Art Throb

Drew Barr has directed productions of new, modern, and classical plays and musicals for theaters across the United States and around the world. He directed the Dutch-language premiere of the National Theatre of London's War Horse, which opened at Amsterdam's Royal Carré Theatre before a year-long tour of the Netherlands and Belgium. For the National Theatre, he also directed the Australian premiere of War Horse, which ran in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. He was the Resident Director for War Horse on Broadway at Lincoln Center Theater. Also on Broadway, Drew served as associate director for Nicholas Hytner's productions of Sweet Smell of Success, starring John Lithgow, Kelli O'Hara and Brian D'Arcy James and Twelfth Night, starring Helen Hunt, Paul Rudd and Kyra Sedgwick, as well as for Simon McBurney's acclaimed revival of All My Sons by Arthur Miller, starring John Lithgow, Dianne Wiest, Patrick Wilson and Katie Holmes. Drew was associate director and dramaturg for Simon McBurney's production of The Kid Stays in the Picture at the Royal Court Theatre in London.Drew has directed and guest taught for many of the country's leading actor training programs, including the Juilliard School, NYU's Graduate Acting Program, USC's School of Dramatic Arts, SUNY Purchase, the University of Delaware's PTTP, the University of Washington's School of Drama and the Department of Dramatic Art at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. He is on the acting faculty of AMDA College of the Performing Arts in Los Angeles. As an actor, Drew appeared on Broadway in Wendy Wasserstein's An American Daughter. He was a founding member of East Coast Artists, a performance collective under the leadership of Richard Schechner, with whom Drew devised and performed in Faust/gastronome, The Three Sisters and Amerika. He toured the country as a member of Maurice Sendak's national children's theater, The Night Kitchen, playing the role of Alligator in the Sendak/Carol King musical, Really Rosie. Drew moved to Lexington with his filmmaker husband, Tim Kirkman, in June of 2024Drew is directing ANGELS IN AMERICA, a play written by Tony Kushner debuted in 1991, that will be presented by ACT OUT THEATRE GROUP and open at the Black Box Theatre in the Pam Miller Downtown Arts Center on 6th June and play the 7th, 13th, 14th and 15th June.A complex and at times metaphorical examination of AIDS and its social impact - this play, that won 3 Tony Awards and a Pulitzer, has been called "a turning point in the history of gay drama."For more and to connect with us, visit https://www.artsconnectlex.org/art-throb-podcast.html

Lina Tharsing and Liz Swanson, Lexington-based artists featured in the Lexington Art League's “Axis Mundi” exhibition, join Kate to discuss the deep thematic roots and personal resonances behind their work. Liz reflects on her fascination with the ethereal—clouds painted atop near-forgotten architectural renderings, exploring temporality, memory, and the shifting value of creative artifacts. Lyna shares how profound loss and dreams of her late parents led her to paint luminous landscapes and “portals,” searching for thin places where the boundaries between worlds feel especially permeable. Together, they contemplate ideas of grief, gratitude, connection, and the vital need for meaningful community gatherings—moments that, both in their work and in the energetic exhibition opening, transcend the everyday and invite viewers into a richer, more tender understanding of life and art.For more and to connect with us, visit https://www.artsconnectlex.org/art-throb-podcast.html

About Ghost MusicIt's only been a month since Dawn's musician husband, Clark, suddenly died. When his former student shows up with missing pages from Clark's unfinished book, voices from the pages are reawakened. A portal from the past cracks open, transporting us back to German Romanticism and renowned pianist Clara Schumann. As she desperately tries to preserve the dignity of her husband, the brilliant composer Robert Schumann, he descends further and further into madness. Separated by a gulf of both time and space, Dawn and Clara grapple with grief and lunacy, and the hope that long-ago melodies can heal their broken hearts.This production is sponsored in part by the AthensWest Emerging Play Grant awarded to the theater program and sabbaticals for both Dr. Greg Partain and Professor Tosha Fowler. The production will feature a team of professional actors and a director working in residence at Transylvania. The production will include the live musical performance of Dr. Greg Partain as an essential component of the play's concept and design. Professor Tosha Fowler will be helming the role of Clara as well as head producer. Professors Daniel Bennett and Melissa Gilbert will lead the design team.For more and to connect with us, visit https://www.artsconnectlex.org/art-throb-podcast.html

Georgia Henkel, a recently retired Lexington-based artist, joins host Kate Savage on Art Throb to explore her unique approach to art through the use of organic materials. Georgia delves into her lifetime of collecting bones, body parts, and other found objects from nature, as currently showcased in her collaborative exhibition "Axis Mundi" at the Loudon House. The show, which is ongoing until the 16th of May, features her work alongside fellow artists Lina Tharsing and Liz Swanson. They share a thematic exploration of earthly realms, with Georgia's creations focusing on the earth's elements and below. Her work balances between being intriguing and humorous, as she transforms these remnants into narrative-driven tableaux that evoke both beauty and curiosity. The episode offers an insightful discussion on finding beauty in the macabre and the whimsical nature of her materials, providing listeners a chance to rethink their perception of life and death.For more and to connect with us, visit https://www.artsconnectlex.org/art-throb-podcast.html

