Tha Creative Playground Invites Imagination

STM Multimedia’s new content studio centers edutainment, youth programming, and Black creativity

Garland has been the recognizable face – and voice – of popular Asheville FM show “Slay tha Mic” for almost a decade. In 2021, she founded STM Multimedia, creating ”a team of passionate innovators, visual storytellers, artists, and creatives who are dedicated to bringing your visions to life,” she explains. Now STM Multimedia has a new brick and mortar space devoted to the production of high-quality multimedia content. The Content Studio is open Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and by appointment on weekends.

Inside, eight separate spaces, or “Sets,” are outfitted for creative pursuits including podcasting, audio production, vocal recording, and video production. Balancing the production spaces, designated hangout spaces are designed to foster rest and collaboration. Many of these Sets, like the Cousin TL Radio/Podcast Room (named in honor of the beloved DJ and Asheville FM radio host of long-running show “Stank-Free Radio”) and the DJ Suite Set, incorporate multiple media streams, like audio and live/streaming video.

STM Multimedia’s four pillars are also the foundation of Tha Creative Playgound: Empower, Amplify, Collaborate, and Impact. These pillars overlap naturally with STM Multimedia’s focus on edutainment, supported through panel discussions and youth workshops on topics like filmmaking, podcasting, and YouTube. The space has already hosted local and international youth, including a group of French students who spent a day discussing the universal power of multimedia. Garland and her team are now facilitating future events and workshops with other school groups.

The space is open to anyone, but “youth have always been at the forefront of this project,” says Garland. “When I first got the keys, I had four interns sit on the stoop outside and write down all of the things they wanted in a room.” That vision became “The Hangout” Youth Media Lab, one of the Sets.

“Youth get to STM Multimedia pretty easily and organically,” she says. “It’s connecting. And through our community engagement, they’ll say, ‘Hey, I want to be involved,’ or ‘I’m really interested in media.’ And we have equipment they can use. That’s how we’ve gotten a lot of young people involved. And then they stay and seek out additional opportunities.”

Garland is also passionate about serving the local Black community. “The space is for everyone,” she says, “but I have seen that Black creatives are really looking for areas to connect. I think that also speaks to the power of finding spaces where voices are empowered and amplified – validated and seen and heard.”

For Imani Bellami, STM Multimedia’s executive assistant, calling the space a “playground” is more than a metaphor. “When you go to a playground, you’re supposed to feel like a kid again,” she says. “And you can use your imagination to make this space great for you. For both teens and adults, there’s room to heal, to create, and to imagine whatever they want to. We have space for them to dive deep and then share.”

Networking events, including monthly mixers, are in the works, as well as workshops from Connect Beyond founder Jessica Tomasin. One Set at Tha Creative Playground, “The Connect Beyond” Audio Production Suite, is named after the festival Tomasin founded.

Tha Creative Playground will also continue offering and hosting special programming in collaboration with local organizations including Hood Huggers and Open Doors Asheville.

Garland rents the space, located in South Asheville. While she’s been able to build it out to fit her vision, she shares that it has been challenging to ensure it is accessible, as it lies about 20 minutes outside of downtown and is not on a bus line.

Running STM Multimedia and Tha Creative Playground is not yet a full-time job, but Garland is hopeful that it will generate revenue. While the space is bringing in income, Garland is still working to make it sustainable. She stresses that it’s available to out-of-towners, as well as for special events like listening parties. “It can be transformed into anything,” she says.

“This space needs to flourish,” she adds. “It’s bigger than just me. We say it’s ‘where imagination and creativity redefine reality.’ That’s really important, because I didn’t know this was a possibility – that being creative full-time could be a job. Now that I do, I want to show other people. I want to see the community getting behind this because this is built out of love. I want people to continue to spread that love.”

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