Founded as the American Institute of Graphic Arts in 1914 as a small, exclusive club, AIGA is the oldest and largest professional membership organization for design. With more than 70 chapters, 18,000 members, and 150 student groups—AIGA works to enhance the value and deepen the impact of design across all disciplines on business, society, and our collective future.

The AIGA Saint Louis chapter works under the motto: Unite By Design. Their goal is to support and strengthen the local, diverse design community while advancing the understanding and value of design.

Albion Theatre is a professional, non-equity, theater company founded in 2022 which specializes in plays mainly from Britain but with occasional\ trips against the sea to Ireland.  Our productions will aim not only to entertain but to inform audiences of the social, political and cultural influences of the time.

The Bach Society of Saint Louis is an organization dedicated to performing choral works by Johann Sebastian Bach and other classical and contemporary composers. Under the direction of Dr. A. Dennis Sparger, the Society delivers a varied and exciting season to an ever more diverse public.

The Big Muddy Dance Company is a St. Louis-based repertory dance company which seeks to build a love of dance by providing fun, experiential, and highly entertaining performances. By engaging both emerging and established choreographers, collaborating across the community through senior outreach, and training future performers through a school and trainee program, The Big Muddy Dance Company constantly strives to invigorate life through dance.

Building Futures, Design and Build Workshops, supplements the education received by young people in the City of St. Louis by providing opportunities to learn twenty-first century skills such as problem-solving, critical thinking, communication, working as a team member and technical skills, needed to excel as a student, employee, family member, parent and member of the community.

Building Futures offer a curriculum for K-12. They provide free Saturday classes, classes in school during the day, and after-school and summer programs.

Circus Flora is a one-ring circus production, which tells a fresh new story each production with the energy of both modern and traditional performances. Circus Flora’s goal is to engage their audience members emotionally – while astounding physical feats instill a sense of jaw-dropping wonder.

Consuming Kinetics Dance Company is a 501c3 non-profit professional dance company and community dance education center in St. Louis, Missouri. CKDC specializes in a diverse blend of adult drop-in classes and runs a comprehensive youth program that educates children ages 3 – 18. CKDC is committed to making dance accessible to everyone by providing scholarship opportunities to youth and adults in need. CKDC’s program welcomes all levels of dancers including beginners, at every age. CKDC’s educational program also supports their mission to create job opportunities for full time artists. CKDC has a full concert season, producing two full-length professional dance concerts and over a dozen performances at community events and fundraisers annually.

Creative Exchange Lab (CEL) offers its members the resources needed to bring people, experts and ideas together to advocate for power of ‘good design’ and to employ the discipline of Architecture, Planning & Design for greater good and social Innovation where needed through practice of cross-pollination. CEL is an exhibition space and an incubator for ideas and projects to help improve the fabric of our neighborhoods and our cities by focusing on public Interest projects and use of art, culture and design as catalyst for economic development and improving quality of life for all.

 Creative Reaction Lab was founded in support of the Uprising in Ferguson. Today, Creative Reaction Lab is building a youth-led, community-centered movement of a new type of Civic Leader: Redesigners for Justice.

First Run Theatre provides a vehicle for regional playwrights to produce original, unpublished, never-produced works.

Fly North Theatricals is a STL-based theatre company producing new, local, accessible, high-quality works of musical theatre. Established in 2017 as a private vocal studio and publishing house for local composer, Colin Healy, the company finds its roots in ferocious originality while also promoting education through performance.

Founder/Educator, Harvey Lockhart and Heal Center for the Arts mentors at-risk youth ages 11-18 years living in St. Louis’ urban communities through high-quality after-school and during school vacations arts education programs as well as performance opportunities throughout the St. Louis region. In partnership with local schools and a roster of national instructors, Heal Center for the Arts nurtures each student’s unique talents across a broad spectrum of artistic disciplines.

Hope Create‘s mission is to empower youth/young adults in recovery from addiction, through a vibrant sober community, the exploration of expressive arts, and the development of entrepreneurial business skills.

Ignite Theatre Company is a one of a kind theater experience which includes camps, classes, private instruction, and full scale professional productions for youth age 5-18. Balancing quality arts programming with community-minded outreach, Ignite aims to not only create great performers but also help to create great people.

