Vox Magazine March 2025

FROM ‘HUMAN XEROX’ TO TATTOOS PAGE 11

LET’S HAVE A KIKI (BOWL) PAGE 22 EATS FOR NIGHT OWLS PAGE 24

LACING UP TRENDY KICKS PAGE 25

CUT WITH A KITCHEN KNIFE

Don’t be overwhelmed by the title. It’s a reference to the photomontage “Cut with a kitchen knife through the last Weimar beer-belly cultural epoch in Germany” by artist Hannah Höch in 1919. OK, maybe it’s a little overwhelming. But I can explain.

One of my passions, other than being the new editor-in-chief of Vox, is art history. As I learned about the background of paintings and architecture, I realized art history is so much more than material — it is the philosophy that’s behind societal culture.

Höch cut out pictures and letters from magazines and pieced them together — a photomontage — to make a political statement about the chaos of the Weimar Republic, Germany’s attempt at a democratic society before the rise of the Nazi Party and World War II.

I was thinking that if you piece together the articles in this issue of Vox, it creates a photomontage of society in Columbia today amid our own turbulent times.

One of our writers, Sarah Goodson, wrote an essay (p.8) about the decreasing birth rate in the United States and the reasons more women are opting out of parenthood. There has been a societal shift in the roles women are expected to

fulfill — not to mention the expenses of raising children amid rising costs, declining medical care and the changing climate.

In 1919, a sexual health education and gender identity research center opened in Berlin. Its valuable research on LGBTQ+ identities was destroyed by the Nazi government. This year in Missouri, 54 anti-trans bills have been proposed in the state legislature, affecting things like gender-affirming care.

Progressive local businesses are fighting to keep gender visibility alive, including The Soul Collective (p. 27). The hair salon is part of a nonprofit network that provides a database for gender-affirming hair salons.

The collage of stories in this issue also includes a profile of Lee Carter (p.11), a man who achieved his dreams of owning a tattoo studio despite the odds against him.

Like Höch’s wordily titled montage, this issue of Vox is pasted together with the intention of provoking conversation about our city, our society. Although times may seem eerily similar to the Weimar Republic, Columbia persists.

And that concludes my short lesson on how my art history minor relates to my job. Look, Mom and Dad, it was worth it!

OLIVIA MAILLET Editor-in-Chief

Behind the issue

When I first held a baby a few years ago, I remember being so nervous that I was going to do something wrong. I’d never been one to know how to talk with kids, let alone hold them. I’ve long been interested in politics and topics like abortion rights, so I wanted to write a story counteracting the narrative that having children is the destiny for all women. Talking with childless cat ladies in Columbia for this story (p. 8) has shown me that I am not alone. And neither are you. —Sarah Goodson

Art director Valerie Tiscareno drew inspiration for the design of this story from photographer and graphic designer Barbara Kruger. She’s known for making bold, often feminist, statements with her works, including the 1998 “Your Body is a Battleground.”

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OLIVIA MAILLET

MANAGING EDITORS GRACE BURWELL, CAYLI YANAGIDA

DEPUTY EDITOR ABIGAIL RAMIREZ

DIGITAL MANAGING EDITOR MJ MONTGOMERY

AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT EDITOR ALEX XU

ART DIRECTORS VALERIE TISCARENO, LAUREN GREEN

PHOTO DIRECTOR ASHLEE KLOTZBEUCHER

MULTIMEDIA EDITOR KATE RAMSEYER

SENIOR DIGITAL PRODUCER SARAH GASSEL

ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR EMMA RAE GERWEN

CONTENT STRATEGIST KALYN LAIRE

ASSOCIATE EDITORS LEVI CASE, HAVEN DAGER, KIANA FERNANDES, SARAH GOODSON, NAOMI M. KLEIN, DINA MURRAY, AVERI NORRIS, AVA ORR, ASHLYNN PEREZ, YINAN WU STAFF WRITERS MERCY AUSTIN, ALEX DAGGETT, AUSTIN GARZA, KATIE GRAWITCH, SYD MINOR, ALLY SCHNIEPP, EMMA ZAWACKI, SOPHIE AYERS, ALLI BEALMER, LAURYN RHODES, NEALY SIMMS, RAPHAEL STERNADORI, TYLER WHITE

DESIGNER SYD MINOR

SOCIAL & AUDIENCE ZOE SALEEM, CLAIRE WILLIAMS

DIGITAL PRODUCERS CHARLIE DAHLGREN, ABIGAIL LANDWEHR, CHARLIE WARNER

DESIGN ASSISTANTS LILY CARROLL, RACHEL GOODBEE, SOPHIA LINDBERG

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS BRIANNA DAVIS, MAYA DAWSON, AUDREY ELLIS, JASMINE JACKSON, SOPHIA KOCH, OLIVIA MAHL, DAVIS WILSON

CONTRIBUTING PRODUCERS JARED ARCHER, ARABELLA COSGROVE, ETHAN DAVIS

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR HEATHER ISHERWOOD

EXECUTIVE EDITOR LAURA HECK WRITING COACHES CARY LITTLEJOHN, JENNIFER ROWE

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MARCH 2025

VOLUME 27, ISSUE 2

PUBLISHED BY THE COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN LEE HILLS HALL, COLUMBIA MO 65211

Cover design: Lauren Green Cover photography: Missourian/Vox archive

Photography by Valerie Tiscareno, Vanina Dimitrova and Nam Nguyen

A Columbia homecoming

John Anderson, a retired ESPN anchor and Mizzou alum, takes a trip down memory lane as he returns to CoMo.

March is a honky tonkin’, butter churnin’, popcorn eatin’ good time.

Rise of childless cat ladies

More women are choosing not to have children. Can you blame them?

‘Art was everything I had’

Lee Carter, owner of Immortal Art tattoo studio, turns his passion into a reality.

Elizabeth Jordheim’s shop has a salon, art gallery and event space: a triple threat to the mundane.

Our world, reflected Our guide to the films, music and art of the four days of True/False.

+ DRINK

A toast to avocado Avoca-don’t miss out on these six places you can get your avocado toast fix.

Vinnie Debono whips up oodles of noodles at pop-up Kiki’s Noodle Bowl.

Hoo’s hungry for a bite?

Feeling peckish? The Night Owl’s late night bites will have you hootin’.

Sole searchers come together IRL at this sneaker shop and swap meet.

Two souls, one salon

Childhood friends became co-owners of this salon with inclusive “vibes.”

Photography by Alex Buchanan, Jessie Zhao, Eli Camner, Austin Johnson, Kyle Maki and Olivia Myska

A Columbia homecoming

After 25 years at ESPN, John Anderson returns to his alma mater and reflects on his favorite spots, plus a new role at Mizzou.

BY MJ MONTGOMERY

It’s been a while since John Anderson set foot on Mizzou’s campus as more than a guest. After 25 years anchoring ESPN’s SportsCenter, he has traded sideline commentary for a Columbia classroom.

“As much as I’ve been to different places, I’m never happier than when I’m in Columbia, Missouri,” Anderson says.

Anderson came to Mizzou for journalism in the fall of 1983. Four years and some change later, Columbia found a special place in Anderson’s heart. From downtown staples like Shakespeare’s to old stomping grounds on East Campus,

John Anderson talks with Euphènie Andre (above) during a visit to Columbia in October. Anderson learned through conversations about some of the changes that have come to the campus since he graduated.

here’s where you might find Anderson around town.

Morning nosh: Ernie’s Cafe

Anderson gets his morning fuel sans java at Ernie’s Cafe & Steakhouse. A breakfast without coffee might seem strange, but Anderson isn’t a coffee guy — his poison is fizzy. “I can get a Coke there at eight in the morning and nobody’s gonna roll their eyes,” Anderson says.

His order is biscuits and gravy. They just don’t do it right on the East Coast, he says.

Fond memories: Mizzou Track

During his time at Mizzou, Anderson ran track. By his own admission, Anderson didn’t hurdle past the competition, but he was one of the captains by the end of his track career.

Anderson calls himself “a big track guy,” but not because he was so successful in the sport. Anderson had good friends on the team, including his old coach, Bob Teel, who sent him a handwritten note of congratulations for securing his position at Mizzou. Teel is 101 years old.

Former abode: East Campus

For a couple of years, Anderson lived with a few friends in a place that was like an old family dog — adored and a miracle it’s upright.

Anderson was surprised that the East Campus house was standing when he visited last January. When he and his friends would have parties, they’d spray-paint the bushes out front. “It was a wretched, vile place,” Anderson says. “I’d go back and live there in a heartbeat.”

The house has since been put out of its misery.

Window view: Heidelberg

“Whenever I’m back, I hate to feel like I’m just being led around by my appetite, but that’s usually the places where I find myself,” Anderson says.

One suspect might be The Heidelberg, another Columbia cornerstone. It’s now a short leap from his new office window and across the street.

Of course: Faurot Field and Booches Mizzou Football had an abysmal record

in the 1980s, so much so that the best part of game days, Anderson says, was to go afterward to lick his wounds, cheeseburger in hand.

Dave Hunziker, the play-by-play announcer for Oklahoma State University and a former School of Journalism classmate, concurs. “There was a lot of Booches and whatever places we could find, developing coping skills,” Hunziker says.

Nowadays, Mizzou Football’s prospects are looking up, and you might catch Anderson in the stands — though hopefully not running over the opposing head coach with the helmet car, which he nearly did to former Kansas head coach, Mark Mangino.

