Grouphug Was More Than Pictures

Yesterday I wrote about the idea of small projects to show our attachment to St. Louis. One such project happened  earlier this year, Grouphug:

We are asking you and your friends to scour the city for your favorite people, places, and objects—ones that define our city and/or help to explain why you love St. Louis—and HUG these subjects for the camera. Get a friend to snap a photograph of you with your arms wrapped around your favorite St. Louis building, business, monument, person, etc. On June 2, all participants and friends are invited to attend the GROUPHUG party to view pics, imbibe, listen to music and express your love for STL.

Cleveland-based Saving Cities will be filming portions of the event and conducting interviews to document grassroots efforts to “save” Rust Belt cities from the community up. Put forward your best photograph—and our city’s best face—for our guests from Cleveland. For more information, visit www.savingcities.com.

Here is the 15-minute slide show, I’m at 11:55:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9L0OLyIda8

A jury picked 10 finalists and those of us that attended the event on June 2nd voted, resulting in the top three (click to view larger image):

It was an outstanding project and the event was great. That night I saw a group of young folks embracing their city. Community was being built face-to-face. This didn’t exist 21 years ago when I loved to St. Louis as an idealistic 23 year old.What this group of 20 & 30 somethings will accomplish in the next 21 years is exciting to think about.

– Steve Patterson