Constance Grayson is an artist and a retired attorney having spent the latter part of her legal cereer as an advocate for children in the foster care system.She recently started Kids Place Lex, Inc as a not-for-profit organization with a mission to provide free quality art classes for foster care children and at-risk youth in Fayette County and contiguous counties.These classes are taught by art educators and professional artists.  The goal is to provide activities wherein this youth demographic, who in many cases have suffered from unimaginable trauma and repeated displacement, are able to gain in self-confidence,  learning problem solving and team-building abilities and developing some life skills required for successful adulthood as well as develop an appreciation of the arts.To learn more, become a volunteer, register a student, or make a donation www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61573689986693#For more and to connect with us, visit https://www.artsconnectlex.org/art-throb-podcast.html

Jacob Herrera Wachal is an artist and educator from Lexington, Kentucky, as well as a founding member of Liquified. Liquified is a performing arts collective specializing in projected time-based installations as an accompaniment to live music. Their performances are grounded in the techniques pioneered by avant-garde liquid light acts of the 1960's such as Light Sound Dimension and The Holy See, who quickly found popularity when paired with acts such as the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Pink Floyd, and the Grateful Dead.As a way to celebrate the art form and the diversity of Lexington, Liquified is hosting a free-to-attend “immersive night market”, entitled “Syzygy” (sih-zih-jee).  The event will feature a projection-mapped video installation, local musical acts accompanied by light artists each with a distinctive approach, vendor fair featuring artisans from a multitude of disciplines, and locally favored food trucks.Syzygy will take place at the Lexington Art League on Friday, March 21st, from 5-10 PM.For more and to connect with us, visit https://www.artsconnectlex.org/art-throb-podcast.html

Kate Savage, host of Art Throb, engages in a vibrant discussion with Lee Carroll and Connie Milligan, co-founders of the Greenroom Exchange. Lee, a career musician, and Connie, a social worker passionate about social change, share their work with the nonprofit organization that brings international artists to the Bluegrass. They delve into their upcoming event featuring Kodo, a renowned Japanese Taiko drumming group. With a performance at the Singletary Center, Kodo, known for transcending cultural boundaries, embodies a unique musical experience steeped in rich tradition. Lee and Connie elaborate on Greenroom Exchange's mission to foster cultural understanding and celebrate diversity through the universal language of music and art. A notable highlight includes their collaborative efforts to host artists from across the globe, further enriching Lexington's cultural landscape.For more and to connect with us, visit https://www.artsconnectlex.org/art-throb-podcast.html

Ron Wilbur, ACTivate Music Director, the professional performing arts training program for high school and middle school aged children that is part of the broader organization Voices Amplified, a collective dedicated to empowering artists and creating equitable spaces in arts education and theater performance, is proud to present Make Them Hear You, a musical theater cabaret series that celebrates the extraordinary contributions of African American artists through powerful performances of songs and spoken word.  "Make Them Hear You is a vibrant tapestry of artistry and resilience,” says director, Ron Wilbur. “Through every note sung and every word spoken, we illuminate the boundless beauty and depth of Black artistic expression, inviting our community into a shared celebration of unity, empowerment, and the transformative power of storytelling."Ron is a native of Atlanta Georgia, and he studied at University of Kentucky, focusing on vocal music education.While studying there, he broadened his knowledge, diversely, in many areas of music, ranging from classroom management to effective stylings of vocal jazz. Mr. Wilbur has had the opportunity to perform several titular characters such as: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Sweeney Todd), Ragtime (Colehouse Walker, Jr.) and The Wiz (Lion). Ron was also a featured vocalist on NBC's hit television series, “The Sing-Off” (Season 4) with the University of Kentucky “acoUstiKats.”​Vanessa Becker Weig is Co-Founder and Executive Artistic Director of Voices Amplified (formerly known as The Girl Project) and is on the Part-Time Music and Theatre Faculty at Eastern Kentucky University. She trained at the professional actor B.F.A. training program at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio and most recently trained with Anne Bogart and the SITI Company at their summer institute through Skidmore College.  She has over 100 directing, choreography, and performance credits. Since moving to Lexington 15 years ago, she has directed or choreographed numerous productions for Voices Amplified, Woodford Theatre,  Leeds Center for the Arts. the School for the Creative and Performing Arts,, and many more including several award-winning productions for the Itheatrics Junior Theatre Festival in Atlanta. She was the Education Director for Woodford Theatre from 2015-2019 founding the Woodofrd Theatre Young Artist Program, and served as Artistic Director for the theatre in 2019 and 2020. Prior to moving to Lexington, Vanessa served for ten years as the Education Director and Resident Director/Actor for the Phoenix Theatre (now CATCO). At the Phoenix, she directed, choreographed, and appeared in more than fifty productions and designed and implemented classes, camps, workshops, and in-school residencies. Vanessa specializes in movement theatre and theatre styles such as Kabuki, Commedia Del ‘Arte, Laban, Puppets and Masks, and Musical Theatre.  She was in the regional tour of the musical The Secret Garden, which incorporated both deaf and hearing actors and won several Central Ohio artistic excellence awards. Vanessa is a proud recipient of a Bluegrass Alliance for Women Impact Award and the prestigious Freddie G Fellowship from Music Theatre International. When she has a spare moment, Mrs. Weig appears on stage. Some of her favorite local roles include Gynecia in Head Over Heels with Voices Amplified, Morticia in The Addams Family with Leeds Theatre,  Paulette in Legally Blonde with KCT Summerfest, Madame De La Grande Bouche in Beauty and the Beast and The Warden in Holes with Lexington Children's Theatre.For more and to connect with us, visit https://www.artsconnectlex.org/art-throb-podcast.html

