About the Client

Kids in the Arts District (Founder Sponsor: Jon Beeby, By Jack)

Jon Beeby, founder of By Jack and an active contributor to St. Louis’s creative ecosystem, had a strong instinct:

Grand Center needed a way to intentionally welcome kids and families into the Arts District—beyond ticketed performances or one-off events.

What was missing wasn’t conviction—it was capacity and structure.

Context

Kids in the Arts District began as a strong but unformed idea: create welcoming, low-barrier opportunities for families to experience the Arts District beyond ticketed performances.

While the vision was clear, the path forward was not.

• No defined program structure or pilot model

• Limited founder capacity to design and execute a new initiative

• Uncertainty around scope, partners, and operational lift

• Desire to test the idea without significant upfront investment

Without support, the idea risked remaining aspirational rather than actionable.

Approach

Salva partnered with the founder in a defined strategic project to move the idea from concept to execution quickly and thoughtfully.

• Translated the founder’s vision into a testable, community-centered program concept

• Facilitated lightweight feedback loops to align scope with intent and capacity

• Designed and executed a three-month pilot embedded within existing community rhythms

• Coordinated programming, partners, logistics, and communications

• Captured learnings and documented the work into reusable templates and planning assets

This approach prioritized speed, clarity, and learning over overbuilding.

Deliverables

• Fully executed three-month pilot program (Summer 2025)

• Program concept, cadence, and partner model

• Outreach and promotion toolkit aligned with brand standards

• Program documentation and templates to support expansion

• Roadmap for a five-month expanded program and recurring annual execution

Outcomes

• Successful pilot engaging 96+ attendees across three events

• Strong participation from artists, community partners, and families

• Clear evidence of demand and opportunity for expansion

• Defined path from pilot → expanded program → annual initiative

• Minimal time and financial investment required from the founder

Why It Mattered

This engagement transformed a meaningful but stalled idea into a living program with momentum.

Rather than requiring the founder to pause other priorities or assume execution risk, Salva provided the structure, coordination, and follow-through needed to test, learn, and build confidently.

Plenty of Conviction, Lacking Capacity and Structure

Big ideas often fail not because they lack value, but because leaders lack the capacity to carry them forward.
Salva bridges that gap—turning vision into action, pilots into programs, and one-time efforts into sustainable impact.