A documentary honoring the 50th anniversary of the University of Missouri–St. Louis and Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech is bound to spark some lively discussions.

That’s what the creators have in mind when they show “UMSL: 50 Years of Fulfilling the Dream” from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. April 4 at UMSL at Grand Center, 3651 Olive in St. Louis. Discussion on diversity and light refreshments will follow the documentary.

The video explores the role and importance of diversity in the university’s past, evaluates its current accomplishments and challenges and looks toward future progress. UMSL students, faculty, staff and alumni from different generations and backgrounds share their personal experiences and insights.

The documentary is a joint effort of UMSL’s Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity and the Missouri Institute of Mental Health. The event is also being sponsored by St. Louis Public Radio | 90.7 KWMU and the Diversity Awareness Partnership.

Contact Deborah Burris at 314-516-5695 or dburris@umsl.edu for more information.

St. Louis Public Radio | 90.7 KWMU will air a special live broadcast of “St. Louis on the Air” Feb. 11 from UMSL at Grand Center, 3651 Olive St. in St. Louis. The one-hour broadcast of the “St. Louis Mayoral Primary Forum” will begin at 11 a.m. and will include the three candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for St. Louis mayor — incumbent Mayor Francis Slay, Aldermanic President Lewis Reed and former St. Louis Alderman Jimmie Matthews. “St. Louis on the Air” host Don Marsh will serve as the forum’s moderator.

During the broadcast, St. Louis Public Radio will also host a live online chat, open to the public, at stlpublicradio.org.

Seating will be available to the public on a first-come, first-served basis and will begin promptly at 10:30 a.m. until all seats are filled. There will not be any overflow seating or standing room available. Doors will be closed at 10:55 a.m. and no one will be permitted to enter the room at that time. Political and candidate signage or banners will not be permitted.

Audio of the broadcast will be available later that afternoon online at stlpublicradio.org and will be rebroadcast on St. Louis Public Radio at 10 p.m. Feb. 11. In collaboration with Nine Network of Public Media, the forum will also be broadcast at 10:30 p.m. on Feb. 11 on the station’s main channel Nine PBS, 9.1, and at 8 p.m. Feb. 11 on Nine World, 9.3. Additionally, the forum will air on Feb. 17 at 11 a.m. on Nine PBS, 9.1.

UMSL at Grand Center houses new university classrooms, faculty offices and St. Louis Public Radio | 90.7 KWMU, UMSL's award-winning NPR station. (Photo by August Jennewein)

A celebration weekend with more than 800 students, alumni, faculty and friends marked the grand opening of the University of Missouri–St. Louis’ newest building – UMSL at Grand Center.

The three-story, $12 million project features a saw-tooth facade and large, plentiful exterior windows (9,000 square feet of glass in all). The building is located at 3651 Olive St. in the heart of Grand Center, a burgeoning entertainment and media district in St. Louis’ Midtown neighborhood. UMSL at Grand Center houses new university classrooms, faculty offices and St. Louis Public Radio | 90.7 KWMU, the university’s award-winning NPR station.

The celebration began with a reception Sept. 14 to thank donors, and a public open house was held the following day. St. Louis Public Radio aired a live broadcast of the open house festivities, which featured tours and a guest appearance by Renee Montagne, co-host of NPR’s “Morning Edition.” Live music included the premiere of an original fanfare by composer and UMSL Professor of Music Barbara Harbach and performances by national recording artists Brian Owens, BM 2008, and Erin Bode.

Montagne, St. Louis Public Radio General Manager Tim Eby and UMSL Chancellor Tom George cut the ribbon and welcomed guests to the building.

“I couldn’t be more excited about what we have here,” George says. “Classes have started. St. Louis Public Radio is on the air, and we are thrilled to have the St. Louis community see the exciting things the University of Missouri–St. Louis is doing in Grand Center.”

A blend of austere simplicity and modern comfort, the building’s interior spaces are largely clad in white and designed to foster engagement. The lobby includes interactive electronic boards that display a building donor list with photos, facility directory and other information.