Pinching pennies: Shakespeare’s Pizza

“I had about $100 a month to live off of (when I was in school),” Anderson says. “Eating out anywhere was a treat.”

On Sunday nights, students braved the wilderness of downtown Columbia to hunt and gather. Shakespeare’s Pizza, a Columbia classic, was one place An-

“AS MUCH AS I’VE BEEN TO DIFFERENT PLACES, I’M NEVER HAPPIER THAN WHEN I’M IN COLUMBIA, MISSOURI.”

John Anderson

derson took what money he had left. His typical Shakes order is a sausage and Canadian bacon pizza.

Old haunt/new haunt: J-School and the Quad

As a School of Journalism student, Anderson camped out at KOMU a few times a week. Chris Gervino, one of Anderson’s J-School buddies and a retired KOMU sports director, says “We were always laughing and joking, at least off the air.”

Despite all the memories Columbia brings back for Anderson, he’s looking forward to making new connections and meeting new students. “I love being around people who are hungry for knowledge,” Anderson says. “I look forward to being around campus or class or students — I just want people to learn. I want them to go out and be great.”

Anderson started teaching in January. If you see him around, be sure to say hi, but keep it on the DL — he definitely thinks Vox is already making too much of a fuss.

Vox Picks for MARCH

Each month, Vox curates a list of can’t-miss shops, eats, reads and experiences. We find the new, trending or underrated to help you enjoy the best our city has to offer.

BY AVA ORR AND LEVI CASE

LISTEN

an intimate chamber concert, Tell Our Story: A Black History Month Concert, performed at Douglass High School. The concert, written by Chris Schwedtmann and Mary Barile, combines dazzling music with original storytelling that touches on Columbia’s past and the Black experience. Enjoy performances by a variety of locals, including actor Carla Tigue, narrator Joseph Wilson, and vocalist Rochara Knight, who Columbia music lovers might recognize from her band, Rochara Knight & The Honey Doves. Feb. 27-28, 7 p.m., Douglass High School, $10-$29, themosy.org

ADMIRE the masterful wordsmithery of Jericho Brown at the third installment of Miller Conversations on Literary Publishing from The Missouri Review. Its managing editor, Marc McKee, and Brown will discuss Brown’s Pulitzer Prize-winning poetry collection, The Tradition. Pulitzer Prize judges said the book combines “delicacy with historical urgency” as it investigates the traditions we uphold. Take a peek behind the curtain at the writing and publishing process of this illuminating work. Feb. 27, 6:30 p.m., Memorial Union, free, missourireview.com

CHURN your own butter with the Churn and Learn event, geared for the whole family, at Boone County History and Culture Center. Dive into ages past with this two-hour tutorial, where you’ll be led through the old-fashioned art of butter churning — you might get a workout while doing it! But rest assured, your efforts won’t be in vain. At the end, taste the whipped goodness of your labors with fresh butter on crackers. Just keep in mind the advice of blues legend Wynonie Harris: “Keep on churning ’til the butter comes.”

March 8, 10 a.m., Boone County History and Culture Center, 3801 Ponderosa St., free, boonehistory.org

SCREEN underground movies at the new Reel Fest, held at King Theodore Records. The completely free event includes a catalog of indie and DIY cinema, like a deep-fried found footage film or an irreverent new . Rock out to performances by Missouri bands like The Comancheros and Degrave. Multiple local films and filmmakers have been selected for viewing, including Roach Films, as the fest aims to uplift freewheeling filmmakers. March 1, noon to 10 p.m., King Theodore Records, 1103 E. Walnut St.

RAISE HELL

cowboys, thanks to Missouri native Travis Feutz & The Stardust Cowboys. The band is on the road again, and this time they’re calling it a Honky Tonk Revival. So get ready for a rootin’, tootin’ afternoon where you can two-step like it’s a Texas dance hall. Walk the line to Rose Music Hall and rock like a wagon wheel with some good ol’ fashioned country music, done the Missouri way. free, rosemusichall.com

Rise of the childless cat ladies

Why more and more young women are saying “no, thank you” to having kids.

BY SARAH GOODSON

Scrolling through my Instagram feed, I cannot get away from the news. Diversity, equity and inclusion being wiped from every organization. Immigrants deported. The Missouri legislature seeking to overturn reproductive freedoms that voters passed under Amendment 3. This is America.

Over the past year, it has been clear that a huge swath of this country expects women to do traditional “womanly” duties, such as cooking, cleaning and being a stay-at-home mom. What if that’s not what I want? At 23, I can’t imagine taking care of other human beings, and I don’t know if I ever can. For some reason, I have never vibed with little kids.

The whole watching them and entertaining them part never came naturally. And I’m afraid I’m going to drop your baby if you ask me to hold them.

I look at some family members and the ages they got married or had kids, and I cannot even imagine it. My grandma was 19 years old when she married her first husband. She was 21 when she had my mom. My mom was 24 when she got married, and she was 27 when she had my oldest brother. I commend their strength, but I will happily have a boatload of cats before I do anything like that.

And that is where the childless cat ladies come in. We know them, we love

Stephanie Mayse (above) is childfree after she and her husband decided to focus on getting ahead of the poverty cycle they grew up in. She says she enjoys getting to be an aunt to her friends’ children, while having a kid-free home to go back to.

them. Well, I love them. I know someone who doesn’t, and that is Vice President JD Vance. Vance used the term “childless cat lady” as an insult during an interview in 2021 with Tucker Carlson discussing leaders of the Democratic Party. This included former Vice President Kamala Harris, who actually is the mother of two stepchildren (not that it should matter). Since then, Vance told The New York Times in October that what he said was “dumb.” Although he claims he should have worded it differently, I don’t think he actually thinks what he said was dumb. Vance specifically called out those who do not want children due to climate change. He called them “very

deranged” and “sociopathic.” He also said postmenopausal women should be the childcare providers in their families.

This is Vance’s truth, and the truth of countless others. They hate that women aren’t in the kitchen, barefoot and pregnant. They hate that we are not having kids when we’re young, or even at all. They hate that we are taking control.

I’m not the only one

America’s birth rate is declining. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2023 the general fertility rate in the United States dropped 3% from 2022. This marks the second consecutive year of decline, besides a brief 1% increase from 2020 to 2021. From 2014 to 2020, the rate consistently decreased by 2% annually.

This decline doesn’t surprise me, as our society changes in ways that incentivize being deliberately childfree.

Morgan Self, a doctoral candidate in sociology at the University of Missouri, says this shift is necessary. She says more women are wanting to focus on their careers, which sometimes unintentionally ages them out of becoming a mother. “There are a lot of people becoming more accepting (of) a working woman,”

Self says. “I think through a lot of the ’80s and ’90s, and even the early 2000s, being a working woman was less accepted than it is today.”

Self also emphasizes factors contributing to the decision of having a child, such as medical costs, insurance coverage and the overall lifetime cost of nurturing a child. “I think you have that social shift mixed with the necessity for one or more parents to have a full-time job, or even, a full-time job and a side job to make ends meet,” she says.

Cost, choice, climate change and concerns (about maternal health, among others) are the four Cs that come to mind when we ask: Why aren’t women having kids?

Cost: Who’s made of money?

“Geez Louise,” Alexis Figolah says. “I have $2,000 worth of bills a month.” It feels like everything has gone up in price, she says.

When I first started talking to women in Columbia about their decision to

not have kids, I messaged Figolah, who emphasized money as her main concern for not having children. Starting at 16, Figolah was paying her own phone bill, buying her own clothes and helping her mom with other bills. At 17, Figolah became her mom’s caregiver due to medical issues. Now, at 23, she still takes care of her mom and works full time at StorageMart.

“I don’t personally have time to worry about another human being on my plate,” Figolah says.

When I asked Figolah if she feels pressure from society about her decision to not have kids, her response was short, sweet and to the point: “No, because I don’t care.” She has three cats and two dogs, who are her babies already.

I also talked with Diane Meeker, president of the Missouri National Organization for Women, about the whole “childless cat lady” rhetoric and the conservative values underlying Vance’s comments. “(Conservatives) see it as selfish. They see it as, ‘Well you don’t want kids because you want to spend your money frivolously instead of responsibly by taking care of a family,’ ” Meeker says.

In 2024, Pew Research Center reported that 36% of people under 50 who don’t want kids say the reason is because they can’t afford to raise them. Meeker says, “At this point, when people can’t survive on their own, to say to somebody, ‘Well, even though you can’t afford a place on your own, you still have the duty before God of getting a partner and producing babies.’ You know, it’s like, what are we going to live on?”

Stephanie Mayse, another woman I interviewed, says she and her husband were raised in financial hardship, and she doesn’t want to continue that cycle. Mayse is a counselor, while her husband, Colton, is an activity therapist. The couple just adopted their third cat. They are both thinking about continuing their education.

“Do we want to further our education, or do we want to have kids?” Mayse says. “I know there’s people that do both, but neither one of us come from families with a lot of money. We both kind of grew up in poverty. So it’s like, we either stay in that cycle or we can get ahead (of it). We’d rather have money and a good

My life, My choice

She is one of thousands of American women to make this choice.

lifestyle than have kids.”

Choice: It should be ours

“Your body, my choice,” emerged as a far-right slogan after the election of President Donald Trump. The saying is a play on words of “my body, my choice,” which has been used by women when advocating for reproductive freedom.

Abortion was a big topic nationally and statewide this past election. Although Amendment 3 passed in Missouri, the thought of Trump and Project 2025 — a detailed plan outlining the conservative agenda — makes me, and other women, scared for the future of reproductive rights.

