Arts Interview with Nancy Kranzberg: Recent Episodes
KDHX
Nancy Kranzberg talks with artists, performers and movers and shakers in the arts community. Interviews cover music, visual arts, dance, literature and performance.
Produced by Nancy Kranzberg and Jon Valley. Edited by Jon Valley, with engineering assistance by Mid-Coast.
Quinn Antonio Briceño, a Nicaraguan-American artist in St. Louis, earned his bachelor's degree in fine art from the San Francisco Art Institute (2017) and a master's degree from the Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Art (2022). Notable achievements include winning the Ann Metzger National Biennial in 2019 and being a finalist for the AXA Art Prize in 2021. Featured in publications such as All the Art, Friend of the Artist (Issue 10), St. Louis Magazine, Design St. Louis, and New American Paintings (No. 155, 165, 167), Briceño's works grace private collections nationwide. ------
Briceño’s art, a reflection of dualities shaped by two countries, languages, and cultures, explores the perpetual pressure to choose between them. Consciously integrating Americana with Latinx influences, Briceño constructs a visual language bridging cultural gaps. His creations carve a unique space, offering solace to those burdened by societal expectations, and through painting and collage, he weaves a tapestry celebrating identity. Briceño's work is a dual exploration, sharing his personal struggle and narrating a journey towards acceptance, inclusion, and empowerment for the marginalized and forgotten. -----
Central Print was founded in 2014, by Eric Woods, as an extension of the programs, workshops, and community outreach that were being hosted at his for-profit letterpress studio, The Firecracker Press. Along with the design and printing of posters, stationery, and paper goods, The Firecracker Press was hosting tours, working with community organizations, and offering classes after-hours. As these not-necessarily-profitable aspects of a for-profit business gained popularity it became clear that dedicated time and space were needed to effectively address the growing interest in letterpress printing. -----
A space was secured in Old North St. Louis (formerly a Sobel’s department store) and the work of building Central Print’s headquarters began. An outline for the acquisition of new presses quickly grew and within a few months Central Print became print-ready. Construction began to accommodate printing classes, facilities were installed for an events venue, and storage/restoration areas were built for incoming equipment. The far-end of the space was reserved as an extension for The Firecracker Press, a temporary second location serving as support, and on July 1, 2014 Central Print officially opened its doors. -----
To fully commit to education and outreach Marie Oberkirsch, was brought in as Central Print’s first director. She continues to manage and develop the organization as it changes and grows. ----
Gina Grafos, Director and Chief Curator for Visual and Literary Arts for the Kranzberg Arts Foundation, stopped by to speak with Nancy about the happenings at the foundation.
Singer/Songwriter/Pianist, Katarra, stopped by to speak with Nancy about her career, her life and her writing process.
Dr. Frances Levine has had a varied career, from teaching to heading up various major museums, writing books. Now, she has written "Crossings: Women on the Santa Fe Trail," after many years of passionate research.
Through diaries, letters, and firsthand accounts, Levine seeks to understand the experiences of women who journeyed from St. Louis to Santa Fe, as well as some who made an eastward crossing. Crossings focuses on women who traveled during the most crucial period of Santa Fe Trail trade from the early 1820s to the later 1870s, ending as railroads made cross-continental movement a safer and more leisurely experience for travelers. Several of the women made multiple crossings, adding to the depth of their observations of the changing country and dispelling the myth of women in this period as averse to the risks of trail life.
Rebekah Scallet, Artistic Director for The New Jewish Theatre, stopped by to speak with Nancy about the institution and what is coming up including "First Date" (November 21 until December 8, 2024).
The Bingham Trust will host a two-day symposium on George Caleb Bingham that honors and celebrates the 50th anniversary of Missouri Governor Christopher S. “Kit” Bond’s public subscription campaign to acquire 112 preliminary drawings for Bingham’s genre paintings. The event is free; tickets and registration are not required. A symposium schedule is below.
Chris Hansen, Executive Director of the KRANZBERG ARTS FOUNDATION stopped by to speak with Nancy about the happenings at the foundation, including the Music at the Intersection Festival, happening on September 14-15th in the Grand Center Arts District and other associated events.
Kelly Plunkett, Museum Curator for Jefferson Barracks, The General Daniel Bissell House, and Fort Bellefontaine... stopped by to talk with Nancy about the various aspects of the County Parks Department.
Dana Turkovic, Curator of the Laumeier Sculpture Park, stopped by to speak with Nancy about the sculpture park, and her career.
Founded in 1976, Laumeier is one of the first and largest dedicated sculpture parks in the country. In 1968, Mrs. Matilda Laumeier bequeathed the first 72 acres of the future Laumeier Sculpture Park to St. Louis County in memory of her husband, Henry Laumeier. In 1976, local artist Ernest Trova gifted 40 artworks, with an estimated market value of approximately one million dollars, to St. Louis County for the formation of a sculpture park and gallery. Laumeier Sculpture Park opened as part of the St. Louis County Department of Parks and Recreation system on July 7, 1976. One year later, Laumeier Sculpture Park was officially incorporated.
Today, Laumeier is an internationally recognized, nonprofit arts organization that is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums and operates in partnership with St. Louis County Parks. Projects and programs are supported by the Mark Twain Laumeier Endowment Fund, the Regional Arts Commission, Missouri Arts Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Laumeier presents more than 70 works of large-scale outdoor sculpture in a 105-acre park located in the heart of St. Louis County. Free and open daily, Laumeier serves 350,000 visitors of all ages each year through sculpture conservation, education programs, temporary exhibitions and public events.
Matthew Kearns: President and Artistic Director of St. Lou Fringe, stopped by to talk with Nancy about this year's festival. ---
About the festival: "It all started in 1947 in Edinburgh, Scotland, as an alternative festival that played concurrently with the Edinburgh International Festival. In 1948, Robert Kemp, a local journalist, gave it the name Fringe: “Round the fringe of official Festival drama, there seems to be more private enterprise than before…” ----
Since then, it has grown into an international phenomenon with more than a hundred Fringe Festivals worldwide. ----
This year's festival runs August 12th through August 18th. ----
Born in Syria to a Christian family in 1966, Nabil Mousa emigrated to the United States with his family at the age of 12. After a career in business, in the 2000s he turned to the visual arts, particularly painting. This decision coincided with two important events, one public and one personal: first, the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. were a seminal moment in U.S. and global history. The fall of the twin towers ushered in an era of stigmatization and suspicion of people of Arab backgrounds, particularly in Western countries, as well as an on-going period of religious fundamentalism and intolerance. Second, when he decided to no longer live as a closeted gay man, Mousa came out to his family—resulting in his family rejecting him.
Much of Mousa’s work reflects directly or indirectly on these personally significant events and have been springboards for his ongoing commitment to arts activism in the name of social justice. Paralleling these efforts, he has drawn upon his ability as a colorist and gestural abstractionist to investigate concepts of beauty, often inspired by Arab visual culture.
About Carrie: Carrie Houk has spent her professional life as an actor, casting director, producer and teaching artist. Educated at HB Studio in NYC and the Conservatory of Theatre Arts at Webster University, she began her acting career at the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis and from there worked in NYC, LA and Chicago.
The Tennessee Williams Festival of St. Louis has a mission to enrich the cultural life of St. Louis by producing an annual theater festival and other artistic and educational events that celebrate the art and influence of Tennessee Williams.
The 2024 festival runs August 8th-18th.
Andrew Jorgensen, General Director of Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, stopped by to talk about the happenings at the organization. Topics include the summer season and education programs.
About Opera Theatre of Saint Louis: Opera Theatre’s mission is to shape a vibrant future for opera by connecting, inspiring, and entertaining our communities through the power and beauty of the art form; to foster the next generation by empowering a diverse group of artists, artisans, and administrators at the highest level; and to make opera accessible and inclusive through innovative and collaborative storytelling that reflects, engages, and strengthens the St. Louis community, and attracts national and international audiences.
Chris Hansen, Executive Director for The Kranzberg Arts Foundation, stopped by to talk about the happenings at KAF, including the Music at the Intersection, coming up in September.
For more information on MATI, click here... https://www.musicattheintersection.org/
Angie Villa, Museum Manager at 21 C Museum Hotel St. Louis, stopped by to speak with Nancy about this new hotel and new concept for hotels.
21c Museum Hotels reimagines a historic St. Louis fixture: the 10-story, Renaissance Revival-style YMCA building. Located in the heart of downtown St. Louis, and a short walk from the City Museum and CITYPARK stadium, 21c Museum Hotel St. Louis includes a 173-room boutique hotel, contemporary art museum, Idol Wolf restaurant, Good Press café, and Locust Street Athletic and Swim Club, a full-service wellness center. With more than 14,000 square feet of exhibition and meeting & event space seamlessly integrated into all areas of the property, there are opportunities to discover contemporary art around every corner.
Gerald Brooks, Chairman of the Board for The African Heritage Association, stopped by to speak with Nancy to talk about the St. Louis African Arts Festival.
The first St. Louis African Arts Festival was held in 1991 as an outgrowth of the 34th Annual African Studies Conference hosted by Washington University. A year prior to the conference, a group of academic, business, and community leaders came together to explore ways in which a forum could be established that would bring the diverse community of St. Louis together for the purpose of learning and celebrating the rich and diverse cultures of African and African American people. The mission of the festival is to increase the awareness of the global contributions of African people and people of African descent have made through art, cultural, and educational programs.
The St. Louis African Arts Festival is held in beautiful Forest Park. Each year the festival attracts a diverse audience of thousands of local residents and out-of-town visitors during the Memorial Day weekend. The Festival draws the community together in celebration of the rich contributions of Africa and the African Diaspora (diaspora–people settled far from their ancestral homelands).
This year's festival happens May 25, 26, and 27 in Forest Park.
Dana Turkovic, Curator at Laumeier Sculpture Park, stopped by to talk about the happenings at the park, including Hugh Hayden: American Vernacular through May 12th. -----
American Vernacular, Hugh Hayden’s first Midwest solo presentation explores a decade of his work in a variety of mediums including newly commissioned works. The exhibition will be on view through May 12, 2024, in the Aronson Fine Arts Center’s Whitaker Foundation Gallery and in the Outdoor Galleries, near The Way Field. This exhibition was organized by deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum in consultation with Laumeier and will debut at Laumeier before its presentation at any other U.S. venue.
Hayden’s vision draws from his personal memory and experience as an American and African American, born and raised in Texas. Growing up Black and gay in the South, and later training and working for a decade as an architect before becoming an artist, Hayden’s work merges organic materials with built space, and draws on folk and fine art vocabularies to capture various aspects of the artist’s personal biography and lived experiences. ------
Model Maker Artist Tom Casey stopped by to talk with Nancy about his life and career.
Tom is an artist who has been making artistic models all his life, but chose a life at sea. After retiring after 40 years as a sailor, he began to concentrate on his art, making about 70% of his life's artistic work.
He has an opening of his work at the French Curve, on May 3rd.
Brian's work is inspired by and questions American society's live-to-work mentality. He is concerned with the cultural and environmental effects of this obsession, as well as the physical and mental health ramifications. In 1931 distinguished economist John Maynard Keynes published a short essay, Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren, where, among other ideas, he states that by 2030 the standard of living would be dramatically higher; people, liberated from want (and without the desire to consume for the sake of consumption), would work no more than fifteen hours a week, devoting the rest of their time to leisure and culture. His work envisions a world where his prediction has come true.
In 2015, the Saint Louis Visionary Awards were relaunched by an independent committee of women to celebrate the numerous contributions and achievements of women who work in or support the arts in St. Louis. From established working arts professionals and arts educators to emerging artists and community impact artists, each year's honorees are truly "visionary".
This years award ceremony happens Monday, April 29, 2024 6:00 - 8:00 PM at The Sun Theater, 3625 Grandel Square St. Louis, MO 63108.
Bryan Knicely, Executive Director of Craft Alliance, stopped by to talk with Nancy about the offerings of the organization.
Craft Alliance offers classes in ceramics, wood, metals, blacksmithing, glass, fibers, print, and paper arts. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced artist, They have something for everyone!
Moraa, is a passionate artist specializing in fashion and textiles, drawing inspiration from her rich cultural traditions. With seven years of experience in the Kenyan fashion industry and an MFA in Fibers from SCAD in Savannah, GA. Moraa’s expertise lies in preserving traditional practices through her innovative textile explorations. From her early exposure to fabrics in her mother’s boutique, she developed a deep fascination with colors, textures, and drapery. Moraa’s work is a tribute to her ancestors, recreating the textures, shapes, and emotions associated with traditional body adornment practices. Through unconventional textiles, she simulates skin, hairdos, and beaded jewelry, transforming forgotten traditions into unconventional yet beautiful textile surfaces, challenging negative perceptions, and celebrating the beauty of her heritage.
Vanessa Rudloff, Arts Relations Manager for ANGAD Arts Hotel stopped by to speak with Nancy about the institution. ----
The ANGAD Arts Hotel is a unique hotel experience with room colors based on Mood, and art everywhere. They also feature art exhibitions, concerts at their rooftop bar, and great food. -----
Roland Burrow and Sara Kerr stopped by the studio to talk about Roland's art, and about the gallery that represents him, McCaughen and Burr, where Sara Kerr is a dealer. -----
McCaughen and Burr was founded in 1840 and is the oldest continuously operating art gallery west of the Mississippi River. Throughout the years, the gallery has been instrumental in helping to establish St. Louis as a major venue for Artists. From the Westward Expansion to the present, McCaughen and Burr has been integral in the advancement of the Missouri Art Scene.
Roland Burrow was born in 1981 in St. Louis, Missouri. From a very early age, Roland began to utilize his artistic ability. Wherever he traveled, he carried a sketch pad and pencil documenting his everyday subject matter of living in Ferguson, Missouri. Roland attended McCluer High School in St. Louis, where he began his formal artistic training. In 1999, Roland enrolled in the Fine Arts Study Program at the University of Missouri – St. Louis (UMSL) and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Fine Art Studies. Roland has exhibited in many galleries across St. Louis. He has held residency at McCaughen & Burr Fine Arts since 2017. Roland’s work has been sold into major museum collections as well as personal collections, including traveling collections.
Roland looks to the Renaissance artists Michelangelo and Caravaggio to draw inspiration. He also has immersed himself in the works of the Harlem Renaissance painters. You can see the influence of both of these movements as Roland delicately melds the two together to create his own unique style.
Gina Grafos, Chief Curator of Visual and Literary Art for the KAF, stopped by to speak with Nancy about the various endeavors of the foundation. Subjects include the various galleries, exhibits, and projects within the KAF.
Rebekah Scallet, Artistic Director for the New Jewish Theatre in St. Louis, stopped by to talk with Nancy about the theatre, her career and the upcoming season which starts near the end of March 2024.
Rebekah Scallet is a stage director, educator, and arts leader. She is currently the Artistic Director for the New Jewish Theatre in St. Louis, and is the past Producing Artistic Director for the Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre. She believes in a theatre that is imaginative, interactive, and accessible for all, and one that can and should play a role in bringing communities together and making them stronger.
Larry Morris is the Director of Artists in Residency for the Kranzberg Arts Foundation. He is also the Vocalist/MC for St. Louis music legends, Illphonics. He stopped by to speak with Nancy about the program. ——— The Kranzberg Arts Foundation has long been a major patron of the arts in St. Louis and is committed to aligning their resources to aid in and advance the flourishing renaissance of the arts in the St. Louis area. Growth in the local arts community is now more vigorous than ever, however, the shortage of affordable artists’ work and presentation spaces has been a clear obstacle in the path of our artists. In consideration of this problem and in support and recognition of St. Louis area artists, the Foundation is redefining and expanding our short and long-term residency programs. ——— The Foundation hosts partnerships with over 150 arts organizations and presenters in the St. Louis region and provides an intersection of arts venues and work environments that serve a full range of artistic processes. ——— Most of their venues are located in the heart of the Grand Center Arts District in Midtown St. Louis and are surrounded by some of St. Louis’ most distinguished cultural assets, including the Fox Theater, St. Louis Symphony, Contemporary Arts Museum, The Pulitzer Arts Foundation, Jazz St. Louis, the home of Public Media and so much more. ——— •
Stephanie Weissberg, a curator at the Pulitzer Arts Foundation, stopped by to speak with Nancy about the Pulitzer and the current exhibition, Urban Archaeology: Lost Buildings of St. Louis.
About Urban Archaeology: Drawn from the rich collection of the National Building Arts Center (NBAC), Urban Archaeology brings together salvaged architectural elements from landmark buildings, residential homes, and neighborhood institutions built in St. Louis between 1840 and 1950. The artifacts on display represent important histories of material innovation, labor, and the everyday lives of the people who inhabit the city. The exhibition sheds light on the city’s history, revealing complicated legacies of power, wealth, and neglect that shape our experience of the built environment and daily life. By studying St. Louis’s architectural past, Urban Archeology encourages us to imagine new ways of building, keeping, knowing, and inhabiting places.
Located in Sauget, Illinois, the National Building Arts Center emerged in response to the rapid economic decline and widespread demolition the city experienced beginning in the 1950s. NBAC has worked over four decades to salvage and preserve significant parts of condemned buildings that would otherwise be completely lost, amassing the largest and most diversified collection of building artifacts in the United States. Urban Archaeology is the most extensive public presentation of NBAC’s collection to date.
Judith W. Mann, the senior curator of European art to 1800. Since joining the museum in 1988, she has reinstalled the collections of Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, and 18th-century European painting and sculpture three times, and organized two major international exhibitions. In 2022, the museum will organize a major, international exhibition curated by Mann that examines the art of painting on stone, a practice that flourished in Europe—particularly Italy—in the 16th and 17th centuries. In 2015, the Association of Art Museum Curators and the American Academy in Rome awarded Mann the Samuel H. Kress Foundation AAMC Affiliated Fellowship in order to allow her to continue her research into painting on stone in Rome.——-
Mann curated “Orazio and Artemisia Gentileschi: Father and Daughter Painters in Baroque Italy,” which opened at Rome’s Palazzo Venezia and later was seen at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Saint Louis Art Museum, as well as the 2012 exhibition “Federico Barocci: Renaissance Master,” which was presented at the Saint Louis Art Museum and the National Gallery, London. In recognition for her scholarship relating to the Barocci exhibition and catalogue, Mann received the Association of Art Museum Curators’ Outstanding Monographic Exhibition Award. She holds a graduate degree and doctorate from Washington University.
Danny Williams became The Rep’s Managing Director in January 2022. An experienced arts administrator, Danny has expertise in nonprofit accounting, senior management, and organizational development. Prior to joining The Rep, Danny worked at The Public Theater in New York, where he served in various roles since 2006. Most recently, as Senior Director, Finance and Administration, he managed the daily and strategic financial operations of the $50 million nonprofit organization, successfully launched an organization-wide intranet, partnered with the development team to achieve fundraising goals, and collaborated on long-term financial planning and analysis, including cash investment strategies, budget analysis, and project management. Noteworthy and favorite productions include Broadway productions of Fun Home, Eclipsed, Hamilton, and Hair along with Off-Broadway productions of Here Lies Love, Into the Woods, Twelfth Night, As You Like It, White Noise, and Rock Bottom.
Independent artist, Melody Evans, stopped by to speak with Nancy about her life, art, and works.
Melody Evans studied for four years at the San Antonio School of Art and Craft and started her career as a potter but soon moved into making sculpture, large scale installations and drawings with collage and digital manipulations. This change coincided with her pursuit of a Master’s degree in the influential area of Northern California. Evans studied with nationally acclaimed artists Robert Brady and Stephen Kaltenbach, and has received numerous awards in her career; including first place in the National Visions in Clay
Will Henton stopped by to speak with Nancy about his life, works and about the arts scene in St. Louis.
Will is a Senior engineer / Thermal Lead for both F-15 and AV-8B programs specializing in avionics cooling distribution analysis, avionics thermal qualification testing, and overall aircraft thermal environments.
Pianist Adam Maness stopped by to speak with Nancy about the goings on in his life and his work.
Open Studio is an online collection of online lessons on jazz performance and theory.
As Open Studio's Creative Director, Adam Maness develops the curriculum of all of the courses, in addition to teaching his own popular course like Magic Voicing System, Piano Fingering Independence and more. Adam is a versatile pianist, arranger, composer, and producer whose performances, original compositions, and arrangements have been featured on numerous recordings and on national and international radio and television broadcasts. Adam co-hosts the Open Studio podcast "You'll Hear It" with Peter Martin.
Adam leads his new dynamic modern string orchestra Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! aims to celebrate the beauty and diversity of the popular song. This joyful collection of musicians never stops seeking out new ways of exploring the timeless songs that make up our shared musical identity.
Bree Maniscalco, Executive Director of Cinema St. Louis, stopped by to speak with Nancy about the organization's happenings including the St. Louis International Film Festival, which runs Nov 9-19th this year.
The festival kicks off on Thursday, November 9th, celebrating 50 Years of Hip-Hop with a tribute to the Hi-Pointe Cafe's pivotal role in shaping hip-hop's history, showcasing the city's significant influence in its evolution. Attendees will be treated to a cocktail reception, engaging conversations, and a special screening of the 1990 film, "House Party," directed by East St. Louis’ own, Reginald Hudlin.