JPEK CreativeWorks is a fine arts company founded by Artistic Director, Joel P. E. King, to support the community through arts, entertainment, and education. JPEK has built a respectable organization that provides greater exposure through creative workshops, original stage plays and producing/promoting independent artists. Through this engagement, JPEK has formed relationships that have evolved and become lasting partnerships among corporate affiliates, celebrities, community leaders and die-hard supporters.

Karlovsky & Company Dance is a contemporary modern dance company dedicated to exploring and nurturing the art of dance with innovative choreography that illuminates the human experience. The company fosters collaborative relationships among musicians, visual artists, and choreographers reaching local, national, and international audiences through concert and informal performances, and dance education.

Max & Louie Productions enhance lives through the arts by presenting bold, premier plays and musical dramas that entertain and challenge, bringing artists and audiences together in a shared experience that illuminates life through joy, wonder, laughter and tears.

Inspired by the intelligence and emotional wisdom of young people, Metro Theater Company creates professional theater, fosters an inclusive community, and nurtures meaningful learning through the arts.

Kimbilio® means “safe haven” in Swahili. Kimbilio For Black Fiction is a community of writers and scholars committed to developing, empowering and sustaining fiction writers from the African diaspora and their stories.  Projects include readings, presentations at professional conferences, social media networking, book prizes, and an annual summer retreat for fiction writers who are members of the Kimbilio community.

The Midnight Company is a St. Louis-based enterprise, focusing on new and interesting work for the stage, screen and internet. The Midnight Company was founded in 1997 by Joe Hanrahan and David Wassilak. David left the Company in 2007 to help form The St. Louis Actors Studio.

New Line Theatre was created to involve the people of the St. Louis region in the creation and exploration of provocative, alternative, politically and socially relevant works of musical theatre – daring, muscular, intelligent theatre about politics, race, violence, drugs, sexuality, religion, art, obscenity, the media, and other contemporary issues. And a lot of four-letter words. And every now and then, a little nudity. And lots of rock and roll.

PEACE Weaving Wholeness is a nonprofit organization located in Old North St. Louis whose mission is to help women heal and remain whole through arts and culture-based, peer-support wellness circle groups. The organization grew out of research conducted by its Founder, Paulette Sankofa, Ed.D. through the Washington University School of Medicine School of Public Health.

Prison Performing Arts enrichies the lives of incarcerated individuals through the performing arts.

R-S Theatrics is dedicated to producing St. Louis premieres of thought-provoking works that demand conversation long after the applause has died down.

River Styx cultivates the literary arts in St. Louis and beyond through its magazine and community programs.

Since 1975, River Styx has published an international, award-winning magazine of poetry, fiction, essays, interviews, and art. Work first published in its pages has been included in many editions of The Best American Poetry, Best New Poets, New Stories from the South, and Pushcart Prize anthologies.

Saint Louis Ballet is a professional and innovative ballet company under the direction of former New York City Ballet principal dancer Gen Horiuchi. Comprised of 25 professional dancers from throughout the United States, Japan and Slovakia, the company presents both classic and contemporary ballets. Pointe to Succeed is Saint Louis Ballet’s ambitious outreach program, aimed at bringing the beauty, joy and discipline of ballet to underserved students in the region.

St. Louis Classical Guitar (SLCG) is a non-profit arts agency whose mission is to promote positive impact through classical guitar performance and education. Founded in 1963 by students of George C. Krick, SLCG is the third oldest organization in the nation centered around classical guitar. Now in 2023, their 60th anniversary year, SLCG seeks to serve the St. Louis community through innovative, high-quality, and relevant programming.

In 1946, Mrs. Fred Armstrong saw the need to establish “a facility for writers as a means for stimulating the writing of poetry.” She became Saint Louis Poetry Center’s first Chairman. Having continued since Mrs. Armstrong’s visionary inception, Saint Louis Poetry Center is the oldest poetry organization of its kind west of the Mississippi River.

Saint Louis Story Stitchers is comprised of professional artists and African American youth ages 16-24, working together to create social change with a current focus on gun violence prevention. Story Stitchers works to promote a better educated, more peaceful and caring region through the creation and dissemination of original art. Public presentations are designed to take original art into neighborhoods, cultural and educational centers, and on to the stages of the Kranzberg Arts Foundation in the Grand Center Arts District, where Story Stitchers have been in residence since 2014. Artists run a Storefront Studio in the historic Loop District at 616 N Skinker Blvd.