AMONG THOSE WHO SAY THEY DON’T WANT CHILDREN, 36% SAY IT’S BECAUSE THEY CAN’T AFFORD TO RAISE THEM. —Pew

Research Center

Project 2025, which is readily accessible with a simple Google search, lists numerous strategies to limit abortion access and other reproductive services, many using federal agencies such as Health and Human Services to do so, according to the global organization Center for Reproductive Rights. These strategies include restricting access to birth control and emergency contraceptives and prosecuting people who ship and transport abortion pills and supplies.

“You’re not guaranteed a safe pregnancy,” Mayse says. “So being scared of having complications and dying (is a main concern).”

Photography by Nam Nguyen

Alexis Figolah is a proud mother of three dogs and two cats and is purposefully childfree.

According to a 2022 University of Colorado report, abortion bans would increase maternal mortality rates by 24%. At the end of November, ProPublica reported three Texas women died because they didn’t receive the miscarriage care they needed due to the state’s abortion ban.

The fear of pregnancy complications in an era of abortion bans is a real deterrent. “How dare you not want to subject your assigned-at-birth female children to life under an abortion ban,” Meeker says. “If they develop a health problem, the doctors are going to let them die in the hospital parking lot because they’re too afraid of a lawsuit to even help you.”

In the week after Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, Google data showed that searches for terms such as “tubal ligation” nearly quadrupled, according to NBC News. But many women are dismissed by their doctors when they bring up the idea of permanently shutting down the possibility of having a child — including Figolah. “(My doctor) asked me, ‘What do you want in the future?’ And I was like, ‘I want my tubes tied,’ ” Figolah says. “She laughed in my face. And it was a woman. She was like, ‘Good luck.’ ”

Concerns: Getting proper care

“If you want healthy babies, you need healthy moms,” says Honour Hill, maternal and infant health director at March of Dimes. That means fixing issues that could affect a person’s ability to receive care, including the ability to access prenatal appointments.

Hill says 5.5 million women live in maternity-care deserts, or places that have little to no access to maternity care facilities. “We’re seeing women in these care deserts facing higher risks of preterm birth, higher rates of inadequate prenatal care, specifically among women of color, lower-income women,” Hill says. “It’s this troubling trend around care where these women of reproductive age and their families have to really think about the ongoing sacrifices and ongoing access issues to have a healthy pregnancy.”

In December, The New York Times reported more than 500 hospitals had closed labor and delivery departments

since 2010, leaving most rural hospitals and more than one-third of urban hospitals without obstetrics care. These departments tend to lose money, the article reports. Part of that loss is from Medicaid, government insurance for low-income individuals. Medicaid covers more than 40% of all births in the U.S. and typically pays doctors and hospitals much less than private insurance does.

“As we see an increase in chronic health burden, we’re also going to see more and more families being told, ‘Hey, you probably shouldn’t get pregnant,’ ” Hill says.

Climate change: A real worry

Back to the person who coined “childless cat lady” as a derogatory term. Vance says: “I think that is a bizarre way of thinking about the future. Not to have kids because of concerns over climate change?”

Well, Vance, let’s take a look at some climate change data from the World Health Organization, and see how detrimental climate change has been. Climate change presents a fundamental threat to human health, and 3.6 billion people (nearly half of the world’s population) already live in areas highly susceptible to climate change. And, of course, President Trump withdrew the U.S. from WHO.

In 2024, Pew Research Center found that 26% of people who don’t want children say it’s due to concerns about the environment, including climate change. Pew surveyed two groups of people: those 50 and older who don’t have children, and those younger than 50 who don’t have children and say they are unlikely to in the future.

The cherry on top: President Trump also withdrew the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement, a second time for his second term. The Paris Agreement is a global response to the growing threat of climate change. Iran, Libya and Yemen are the only other countries not in the agreement, according to Earth.Org.

It’s funny, really

After all my research and talking with different people about this topic, my opinion stands strong: childless cat ladies are awesome. In every interview I did

with these women, I asked them what they thought of the “childless cat lady narrative,” and they all laughed.

“I laugh,” Figolah says. “I really laugh. Because it’s like, what’s wrong with being a lady with cats?” Figolah says she believes we should all put our love in sustainable and uplifting places.

Overall, Mayse tells me that she is contributing to society in a different way.

“I feel like I (contribute) with my work,” Mayse says. “I feel like I’m not necessarily not contributing to society in the way that a mother would. I’m nurturing my clients and helping them, hoping that they pay it forward. So I feel like what society wants me to do, I’m doing it, just in a different way.”

Not all of us have to be mothers.

Sarah Goodson says she wrote this essay after beginning to explore her ideas about misogyny, patriarchy and having children. She has since come to the conclusion that the only good baby is her nephew.

And I think that’s the beautiful thing about this country: We all have free will (right now). This topic is a lot to take in — politics are a lot to take in right now — but to leave you with my final thoughts:

Childless cat ladies rock. Abortion is health care. JD Vance is bizarre. And do not hand me your baby, I really do not want to hold it.

My cat

‘Art was everything that I had’

Lee Carter transformed a lifelong love of art into an affordable tattoo studio and a second chance — for himself and others.

BY ASHLYNN PEREZ

Sitting at 2807 W. Broadway in Suite 101, Lee Carter’s tattoo studio, Immortal Art, is the result of a decade of tattooing, countless rejections and a long struggle with his past. The studio holds artists who want to talk and laugh with you as they bring your vision to life. Now, after more than a year of business, Carter

wants to bring his art to a larger space.

Carter grew up in Des Moines, Iowa, in the Oakridge Neighborhood, the state’s largest project-based housing complex. He always loved art, but as a child of a low-income family, he had little opportunity to pursue it. “I would draw with anything,” he says. “Sticks in

Lee Carter (above) says his proudest piece is a colorful blue-and-pink depiction of Emily, the character from Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride

the mud, you know? I was always trying to create something out of nothing.”

Carter says he was never creative as a child, but he was a “Xerox machine” — able to copy anything he saw. He learned this skill from his mother, who would copy Disney illustrations, such as a dancing Beauty and the Beast, from

McDonald’s cups.

While Carter was skilled in drawing, he struggled in school. He was in and out of the juvenile system for several years before being incarcerated at age 18.

During his incarceration as a teenager, he wanted nothing to do with tattooing. Instead, he focused on drawing portraits. “Art was everything that I had,” he says. “It was the only thing that somebody couldn’t take from me.”

At 23 years old, Carter was incarcerated again, this time for second-degree robbery and armed criminal action. His friend got into a fight at a Break Time gas station and Carter ran to his aid, he says. But what he didn’t realize was that his friend was armed, and things took a turn for the worse when someone was fatally shot. Carter spent 10 years in prison.

“I’m not that type of person,” Carter says. “I would never assault or hurt anyone, but I grew up with, ‘If your friends swing, you swing.’ ”

Starting to sketch

As he continued to draw during his second incarceration, his fellow inmates took notice and suggested Carter try his hand at tattooing. Carter was hesitant; he didn’t want to be responsible for something so permanent.

Eventually, in 2014, he tattooed his first subject. “It was Old English letters that said ‘Alyssa,’ and I spelled it wrong,” Carter says.

He became obsessed with the art, admiring how the human body could turn into a canvas. The human Xerox was a natural fit for a tattoo artist.

Outside the lines

Carter was released from prison in 2021. He worked in finish carpentry in Jefferson City before deciding to transform his six-year passion for tattooing into a career.

Crystal Reeves, his fiancé, has been with him every step of the way. Reeves and Carter met in their early 20s and have been together for nearly 15 years. Reeves visited him often during his incarceration and worked to support their children. Since his release, she is more than a friend and fiancé. As a business owner, she has become a trusted advisor.

“He touches each and every person’s heart when they sit at his booth,” Reeves says.

Carter dreamed of being a tattoo artist and owning a studio. But as he searched for a job in Columbia, he was heartbroken when every tattoo shop he tried turned him away. One, he says, shut the door in his face and laughed.

But his luck turned around at an

IHOP on Father’s Day, where he ran into an old friend who put him in touch with C.R. Ink. The local tattoo studio gave Carter a shot. He later moved on to become an artist at New Ink Studio and started formulating an idea for his own place. “I didn’t want to be on the leash of anyone else,” he says. “I wanted to create a place where people could get quality art for a minimal price.”

Today, he laughs at the thought of going through that back-breaking process again. It was a disheartening search for a building that would lease a tattoo studio to an entrepreneur with a criminal record.

The struggle officially ended on Oct. 6, 2023: Immortal Art’s opening day.

A permanent spot

Immortal Art is no more than 500 square feet, with three booths for clients. When it opened, Carter was the only artist.

Lee Carter cuts out a Dragon Ball Z tattoo stencil while he waits for a client to arrive. The stencil is applied to the skin and used as a visual guide for the tattoo artist. This piece is for Joshua Clark, who has gotten 11 tattoos from Carter.

The minimum at the studio for a tattoo is $40, which he says is the lowest in Columbia. “It’s unheard of,” he says. “But when you love tattooing, it’s not about the money.”

For client Joshua Clark, Carter is what he looks for in a tattoo artist: capable, versatile and consistent. “As a friend, as a client, as an investor, Lee is 100% just the best person I have worked with,” Clark says. “The best person that I’ve paid for services and just the best person as a friend.”