Sylvia Lovely, a restaurateur and author, shares insights about her new book, "My Family Tree Food and Stories." The book combines Sylvia's passion for food and storytelling, encouraging families to preserve their culinary traditions through personal anecdotes and recipes. Sylvia, with co-author Nancy May, has crafted a unique culinary journal filled with engaging narratives and spaces for readers to add their own. During their conversation, Kate and Sylvia examine the overlooked art form of food presentation, exploring its role in creating memorable dining experiences. Through heartwarming stories from her years in the restaurant business, Sylvia highlights the intersection of food, art, and community, underscoring how independent restaurants foster innovation and personal connection. This episode is a delightful exploration of culinary arts as a vital and expressive form of art that brings people together through shared traditions and creative flair. You can find the book at Amazon.For more and to connect with us, visit https://www.artsconnectlex.org/art-throb-podcast.html

KATHARINE ERICKSON is the Museum Manager at the 21c Museum Hotel in Lexington.  She worked previously as an educator at a number of museums including the National Gallery of Art, the Washington Nati0nal Cathedral, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and for the majority of her prior career, at the Getty Villa in Los Angeles, where she managed the Gallery Teaching program. She joined 21c in her current role in the fall of 2023.The current temporary exhibition installed in November 2024, is titled:Still, Life!  Meaning and Mending in Contemporary Art.As the punctuation suggests, this is a play on the recognized art form of the "still life" genre - flowers and fruits in various stages of ripeness and decay for example, but also a more subtle reference to the fact there is still life post pandemic albeit still with all its turmoil and controversies.   Isolation fosters loneliness and disconnection, but also generates introspection and reflection and many of the works in this show attempt to capture this swing of thoughts and emotions experienced by many during the pandemic.  But they also bear witness to resilience and hope, as for example Valerie Hegarty's monumental and complex work FRESH START would infer.Katharine discusses this new show, shares her thoughts on several of the works and talks about her first 18 months as Museum Manager at 21c Museum Hotel.For more and to connect with us, visit https://www.artsconnectlex.org/art-throb-podcast.html

ADAM TAYLOR BROWN better known as ATB, is a metamodern artist. In his work — a lifelong vocation titled SOULED, he conspires with his audience fusing performance and visual art through time to explore the universal truths: how perception creates reality, how mortality gives life its urgency, and how time, finite yet immeasurable, becomes the ultimate measure of meaning.Grounded in the artist's personal history - witnessing his father's paralysis while celebrating his eighth birthday - SOULED began as a meditation of finiture.  It has since grown into a profound and universal invitation: to confront the fleeting nature of our days, to question how we assign value, and to reflect on what we leave behind.ATB releases his work in a WAVE which is a series of 12 identical works sold consecutively for up to 12 days. The price of the first WORK is determined by the number of its WAVE.The price of each subsequent WORK doubles sequentially.WAVE #12 titled SMOKE will be released on January 4, 2025.WORK not sold by the end of the WAVE is burned at a WAKE.For more and to connect with us, visit https://www.artsconnectlex.org/art-throb-podcast.html

In this episode of ArtThrob, host Kate Savage engages in a riveting conversation with Ave Lawyer, the visionary co-founder of the site-specific theatre company "On the Verge." Celebrating 16 years of transforming unconventional locations into immersive stages, Ave discusses their upcoming production of the historical drama "The Lion in Winter," set to premiere in late January at the storied Luigart Studios. Kate and Ave explore the unique appeal of site-specific theatre, from performing in eclectic venues like historic homes and vibrant gardens to the tactile challenges of lack of changing rooms and maneuvering audiences through intricate settings.Ave provides a captivating glimpse into the complexity and intimacy of producing such immersive experiences, sharing an amusing anecdote of an audience member's spontaneous involvement in a previous production. They delve into the rich history of Luigart Studios, a venue that transitions seamlessly from its past as a hemp factory and jazz nightclub to its current role as an artistic hub, ready to host the dynamic narrative of "The Lion in Winter."The discussion brings forth the modern relevance of the play, likening its power dynamics and family intrigue to contemporary figures such as Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk. Ave also emphasizes the flexibility of the script's anachronisms, allowing for a contemporary interpretation that resonates with today's audiences. Adding layers of depth, the episode touches on the seasoned cast, including Missy Johnston as Eleanor of Aquitaine and Kevin Hardesty as Henry II, who bring a familial atmosphere both on and offstage.Ticket urgency is a recurring theme, with production popularity leading to quick sell-outs, and the consideration of providing refreshments at their current venue adds to the full immersive experience for the audience. Kate and Ave conclude with a broader discussion on the state of local theater in Lexington, mutual gratitude for each other's contributions, and a hint at a future episode dedicated to this topic. For more and to connect with us, visit https://www.artsconnectlex.org/art-throb-podcast.html

Don Ament made his first photographs at the age of ten with a Polaroid Big Swinger camera, and has been photographing professionally since high school in the 1970's. From 1995 to the present, he has worked full-time as a Fine Art photographer. He was born with cataracts in both eyes, and, beginning at age three, had several surgical operations in the early 1960's to save his vision. However, he remains legally blind in one eye, and experiences visual challenges in his other “good” eye. He does not have normal 3-D vision. Ament has studied under, and worked with, some of America's leading contemporary photographers, including John Shaw, Bill Fortney, Charles Cramer, and Bill Atkinson. He is a recipient of the Kentucky Al Smith Fellowship award, as well as numerous other financial grants and awards, and has led many workshops on photography and the art of seeing. His work has been collected by over 5000 patrons throughout the United States and Europe. He talks about his work and his recent commissioned installation of 12 photographs in the Lexington Senior Center titled: FAYETTE COUNTY: NATURE'S RADIANCE, a deep dive into the natural areas of Fayette County spanning a 12-month period.For more and to connect with us, visit https://www.artsconnectlex.org/art-throb-podcast.html

