to Old North St. Louis and RIDE A BIKE!!!

Speaking of bikes....

The Saturday Bike Rides have gotten off to a great start, and we're seeing more kids each week! While this is a great thing and we hope to see even more kids and adults in the future, we are using almost all of our kids-sized bikes already!

If you have a working bike that would fit a child aged 8 and up that you would be willing to donate, please contact Liz Buerger. You will receive a tax-write off for your donation!!

elizabeth.buerger@gmail.com

Community Bike Rides are Back!

The Urban Studio Cafe and Grace Hill are holding Saturday Bike Rides from October 4th-November 8th from 10am-12 pm! Led by Americorps Rangers, these rides travel down the Riverfront Trail, and each week we're going somewhere new!

We started off with a trip to the Mary Meachum Crossing to learn about the dangerous journey slaves made to escape to freedom. This past weekend, kids and adults alike biked down to the Arch and got to explore this amazing structure as well as the museum inside.

Everyone has had a great time, and there are still four more rides to go!

      October 18: Mississippi River Ecology

      October 25: Halloween Theme / Prairie Planting

      November 1: The Branch Street Trestle & McKinley Bridge

      November 8: Explore Old North St. Louis Architecture

The Cafe is getting organized...with your help!

 Are you refurbishing your office? Cleaning out your garage?

The Urban Studio Cafe is looking for a two drawer, locking file cabinet!!! If you have one that you would be willing to donate to the Cafe, please contact Liz Buerger. You will receive a tax-write off for your donation!

elizabeth.buerger@gmail or (914) 552-0829 

A Trip Down Memory Lane

Digging around the archives, Executive Director Phil Valko found photos of a plastering class held at The Urban Studio in 2005:

Thanks to the hard work and enthusiasm of those students and plasterer Eric Aulbach, the walls of The Urban Studio Cafe have been transformed with the beautiful blue Venetian plaster you see today:

Calling all Volunteers!

Thanks to all of your help, our first volunteer day was a success! But there's still more to do, so this Saturday, September 13th, we're having another one! 

It will take place from 10am to 2pm and include painting, cleaning, making flower boxes (drilling experience helpful!), installing an air conditioner, and touching up the Urban Studio Mural.

Delicious Einstein Bagels will be provided! 

Please email Liz Buerger or Claire Wolff if you would like to help us this weekend: elizabeth.buerger@gmail.com

claireawolff@gmail.com

The Urban Studio Cafe looks like a....cafe!!

What a difference a bakery case makes!

After a generous donation of a bakery case by Kaldi's Coffee, the studio is finally beginning to resemble a cozy cafe. We are hoping to fully open late fall 2008.




In other exciting news, The Urban Studio Cafe will feature a bike blender!  Yes, you will be able to blend your own smoothie by peddling this fantastic vintage exercise bike, pictured below. Delicious AND healthy! Thanks to the Wash U Engineers without Borders group for creating this sweet machine!

Infused with Energy!

Volunteers from the Wash U Leadership Through Service program whip the studio into shape!

Becca touches up the doorway-

After a reconstructing the sunflower mural, volunteers help relocate the masterpiece.

Painting, taping, sanding, cleaning

Digging out a hole for a street tree!

Framing photography from past programs-

The Studio Gets A Facelift!

Thanks to 30 Wash U student volunteers, the studio has a new sunny disposition and an optimistic outlook on Old North! Check out her transformation!! 

Bye-bye, magenta and mustard!

The Urban Studio... for ghosts

Optimistic yellow...

TA-DA!!!

Thanks, Leadership Through Service!

We Need YOU!

Caption: the newly refinished Urban Studio floors

We are working fast and furious to prepare our storefront to open our social change cafe and we need volunteers!

We will have work days both Saturday and Sunday this weekend, August 23rd and 24th. We are most in need of folks willing to paint, help us resurrect this gorgeous mural, and remove one mean old stump to make room for a new street tree.

Please email Claire Wolff if you have time to donate this weekend. We'll provide the music and age appropriate drinks: claireawolff@gmail.com

Brewing A Special Blend of Coffee and Social Change!

Thanks to everyone who came to the Urban Studio Cafe sneak preview on May 10!

Mid summer 2008, we'll be opening our doors on the weekends, serving drinks with a slice of social change. Our cafe is a social venture  that seeks to strengthen the sense of community by creating a social gathering space, providing jobs for area teens, showcasing the creativity of local creators, and producing income to fund other Urban Studio programs. This will be no small feat. We're off running, but we're going to need all the help we can get to make this project a success. Here is a list of some of our current needs. Any help is greatly appreciated!!

-Graphic design work

-Website development

-Certified Electrician

-Certified Plumber

-Carpenter

-Accountant

-Volunteer tutoring program coordinator

-Metal worker to create a sign

-Screen-printing

-Grant writing

-Financial contributions!!!

-Additional tables and chairs

-Weekend volunteers 

Introducing...The Urban Studio Cafe!

The Urban Studio is back from a winter hiatus and better than ever!  We are very excited about our newest venture, The Urban Studio Cafe!

The cafe seeks to foster a sense of community and creativity while providing a quality cup of joe. Revenue generated by the cafe will go towards funding future art programs for youth in the area. 

Although not open until Mid-summer, this Saturday, May 10th from 10 am to 4 pm, we offer you an exclusive sneak preview of our quirky, cozy coffee shop. The Urban Studio Cafe will be an official stop on the Old North St. Louis House and Community Tour, so hop on that trolley and check us out! Even if you don't participate in the House Tour, feel free to drop by, grab a delectable cup of Kaldi's coffee and learn more about the cafe and how you can help us be a successful social venture.  We are located in our studio space at 2815 N. 14th St. 

  Contact Phil or Claire at info@theurbanstudio.org for more information.

