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STLife // Made in St. LouisAll That JazzLAUREN PARKS AND JAS GARY PEARSON HAVE TURNED THE CHILDHOODHOME OF MUSIC LEGEND MILES DAVIS INTO A COMMUNITY CATALYST.By Daniel DurchholzRIGHT: THEFORMER HOMEOF JAZZLEGEND MILESDAVIS “JUSTNEEDED A BIGOLD HUG ANDSOME TLC”FROM LAURENPARKS ANDJAS GARYPEARSON TOBECOME A NEWMUSEUM ANDCOMMUNITYCENTER IN EASTST. LOUIS. OP-POSITE PAGE:THE HOME USESDAVIS’ CAREERTO INSPIRE STU-DENTS IN THEIROWN ARTISTICPURSUITS.IN ADDITIONTO BEING AMUSEUM FORMANY OF DAVIS'POSSESSIONS,THE HOME OF-FERS EVENTS,MUSIC, ARTS,NUTRITION,AND HEALTHPROGRAMMING.64
Jmuseum to Davis and a community centerwith multidimensional education programsfor children.“What helped to make Miles, Miles?This little town, East St. Louis, and hisfamily,” says Lauren A. Parks, HOME’spresident and co-founder. “We like toshare that with our students. It’s veryempowering for them when they hearthe stories.”With backgrounds in education, Parksand Jas Gary Pearson, HOME’s cofounderand its vice president of urbanplanning, are using Davis’ reputation asan inventive renaissance man to encouragestudents to tap into their own talentsthrough music and the arts.None of this would be possible withoutParks and Pearson saving the home fromneglect. In 2010, Parks—whose family hasdeep ties with Davis’—had heard that theproperty was available. Vernon Davis wasthe last family member to live there, andover the years the house became shuttered,had suffe ed a fi e, and ended upin considerable disrepair.With no one left to care for the property,the remaining Davis family hadhoped to donate it to a nonprofit orgaazzmusic plays softlyinside a small house atNorth 17th Street and KansasAvenue in East St. Louis. Thetune— rich, intimate, and led bythe sound of a muted trumpet—fl atsthroughout the rooms, infusing thehouse with the instantly identifiable workof legendary musician Miles Davis. This iswhere Davis spent much of his childhoodand learned to play the trumpet, afterall. Before Davis moved to New York Cityand became a jazz giant, his talent andtemperament were shaped and nurturedright here in East St. Louis.Now the house is the locus of a newmission—one that helps memorializeDavis’ beginnings while jumpstartingdreams for a new generation. It’s thejazz master’s childhood home, but it isalso HOME, which stands for House ofMiles East St. Louis and serves as both aTHE GOAL IS TO BEA CATALYST FORA NEIGHBORHOODRENAISSANCE ANDCOMMUNITY PRIDE.nization. Parks and Pearson, who hadbeen friends for decades, formed oneand took possession in 2011. The duobegan fundraising and organizing volunteersto renovate the house, with supportcoming from both the communityand local businesses.But this is just phase one for the Davishome and for the community, Parks andPearson say. They plan to add a deck andperformance space outside and developa multipurpose community building ontheir additional property across thestreet. Parks, who lives nearby, says thegoal is to be a catalyst for a neighborhoodrenaissance and community pride.She cites Davis, Olympian Jackie Joyner-Kersee, and renowned dancer KatherineDunham as examples of the talentedpeople who have lived in East St. Louis,and she wants those legends to inspirestudents today.“Don’t let people put you in a box.Don’t let people define you,” Parks says.“Miles was the epitome of that.”Learn more about people whoare moving the St. Louis region forwardat theSTL.com.Photography by Michael Thomas65
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