​Jill Schinberg has worked for music promoters, agents, international festivals, and performing arts centers in various capacities both on the road and in venues large and small. She started her career at Hancher Auditorium at the University of Iowa and subsequently held positions with San Francisco Bay Area music promoter Another Planet Entertainment, Festival Internacional de Videodanza in Buenos Aires, Rena Shagan Associates in New York, and Cal Performances in Berkeley. Along with producing and directing, she has served as a consultant to emerging arts organizations, venues, professional associations, and dance companies in the United States and South America.An ‘expat' from a 20+ year career in arts management, Jill is currently an Associate Professor of Arts Administration at the University of Kentucky. She researches arts management consulting, programming as an artistic practice, and workplace equity issues and teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in Leadership and Management, Arts Programming, and Arts Entrepreneurship. She is a founder of Demographic Trends (www.demographic-trends.com), a startup dedicated to collecting and analyzing demographic data for organizations in the arts, culture, and entertainment industries.In this interview Jill talks about a pitch competition that her Arts Administration students will present.  This will be the seventh year for FISH TANK: Emerging Entrepreneurs in the Arts.   Students work in teams and present an arts innovation.  Each presentation is fleshed out with a budget .  There will be a panel of three judges and after a questioning opportunity they will determine the best new idea. For more and to connect with us, visit https://www.artsconnectlex.org/art-throb-podcast.html

LESA AKER IS a self-taught artist hailing from the beautiful rolling hills of southern Kentucky near Somerset. She has lived on a farm from the time she was born and has seen many circles of life which led her to appreciate the short time we have with our animal friends and our human ones as well.Her medium of choice is pastel, as she find it allows for a vibrant and detailed expression of her love for animals.  Her inspiration comes from the natural world and the incredible creatures that inhabit it.She sees the beauty and magic that surrounds us, from the delicate flutter of a butterfly's wings to the powerful presence of a majestic horse and the awesome rushing of a waterfall.  She strives to capture the spirit and essence of each subject in her artwork, using color and texture to bring life to them on the paper.  Each piece is a representation of her deep connection to nature where the beauty of the animal kingdom is celebrated, and the wonders of our surroundings are appreciated.For more and to connect with us, visit https://www.artsconnectlex.org/art-throb-podcast.html

Lexi Bass has a BA in Arts Administration from the University of Kentucky,  a MA in Art from the University of Louisville and an MFA in Experimental and Documentary Arts from Duke University. ​She is currently a lecturer in Animation and Digital Art at the University of Kentucky School of Arts and Visual Studies and an experimental filmmaker and artist.  Her films have screened widely in London, Amsterdam, and other European cities and Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, and various locations across KY.  Her new film Meander will air on Tuesday 15 Oct at the Lyric Theatre and Cultural Arts Center at 6:30pm. Meander (2024) Lexi BassAs artificial intelligence replaces workers in our increasingly elderly global population, companies engineering AI race robots amidst human inequities and emerging problems of AI sentience. The sum spells disaster for the human race in the dystopian world of Meander, which evokes both ancient Greek mythology and near-future science fiction. Meander finds herself destitute in the Underworld with no way to finance escape other than offering her biological potential for surrogate pregnancy up to dubious experimentation in an underground facility. Meanwhile, filmmaker/narrator, Lexi Bass, recounts her experiences of pregnancy and motherhood at the precipice of age 40 and the loss of her own mother shortly after, questioning the future of humanity at the precipice of Artificial General Intelligence and Artificial Super-Intelligence. For more and to connect with us, visit https://www.artsconnectlex.org/art-throb-podcast.html

Last year LARRY PEMBLE, eldest son of famed Kentucky writer and photographer James Baker Hall and his family decided to establish the James Baker Hall Foundation with a mission to honor and continue Hall's interest in mentoring writers by providing direct support to Kentucky literary and visual creatives. Pemble, who is President of the Foundation along with Vice President JEANINE TRIPLETT, talk about the Foundation's first Book Award which will be presented to poet George Wesley Houp who will receive $3,000 and a publication from Accents Publishing. In addition to discussing how the selection process was undertaken, Pemble and Triplett talk about why this award is so important in the literary world, and how they intend to honor Jim's legacy by providing financial funding for emerging and established voices who specialize in continuing the unique voice that is Kentucky.The 1st Book Award will be presented on Tuesday, 1st October at Spalding University.For more and to connect with us, visit https://www.artsconnectlex.org/art-throb-podcast.html

VISIONS IN TANDEM, is a collaborative Retrospective Exhibition of Dobree Adam's fiber art intertwined with Jonathan Greene's  poems. Lexington Art League, August 2 to September 20, 2024 This collaborative retrospective exhibition of works in fiber and photographs intertwined with poetry considers dialogues of vision and voice in the spirit of haiga, the Japanese tradition of painting with haiku. The art of haiga is about the synergy of collaboration, the richness and depth of an added layer of meaning each work brings to the other. This exhibition centers on brief encounters and in-depth responses to living on their Kentucky River farm as well as to their travels. These encounters have brought reactions to landscape, sense of place, colors and rhythms, ambience, architecture, culture, and design aesthetics as well as inspirations for new bodies of work. In the spirit of haiga, consider how the poems, fiber art, and photographs are related, and how seemingly unrelated works influence or redefine one another.Dobree and Jonathan have developed a deep artistic collaborative relationship over their 50 years together. Dobree has become not only Jonathan's personal editor but also a major contributor in the publishing of many Gnomon Press books and books Jonathan has designed and/or produced for others. They have had collaborative shows at the Albrecht-Kemper Museum in Missouri, the Headley-Whitney Museum, and the Evansville Museum of Art.For more and to connect with us, visit https://www.artsconnectlex.org/art-throb-podcast.html

