Nominate yourself or someone else to participate in the Regional Arts Commission’s Community Arts Training Institute. This year the place-based program will focus on Dutchtown, as well as the Ville, the West End, and the Ferguson area.

Applicants and nominees should be active in the community. The training sessions provide a comprehensive, professional environment in which artists of all disciplines and people working in community settings can learn how to work together using creative community building tools and tactics.

Applications and nominations will be open through July 5th. Click here to nominate someone, or to apply fill out the online application or download an application.

Head down to the Meramec strip on Saturday, June 25th for a summer sidewalk sale! Get some deals on fashions, housewares, antiques, and more, and help support your neighborhood small businesses. Participating shops include:

• Glinda’s Hers, His, & Kids, 3609 Meramec
• Fay’s Resale, 3318 ½ Meramec
• Tower Grove Antiques, 3316 Meramec
• Twice Blessed Resale Shop, 3302 Meramec
• Hers 314, 3218 Meramec
• Diana’s Boutique, 3216 Meramec
• Logan’s Kids Resale, 3141 Meramec

On Saturday, June 18th, City agencies will be out in full force helping to clean up the neighborhood. You can help just by properly placing your bulky trash items in the alley, cleaning up trash on your street, or clearing out overgrown weeds in your alley. The Forestry, Streets, and Refuse Departments will be out and about in the 20th and 25th Wards to help and make extra pickups.

There will also be additional police on the street, as well as representatives from the City’s PIER Program knocking on doors. They will be trying to engage and keep contact with neighbors and better assess the needs of neighborhoods.

Additionally there will be six City Service hubs set up throughout the neighborhood at the following locations:

• Marquette Park (near the pool)
• 2700 Keokuk
• 3700-3800 Keokuk
• 3700-3800 Neosho
• 4500 Virginia
• 3500 Bingham

Residents can go to those locations if they have any questions or concerns Most staff and NISs will be located at Marquette Park. Operation Brightside will also be at Marquette Park next to the pool with cleanup equipment such as shovels and rakes to loan.

At 1pm at Marquette Park there will a BBQ for volunteers, City staff, and the community sponsored by Incarnate Word Foundation and  the Thomas Dunn Learning Center.

For more information contact your Neighborhood Improvement Specialist:

• Eric Vineyard, 25th Ward NIS: VineyardE@stlouis-mo.gov or 314-657-1356
• DeAnna Murphy, 20th Ward NIS: MurphyD@stlouis-mo.gov or 314-657-1371

Join the Downtown Dutchtown Business Association (DT2) at Iron Barley for their monthly After Hours meetup. Find out more about the Community Improvement District, talk with your neighbors, and enjoy some fine food and drink!

After Hours starts at 5:30pm. Iron Barley is at 5510 Virginia, just north of Bates.

Two neighborhood organizations have their monthly meetings this Tuesday, June 14th, and every second Tuesday of the month.

Gravois Park Neighborhood Association will meet at the old Jefferson Bank building, 3353 California just north of Cherokee. The meeting begins at 6pm.

Dutchtown West Neighborhood Association meets at the banquet hall at Grbic, 4071 Keokuk at Meramec. The meeting begins at 7pm.

Both meetings are an opportunity to meet your neighbors, get updates from aldermen and police, and talk to your Neighborhood Improvement Specialist about issues in your neighborhood.