What: Cafe Sneak Peak

When: Saturday, May 10 from 10am-4pm

Where: The Studio!

Who: People who like coffee 

The Urban Studio Fall Update

A quick update on The Urban Studio fall happenings:

SUMMER PROGRAM GALLERY SHOW
The Urban Studio welcomed friends to view the work of the summer participants while enjoying creative drink specials and live music by Last To Show First To Go. Thanks to everyone who made the night truly smashing!
If you would like to be on our e-mail list for future events and fundraisers, please e-mail Phil Valko at philvalko@theurbanstudio.org

The Urban Studio Opens Its Doors to a Packed House for Gallery Fundraiser Night:




ART OUTSIDE
The Urban Studio also participated in Art Outside, the alternative art fair held at Schlafly's Bottleworks. We invited people young and old to get their hands dirty and draw their houses with charcoal, and adults answered questions about their community. These answers and house drawings will be assembled into a ticky-tacky town mural of St. Louis! We will, of course, keep you updated on the mural progress and whereabouts.


Artists proudly displaying their charcoal houses:


A young fair-goer works diligently on his masterpiece:




THE LINUS FOUNDATION GALA
On November 2, The Linus Foundation hosted a benefit gala for The Urban Studio at the St. Louis Contemporary Art Gallery featuring an open bar, a live band, and amazing Maya Lin sculptures. The event was nothing short of stupendous, drawing more than 500 people! The Linus Foundation is an organization run by Washington University students that throws parties for a good cause. We are incredibly appreciative to them for choosing The Urban Studio as their recipient for a second year in a row and for working so hard to make this event a success. A big thank you to everyone who attended the event as well!

Proud Photographers and Media Savvy Youth Show Off Their Finest Work to Friends and Family

The Urban Studio held a photography show/music video premiere so that family and friends could see the amazing work produced by our summer participants. These kids thorougly impressed us all with their skill and talent exhibited through the photos and videos. Thanks to everyone who came and supported our young artists and summer programs!

Students (and siblings) reunited with their adoring photography teacher:


Family and friends enjoying the event:

Adventures in Media Music Videos

Trailnet, KDHX, and The Urban Studio came together to create a teen summer program that explored media, nutrition, food access, and how they all relate. The Adventures in Media program ran for two weeks, June 18 - 29. The program was team taught by a film instructor, an actress, and a photographer. The camp was a very hands-on 2 weeks in which teen participants learned all about media and how it affects their decisions. They visited the KDHX TV and radio stations to see media behind the scenes. They visited the New Roots Urban Farm to learn how food is grown and what constitutes healthy eating. Ultimately, the teens wrote, produced, and acted in their own YouTube videos.

To highlight disparities in access to healthy foods, the teens learned how to read nutrition labels and then went on two scavenger hunts: a local convenience store and a supermarket in an affluent part of town. They found very few healthy foods in the convenience store, compared to an entire section brimming with fruits, vegetables, and health food at the store in Clayton.

The teens watched and discussed "Super Size Me". They were active every day and ate healthy, fresh lunches every day, sometimes to their chagrin.

Since this was a media camp, we asked the teens to maintain The Urban Studio blog throughout the program. Skim through our archives for great photos and daily logs.

Special thanks to The United Way of Greater St. Louis, Trailnet, and KDHX for their hard work and support of this program!

The Urban Studio Hops Aboard The Art Outside Bandwagon Armed With Thrilling Art Projects for All!!!

Join The Urban Studio at the 4th Annual Art Outside Art Fair and get pumped to break out that inner artist/architect. Draw a creative rendition of your house to help us create a gigantic art piece representing the entire St. Louis community. Bring the kiddos too! It's one of our favorite events of the year.

Where: Schlafly Bottleworks
When: September 7, 5pm-10pm
September 8, 10am-10pm
Why: You love The Urban Studio and alternative art

Picture the Future Photography Show on August 30!!

Photo by Charlotte Holden, age 16

The Urban Studio is proud to present a very special photography show featuring the photos of our youth and teen participants from the Picture the Future summer program. Drop by The Urban Studio any time between 7pm and 9pm on Thursday, August 30, meet the budding photographers, and marvel at their stellar black and white masterpieces! These photographs reflect the process of learning to taking pictures, develop film, and print photographs in a darkroom- all in a whirlwhind two-week period. Yup, we're impressed.

Photo (above) by Yuseff Randle, age 12



Photo (Above) by Rachel Mann, age 15


After the photography show, stick around for a fab fundraiser party from 9pm until 12am. Enjoy live music and drink oddities. We'll be selling brilliant posters with images from the summer.

The Urban Studio on MayorSlay.com!

When the fine folks at MayorSlay.com took a minute to ask The Urban Studio's Phil Valko about his favorite St. Louis sound, we had no idea that he would be featured on the MayorSlay.com podcast.

Check it out HERE.

The Urban Studio Summer Programs End with a Bang- Or in This Case, a Flash!

Session 2 of the Picture the Future rounded out a summer of creativity and excitement at the studio. Our talented 11-13 year old photographers produced amazing pictures! Daily adventures allowed us to explore St. Louis on bikes, in water, down slides and most importantly, through the lens.


Making posters about our community at the studio:


Yuseff snaps a photo at the zoo:



Teombi and photo instructor Matt enjoy the sculptures at Laumeier:



Braving St. Louis construction and heat waves for that perfect photograph:



Our crew and Jose the trailranger at the Mary Meachum Freedom crossing.


We want to thank all of the following folks & institutions for their support and involvement with Picture the Future. Without them, this program would not have been possible:
-Grace Hill
-The Linus Foundation
-The City Museum
-The Contemporary Art Museum
-Washington University
-Cbabi Bayoc
-Chinyere Oteh