William M. Duffy's solo exhibition currently at the Speed Museum, is the second installment of the Louisville Black Avant-Garde series, highlighting local, historically significant Black visual artists active from 1950–1980. A lifelong artist, Duffy first began with painting, silk-screening, and drawing. However, after witnessing a car crash destroy a bank building's marble column, he felt compelled to ask for remnants of the broken stone; from then on, he taught himself how to carve and sculpt through research, improvisation, and repetition. This retrospective exhibition spans over 4 decades of creativity and presents not only the sculpture that Duffy is now known for, but also his earlier drawings, paintings, and digital art. In addition to featuring works of fine art, this retrospective also includes commercial works commissioned by local community groups and works made over the course of his long career as an educator in the Jefferson County Public Schools – and done in collaboration with his students.For more and to connect with us, visit https://www.artsconnectlex.org/art-throb-podcast.html

Cacey Nadalilo, Executive Director of the Chamber Music Festival of Lexington, shares insights into this year's highly anticipated festival, including the variety of programming and community outreach initiatives. Joined by host Kate Savage, Cacey highlights the festival's mission to bring world-class chamber music to Central Kentucky through an array of pop-ups, educational workshops, and main stage concerts. The conversation covers the festival's partnerships with local schools and the significant impact of their outreach programs designed to inspire young musicians. Bringing together renowned artists like Nathan Cole and Ken Olson, this year's festival promises a rich blend of traditional and contemporary chamber music performances. Cacey also delves into the logistics of hosting such an event, the selection of distinguished musicians, and the importance of community engagement in fostering a love for classical music.

Phoebe White is a 14 year old multi-instrumentalist, singer / songwriter whose first nationally released album in 2022 when she was 12, debuted at number 7 on the Western radio charts.​Phoebe was a featured guest on the GRAND OLE OPRY in 2023 where she performed with Grammy award winners Riders in the Sky. She was presented with a special honorary exhibit at the KENTUCKY MUSIC HALL OF FAME in 2023.​She has also performed with Suzy Bogguss, and shared the stage with Michael Johnathon, David McLean, Bluegrass band of the year: The Farm Hands, members of Chicago, The Doobie Brothers, New Grass Revival, The McLain Family Band, and many more. ​Phoebe has performed multiple times on WOODSONGS OLD TIME RADIO HOUR and WOODSONGS KIDS as well as Best of America by Horseback on RFD-TV; The country music capital of Kentucky: Renfro Valley, The Kentucky Opry, and more. Phoebe is currently getting ready to release her new album Cowgirl's Delight featuring Grammy Award winners Riders in the Sky and Suzy Bogguss.​To listen to the WEKU/NPR interview here

Samantha Simpson and Becky Alley, founders of the Muse Collective, a curatorial group in Lexington were inspired by the closure of Parachute Factory and the dearth of gallery space in the city. They discuss their innovative approach to building community and fostering inclusivity through pop-up exhibitions in unconventional spaces like garages and moving trucks. The guests share their vision of creating immersive art experiences enriched with music, poetry, and lectures, and their openness to showcasing works from beyond Kentucky. Challenges of balancing personal boundaries with community engagement are highlighted, alongside the excitement and flexibility their method allows. Their ongoing project, Blink, aims to nurture genuine relationships within the art world, emphasizing the collective's need for growth and collaboration.

Larry Kezele, owner of Ruth Hunt Candy and the early champion for the soon-to-be installed Freedom Train Monument, and Yvonne Giles, Historian and Researcher also known as The African American History Guru, talk about the lives of the enslaved couple Lewis and Harriet Hayden and how once escaped from Lexington to the north, they became freedom fighters for those looking to escape via the Underground Railway.Larry talks about how the memorial project initially was conceived by Sherry Maddoc ten years ago.  Its bumpy way forward after she returned to Australia, then how it has recently gained traction and funding, and the process and selection of a sculptor as well as where the project stands today.Yvette talks about the Haydens, their remarkable story of escape, their lives before and after breaking out of bondage, and how incredibly important it is to keep their story alive today and celebrate their quest for freedom as a fundamental human right. Hayden, when asked why he wanted to be free, simply responded - "Because I am a man." 

Jordan Campbell, an award-winning actor and educator originally from Mt. Sterling, Kentucky, is a leading figure in the global arts and culture ecosystem. His career spans theatre, education, and policy, utilizing his acting background for diverse creative initiatives. While Jordan has performed worldwide, including on Broadway tours and prestigious venues like Carnegie Hall and the John F. Kennedy Center, and worked at the White House during the Obama administration, he is now back in his hometown.Jordan is the Executive Director at the Gateway Regional Arts Center in Mt. Sterling, the place where he got his start in the arts. ​The Gateway Regional Arts Center (GRAC) is the premier regional cultural center for the Central and Eastern regions of Kentucky.  With a mission of providing excellent arts experiences for the communities along the I-64 corridor between Lexington, Kentucky and Huntington, West Virginia, GRAC is on the forefront of cultural programming and continues to grow its reach into the Appalachian and Bluegrass regions of Kentucky.

