Lisa Harper Chang and her son Liam.

In April, I gave birth to our first child, a little boy, whose first cries announcing his arrival into this world reached superhuman pitches–so piercing and consistent that by the third hour, my husband and I both questioned our decision to become parents. Those difficult yet precious days have faded into a sleep-deprived haze, but I find it serendipitous that his first months coincided with the opening of stylus, as both have given me different yet intimate experiences with the notion of call and response.

Few calls rival the primal nature of the cries of a newborn, and the urge to respond transcends, at least in my experience, reason. So, too, does the nature of the response, as I’ve found myself responding with more energy than I could ever have fathomed having on this little sleep and less regard for propriety than I feel comfortable admitting. The past few months have been my own personal experiment on how “call and response” can dictate one’s life, down to the minute details – how one responds emotionally, physically, intellectually and how this newly unfolding relationship determines how or if you call to others and what responses you expect, desire, appreciate, and eschew.

This notion of “call and response” has permeated all of my thoughts, particularly as we sought to develop programming that would amplify and activate Ann’s exhibition in different ways, calling to the many varied facets of the St. Louis community to respond, interact, engage, and share. Using the instruments of analysis and exploration provided in the exhibition, we seek to discover points of connection, dis-connection, and how those are reinforced by how we call to each other and how we respond or don’t respond to those calls. The power of language (chosen, spoken, and unspoken), coupled with the basic human desire to find one’s place among others, can connect or isolate individuals to or from communities and communities to or from each other. Through our stylus community programming, we hope to take a deeper look at how St. Louis’ many diverse communities call and respond to each other and how media and language facilitate or hinder that process.

We are privileged to partner with the St. Louis Public Library, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and numerous schools in the area. As the programming unfolds, I hope that you will respond to our call and interact with the exhibition and its programming, helping us build a more comprehensive, nuanced picture of the beautiful complexity that is the Greater St. Louis community.