by Michael R. Allen
(Teen participants in the Adventures in Media program stand in front of a mural on the 14th Street Mall designed and installed by The Urban Studio.)
Hopefully people are following along with the blog entries produced by the teenagers who are taking part in the Adventures in Media Teen Program. Sponsored by the Urban Studio, Trailnet and KDHX, Adventures in Media is a two-week program that examines the role of media in our dietary practices to demonstrate the nuts and bolts of how media is produced. Sessions take place at the Urban Studio, 2815 N. 14th Street in Old North St. Louis, as well other locations on the near north side. The Urban Studio is basically a storefront space reclaimed by imaginative neighborhood residents interested in using creativity to shape and strengthen community. It’s one of the many bright spots making the near north side a lively and changing place to live.
One of the other places, the New Roots Urban Farm in St. Louis Place, is a logical part of this program. There, the teens learned a lot about the healthy, local organic food that isn’t often promoted through mainstream media.
As part of the program, the teens are making some media of their own — daily blog entries with photographs that chronicle this summer’s experience.
Read those blog entries here.