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@work_play

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Art Director, Publisher, Designer, Artist, Product Developer, Car Enthusiast
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Earlier this year, the book “North St. Louis Creative Field Guide” came into existence out of years of relational, creative, and spiritual work. Lead artists Dail Chambers and Juan William Chávez provided guidance (in many ways) to create an act of devotion to North St. Louis.

The publication was generated from a resident and artist-led creative peacekeeping project of the same name. From 2024–25, @camstl convened members of a working group who live & work in North St. Louis. This 132-page, full color book includes essays, photographs, artworks, and other materials that preserve & share their knowledge about art & nature in North St. Louis.

Tending to relationships among human and non-human natural life in these neighborhoods brought vitality and growth out of swirling racial, social, and economic forces that would otherwise aim to destroy us. I am profoundly grateful to all who have been part of this experience, in particular to Dail & Juan for supporting our group to navigate a literal EF3 tornado that tore through our community in the middle of this project.

What we feed, grows.

Images
1. North St. Louis Creative Field Guide cover, designed by WORK/PLAY
2. Community & Cultural Agreements
3. Dail Chambers, Untitled sketchbook artwork, 2024–25
4. Juan William Chávez, “Charles Henry Turner: Garden as a Laboratory,” 2025
5. AleXeana harlem, “Our Ancestors’ Compass Points North” and “Dodier,” both 2025
6. Frankie Williams’s We’re All Together (2025) mural in progress
7. Rev. LaQuindlyn Shanae
8. Coahoma Orchards. Photo: Cary Brown
9. Ronda Smith Branch. Photos: Tyler Small
10. Gabi Cole at Fit and Food’s Rainbow Resilience Bed (2025)
11. Tosha Phonix A.C.R.E.S. site in Walnut Park foodequityadvisoryboard_stl
12. Prompts by Alexis Creamer

Project Curator: Michelle Dezember
Community Engagement Lead: Alexis Creamer
Lead Artists: @dailchambers, @jwchavez
Working Group Contributors: Cary Brown, Gabi Cole, AleXeana harlem, Tosha Phonix, Rev. LaQuindlyn Shanae, Ronda Smith Branch, Frankie Williams
Editor: Graham Eng-Wilmot @mrygrzms
Design: @work_play
Additional Photography: i.zaiahj @tylersmall314
Printing: @worthhiggins
Support: @neaarts @stlouisarts

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In this episode of Study., we introduce the podcast and Jabari’s research residency at the University of Oregon’s Center for Art Research. Tracing his movement through the professional photography field, academia, and nonprofit arts work into writing and criticism, we question the compromises required by institutions (and their agents) that promise to support artists and communities.

From expensive photobooks to public murals, we examine how representations of Black life can reinforce systems they claim to challenge. Through shared experiences and self-criticism, we consider how artists might direct their labor toward political education and collective organizing, and how studying capitalism and imperialism change the ways we make and use our art.

Art by WORK/PLAY (@work_play)
 Music by Clint L.(@alwaysawake.co)

@fka_jaysimple
@uocenterforartresearch
@uoart
@uoartdesign

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FAMOUS EDDIE’S BALLATORIE Capsule
OUT NOW—exclusively online @therealeddiegold x @naliabrand ⚽️ naliabrand.com 🥅

Photos by: @picturesinthemail
@sandboxstudios.xyz

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Six yeas ago my soon-to-be best friend, @fka_jaysimple, Jabari, invited me out to his school to give a lecture. We haven’t stopped talking since and now y’all get to be a part of the conversation.

Welcome to Study., a project that’s long been in the works, we just didn’t know it. Join us in discussing the politics of being an artist in postmodernism (late-stage capitalism). This is an attempt to develop a clearer understanding of whose politics our cultural production serves and to find new ways of using our creative skills outside of the anti-Black and bourgeois art industry. Come for some laughs, stay for the intellectual struggle. Follow on Substack. See you soon.

”The opposite of imperial violence is not non-violence.”
—Russell Maroon Shoatz

Art by @work_play

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Feelin’ Myself (Black Excellence Complex)
Zora J Murff x WORK/PLAY
Screen prints
2025

@work_play

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Get your own copy of the *new* #Transforming911 report tomorrow at 2pm @delmardivine designed by THE Kevin McCoy @work_play 🚨

Register for this hybrid event at bit.ly/T911-city-event and link in bio. Join us online at2:15pm if you can’t come in-person.

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A book is an accumulation of many lives.

I’m grateful that I Love You Always, All Ways has been selected as one of the @aigadesign 50 Books | 50 Covers for 2025.

Thank you to @work_play for believing in this story and in my vision for it, to the families who welcomed me into their lives, to my own family for inspiring me to share this side of myself, and to everyone who has carried this book into their own lives.

Books have a strange way of continuing the conversation long after they’re made. I hope this one continues to do just that.

Thank you @justinmikhailsolomon for capturing this book in’s such a beautiful way!

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You come from somewhere

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More SFABF exhibitors! Come through and see all that they have to offer throughout the weekend!

The SF Art Book Fair (SFABF) is presented by Minnesota Street Project Foundation (@mspfoundation), a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. SFABF is a free multi-day exhibition and celebration of independent printed material from around the world. SFABF26 takes place July 23-26, marking 10 years since the inaugural fair in 2016.

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STRIPES EXCHANGE /// Brooklyn we had a blast!! Shoutout to everyone who passed through the @naliabrand booth & showed love to FAMOUS EDDIE’S BALLATORIE. Salute the legend himself every-time, @therealeddiegold, for blessing us with your genius! 💫

Special thanks to adidas Fútbol Society for the continued partnership. NALIA F.C. capsule dropping online soon. Keep an eye out for more—coming to a city near you! ⚽️ @adidasus @naliabrand

Photography by: @isojordin x @keembinshootin 📸

@adidas @adidasfootball #createdwithadidas

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STRIPES EXCHANGE /// New York: Meet us (@naliabrand) at Brooklyn Bridge Park from 12-10PM for a full day of activations! Pull-up & shop the new NALIA F.C. capsule in partnership with adidas Fútbol Society ⚽️

Grab some exclusive FAMOUS EDDIE’S BALLATORIE (@therealeddiegold) merch while supplies last!! Catch a 2026 FIFA World Cup match inside the watch zone 🥅

Hosted by @openfacegrill of NALIA SOUNDS, broadcasting LIVE w/ special guests 📡

Music set by @1marvelito 🔊

Free per/person with RSVP—link in Bio.📍
@brooklynbridgepark
1 Water St. BK, NY 11201

@adidasus @adidas @adidasoriginals

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