CSL’s Executive Director, Bree Maniscalco, shared, "As we celebrate our first festival at the Hi-Pointe Theatre, we wanted to pay tribute to the Hi-Pointe neighborhood and honor those who made Hip-Hop what it is today. Mondays at the Hi-Pointe Cafe holds a special place in many people’s hearts, and we’re looking to bring it back to kick things off in style for this year’s Fest.”
This year's festival promises a variety of exclusive events, screenings, enlightening post-film Q&A sessions, and illuminating masterclasses dedicated to addressing industry-relevant topics. SLIFF received an impressive 2,419 submissions, marking the festival's 32nd anniversary with record-breaking enthusiasm. SLIFF's dedicated team of programmers, hailing from diverse backgrounds, meticulously curated a selection of 278 films that underscore the transformative power of cinema.
An American poet and artist, Sally Van Doren is the author of four poetry collections, Sibilance, (LSU Press 2023) Promise, (2017) Possessive, (2012) and Sex at Noon Taxes (2008) which received the Walt Whitman Award from the Academy of American Poets. Her poems have been featured by NPR, PBS, The Poetry Foundation, American Life in Poetry, and Poetry Daily, and nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Her poetry has appeared widely in national and international publications such as American Letters and Commentary, American Poet, Barrow Street, Boulevard, Cincinnati Review, Colorado Review, Crazyhorse, december, Lumina, The Moth, The New Republic, Poetry Ireland Review, Poetry London, Southern Review, Southwest Review, Verse Daily and Western Humanities Review. Her ongoing poetic memoir, The Sense Series, served as the text for a multi-media installation at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis. ------ As a practicing visual artist, Van Doren formalized her training at Hunter College and The School of Visual Arts in New York. She has had solo exhibitions at Furnace Art on Paper Archive and other venues and participates in group shows regularly. Her work is held in distinguished private and corporate collections, including a print commission for each guest room for the Hotel Downstreet in North Adams, MA. Her art appears on the cover of The Difference is Spreading: Fifty Contemporary Poets on Fifty Poems (UPenn Press 2022) and in literary magazines such as The Nashville Review and 2River. ------ A graduate of Princeton University (BA) and University of Missouri-St. Louis (MFA), Van Doren has taught poetry workshops for a variety of educational institutions, among them the 92nd Street Y, the St. Louis Public Schools, Washington University in St. Louis, the St. Louis County Juvenile Detention Center and Scoville Memorial Library. She curated the Sunday Poetry Workshops for the St. Louis Poetry Center and serves on the board of the Five Points Center for the Visual Arts in Torrington, CT. A native St. Louisan, she works from her studio in West Cornwall, CT. -------
Established in 1846 by civic leaders and philanthropists, the Mercantile exists today as a vibrant community and cultural asset. It is the oldest library west of the Mississippi and the grandparent of St. Louis cultural institutions. ------ The task of the Mercantile Library as a research library is to make its collections, which have come to concentrate on Western Expansion and the history, development, and growth of the St. Louis region and of the American rail and river transportation experiences, available to the widest number of local and national users. -----
Franki Cambeletta/Co-Founder-Owner of the Haunted Garage podcast stopped by to speak with Nancy about the podcast and the related Horror Film Festival at the Hi-Point on Oct 5-7.
Haunted Garage is a paranormal podcast dedicated to transportation. Focusing on haunted cars, trains, busses, motorcycles and beyond. ------
Sabine Eckmann joined the Kemper Art Museum as curator in fall 1999 and also regularly teaches seminars in the Department of Art History & Archaeology in Arts & Sciences. Eckmann, a native of Nürnberg, Germany, is a specialist in 20th and 21st-century European art and visual culture with a particular focus on the intersection of art and politics, ranging from exile art and cold-war aesthetics to European post-unification art. Other research interests include avant-gardism, new art forms, media, critical theory and cultural studies.
Art Saint Louis is a nonprofit community art organization and gallery dedicated to enriching lives through the creative activity of our region’s contemporary visual artists. Through exhibition, education, and exchange they connect and inspire our community, and multiply the economic and cultural vitality of our region. ------
Art Saint Louis Gallery, 1223 Pine Street, St. Louis MONow in their 38th year of operation, they continue to cultivate an appreciation for the role that visual art and artists play in the community. ------
Brian Vaccaro graduated from Webster University in St. Louis in 1996 with a Bachelor's Degree in Music with an emphasis in Jazz Studies. He continued his education at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville where he earned a Master's Degree in Music in Guitar Performance in 2000. Since completing his studies, Brian has been active as an educator as well as a performer. He has taught a variety of jazz and general music courses including Jazz History, Jazz Ensemble, Guitar Ensemble, Rock History, Private Guitar Study and numerous others at Lindenwood University, Southwestern Illinois College, St. Louis Community College, Grand Center Arts Academy and St. Charles Community College.
In 2010, Brian received the Outstanding Adjunct Faculty award from St. Louis Community College at Meramec. Brian is now Executive Director of the 501c3 organization "St. Louis Classical Guitar". He has also performed and recorded with many of the top musicians in the St. Louis area. "Going Through the Motions", the debut album by the Brian Vaccaro Trio, was honored to be included in the "Notable Releases of 2011" list by noted critic and author W. Royal Stokes. Brian currently performs in and around the St. Louis area.
Independent artist and founder of the St. Louis Neon Museum, Deborah Katon, stopped in to talk with Nancy about her multimedia work, the museum, and neon, in general.
The Neon Museum features contemporary sculpture alongside historical signage and vintage ads. The museum is located at 3537 Chouteau Ave. and is available to rent for special events. Tours are also available.
Stefanie Kirkland, Director of Programming for The Sheldon, stopped by to talk with Nancy about the goings on at The Sheldon, including various programs and exhibitions.
Carrie Houk has spent her professional life as an actor, casting director, producer and teaching artist. Educated at HB Studio in NYC and the Conservatory of Theatre Arts at Webster University, she began her acting career at the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis and from there worked in NYC, LA and Chicago. She has cast over thirty films, numerous television shows and countless national commercials and has worked with directors Steven Soderbergh, Robert Altman, Alexander Payne, Howard Franklin, among others. She started her casting career in Chicago thirty five years ago and from there settled back in St. Louis to raise her daughter. She has produced two films and the critically acclaimed production of Tennessee Williams’s “Stairs to the Roof” directed by Fred Abrahamse. Adjunct professor of casting and acting at Webster University, Houk has also taught at Washington University and Columbia College Chicago.
Gina Grafos, Chief Curator of Visual and Literary Art for the KAF, stopped by to speak with Nancy about the various endeavors of the foundation. Subjects include the various galleries, exhibits, and projects happening, including "Walls Off Washington."
Music at the Intersection is a civic-led effort presented by Kranzberg Arts Foundation in partnership with Steward Family Foundation and The Regional Arts Commission (RAC) of St. Louis. First held in 2021, the festival tells the story of St. Louis’ musical, cultural and artistic heritage. It celebrates the city’s imprint on the American songbook, the relationship St. Louis has with its Mississippi River sister cities, and the musical genres that have been birthed and fostered locally. Music at the Intersection gives a spotlight to national acts as well as St. Louis-based musicians across blues, jazz, soul, R&B, hip-hop, & rock and roll.
The Pulitzer Arts Foundation is an art museum devoted to presenting the art of today and works from the past within a global context. Located in the heart of St. Louis for more than 20 years, its home is an architectural landmark designed by celebrated architect Tadao Ando. Open and free to all, the Pulitzer is a cultural and civic asset to the St. Louis community and a popular destination for visitors from around the world. ------
At the Pulitzer, expansive light-filled galleries host world-class art exhibitions and anchor an array of free programs, ranging from talks to concerts, literary readings, dance, performances, and wellness workshops. The Pulitzer is a place where ideas are freely explored, new art exhibited, and historic work reimagined. ------
In addition to the museum, the Pulitzer campus has several outdoor spaces, including Park-Like—a garden of native plants and pathways, the Spring Church—an open air stone pavilion and beloved landmark, and the Tree Grove—a shady picnic spot with oak and redbud trees. -------
David Kirkland, the owner and executive chef of Turn Restaurant and David Kirkland Catering, believes food and music brings people together. He began his career in the early-1990's, bouncing from the Café at St. Louis Art Museum (Catering St. Louis) to Frazier’s Brown Bag, and then Venice Café. Kirkland learned everything he could from some of the city's best. In 1996, he moved to San Francisco and began focusing on his music interests, becoming a resident DJ at several clubs throughout the city. However, he never lost his love for the culinary arts, cooking for friends and family and exploring the area's now famous farm-to-table approach to food. After moving back to St. Louis, Kirkland returned to the kitchen with a mission, taking the helm at Café Osage in 2007. He opened Turn Restaurant and David Kirkland Catering in Spring of 2016.------
The Sheldon Concert Hall in St. Louis, Missouri was designed by noted 1904 World's Fair architect Louis C. Spiering and built in 1912 as the home of the Ethical Society of St. Louis. Musicians and public speakers throughout the years have enjoyed the perfect acoustics of the Sheldon Concert Hall, earning The Sheldon its reputation as "The Carnegie Hall of St. Louis."[1][2] Well-known singers and ensembles have performed at The Sheldon, and speakers such as Albert Einstein, Dwight Eisenhower and Ernest Hemingway have spoken from its stage. The St. Louis Chapter of the League of Women Voters was founded in The Sheldon's Green Room. ———
When the Ethical Society relocated to St. Louis County in 1964, The Sheldon became primarily a music venue. Then, in 1974, a former singer with the Duke Ellington Orchestra purchased the facility, transforming The Sheldon into a church and the site for many jazz and gospel concerts. A California attorney with a love for chamber music purchased the building in 1984 at the urging of the Paganini String Quartet. He engaged Walter F. Gunn to restore the building and upon completion Gunn began operating The Sheldon in 1986 as a venue for concerts and community events. ———
Juan William Chávez is an artist and activist whose multidisciplinary practice extends across public sculptures, installations, paintings, drawings, and unconventional forms of beekeeping and agriculture. He often works collaboratively on social-practice projects that address the environment, food rights, and urban ecologies. His exhibitions focus on themes of the urban environment, ecology, sustainability, craft/labor, activism, identity, and archaeology of place. Chavez has exhibited at ArtPace, Van Abbemuseum, McColl Center for Art, Tube Factory Artspace, John Michael Kohler Arts Center, The Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Laumeier Sculpture Park, and Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis. Chavez’s work was most recently included in El Museo’s survey of contemporary Latinx art, ESTAMOS BIEN - LA TRIENAL 20/21. His interdisciplinary approach to art has gained the attention and support of prestigious institutions like the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, Creative Capital, Graham Foundation, ArtPlace America, Andy Warhol Foundation, and Art Matters Foundation. Chávez holds a BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute and an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Chavez was born in Lima, Peru, and raised in St. Louis, MO, where is lives and work.
About Todd Mosby:
Award-winning instrumental composer and guitarist, Mosby is a storyteller and a landscape artist. He uses the guitar to whisk listeners away to a borderless realm where jazz, North Indian, composition and folk-rock create transformative experiences.
His latest album, Land Of Enchantment, is a gorgeous scrapbook of the visual, emotive, spiritual and cultural interactions Mosby has experienced within the New Mexico region of the United States.
Land of Enchantment, explores the mystique the New Mexico region and the passion it held for iconic American Southwest artists such as Georgia O’Keefe and Ansel Adams. Select album highlights include “Place In The Sun,” “Moonrise Samba,” and “Georgia’s World.”
Joe Gfaller joined Metro Theater Company as Managing Director in the summer of 2019. In partnership with Artistic Director Julia Flood, since his arrival MTC has seen record growth in donor and audience households and developed innovative new programs responding to the COVID-19 pandemic from The COVID-19 Memory Project to an all-St. Louis virtual reading of A Christmas Carol featuring Ellie Kemper, Sterling K. Brown, first responders, and many others. -----
Prior to joining MTC, Joe served for 8+ years as Director of Marketing and Public Relations for Opera Theater of Saint Louis, where he received national recognition for his work in building young, diverse, and national travel audiences for the company and in expanding OTSL’s civic footprint as producer of the company’s Opera Tastings initiative, through artist community tours, and through the creation and growth of the company’s Engagement + Inclusion Task Force and Young Friends Steering Committee. He has also served in marketing and/or development roles the Alliance Theater, the American Repertory Theater, and 7 Stages. As a consultant, he has worked with the National Blues Museum, the documentary Flint: The Poisoning of an American City, and the Utah Symphony, among others and served on a wide range of boards. As a professional stage director, he has directed over two dozen productions, including regional premieres by Caryl Churchill, David Mamet, Peter Sinn Nachtreib, and Addae Moon. He serves as adjunct faculty at Webster University in their Arts Management and Leadership MFA program, is a member of the Leadership St. Louis Class of 2013, the LEAD Atlanta Class of 2006, and graduated with honors from Harvard University. ------
Bulrush STL is a contemporary dining and craft bar experience in the Grand Center Arts District just a short walk to the Fox Theater and Symphony. Two-time James Beard semi-finalist chef, Rob Connoley features contemporary foods rooted in Ozark cuisine. Their goal is to define Ozark cuisine by looking into the past – the origin story, so to speak, when the indigenous Osage people first encountered the immigrants and settlers, who also brought the enslaved into the region known as the Ozarks. This is a messy story. A story often filled with troubling histories – histories that aren’t ignored. Their focus is on the food and using our platform to give voice to the story tellers of the past. They look at how each of these cultures offered ingredients, techniques and traditions to what melted together to become what we now know of as Ozark Cuisine.
Kirven Douthit-Boyd (Boston, MA) began his formal dance training at the Boston Arts Academy in 1999 and as a member of Boston Youth Moves under the artistic direction of Jeannette Neil and Jim Viera. Mr. Douthit-Boyd studied as a fellowship student at The Ailey School and on scholarship at the Boston Conservatory. He is a graduate of Hollins University where he earned an MFA in dance. ———
He began his professional career as a member of Ailey II from 2002–2004 and performed at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival as a member of Battleworks Dance Company in 2003. In June 2004, Mr. Douthit-Boyd joined the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater performing both nationally and internationally for 11 years. During his tenure with the company, he performed leading roles in works choreographed by Alvin Ailey, Judith Jamison, Robert Battle, Ron K. Brown, Geoffrey Holder, Jiri Kylian, David Parsons, Camille A. Brown, Ulysses Dove, Christopher Wheeldon, Hofesh Shecter, Twyla Tharp, Wayne McGregor and Ohad Naharin. He joined COCA-Center of Creative Arts in 2015 as Co-Artistic Director of Dance with his husband Antonio Douthit-Boyd. In 2016, Mr. Douthit-Boyd joined Ron K. Brown/Evidence, A Dance Company as a guest artist. ———
In 2010, Douthit-Boyd performed at the White House tribute to Judith Jamison hosted by then first lady Michelle Obama. He has also appeared as a guest artist in ballet and contemporary dance galas in Argentina, Mexico and Canada. He is the 2014 recipient of the “Black Theater Alliance Award” for his performance in Wayne McGregor’s “Chroma,” the 2015 recipient of the “Next Generation in Leadership Award” from the Freedom House in Boston, the 2016 recipient of the Boston Arts Academy’s “Apollo Award” the 2021 recipient of the “Excellence in the Arts Award” from the Arts and Education Council in St. Louis, and the 2022 recipient of the Dance Teacher Magazine Award. ———
Douthit-Boyd has choreographed workshops for The Ailey School, The Juilliard School, Webster University, Boston Arts Academy, Boston Youth Moves and COCA. He has also choreographed works for Dallas Black Dance Theater and Ailey II. He is an ABT® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 5 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum and has completed Lester Horton Pedagogy studies under Ana Marie Forsythe in New York and St. Louis. He has also served as Distinguished Performing Artist at Washington University in St. Louis, where he taught modern dance in the collaborative MFA program between the University and COCA. ———
Dr. Frances Levine has been appointed the Interim Executive Director for the St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum, the Museum. Dr. Levine will lead the Museum as it searches for a permanent Executive Director, to be selected in the coming months. ------
“Although I retired a few short months ago, I could not pass up an opportunity to lead this incredible team and project,” said Dr. Levine. “I was struck by the impact of the building, the excellence of the Museum exhibits, and the promise of the work we can do together in the St. Louis region and beyond.” ------- Dr. Frances Levine was the President and CEO of the Missouri Historical Society and Missouri History Museum from spring 2014 until summer 2022 when she retired. Dr. Levine led the successful reaccreditation of the Missouri Historical Society by the American Alliance of Museums in 2019, and the successful integration of the Soldiers Memorial Military Museum into the institutional organization of the MHS. Under her leadership, MHS received the first ever award for Diversity Equity and Inclusion awarded by the American Alliance of Museum in 2017. In 2019, she was named one of the most influential women in business by the St. Louis Business Journal and received a National Urban League Salute to Women Award in 2018. In 2021, she received the Norman A. Stack Award for Community Relations from the Jewish Community Relations Council in St. Louis. -----
A woman arrived in St. Louis in 1818. She was, in fact, a nun and a teacher. She came here to do good and to start up some schools, but she soon came across something that she felt needed to be addressed for the good of her female students. Just press play to hear the whole story. ———
Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Katie Moon, Women's History, Education, Children, People of Note, Religion, ———
Podcast Transcript: I’m Katie Moon, Exhibits Manager at the Missouri Historical Society, and Here’s History on eighty-eight-one, K-D-H-X. ———
Most St. Louisans are familiar with the story of Sister Rose Philippine Duchesne, one of the first Catholic nuns to arrive in St. Louis in 1818 with the purpose of educating children in the area. She opened schools in St. Charles, Florissant, and the city of St. Louis before traveling to Kansas to work with Native Americans, her lifelong dream. Over 150 years later, she was canonized as a saint by Pope John Paul II. ———
As someone who dedicated her life to the church, it's easy to assume that Sister Duchesne spent her days in prayer and contemplation, unfazed and untouched by the frustrations of daily life. But that assumption would be wrong. In a letter from the Missouri Historical Society’s archives, Sister Duchesne writes to the Mayor of St. Louis, William Carr Lane, and expresses her horror at what her female students must deal with on a daily basis—walking by men and boys swimming in the creek near the school—a creek that also happened to be on Lane’s property. Public swimming was a whole different experience before swimsuits hit the scene, and she wasn’t having it. ———
She writes, “I have recourse to your authority for the redress of an abuse which I look upon as very much against the welfare of our establishment. You know, Sir, that our young ladies, day scholars, have to pass the creek that runs all around our house. The warm weather invites a number of men and boys to swimming in the creek, and every day our young ladies meet with that disagreeable sight, both coming [to] and leaving the house; and as I understand that some regulation of court forbids swimming in public places, I suppose that it is merely by some negligence of the sheriffs in discharge of their duty that it takes place. As you are Sir, the father of an amiable family I need not say how much that rudeness is against the delicacy of sentiments we strive to endow our young ladies with, and I am convinced that you will be so good as to use your power to remove that obstacle.” ———
Needless to say, Lane took care of the problem. ———
Here’s History is a joint production of K-D-H-X and the Missouri Historical Society. I’m Katie Moon, and this is eighty-eight-one, K-D-H-X, St. Louis. ———
Larry Morris is the Director of Artists in Residency for the Kranzberg Arts Foundation. He is also the Vocalist/MC for St. Louis music legends, Illphonics. He stopped by to speak with Nancy about the program.
The Kranzberg Arts Foundation has long been a major patron of the arts in St. Louis and is committed to aligning their resources to aid in and advance the flourishing renaissance of the arts in the St. Louis area. Growth in the local arts community is now more vigorous than ever, however, the shortage of affordable artists’ work and presentation spaces has been a clear obstacle in the path of our artists. In consideration of this problem and in support and recognition of St. Louis area artists, the Foundation is redefining and expanding our short and long-term residency programs. ———
The Foundation hosts partnerships with over 150 arts organizations and presenters in the St. Louis region and provides an intersection of arts venues and work environments that serve a full range of artistic processes. ———
Most of their venues are located in the heart of the Grand Center Arts District in Midtown St. Louis and are surrounded by some of St. Louis’ most distinguished cultural assets, including the Fox Theater, St. Louis Symphony, Contemporary Arts Museum, The Pulitzer Arts Foundation, Jazz St. Louis, the home of Public Media and so much more. ———
Sarah Colby and Shevaré Perry, 2023 Visionary Award winners speak with Nancy about the awards and their lives. ------
The Saint Louis Visionary Awards is a 501(c)(3) organization that celebrates the numerous contributions and achievements of women who work in or support the arts in the greater St. Louis region. -------
The Saint Louis Visionary Awards is presented by an independent committee of women dedicated to promoting the arts in St. Louis. -------
From established working arts professionals and arts educators to emerging artists and community impact artists, each year's honorees are always truly "visionary". ------
Jessica Hentoff, Artistic Executive Director of Circus Harmony, stopped by to talk about the mission and works of the organization. ------
Circus Harmony is a non-profit social circus organization that uses circus arts to motivate social change. By inspiring individuals and connecting communities with our circus education and entertainment programs, we have a positive impact on the St. Louis area and beyond. ———
Our programs teach valuable life skills like perseverance, focus, and teamwork. Learning circus with others teaches trust, responsibility and cooperation. Perhaps the most important experience we give our participants is the opportunity to meet and interact with children from different socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds than their own. ———
We believe the path to peace is a path of cooperation and communication. Teaching children from different neighborhoods how to stand on each other’s shoulders may seem like a strange way to take this path. But it’s the technique we use! Circus Harmony promotes peace through pyramids, joy through juggling and harmony through handsprings. ———
About Jessica Hentoff: Jessica has been teaching and performing circus arts for over 40 years. Ms. Hentoff has been using circus arts to motivate social change since she founded the St. Louis Arches youth circus performance troupe in 1989. She created Circus Harmony in 2001 to expand youth circus opportunities for St. Louis youth. In 2009, Ms. Hentoff was named both St. Louis Arts Innovator of the Year and Outstanding Arts Educator of the Year. Ms. Hentoff is the only person to be a founding member of both the Big Apple Circus in NYC and Circus Flora in St. Louis. She serves as youth circus advisor to both the Circus Fans Association of America and the World Circus Federation. In 2014, she was honored to be the first person to receive the American Youth Circus Organization/American Circus Educators’ Excellence in Circus Education Award. Jessica is the artistic/executive director of Circus Harmony where she uses her remarkable vision and use of circus arts to build character and community and to help children “defy gravity, soar with confidence and leap over social barriers.”
