OLD NORTH SNOW CONE: crushed ice culture
Tomorrow in Old North St. Louis is the Crown Square Ribbon-Cutting & Street Festival. Crown Square is the most significant redevelopment to take place in the Old North Saint Louis historic neighborhood in many decades. This ambitious undertaking includes the historic rehabilitation of 27 buildings and replacing the two- block long “pedestrian mall” with new streets, sidewalks, lighting, parking and other public amenities. If you care about historic preservation, sustainable development, and transformative, community-based neighborhood revitalization…then you must come and celebrate. I will be leading a performance entitled ”OLD NORTH SNOW CONE: crushed ice culture”.

On July 29, 2010, artist Juan William Chávez will lead a performance
for the grand opening of the Crown Square in Old North St. Louis. The
performance is a snow cone stand in which Chavez will ask members of
the audience to create a drawing in exchange for a snow cone. In
addition, Chavez will incorporate snow cone drawings that were created
during a workshop with children from the Old North neighborhood.
Chávez worked with education and program consultant, Kathryn
Adamchick, to create a workshop that focused on snow cone culture and
its relationship to the community. The children viewed a slide show of
various snow cones from cultures around the world. After they finished
examining unfamiliar flavors and seemingly strange practices, like
sprinkling chili powder on a snow cone or topping it with kidney
beans, they had an opportunity to design their own snow cone flavors.
The workshop concluded with the children sampling some of the exotic
fruits and flavors they saw in the slide show such as fresh mango,
guava juice, and hot pepper jelly. The workshop took place at the Urban Studio Café.
Who - Juan William Chavez, artist
What - Performance - OLD NORTH SNOW CONE: crushed ice culture Grand
opening of the Crown Square in Old North St. Louis.
When - July 29, 2010 4-8 p.m.
Where - Old North St. Louis- 2600-2700 bocks of N. 14th Street
Why - For the grand opening of the Crown Square





This Saturday night June 5 from 7 to 10 pm White Flag Projects invites everyone to join us for the opening reception of Ernest Trova (1927-2009), the first posthumous survey of artwork by the St. Louis native who died last year at the age of 82. Focusing on the artist’s serial use of abbreviated human forms, the exhibition will include sculpture, painting, and prints spanning Trova’s 60-year career, including major works from his notable Falling Man series, as well as many artworks that have gone unseen for more than 40 years. The exhibition remains on view through July 17, 2010.



Greg Stimac is a Chicago-based artist who currently whose solo exhibition of work is currently on view at White Flag Projects. Below is an interview I did with Greg, where he discusses his artistic process, the White Flag show, and some of the themes that recur in his work.