Saint Louis University Theatre is the company-in-residence in The Department of Fine and Performing Arts. A collaborative effort of students, faculty and staff, the U Theatre seeks to provide students with performance, design and technical opportunities while telling stories that both reflect and shape society. The department of Fine and Performing Arts, including its programs in Art History, Music, Studio Art and Theatre, is committed to contributing to the cultural landscape of the University and larger Saint Louis community through performances, exhibitions, presentations and publications.

Co-founded by Lyah B. LeFlore-Ituen, the Shirley Bradley LeFlore Foundation is a literary arts organization and scholarship fund named for her late mother, who was St. Louis Poet Laureate Emeritus.

St Lou Fringe connects cutting edge performing arts with accessible, affordable performances for audiences. St Lou Fringe supports established and emerging artists by providing a professional setting to showcase their work. St Lou Fringe seeks to promote developing neighborhoods as opportune space for creative and economic growth. St Lou Fringe builds community by connecting brave artists with bold audiences.

St. Louis Black Authors of Children’s Literature is committed to fostering awareness about the importance of early literacy by creating innovative opportunities for all kids to have access to Black children’s literature.

Storiespeak is a commitment to engaging people in writing, speaking, and performing their own stories.  As a professional actor with NOW Talent Agency, playwright, blogger, and story coach, Anna Bushlack brings more than 15 years experience of teaching and journeying with people to find their voice – the language of their own stories, their storiespeak – on the page or the stage.

Jane Ibur was appointed Poet Laureate for the City of St. Louis on April 12, 2019.

Ibur began writing poems in middle school which developed into a career of writing, teaching, and promoting poetry. An alumna of Webster University, her teaching efforts include being a founding poet educator with Community Arts Training program of the Regional Arts Commission.

For nineteen years she co-produced/co-hosted Literature for the Halibut on KDHX community radio.

As a poet, Ibur authored two collections of poems and has been included in over 50 literary anthologies and magazines.

St. Louis Shakespeare Festival produces extraordinary professional Shakespeare, culminating with a free production in Forest Park, and celebrates the language of Shakespeare and artists inspired by his works. Year-round, STL Shakes engages citizens in the schools, in the streets, and in the park. With a commitment to community, conversation, and collaboration, the theme of unexpected theatre drives STL Shakes’s creative and producing choices.

St. Louis Volunteer Lawyers and Accountants for the Arts (VLAA) supports the bi-state creative community by providing free legal and accounting assistance and a wide variety of affordable educational programs. VLAA serves artists of every discipline and career level, nonprofit cultural organizations and small arts-related businesses. The nonprofit, tax-exempt organization proudly offers rewarding volunteer opportunities for more than 325 accountants and lawyers.

Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis enriches the cultural life of St. Louis by producing an annual theater festival and other artistic and educational events that celebrate the art and influence of Tennessee Williams.

Tesseract Theatre provides local playwrights the chance to have their work be part of a series of dramatic readings, possibly leading to a full production slot in an upcoming season.

Upstream Theater is a professional production company dedicated to presenting new works and inventive stagings of classical plays, with a special focus on joint ventures involving artists from other countries. Upstream offers theater that is spiritual and sentient, witty and engaged, multilayered and syncretic. Their goal is to move you, and to move you to think.

Urban Harvest STL transforms under-utilized city spaces into productive urban farms to enable equitable access to healthy food for St. Louisans, regardless of socioeconomic status, race or location. They educate the community to raise awareness and enable people to not only learn how to grow food but to contribute to their impact. Urban Harvest STL’s network of farms are educational platforms for sustainable food systems, food security solutions, green buildings, and innovative forms of urban agriculture.

Urban Artist Alliance for Child Development (UrbArts) is a 501c3 multidisciplinary arts and culture nonprofit organization that operates a gallery in Old North Saint Louis. Founded by MK Stallings in 2001, our mission is to create platforms and platform creatives for youth and community development whether it is at the gallery or elsewhere. To continue the work of the late Dr. Michael Castro, UrbArts produces the Brick City Poetry Festival and supports the St. Louis Poet Laureate. UrbArts administers programs such as poetry slam for youth and adults as well as the Youth Poet Laureate of St. Louis program in conjunction with Urban Word in New York.