Dawn Karlovsky, Founder and Director of Karlovsky and Company Dance and Yaseen Manuel and Marlin Zoutemn of New World Dance Theater speak with Nancy about their careers, as well as the collaborative dance presentation "Conversations" on March 24th and 25th of 2023.
Karlovsky & Company Dance was established as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization in 2012 by its Founder and Artistic Director, Dawn Karlovsky. Prior, the company operated as Dawn Karlovsky & Dancers from 2004-2012. Since the inception of the company, the work of Karlovsky & Company Dance has been commissioned internationally with tours to France and South Africa, and nationally presenting in New York City, Minneapolis and Duluth MN, Tulsa, and San Francisco-Bay Area. Karlovsky & Company Dance aspires to connect with audiences through the art of dance, and to provide an experience for the viewer that evokes personal reflection. ———
Through the company’s investigative choreographic approach, Karlovsky & Company Dance reaches diverse audiences with opportunities to witness and experience dance in a distinctive, thought-provoking manner. This process-oriented, somatically-motivated approach generates dances that are visceral, poignant, and expressively stimulating. Karlovsky & Company Dance is committed to connecting with the community and offering educational outreach programs that helps to build more receptive and informed audiences. The works by Karlovsky & Company Dance bring depth and diversity to contemporary dance in St. Louis with an aim to make dance more accessible and to invigorate the artistic climate of our city. ———
The work of Karlovsky & Company Dance extends beyond the region with a long history of presenting site-specific community performances, concert work, and residencies nationwide and internationally. Karlovsky & Company Dance engages performing artists by promoting collaboration and facilitating employment opportunities for artists to cultivate and extend their own personal, artistic ambitions. ———
The company believes that the arts play an integral and vital role in our human existence and contributes to the cultivation of a healthy, evolving cultural future. Karlovsky & Company Dance is in residence at the Grandel Theatre in St. Louis, MO. ———
New World Dance Theatre is a Cape Town based contemporary dance company, with Celeste Botha and Marlin Zoutman at the helm of this exciting vibrant dance institution. Specializing in all facets of the entertainment and performing arts industry ------
The Rep is a live professional theatre company. Founded in 1966, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis is a fully professional theatrical operation belonging to the League of Resident Theatres, The League of St. Louis Theatres and is a constituent member of Theatre Communications Group, Inc., the national service organization for the not-for-profit professional theatre.-----
Danny Williams became The Rep’s Managing Director in January 2022. An experienced arts administrator, Danny has expertise in nonprofit accounting, senior management, and organizational development. Prior to joining The Rep, Danny worked at The Public Theater in New York, where he served in various roles since 2006. Most recently, as Senior Director, Finance and Administration, he managed the daily and strategic financial operations of the $50 million nonprofit organization, successfully launched an organization-wide intranet, partnered with the development team to achieve fundraising goals, and collaborated on long-term financial planning and analysis, including cash investment strategies, budget analysis, and project management. Noteworthy and favorite productions include Broadway productions of Fun Home, Eclipsed, Hamilton, and Hair along with Off-Broadway productions of Here Lies Love, Into the Woods, Twelfth Night, As You Like It, White Noise, and Rock Bottom. ------
As a performer, Danny was featured in the 2002 Westport Country Playhouse pre-Broadway production of Our Town starring Academy Award winner, Paul Newman. He also performed extensively as an improvisor at various venues in New York. Williams directed several NY Fringe Festival productions including Gated and Yellow Brick Wall, both written by Marisa Marquez. For several years, Danny has been affiliated with the Warren Miller Performing Arts Center in Big Sky, Montana, bringing world class theater to the Treasure State. Danny produced productions of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, directed by Laura Savia, the world premiere production of Levity by Stephanie DiMaggio, directed by Stella Powell-Jones, The Last Five Years directed by Jason McDowell-Green, and [title of show] directed by Danny Sharron. -----
Williams has held roles with Musical Theatre International and Manhattan Theatre Club and has served as an adjunct professor in the performing arts management master of fine arts program at Brooklyn College. He earned degrees in marketing and theater from Fairfield University and spent a semester abroad studying at Regents University in the United Kingdom.------
Grant Benoit, Director of Education for Craft Alliance, stopped by to talk about some exhibits and the institution. ------
Grant Benoit (American, 1990) is an interdisciplinary artist who observes notions of memory through printmaking, sculpture, and craft methods. In his practice, Benoit combines traditional printmedia with installation and sculpture to reinterpret the mechanics of memory in more human ways through the lens of the domestic space. Through printing wallpaper, he works through ideas of domesticity, place, and memory through a print practice that speaks to printmaking's industrial beginnings. ------
He received his Master of Fine Arts in Printmaking from Southern Illinois University in 2015, and his Bachelor of Arts in Studio Arts from Spring Hill College in 2012. Benoit exhibits nationally and internationally, most recently being selected to exhibit work at the Printmaking Center of New Jersey, DEMO Project in Springfield, IL, Williamson Museum in Wirral, England, and Spring Hill College in Mobile, AL. Benoit was a 2016-17 Artist in Residence at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts and the 2017-18 Community Artist at the Bascom: A Center for the Visual Arts. He is a member of the 12 member collective, Good Children Gallery in the Bywater neighborhood of New Orleans. ------
Cbabi (pronounced Kuh-bob-bi) Bayoc is an internationally-known visual artist and illustrator residing in St. Louis, Missouri. His subjects include family, children, music and a bunch of other cool stuff designed with line, bold color and phunk! Bayoc, whose birth name is Clifford Miskell, Jr., adopted his name CBABI (Creative-Black-Artist-Battling- Ignorance) during his time at Grambling State University (‘92-‘95). In 1997, a legal name change took place at the time of his marriage. Later, Cbabi would change his last name to BAYOC (Blesed-African-Youth-Of-Creativity) as something that could be shared with his future children. His murals can be seen around St. Louis, and he did the album cover artwork for Prince's Rainbow Children.
Jessica Baran is a St. Louis, Missouri-based writer and curator interested in the interplay between art, place, and identity. She’s the author of three poetry collections, and her art reviews and essays appear regularly in publications such as Artforum and Art in America, among others. In 2021 she received an Arts Writers Grant for short-form criticism from the Andy Warhol Foundation to support critical writing about artists and exhibitions situated across the greater Midwestern region. In the summer of 2022, She conducted research on the People’s Art Center of St. Louis (1945-1965) with the support of a Divided City graduate research fellowship.------
Alongside her freelance writing, which has included an art column for the alt-newsweekly the Riverfront Times (2008-2012), she’s spent over a decade organizing exhibitions and programming at a range of independent and community-focused art spaces in St. Louis. From 2008-2011, she was the Assistant Director of White Flag Projects; from 2012-2016, she was the Director of fort gondo compound for the arts; and from 2017-2021, she was the Director of Curatorial and Program Development at Barrett Barrera Projects (2017-2021). She is also an educator who has instructed and advised graduate students in the MFA program at the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Art (2012-2017); taught writing courses in St. Louis University’s Prison Arts & Education program (2013-2017); and overseen numerous public workshops, discussions and literary events.-------
Carol Crouppen Schuchard, is an artist currently based in St. Louis, Missouri, lived and worked as a studio artist in St Louis for twenty five years – exhibiting work in galleries and museums in the U.S. and abroad. Her degrees include the University of Missouri, Columbia, and post graduate studies at Fontbonne College and Washington University. ------
Under the name of Boo Cat Projects Carol and her artist husband Patrick Schuchard have restored, renovated and designed dozens of historic landmark buildings. The Schuchards’ activities as painters and image makers center on the making, realization and uncovering peculiar beauty in the made object or built place. ------
Bob Bennett, Artistic Director of Jazz St. Louis stopped by to talk with Nancy about the goings on at the institution.
For over 25 years, Jazz St. Louis has been the foremost presenter of jazz in St. Louis and throughout the region. We are dedicated to preserving the legacy of this musical genre. Hundreds of local and nationally renowned musicians, such as Wynton Marsalis, Diana Krall, Harry Connick, Jr. and Al Jarreau have graced our stage. Our state-of-the-art Ferring Jazz Bistro has earned praise from artists and patrons alike as one of the best listening rooms in the country. Year after year, Jazz St. Louis strives to be the leader in showcasing unique and diverse jazz performers and preserves the shared cultural heritage embodied in jazz music through our educational programs. ------
Karen Lucas, Curator of the High Noon Series at the High Low which is the Kranzberg Arts Foundation's literary arts cafe. The events are held in the listening room at the High Low.
The Listening Room: A 150-person event space is dedicated to literary arts-focused content including poetry readings, storytelling, literary series, and book signings. Featuring state-of-the-art audio and visual equipment, a full-service bar, and a professional box office, the space is available for expanded gallery exhibitions, installations, traditional and chamber music, and special events.
Amy Shaw, President and CEO of Nine PBS, stopped by to speak to Nancy about her career and the happenings at the station. -----
After the sudden passing of Jack Galmiche on April 16 of 2019, Amy Shaw, Senior Vice President and Chief Content Officer, was named interim president and chief executive officer. ------
After a nation search for a new president and chief executive officer, Amy Shaw was chosen for the Job. -----
Subjects covered include how locally produced and national shows work on the station, the new revamp of Living St. Louis, and the change of branding to Nine PBS. -----
Colin Healy and Bradley Rohlf of Fly North Theatricals stopped by to talk about the company's works and programs.
Colin Healy is a dog-owner based in the city of St. Louis who is also a composer, music director, and the artistic director of Fly North Theatricals. Starting at age 15, as a touring singer/songwriter with South Florida-based rock band The Republik, Colin's work as a recording artist spans five full-length studio albums -- three as a performer (Last Chance Planet, 2006; The Unexpected Answer, 2010; We Are The Wild Things, 2012), and two as a producer (The Gringo: Original St. Louis Cast Album, 2017; Seeing Other People: A New Musical Concept, 2021). 2012's We Are The Wild Things, was recorded at Adam Schlesinger (Fountains Of Wayne, Crybaby: The Musical) and James Iha's (Smashing Pumpkins) legendary Stratosphere Studios in New York and was produced by Brian Viglione (Dresden Dolls). Healy's body of studio work has been recognized by Billboard, College Music Journal and has received radio play nationwide. His work as a composer includes 4 works of musical theatre: Forgottonia, The Gringo, Madam, and Big Machine and one cast album entitled Seeing Other People. Madam was nominated for five St. Louis Theatre Circle Awards in 2021 and The Gringo was one of the headlining acts at the 2018 St. Louis Fringe. It still holds the record for being the best selling show in festival history. Healy has also served as the Artist-In-Residence at both St. Louis University (2020-21) and the Center Of Creative Arts (2022). ------
Bradley Rohlf is a musician, writer, producer, and performer based in St. Louis. He was the drummer for local band Finlay Fields, and appears on their releases "What Songs Cannot Repay" (2010), and "From A to B" (2011). As a songwriter and recording artist, he has released two EPs under the moniker Another White Suburbanite, "AWS" (2011), and "Counter Culture" (2012). He began acting in plays and musicals across the metro region in 2013, and garnered a Best Performance Award nomination from Arts For Life for his portrayal of Mr. Bungee in "A New Brain" with Hawthorne Players in 2019. He has worked as a production manager for Fly North Theatricals since the staged reading of Colin Healy's musical "The Gringo" in January 2017. In addition, he has focused on supporting the development of new works by prioritizing attending readings and play festivals with feedback sessions for the writers, and has participated in and organized readings as well. He is a part of the production team for FNT's digital content on YouTube, and he is a co-host of the Grown-Up Theatre Kids podcast. He continues to write songs and is constructing an original book musical. ------
Anna Lum, Poet and Co-Founder of Herding Cats Collective, stopped by to talk with Nancy about her life, career and poetry. ------
Anna Lum has taught Tai Chi since 1973. She evolved from computer programming to poetry/design. The Urge to Play God, published by MoonShadow Press led to performing her poetry nationally and internationally. St. Louis’ first Poet Laureate Michael Castro’s anthology “Crossing the Divide” includes her poem “Sitting Down for Yourself”. Volunteering excessively on numerous arts boards she was named St. Louis Woman of Achievement in cultural awareness in 2002. -----
She is also a co-founder of the Herding Cats Collective. ------
Stéphane Denève, Music Director of SLSO, stopped by to speak with Nancy about the goings on at the symphony. ------
Stéphane Denève is Music Director of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Artistic Director of the New World Symphony, and from 2023 will also be Principal Guest Conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic. He recently concluded terms as Principal Guest Conductor of The Philadelphia Orchestra and Chief Conductor of the Brussels Philharmonic, and previously served as Chief Conductor of Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra (SWR) and Music Director of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. ------
Recognised internationally for the exceptional quality of his performances and programming, Stéphane Denève regularly appears at major concert venues with the world’s greatest orchestras and soloists. He has a special affinity for the music of his native France, and is a passionate advocate for music of the 21st century. ------
Lyah LeFlore-Ituen, President and CEO of The Arts and Education Council, stopped by to speak with Nancy about the happenings at the organization.
Lyah B. LeFlore-Ituen serves as President and CEO of the Arts and Education Council. In this role she oversees all institutional matters including fundraising and grant making. ------
She is a bestselling author, television and film producer, and music supervisor. As a 30 year entertainment veteran she has worked at Nickelodeon, Uptown Records/Entertainment, Wolf Films/Universal, and ran Alan Haymon Development for over a decade. LeFlore has also written eight critically-acclaimed books. She is the co-founder and executive director of the literary arts-based nonprofit, The Shirley Bradley LeFlore Foundation/Creative Arts and Expression Laboratory, which honors LeFlore’s late mother, St. Louis Poet Laureate Emeritus, and 2Leaf Press author, Shirley Bradley Price LeFlore.
Shannon Bailey, Chief Curator of the World Chess Hall of Fame, stopped by to speak with Nancy about the happenings at the institution, including the exhibition 1972 Fischer/Spassky: The Match, its Origin, and Influence. ------
1972 Fischer/Spassky: The Match, its Origin, and Influence celebrates the 50th anniversary of the American Robert "Bobby" Fischer's historic win over the Russian Boris Spassky's legendary gameplay in the 1972 World Chess Championship, ending 24 years of Soviet dominance in the sport. The show features more than 500 artifacts, including chess pieces used in pivotal game three of the "Match of the Century," a replica of the tournament table created by the makers of the original and never-before-exhibited books from the personal library of Bobby Fischer. The exhibition also highlights pieces from the World Chess Hall of Fame collection, loans from the Fischer Library of U.S. Chess Hall of Fame Inductees Dr. Jeanne Cairns Sinquefield & Rex Sinquefield, and from photojournalist and Fischer confidant Harry Benson CBE and recently-donated artwork by the LeRoy Neiman & Janet Byrne Neiman Foundation. ----
About Bobby Fischer: A chess prodigy, Fischer began playing the game of chess at the age of 6 and by the age of 16 was the youngest player ever to win a U.S. Junior Championship; win a U.S. Championship (record still stands today); become a grandmaster ever at the time; become an international player at that time, and qualify for the Candidates Tournament. In addition, he won the U.S. Open in 1958, was the first non-Sovet to win an Interzonal in 1962, and authored My 60 Memorable Games in 1969, which is widely considered to be one of the greatest pieces of chess literature. Fischer won all eight of the U.S. Chess Championships that he participated in and won all 11 games in the 1964 U.S. Championship—a record that still stands today. He appeared on the pages of LIFE Magazine and Sports Illustrated and on numerous television programs, bringing the game of chess to a wider audience in the United States. Prior to qualifying for the World Championship match, Fischer won 20 consecutive games in 1970-71 against the world’s top players. ------
As Vice Provost and University Librarian, Mimi Calter oversees Washington University Libraries and its staff of expert librarians, curators, and archivists. She is charged with strengthening print and digital collections; developing programming in support of research, teaching, and learning; and collaborating with scholars on- and off-campus. ------
Before joining Washington University in September 2021, Calter worked at Stanford Libraries for 16 years. During her time there, Calter helped develop the libraries’ $84 million budget, lead its 400-person staff, expand digital technologies and repositories, and manage capital projects, including relocation of the second-largest campus library and development of the David Rumsey Map Center. ------
Calter earned her undergraduate degree in English from the University of Pennsylvania and graduate degrees in business administration and library and information science from Drexel University. ------
Sue Greenberg, Executive Director for VLAA, stopped by to talk about the organization and its works.
St. Louis Volunteer Lawyers and Accountants for the Arts (VLAA) supports the creative community by providing free legal and accounting assistance and a wide variety of affordable educational programs. They serve artists of every discipline and career level, nonprofit cultural organizations and small arts-related businesses. Their organization enhances the region’s cultural fabric and offers volunteer opportunities. ----
About VLAA:
Their volunteer accountants and lawyers donate their time and expertise to help their appreciative clients navigate the complicated world of finance and law. VLAA also provides information and skills training designed to help the creative community develop sound business practices and protect their rights. -----
Founded in 1982 by St. Louis University School of Law and the city’s Arts and Humanities Commission, VLAA is housed in the High Low in Grand Center. Our primary service area is greater St. Louis, which includes St. Louis City, St. Charles, St. Louis, and Jefferson counties in Missouri and Madison and St. Clair counties in Illinois. They also serve Columbia and Eastern Missouri. ------
This nonprofit, tax-exempt organization is supported by the Regional Arts Commission with additional funds provided by the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency; the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency; foundations; law and accounting firms; corporations and individuals. -----
About the New Jewish Theatre: The New Jewish, St. Louis’ Premier Small Professional Theatre, is dedicated to the exploration of universal themes and issues and the examination of the full range of the human experience filtered through the lens of the Jewish experience. Through the medium of theater, we build bridges of multicultural understanding, tolerance, communication and education. ———
About Rebekah Scallet: Rebekah served as the Producing Artistic Director for the Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre, an Equity summer Shakespeare festival, from 2011 to 2020. During that time, she produced 32 plays and musicals, directed eight, and oversaw the creation of 2020’s “Revisiting Shakespeare,” an online festival celebrating and investigating Shakespeare and his work’s role and relevance today. ——-
Notable accomplishments during her time at AST include: more than doubling AST’s audience size; expanding the performance season by one week; establishing a hugely successful educational touring program; and founding the AST Artistic Collective, a group of actors, designers, and directors who advise AST’s artistic process and are committed to AST as their creative home. ——
Prior to her time with AST, Rebekah also worked as the Producing ——Associate and Literary Manager for Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, an Equity company based in Chicago with a mission of producing works by and about women’s lives. She also served as the Marketing Associate for Northlight Theatre in Skokie for four years. ———
David Brinker, Director of the Museum of Contemporary Religious Art, stopped by to talk with Nancy about the museum as well as the current exhibition by Jordan Eagles and a selection of works from the MOCRA collection through December 18th.
About MOCRA: Through exhibitions, collections and educational programs, MOCRA highlights and explores the ways contemporary visual artists engage the religious and spiritual dimensions. MOCRA serves the diverse Saint Louis University community, and the wider public, by facilitating personal discovery, experience and inspiration, while contributing to a wider culture of interfaith encounter and dialogue.
About: Jordan Eagles: VIRAL\VALUE The 2017 auction sale of a purported Leonardo da Vinci painting prompts a consideration of the value systems of art, religion and healthcare. Whose lives, experiences and stories are acknowledged and valued, in what contexts and by whom?
Bree Maniscalco, Executive Director of Cinema St. Louis, stopped by to speak with Nancy about the happenings at the organization.
Although she had no formal training in film, Bree's lifelong love of film, moved her to volunteer at Cinema St. Louis. She later became a board member, a staff member, and was recently named Executive Director.
SLIFF (St. Louis International Film Festival), Cinema St. Louis' flagship festival runs this year from November 3rd through 13th.
In addition to SLIFF, Cinema St. Louis also has educational programs, as well as hosting other festivals/events throughout the year including the St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase, QFest St. Louis, and the Classic French Film Festival among others.
Bree Maniscalco, Executive Director of Cinema St. Louis, stopped by to speak with Nancy about the happenings at the organization.
Although she had no formal training in film, Bree's lifelong love of film, moved her to volunteer at Cinema St. Louis. She later became a board member, a staff member, and was recently named Executive Director.
SLIFF (St. Louis International Film Festival), Cinema St. Louis' flagship festival runs this year from November 3rd through 13th.