The Monsanto Community Education Center was funded by a $1 million gift from Monsanto. The center occupies the entire first floor and features three multimedia editing rooms for UMSL students and two classrooms. (See related story: New building, new scholar, new media.)

The center includes a community room that seats more than 100 people and enables the university and St. Louis Public Radio to offer public programs, such as educational lectures, town hall meetings and live radio productions.

“UMSL at Grand Center is a special place, not only for our staff and the students who attend class here, but for the entire St. Louis community,” says Eby, the St. Louis Public Radio manager.

The station broadcast much of the building’s celebration weekend from the community room, and NPR aired its midday news-talk program, “Talk of the Nation,” there on Oct. 3. A live studio audience was on hand as host Neal Conan and guests previewed and discussed the first of three presidential debates.

After broadcasting for more than 40 years from the university’s North Campus, St. Louis Public Radio aired its first broadcast from the new space on June 18. Administrative, underwriting and membership staff moved from the station’s previous location in Lucas Hall to the new digs in the weeks that followed.

The station, which reaches nearly 235,000 listeners a week, occupies about two-thirds of the 27,000-square-foot UMSL at Grand Center. The building includes nine broadcast studios and expanded office space. Eby says the new working spaces “accommodate St. Louis Public Radio’s increased investment in reporters and producers to cover the St. Louis area.”

Another key attribute of the building is its location in Grand Center. The university and St. Louis Public Radio now have a presence in a flourishing part of St. Louis. Within a few blocks are the Fox Theatre, The Sheldon Concert Hall, Grandel Theatre, Powell Hall, Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis and The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts.

Next door to UMSL at Grand Center at 3655 Olive St. are: Nine Network of Public Media, the home of PBS station KETC (Channel 9); HEC-TV, a producer of St. Louis-area education, arts and cultural television programming; and the St. Louis Beacon, a nonprofit online news provider.

St. Louis Public Radio has partnered with the three organizations on a number of projects, and the station and St. Louis Beacon signed a letter of intent in October to explore the formation of an alliance to better serve the St. Louis area through journalism.

“We see the digital revolution as a historic opportunity to further establish St. Louis as a leader in journalism innovation,” Eby says. “As we plan together, the core idea that will guide us is the question: Will this help us better serve the community?”

UMSL at Grand Center was designed by architects Heather Woofter and Sung Ho Kim of Axi:Ome of St. Louis. Chiodini Associates served as the architect of record. S.M. Wilson was the general contractor. CBC Real Estate Group, formerly BC Development, is the developer. The university has a lease-purchase agreement with the Kansas City, Mo.-based company.

This story was originally published in the fall 2012 issue of UMSL Magazine.

UMSL Assistant Professor of Media Studies and Art BC Biermann (right) teaches his students about augmented reality and other emerging media from the university's newest building – UMSL at Grand Center. (Photo by August Jennewein)

BC Biermann peers at his smartphone’s screen as he points the phone’s camera lens at a graphic design projected on a classroom wall. Students huddle behind him to get a look at the display. Through the phone, the static image on the wall suddenly comes to life. An airplane flies. Words flow into view. Cars roll along a street.

This overlaying of virtual objects and information on the real world is known as augmented reality. Biermann not only produced the classroom AR content but studies and teaches AR and other emerging media as an assistant professor of media studies and art at the University of Missouri–St. Louis.

“My academic interest is really in art and public space,” he says. “So, I use technology as a way to bring ideas or concepts to bear in reality.”

Re*public is an AR project that Biermann created along with two colleagues from New York. The project explores how technology and creativity can re-imagine public spaces. The trio designed an experimental software application for mobile devices that enables smartphone and tablet users to resurface physical buildings in urban centers by overlaying digital content onto the physical environment.

“[AR] allows us to engage public spaces in a way that’s legal,” he says. “We can put art on buildings that we couldn’t do physically.”

