In early February, Rain Stippec (a local St. Louis dancer), was horrifically shot in early February. When Rain arrived at the hospital with multiple gunshot wounds to her back, doctors were certain that she wouldn’t live longer than a few hours. They did their best to stabilize her, stop the bleeding, and keep her comfortable as to minimize suffering. During the first week following the shooting, Rain underwent seven surgeries, most lasting upwards of five hours at a time. Watching her muster up and maintain the strength to fight and survive inspired me to do something big. In honor of her artistry and the artistry we all celebrate, I’m beginning a campaign to counteract this violence with community building through art. It is well known that Saint Louis’s catastrophic crime rate is a barrier to acquiring and keeping artist supporters and audience members engaged. I want to start facing this challenge head-on by providing a source for local art to be safely seen and heard in our city. This desire manifested in the creation of CommUNITY Arts Festival - a community-wide event to raise awareness of violent crimes through art. The two-weekend collaborative festival (August 31- September 10, 2017) will host performances with local artists and companies at Satori Theater in Midtown. The performances will be accompanied by spotlight presentations from local organizations who deal heavily with crime in Saint Louis, and workshops throughout the festival. Each year proceeds will go towards assisting victims of violence. This year, one hundred percent of all proceeds of the festival will go toward Rain’s recovery.