In addition to SLIFF, Cinema St. Louis also has educational programs, as well as hosting other festivals/events throughout the year including the St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase, QFest St. Louis, and the Classic French Film Festival among others.
Helen Turner, Director of Education and Interpretation, for the St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum, stopped by to speak with Nancy about the happenings at the Museum. ------
The newest version of the museum opens November 2nd 2022. ------
Helen Turner, originally from England, was moved at a young age to study the Holocaust, thinking to herself, "This is a story that must be told and remembered." ------
She says what she hopes people will take away from the museum, is not only a sense of the history, but to be inspired to make changes in their own life. ------
Also discussed are the various exhibitions and educational programs. ------
Helen Turner, Director of Education and Interpretation, for the St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum, stopped by to speak with Nancy about the happenings at the Museum. ------
The newest version of the museum opens November 2nd 2022. ------
Helen Turner, originally from England, was moved at a young age to study the Holocaust, thinking to herself, "This is a story that must be told and remembered." ------
She says what she hopes people will take away from the museum, is not only a sense of the history, but to be inspired to make changes in their own life. ------
Also discussed are the various exhibitions and educational programs. ------
Rick Erwin, Creative Director at the City Museum, stopped by to speak with Nancy about the Museum and its offerings.
Rick Erwin, describes the City Museum as a "constantly evolving sculpture," or as the world's largest game of "Chutes and Ladders."
Both educational and entertaining, the museum is located at 750 North 16th street in downtown St. Louis, and features, tunnels, an aquarium, several restaurants and bars, a ferris wheel on the roof, a circus, and many other attractions.
The city museum celebrates its 25th birthday in October.
Rick Erwin, Creative Director at the City Museum, stopped by to speak with Nancy about the Museum and its offerings.
Rick Erwin, describes the City Museum as a "constantly evolving sculpture," or as the world's largest game of "Chutes and Ladders."
Both educational and entertaining, the museum is located at 750 North 16th street in downtown St. Louis, and features, tunnels, an aquarium, several restaurants and bars, a ferris wheel on the roof, a circus, and many other attractions.
The city museum celebrates its 25th birthday in October.
Jody Sowell, new President and CEO, at the Missouri Historical Society, stopped by to speak to Nancy about his new job at the MHS and about some of the exhibitions at the History Museum.
Though newly appointed as president, Jody Sowell has been working for the MHS for 16 years.
Some of the topics covered include the St. Louis Sound Exhibit, as well as the Coloring STL exhibit at the History Museum.
Jody Sowell, new President and CEO, at the Missouri Historical Society, stopped by to speak to Nancy about his new job at the MHS and about some of the exhibitions at the History Museum.
Though newly appointed as president, Jody Sowell has been working for the MHS for 16 years.
Some of the topics covered include the St. Louis Sound Exhibit, as well as the Coloring STL exhibit at the History Museum.
The multi facets of Rich O'Donnell span 65 years as percussionist, improvisor, composer, designer and builder of percussion and electronic instruments, teacher and writer. He was director of the Electronic Music Studio at Washington University from 1980-2018. He has encouraged and facilitated the growth of independent contemporary music in the community for 49 years as music director of the St. Louis New Music Circle, which he left in 2009. He retired in 2002 after 43 years as principal percussionist of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. In 2009, he co-founded HEARding Cats Collective, an artists collective working to keep St. Louis strange and wonderful.
The multi facets of Rich O'Donnell span 65 years as percussionist, improvisor, composer, designer and builder of percussion and electronic instruments, teacher and writer. He was director of the Electronic Music Studio at Washington University from 1980-2018. He has encouraged and facilitated the growth of independent contemporary music in the community for 49 years as music director of the St. Louis New Music Circle, which he left in 2009. He retired in 2002 after 43 years as principal percussionist of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. In 2009, he co-founded HEARding Cats Collective, an artists collective working to keep St. Louis strange and wonderful.
Chris Pieman, Director of Advancement for The Sheldon, and Laurel Wacyk, Director of Education, stopped by to talk with Nancy about the happenings at the Sheldon, and the various educational programs.
The Sheldon hosts over 350 events each year. Artists like Dave Brubeck, Diana Krall, José Carreras, Herbie Hancock, Joan Baez, Willie Nelson, Lyle Lovett, B.B. King, Mavis Staples, Wynton Marsalis, Judy Collins and Renée Fleming have all performed on their stage. And over 300 exhibits have shown in the Sheldon's galleries since 1998. They also present a wide range of educational programs for schools serving over 30,000 St. Louis-area students each year, and they host hundreds of weddings, community events and other celebrations in their event spaces.
Chris Pieman, Director of Advancement for The Sheldon, and Laurel Wacyk, Director of Education, stopped by to talk with Nancy about the happenings at the Sheldon, and the various educational programs.
The Sheldon hosts over 350 events each year. Artists like Dave Brubeck, Diana Krall, José Carreras, Herbie Hancock, Joan Baez, Willie Nelson, Lyle Lovett, B.B. King, Mavis Staples, Wynton Marsalis, Judy Collins and Renée Fleming have all performed on their stage. And over 300 exhibits have shown in the Sheldon's galleries since 1998. They also present a wide range of educational programs for schools serving over 30,000 St. Louis-area students each year, and they host hundreds of weddings, community events and other celebrations in their event spaces.
Lee Anne Mathews, Artistic Director of The Westport Playhouse, stopped by to speak with Nancy about her career as an actor and director, as well as her new position at the playhouse. ----
The Westport Playhouse is an intimate 240 seat theater in Westport Plaza, that holds all kinds of events including concerts theater pieces, and more. ------
Upcoming events include "Songs for Ukraine" on September 17th, The Rocky Horror Picture Show with Flustered Mustard, Haunted Garage Horror Fest, and Shakey Deal: A Tribute to Neil Young. ------
Lee Anne Mathews, Artistic Director of The Westport Playhouse, stopped by to speak with Nancy about her career as an actor and director, as well as her new position at the playhouse. ----
The Westport Playhouse is an intimate 240 seat theater in Westport Plaza, that holds all kinds of events including concerts theater pieces, and more. ------
Upcoming events include "Songs for Ukraine" on September 17th, The Rocky Horror Picture Show with Flustered Mustard, Haunted Garage Horror Fest, and Shakey Deal: A Tribute to Neil Young. ------
Bob Bennett, Artistic Director of Jazz St. Louis, stopped by to talk with Nancy about the happenings of this jazz institution. ------
For over 25 years, Jazz St. Louis has been the foremost presenter of jazz in St. Louis and throughout the region. We are dedicated to preserving the legacy of this musical genre. Hundreds of local and nationally renowned musicians, such as Wynton Marsalis, Diana Krall, Harry Connick, Jr. and Al Jarreau have graced our stage. Our state-of-the-art Ferring Jazz Bistro has earned praise from artists and patrons alike as one of the best listening rooms in the country. Year after year, Jazz St. Louis strives to be the leader in showcasing unique and diverse jazz performers and preserves the shared cultural heritage embodied in jazz music through our educational programs. ------
Poet and Kranzberg Resident, Lizzy Petersen, stopped by to speak with Nancy about her life and poetry. ------
Lizzy Petersen is a poet from St. Louis, MO, where she works in public media and directs a student-run, after-school literary magazine, OutsideLitMag.com, through a partnership with St. Louis Public Schools. Her poetry has recently appeared in or is forthcoming in December, Image, Ninth Letter, Pinch, and Southern Humanities Review, among others. She has been recognized for her writing by the St. Louis Regional Arts Commission’s Artist Support Grant, the Mid-America Arts Alliance’s Interchange Fellowship, the River Pretty Poetry Scholarship, and the Dairy Hollow Writers Residency, and she was a 2019-20 Community Arts Training fellow at St. Louis Regional Arts Commission. She currently serves as a contributing editor for $: Poetry is Currency and has previously served as the Managing Editor of River Styx and Co-Poetry Editor for Sycamore Review at Purdue University, where she received her MFA in Poetry. ------
Dana Turkovic, Curator at Laumeier Sculpture Park, stopped by to speak with Nancy about the new exhibition, "Forest Through The Trees," which opens August 27th and runs through December 11, 2022.
About "Forest Through The Trees": In art and in poetry, the beauty and power of trees is an alluring subject matter with infinite possibilities. The exhibition Forest Through the Trees pulls together a group of artists whose observations range from representation through landscape to conceptual experimentation where the tree is treated as both subject and object. The exhibition also incorporates works from Laumeier’s permanent collection that utilize trees, expanding the theme to our outdoor galleries. ------
As a sculpture park focused on the conversation between art and nature, the works on view operate in harmony with and in reference to the natural landscape, both organic and manicured. Rather than viewed as a backdrop, the tree as a symbol of nature is respected and revered. Each of the artists in the exhibition approach this philosophy with wildly different interpretations. Whether literally carved from a tree trunk, cut from paper, planted in mass, compiled from thousands of carefully layered paint splotches or recreated with computer data, Forest Through the Trees celebrates and, in some cases, further complicates our relationship to nature. ------
EXHIBITION ARTISTS:
Zadok Ben-David / Benjamin Butler / Charles Gaines / Lena Henke / Katie Holten / Miler Lagos / Jason Middlebrook / Andy Millner / Katie Paterson / Julius von Bismarck / Rachel Youn
Chris Hansen, Executive Director of the Kranzberg Arts Foundation, stopped by to talk about the upcoming Music at the Intersection, which happens September 10th and 11th in the Grand Center Arts District. -----
Music at the Intersection is a civic-led effort presented by Kranzberg Arts Foundation in partnership with Steward Family Foundation and The Regional Arts Commission (RAC) of St. Louis. First held in 2021, the festival tells the story of St. Louis’ musical, cultural and artistic heritage. It celebrates the city’s imprint on the American songbook, the relationship St. Louis has with its Mississippi River sister cities, and the musical genres that have been birthed and fostered locally. Music at the Intersection gives a spotlight to national acts as well as St. Louis-based musicians across blues, jazz, soul, R&B, hip-hop, & rock and roll.————
Discrimination can take many forms. When J.D. and Ethel Shelley simply tried to purchase a house, they found themselves involved in a landmark legal case to fight for their right to move into their property. They were battling a restrictive covenant that tried to exclude them based on their race. ———
Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content: Cicely Hunter, Landmarks, Black History, Civil Rights,
Podcast Transcript: I’m Cicely Hunter, Public Historian from the Missouri Historical Society, and here’s history, on eighty-eight-one, KDHX. ———
For St. Louis to be named the 10th segregated city in the United States might have come as a surprise to those who heard it back in 2017, but St. Louis’s history is similar to many other urban cities. With all the hidden gems and history that surrounds this city, racial segregation became more fixed and evident as public policies and private practices tightened restrictions against Black communities. But these instances of discrimination and racism were often contested. We can look to Shelley v Kraemer, a court case that was argued in the Supreme Court and outlawed state enforced restrictive covenants. ———-
J.D. and Ethel Shelley and their children moved from Mississippi to Missouri. They were looking to purchase a home, so Elder Robert Bishop, who was their pastor and a realtor, showed them 4600 Labadie Avenue. The Shelley’s loved the home so much that they made an offer, and it was accepted. But, since the house had a restrictive covenant, the Shelley’s racial identity became a determining factor that restricted Black people from entering, purchasing, or occupying certain areas based on residential segregation. ———
The Marcus Avenue Improvement Association with Fern and Louis Kraemer as the plaintiffs were determined to stop the Shelley family from living in their newly purchased home. The Circuit Court ruled that the restrictive covenant was poorly executed since the property owners failed to sign the document. Then, the Missouri Supreme Court reversed the lower court’s decision and argued the restrictive covenant remained a legitimate agreement. The final ruling by the Supreme Court on May 3, 1948, established that restrictive covenants violated the Fourteenth Amendment and could not be judicially enforced even though it was a private contract. ———
St. Louis was important to the civil rights movement, and at the center of Black legal resistance, with court cases like Shelley v Kraemer and Gaines v Canada, and Dred and Harriet Scott’s freedom suit. In 1988, the Shelley House was dedicated as a National Historic Landmark and served as a “living memorial to the Shelley family and their fight against racial discrimination.” ———
Here’s history is a joint production of the Missouri Historical Society and KDHX. I’m Cicely Hunter and this is eighty-eight-one, KDHX, St. Louis. ———
Matthew Kerns, President & Artistic Director of St Lou Fringe, stopped by to talk about this year's festival, which runs August 15 through 21 at venues throughout the Grand Center Arts District. ------
Matthew is a John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts award-winning educator, critically acclaim theatre performance artist featured in American Theatre Magazine, and a 2020 St. Louis Business Journal Diverse Business Leaders Award recipient. ———
Matthew has been an Executive Producer, Director, and Artistic Director for Off-Loop Theatre [Chicago], Off-Broadway Theatre [New York], Reparatory Theatre [California], Regional Theatre [Iowa, Missouri, Colorado] and Educational Theatre [Chicago, California, Colorado, Iowa, Missouri]. ——
Matthew’s artistic portfolio includes original performances [Xmas Carol, Chicken, Life in the Fastlane], Immersive events [Gay Fantasia, Home], and standard plays and musicals [Noises Off, For Colored Girls…, Frost/ Nixon] ———
Students that have trained with Matthew have gone on to work in television, film, major motion pictures, and on Broadway. From Saturday Night Live to Gotham, and from Six: The Musical to Jake, the State Farm Guy and beyond. ———
Matthew is an expert in the performance practices of Stanislavsky, Meisner, Grotowski, Somatic Movement, Improvisation, Roy Hart Vocal Technique, Moment Work, and Viewpoints. ———
He has presented at the NAIS Conference, National Writing Conference for Youth, Missouri Conference on the Younger Years, TCG National Conference, and at TEDx. ———
Matthew holds an Associate degree in Communications and Theatre from St. Louis Community College, a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Eastern New Mexico University, and Master of Fine Arts degree from Naropa University. ———
He married the love of his life, Mr. Sean Gottlieb, in a simple service under the St. Louis Arch in April of 2020. They reside in the Lafayette Square neighborhood in St. Louis, Missouri with their dogs Lewis, Harvey Milk, and Tuxedo the Cat. ———
Hana Sharif, the Augustin Family Artistic Director for The Rep, stopped by to speak with Nancy about her career and the upcoming season.
HANA SHARIF (Augustin Family Artistic Director) has enjoyed a multi-faceted theatre career, including roles as an artistic leader, director, playwright and producer with a specialty in strategic and cross-functional leadership. She served for five years as Associate Artistic Director at Baltimore Center Stage, where she oversaw the day-to-day execution of all of the mainstage and studio productions, and was the architect of the innovative CS Digital program: a platform that pushes the boundaries of traditional theatre and looks at the nexus point between art and technology. Her other achievements at Baltimore Center Stage include prototyping the Mobile Unit, strengthening community engagement, producing multiple world and regional premieres and helping to guide the theatre through a multi-million dollar building renovation and rebranding effort. In 2012, Hana served as the inaugural Program Manager of the ArtsEmerson Ambassador Program and launched ArtsEmerson Artist-In-Residency program featuring playwright Daniel Beaty. In addition to her work at ArtsEmerson, Hana leveraged her regional theatre experience to freelance produce for smaller theatre companies, looking to expand and restructure their administrative teams. Hana served as developmental producer and program manager for Progress Theatre in Houston, where she consulted with the Artistic Director on redefining the artistic vision and subsequent recasting of the ensemble company and lead strategic organizational planning focused on LORT market entry. During her decade-long tenure at Hartford Stage, Hana served as the Associate Artistic Director, Director of New Play Development, and Artistic Producer. Hana launched the new play development program, expanded the community engagement and civic discourse initiatives, and developed and produced Tony, Grammy, Pulitzer and Obie Award-winning shows. From 1997–2003, Hana served as the co-founder and Artistic Director of Nasir Productions, a theatre dedicated to underrepresented voices to challenge traditional structures. Her guest lecturer credits include Spelman College, Sewanee University, UT Austin, UCSD, Prairie View A&M, Emerson College, Maggie Flanigan Studio, Towson University, UMD, UConn, UMass and University of Hartford, among others. Additionally, Hana has directed acclaimed productions of Porgy & Bess, The Who & The What, Fun Home, Sense and Sensibility, The Christians, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Pride and Prejudice (DCArts: Best Director/Best New Play), The Whipping Man, Gem of the Ocean (six CCC nominations), Gee’s Bend (CCC Award Best Ensemble, two nominations), Next Stop Africa, Cassie, The Drum and IFdentity. Her plays include All the Women I Used to Be, The Rise and Fall of Day and The Sprott Cycle Trilogy. Hana holds a BA from Spelman College and an MFA from the University of Houston. She is the recipient of the 2009–10 Aetna New Voices Fellowship, EMC Arts Working Open Fellowship, Theatre Communications Group (TCG) New Generations Fellowship, and is a founding member of The Black Theatre Commons (BTC). She serves on the board of directors for the TCG, BTC, and the Sprott Foundation.
Sheila Suderwalla, Executive Director of Artists First, stopped by to discuss the good works of the organization, including the In View Mural Project. ----
Artists First's In View Mural Project provides the community (businesses, residences, and public spaces) with high quality, hand-painted, custom murals. The project provides artists with disabilities, veterans, and at risk youth with confidence-building opportunities, work experience, inclusion, and visibility. -----
Artists First is an inclusive, non-profit art studio empowering artists of all abilities. We believe in bringing art to the community as a means of integration, healing, support, and finding common ground. ----
As Executive Director of Artists First since 2013, Sheila has 20 years experience working with children, youth, and families in need. Her successes as a social worker have been featured in local and national publications such as the New York Times, the St. Louis Post Dispatch and Time Magazine. In 2017 Sheila was recognized as one of the "100 St. Louisans You Should Know" by the Small Business Monthly Journal. She is a national trainer and has been a social activist for 20 years. As a juried winning artist, Sheila has incorporated art into her work with individuals who have experience trauma. Sheila obtained her Masters in Social Work from Washington University in St. Louis and a Certificate in Expressive and Integrative Therapies from Fontbonne University. ------
Meredith Malone, Curator at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, stopped by to talk with Nancy about the happenings at the museum. -----
As Curator at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Meredith Malone conducts research on the Museum’s permanent collection, propose new acquisitions, and conceptualize scholarly exhibitions of modern and contemporary art that enrich learning and research for the Washington University community and beyond. She is particularly interested in diversifying the Museum’s collections to include greater parity (race, ethnicity, gender, geographic location) and examining critical histories and theories of race, class, and gender in relation to the production, reception, and interpretation of art. Currently, she is working on exhibitions of artwork by two US-based contemporary artists who critically address issues of race and representation in their work: Nicole Miller, who explores the transformative capabilities of the moving image to recalibrate interpretations of self and culture; and Adam Pendleton, whose conceptual works draw on historical and aesthetic visual content to explore the ways context influences meaning. Meredith is also coordinating an exhibition from the National Portrait Gallery that includes work by artists from across the country offering perspectives on cultural identity, race, immigration, and mass incarceration, among other pressing topics. -----
Independent Artist, Monika Weiss, stopped by to speak with Nancy about her exhibition monument|antimonument Nirbhaya.
Born in Warsaw, Poland, Monika Weiss arrived to NYC in 2001 as a long-term artist in residence at the Experimental Intermedia Foundation. Since 2011, she divides her time between her studio in New York and her appointment as associate professor at Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, Washington University in St. Louis. ------
She has been awarded numerous grants and residency fellowships, including BRIC, Harvestworks, US Embassy in Poland, New York Foundation for the Arts and YADDO. Recent publications about the artist’s work include a chapter in Guy Brett’s The Crossing of Innumerable Paths: Essays on Art(London: Ridinghouse, 2019) and a forthcoming bi-lingual monograph Monika Weiss – Nirbhayapublished by the Centre for Polish Sculpture in Orońsko / National Institution of Culture, with texts by Griselda Pollock (Leeds University) and Mark McDonald (The Metropolitan Museum of Art), among others. ------
Nezka Pfeifer, Museum Curator at The Missouri Botanical Garden, Stopped by to speak with Nancy about the new exhibition at the Stephen and Peter Sachs Museum at the Missouri Botanical Garden. ------
On view through March 2023, the Botanical Resonance: Plants and Sounds in the Garden exhibition at the Stephen and Peter Sachs Museum at the Missouri Botanical Garden explores how plants create and cause sounds in our natural environment and cultural arenas. The exhibition features different plants used to create musical instruments in cultures around the world, as well as how different plants make unique sounds throughout their lifecycles in nature and in the Garden. For the species used to make instruments, many often become jeopardized and threatened in their native environments due to the increasing production and demand for the desirable plant material. Botanical Resonance includes three contemporary artists who were commissioned to create artwork installations that interpret sound in several different ways: soundwalks by Annika Kappner, an immersive quilt installation by Brooke Erin Goldstein, and an immersive sound installation by St. Louis artist Kevin Harris.
