st. louis
Neighborhood Storytelling Practice
A Resident-Led, Healing-Centered Storytelling Ecosystem in North St. Louis
The Neighborhood Storytelling Practice (NSTP) is a place-based pilot initiative from Invest STL designed to amplify resident voices, build neighborhood pride, and shift how stories about North St. Louis are told and understood.
Overview
From May 2026 – January 2027, the first cohort of the practice will be in Greater Ville, Kingsway East, and The Ville. Created alongside residents and community partners, NSTP supports neighbors in exploring and shaping their own stories — and in helping others do the same — through creative, place-based storytelling.
At its core, the practice recognizes residents as the primary narrators of their neighborhood’s past, present, and future.
Why Storytelling?
Stories shape how communities are seen, valued, and invested in. Too often, narratives about Black neighborhoods are incomplete or harmful, focusing only on loss or deficit.
The Neighborhood Storytelling Practice (NSTP) exists to challenge those narratives by uplifting authentic, resident-led perspectives grounded in lived experience, memory, and place. By centering storytelling as a form of power, healing, and connection, NSTP helps transform how the region understands and engages with North St. Louis communities
Memorialize the Past | Magnify the Present | Manifest the Future
Stories are essential to how we understand ourselves, our communities, and the world around us.
NSTP Purpose
The Neighborhood Storytelling Practice aims to:
- Elevate residents as the primary storytellers of their neighborhoods
- Honor community history, memory, and lived experience through place-based storytelling
- Build sustainable, resident-led storytelling capacity
- Create multiple ways for stories to be shared, experienced, and engaged with
- Increase regional awareness and understanding across neighborhoods and institutions
Guiding Principles
People-Centered + Relationship Based
Residents shape the design, tone, medium, and meaning of their storytelling work.
Place-Centered + Historically Rooted
Stories honor personal memory, collective history, and the cultural legacy of Greater Ville, Kingsway East, and The Ville.
Healing-Centered + Trauma-Informed
Emotional safety, agency, restoration, and care are prioritized throughout the process.
Co-Designed + Collaborative
The work is created with residents and partners, not for them.
Accessible + Inclusive
No prior storytelling or artistic experience is required. Multiple creative forms are supported.
Sustainable + Long-Term
The goal is to cultivate ongoing, community-owned storytelling capacity that lasts beyond a single cohort.
Who Might Consider Applying
This may be of interest to residents who:
- Live in, work in, were displaced from, or have a deep connection to Greater Ville, Kingsway East, or The Ville
- Are 18 or older
- Are passionate about their neighborhood’s stories, history, or memories
- Want space to reflect, create, and connect with other residents
- Are interested in storytelling as a form of expression, healing, or community care
- Want to explore creative mediums like writing, audio, photography, art, or performance
- Are open to learning and growing alongside neighbors
Interested applicants do not need to be a writer, artist, or public speaker to apply.
Core NSTP Components
Resident Storytelling Cohort
From May 2026 – January 2027, a cohort of residents from The Ville, Greater Ville, and Kingsway East will participate in a nine-month immersive storytelling journey.
Participants (Resident Storytellers) will engage in:
- Story harvesting and sharing
- Individual and collective memory mapping
- Oral and place-based history
- Creative medium exploration
- Workshops with artists and storytellers
- One-on-one mentorship
- Story conducting training
- Collective reflection and healing practices
Each resident storyteller will produce a personal or place-based story in the medium of their choice and gain tools to help neighbors uncover and share their own stories.
Creative Medium Exploration + Production
Resident storytellers are supported in exploring a range of creative forms, including:
- Audio storytelling
- Photography
- Visual art and illustration
- Writing and poetry
- Performance
- Mixed and hybrid media
The practice includes hands-on labs, open studio time, field trips, walking tours, and production support. Teaching artists and creative practitioners are compensated for their time, expertise, and mentorship.
Story
Conducting
Toward the end of the cohort, resident storytellers are introduced to story conducting — the practice of helping others uncover and express stories with care, consent, and intention.
This builds a sustainable, community-owned model for storytelling that extends beyond individual participants and supports long-term narrative preservation and activation.
Archiving, Exhibitions + Community Activation
Stories created through the practice may be shared through:
- Neighborhood-based exhibitions or installations
- Public events and gatherings
- Walking tours
- Publications or partner activations
Each resident storyteller decides if, when, and how their story is shared. Community partners supporting archiving, exhibitions, or public programs are also compensated.
Intended Impact
Through the Neighborhood Storytelling Practice, we aim to support:
- Creative ecosystem growth by uplifting residents, artists, and culture bearers
- Neighborhood power through resident-led storytelling and facilitation
- Long-term storytelling infrastructure rooted in place and community
- Community healing, especially following the May 2025 tornado
- Narrative reframing that challenges harmful representations of Black neighborhoods
Opportunities for Collaboration
The Neighborhood Storytelling Practice welcomes collaboration with:
- Artists and cultural practitioners
- Neighborhood organizations
- Cultural institutions and archives
- Healing and creative arts organizations
- Media partners
Collaboration may include hosting workshops, sharing space, co-creating events, supporting archiving, or aligning long-term storytelling strategies. Community-based partners are compensated for their contributions.
Get Involved
Interested in joining the cohort?
Contact
Email comms@investstl.org | Call 314-399-8812
Download Our Handouts
Learn more about this initiative and help spread the word.
> Potential ApplicantsÂ
> Potential Collaborators