About a dozen students are taking Biermann’s first course at UMSL this semester. It’s called “Fundamentals of Emerging Media,” and he’s teaching in one of the classrooms in the Monsanto Community Education Center at UMSL at Grand Center. The students are learning about the mobile Web, mobile Web applications, AR and video projection mapping.

Prior to taking the position at UMSL, Biermann worked in Southern California as a university professor and tech developer. He says he was attracted to the job here because emerging media is a new academic offering from the College of Fine Arts and Communication, and he wants to help mold the courses.

“They were looking for someone to guide the new program in new media, and really get into the program on the ground floor,” he says. “To have a chance to be really creative and build a program was exciting to me.”

He also was won over by being part of a new facility with top-notch technology and by the building being located within Grand Center, a district in St. Louis’ Midtown neighborhood and a hub for the arts, entertainment and public media.

“To have access to other media outlets, other creative cultural institutions and other private design companies is very important,” he says. “To create collaborative public-space art projects with these other institutions is definitely on my map.”

This story was originally published in the fall 2012 issue of UMSL Magazine.

UMSL political scientist Todd Swanstrom will examine the condition of neighborhoods in St. Louis and St. Louis County at a forum beginning at 7 p.m. Nov. 15 at UMSL at Grand Center, 3651 Olive St. in St. Louis. (Photo by August Jennewein)

Great neighborhoods make for a great region, according to a new joint series between the University of Missouri–St. Louis and Washington University in St. Louis.

The first forum in the “Great Neighborhoods for a Great Region” series, “Neighborhood Change in St. Louis: What’s Happening, Why It Matters and What We Can Do About it,” will explore why strengthening neighborhoods is important to regional growth and how the region can support communities. It will be from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Nov. 15 at UMSL at Grand Center, 3651 Olive St. in St. Louis.

Todd Swanstrom, the E. Desmond Lee Endowed Professor of Community Collaboration and Public Policy Administration at UMSL, will be the featured presenter. His report will examine the condition of neighborhoods in St. Louis and St. Louis County. He’ll also explore the broad regional trends that shape neighborhood development, comparing St. Louis to other similar metro areas in the Midwest.

“In total population, the St. Louis metro area is performing better than some of our peers, but the center city has lost considerable population and we are building many more housing units than there are new households in the region, leading to abandonment of housing in the urban core,” Swanstrom said.

Neighborhood change within the urban core is truly a “tale of two cities,” he added.

“Many neighborhoods are attracting new households and investment while others are suffering from concentrated poverty and decline,” he said. “The crazy quilt of neighborhoods in urban St. Louis represents both an opportunity and a challenge – an opportunity to build on the positive trend toward urban living and a challenge to make sure the neighborhoods left behind do not fall into social decay, pulling previously stable neighborhoods down with them.”

The event will also feature a discussion panel composed of the following:

• Amelia Bond, president and chief executive officer of the Greater Saint Louis Community Foundation
• Rodney Crim, executive director of the St. Louis Development Corporation
• Joe Reagan, president and CEO of the St. Louis Regional Chamber & Growth Association

Henry Webber, executive vice chancellor for administration at Washington University, will moderate the forum.

A reception will immediately follow the forum. Email policyforum@wustl.edu for reservations and more information.

Swanstrom discussed his research Nov. 12 on “Total Information AM” on KMOX (1120 AM).

Representatives from St. Louis Public Radio 90.7 | KWMU, UMSL, Grand Center Inc. and the Nine Network of Public Media attend a groundbreaking ceremony Oct. 30 for the Public Media Commons. It will be built on Olive Street in St. Louis between the UMSL at Grand Center and the Nine Network of Public Media buildings.

Ground was broken Tuesday for a one-of-a-kind space where art, culture and public dialogue come together in an open environment using interactive technology, large-screen projections, performance spaces and a lot more.