Karen Lucas, Curator of the High Noon Series at the Hi Low Literary Arts Cafe, stopped by to speak with Nancy about the series. -----
Blueprint Coffee at High Low is open from 8 am-3 pm Monday – Sunday, every day. With online and walk-up ordering options, and both indoor and outdoor seating available, order from Blueprint Coffee’s made-to-order drink program featuring coffee, tea, and specialty drinks, as well as a small assortment of fresh baked goods. ———
The High Low Gallery is open to the public during cafe hours (8am-3pm, everyday Monday – Sunday), no appointment necessary. To accommodate those who still would like a private appointment, they have 1/2 hr appointments available via Eventbrite. ———
Nestled in the heart of High Low is a 600-square-foot gallery space equipped with modern gallery lighting and professional hanging systems. Displays may extend beyond the gallery to the Listening Room, adjacent to the gallery when available. Artists and organizations exhibiting at High Low have the opportunity to utilize a projection system, pedestals, and vitrines if desired. ———
A 150-person event space is dedicated to literary arts-focused content including poetry readings, storytelling, literary series, and book signings. Featuring state-of-the-art audio and visual equipment, a full-service bar, and a professional box office, the space is available for expanded gallery exhibitions, installations, traditional and chamber music, and special events. ———
A dedicated office suite serves our resident companies and will be the future home to a writers-in-residence program that aims to uplift local and international writers. The program will be developed in partnership with our current resident organizations: St. Louis Poetry Center, River Styx Literary Magazine, Shirley Bradley LeFlore Foundation/Creative Arts & Expression Lab, St. Louis Poet Laureate Jane Ellen Ibur, St. Louis Volunteer Lawyers and Accountants for the Arts, Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis, UrbArts, St. Louis Black Authors of Children’s Literature ———
Vincent Stemmler is an interdisciplinary artist from St. Louis, Missouri whose work is often a contemplation on the interplay between identity, place, and loss. Vincent received a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and an MFA from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Vincent is currently an adjunct professor at Florissant Valley Community College and University of Missouri, St. Louis, teaching ceramics, sculpture and drawing classes. Vincent’s most notable recent exhibitions include two solo shows : “Sticks In the Mud” and “The Garden of the Void” and a nationally juried group exhibition at Miami University as a finalist in the 2019 Young Sculptors Competition.
Stephanie Weissberg, a curator at the Pulitzer Arts Foundation, stopped by to speak with Nancy about the Pulitzer and the current exhibition, Assembly Required.
Assembly Required features eight artists whose work invites your active participation. You may build, shape, and use these artworks, collaboratively or on your own. The artists were selected based on a shared belief that public action is vital for transforming society.
Created between the 1950s and the present, the artworks respond to distinct social and political moments, from unrest in the United States during the Vietnam War to Peru’s military dictatorship. The artists offer unique perspectives on social change, addressing the need for optimism and hope in the face of global tensions.
Throughout this immersive exhibition, members of the public will interact with the artworks and each other while sharing new experiences. Ultimately, Assembly Required poses questions about how art allows us to imagine new ways of being in the world.
Assembly Required includes work by Francis Alÿs, Rasheed Araeen, Siah Armajani, Lygia Clark, Hélio Oiticica, Yoko Ono, Lygia Pape, and Franz Erhard Walther.
Cynthia Prost, President and CEO of the Arts and Education Council, stopped by to talk about the organization and their upcoming gala at the Chase on May 23rd. -----
The Arts and Education Council of Greater St. Louis is a unique asset in our community. The Arts and Education Council is our region's only united arts fund supported by private contributions from individuals, corporations, foundations and institutions committed to the value and benefit of the arts to our community. -------
The Arts and Education Council serves as the base - the root, if you will - through which funding, training and collaboration happens for nearly 100 arts organizations that enrich the cultural landscape of St. Louis each year. ------
Arts and Education Council grantees not only produce and present great art, they also maintain viable, impactful arts education and outreach programming for K-12 students throughout the bi-state area. Research continues to show that children who participate in the arts enjoy greater academic success, higher self-esteem, improved discipline, higher graduation rates and broad, creative thinking skills necessary for advancement in the world beyond school.
Cynthia Prost has over twenty years of nonprofit leadership experience and currently serves as President and CEO of the Arts and Education Council since 2008. In this role she oversees all institutional matters including fundraising and grant making. She received her bachelor of arts (magna cum laude) and a master of arts in management from Fontbonne University in St. Louis. Prost is an adjunct faculty member at Fontbonne University in the Nonprofit Management graduate program, teaching courses in fundraising, philanthropy, grant writing, strategic planning and board governance and management. ------
Dr. Judy Mann, Senior Curator or European Art to 1800 for the St. Louis Art Museum, stopped by to talk to Nancy about the exhibition, Paintings on Stone: Science and the Sacred 1530–1800.
About the Exhibition: In 2000 the Saint Louis Art Museum purchased Cavaliere d’Arpino’s Perseus Rescuing Andromeda, an exceptional painting on lapis lazuli. The acquisition of the small, stunning work of art spurred extensive research that culminates in Paintings on Stone: Science and the Sacred 1530–1800, the first systematic examination of the pan-European practice of this unusual and little-studied artistic tradition. ———
By 1530 Italian artists had begun to paint portraits and sacred images on stone. At first artists used slate and marble. By the last decades of the 16th century, the repertoire expanded, eventually including alabaster, lapis lazuli, onyx, jasper, agate, and amethyst. In addition to demonstrating the beauty of these works, Paintings on Stone explains why artists began using stone supports and the role that stone played in the meaning of these endeavors. ———
Bringing together more than 70 examples by 58 artists, Paintings on Stone represents major centers of stone painting and features 21 different stones. ———
Judith W. Mann, the senior curator of European art to 1800. Since joining the museum in 1988, she has reinstalled the collections of Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, and 18th-century European painting and sculpture three times, and organized two major international exhibitions. In 2022, the museum will organize a major, international exhibition curated by Mann that examines the art of painting on stone, a practice that flourished in Europe—particularly Italy—in the 16th and 17th centuries. In 2015, the Association of Art Museum Curators and the American Academy in Rome awarded Mann the Samuel H. Kress Foundation AAMC Affiliated Fellowship in order to allow her to continue her research into painting on stone in Rome.——-
Mann curated “Orazio and Artemisia Gentileschi: Father and Daughter Painters in Baroque Italy,” which opened at Rome’s Palazzo Venezia and later was seen at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Saint Louis Art Museum, as well as the 2012 exhibition “Federico Barocci: Renaissance Master,” which was presented at the Saint Louis Art Museum and the National Gallery, London. In recognition for her scholarship relating to the Barocci exhibition and catalogue, Mann received the Association of Art Museum Curators’ Outstanding Monographic Exhibition Award. She holds a graduate degree and doctorate from Washington University. ———
Jessica Hentoff, Artistic Executive Director of Circus Harmony, stopped by to talk about the mission and works of the organization. ------
Circus Harmony is a non-profit social circus organization that uses circus arts to motivate social change. By inspiring individuals and connecting communities with our circus education and entertainment programs, we have a positive impact on the St. Louis area and beyond. ———
Our programs teach valuable life skills like perseverance, focus, and teamwork. Learning circus with others teaches trust, responsibility and cooperation. Perhaps the most important experience we give our participants is the opportunity to meet and interact with children from different socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds than their own. ———
We believe the path to peace is a path of cooperation and communication. Teaching children from different neighborhoods how to stand on each other’s shoulders may seem like a strange way to take this path. But it’s the technique we use! Circus Harmony promotes peace through pyramids, joy through juggling and harmony through handsprings. ———
About Jessica Hentoff: Jessica has been teaching and performing circus arts for over 40 years. Ms. Hentoff has been using circus arts to motivate social change since she founded the St. Louis Arches youth circus performance troupe in 1989. She created Circus Harmony in 2001 to expand youth circus opportunities for St. Louis youth. In 2009, Ms. Hentoff was named both St. Louis Arts Innovator of the Year and Outstanding Arts Educator of the Year. Ms. Hentoff is the only person to be a founding member of both the Big Apple Circus in NYC and Circus Flora in St. Louis. She serves as youth circus advisor to both the Circus Fans Association of America and the World Circus Federation. In 2014, she was honored to be the first person to receive the American Youth Circus Organization/American Circus Educators’ Excellence in Circus Education Award. Jessica is the artistic/executive director of Circus Harmony where she uses her remarkable vision and use of circus arts to build character and community and to help children “defy gravity, soar with confidence and leap over social barriers.”
Grant Benoit, Director of Education for Craft Alliance, stopped by to discuss his new role at the Alliance. ----
An engaging Artist and Education professional with an abundance of experience working in educational arts, Grant Benoit comes to Craft Alliance following a tenure as the museum educator at the Louisiana State University (LSU) Museum of Art where he coordinated, developed and taught K-12, adult and university programs. Benoit received his MFA in Printmaking from Southern Illinois University and exhibits both nationally and internationally.----
With experience in art education, leadership, management, program planning, and non-profits, Benoit brings broad expertise and new ideas to a position that drives the comprehensive educational resources Craft Alliance provides to its community partners and thousands of students regardless of need.----
Kim Eberlein, Co-Chair of The Visionary Awards, and Hassie Davis, Teacher and Educator in the Theater Arts, as well as being a performer, and a recipient this year of a Visionary Award, stopped by to talk about this years award event.
About the Visionary Awards: In 2015, the Saint Louis Visionary Awards were relaunched by an independent committee of women to celebrate the numerous contributions and achievements of women who work in or support the arts inSt. Louis. From established working arts professionals and arts educators to emerging artists and community impact artists, each year's honorees are truly "visionary". The 2022 recipients are... HASSIE DAVIS, ANDREA HUGHES, DIANNE ISBELL, MEE JEY, EMILY RAUH PULITZER, PAM TRAPP
Hassie Davis, this year's recipient of the Outstanding Teaching Artist is a locally and nationally known performing and teaching artist based in the St. Louis Metro area. As a performer, she has worked with various theater companies around the country, most notably with TheaterWorks/USA performing at the Kennedy Center. As an arts educator, she has utilized her skills in Arts Integration with many arts education programs such as Muny 1st Stage, Gitana Theater, The Canvas Project, and is a member of the Wolf Trap International Arts Integration program. In addition, she is a 2016 Fellow of the Regional Arts Commission Community Arts Training Program. She helped to create and has served for the last
21 years as Program Coordinator for CLUB CHIPS. CHIPS Health and
Wellness Center’s innovative teen leadership program utilizes the arts to guide teens in acquiring valuable knowledge about their mental and physical health in order to educate and empower themselves and their peers.
Lauren Ross, Executive Director of Laumier Sculpture Park, stopped by to speak with Nancy about the park and the current and upcoming exhibits, including Salutary Sculpture, which runs through May 15th, 2022. -------
Founded in 1976, Laumeier is one of the first and largest dedicated sculpture parks in the country. In 1968, Mrs. Matilda Laumeier bequeathed the first 72 acres of the future Laumeier Sculpture Park to St. Louis County in memory of her husband, Henry Laumeier. In 1976, local artist Ernest Trova gifted 40 artworks, with an estimated market value of approximately one million dollars, to St. Louis County for the formation of a sculpture park and gallery. Laumeier Sculpture Park opened as part of the St. Louis County Department of Parks and Recreation system on July 7, 1976. One year later, Laumeier Sculpture Park was officially incorporated.
Today, Laumeier Sculpture Park is an internationally recognized, nonprofit arts organization that is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums and operates in partnership with St. Louis County Parks. Projects and programs are supported by the Mark Twain Laumeier Endowment Fund, the Regional Arts Commission, the University of Missouri-St. Louis, Missouri Arts Council and the Arts and Education Council of St. Louis. Laumeier presents more than 70 works of large-scale outdoor sculpture in a 105-acre park located in the heart of St. Louis County. Free and open daily, Laumeier serves 300,000 visitors of all ages each year through sculpture conservation, education programs, temporary exhibitions and public events. -------
In 2015, Laumeier closed its first major capital campaign, Sculpting the Future, culminating in the renovation of the Laumeier’s 1917 Estate House into the Kranzberg Education Lab and the construction of the new Aronson Fine Arts Center for exhibitions, programs and events. -------
Alonzo Townsend, Founder of The Townsend and Three Agency, stopped by to talk with Nancy about his career and his agency's new collaboration with the Dark Room at the Grandel. ------
The Townsend and Three Agency has taken over booking for the the Dark Room at the Grandel concert series. The artist, entertainment, and booking agency is owned by Alonzo Townsend of St. Louis. ———
Alonzo Townsend is the son of the Grammy-winning St. Louis blues musician Henry Townsend, who died in 2006, and his mother was also a musician of note, blues singer Vernell Townsend. He started working for his father, on the business side, at the age of nine, and his career progressed from there. ———
His spoken word recording, “A Letter To My City,” was featured as a part of the 18 N 18 St. Louis Blues Society Compilation Album. Townsend is a speaker and writer and board member for the St. Louis Blues Society, Blues Education programs including “Hip-Hop to The Blues,” and a presenter/youth educator for Blues in The Schools Programs. ———
“I want to make sure we have a platform to showcase the legends we still have,” he has said. ———
“But this is also where we get to highlight the underdogs, the future, who are looking for opportunities but don’t always get the co-sign, don’t get the opportunity when it comes to getting chosen for certain festivals and certain stages.” ———
Jessica Adkins is a multi-instrumentalist, instructional designer, philosopher, and filmmaker. Originally from Milwaukee, she moved to St. Louis in 2014 to pursue a PhD in Philosophy with a minor in Women and Gender Studies at SLU. Her dissertation focused on the public exhibition of anatomical bodies. She can most often be found around town playing accordion in The Opera Bell Band, Ryan Koenig and the Goldenrods, and The So Grand Polka Band. The pandemic allowed her the free time to concentrate on composing original polka scores, and she hopes to help keep polka music alive in St. Louis. In her free time, she creates stop motion videos out of paper and has placed 2nd in the City Garden Film Competition and has been screened at the St. Louis International Film Festival.
Independent Visual Artist, Sarah Paulsen, stopped by to talk to Nancy about her life and work. -----
Raised in Kirkwood, Missouri, Sarah Paulsen is an artist, filmmaker and community organizer whose artwork has been exhibited widely in local and national exhibitions, and whose prize-winning films have been featured in the St. Louis International Film Festival, the True/False Film Festival, the Black Maria Film Festival, the Motivate Film Festival and the Chicago International Children's Film Festival, among many others. She was a 2018 Great Rivers Biennial Winner culminating in an exhibit at the Contemporary Art Museum, St. Louis. A 2010 C.A.T. Institute fellow and 2015 Regional Arts Commission Artist Fellow, she has garnered numerous awards for her work and also completed several residencies – including the Cite Internationale des Arts, Paris. A dedicated advocate for social change, a key aspect of Paulsen’s practice has always involved the orchestration of large-scale community projects, such as participatory public murals, thematic round-table discussions and the now-annual People’s Joy Parade on Cherokee Street, currently in its ninth year. Paulsen holds a B.A. in visual art from the University of Missouri, Columbia and an M.F.A. from the Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Art at Washington University. She lives and works in St. Louis, where she teaches art and animation at Marian Middle School and local colleges.
Catherine Dudley-Rose, independent filmmaker, actress, and musician stopped by to speak with Nancy about her life and career.
Catherine is an award winning writer/director, actress and musician. Her first feature film, Parallel Chords, was released theatrically in Los Angeles after winning a number of awards at national film festivals. She has taught at the NY Stage & Film Program, the Broadway Theater Institute, and been a guest artist, director and performer internationally. She is a National Film Challenge winner, and an Emerging Director finalist in Seattle. She was a kick off speaker for the Citizen Jane Film Festival, celebrating female directors, and recently she was chosen to receive a RAC grant. She is an NEA (National Endowment for the Arts) funded grant recipient for her feature length screenplay Parallel Chords, and has been commissioned to write three other screenplays. Mentioned in LA Times, Hollywood reporter and Women and Hollywood for Parallel Chords winning "Best Feature Writer" sponsored by the Writer's Guild of America, West. ------
Andrew Newman, photographer and Educator at the John Burroughs School, stopped by to speak with Nancy about his exhibition, Plastic Ocean, at the Bonsack Gallery.
About Andrew Newman:
Andrew Newman ’87 joined the Burroughs faculty in 1992. He teachers photography and is the school photographer. Newman is also the faculty coordinator of Student Activities; faculty sponsor of the Student Congress; and a faculty co-sponsor of The Hague International Model United Nations. He holds a bachelor of arts degree from Vanderbilt University and a masters of education degree from Washington University.
About Plastic Ocean:
Andrew Newman spent part of his sabbatical year from John Burroughs School out on the ocean studying and photographing the "Great Garbage Patch," an enormous area in the ocean littered with the refuse of humanity, especially plastics. ------
Researchers from The Ocean Cleanup project claimed that the patch covers 1.6 million square kilometres (620 thousand square miles).[4] Some of the plastic in the patch is over 50 years old, and includes items (and fragments of items) such as "plastic lighters, toothbrushes, water bottles, pens, baby bottles, cell phones, plastic bags, and nurdles." The small fibers of wood pulp found throughout the patch are "believed to originate from the thousands of tons of toilet paper flushed into the oceans daily." ------
JOHN BURROUGHS SCHOOL 755 South Price Road St. Louis, MO 63124
Prinze Lyons, Dancer, Choreographer, and Filmmaker, stopped by to speak with Nancy about his career and his latest project, a dance centered film. ------
Prince Lyons is a professional freelance performing artist and creative from St. Louis, MO. Prince began his dance journey at Best Dance and Talent Center under the direction of Judy Best-Person and received his BFA from Webster University— Cum Laude with an emphasis on ballet. ------
Prince has danced for Visceral Dance Chicago, The Cambrians, Owen/ Cox Dance Group, and Rambert II. Throughout his performance career, Prince has performed works by Diane McIntyre, Kevin O’Day, Robyn Mineko-Williams, Benoit Swan-Pouffer, Jermaine Spivey, Ohad Naharin, Sidi Larbi, Damien Jalet and worked with recording artists like Jessie Ware. ------
Prince has choreographed on Visceral Dance Chicago, Big Muddy Dance Company, is the 2018-2019 winner of Western Michigan University’s Department of Dance National Choreography Competition, and is the Co-Founded and premiered The K/P Project St. Louis in June of 2021. Additionally, Prince is Jaquel Knight Foundation Grant Recipient and a published model working with Nike, Kohls, JD Sports/Finishline, and Dicks Sporting Goods. His more artistic portraits have premiered in art galleries worldwide from Montreal, Canada, to Melbourne, Australia. ------
Mario Farwell, play-writer, librettist, and screenwriter stopped by to speak with Nancy about his life and career. ------
Mario Farwell is a native of St. Louis Missouri. He attended the University of MO at Kansas City and received a B.A in Theater. While in Kansas City, he founded The Black and Avant-Garde Theatre. After graduating college, he moved to New York City and lived there for eighteen years. His plays and musicals have been produced off-off Broadway in NYC, San Diego, CA, Minneapolis, MN, and St. Louis, MO. Mario Farwell is the founder and current director of St. Louis Writers’ Group in St. Louis, MO. The group’s mission is the development of local scriptwriters’ works. ———
Mario has been writing plays, musicals, and screenplays for over thirty years. His insight into the complexity of the human psyche began at an early age. As a young boy, he would spend hours at his mother’s beauty shop. There he carefully observed the many eccentric characters that patronized the shop. He soaked in all the wonderful gossip and stories that the neighborhood women would spin. His play The Seamstress of St. Francis Street was strongly influenced by this experience. The Seamstress of St. Francis Street was fully staged by First Run Theatre in August 2007. The play also won the Inaugural E. Desmond Lee Playwriting Competition, and the award-winning play was turned into a feature film entitled Pennies for the Boatman. The film has won several awards which includes Best Film and Screenplay at the Madrid International Film Festival. ———
The Seamstress of St. Francis Street was produced in 2010 in Ghana, Africa by the University of Ghana at Legon. ———
His plays have won The Emerging Playwright Awards at Urban Stages in NYC, been included in the Summer Play Festival at Jungle Theatre in Minneapolis, MN, won Best Play at Scripteaser in San Diego, CA, and nine of his plays have been selected for production at First Run Theatre in St. Louis, MO. ———
Mario’s full-length plays include Last Days of Café Café, Life Among the Trees, The Healing of Joey Padowaski, The Seamstress of St. Francis Street, You Know I Can’t Eat Buffalo Meat When There’s a Terrorist on the Loose, Apollo's Way, and Icarus Wings. He has written numerous one-acts: I AM GOAT, Service With a Smile, Beans, Naughty Boy, Naughty Girl, The Body Exchange and Don’t Hate Me ‘Cause I’m Beautiful are a few of his short plays. ———
He has also written a screenplay entitled, The Eyes of Forever. He is currently working on completing two musicals, the first Joan of Arc a musical drama based on the life of Joan of Arc and the second musical entitled Starfest is a sci-fi adventure infused with Afro-American culture and music. Recently, Mr. Farwell has produced and directed a showcase production of his musical Joan of Arc.
