The Spotlight Series®

The Spotlight Series is a collection of short-form documentaries featuring people doing what they love: making art, crafting furniture, exploring dance, baking bread, fixing old motorcycles, painting signs, and on and on. Less important that what they do, is what they think… what each believes and feel s important in their their lives and work. This series is, at times, an exploration of the human condition. But mostly is fun to watch, and make, and discover these fantastic stories in our own backyard: St. Louis, MO.

The Spotlight Series can be seen here on STL.org and broadcast on Nine PBS. For a time, you could view the series high in the skies aboard JetBlue airlines. It was created in 2013 by the production company, Once Films, and has garnered national attention in Communication Arts Magazine, Applied Arts Magazine, and the American Advertising Federation. The Spotlight Series® has been recognized with seventeen Mid America Emmy Awards.

Featured

The Sugar Witch

Since landing in St. Louis in 2021, Sophie Mendelson and Martha Bass have been building community one ice cream sandwich at a time, spinning nostalgia, individuality and queerness into the details.

The Language of Form

Eschewing new materials in favor of ones with patina, he gravitates toward objects of wood and metal that have lived former lives, using them to communicate an unexplored direction, a way forward, a new energy.

The Evil Prints

He is at once a perpetual 13-year-old and full-blown adult, living his dream while keenly aware of the sacrifice he makes by building his life around his art.

Rudy’s Flower Truck

For her, it’s about freedom of movement; for herself and for her customers, allowing them to build something beautiful on their terms, in their own neighborhoods.

John Beck Steel

John Beck didn’t always know what he was meant to do, but his hands did. From digging into high school art classes to crafting one-off projects at a welding job, he spent years circling his true love: steel.

Beltshazzar

By mixing color, texture and material, Theresa’s work is both strong and playful, a mix of sharp and soft, and always with an edge, much like those she designs for.

Boda Clay

Her work invites you in, encouraging you to pair the small details of your life with hers.

Relevé

Antonio credits everything to dance: his self-motivation, his discipline, his life.

Daily Disco

Abbey and her team have carved out an environment where creativity and new ideas flow freely; inspiration that you can see in Daily Disco’s fresh, ever-evolving designs.

Cbabi

From Six Flags caricature artist to creating paintings sought after by Prince, Cbabi Bayoc has had a wide-ranging career in art on his own terms. He rejects the “starving artist” trope by smashing it to pieces: working on projects he loves and building a notable career in the process.

Retta Jane

A bespoke clothing line for teens and tweens to inspire confidence and encourage personal style, with smart, graceful details and an understated elegance that lets the wearer shine.

StilL 630

An under-the-radar craft distillery producing a line of critically-acclaimed spirits.

Barrel

His time in the military instilled in him the idea that when you do something - anything - it matters

The Alchemy of Color

She likens painting to a battle; a litany of emotions, the constant push and pull of relationships reflecting our own daily lives.

The Timekeeper

Hard work and a passion for learning all there is to know about watches have led Semyon to become a master of his craft.

ARC

Ellie Shepley loves the stories about how St. Louis came to be: the brick and metal bound together to build a city so long ago.

Mwanzi

Jermain Todd believes in the power of making something.

Stone

Abraham Mohler likens the carving of stone to the unwrapping of a gift…

Tattoo

His shop is a menagerie of taxidermy and nostalgic designs and his clients are walking canvases.

SUMP

“A part of riding a motorcycle is fixing it, I think. Knowing about it, getting your hands dirty a little bit.” This is what has driven Mike Henneberry for more than 20 years as the owner and operator of Sump Motorcycle.

Signs

A classically trained painter, Phil Jarvis is nationally and internationally known for his sign painting, specializing in reverse painting on glass as well as works in commercial wall murals.

Bob the Baker

Bob Smith had a lifelong love of baking, a passion that caught fire in him when he began working at Carondelet Bakery at the age of 13.

The Spotlight Series®

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