Today, two licensed artists, including Carter, and two apprentices work at Immortal Art. The apprenticeship aspect of Immortal Art is important to Carter — a result, he says, of his journey to become a tattoo artist in Columbia. He wants his studio to be where apprentices do real work, receive fair treatment and get the opportunity Carter worked so hard for.

GET INKED

Find Immortal Art at 2807 W. Broadway #101. To book an appointment, call 573-6395561 or visit immortalartshop. com.

Years and years ago, as a child, he dreamed of being a police officer or opening a food bank to feed homeless people. Perhaps the $40 tattoo minimum and those big smiles from clients, or the apprentices Carter has taken under his wing at the studio, are his way of doing good.

“Now I’m able to make sure I’m doing the right thing and giving back,” he says. “If I can change one person’s life, I think I’ve fulfilled my mission.”

Making space for serendipity

As a salon, art gallery and event space, it’s not just luck that makes Serendipity Salon and Gallery a place where creatives can shine.

BY SARAH GOODSON

Walking into Serendipity, you’re immediately met with bright colors and artwork. To the left are handmade items, from cicada wing earrings to fragrant candles. Near the Serendipity Wellness Studios are local artist Kelly Durante’s abstract paintings. Then you meet owner Elizabeth Jordheim, who greets you with a smile.

Welcome to Serendipity, a gathering place for creative, compassionate and open-minded people.

Serendipity Salon and Gallery by Elizabeth Jordheim is many things: an event space, a gift collection, an exhibition gallery and a beauty and wellness studio. Its multiple functions provide opportunities for small business owners to flourish.

Before opening Serendipity, Jordheim was an art and preschool teacher. After leaving the education world, she started working as a cosmetologist in 2017, and by 2020, she was styling hair in the building across from Serendipity’s current location. In 2021, Jordheim opened Serendipity at 1020 E. Walnut St. The first thing she bought for the space was a grand piano, and she gathered five artists’ work to sell — a statement about what she wanted her shop to be.

Jordheim did a lot to spruce up the space, says Vernon White, a massage therapist at Serendipity. “It’s been really nice to watch it go from this gray, dingy building to what it is now,” White says. The space is now filled with colorful lighting and artwork across every wall.

An avenue for artists Meredith Rodgers started her business, Hayloft Artist, about three years ago.

ECLECTIC ARTISTRY

For information on events or displays, follow @serendipity salonandgallery on Instagram. Visit Serendipity at 1020 E. Walnut St. Tues.-Sat., 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; 573-999-7057.

At Serendipity Salon and Gallery, owner Elizabeth Jordheim (below) organizes art by local creators into thoughtful displays. She says this practice builds a sense of community.

She sometimes uses unusual canvases, such as pennies, to paint landscapes and nature scenes. Rodgers grew up on a farm and takes inspiration from her surroundings. “I like doing plein air, which means going out in person and painting what’s in front of you,” Rodgers says.

Jordheim’s gallery assistant director, Kira Lawler, recruited Rodgers for Serendipity’s booth at Art in the Park. Rodgers’ started selling her art in the gift gallery last October. “It’s really cool to have that stationary, consistent place to have my art,” Rodgers says. “I’ve got a whole new audience.”

Cody Finley, the owner of Lore Tattoo, did an art show in 2022 with fellow artists Sawyer Wade and Mike Wolf. Jordheim approached him a few

months later to do a solo show at Serendipity. In September and October, Finley showcased his Japanese-style tattoo art. “It was a fun experience,” Finley says. “I wanted to paint more anyways, and it got our name out there.”

Finley says he hopes that he can use his tattoo shop similarly to Serendipity: a space for artists to come together, display local artistry and not get overcharged to do it.

Many paths for the future

Going forward, Jordheim sees many ways Serendipity could grow. It could transform into a nonprofit, a restaurant or even a cafe, but with the same vibe and mission. She also wants to use her education roots and bring more possibilities for learning this year.

Making people feel safe is vital, Jordheim says. Artists sometimes become tearful when they showcase their work. That means Serendipity is doing what Jordheim intended. It’s a welcoming and inclusive place for positive experiences, shared with fellow artists and the Columbia community at the gallery.

“It’s a beautiful space filled with beautiful things,” White says. “It’s just good people.”

Photography by Kyle Maki

OUR WORLD, REFLECTED

Look inside this year’s True/False Film Fest. Our how-to guide (p. 16) will help you navigate the fest’s art, parties, food and more, while the music director shares the bands you won’t want to miss (p. 18). Learn from Robert Greene, the Murray Center filmmaker-in-chief and T/F alum, about why documentaries matter more than ever (p. 19) and use the Doc Matrix (p. 20) to map out films to see.

DESIGN BY LAUREN GREEN

EDITING BY HAVEN DAGER, SARAH GOODSON AND DINA MURRAY

WHAT’S NEW? A LOT!

This year’s True/False Film Fest embraces change and fresh faces even more than usual.

BY SOPHIA KOCH

As the Ragtag Film Society prepares for its 22nd festival Feb. 27 to March 2, it’s doing so without Executive Director Arin Liberman, who stepped down last May after almost 14 years with the organization. A trio of existing staff is serving as an interim executive leadership team: Artistic Director Chloé Trayner, Operations Director Grace Piontek and Marketing and Communications Director Emily Edwards.

“Chloé, Grace and I are really happy to step into this role, but very much looking forward to an executive director who will be coming in,” Edwards says.

The new leadership team and the rest of the True/ False staff have been prepar-

ing since July for four days of art, culture and community. Of the 30 new feature films showing, 14 are from first-time directors, and 15 films will premiere at the festival. “This year, we were introduced to so many incredible voices working in nonfiction,” Trayner said in a press release.

The films Seeds and Zodiac Killer Project are both arriving at the fest with awards from the recent Sundance Film Festival. The directors of the 2024 Show Me True/False film (Girls State), Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine, bring their new project, Middletown. And Cristina Costantini, co-director of 2020 fan favorite Mucho Mucho Amor will show Sally, a biographical documentary about astronaut Sally Ride.

One film Edwards is looking forward to is The Track from director Ryan Sidhoo. Based on a true story, it follows a group of young athletes for five years as they try to make their Olympic dreams come true.

“I think it’s a real crowd pleaser,” Edwards says. “It tugs on the heartstrings and also gives you hope.”

how to: film

The True/False Film Fest includes 30 new feature films and 24 new shorts. The key to making the most of those movies is to have an open mind, says Max Havey, a writer for St. Louis Magazine who will be attendeding the festival for the 12th time. The films range from “mainstream, straightforward documentaries” to “challenging, borderline art films,” he says. “Ask yourself, as you’re watching, ‘What is the director’s intention here? Why is this impacting me?’” Havey says.

Put it in action: Break up the longer features by checking out the film shorts. “That’s a great way to find the next wave of cool documentary filmmakers,” Havey says.

Don’t miss: Films on Havey’s must-see list include Charlie Shackleton’s Zodiac Killer Project, David Osit’s Predators and Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss’s Middletown

The festival showcases nine art installations, many of which are 3D and require some level of audience interaction. Sarah Nguyen, the fest’s art installations curator, says these exhibitions push the bounds of typical art consumption. “An art installation, by its very nature, is an experience,” Nguyen says. “It goes beyond the idea of the borders of a gallery wall or a canvas.” Being an active participant is a must. “All of these pieces ask to be walked around,” Nguyen says. “All of these pieces ask you to ask questions.”

Put it in action: Nguyen leads free art walks from 10:30-11:30 a.m. Feb. 28, March 1 and March 2. Meet outside Sager Reeves Gallery.

Don’t miss: While each installation pushes boundaries, Nguyen recommends “The BFG” sculpture at First Presbyterian Church and “With What We Could Carry” in Alley A.

how

to: art

a completely true how-to guide

What to see, hear and experience at the best doc film fest around. BY

AUDREY ELLIS

Prepare to celebrate, Columbia’s cinephiles — the True/False Film Fest returns Feb. 27 to March 2 for its 22nd year. The festival offers documentary screenings, live music, art exhibitions, parties and a whole lot of community during its four-day run. Whether you’re a first-time attendee or a returning film fan, Vox collected tips to help you make the most of the festival weekend. Navigating the fest has never been easier!

Mini-concerts before film screenings and artist showcases throughout the weekend make True/False a music festival as well. Get to know the 40 musical acts performing at the fest with a Spotify playlist on the True/False Music Instagram, @truefalsemusic. “You’re going to find something you like, regardless of the type of music that you want,” says Ashwini Mantrala, the fest’s music director. “You’re going to see something that’s noteworthy and exceptional.”

Put it in action: Mantrala recommends the Stay Up Late pass ($70) that gets you into the evening showcases as well as special events like Buskers Last Stand — plus films after 9 p.m.

Don’t miss: Tip the musicians! At pre-film performances, a hat is passed around for cash tips. Or, use a QR code to Venmo your appreciation. Plus, Hitt Records will be selling artist merch.

how to: music

how to: food

You can’t bring snacks into the films (except Uprise Bakery’s food for Ragtag Cinema shows), so finding food between showings is essential. T/F offers a detailed list of downtown restaurants on its website under Festival Maps. The fest also partners with local restaurants, such as Ozark Biscuit Mountain Co. Addison’s, will host the fest’s closing reception from 5:30-7 p.m. March 2.

Put it in action: Looking for recommendations from professional festival attendees? Communications Director Emily Edwards and Artistic Director Chloé Trayner say a stop at Sparky’s Homemade Ice Cream is a must. Edwards also suggests grabbing a slice at Pizza Tree, while Trayner can’t resist the soups and salads at Uprise.