Rick Recht, musician and Executive Director of Jewish Rock Radio, stopped by to talk about his career and his involvement at the internet radio station. -------
About Jewish Rock Radio: -------
Mission: Jewish Rock Radio is the flagship initiative of Judaism Alive, a non-profit 501c3. The mission of Jewish Rock Radio (JRR) is to strengthen Jewish identity and engagement for youth and young adults through the power of music. -------
BACKGROUND: Jewish Rock Radio, the first high-caliber, 24-7, Jewish rock internet radio station was founded in 2009 by Jewish music pioneer, Rick Recht. JRR serves as a powerful network, promoting and elevating the international Jewish artist community while sharing a wealth of engagement opportunities available in the Jewish world for teens and young adults. -------
JRR has launched a variety of impactful initiatives including JRR Live Across America, The JRR Gift of Music, and the Jewish Star North American Talent Search to identify, attract, and support new talent in the Jewish world. -------
Kristen Sorth, Director and CEO of the St. Louis County Library System, stopped by to speak with Nancy about the goings on at the SLCL. ----
Among the happenings are the community outreach programs, including the diaper give-aways, and period supply give-aways for those that need them.----
Also discussed are the covid protocols and the ways the library has handled things during the pandemic, with curbside book programs, and online functions... as well as the massive renovation project happening within the system. ----
“I really believe I have the greatest job ever,” says Sorth, who celebrated 20 years with the St. Louis County Library in 2018. “All I have to do is walk into a branch and see the level of engagement between our staff and the community to know that all of our efforts are worth it.” When Sorth became Director in 2013 – the first woman to hold the title for the library system – she took over management of its more than 650 employees and $50 million annual budget and faced an enormous task ahead – a $120 million capital improvement project to renovate or replace 19 of the library’s 20 branches. (The project is on track for completion in 2022.).
Renée Franklin, Chief Diversity Officer for the St. Louis Art Museum, stopped by to speak with Nancy about her role at the Museum, and the Romare Bearden Graduate Museum Fellowship, among other topics.
Renée Brummell Franklin is the Chief Diversity Officer at the The Saint Louis Art Museum, a new position that will oversee the implementation of a report on diversity, equity, access and inclusion that was adopted in summer of 2020 by the museum’s board of commissioners. Franklin works closely with all museum departments to implement the report, which details immediate, actionable initiatives as well as longer-term considerations.
Franklin joined the museum as coordinator of community outreach programs in 1998. During her time at the museum, she has served in a sequence of roles of increasing responsibility. Most recently as director of audience development, Franklin led the museum’s efforts to expand and cultivate sustainable relationships with diverse audiences.
Franklin helped develop several successful initiatives at the museum, including the Friends of African American Art Collectors Circle, the Art with Us youth residency program, and the Teen Assistant Program, a mentoring program that includes paid, summer employment. Franklin has long overseen the Romare Bearden Graduate Museum Fellowship, a national model for increasing under-represented professionals working in museums.
Franklin received a master’s degree in education and master’s degree in business administration from Webster University and a bachelor’s degree in marketing and business administration from Towson University.
Professor Timothy G. Solberg of Washington University stopped by to speak with Nancy about a new course that aims to teach people about how to manage the arts as a business.
Tim Solberg has been appointed as the academic director for the business of the arts minor at WashU Olin. The business of the arts minor integrates specialized coursework, experiential learning and rich networking opportunities for undergraduate students looking to gain a deeper understanding of how business principles apply to a range of arts-related fields.
Launched in 2018, the program offers students a framework of business, financial, marketing and strategic approaches for managing a career out of their artistic pursuits.
Tim joined the Olin faculty in 2018. He is a professor of practice in finance as well as the academic director of the corporate finance and investments platform. He will lead the business of the arts minor program in opportunities that engage faculty, students, alumni, and community members.
The minor launched with a generous donation from Richard Ritholz, BSBA ’84, his wife Linda, who expressed a commitment to challenging students to practice their artistic endeavors with rigor and business savvy. The Ritholz’s donation is targeting the creation of new courses, experiential learning opportunities in the arts, scholarship funding and internship stipends, and paying for faculty members to teach and publicize the program.
“I am excited to be the academic director of the business of the arts program. I have always had a deep commitment to the arts, whether performing or design, or literature,” Tim said.
“We are designing a program that will have on-site experiential learning with fashion and garment design and creation, gallerists and museum managers, theater and media producers to learn the backstage operations methods. With my teaching experience in arts management at the premier arts and media management school in Chicago, Columbia College, and my own musical education, I am eager to mix finance and management with the arts and provide a hands-on experience for the students.”
In addition to his background in the arts, Tim has worked 30 years in finance, including as a corporate banker and investment advisor for endowment and foundation trustees on their asset allocation and spending policies.
Shaka Myrick and Delyn Stephenson, Romare Bearden fellows at the Saint Louis Art Museum, stopped by to talk with Nancy about their fellowships and the work they are doing at the museum.
ABOUT THE ROMARE BEARDEN GRADUATE MUSEUM FELLOWSHIP:
The Romare Bearden Graduate Museum Fellowship is a critical component in the museum’s long-established commitment to increase diversity among its professional staff. Past fellows have gone on to hold key positions at the Saint Louis Art Museum, as well as at other noteworthy museums and universities, including the Art Institute of Chicago, National Gallery of Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art and University of Texas at Austin.
Named for African-American artist Romare Bearden, the paid fellowship is designed to prepare graduate students of color seeking careers as art historians and museum professionals. Fellows gain valuable hands-on experience working throughout the Art Museum on specific assignments tailored to their background and interests. Since the program’s inception in 1992, Bearden Fellows have spent their year teaching, researching works in the collection, developing programming, writing gallery materials and assisting curators with the development of exhibitions.
This year’s expansion of the fellowship is funded in part by the Romare Bearden Fellowship Endowment, which was created with a $100,000 gift from the Frost family.
About SHAKA MYRICK
Shaka Myrick (2021-2023) earned a bachelor’s degree in painting at the University of Missouri in Columbia and spent the next decade working and interning at the NYCH Art Gallery in Chicago, the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City. She earned a master’s degree in art history from the University of Missouri–Kansas City, where she concentrated on West African culture and presence in Brazil. Last year, Myrick curated Real Black, the first exhibition featuring all Black artists at the UMKC Gallery of Art.
About DELYN STEPHENSON
Delyn Stephenson (2021-2022) earned a bachelor’s degree in art history and archaeology at the University of Missouri in Columbia and a master’s degree in history through the Museums, Public History, and Heritage program at the University of Missouri–St. Louis. While at UMSL, Stephenson worked with the Griot Museum of Black History to create the exhibition Still We Thrive: The Neighborhoods of Fountain Park, Lewis Place, and The Ville. She also completed an internship with the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis and worked at the National Blues Museum in St. Louis.
Susan Barrett, President of Barrett Barrera Projects, stopped by to speak with Nancy about BBP’s acquisition of the photographs of Ann Ray concerning the life and work of the late fashion designer Alexander McQueen, among other subjects
Ann Ray is a French visual artist. She is self-taught in photography, except for alternative processes, which she studied during her studies at Central Saint Martins in London. During the late nineties, she lived in Tokyo and London, where she forged an unbreakable relationship with Lee Alexander McQueen, whom she immediately recognized as a pure artist. This was the start of an intense friendship and artistic collaboration that was as prolific as it was unique. From 1997 until the designer’s tragic end in 2010, Ann Ray’s caring gaze captured the spirit of the man and the essence of his work in many intimate situations: portrait sessions, at work in the studio, during performances – images of truth that reveal McQueen’s creativity. Ray first revealed part of her work with McQueen to the public during the exhibition Les Inachevés: Lee McQueen, at the 2018 edition of the Rencontres d’Arles. In 2019, she presented the exhibition Blind Faith, at Ca’Pesaro in Venice, showing a series of portraits she took of different artists with their eyes closed. She is currently working on a creative documentary, a feature film, and she is preparing the publication of a collection of poems and images, as well as her first novel.
Lee Alexander McQueen is a British fashion designer who founded the iconic, eponymous label and served as chief designer of Givenchy from 1996 to 2001. McQueen was known for designing outside the conventions of the fashion world, often taking inspiration from avant-garde installations, theatre, performance art, and gothic fairytales. The immersive experience of his runway shows allowed fashion to transcend commodification. McQueen saw fashion as an artistic medium—one capable of evoking thesublime and providing commentary on identity, culture, values, and politics. His work has been shown at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Victoria and Albert Museum in the solo exhibition Savage Beauty
.
Hannah Klemm, the associate curator of modern and contemporary art, curates the museum’s “Currents” and “New Media Series” exhibitions. Klemm previously was the Fisher Collection Graduate Curatorial Fellow at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, where she has worked on the contemporary German art collection. She holds a doctorate from the University of Chicago, a master’s degree in art history from the Courtauld Institute of Art and a bachelor’s degree in art history with honors from Sarah Lawrence College. Klemm has received several fellowships and awards, including a 10-month research fellowship from the German Academic Exchange Service at Humboldt University in Berlin.
About Currents 120: Jess T. Dugan - Through February 20, 2022
St. Louis–based artist Jess T. Dugan is known for their color photographs that explore the power of identity, desire, and connection. In Currents 120: Jess T. Dugan, the museum presents a selection of 20 recent works—portraits, self-portraits, and still lifes—many of which were created specifically for this exhibition. Within a framework of queer and nonbinary experience and from an actively constructed sense of masculinity, Dugan’s portraits examine intersections between individual identity and the search for intimate connection with others.
About Art Along the Rivers: Through January 9, 2022
The exhibition includes a surprising range of objects that vary widely in medium, function, and the prominence of their makers. For example, it brings together Mississippian sculpture, Osage textiles, architectural drawings for iconic landmarks, musical instruments, German and Creole furniture, African American decorative arts, prize-winning paintings from the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, and contemporary artists’ responses to these historic objects. While at first these works might appear to have few connections, the exhibition arranges them by theme rather than by culture or chronology to establish dialogues around the region’s geography, raw materials, and pressing social issues.
About Oliver Lee Jackson: Through February 20, 2022
Oliver Lee Jackson is known for creating complex and layered images in which figurative elements—or what he calls “paint people”—emerge from abstract fields of vibrant color. Jackson’s practice is informed by a deep understanding of global art history—from early modern European painting to African art. Yet his works do not aim to elevate a single message, narrative, or meaning. Rather, the works serve as an open invitation to slow and close looking, encouraging viewers to stake emotional claim on the paintings and not wait for instructions on what to see.
David Brinker, Director of the Museum of Contemporary Religious Art, stopped by to talk with Nancy about the museum as well as the current exhibition Tom Kiefer: Pertenencias / Belongings Sept. 3 – Dec. 19, 2021.
About MOCRA: Through exhibitions, collections and educational programs, MOCRA highlights and explores the ways contemporary visual artists engage the religious and spiritual dimensions. MOCRA serves the diverse Saint Louis University community, and the wider public, by facilitating personal discovery, experience and inspiration, while contributing to a wider culture of interfaith encounter and dialogue.
About Tom Kiefer: Pertenencias / Belongings
In July 2003, fine art photographer Tom Kiefer started working part-time as a janitor and groundskeeper at a U.S. Customs and Border Protection processing facility near Ajo, Arizona. In mid-2007, he was given permission to collect food confiscated from migrants and asylum seekers and donate it to a local food pantry. He was deeply moved at finding personal belongings in the trash bins along with the food. These items, necessary for hygiene, comfort and survival, were deemed “non-essential” or “potentially lethal” and seized and discarded by officials. Kiefer began to quietly rescue what items he could, and he resigned from his job in August 2014 to focus on photographing and documenting them in an ongoing project titled El Sueño Americano / The American Dream.
Museum of Contemporary Religious Art
Saint Louis University
221 N. Grand Blvd.
St. Louis, MO 63103
Eddie Coffield, Artistic Director of The New Jewish Theatre, Stopped by to talk with Nancy about the theatre, in general, as well as the upcoming Season.
Eddie Coffield brings three decades of experience to the J, including 16 years with New Jewish Theatre as Associate Artistic Director. During this time, he has directed more than 15 productions including My Mother’s Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding, Yentl, and Driving Miss Daisy (original 2005 NJT production). Many of the productions have been Award-winning – The Immigrant, From Door to Door, Jacob and Jack and many others.
The New Jewish Theatre was an outgrowth of the long history of theatre programming of the Jewish Community Center. In 1997, the need was recognized to develop a professional theatre program with programming that reflected the Jewish experience. Since its inception, the theatre has continued to grow at an exponential rate, both in size and in quality. The original season of three productions of eight performances has expanded to the current season’s five productions of 12 performances each.
The New Jewish Theatre’s home is the state-of-the-art Marvin & Harlene Wool Studio Theater, located in the Arts & Education Building of the J’s Staenberg Family Complex.
Cabaret at the J: A Little Song, A little Dance, A Little Seltzer Down Your Pants! starring Eric Williams and Sharon Hunter Saturday, December 18, 7:30pm Sunday, December 19, 2pm
The Theatre is located at... 2 Millstone Campus Drive Creve Coeur, MO 63146
Ticket and information hotline: 314-442-3283
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Dana Turkovic, Curator of Laumeier Sculpture Park, and Aida Šehović, Independent Artist stopped by to talk about Aida's exhibition ŠTO TE NEMA, which runs through December 19, 2021.
Aida Šehović is an artist and founder of the ŠTO TE NEMA nomadic monument. The project began as a one-time performance with a presentation of the first 923 collected porcelain cups (fildžani) in 2006. Since then, ŠTO TE NEMA has evolved into a participatory community art project organized in close collaboration with Bosnian diaspora communities in a different city each year. For the past 13 years, ŠTO TE NEMA has traveled throughout Europe and the United States, and currently consists of more than 7,500 donated cups (fildžani). This year Šehović worked with Bosnian diaspora communities in Switzerland to bring ŠTO TE NEMA to Helvetia Platz in Zürich on July 11, 2018.
Aida Šehović was born in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and like thousands of fellow Bosnian Muslims, fled her country due to threat of systematic violence and persecution in 1992. She lived as a refugee in Turkey and Germany before immigrating to United States in 1997. Šehović earned her BA from the University of Vermont in 2002 and her MFA from Hunter College in 2010. She received the ArtsLink Award in 2006, the Jacob K. Javits Fellowship in 2007, the Emerging Artist Fellowship from Socrates Sculpture Park in 2013, and the Fellowship for Utopian Practice from Culture Push in 2017. She was an artist-in-residence at the Santa Fe Art Institute, the Vermont Studio Center, the Grand Central Art Center, and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. Her work has been exhibited extensively including at Flux Factory, Socrates Sculpture Park, and Queens Museum in New York City, where the artist is based.
About ŠTO TE NEMA:
When Bosnia and Herzegovina declared its independence from Yugoslavia in 1992, ethno-national divisions plunged the country into war. In July of 1995, Bosnian Serb forces invaded a United Nations Safe Area that included the town of Srebrenica, where thousands of Bosnian Muslims had sought refuge from the surrounding violence. While Bosnian Muslim women and girls were forcibly displaced from Srebrenica following the invasion, the remaining 8,373 men and boys were systematically executed. In 2006, the International Court of Justice officially ruled that these events qualified as genocide. Today, ethnic divisions still divide the region. Serbian and Bosnian Serb leaders continue to deny that the Srebrenica Genocide ever took place.
In response to this denial, Bosnian-American artist Aida Šehović created ŠTO TE NEMA [lit. “Why are you not here?”], a nomadic monument commemorating the 8,373 Bosnian Muslims who died in the Srebrenica Genocide. Šehović has been collecting the porcelain cups traditionally used for coffee service in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the goal of having one cup for each victim. For the past 13 years, on July 11th – the anniversary of the Srebrenica Genocide – Šehović partners with local communities around the world to organize the ŠTO TE NEMA monument in the public square of a new city.
Each successful annual rendition of the monument represents a triumph over the forces of rejection, exclusion, and denialism that encourage societies to look away from past atrocities and prevent vital communal remembrance and healing processes from taking place. Reflecting the inclusive and universal spirit of the monument, passersby are invited to participate in the construction of ŠTO TE NEMA by filling cups with Bosnian coffee and leaving them in the square, undrunk, in memory of the victims of the Srebrenica Genocide.
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#Turkovic
#Test
Amy Reidel, Independent Artist, and Margaret Rieckenberg, Associate Curator for Barrett Barrera Projects stopped by to speak about the happenings at the various galleries of BBP, and specifically about the exhibition "Stretch Marks" which has been extended through November 27th.
Amy Reidel is a St. Louis-based artist who has exhibited work regionally and nationally. She has been a resident artist at ACRE (Artists' Cooperative Residency and Exhibitions) based out of Chicago, the David and Julia White Artists’ colony in Ciudad Colon, Costa Rica and at the Luminary Center for the Arts in St. Louis. She has exhibited work at venues including the Contemporary Art Museum-St. Louis, ACRE projects gallery in Chicago, and the Amarillo Museum of Art. Her work can be viewed online in the curated artist registries and viewing programs at White Columns and the Drawing Center in New York City. In 2014, 2019 and 2020 Reidel was awarded Artists’ Support and COVID-19 relief grants from the Regional Arts Commission of St. Louis and the Washington University/Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum. In 2016 she received the Critical Mass Creative Stimulus award. Reidel is currently a faculty member at Washington University and St. Louis Community College as well as Co-Founder of All the Art: The Visual Art Quarterly of St. Louis (2015-2020).
Stretch Marks is an exhibition that highlights expressive mark-making as a means to explore the material in the maternal and the experience of having a body and therefore a mother. Representations in painting, drawing, photography, fiber, sculpture, and ceramics reveal bodies in transitional states, stretching themselves, often reaching through time toward other bodies that precede or continue their own material existence.
The artists in this exhibition investigate subjects that include the experience of being a mother; our relationship to the Earth; materiality and tactility; abjection and the grotesque; portraiture and self-portraiture; domestic space; familial relationships; cultural identities; and feelings of love, horror, faith, and loss as they relate to maternal bodies.
With many references to the landscape—and trees in particular—the images in these artworks allude to the longstanding conceit of nature and the Earth as a mother, as well as how we often envision family lineages as both branches of a tree and roots. Another repeating motif in the exhibition is images of hands, suggesting tactile manipulation and the presence of touch. Connecting these many images and ideas is a critical attention to generation—both as an act of creation and a form of inheritance—with works that reflect on time, family, birth, and making in their myriad incarnations.
One of Amy Reidel's Mombies
Natalie Baldeon: Reminders or Loss
Karen Berger, Vice President of Arts as Healing, stopped by to speak with Nancy to speak about the works of the organization and the Gala activities coming up Dec 5th Through 12th.
About Arts as Healing:
The theory that art can play a significant role in the recovery process is at the heart of the Arts As Healing program. They provide a creative outlet for cancer patients, their loved ones, and those who care for them. The closed-session studio classes offer an inviting environment for artistic expression where patients are free to explore a new method of communicating their innermost thoughts. Through Arts As Healing, patients find a joyous release for untapped artistic expression and relief from focusing on their illness.
Studio classes are held every Tuesday and Wednesday from 10:00AM to 12:30PM at
their Arts As Healing Studio at 11804 Borman Drive, St. Louis, MO 63146.
Wunderlust: A collaborative work done by Artist Patients
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Independent artist Mary Sprague stopped by to speak with Nancy about her long career both as a creator of art and as a teacher.
Mary Sprague, longtime Professor Emeritus of Art and Art History at Meramec Community College in St. Louis, draws, paints, and most recently thinks with clay. After completing her Bachelor and Master of Arts at Stanford University in California, she moved with her husband and four children to the Midwest and has been immersed in the St. Louis art community for the past forty-five years. Her persona has been described as, “a lively and openhanded mix of infectious friendliness” and “a woman who lives her life head on with gusto and good humor” (James Yood, on Mary Sprague).
With this in mind, Sprague’s expansive repertoire of style and content has included notable studies of mysterious domestic interiors, vibrant equestrians, and currently chickens with a certain extra amount of cluck. “Sprague’s big drawings, some are more than six feet tall, do what a lot of largescale drawings from nature fail to do – they preserve the spontaneity of small life sketches while offering up magnified views of beautiful natural forms” (Margaret Hawkins, Chicago Sun Times). Trained in an era of abstract expressionism, Sprague has been able to combine color and form from multiple eras to suit her own tastes and unique almost caricatures of domestic American scenery.
A few of Mary's works below:
Podcast Curator and Editor: Jon Valley with Technical Support by Mid Coast Media
Tamara H. Schenkenberg, Curator at the Pulitzer Arts Foundation, stopped by to talk with Nancy about an exhibition currently at the Pulitzer, namely, Hannah Wilke: Art for Life’s Sake. The exhibition runs through Jan 16, 2022.
Tamara H. Schenkenberg
American artist Hannah Wilke (1940–93) created innovative and provocative art to affirm life. Her work embraces the vitality and vulnerability of the human body as essential to experiencing life and connecting with each other. She explored this subject in sculpture, photography, video, drawing, and performance. Wilke used her art to challenge gender inequality and empower all of us to realize a more sensuous connection to life and a more liberated society.
Hannah Wilke: Art for Life’s Sake is the first major presentation of Wilke’s groundbreaking work in over a decade. This career-spanning exhibition encompasses the full arc of Wilke’s practice from the 1960s to her untimely death in 1993. It features some of the artist’s most iconic works in addition to some that have rarely been shown. This selection of nearly 120 works demonstrates Wilke’s versatility and innovative approach to materials. The exhibition offers new perspectives on this influential artist, revealing her to be a trailblazer who was as invested in advancing the position of women in society as she was in developing a unique artistic practice.
Some of the work in Hannah Wilke: Art for Life’s Sake
Podcast Curator and Editor: Jon Valley with Technical Support by Mid Coast Media
Amy Kaiser, Director of the St. Louis Symphony Chorus, stopped by to talk to Nancy about her 50 year plus long career, as well as the The Arts and Education Council lifetime achievement award that she recently received. Also discussed is her radio show, Musical Moments on Classic 107.3 fm.