St. Louis’ Public Media Commons, 3655 Olive St. in Grand Center, is expected to be completed next year. The announcement was made by the three project partners: Nine Network of Public Media, the University of Missouri–St. Louis and Grand Center Inc.

Nearly 100 people filled what has been the parking lot for the Nine Network for the groundbreaking of a new destination space located between Nine Network and the new UMSL at Grand Center building, home of St. Louis Public Radio 90.7 | KWMU, 3651 Olive St.

“This will be the only place in the country where arts, education and public media come together in an interactive outdoor space specifically designed to engage people in the cultural life of the community,” said Jack Galmiche, Nine Network’s president and chief executive officer. “It will be a powerful expression of how we envision the future of public media.”

Galmiche said the entire east wall of Nine Network would be re-skinned along with a south-facing wall of the Sheldon Concert Hall and used for large-screen projections. The commons will also contain performance stages for small groups, multiple seating areas, green space and a window into Nine Network’s studio. The space will also become part of a pedestrian corridor running through Grand Center linking the district from Grandel Square on the north to Lindell Boulevard on the south.

UMSL Chancellor Tom George said he was thrilled with the university’s recent move to Grand Center and was looking forward to the many media, arts and education partnerships being created.

“We are particularly excited about the classes we are offering here in Grand Center in the rapidly expanding field of new media,” George said. “The new Public Media Commons will provide a showcase for our students and faculty.”

The new $12 million UMSL at Grand Center building officially opened its doors in September. St. Louis Public Radio occupies approximately two-thirds of the building. UMSL has dedicated the other third to interactive classrooms and editing rooms for classes in new media.

Financing for the Public Media Commons was provided by Emerson, Ken and Nancy Kranzberg, Emily Rauh Pulitzer, Edward Jones, Interco Charitable Trust, The Trio Foundation of St. Louis and the Richard A. Baker Foundation.

The project was designed by a team from Powers Bowersox Associates Inc. led by Ben Gilmartin, AIA, who previously worked on the Lincoln Center Promenade. Other elements of the Public Media Commons were designed by Electrosonic, Inc.; dlandstudio, LLC; Randy Burkett Lighting Design, Inc.; and HDR, Inc. Electrosonic provided audio/visual design and implementation on the Newseum in Washington, D.C., and Millennium Park in Chicago.

The St. Louis Public Radio | 90.7 KWMU and Quincy Public Radio | 90.3 WQUB Fall Membership Campaign concluded Friday evening raising $478,000 from 3,900 pledges. Of the total pledges, 1,400 were from first-time contributors. The campaign, which began on Oct. 11, is one of two annual, on-air membership campaigns held by the station.

“We are extremely grateful for the generous support from our listeners during this drive and all throughout the year,” St. Louis Public Radio General Manager Tim Eby said. “A special thanks to our new Quincy Public Radio members. We look forward to serving St. Louis and Quincy with the best public radio programming available for many years to come.”

Proceeds from all membership campaigns at St. Louis Public Radio allow the station to purchase public radio programs, as well as fund local news production and general station operations.

Quincy Public Radio is part of the St. Louis Public Radio Network. St. Louis Public Radio is a service of the University of Missouri–St. Louis.

Neal Conan, host of "Talk of the Nation," was in St. Louis on Oct. 3 for a live broadcast from UMSL at Grand Center. He is pictured here in a file photo from 2008 when he broadcast live from the Touhill Center at UMSL. (Photo by August Jennewein)

Wednesday night’s presidential debate might have taken place in Denver, but the University of Missouri–St. Louis at Grand Center took center stage for NPR listeners. The new home of St. Louis Public Radio | 90.7 KWMU was the setting for a live broadcast of “Talk of the Nation.”

Host Neal Conan and his guests previewed the debate, discussed national and regional news of the day and provided post-debate analysis. A live studio audience watched and participated in the national broadcast of the program.

