Our People

Katie Carpenter (she/her/hers) is the Executive Director of Perennial.  She’s in awe of the beautiful and treasured items the Perennial community crafts out of broken and discarded materials. Katie is dedicated to securing resources and connecting with new audiences to keep programming accessible and share the value of a sustainable and self-sufficient lifestyle. Katie’s always up for an adventure whether it’s cooking an egg on a volcano in Bali or a spur of the moment road trip to the Iowa State Fair, but she feels most at home surrounded by St. Louis brick.  Her nonprofit experience includes arts-programming, fundraising, and direct service. She holds an MPA with a focus in nonprofit management from Drake University.

Sophia (she/her/hers) is our Director of Creative ReUse. She holds a BFA in Studio Art with a minor in International Human Rights from Webster University, and she’s delighted to combine these two passions in her work at Perennial. Her favorite part of the job is getting to support her fellow local artists while creating opportunities for creative reuse education in the St. Louis area. Sophia owes her love of creative reuse to her grandmother, who could find a second life for anything. Outside of Perennial, you can find Sophia making things, dreaming (both asleep and awake), hanging with her puppy Ekko, and running her eco-friendly paper goods and accessories business, Just Human Studio.

Lillian (she/her/friend) is passionate about community involvement/outreach, art education, encouraging personal growth, and inspiring others through the form of creativity, imagination, and creative reuse. She enjoys helping people, making meaningful connections, learning & growing, and making art. She is a firm believer that, “We can find strength and joy in community, collaboration, and connections. We are inherently stronger together.” Lillian holds a BFA in Studio Art with an Emphasis in Sculpture from Webster University. She is also a poet, musician, dancer, and visual arts mentor. Outside of Perennial, you can find Lillian creating custom art through her business TAPEZOID, spending time outdoors or with her loved ones, collecting trains and daydreaming.

Karalyn Skinner (she/her/hers) is the Details Specialist at Perennial. She helps to keep the gears turning at Perennial, using her love of details to create and maintain systems for accounting, data-tracking, membership, and anything else that needs a bit of organization! She holds an MA in Library and Information Science from the University of Missouri as well as a Bachelor of Arts in English and History. Karalyn is always looking for an opportunity to geocache, eat yummy vegetarian food, and to share her love for Pilates.

Brad Hutchison (he/him/his) has been making things from whatever material he could find for his whole life. Somewhere out there is a picture of a grinning kid with big glasses and a bowl cut proudly holding up a chair nailed together from scraps of plywood (never mind the fact that it immediately collapsed from underneath him). He’s been making, building, and fixing things professionally for the past 20 years, across a wide variety of jobs: construction worker, museum exhibit builder/installer, handyman, furniture maker…the list could go on for a while. Most recently, Brad and his wife and favorite person Ash (also very much a maker) were property managers at a 100 year old former brothel/speakeasy turned camp/resort where he happily spent his days building and fixing. Brad lives to be in the shop making things. He and Ash have two young boys who are so great (and have an early love for making things as well). Brad carries around the knowledge and skill to make and fix given to him by countless other people. The only job he loves more than making things is passing all that knowledge on to other people.

Neeka Allsup (she/her/hers) is Perennial’s Shop and Marketing Specialist. She was born in the back of a toy store in Austin Texas to two hippies that made toys from wood. She grew up painting and drawing, making her own jewelry and clothes. Neeka attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and is a professional oil painter and muralist. She loves reusing things in her art and rehabbing antique frames. She is inspired by Perennial’s mission, and as the Shop Specialist, she uses her background in art and retail to make the shop and social media lovely, organized and inspiring to others.

Tayler (he/him/his) is the ReUse Specialist here at Perennial. He loves helping with organization to make class operations run smoothly, as well as seeing all the amazing and creative projects that leave the studio. From an early age, he was always drawing and trying to make things perfect. Now as an adult he’s been relaxing and playing around with different media, enjoying the messy imperfections of learning and growing as an artist. Tayler has a Bachelor of Arts in English and is currently pursuing a Master’s in Library and Information Science. Outside of work you can find him turning antique spoons into one-of-a-kind rings, rock climbing, riding his bike, or scouring mercilessly on the Facebook Marketplace for things he definitely doesn’t need. Tayler is continually inspired by the people around him and is looking forward to incorporating more ReUse projects into other aspects of his life.

Allison (she/her/hers) has worked as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker for over thirty years, specializing in crisis and end of life care. She enjoys time with her family, including her 7 grandchildren. Hobbies include raising and processing herbs and puttering around. At Perennial, she is the Recreate Studio Lead and spends Sundays working with incredibly talented women in making things and bringing visions of projects to life. Allison has loved crafting her entire life and recycling junk into art and functional items. She enjoys all types of sewing, handicrafts, furniture refinishing and makes most of her gifts for others.