As a young girl growing up in Kentucky, Constance Grayson was drawn to and influenced by traditional handcrafts. She learned traditional quilting techniques from her Appalachian aunts and was fascinated, even as a young child, with the interplay of color, form and texture. Although she no longer utilizes the traditional techniques she learned as a child, she is still fascinated with the process of creating something from bits and pieces of the almost nothings that she comes across. Most of her work utilizes techniques of collage to create a new whole from these bits and pieces. Her work results from the bringing together of handmade paper, commercial paper, and found objects with additions of paint and ink.​Constance's interest has always been in color, form and texture and the ways in which those three elements interact with one another. She does not strive to have her finished work resemble any object or person in a realistic way. Instead, she wants to see whether she can successfully create energy and mood through the colors, forms and textures she uses in the piece.Her work has been displayed in U.S. galleries, museums and exhibits in Kentucky, Arkansas, Tennessee, Georgia, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York, including academic institutions in New York (St. John's University), Arkansas (Crittenden County Community College) and Tennessee (Christian Brothers University). She has participated in international solo and invitational exhibits in Fabriano, Gubbio, Milan and Foligno, Italy as well as Spa, Belgium. One of her fabric collages was the cover image for, as well as the subject of an article in, the August/September 2014 edition of Quilting Arts magazine. Her art has also been featured in the May/June 2015 edition of Kentucky Home and Gardens magazine and the March 2010 issue of ArteCulture, an Italian monthly magazine. Currently, her art is in the permanent collections of Christian Brothers University in Memphis, Tennessee; the University of Kentucky in Lexington, Kentucky; Christ Church Cathedral in Lexington, Kentucky; LeBonheur Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee and the Jessamine County Public Library, Nicholasville, Kentucky as well as in numerous private collections.PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION - New Editions Gallery until mid July 2024This is an interpretive art exhibition based on Modest Mussorgsky's piano suite Pictures at an Exhibition. Listening to each of the 10 movements and the recurring and varied Promenade theme, Constance created 15 energetic abstracts depicting her reaction to Mussorgsky's virtuoso masterpiece. 

Shawn Okpebholo was born in Lexington, Kentucky and a graduate of Tates  Creek High School.  He earned his doctoral degree in composition from the   University of Cincinnati's Celloge-Conservatory of Music.  Currently he serves   as the Jonathan Blanchard Distinguished Professor of Composition at   Wheaton College-Conservatory of Music and the Saykaly-Garbulinska   Composer-in-Residence with the Lexington Philharmonic. Two Black Churches is a song set in two movements for baritone soloist and   orchestra.  Originally composed for voice and piano, featuring baritone Will Liverman and pianist Paul Sanche, this orchestration was co-commissioned by   the Lexington Philharmonic during Shawn E. Okpebholo's tenure as the   Saykaly-Garbulnska Composer-in-Residence.​ Two Black Churches serves as a musical reflection of two significant and tragic events perpetrated at the hands of white supremacists in two Black churches, decades apart;The 1963 16th Street Baptist Church bombing Birmingham, Alabama which took the lives of four girls.The 2015 Mother Emanuel AME Church shooting in Charleston, South Carolina, taking the lives of nine parishioners.

After receiving his BFA from University of Louisville in 2005, James Robert Southard worked for years as a freelance photojournalist and artist. In 2008 he left for Pittsburgh for graduate school in Fine Arts at Carnegie Mellon University. After graduating in 2011he was invited to international exhibitions such as the Moscow Biennale for Young Art, Hel'Pitts'Sinki'Burgh in Finland, Camaguey Cuba's 5th International Video Art Fest and he has participated in the Internet Pavilion at the 54th Venice Biennale in Venice Italy. After receiving his MFA in 2011, James taught as a photography professor at University of Louisville, Kentucky School of Art and Carnegie Mellon University as a professor of fine arts. In the winter and spring of 2012, James continued his series Tooth and Nail with the collaboration of the city of Seoul, Korea at Seoul Art Space Geumcheon. Soon after he took his project to Maine where he was a participant at Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, then later at MacDowell Colony in New Hampshire, Yaddo Retreat in New York, Jentel in Wyoming, Vermont Studio Center and to the MASS MoCA residency in North Adams, MA.He has since returned to academia by teaching photography at the University of Kentucky.

Originally from Cynthiana, Kentucky, Wylie Caudill has emerged as a distinguished artist, rooted in the verdant landscape of Lexington. He is presently this year's official artist for the prestigious 150th Kentucky Derby.Wylie's artistic narrative is woven with a distinctive imprint—a signature style he affectionately terms as "organic repetition." This unique aesthetic can be easily recognized throughout his portfolio.His work can be seen not just in Kentucky but across the United States, vitalizing urban landscapes with murals that echo his artistic ethos.Wylie's artistic journey began when he was quite young.  Pokemon, trains, and dragons served as his inspiration and ignited his imagination. However, it was while at college that Wylie found his artistic niche using chalk to draw on the streets and sidewalks of his campus, that earned him the nickname 'the chalk guy'.  Murals were a natural transition from there.Today, Wylie's artistic creativity transcends the confines of concrete walls to work on canvases, bourbon bottles, apparel, and beyond. He likes to think his journey stands as a testament to the transformative power of passion, dedication, and an unwavering commitment to his art.