Don’t miss: For Center Pass holders and above, the Reality Bites event 5:30-6:45 p.m. Feb.

how to: fest

Now that you’ve done the films, art, music and food, is there anything left to do? Yes! There are 11 different events that round out the festival experience. For first-time attendees, Trayner suggests Gimme Truth, a raucous documentary game show from 10 p.m. to midnight March 1. Judges view a short film and must decide if its events are true or false. And bring the whole family to March March, a parade that starts at the Boone County Courthouse at 5 p.m. Feb. 28 and proceeds down Ninth Street.

Put it in action: Do not give in to FOMO, Trayner says, because there is no wrong way to attend the festival. “You can’t do everything, but you’re guaranteed to have a great time,” she says.

Don’t miss: Edwards’ favorite event is Campfire Stories, where filmmakers talk about their creative processes from 9-10:20 p.m. Feb. 28. The event requires a ticket and will be at Hexagon Alley. For a bit more motion, Trayner likes The Blue Note Dance Party with Takuya Nakamura from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. Feb. 28 ($15 advance, $20 day of).

Archive Photography by Parker Miles Blohm, Maddie Davis, Tim Nwachukwu, Eileen Wisniowicz and Jason Borseth

SOUNDTRACK TO TRUE/FALSE

BY TYLER WHITE

Behind every great film is an equally great soundtrack. It blends the music and visuals supporting energy and theme. Likewise, the musical performances of True/ False Film Fest are key to the fest experience.

Forty artists will perform throughout the fest at a variety of pre-show sets and 12 showcases. From the first note of the Eastside Kickoff Concert Wednesday night to the final strums of Sunday night’s Buskers Last Stand, the fest is filled to the brim with music.

Ashwini Mantrala, the fest music director, says creating the lineup means finding artists that bring the best quality and are adaptable to the challenges of the fest’s structure.

“Our vision is always to compile a roster of people that are professional, that I think will engage with the unorthodox setup of the fest,” Mantrala says.

Wil Reeves, a T/F music coordinator, says they look for artists that fill the spaces for preshow sets and showcases throughout the fourday fest. Jazz multi-instrumentalist Shabaka was chosen early on to be the headliner in a collaboration with Dismal Niche and “We Always Swing” Jazz Series. It was a natural decision and an important step in building the rest of the lineup. From there, everything began to fall into place.

“We kind of just start filling holes and just work our way up and start, just communicating with musicians who maybe we’ve talked to in the past, or who we have stumbled across throughout the year,” Reeves says.

With the True/False theme of All The Time, Mantrala says the music program’s work

throughout the years has all led to this point. All of the foundations set by the music in previous years points to this year’s lineup.

“This is a culmination of many different years of movements and thoughts and kind of little needlings that like, ‘Oh, we want to get it to this point,’ and now I think we’re kind of here,” Mantrala says.

Before the films at True/False, artists have a 30-minute pre-show set to perform. Mantrala says they don’t announce the pre-show artists ahead of time, but they purposefully place them before a film that thematically or sonically makes sense.

Beyond the films, the music showcases are also built in a cohesive manner. Saturday night’s Rose Showcase, featuring Finom, RESAVOIR and Tenci, is a Chicago-centric performance. Friday night’s Berlin Showcase is a deep dive into hip-hop with performances from E L U C I D, Cavalier, and Semiratruth. Even the two parties, the @ction Party and The Blue Note Dance Party, led by drummerscales and Takuya Nakamura respectively, are intentionally curated to feature unique music into the late nights.

Kyle Cook, co-owner of Hitt Records, says the music provides an accessible opportunity for people to enjoy the fest in a different way. He says it’s difficult to find time to watch all the films and research which ones you want to see, so the music is a different way to experience True/False.

“It’s a lot easier to just get the music pass and be like, ‘I’m going to go to some of these shows, and I’m going to go with my friends and hang out with them and see some of these unique and amazing acts,’ ” Cook says.

Whether you’re watching a pre-film set or going to one of the showcases throughout the weekend, the music at True/False Film Fest completes the full experience. From local returners to international newcomers, there is something for everyone.

You can’t make it to ALL the shows, so here are some of Ashwini Mantrala’s picks of the fest.

BEST LOCAL ACT

Tri-County Liquidators, Saturday Night Berlin Showcase, 8 p.m. March 1

MUST-SEE pERFORMANCES

Thursday night festival headliner Shabaka, 8 p.m. Feb. 27, The Blue Note; Sachiko Kanenobu, Sanctuary Showcase, 6 p.m. March 1, First Baptist Church

MOST ExpERiMENTAL

Takuya Nakamura, The Blue Note Dance Party 10 p.m. Feb. 28

CROwD pLEASERS

RESAVOIR, Saturday Night Rose Showcase 9 p.m. March 1

MOST UNDERRATED ACT

Hour, opener for the Sanctuary Showcase 6 p.m. March 1

Up-AND-COMiNg ARTiST

Lena Clav, Hitt Records Sessions 6 p.m. March 2

Music is the heartbeat that keeps True/False thumping.

show me truth

BY ALLI BEALMER

robert Greene has been a part of True/False Film Fest since 2010 when he premiered his second film, Kati with an I. In 2014, he became the filmmaker-in-chief at the Murray Center for Documentary Journalism at the University of Missouri, and he serves on Ragtag Film Society’s board of directors. Experienced as both a filmmaker and a viewer, Greene sees how documentaries create a space for people to process and take in different perspectives of their world.

“I think you have to constantly question why you are doing it, and why it matters,” Greene says. “If you’re not questioning why you’re doing it and why it matters with documentary, then you really gotta take a step back. To make something irrelevant is almost the worst crime. I’m constantly thinking about where audiences are.”

Vox talked to Greene about the importance of nonfiction films — and a festival like True/False — in 2025 and beyond.

What is the role of documentaries in today’s society?

In the ’60s, you could take out a camera and just record things, and it was the revolution because no one had been able to do that before. Now, everyone can take out their phone and record whatever they want, and sometimes those recordings can be world changing as we’ve seen over the last five years — anything from police brutality to revolutions around the world. I think where we are now, documentary is about giving space to process. And I think what True/ False does is find all these different forms for processing. It’s not about making a bunch of money, it is about giving viewers a space to process. I hate the cliche, and I really hate it, but now more than ever that’s what we need.

How have you seen these films affect people?

I do think (films) can galvanize you. I helped with a film called Predators, which (premiered) at Sundance, and it’s about To Catch a Predator, the TV show. And the film itself is not about leaning too far to one side or the other. It’s not down the middle. It’s a very personal film. It’s not trying to be objective at all, but I think it will greatly affect people. Will it lead to a cultural reckoning? Probably not. But for the viewers that see that film, they’re going to have a deep, deep effect. So I do think that’s the point of great art.

What do you see for the future of nonfiction filmmaking?

I think it’s got to keep evolving. Movies still need to be dramatic. They still need to have tension. They still need to have a beginning, middle and end. I really think movies have to be doing good, but doing good while also challenging you by also creating forms that we’ve never seen before. The movie Eno, for example, which was shortlisted for the Academy Award, is about the musician and producer Brian Eno. My son is into music and he watched that movie and was like, ‘That’s the best movie I’ve ever seen.’ And he went upstairs, and he made music for the rest of the night. That’s a direct impact that a film can make.

The filmmaker Gary Hustwit put together these scenes that could be mixed up in an AI regenerator, so everyone saw a different movie every time they screened it. And that just creates such an experience. And it is a positive expe -

HOW TO CATCH PREDATORS

Robert Greene worked on the film Predators, which will show three times during the fest. See it Feb.

rience as is evidenced by my son being like, ‘That’s the best movie I’ve ever seen and now I’m going to make art.’ Could you imagine a better reaction?

Why should people spend time watching documentaries at True/False?

True/False is the very best documentary film festival in the country and in the world — and there’s some great ones — but True/ False is really the best. We’ve had a legacy of incredible programming, and that means who picks the films and how you get to seeing them. There’s so many exciting films to watch. There’s challenging films to watch. And the best thing is, you walk in and every single screening is packed. You just get this incredible energy in every single room. It’s a very unique mix of mid-Missouri earnest, intelligent people who are like, ‘Show me something,’ mixed with the very best documentary filmmakers and industry folks from around the world. We have an incredible music program and an incredible art program. It is a real celebration of everything that we need to cling to now.

Robert Greene explains why documentaries are more important than ever.

Photography by Ava Kitsi

VOX DOC MATRIX

With 30 feature films (and 24 shorts), the True/False Film Fest schedule is exciting — and potentially overwhelming. Programmers Amada Torruella and Amber Love help decode the film lineup.

BY MAYA DAWSON

DEAF PRESIDENT NOW!

In 1998, students at the world’s only deaf university staged an eight-day protest for the appointment of its first deaf president.

THE TRACK

SALLY

The story of Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, is told from the perspective of her life partner.

Three teen boys chase their Olympic dreams in post-war Sarajevo. This is the 2025 True Life Fund Film.

SHORTS: SUMMER

This collection of shorts focuses on playful charm and deep heart, including quests and inquiries into pop culture.

CONVENTIONAL

MIDDLETOWN

The directors of Girls State return with a film about a high school teacher who transforms his students into investigative journalists in the 1990s and uncover a town conspiracy.

