Queer Black South Shore-based performing artists and married couple Storie Devereaux and Tovi Khali met each other as fellow performing artists about 14 years ago. They discovered they had a shared dream of owning a theater or creative space so they could curate and produce multidisciplinary work.
Their mutual passions led them to launch Stoviink Creatives, which they co-founded in 2016 to showcase their own music and create opportunities for other independent artists. Devereaux said they wanted a place where music, spoken word, visual art, performance and other forms of creative expression could coexist. The name is derived from both of their first names and “ink,” which represents them as songwriters.
“Writing is where so much of our creative relationship began, and ink felt symbolic of leaving something behind—our words, our stories, our ideas and our imprint,” said Devereaux. “Over time, Stoviink grew beyond music into wellness, fragrance, art, events, cultural programming and commerce.”
At first, Stoviink Creatives was an online entity but over time the couple realized they wanted it to be in a physical space so others could experience what they created in person. They are currently at 6900 Stony Island Avenue, but the business will be moving to a new location in the heart of South Shore. Devereaux and Khali are keeping the exact address secret until the space is completed. The target date is tentatively Nov. 1 of this year.
“What makes this move particularly meaningful is South Shore is not just another neighborhood to us,” said Khali. “It’s home. Our work has increasingly become rooted in the South Side, and we want our physical presence to reflect this. We’re not interested in simply opening another storefront. We’re building a space that can function as a home for art, culture, commerce and community.”
Khali said they learned a lot about what the community responds to at their current location and the new space is “about taking this knowledge and building something even more intentional. We are challenging the idea that art, business and community have to exist in completely different spaces. Why can’t a place sell a beautifully crafted fragrance, host an art exhibition, produce a concert, support an independent artist, hold a community conversation and create an opportunity for someone to experience culture, all under the same roof?”
Devereaux and Khali view culture as the foundation, commerce as the vehicle and community as the reason for what they do, which is using products, events, music, visual art and experiences as the different entry points into the larger conversation. Their website message speaks about “choosing craft over mass production, cultural integrity over the algorithm and community before convenience.”
They decided to expand their business beyond the creative realm because Khali has alopecia and Graves’ disease and was having trouble finding products that would work on her dry, itchy skin. She began experimenting with different products and solutions to help herself feel better.
Khali said the work “changed the way I thought about my body, wellness and self-care. I started making soaps and body products, and this eventually expanded into fragrances, room sprays and other sensory products. There’s a very personal connection between the things we create and the experiences that inspired them. My goal with this is to help other people feel good too.”
Devereaux said as queer business owners they create an environment where people don’t have to edit who they are, because they know what it feels like themselves. She added its “embedded in who we are and how we build community. We’re interested in what queer ownership allows us to create for other people.”
Chicago native Devereaux got her bachelor’s degree in the performing and visual arts from Columbia College Chicago. She said her background is rooted in poetry, spoken word, music, songwriting and production.
But Devereaux’s most important education took place outside the classroom, she said. At 19-years-old, she began performing spoken word at Jazz and Java in Bronzeville which introduced her to the “power of sharing your work in a room with other people—feeling their reactions, learning how to hold their attention and understanding how deeply words can connect us.”
After her first foray into performing, Devereaux branched out to talent shows and working with Chicago organizations and institutions such as Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated; Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated; and AIDS Foundation Chicago, where she also served as a consultant. These experiences expanded Devereaux’s understanding of art’s power to not only entertain but also to “educate, create dialogue, build confidence and help people feel seen.”
For the past three years, Devereaux has also worked at Chicago House Social Service Agency as a youth program director.
The work has “continued to shape how I think about creativity, mentorship and community. Working with young people has been especially meaningful because I’ve seen how much can change when someone is given the space, encouragement and resources to express themselves. … For me, Stoviink is about building something personal and culturally grounded and also gives people room to create, connect and see themselves as part of a larger story.”
Khali is originally from New Orleans, and for as long as she can remember performance has been a part of her life. She started singing in a gospel choir when she was about 10 years old. One of her elementary school teachers recognized her talents before she did and entered her into a talent contest, inspiring Khali to turn what she loved to do into a career and a major part of her identity.
She has performed at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and the French Quarter Festival. She also continued to develop her vocal talents in Los Angeles with veteran vocalist Stephanie Spruill before moving back to New Orleans. Khali was displaced in Chicago from New Orleans due to Hurricane Katrina and she has lived in the city ever since then.
The lessons Khali learned throughout her life as a performer, songwriter and producer are all present in Stoviink. She said they “understand what it means to create something from nothing, the vulnerability of putting your work in front of people and the challenge of building a sustainable life around creativity. Music was our first language, and now we’re using everything we’ve learned as performers and creators to build something larger—something that gives artists and communities the space, visibility and opportunity we’ve always wanted to see.”
Their journey together began as a creative and business relationship before it turned romantic. They got married on Oct. 19, 2019, on an unseasonably warm fall day inside their Greystone apartment in Bronzeville, which Khali said was “in the place where we were already building our life together. I think it says a lot about us. We’re best friends, first and foremost. We work really well as a team because we understand each other creatively and personally. There’s a shorthand that comes from knowing someone for 14 years, loving them, creating with them and continuing to choose each other. Stoviink is very much a product of our relationship.”
When the couple isn’t busy with work, they like to go to concerts and travel to places where they can experience different cultures and cuisine.
A place like Stoviink Creatives is important for Devereaux, because, “We create spaces where Black people, queer people, artists and communities which have historically been pushed to the margins can see themselves reflected, celebrated and valued. Stoviink is not something we suddenly created because of the current political climate. We have been building this for years. But this moment makes the importance of ownership, cultural preservation and community-building even clearer.”
Devereaux said resistance isn’t only protests, it’s also ownership which is what they do to fight back as two Black queer women who are centering their creativity, culture and future to show they are worth investing in. They aren’t waiting for permission to do this, they are “building the room.”
Khali said, “There is something powerful about deciding to build anyway, make beautiful things, tell our stories, support artists and create spaces where people can gather and feel seen. We’re going to put money back into our communities and create opportunities for people to participate in culture rather than simply consume it. That is resistance, too.”