Kevin Nance is a photographer, arts journalist and poet living in Lexington, Kentucky. His photographs have been shown in solo and group exhibitions in Chicago, Portland, Danville and Lexington, including at the Lexington Art League, the Lexington Public Library, the University of Kentucky Hospital and Arts Connect's Mobile Gallery. His two collections of photographs and haiku are Even If (University of Kentucky Arts in HealthCare, 2020) and Midnight (Act of Power Press, 2022). As a journalist, Kevin's work has appeared in the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Sun-Times, Poets & Writers Magazine, the Lexington Herald-Leader, Ace Magazine, UnderMain and many other publications.​He's the host of Out & About in Kentucky with Kevin Nance and a co-host of the Kentucky Writers' Roundtable, both on RadioLex.

​Born in 1942 in Espanola, New Mexico, Arturo Alonzo Sandoval is a fiber artist and educator best known for his weavings and for incorporating unconventional recycled materials – including vinyl and microfilm – into his works. Arturo taught at several schools around the country before accepting a faculty position in the art department at the University of Kentucky, Lexington, in 1974, where he remained until his retirement. Sandoval has gained wide recognition for his experimental approach to working in fiber, receiving fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts (1973 and 1992) and the 2003 Artist Award from the Kentucky governor. Arturo has had his fiber art exhibited regionally, nationally as well as accepted into numerous international juried exhibitions. His work is represented within numerous collections and museums including the Museum of Modern Art in New York.  In 2007 he was elected a Fellow of the American Craft Council.He is one of five artists whose work will be in the show RADIANCE opening at the Headley Whitney museum mid April thru June.The others exhibiting work will be glass artists Guy Kemper, Stephen Rolfe Powell and Travis Adams as well as jewelry designer and artist Daria de Koning.

Mary Ann Taylor-Hall was born Oct. 17, 1937, in Chicago, but spent much of her childhood in Florida. She attended the University of Florida and earned a masters in English at Columbia University. She taught at Auburn University, Miami of Ohio and the University of Puerto Rico before coming to the University of Kentucky in 1977. She met and married her creative writing colleague, James Baker Hall, in 1982. Taylor-Hall's most famous novel is Come and Go, Molly Snow, is about a single mother and musician, and considered a Kentucky classic. She has also published a book of short stories and three volumes of poetry. Her poetry and short fiction have been published in the Paris Review, the Sewanee Review and the Kenyon Review.Her stories and poetry are inseparable from the rural landscape of Harrison County where she has found inspiration for nearly 5 decades.  On March 25 she will be one of the three living inductees honored and welcomed into the Carnegie Center's Kentucky Writers' Hall of Fame 2024.​"It seems to me that almost everybody in Kentucky has a background that is worth fiction: how they got here, why they stayed, what happened on the way," she said.  "I think that's one reason Kentucky is so rich in writers.  It's both the people who live here, and it's the landscape.  You drive down the roads, and you see history.  People want to write about their own history or their parents' history, or they know a story they've been told.  It's a storytelling place."

​Daniel Graham was raised in a military family and moved every two years for most of his life. ​He comes from a family of storytellers who love investigation and creativity. He earned his Undergraduate Degree at the University of Florida in Printmaking and a Masters Degree from the University of Georgia also in Printmaking.Between the two programs of formal education Daniel lived in downtown Washington DC and trained as a furniture maker under woodworker Dennis Sitka. He has received numerous grants and awards over the course of his studio practice. His work has been in over 200 exhibitions in 8 countries and is housed in multiple collections including the library of congress.Currently Daniel is a Professor of Art at Georgetown College in Georgetown, Kentucky where he teaches a variety of courses including Sculpture, Printmaking, 3D Design, and Luthiery.  He recently shared an exhibition of his musical instruments with Ben Mason at the Pam Miller Downtown Arts Center, Lexington, KY., and gave a demonstration at 21c Museum Hotel in Lexington.

Episode #23 of the Art Throb Podcast features a conversation with writer Jayne Moore Waldrop about her most recent illustrated children's book - She Remembered It All: The Art of Memory Painter Helen LaFrance.Jayne is the author Drowned Town, names a 2022 Great Group Reads seletion by the Women's National Book Association and INDIES Book of the Year Award silver winner in fiction; She Remember It all: The Art of Memory Painter Helen LaFrance; A Journey in Color: The Art of Ellis Wilson; Pandemic Lent: A Season in Poems, and Retracing My Steps, a finalist in the New Women's Voices Chapbook Contest.Her work has appeared in the Anthology of Appalachian Writers, Appalachian Review, Still: The Journal New Limestone Review, Women Speak Anthology, and other journals and anthologies.

Episode #22 of the Art Throb Podcast features a conversation with Kevin Lane Dearinger, a retired actor and teacher and recent author of a collection of poems titled COLD AS A SILVER SPOON.Kevin has written four volumes of theatre history two memoirs, assorted plays and monologues and five volumes of poetry.He tries to listen to a multitude of voices while striving to be true to his own voice.  Which has always been a Kentucky voice.His most recent book: COLD AS A SILVER SPOON is about growing old in Kentucky.

Roda has more than twenty years of experience leading, assessing, and promoting library, museum, research, and educational services, including her work with the Keeneland Library and National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. Through her focus on creating responsive systems of access for researchers and racing fans around the world, Keeneland Library's research services volume doubled during Roda's tenure as Head Librarian – a position she previously held. Additionally, the library's outreach programs tripled their reach under her management, while her focus on digitizing collections grew the library's digital assets by more than 500 percent in six years.  Roda returned to Keeneland Library in 2022 to curate the library's exhibit, The Heart of the Turf: Racing's Black Pioneers, and its educational programs and materials. The exhibit's programs for youth and adults reached record-breaking audiences for the library in 2023, and Roda will continue to work with industry and community partners to provide educational programs and travel the exhibit across the country. Roda began her new role as Director of the Library in the fall of 2023 with goals to grow and preserve the Library's world-renowned collections and research services and to expand its outreach efforts to meet the evolving needs of its global patron base. 