Amy Kaiser
Director of the St. Louis Symphony Chorus since 1995, Amy Kaiser is one of the country’s leading choral directors. She has conducted the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra in Handel’s Messiah, Schubert’s Mass in E-flat, Vivaldi’s Gloria, and sacred works by Haydn and Mozart, as well as Young People’s Concerts. Guest conductor for the Berkshire Choral Festival in Massachusetts, Santa Fe and at Canterbury Cathedral and Music Director of the Dessoff Choirs in New York for 12 seasons, she led many performances of major works at Lincoln Center.
Other conducting engagements include Chicago’s Grant Park Music Festival, Peter Schickele’s PDQ Bach with the New Jersey Symphony, and more than 50 performances with the Metropolitan Opera Guild. Principal Conductor of the New York Chamber Symphony’s School Concert Series for seven seasons, Kaiser also led Jewish Opera at the Y, and many programs for the 92nd Street Y’s acclaimed Schubertiade. She has prepared choruses for the New York Philharmonic, Ravinia Festival, Mostly Mozart Festival, and Opera Orchestra of New York.
Kaiser is a regular pre-concert speaker for the SLSO and presents popular classes for the Symphony Lecture Series and Opera Theatre of St. Louis. A former faculty member at Manhattan School of Music and The Mannes College of Music, she was a Fulbright Fellow at Oxford University and holds a degree in musicology from Columbia University. A graduate of Smith College, she was awarded the Smith College Medal for outstanding professional achievement.
Podcast Curator and Editor: Jon Valley with Technical Support by Mid Coast Media
Gina Grafos, Director of Visual infrastructure for the Kranzberg Arts Foundation, stopped by to talk with Nancy about the happenings around the galleries associated with The KAF, including the exhibition "Lost Library" by Stan Strembicki at the High Low Literary Arts Center. Also discussed was the new KAF space, Sophie's Artists Lounge.
Gina Grafos
For the exhibition “Lost Library” at the High Low, Stan Strembicki photographed books from a flooded library in the Lower Ninth Ward — a historic, Black neighborhood hit hard by the storm — that were scattered in a field. For three years, Strembicki visited the location every few months and documented the books as they decayed.
One of the Photographs from "Lost Library"
Sophie’s Artist Lounge and Street art gallery is an immersive art lounge servicing up high fidelity audio-visuals with a cocktail-focused menu. You can Immerse yourself in their street art gallery and listen to Resident DJs provide the music. Open Wednesday- Saturday from 5:00 PM- 1:30 AM w/ St. Louis and International DJ’s from 9:00 PM- 1:00 AM.
A photograph of Sophie's Artists Lounge
Podcast Curator and Editor: Jon Valley with Technical Support by Mid Coast Media
Melissa Wolfe, Curator of American art at the St. Louis Art Museum, stopped by to talk about the new exhibition, Art Along the Rivers, which runs October 3rd, 2021 until January 9th, 2022. Other happenings at the museum are also discussed.
Melissa Wolfe joined the Art Museum in 2015 as curator and head of the Department of American Art. She oversaw an extensive reinterpretation of the museum’s American art galleries that opened in 2016.
Melissa Wolfe
Melissa previously was curator of American art at the Columbus Museum of Art, where she has worked for 14 years on a succession of important exhibitions, catalogues and collection development. Her projects “George Bellows and the American Experience” (2013), “George Tooker: A Retrospective” (2008) and “In Monet’s Garden: The Lure of Giverny” (2007) were awarded significant funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Henry Luce Foundation and Terra Foundation for American Art.
Wolfe received undergraduate degrees from Stephens College in Columbia, Mo., and a master’s degree and doctorate in the history of art at The Ohio State University, where she also served as adjunct professor.
In conjunction with the 200th anniversary of Missouri’s statehood, Art Along the Rivers: A Bicentennial Celebration explores the remarkable artwork produced and collected over 1,000 years in the region surrounding St. Louis. The exhibition presents more than 150 objects from Missouri as far north as Hannibal, west to Hermann, and south through the Old Mines area. It also encompasses the Illinois region along the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, from Cairo north through Carbondale and Alton. Although the region that has shaped the exhibition’s objects is small, it has played an outsize role in the history of North America due to the confluence of powerful rivers and major trails and routes within its borders.
Art Along the Rivers includes a surprising range of objects that vary widely in medium, function, and the prominence of their makers. For example, it brings together Mississippian sculpture, Osage textiles, architectural drawings for iconic landmarks, musical instruments, German and Creole furniture, African American decorative arts, prize-winning paintings from the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, and contemporary artists’ responses to these historic objects. While at first these works might appear to have few connections, the exhibition arranges them by theme rather than by culture or chronology to establish dialogues around the region’s geography, raw materials, and pressing social issues.
The exhibition is curated by Melissa Wolfe, curator of American art, and Amy Torbert, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Assistant Curator of American Art.
Joe Jones 1909-1963 We Demand, 1934 Oil on Canvas 48x36
Attributed to Anna Jane Parker, American, c.1841–1918; “Quilt Top, Pieced Log Cabin”, 1875-1900
Podcast Curator and Editor: Jon Valley with Technical Support by Mid Coast Media
Independent artist Alicia Piller, stopped by to talk with Nancy about her exhibition, Unearthed: Time Keeping Mound City, at Craft Alliance, which runs through October 23rd.
Los Angeles based artist, Alicia Piller was born and raised in Chicago and received her Bachelors in both Fine Arts (Painting) & Anthropology from Rutgers University in 2004. While working in the fashion industry; living a decade in NYC and three and a half years in Santa Fe, NM, Piller cultivated her distinctive sculptural voice. Continuing to expand her artistic practice, Alicia completed her MFA focused on sculpture and installation from Calarts in May of 2019.
As a method to locate the root of human histories, Alicia merges the new and discarded, experimenting with a wide range of materials to construct large scale works that mimic forms of cellular biology. Piller envisions historical traumas, both political and environmental, through the lens of a microscope. Piller’s mixed media practice is as much about materiality as it is about content. Attempting to reconcile questions about the current state of our times; she works on a macro/micro level, breathing life into materials that have been removed from their ‘natural’ environment. Manipulating things like resin and latex balloons (stemming from her background as a clown); each work becomes a biological unfolding of time, examining the energy around wounds societies have inflicted upon themselves and others.
Alicia Piller
Alicia Piller investigates place. She believes a city, a country, or a specific location can be seen as an object that can be held, explored, dissected and mended back together. “Tracing humanity’s roots has always been at the forefront of my interests,” states Piller. “Most recently, focusing on my own roots and the Americana in general.” Piller’s studio practice focuses on one place and dives deep into how the earth connects with humanity and how humans connect with the earth. Centering her investigations on history, Piller draws references from both the political and environmental traces of a city. When invited to have a solo exhibition at Craft Alliance, St. Louis became the catalyst for her work.
Piller has always been fascinated with fossils, minerals and botanicals. These earthly elements are where she begins her studies of a new place. Much like a hidden gem, St. Louis started to reveal herself to Piller; stories of how we interacted with the land began to unfold, and tales of struggles and resilience revealed themselves. In this exhibition, Piller leads us on a journey starting at the Cahokia Mounds, speaking to the impact this early civilization had on our history. Identifying native botanicals, fossils and land formations, Piller weaves this imagery into her multi-material sculptures.
Piller examines St. Louis race relations in relation to the natural landscape of the region. This juxtaposition is the root of her work. “This show is meant to get people to think about the intricacy of existence, to examine and discover the connectivity of the past to the present,” Piller explains. “Highlighting the St. Louis area chronologically through photographic imagery and other mixed media materials, I want the viewers to touch down on moments in time. Examining the inhabitants of a Missouri once covered by ocean, look back to ancient civilizations wiped out and forgotten; recognizing colonial invasion and its effects on society, while presenting a sense of resilience from an American city through tragedy and activism.”
Piller’s work brings us through the creation of Mound City, to the Dred Scott case, the St. Louis 1917 race riots, Delmar Divide, Mike Brown, and ends with hopeful voices of current activists. Her work moves us through the past and the present, reminding us that we are connected to the earth by paralleling history with native botanicals from the area. We are connected to each other and to the land. “This work is a moment of hope and growth, an explosion of positive energy and transformation. From each work, I want people to get a feeling of movement, a feeling of progression, a feeling of time expanding and moving. In this way, I want the works to feel like organisms shifting and changing, shedding their skin."
Remains. Tectonic Forces. Vanishing Seas.
Pedals Fall. Seasons Change.
Podcast Curator and Editor: Jon Valley with Technical Support by Mid Coast Media
Jess T. Dugan stopped by to talk about their new photographic exhibition, Currents 120: Jess T. Dugan, on display at the St. Louis Art Museum from September 17th, 2021 through February 20, 2022. Also talked about is their career in general, and the exhibition/book To Survive on this Shore, among other topics.
Jess T. Dugan
Jess T. Dugan (American, b. 1986) is an artist whose work explores issues of identity through photographic portraiture. They received their MFA in Photography from Columbia College Chicago (2014), their Master of Liberal Arts in Museum Studies from Harvard University (2010), and their BFA in Photography from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design (2007).
Dugan’s work has been widely exhibited and is in the permanent collections of over 40 museums, including the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, the International Center of Photography, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Minneapolis Institute of Art, the St. Louis Art Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Photography, and the Library of Congress.
Dugan’s monographs include To Survive on This Shore: Photographs and Interviews with Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Older Adults (Kehrer Verlag, 2018) and Every Breath We Drew (Daylight Books, 2015). They are currently working on a new book, Look at me like you love me, to be published by MACK in the spring of 2022.
They are the recipient of a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, an ICP Infinity Award, and were selected by the Obama White House as a 2015 Champion of Change.
Dugan’s editorial clients include the ACLU Magazine, The Guardian, The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, and TIME.
Dugan teaches workshops at venues including the Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Snowmass Village, CO, the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, MA, and Filter Photo in Chicago, IL. In 2015, they co-founded the Strange Fire Collective to highlight work made by women, BIPOC, and LGBTQ artists. Dugan is currently the 2020-2021 Henry L. and Natalie E. Freund Teaching Fellow at Washington University in St. Louis.
From Currents 120: Jess T. Dugan, photo by Jess T. Dugan
From To Survive on this Shore, photo by Jess T. Dugan
From Every Breath We Drew, photo by Jess T. Dugan
Podcast curator and editor: Jon Valley, with recording assistance by mid-coast media.
Jack Lane, Co-founder and Executive Producer of Stages St. Louis, stopped by to talk with Nancy about the History of Stages, as well as the 2021-2022 season, which includes "Jersey Boys" and "The Karate Kid (The Musical)." Jack Lane was an actor in New York when he heard Co-Counder Michael Hamilton talk about his dream to found a theater troupe in St. Louis, and together they made that dream come true 35 years ago.
Stages Co-Founders: Michael Hamilton (left) and Jack Lane (right)
STAGES opened in 1987 with a budget of $50,000 and a part-time seasonal staff of eight. Today, the company employs a full-time staff of 25 overseeing a budget of $4.7 million. During the performance season, an additional 150 actors and crew members bring the productions to life. To date, STAGES professionals have produced 103 musicals, with nearly 3,400 performances, playing to more than one million patrons. The STAGES audience includes patrons from a spectrum of ages and socio-economic levels from more than 238 cities located in 30 states. Audience members represent over 160 zip codes from the state of Missouri alone. All productions are fully accessible to individuals with disabilities and each season STAGES provides hundreds of complimentary tickets to underserved populations, including low-income seniors. STAGES annual Theatre for Young Audiences production is a regional treasure that encourages multiple generations to attend professional, live musical theatre together on family-friendly schedules.
In April of 2013, the STAGES Performing Arts Academy and the administrative offices relocated to a new 22,000-square-foot-facility in Chesterfield, which is enabling STAGES to meet a growing need for arts education programs in a larger, more flexible state-of-the-art facility. The Kent Center for Theatre Arts includes a performance hall with flexible seating to be used for main stage rehearsals, dance classes, educational presentations, donor and community events, and special performances.
Sara Burke, Founder of the City Studio Dance Center and Katherine Dunham Dancer, stopped by to speak with Nancy about her career as a dancer, including her work with the legendary Katherine Dunham. She also shares two writings she has done recently, “I Bear Witness To” and “Musings on Creativity.”
Sara Burke at the City Studio Dance Center
“Sara Burke is the owner and director of The City Studio Dance Center in St. Louis, Missouri which she founded in 1986. Sara is a choreographer, dancer, dance instructor, photographer, and author and arts diversity consultant. Sara consults for local dance companies and works with young dancers helping them start Company’s. Sara relishes her role as “mentor”. She has danced around the world. One of her biggest goals and accomplishments was to learn Dunham Technique from the legendary Katherine Dunham. She studied with Miss Dunham in East St. Louis in the 1970’s and danced with the Dunham Company. Sara’s experiences studying and dancing Dunham Technique changed her life and she has been committed to promoting diversity through the Arts ever since.”
From "Rust Belt to Artist Belt"
The City Studio Dance Center features ongoing classes in Jazz, Dunham Technique, Hip Hop/Street Jazz, Pilates & Yoga.
The City Studio Dance Center
William Roth, Founder and Artistic Director of the St. Louis Actors Studio, stopped by to talk with Nancy about the upcoming season of St. Louis Actors Studio, which is housed in the Gaslight Theater.
William Roth
William Roth's acting career began in 1972 at the Theatre Guild of Webster Groves—where his dad had acted in the mid-60s—in a performance of South Pacific, in which he had a horrible case of stage fright, refused to sing and choose instead to dance behind the curtain. Twenty years later, after a six-year stint in the Marines and other distractions, he moved back to St. Louis from California and performed in a student-directed one-act festival at the University of Missouri-St Louis. He then returned to the Theatre Guild of Webster Groves to get his picture on the wall with his father, playing Clive in Alan Ayckbourn’s Season's Greetings.
Over the past 20 years he has appeared in countless Shakespeare productions, including: Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, Comedy of Errors, Titus Andronicus, Cymbeline, As You Like It, Romeo and Juliet, Richard III, The Winter’s Tale, King Lear, Troilus and Cressida and Antony and Cleopatra.
St. Louis Actors' Studio was founded to bring a fresh vision to theatre in St. Louis. Housed in The Gaslight Theater in historic Gaslight Square, STLAS is committed to bringing engaging theatrical experiences to our community of actors, writers, producers, filmmakers and all patrons of the arts; and to provide a strong ensemble environment to foster learning and artistic expression.
Upcoming Productions by St. Louis Actors Studio:
The Zoo Story, The Dumb Waiter by Albee, Pinter, Directed by Wayne Salomon
September 17 – October 03 2021
Comfort by Neil LaBute, Directed by Assoc. Artistic Director Annamaria Pileggi
December 03 – December 19, 2021
Hand To God By Robert Askins, Directed by Assoc. Artistic Director John Pierson
February 18 –March 6, 2022
8th Annual LaBute New Theater Festival
July 08 – July 31, 2022
Chris Hansen, Executive Director of the Kranzberg Arts Foundation, stopped by to talk with Nancy about the upcoming Music at the Intersection festival happening in the Grand Center Arts District (September 10th through 12th, 2021). They also discuss the Kranzberg Arts Foundation's works and venues in general.
Chris Hansen
Music at the Intersection celebrates St. Louis’s rich and diverse musical heritage. From Jazz to Blues, Soul to Hip Hop, and everything in between this festival will highlight over 60 acts on six world-renowned stages over three days throughout Grand Center’s Arts District.
The mission statement of the Kranzberg Arts Foundation is... "Through the development of artistic venues, studios and workspaces, short and long-term residencies, and community-based programming, the Kranzberg Arts Foundation provides essential infrastructure for the arts to thrive in the St. Louis region.
Taking an arts-based approach to community development, the Foundation ensures we are aligning our investments with the needs and vision of the broader community. Committed to a diverse, equitable, and inclusive approach, we further economic development and cultural sustainability, while helping to establish St. Louis as a premier arts and entertainment destination."
Poster for Music at the Intersection with all the musical acts slated to perform.
Andrew Wanko, Public Historian for the Missouri History Museum, stopped by to talk about the exhibition St. Louis Sound.
Andrew Wanko
St. Louis just can’t stay quiet. The region has produced legends who are on a first-name basis worldwide, like Ike & Tina, Miles, Chuck, and Nelly. It’s been home to the “Velvet Bulldozer” Albert King, the “Black Venus” Josephine Baker, and the original “king” of pop music, Scott Joplin. And don’t forget world-class songwriters like John Hartford, Jay Farrar, Jeff Tweedy, and Willie Mae Ford Smith. Few cities anywhere can claim so many leading lights in such a wide range of style.
St. Louis Sound examines contributions to American popular music. This exhibit serves as your introduction to that music—it can’t cover everything, but inside you’ll find familiar tunes, deeper cuts, and a new musical outlook on the city you love. So lend the city your ears.
Cynthia Prost, President and CEO of the Arts and Education Council of St. Louis, stopped by to speak with Nancy about the organization and its works.
Cynthia Prost
The Arts and Education Council of Greater St. Louis is a unique asset in our community. The Arts and Education Council is our region's only united arts fund supported by private contributions from individuals, corporations, foundations and institutions committed to the value and benefit of the arts to our community.
The Arts and Education Council serves as the base - the root, if you will - through which funding, training and collaboration happens for nearly 100 arts organizations that enrich the cultural landscape of St. Louis each year.
Arts and Education Council grantees not only produce and present great art, they also maintain viable, impactful arts education and outreach programming for K-12 students throughout the bi-state area. Research continues to show that children who participate in the arts enjoy greater academic success, higher self-esteem, improved discipline, higher graduation rates and broad, creative thinking skills necessary for advancement in the world beyond school.
The Centene Center for the Arts, an arts incubator owned and operated by the Arts and Education Council
Cynthia Prost has over twenty years of nonprofit leadership experience and currently serves as President and CEO of the Arts and Education Council since 2008. In this role she oversees all institutional matters including fundraising and grant making. She received her bachelor of arts (magna cum laude) and a master of arts in management from Fontbonne University in St. Louis. Prost is an adjunct faculty member at Fontbonne University in the Nonprofit Management graduate program, teaching courses in fundraising, philanthropy, grant writing, strategic planning and board governance and management.
Carrie Houk, Executive Artistic Director of the Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis, stopped by to talk with Nancy about the festival details for 2021, which runs August 19th through the 29th.
Carrie Houk
This year's theme for the festival is "The Moon and Beyond," and features an outdoor performance of "The Glass Menagerie," Williams’ greatest, most famous, and most personal play. The performance will be at the actual site that inspired the writing of the play, The Tennessee, at 4633 Westminster Place in St. Louis. Performances are August 19, 20, 21, 22, 26, 27, 28, 29 at 8:00PM. Other topics covered include panel discussions and a walking tour of sites in the Central West End associated with Tennessee Williams.
About Tennessee Williams: Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tennessee Williams’ renowned work reflects his two decades of coming of age in St. Louis, and his creations range from the famed classics, to adaptations for film and opera, to dozens of newly discovered plays and writings that have been continuously documented, performed and studied around the world. Considered by many to be America’s greatest playwright, Williams is best known for his award-winning powerful plays, “A Streetcar Named Desire,” “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” and “The Glass Menagerie.”
Tennessee Williams
About Carrie Houk: Carrie Houk has spent her professional life as an actor, casting director, producer and teaching artist. Educated at HB Studio in NYC and the Conservatory of Theatre Arts at Webster University, she began her acting career at the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis and from there worked in NYC, LA and Chicago. She has cast over thirty films, numerous television shows and countless national commercials and has worked with directors Steven Soderbergh, Robert Altman, Alexander Payne, Howard Franklin, among others. She started her casting career in Chicago thirty five years ago and from there settled back in St. Louis to raise her daughter. She has produced two films and the critically acclaimed production of Tennessee Williams’s “Stairs to the Roof” directed by Fred Abrahamse. Adjunct professor of casting and acting at Webster University, Houk has also taught at Washington University and Columbia College Chicago.
Susan Barrett, President of Barrett Barrera Projects, stopped by to talk with Nancy about the projects they are involved in.
Susan Barrett A piece from Freedom is for Everybody
Among the topics discussed is the exhibition Freedom is for Everybody, an exhibition of work by Swedish-American artist Michele Pred.
In her artistic practice, Pred uses sculpture, assemblage and performance to uncover the cultural and political meaning behind everyday objects, with a concentration on feminist themes such as equal pay, reproductive rights, and personal security. As Pred’s work implores us, now more than ever we must raise our voices to protect the freedom of all bodies, especially those historically disempowered.
Sculptural pieces from a series titled Power of the Purse include vintage purses emblazoned in neon with phrases culled from the current social resistance movements, such as Time’s Up (2018) and call us to both reflection and action. In this context, the vintage mid-century purses become symbols not only of the modern economic power women hold and the possibilities for change that come with it, but also reminders of that critical era in the women’s movement. A pair of vintage shoes dotted with unwanted, expired and placebo birth control pills, In Our Shoes (2013) underscores the continuing and growing impediments to fair, safe and affordable access to birth control and other women’s services in the United States.
Also discussed is James Turrell's ORCA (Blue-Red), which is open for viewings by appointment only, Thursday - Saturday, 12 pm - 5 pm.
