Our Staff
Pacia Elaine Anderson
Co-Director, Programs + Community Building
she/her
Ms. Anderson is the 4th Poet Laureate of St. Louis. She collaborates as a poet, visual and teaching artist, creative consultant, arts administrator, and community engagement coordinator, both locally and nationally. She is the STL City Regional Coordinator of Poetry Out Loud, and the Poet-In-Residence at the Intersect Art Center. In 2020 she was named Community Impact Artist by the St. Louis Visionary awards, and currently serves on the boards of The Saint Louis Poetry Center and St. Louis Art Place, an artist housing initiative.
Pacia completed the Community Arts Training program in 2014.
Jenny Murphy
Co-Director, Organizational Development she/her
A St. Louis-based community artist and organizer, Murphy founded the St. Louis creative reuse organization Perennial in 2011 and is currently an owner at Garrity Tools, where she helped transition the company to a worker-owned cooperative in 2022. Her artistic practice spans design, installation, sculpture, community arts, and teaching, often focusing on solidarity economies, mutual aid, and cooperation.
Jenny completed the Community Arts Training program in 2012.
Roschan Rao
Administrative Assistant she/her
With a focus on community-based work, Roschan has worked at various local institutions to improve access to essential services for youth, including at SLPL’s Central Library as a Teen Librarian. She also serves as Board President of St. Louis Queer Support & Healing, and enjoys working with organizations to develop long-term strategy and structure. Roschan graduated from Washington University with a BA in Psychology & Brain Sciences (2020) and an MA in American Culture Studies (2023), and loves to crochet, knit, paint, read, and generally bother her two adorable (and destructive) kitties.