THE DATING GAME

HOW TO BUILD A LIBRARY

Two women in Nairobi dismantle colonial legacies and take control of their history by transforming a library. This is the 2025 Show Me True/False Film.

SHORTS: SPRING

Moments of sweetness, enduring melodies and the unwavering support of loved ones are the focus of this shorts collection.

WISHING ON A STAR

An astrologer sends her eccentric clients on birthday trips to be reborn under a new star sign and change their fates.

THE SILENCE OF MY HANDS

Rosa and Sai connect despite the distance in this playful love story spoken entirely in sign language.

RIVER OF GRASS

The effects of climate change on the Florida Everglades are explored through stories of those who love and protect the ecosystem.

SEEDS

Black-and-white cinematography provides a portrait of Black generational farmers in the U.S. The film won the U.S. Grand Jury Prize at Sundance Film Festival.

HOW DEEP IS YOUR LOVE

MAY THE SOIL BE EVERYWHERE

Three men look for love in China, where the One Child Policy has resulted in men far outnumbering women.

FAMILY ALBUM

Claudia Pía Baudracco, a leader in Argentina’s trans right movement, is celebrated through community reflections, archival footage and music.

VALENTINA AND THE MUOSTERS

A young woman in rural Italy steps into her own amidst imposing military satellites and caring for her aging parents.

ZODIAC KILLER PROJECT

Director Charlie Shackleton reflects on his abandoned Zodiac Killer film while investigating the inner workings of the true crime genre.

WTO/99

With archival videos, peek inside the journalistic and political climate of the 1999 World Trade Organization protests.

Filmmaker Yehui Zhao works to find her family’s remote Chinese village to understand its relationship to the land and history.

Scientists explore the unknown depths of the ocean to document whimsical and undiscovered species on behalf of companies looking to mine the deep sea. MAKE IT LOOK REAL

THE UNDERGROWTH

Three sisters divide their family’s inheritance amid moments of magical realism in this contemplative film in the Canary Islands.

A photo studio owner in Pakistan will edit his clients into any setting they choose, exploring humanity while reclaiming his own identity.

SHORTS: WINTER

Highly experimental and cerebral stories about the world and our place in it make up this collection of shorts.

World premiere at T/F

U.S. premiere at T/F

Premiered at Sundance

PREDATORS

A behind-the-scenes look at the syndicated television show To Catch A Predator delves into the show’s complicated legacy and the world of vigilante justice.

REQUIEM FOR A TRIBE

A powerful grandmother from the nomadic Bakhtiari tribe in Iran is forced to begin anew when she must abandon her home amid climate change and political conflict.

LAND WITH NO RIDER

The last of a generation of cattle ranchers in New Mexico reflect on their memories of caring for the land and raising animals.

JOHN LILLY AND THE EARTH COINCIDENCE CONTROL OFFICE

A BODY TO LIVE IN

A thoughtful archival exploration of Fakir Musafar, a monumental and controversial figure in the queer art of body modification.

A historical look at John C. Lilly’s controversial legacy follows the scientist as he experiments on dolphins in search of the secrets to animal and human consciousness.

WRITING HAWA

Hawa, the mother of filmmakers Najiba Noori and Rasul Noori, is learning to write. She is starting her own business in Afghanistan when the U.S. withdraws from the country, triggering collapse.

LIGHT MEMORIES

Photographer Misha Vallejo Prut shines light on the intricacies and hardships of familial relationships in this tribute to the power of photography.

THE WOLVES ALWAYS COME

AT NIGHT

A Mongolian family must give up their nomadic lifestyle in this docufiction portrait of the dangers of climate change.

A WANT IN HER

Filmmaker Myrid Carten navigates interactions with her mother, who struggles with addiction in a portrait of their motherdaughter relationship.

ABO ZAABAL 89

Director Bassam Mortada follows Egypt’s history of political persecution to understand the unraveling of his own family and restore relationships.

SHORTS: AUTUMN

KOUTÉ VWA (LISTEN TO THE VOICES)

A family copes with loss in a comingof-age story that explores friendship and healing while challenging the idea of what a documentary can be.

RESURRECTION

This collection of short films focuses on change, particularly in relationships as they shift into a new phase.

Filmmaker Hu Sanshou, the 2025 True Vision award winner, provides an experimental and thought-provoking look at how those in his hometown care for the deceased by moving the bodies to new resting grounds.

A toast to avocado

Looking for a can’t-miss option for breakfast or brunch?

Here’s where you can find the delicious, nutritious, ubiquitous avocado toast in Columbia.

BY BAILEY BECKER

Fluffy, neon-green avocado atop crunchy toast is still THE ultimate #brunch photo. The multi-textured dish took off after Gwyneth Paltrow and Julia Turshen included a recipe in their 2013 cookbook It’s All Good.

And it can be a healthy option, says Mary Amanda Haskins, an associate professor in the School of Health Sciences at Stephens College. Pairing your avocado with whole-wheat toast is a good starting point for fiber and vitamin B. In the avocado, you get folate, unsaturated fats, fiber and vitamin E. Include eggs, turkey, cheese or black beans to add protein, Haskins says.

You’re craving some now, aren’t you? Here are spots around Columbia to get that avocado toast fix.

TO MASH OR TO SLICE?

That is the question. It’s all in the presentation, from how the avocado is prepared to the garnishes like salt, olive oil and lemon.

It’s not easy to stand out in the avocado toast market. Goldie’s Bagels does it by spreading the creamy green goodness on any of its trademark bagels (below).

Cafe Berlin

The Guac Toast at Cafe Berlin is two slices of your choice of toast with housemade guacamole. Or, for avocado on a waffle with an egg and all the fixins, try the WALT.

$8-16; 220 N. Tenth St.; Brunch: Sun.-Mon., 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Wed.-Sat., 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

COMO Arepas

This coffee house offers more than empanadas and arepas. Its avocado toast features avocado, olive oil, red pepper, black pepper, salt and multigrain bread. Another option there is cachapas, a Venezuelan-style sweet corn pancake, which can be filled with avocado, among other things.

$6.45; 1009 N. Providence Road; Mon.-Fri., 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturday, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sunday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

First Watch

At First Watch, you can pair avocado toast with a cocktail. Its dish includes avocado, lemon juice, First Watch seasoning (a blend of garlic salt, onion salt, paprika, salt and pepper), extra virgin olive oil and Maldon sea salt on wholegrain artisan bread. There’s also an herb

mix and two basted eggs on top.

$12.49; 1301 Grindstone Parkway and 421 N. Stadium Blvd.; 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Goldie’s Bagels

For a circular spin on this dish, Goldie’s starts with an open-face bagel of your choice and adds smashed avocado, Boone Olive Oil, flaky salt, cracked pepper, lemon juice and microgreens.

$8; 114 S. Ninth St.; Tues.-Fri., 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Sat.-Sun., 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Love Coffee

This coffee shop serves avocado toast on whole-wheat bread with guacamole, an avocado seasoning blend and an egg cooked to order.

$4.50; 15 Business Loop 70 E.; Tues.-Sat., 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Nourish Café & Market

A great option for those with food allergies or sensitivities, the avocado toast at Nourish includes avocado, feta, cilantro and lemon tahini sauce on gluten-free sourdough toast.

$13.50; 1201 E. Broadway; Mon.-Fri., 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; Sat.-Sun., 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Photography by Ava Kitzi and Austin Johnson

Pop in for a bowl of flavor-packed fusion

Vinnie DeBono combines his roots into signature dishes at his pop-up, Kiki’s Noodle Bowl.

BY MJ MONTGOMERY

If you’ve hung around Beet Box over the past year, you might have heard rumblings in the kitchen about a ramen pop-up that fuses three seemingly disparate flavor profiles in its dishes.

The man behind the bowl is one of Beet Box’s kitchen managers, Vinnie DeBono. He’s also Kiki’s Noodle Bowl’s head chef, founder, social media manager, CEO, CFO and recipe tester. DeBono’s family is Hispanic-Italian — his little brother was adopted from Guatemala and he was adopted from South Korea. All these cultures combine into one patchwork menu of deliciousness. What goes into a bowl of Kiki’s ramen or one of his signature side dishes? Sit back and read on to find out. And if you want to try his food for yourself, follow @kikisnoodlebowl on Instagram to learn about scheduled pop-ups.

Shrimp toast

Vinnie DeBono of Kiki’s Noodle Bowl named the pop-up after his pet corgi, Kiki. For events he 3D prints chopstick holders in the shape of his beloved pet.

1. Focaccia

The hearty, hydrated traditional Italian bread made in a sheet pan has the perfect texture for shrimp toast, DeBono says. While the focaccia he uses for his shrimp toast is plain, DeBono has experimented with other types of Italian breads like ciabatta.

2. Shrimp

This is the dish’s headlining act. The eponymous shrimp are minced, mixed with sesame oil, ginger, garlic, green onion and Korean chili flakes. Once spread over the focaccia like butter, DeBono presses a finishing layer of sesame seeds on top. Lastly, he fries the entire package in vegetable oil to make a crunchy flavor bomb.

Kiki’s Noodle Bowl isn’t just yummy ramen bowls. DeBono has a lot of fun with his sides, one of which is his Italian-fusion take on shrimp toast. The toast serves as an appetizer, made with minced shrimp sandwiched between white bread — common in Chinese restaurants.

3. Thai sweet chili sauce

The sweet and slightly spicy finishing touch is served on the side — to drown your shrimp toast to your heart’s content.

