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Cut & Paste podcast: Antionette Carroll on how designers can solve social problems

Antionette Carroll in a Faces of the Movement portrait
Antionette Carroll
Antionette Carroll in a Faces of the Movement portrait

St. Louis designer Antionette Carroll doesn’t know what might resolve thorny and multi-faceted problems like racism, stereotypical thinking and gentrification. But she thinks design professionals — and others like you and me — might have bits and pieces of solutions within ourselves.

Carroll launched a nonprofit called Creative Reaction Lab after Michael Brown was shot and killed by a Ferguson police officer. She wanted to challenge creative thinkers to address institutionalized inequality and other social issues.

In our Cut & Paste podcast, she tells us her idea has given birth to a card game about what police protection should look like, a chalk project challenging stereotypes and a match-up system for volunteers.

Here’s some of what you’ll hear in the podcast:

  • Carroll, on how our living/working environment is all part of a plan. “Even the way we walk around on the streets and the room has been designed.” Tweet #cutpastestl
  • Her advice to designers about pro bono work: “You don’t just have to create a logo. You can create a movement.” Tweet #cutpastestl
  • On why she has protesters talk with designers: “Because they’re the true experts. They are the ones that say, ‘This is what I’m living.’” Tweet #cutpastestl
Cut & Paste

Look for new Cut & Paste (#cutpastestl) podcasts every few weeks on our website. You can also view all previous podcasts, which focus on a diverse collection of visual and performing artists, and subscribe to Cut & Paste through this link.

Follow Willis and Nancy on Twitter: @WillisRArnold and @NancyFowlerSTL

Please help St. Louis Public Radio find artists to feature on Cut & Paste. Tell us which artists and cultural themes deserve a closer look.

Send questions and comments about this story to feedback@stlpublicradio.org.

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Nancy is a veteran journalist whose career spans television, radio, print and online media. Her passions include the arts and social justice, and she particularly delights in the stories of people living and working in that intersection.