James Turrell, ORCA (Blue and Red), 1969
Wassan Al-Khudhairi, Chief Curator of the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, stopped by to talk with Nancy about the museum and one of the current exhibitions, Stories of Resistance.
Stories of Resistance explores artistic forms of resistance from across the world. Through visual narratives, artists amplify and bring to focus the multitude of conditions that ignite and inspire people to resist. The exhibition activates the entire museum space, inside and out, with video, photography, drawing, sculpture, painting, and installation. Presenting narratives from many social, political, and geographical spaces, the artists include: Bani Abidi, Andrea Bowers, Banu Cennetoğlu, Torkwase Dyson, Emily Jacir, Glenn Kaino, Bouchra Khalili, Candice Lin, Jen Liu, Guadalupe Maravilla, Tuấn Andrew Nguyễn, Trevor Paglen, PSA: (Jen Everett, Aida Hasanović, Simiya Sudduth), Wendy Red Star, Dread Scott, Kemang Wa Lehulere, and Wide Awakes (Maryam Parwana, Combo, Otherward).
St. Louis serves as an ideal platform for Stories of Resistance. Resistance movements that have arisen here, most especially the rise of Black Lives Matter in response to the police killing of Michael Brown, have incited global actions against racism and injustice. By looking through a local lens, the exhibition draws connections worldwide, revealing profound influences that traverse borders and cultures. With this in mind, Radio Resistance, an integral component of the exhibition, will broadcast conversations between exhibiting artists and artists, activists, scholars, and others with a deep knowledge and experience of St. Louis. Because of radio’s legacy as a tool for dissent, it serves as the medium for dialogue between intersecting local and global agents of change.
Alongside the exhibition and radio program, a CAM publication will include images of works in the exhibition and writings that further explore and expand on the ideas and themes of Stories of Resistance.
Stories of Resistance, installation view, CAM. Photo: Dusty Kessler
Wassan Al-Khudhairi: Chief Curator at CAM
Keith Watson, owner and operator of Arkadin Cinema and Bar, is an attorney by day, and a connoisseur of film by night. He stopped by to talk with Nancy about this new business.
Named after a film by one of their favorite filmmakers, Orson Welles, the Arkadin is a microcinema in the heart of Bevo located at 5228 Gravois Ave. The cinema shows a mix of cutting-edge indie and foreign fare, timeless classics, and cult favorites in a cozy, comfortable setting.
There is a full bar stocked with wine, beer and creative cocktails. You can pick up a drink — and a bag of popcorn, of course! — to enjoy during the show and come back to the lounge after the film to engage in a lively discussion of the weird, wild, wonderful film you’ve just seen over a beer or two.
Due to COVID-19, they are currently partnering with their neighbor, The Heavy Anchor, to run safe, socially-distanced outdoor screenings under the stars on their backlot.
Some examples of films that have already been shown are… Purple Rain, Rear Window, Independence Day, The Kid, Point Break, We are Little Zombies, Repo Man, Night of the Living Dead, Nosferatu, and Blue Velvet.
For a list of up-coming films... click here.
Fans enjoying a film outside at Arkadin.
Keith Watson introduces a local filmmaker.
The cinema is located at 5228 Gravois Ave.
Tom Ridgely, Producing Artistic Director of St. Louis Shakespeare Festival, stopped by to talk to Nancy about the American Ballet Theatre's ABT Across America Tour. The St. Louis performances of the tour will happen July 14th in Shakespeare Glen in Forest Park. The performances are presented in partnership with Susan Sherman, COCA and St. Louis Shakespeare Festival.
This summer, ABT will bring 20 acclaimed artists to St. Louis for two performances as part of the company’s cross-country road trip, ABT Across America, traveling to 8 U.S. cities this July. These unique outdoor presentations are among the first live performances for ABT in over a year.
American Ballet Company, Designated by an act of Congress as America’s National Ballet Company, is recognized as a living national treasure. Since its founding in 1940, ABT annually tours the United States, performing for more than 300,000 people, and is the only major cultural institution to do so. For 81 years, ABT has appeared in 45 countries and has performed in all 50 states.
Tom Ridgely
Monika Weiss, who is an internationally known multimedia artist, stopped by to talk with Nancy about her work and her life.
Monika Weiss Artist portrait, 2019. still from video interview: Adam Hogan and Laura Stayton
In a multidisciplinary practice that encompasses video, film, performance, sound, drawing and sculpture, the Polish-American artist Monika Weiss moves between the political and the poetic to explore questions of the body, history, and gendered violence. Her work is intimately engaged with processes of witnessing and remembering as it attends to traumatic histories, thier transmission, and commemoration.
Weiss frequently employs her own body to navigate the aftermath of different traumas, raising questions of how one can articulate these without enacting further violence. The female body does not only become a vehicle of expression, but also forms a key site from which an affective politics may emerge, through touch, vulnerability, and the visceral. Her mixed-media, embodied practice foregrounds sensing as a modality through which we can develop an ethics and politics of remembrance and of being together in the world, simultaneously challenging modernist assumptions concerning a duality of mind and body. By frequently attending to events and histories that she has not personally witnessed, Weiss fleshes out the multidirectional character of memory and seeks to forge new solidarities that exceed national boundaries.
Monika Weiss Studio, 2019. artist filming and choreographing a performer (right) in real time.
Photo: Adam Hogan and Laura Stayton. performer: Melissa Gollance
Stills taken of the Monika Weiss exhibition Sustenazo.
Cassie Brand, Curator of Rare Books for Washington University in St. Louis, stopped by to speak with Nancy about the Olin Library and the Rare Books Collections at the University.
Cassie Brand: Curator of Rare Books Olin Library at Washington University
Cassie Brand has been Curator of Rare Books at the Washington University Libraries since 2017. She enjoys sharing rare books with others through outreach programs, teaching classes, and curating exhibits. Her research focuses on the intersection of the book as a physical and cultural object and on the histories of book collecting and libraries. Cassie received her library degree from Indiana University in 2011 and is currently working on a PhD. Cassie’s dissertation, which is in progress, is tentatively titled “How Books Became Rare: The History of Special Collections in America 1880–1940.”
Among the topics discussed is the rare copy of the Declaration of Independence held in the library's collections.
When the Julian Edison Department of Special Collections opened in 1962, the Washington University Libraries owned a small rare book collection, the finest pieces of which had been donated by St. Louis collector William Keeney Bixby. Now, the Rare Book Collections include over 70,000 printed pieces and represent all the disciplines the University Libraries collect.
The Rare Book Collections include books from all Special Collection areas. The collections’ primary strengths are in the areas of literature; the material culture of the book, including the history of printing, graphic design, and the book arts; and aspects of American and world history.
Spanning seven centuries of written and visual communication, these collections support teaching and discovery across the University and are freely accessible to students, scholars, and visiting researchers.
Dan Reich, Curator & Director of Education at the St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum, stopped by to talk with Nancy about the mission of, and the happenings at, the museum. After 22 years at the museum, Dan Reich will be retiring soon.
Dan Reich. A photo from the museum's archives, depicting a Dachau Death March.
Among the topics discussed is the upcoming expansion of the museum. Set to open in mid-2022, the St. Louis Kaplan Feldman Holocaust Museum will quadruple the space of the existing facility to 35,000 square feet. The new facility will fuel the Museum’s mission to preserve the legacy of the Holocaust, teach about the Museum’s many purposes, and empower visitors to make the world a more tolerant place by rejecting all forms of hate, racism, and bigotry.
An artist's rendering of the upcoming expansion, set to open in mid-2022.
Also discussed is the moving story of Ben Fainer, Holocaust survivor and co-author of "Silent for Sixty Years." Ben Fainer spent the entire war as a Nazi prisoner, surviving for six years in six different camps. After losing his mother, three siblings, and over 250 other relatives in the Holocaust, Ben was liberated by American soldiers while on a final death-march in the spring of 1945. Ben didn’t just survive, he thrived. He was able to put his tragic childhood behind and live an incredible post-war life. Ben became a speaker at the museum, sharing his story to honor the victims of the Holocaust. Ben passed away in 2016.
One of the aspects of Ben's story that is discussed is a bracelet... Ten years ago, a bracelet was uncovered in Germany that was made by Ben Fainer in his youth in a concentration camp. After Ben's passing, his family donated it to the museum to honor him. The bracelet will be part of the exhibition in the upcoming expansion.
Ben Fainer shares his story with students before his passing.
To hear stories from other Holocaust Survivors, click here.
Tom Ridgely, Producing Artistic Director of St. Louis Shakespeare Festival, stopped by to talk to Nancy about the 2021 festival its adjustments due to Covid.
The Festival this year includes a main stage Shakespeare in the Park performance of King Lear, which stars Tony, Grammy & Emmy winner André De Shields and is Directed by Carl Cofield. King Lear will run June 2nd through June 27th in Shakespeare Glen in Forest Park.
Also discussed, is the 2021 touring production of Othello, and the Shakespeare in the Streets program, which will focus this year on The Ville neighborhood. Shakespeare in the Streets is a "grassroots theatrical experience that invites St. Louis neighborhoods to tell their stories. A Festival-selected creative team leads the neighborhood in developing an original play based on one of Shakespeare’s works—a play with themes that reflect the community’s character."
Nancy and Tom also discuss the history of the St. Louis Shakespeare Festival.
Kristin Fleischmann Brewer, Deputy Director of Public Engagement for the Pulitzer Arts Foundation, stopped by to speak with Nancy about the exhibition Chloë Bass: Wayfinding, which is open now through October 31st at the Pulitzer Arts Foundation.
Chloë Bass (b. 1984) created Wayfinding, an installation of sculptures inspired by public wayfinding signage. Bass designed a set of more than thirty signs placed throughout the Pulitzer’s outdoor spaces. These works are organized into four sections. Each is anchored by a billboard posing a question that explores human emotions ranging from compassion and desire to anxiety and loss. Accompanying sculptures include archival images and statements written by the artist that encourage private reflection in public space, intensifying everyday moments.
Wayfinding also includes a site-specific audio artwork narrated by the artist and local collaborators.
Click here to learn more about CHLOË BASS.
Sally Van Doren, independent poet and artist, stopped by to talk with Nancy about her poetry and a new upcoming exhibition of her artwork at Longview Farm House Art Gallery June 3rd through July 15th.
Coles L'Hommedieh, owner of Midtown Sound House stopped by to talk to Nancy about the new recording studio facility in Grand Center and about his day job as an Orthopedic Surgery Specialist.
David Kirkland, owner and chef at Turn Restaurant, stopped by to speak with Nancy about the restaurant, its menu, and why it's called "Turn." Kirkland is not only a chef, but also a turn-table-ist as well.
Susan Sherman, Co-founder of the St. Louis Fashion Fund, stopped by to speak with Nancy about the Fashion Fund's upcoming move to its new location at 3333 Washington, as well as the other goings on in fashion in St. Louis.
Chris Hansen, Executive Director of The Kranzberg Arts Foundation, stopped by to talk with Nancy about the goings on at the Foundation, including a new multipurpose building in the Grand Center Arts District and The re-opening of the Big Top. He also speaks about the current state of affairs at the foundation venues concerning the pandemic.
Dana Turkovic: Curator at at Laumeier Sculpture Park, stopped by to talk about the parks response to the pandemic as well as new exhibitions at Laumeier, including The Future is Present: Art and Global Change.
Susan Colangelo, President and Executive Director of Saint Louis Story Stitchers, stopped by to speak with Nancy about the work they do.
Founded in 2013, Saint Louis Story Stitchers, is an artist collective where professional artists work alongside disadvantaged youth (ages 16 to 24) to make art about St. Louis.
Erin Prange: Executive Director of Big Muddy Dance Company stopped by to talk with Nancy about the goings on at the Big Muddy, including some virtual events in March and April and a live event in May.
Dr. Mary Meadows: Head of Andrews Academy stopped by to talk with Nancy about the goings on at the school and the special collaboration with Gateway Media Literacy
KDHX
Andrew Hahn: Executive Director of the Campbell House Museum stopped by to speak with Nancy about the museum and the new additions including an elevator to make all floors even more accessible.
KDHX
Sefanie Kirkland: Deputy Director of Craft Alliance stopped by to speak to Nancy about their new location, and the goings on.
Frances Levine: President and CEO of the Missouri Historical Society stopped by to speak with Nancy about the Covid Protocols of their various museums, as well as the exhibitions currently being shown.
Linda Vredeveld: Visual Artist stopped by to discuss her career and her exhibition, "Glass Slipper and a Hot Flash," which is on display at the High Low through February 20, 2021.
Deborah Douglas: Visual Artist and Educator stopped by to speak with Nancy about her career and her exhibition, "Some Things I Know, Some Things I Only Believe," at the Kranzberg Arts Center through February 20, 2021.
Gene Dobbs Bradford: President and CEO of Jazz St. Louis stops by to talk with Nancy about Season of Stream, the virtual performances offered by Jazz St. Louis, as well as the online education programs.
Marilynne Bradley: Independent Artist and Author stops by to talk with Nancy about her career as an artist, focussing on watercolor, and her new book, St. Louis in Watercolor: Living History in the Gateway City
Note: this interview was recorded in early October, prior to the release of the book, before it was known exactly when it was to be released. It was released on October 15th, 2020, and is available at the link above.
Mike Isaacson: Executive Director of The Muny stopped by to tell Nancy about The Muny's reaction to the Covid 19 crisis and the Muny Magic series that they held over the summer, as well as the upcoming season in the Summer of 2021.
Cara Starke: Executive Director of the Pulitzer Arts Foundation stops by to discuss the happenings at the PAF, and about their covid era policies.
Gina Grafos: Director of Visual Infrastructure for the Kranzberg Arts Foundation, stopped by to talk with Nancy about the current and upcoming exhibitions at KAF.
Chris Piemann: Marketing Director for The Sheldon stops by to talk with Nancy about the goings on at the galleries and performance spaces at The Sheldon.
Scott Miller: Artistic Director of New Line Theater stops by to talk with Nancy about the theater and his writings, as well as the world wide pandemic, and the theater community's reaction to it.
KDHX
Nezka Pfeifer: Museum Curator of the Missouri Botanical Garden stops by to talk with Nancy about the future exhibitions at the Sachs Museum on the grounds of the Missouri Botanical Garden, as well as the light display "Garden Glow."
Cynthia Prost: President of The Arts and Education Council of St. Louis stops by to talk to Nancy about the good work of the council, and the St. Louis Arts Awards, happening May 25, 2021.
Peter Polermo: Executive Director of the Sheldon stopped by to talk with Nancy about the happenings at the Sheldon and their response to the world wide pandemic.
Shannon Bailey: Chief Curator of the World Chess Hall of Fame stopped by to talk with Nancy about the goings on at the Hall of Fame.
Martin Linson: Cultural Arts Coordinator for the City of O'Fallon Missouri, stopped by to talk with Nancy about the new sculpture program The Shape of the Community.
Chris Hansen: Executive Director of the Kranzberg Arts Foundation stops by to talk with Nancy about the happenings at the KAF, as well as the response to the worldwide pandemic.
Sue Greenberg: Executive Director of Volunteer Lawyers and Accountants for the Arts stopped by to discuss the work of VLAA as well as her work for The Muny.
Tim Schall: Executive Director of The Cabaret Project St. Louis stops by to talk with Nancy about the goings on in cabaret in St. Louis and the Virtual Gala Coming up on October 24th.
Katie Moon: Exhibits Manager for the Missouri History Museum stops by to talk with Nancy about the museum's exhibits, including "Beyond the Ballot: ST. LOUIS AND SUFFRAGE." They also discuss the museum's adaptation to the world-wide pandemic.
Jessica Baran: Director of Curatorial and Programming Development for Barrett Barrera Projects stopped by to talk with Nancy about the exhibitions now happening and soon to come at Barrett Barrera Projects' various spaces.
Kelly Peck: Vice President, Barrett Barrara Projects stops by to talk with Nancy about reopening during the pandemic and about the various exhibitions.
Diana Hansen: Director of Galleries for the Kranzberg Arts Center stopped by to talk with Nancy about exhibitions at the various Kranzberg spaces.
Lisa Melandri: Executive Director of the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis joins Nancy for a discussion of the happenings at the museum and its response to the world-wide pandemic.
Carrie Houk: Executive Artistic Director of the Tennessee Williams Festival St. Louis stops by to talk with Nancy about the innovative ways the festival is dealing with the pandemic through radio broadcasts of one act plays
Gina Grafos: Director of Visual Infrastructure at the Kranzberg Arts Foundation stopped in to talk with Nancy about the happenings at KAF, and also, about the visual arts in a time of pandemic.
Gene Dobbs Bradford: President and CEO of Jazz St. Louis stopped by to talk with Nancy about the happenings at Jazz St. Louis, and the strategies for dealing with live performance in the age of the pandemic.
Emeara Burns: Program Director of Story Stitchers, stops by to talk with Nancy about the work of Story Stitchers.
Adam Manass, Independent Musician and Creative Director of Open Studio, stops by to speak with Nancy about the Jazz video courses on Open Studio's website https://www.openstudiojazz.com/
Marsha Williams: Founder and Artistic Director of Gifted Productions stops by to speak with Nancy about her community minded theater group.
Lyah LeFlore Ituen: Co-Founder of the Shirley Bradley LeFlore Foundation stops by to talk with Nancy about the good works of her family and of the foundation.
Gina Grafos: Director of Visual Infrastructure at the Kranzberg Arts Foundation stops by to talk with the visual arts happens in at the Kranzberg Arts Foundation.
Kevin and Laurie Van Mondfrans: Independent Artist and Jewelers came by the studio to talk with Nancy about their work.
Jess T. Dugan, independent artist, stops by to speak with Nancy about her photography and her project "To Survive on This Shore."
Guests Susan Colangelo, President & CEO and Ntegrity, Audio Engineer at Saint Louis Story Stitchers stop by and tell us the story of their organization and the good work it is doing to improve St. Louis.
Guests Susan Sherman & Kim Eberlein, Co-Chairs at Sing for Siteman, stop by to share details of this year's event.
Paul Emery stops by to speak with Nancy about upcoming productions at The Playhouse at Westport Plaza.
Guest and Singer/Songwriter Isabelle Stillman stops by to talk about her new album Middle Sister.
Guest Liz Crabtree, Director of the Hettenhausen Center for the Arts at McKendree University, stops by KDHX to detail the history of the center and discuss what the future has in store.
Paul Seibert: Managing Editor of Gesso Magazine, stops by to talk with Nancy about the art scene and the new magazine called Gesso.
Guest Amy Shaw, Interim President and CEO at Nine Network of Public Media, stops by to talk about the importance of branding, public media, and how our area leads the nation in a surprising way.
Stephanie Weissberg: Associate Curator of The Pulitzer Arts Foundation, stops by to speak with Nancy about the happenings at the foundation.
Guest Jessica Baran, Director of Curatorial & Program Development at Barrett Barrera Projects, stops in to discuss her curatorial work, the challenge of exploring fashion as an artistic medium, and poetry.
Cindy Prost: President and CEO of the Arts and Education Council of Greater St. Louis stops by to talk with Nancy about the work of the council.
Guests B.J. Parker, Co-Founding Director and Instructor, & Carolyn Karasek, Student, at Gateway Academy of Classical Art sit down to talk about the rise of popularity of classical arts training, how their organization came about, and how you can be a part of it.
Guest Sharon Hunter, Producing Artistic Director at Moonstone Theatre Company, tells us about her journey through the theater landscape, the origins of the company, and what lies ahead.
Guests Shannon Bailey, Chief Curator of the World Chess Hall of Fame, and fashion designer Michael Drummond stop in to discuss the goings on at the Museum and to share details of the current exhibition.
Guests Stefanie Kirkland, Director of Exhibitions & Artists in Residence Programs at Craft Alliance, and artist Elizabeth Giessow stop by to talk about the many opportunities that Craft Alliance offers for artists of all stripes, including the upcoming Biennial Teapot Exhibition.
Guest Eddie Coffield of the New Jewish Theatre stops by to talk about his new role at the theatre and let listeners know what they can look forward to in the coming months.
Guest Hana Sharif, Artistic Director of Repertory Theatre St. Louis, stops by to discuss what she hopes to accomplish as the theater's newest director and what shows are coming over the horizon.
Guests Terry Suhre, Director of Gallery 210, and artist Howard Barry stop by to discuss the history of the gallery, how recent events have strengthened their mission, and highlights of Barry's exhibition currently on view.
Guest Jason Lee Brown, Editor in Chief of River Styx Magazine, talks about the history of the publication, what goes into making an interesting live reading, and their upcoming move.
Guest Hannah Klemm, Assistant Curator of Modern & Contemporary Art at the St. Louis Art Museum, stops by to us what exciting shows are coming up at the museum and how St. Louis rates on a national scale as an arts capital.
Guests Susan Barrett, President and Owner, & Kelly Peck, Vice President, of Barrett Barrera Projects stop by to tell us about the goings on at their now 3 locations and how they are working to reinvent the way art is presented in St. Louis.
Guests Anne Murphy, Program Coordinator for Innovations in Textiles 2019, and Robin Hirsch-Steinhoff, Artistic Director of Art St. Louis stop in to talk about the history of Innovations in Textiles and what highlights you can expect at this quadrennial event.
Guest Jan Albus, CEO of Variety and Executive Producer of Variety Theatre, stops in to talk about the work the charity does to help children in the St. Louis region and how their upcoming fundraising event showcases those efforts.