Visit the “Talk of the Nation” website to listen to the Oct. 3 episode broadcast from UMSL at Grand Center. Visit the Beyond November website to listen to the post-debate analysis. Beyond November is a collaborative effort of St. Louis nonprofit media outlets including St. Louis Public Radio, Nine Network of Public Media and the St. Louis Beacon.

With the sun just right, “UMSL” reflects through the window onto the lobby floor of UMSL at Grand Center, the new home to St. Louis Public Radio | 90.7 KWMU. The public is invited to tour the building at an open house from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sept. 15. Renee Montagne, co-host of NPR’s “Morning Edition,” will be on hand to greet visitors.

The photograph was taken by UMSL photographer August Jennewein and is the latest to be featured in Eye on UMSL.

UMSL at Grand Center will open its doors to the public on Sept. 15 for a ribbon cutting ceremony and open house. The new $12 million facility makes UMSL neighbors with the facility that houses Nine Network of Public Media, HEC-TV and the St. Louis Beacon (pictured in the background) as well as the Fabulous Fox, Sheldon Concert Hall and Contemporary Art Museum. (Photo by August Jennewein)

Stand on the patio of the new University of Missouri–St. Louis at Grand Center building, home to St. Louis Public Radio | 90.7 KWMU, and see if you can identify its neighbors. There’s the Fabulous Fox, Sheldon Concert Hall, Grandel Theater, Powell Hall, Contemporary Art Museum and Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts. Next door is Nine Network of Public Media, HEC-TV and the St. Louis Beacon.

The public will have an opportunity to get the same view from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sept. 15 at a ribbon cutting ceremony and open house for the new $12 million facility located at 3651 Olive Street. Renee Montagne, West Coast host of NPR’s popular “Morning Edition,” will greet visitors to the new space. Music, a live radio broadcast, cake and some of St. Louis’ finest food trucks will be on hand for the festivities.

“Classes have started, St. Louis Public Radio is on the air, and we are thrilled to have the St. Louis community see the exciting things the University of Missouri–St. Louis is doing in Grand Center,” Chancellor Tom George said. “We are certainly looking forward to increasing further our working relationships with our many other arts, education and media partners, such as the Nine Network of Public Media, St. Louis Symphony, Jazz at the Bistro, Contemporary Art Museum, the Sheldon and the Kranzberg Arts Center.”

The building’s eye-popping design filled with the newest technology and its proximity to so many of St. Louis’ art and media treasures should wow visitors.

On display will be the newly-equipped, high-tech studios and offices of St. Louis Public Radio with its monochromatic white walls and furnishings. UMSL’s classrooms with the latest computers, projectors, editing rooms and offices focus on the study of new and digital media. The ground floor contains the Monsanto Community Education Center.

The radio station went on air in its new quarters June 18. Administrative, underwriting, membership and development staff packed up their offices on the UMSL campus and moved into their new home in the weeks that followed.

“UMSL at Grand Center is a special place, not only for our staff and the students who attend class here, but for the entire St. Louis Community,” said Tim Eby, general manager of St. Louis Public Radio. “This spacious new, state-of the-art building allows us to engage people in new ways such as holding live broadcasts and musical performances, hosting public forums and town hall meetings, and providing increased educational opportunities through a variety of college internships – not to mention closely connecting us with many of our corporate sponsors and community partners.”

Once the grand opening festivities end, demolition will begin on the parking lot and wall between the new building and Nine Network.

According to Eby, plans call for construction of the Public Media Commons where the community can meet and experience public media through interactive experiences and digital displays. One wall of Nine Network and a back wall of the Sheldon will be reskinned to accommodate images projected from the roof of the new UMSL at Grand Center building.

The Public Media Commons is being developed by the University of Missouri–St. Louis, St. Louis Public Radio, Nine Network of Public Media and Grand Center.

The new three-story, 27,000 square foot building was designed by St. Louis architects Heather Woofter and Sung Ho Kim of Axi:Ome. B.C. Development Co. from Kansas City, Mo. was the developer; S.M. Wilson was general contractor. Chiodini Associates was the architect of record.