Photography by

Birria ramen

DeBono says birria ramen had a moment on social media, which made him want to try it himself. He refined his own recipe for birria, a new favorite of Mexican restaurantgoers.

1. Pickled red onions

This traditional birria pairing adds a bite of vinegary sweetness.

2. Cilantro

Cilantro is a common herb in Hispanic cuisine, adding freshness, though not if you’re one of the 4% to 14% of the U.S. population for whom cilantro tastes like soap. At Kiki’s, you can substitute or take out any ingredients that don’t work for you.

3. Soy-marinated egg

This typical ramen element is added just for fun. The yolk remains soft and jammy, enhancing the texture and umami flavor profile.

4. Chihuahua cheese

Cheese is not a traditional pairing with Chinese ramen, but DeBono says it lends the ramen a unique creaminess. Chihuahua cheese is common in Mexican cuisine. Korean ramen (ramyeon) is made with cheese, so he mixes those cultures together.

5. Broth (with a secret!)

The traditional choice for ramen is a rich pork broth, infused with aromatics like onion. He takes the broth for his birria ramen one step further, blending the birria’s consommé — a warm, umami flavorfed braising liquid — with the pork broth. “I’m recontextualizing (the broth), adding a strong chili flavor,” DeBono says.

6. Ramen noodles

This Chinese-style noodles are long, thin and usually wheat-based. Fun fact: ramen came to Japan through China, and the word “ramen” is a Chinese loan word to Japanese. DeBono gets his noodles from a fancy-pants noodle supplier, unlike those 99-cent noodles that come in a microwaveable paper cup.

7. Birria

Birria includes beef, typically chuck roast or another tough cut. It’s slowbraised with chili until it’s melt-in-yourmouth tender. The cooking liquid is jam-packed with flavor and served as a dipping sauce with birria tacos.

Hoo’s hungry for a bite?

Armed with hamburgers, tacos and Chicago-style hot dogs, The Night Owl Eatery feeds downtown Columbia’s late-night crowds.

BY SARAH MOURA

Picture this: The bars have announced their last calls and the musicians have taken their final bows on a late weekend night in downtown Columbia. You search for a place to satiate your cravings, and that’s when you smell a fusion of hot dogs, hamburgers, chili and fries. Following the wafting scents to the corner of Ninth and Locust streets, you find the food truck The Night Owl Eatery.

Rikki Stone started the business in 2021 to fill the absence of late-night downtown food options — and not just for students. After spending most of her culinary career clocking out of the late shift, her passion for feeding people extended to fellow food industry workers. “They get off work at 1:30 to 2 o’clock in the morning, and there’s no food,” Stone says. “That’s really my favorite reason to be out at that time.”

The Night Owl began as a hot dog cart. As her customer base grew, so did the business. In 2023, Stone expanded to the enclosed trailer where she slings Chicago-style hot dogs today.

Weeklong prep for an all-night grind

The show begins at 10 p.m. Thursdays, when The Night Owl opens for the first time during the week. While Stone puts in elbow grease at the grill, Morgan Houser, Stone’s girlfriend, stays at the register to greet customers. Once the window opens, the two are on their feet without a break past 2 a.m., when the

truck closes for the night. They repeat the process on Friday and Saturday.

The duo met in Columbia and started dating when Stone got the business off the ground. Since then, Houser has had a front-row seat to all the work Stone puts into The Night Owl. “When she first started getting going, I just wanted to be there,” Houser says. Stone’s week, when she’s not operating the truck, still revolves around The Night Owl. Mondays and Tuesdays are inventory and delivery days; on Wednesdays, she begins prepping for the weekend. On Sundays, she deep cleans her trailer.

Learning to fly

While her passion is cooking, Stone has to play many roles, including boss, janitor and, on occasion, mechanic. “All the behind-the-scenes stuff, all the business sides of stuff, that’s really been something that I learn every day,” Stone says.

Faulty propane tanks and stolen parking spots are all regular challenges for a food truck business.

Along the way, Stone has found several support systems, one being the community of fellow mobile food vendors. Gina Overshiner, the owner and chef for Gina’s Vegan A Go Go, says having

Morgan Houser snaps a shot of some nocturnal eaters as they await their food. As soon as The Night Owl opens at 10 p.m., people often are ready and waiting to place their orders.

contact with others in the business can be a resource and an opportunity to share knowledge.

Certain challenges, however, simply mean new opportunities for the business to grow. A prime example is the menu. While sticking to comfort food, Stone sets up weekly specials to experiment with. This led to the fan-favorite peanut butter burger.

Weathering through

BACK TO THE NEST

The Night Owl Eatery closes for winter but returns to downtown in early March. Search The Night Owl Eatery on Facebook for more information.

Other challenges don’t have a straightforward fix. Cold — sometimes below freezing — temperatures can create technical issues during mid-Missouri winters, especially in the dead of night. Stone mainly sidelines the truck November through February. Even during this period, Stone stays busy by keeping the truck up-to-date with renovations and equipment to meet the business’ growing demand.

It’s Stone’s dedication that has helped amass a large following for The Night Owl. Serving more food to more people is Stone’s ultimate goal.

“I just hope people realize the amount of work and love that she puts into this, because it’s a lot, and it’s definitely not something you take for granted,” Houser says.

Family ties

Two cousins introduce downtown shop Sole Bros, offering new and rare sneakers in mid-Missouri.

BY AUSTIN GARZA

It was love at first sight when Ian Morgan laid eyes on a pair of Nike LeBron 9s in the South Beach colorway. Twelve years later, he’s said “I do” to the sneaker game.

Morgan, 20, alongside his cousin, Ben Sapp, 43, opened Sole Bros on Oct. 18 in downtown Columbia. While coastal cities have long embraced sneaker culture with stores, such as Flight Club and Stadium Goods, Sole Bros brings the hype to Columbia.

It’s gotta be the shoes Columbia’s sneaker community thrived online for years, but Sole Bros is turning those URLs to IRLs.

Sapp initially wanted to open a sneaker store in 2016 after starting SneakerBroker, a local Facebook group dedicated to buying and selling shoes. However, the timing wasn’t right until last July, when the cousins discussed opening a store. They felt a brick-andmortar location would stand out in Columbia.

“I think it could be big for not only Columbia but mid-Missouri as a whole,” Sapp says. “You have a two- or threehour minimum drive to even go to a resale store.”

Morgan runs in-store operations and has noticed a solid base of repeat customers. Sole Bros makes sneakers more accessible by offering prices below those of online marketplaces, giving customers more reason to explore the shop’s selection.

“Giving people the opportunity that they can afford it at a reasonable price

Photography by Olivia Myska and courtesy

Ian Morgan’s Sole Bros storefront on Locust Street is a colorful shoe sanctuary. “Hype is what brings a lot of these sneakers to be purchased,” he says.

and seeing that smile on their face when they get that shoe, that’s what matters most,” Morgan says.

Additionally, the store allows sneakerheads to buy rare shoes hardly spotted in person, for example, the 2010 Doernbecher Air Jordan 3, coveted for its unique design and limited release.

“I can go there and get a couple different options,” DeMarcus Harris says, a local sneakerhead and lifelong Columbia resident. “There’s no other store close to what Sole Bros has.”

Sapp handles the store’s out-of-state purchases and bulk buying. Sole Bros offers customers the option to have outof-stock sneakers sourced and delivered to the store for customers. For Sapp, the possibilities are endless.

“We can get anything from a used $5 shoe to a $50,000 shoe if you really want it,” Sapp says.

Madison Fazio, Morgan’s girlfriend, manages the store’s social media. Since the store opened, she has witnessed Columbia’s online sneaker community come to life.

“I didn’t think we’d have the amount of people coming in and being as excited as (Ian) was about creating something like this,” Fazio says.

The cousins’ desire to create a local hub for sneakerheads isn’t just for kicks; it stems from decades of dedication to footwear and staying fresh.

Heart and sole Sapp got the “sneaker bug” at 5 years old

Jordan 1s in the iconic black and red col orway — sneakerhead speak for a shoe’s color scheme. Before online platforms made sneaker reselling simple and ac cessible, Sapp would travel to Kansas City and St. Louis with 30 pairs loaded in his trunk for sale.

After 38 years of interest and 20 years of reselling, he still loves sneak ers. To Sapp, shoes have become more than footwear; they’re a conduit for self-expression.

“It’s a form of art to me,” Sapp says. “And you can express yourself with them. I’m a bright person. I like bright colors, not just black, white and earth tones. I want my ’80s and ’90s colors.”

then we would save up and buy shoes.”

Morgan looked to Sapp as a shoe role model and even bought a few pairs from him. The history and storytelling behind shoes keep Morgan hooked. He was excited when he saw the highly beloved Wu-Tang Clan Nike Dunks, which have resold for more than $50,000, rereleased in November. This pair’s mythical status is only a drop in the bucket among legendary sneakers fueled by storytelling.

Morgan views sneakers as stocks with wildly fluctuating prices. Once,

Ian Morgan negotiates a buying price for a pair of shoes brought in by customer Trevon Burns. Sole Bros offers potential customers rare shoes that may be out of stock elsewhere.

Harris stays connected to Columbia’s footwear scene via Facebook groups such as Kicks in the Zou. In his experience, local sneakerheads watch each other’s backs, as forum members often monitor upcoming limited releases they know another member might want.

This sense of community drives Columbia’s sneaker scene, and with a new retail space, it can flourish like never before.

Stepping outside the box

Sapp and Morgan hope Sole Bros continues strengthening the sneaker community they led out of the digital space. They plan on organizing a sneaker convention similar to the international Sneaker Con to attract sneakerheads from mid-Missouri to talk and shop shoewear. Perhaps they’ll eventually open a second location in Columbia. Their ambitions extend past just sneakers. Eventually, they hope to provide free back-to-school haircuts for students, demonstrating that their commitment to generating a positive impact goes beyond making a profit.

“It’s not just about making money and selling sneakers,” Sapp says.

Sapp and Morgan’s business marks a place where fashion and community intersect. With their drive to keep Columbia laced with killer kicks and a thriving social hub, Sole Bros shows no signs of taking its foot off the gas.

Photography by Olivia Myska

Two souls, one salon

These longtime friends created the inclusive salon they’d always wanted to work in.

BY ALLY SCHNIEPP

In beauty school, Colissa Nole knew she wanted to open her own salon, but she didn’t know that her friend since childhood, Meg Fudge, would become her business partner.

The salon, which started in a beauty studio in 2023, moved its inclusive business into a seven-chair parlor at 2101 Cherry Hill Drive in October.

While The Soul Collective’s business includes haircutting and brow waxing, it’s much more to Nole, Fudge and their customers.

Fudge and Nole have prioritized creating a safe space for their stylists and clients by not offering gendered services, asking for pronouns while booking and speaking to their guests inclusively.

“As old as I am, and as many salons that I have been to in my lifetime, I have never entered a place like this,” says Carol Schauffler, one of Nole’s clients. “It’s like when you open the door, there’s just an aura there, and it’s the most welcoming, safe place ever.”

Friends to business partners

Nole and Fudge’s friendship has persisted over the years despite their seven-year age difference. When Fudge was young, Nole was her babysitter.

Fudge followed in her friend’s

Co-owners Colissa Nole (left) and Meg Fudge opened The Soul Collective. “We decided that we want a salon that has good owners,” Nole says. “We wanted a space that felt inclusive and supportive — and who better to do that than ourselves.”

footsteps into the beauty industry. “We hopped around together for a while, and we were finally like ‘OK, enough is enough,’” Fudge says. The two wanted a place where they felt safe to do their jobs and where their clients felt comfortable.

Fudge initially suggested to Nole that they should run a salon together. “It kind of just started as a way to save money but blossomed into a bigger dream than I expected,” Nole says.

The two hair stylists co-own The Soul Collective.

Mission becomes a reality

The Soul Collective offers haircuts — which they call “vibes” — color services, brow waxing and tinting and other services. Their haircuts are not gendered; clients are charged based on how long it takes to cut their hair.

“We don’t see you for your gender,” Fudge says. “We see you for who you are and what you bring to the table. And we’ll cut your hair and hang out.”

A pair of clippers and scissors sits aside as Fudge cuts customer Trent Rash’s hair. Find out more about the salon on Instagram @thesoulcollective como.

The Soul Collective also offers gender-affirming hair care. The salon is part of a database run by the nonprofit organization HAIR HAS NO GENDER, which helps people find salons that have gender-inclusive spaces.

“Gender-affirming hair care is freedom for people,” says Jamie DiGrazia, founder and executive director of the

Photography by Alex Buchanan

nonprofit. “Sometimes that looks like cutting someone’s hair off or growing someone’s hair long — however someone is going to feel at home in their self.”

Nole and Fudge even carefully crafted a name for the salon that reflects the inclusive space they want to create.

“We’re just a collective of souls,” Nole says. “We chose that name to represent what we believe in, and we believe in everyone feeling important and everyone feeling like they matter.”

Schauffler, referred to as the “salon mom,” has a unique relationship with both stylists. Schauffler even buys things at the grocery store that she thinks they will like.

She says it feels good to be in an environment that accepts and welcomes everyone. “No matter their pronoun, no matter their way of life, that’s them, and you’re free to be yourself when you go to Soul Collective,” Schauffler says.

Marissa Brown, one of Nole’s clients, says she knows she’ll be greeted with open arms at The Soul Collective. As

Nole finishes up the hair of longtime client Marissa Brown.

GET WHAT YOU WANT

The Soul Collective offer these tips:

• Have inspiration photos to show your stylist.

• Looking for a big chop or a little cleanup? Color or keep it natural? Make these decisions before you’re in the chair.

• Set up a consultation to discuss changes to see what’s doable.

• Know how much money you have to spend. And keep the upkeep in mind!

But this wasn’t the case for her at

The Soul Collective salon. “I felt immediately comfortable to talk about my personal life and know that I wouldn’t be judged — I would be celebrated,” Brown says.

Save a life. Don’t Drive HoMe buzzeD. BUZZED DRIVING IS DRUNK DRIVING.

Photography by Alex Buchanan

a bisexual polyamorous woman, Brown hasn’t always felt comfortable talking about her personal life in some traditional salon spaces.

TO-DO LIST

Your curated guide of what to do in Columbia this month.

ARTS

Tiny Things

At this Columbia Art League exhibit, big things come in small packages. “Tiny Things” features art pieces 8 square inches in size but leagues larger in meaning. Attend the exhibit’s reception 6-8 p.m. March 7. Feb. 25-April 4, 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., Columbia Art League, free, 573-443-8838

OneMic

OneMic is a creative collective that puts local artists in the spotlight. These open mic nights, held on the last Wednesday of every other month, are the perfect place to amplify your voice or discover what speaks to you. Feb. 26, 6 p.m., Hitt Street Records, free, 573-777-9299

Dance Nation

Follow a young dance troupe’s journey to nationals

in a University of Missouri Department of Theatre’s rendition of Dance Nation that will make your heart spin. Companionship, competition and coming-of-age blend together as a group of dancers waltz closer to their dreams. March 1215, 7:30 p.m., March 16, 2 p.m., Studio 4, McKee Gymnasium, $16; $13, groups of 8+, 573-882-2021

CIVIC

Meat Chicken Basics

Have you thought about raising your own chickens? The Columbia Center for Urban Agriculture is hosting a series of Egg-spert Insights sessions at Columbia’s Agriculture Park. This month’s focus is Meat Chicken Basics. Seating is limited so RSVP via the CCUA website Feb. 26, 6-7 p.m., Columbia’s Agriculture Park, free, 573-514-4174, columbiaurbanag.org/events

FOOD

Dining in the Alley: Blond Bombshells

Lovers of drag, food and beverages can enjoy three rounds of drag queen entertainment at Hexagon Alley. Hosted by Artemis Grey, who won Miss Gay St. Louis USofA this year, there will be performances by Ivan Liqueur, Mid-MO Pride King 2019 and Alexxa Pro, Mid-MO Pride Youth Queen 2024. The show is 18+, and it is recommended that attendees call ahead and preorder food for prompt service. March 30, 4-7:30 p.m., Hexagon Alley, $12 in advance; $15 at door, 573-227-2213

MUSIC

The Fiddle Tradition

Discover the art of traditional fiddling with the Columbia Civic Orchestra. Through performances from Siri Geenen, Jesse and

Tim Langen and Howard Marshall and Friends, immerse yourself in the fiddle traditions of Missouri, Norway and Ireland. Feb. 23, 7:30 p.m., Missouri Theatre, free, 573-882-3781

Hungrytown

Are you hungry for some new music? Enjoy the songwriting of artistic duo Hungrytown at the Columbia Public Library. Listen to dynamic pieces with lovely vocal harmonies, a blend of classic folk, Celtic and Americana styles. Feb. 27, 7-8 p.m., Columbia Public Library, free, 573-443-3161

Rumours ATL: A Fleetwood Mac Tribute

Rumor has it you can sing along to your favorite Fleetwood Mac classics at The Blue Note. Enjoy all the hits as Rumours ATL, known for being one of the best Fleetwood Mac tribute bands, takes you back to those groovy years. March 13, 8 p.m., The Blue Note, $20-35, 573-874-1944

Show-Me Opera: Yeomen of the Guard

Experience this 1888 Savoy opera from musician Arthur Sullivan and librettist W. S. Gilbert. Set in the Tower of London in the 16th century, this performance is considered one of the duo’s most emotionally engaging. March 15, 7 p.m.; March 16, 2 p.m., Missouri Theatre, $25, 573-882-3781

Hilario Durán Quartet

Jazz it up with Cuban pianist, composer and arranger Hilario Durán as part of the “We Always Swing” Jazz Series’ Jazz in the District. Enjoy the quartet during the Dr. Carlos and Laura Perez-Mesa Memorial Concert. March 20, 7 p.m., Missouri Theatre, $20-40, 563-882-3781

RECREATION

Crafternoon

If you’re holed up and looking for a new hobby this winter, consider an afternoon of crafts at the Columbia Public Library. Guests will learn new and more complex embroidery patterns in this second installment of Crafternoon. Prior attendance is not required to participate. Feb. 20, 2-4 p.m., Columbia Public Library, free, 573-441-3161 SOME PARENTS

THE Q PRINCESS

ARCHIVE PHOTOGRAPHY BY ELLIE FRYSZTAK

True/False’s annual March March is the fest’s kickoff parade — the perfect excuse to get dolled up and stroll down Ninth Street. The procession is typically accompanied by fun, vibrant props and is well-known for being joyfully boisterous. Nora Wharton studied her crowned reflection before the march last year at Boone County Courthouse Plaza, where the parade begins. She arrived early with her mom and cousin to help direct traffic before promenading. This year’s March March is 5–5:30 p.m. on Feb. 28.