​Episode 20 of the Art Throb Podcast features Colton Ryan and Lyndy Smith in conversation about the upcoming Lexington Theatre Company's production of the annual Concert with the Stars  in which Colton Ryan will be performing as the Headlining Veteran Star. Colton was recently nominated for a Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical for his performance as Jim Doyle in the Broadway production of New York, New York.   Having made his debut with The Lex in Concert With The Stars in 2016 as one of the Collegiate Rising Stars, he returned for Concert With The Stars  in 2018 as one of the Headlining Broadway Veterans, after his Broadway debut in Dear Evan Hansen.  Then in 2019 he starred as Tony in The Lexington Theatre Company's production of West Side Story.  This year Colton will be coming back to his hometown Lexington to perform as the Headlining Veteran Star in a one night performance in the Lexington Theatre Company's signature Concert with the Stars.Lyndy Franklin Smith, along with her husband Jeromy, is the founder of The Lexington Theatre Company.  Their two-fold mission is to create professional theatre and to train the next generation of theatre artists through their education programs.  They have a robust 2024 season already planned with, in addition to their January production of Concert with the Stars; Fiddler on the Roof and Jersey Boys followed by next November's traditional holiday musical A Christmas Story  that will then see out the year's line-up.

Katharine was appointed in August 2023 as Museum Manager of the 21c Museum Hotel here in Lexington.  Prior to that she has worked as an educator at a number of museums including The National Gallery of Art, the Washington National Cathedral, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and, for the majority of her career, at the Getty Villa in LA where she managed the Gallery Teaching program.Katharine has a BA in Art History from Emory University and M.A.T in Museum Education from the George Washington University. 

Episode 18 of the Art Throb podcast features Jessica Winters, one half of the husband/wife team who in 2011 founded PRHBTN, Lexington's first street art festival.For more than a decade, Jessica and John Winters have facilitated the installation of large-scale murals by international artists throughout Lexington and have hosted annual gallery events to provide opportunities to local and regional artists.  PRHBTN is an annual celebration of art forms that have been criminalized, marginalized, and under-appreciated in the mainstream, featuring public murals alongside an exhibition of street art works in a space that complements the raw, powerful nature of the message and artistry of each piece.“The name PRHBTN originated because we felt like street artists and graffiti artists, folks of that ilk, were kind of prohibited from appearing in standard galleries and from being part of the art establishment,” John said. “That would be a kind of prohibition. We're in Kentucky, too, and since it's bourbon country, we thought people would think the name is kind of funny.” The shortened version came along after John and Jessica decided the word was too long and decided to omit the vowels to make it more concise and easier to put on the flyers and stickers.In 2022 they decided to no longer produce mural, although the gallery exhibition of work will continue at The Lexington Art League's Loudoun House.  Now Jessica and John are shifting toward transformative, interactive pop-up pieces such as Call of Joy.

On Today's Interview, Arts contributor Kate Savage talks to Lexington musician Buffy Lawson about her music and her recent induction into the Kentucky Academy of Local Musicians Hall of Fame.

Episode 16 of the Art Throb podcast features John Hockensmith who is the owner of Hockensmith Fine Art Editions Gallery and Press in Georgetown. We talk about the retrospective exhibition of over 188 artworks by Lexington artist Henry Faulkner on show at the Headley Whitney Museum until 12 November.  Henry Faulkner was a prolific artist until his untimely death in 1981 when his car was t-boned at the corner of 3rd and Broadway by a driver who ran the light.  This exhibition is a Centennial Jubilee celebration of Henry's birth in 1924.  John had a personal relationship with Faulkner having met him in his impressionable twenties when he had just opened his gallery and framing business.  Faulkner was born in Simpson Country, Kentucky, lost his mother when he was just two years old, was placed into the foster care system and then at 15 placed in an orphanage  because his foster father found him too effeminate.  Eccentric and flamboyant all his life, he lived in Lexington where he often cross-dressed and would ride his bike around downtown.  His charismatic personality and his vivid paintings drew the attention of many celebrities.  This exhibition at the Headley Whitney Museum is truly extraordinary with so many owners of Henry Faulkner's work having generously  lent their works, but really it was a large number of paintings that John Hockensmith secured from the massive collection owned by First Southern National Bank in Stamford, Kentucky that established the cornerstone of this exhibition.John Hockensmith has produced a catalogue of this exhibition that will be available at the beginning of November.

In the depths of Appalachia's haunting beauty, a gripping thriller unfolds, taking readers on a journey through time and tragedy. But beware, for within the pages of Chris McGinley's novel lies an unexpected twist that will leave you breathless. As escaped convicts wreak havoc on a small mountain community, a young girl emerges as a beacon of hope, a skilled huntress seeking redemption. Can she navigate the dark and candid elements of Appalachia's history and literature, or will she be consumed by the shadows of her past? Brace yourself for a tale that will captivate your soul and leave you yearning for answers.

Episode No. 14 of the Art Throb Podcast features Guy Mendes, a Lexington photographer who began his photographic career almost by accident.  A young transplant from New Orleans, he arrived at the University of Kentucky in 1966 hoping to become a journalist. The following year, he attended a rally to hear Wendell Berry speaking out against the Vietnam War. The two struck up a friendship that would eventually lead him to Eyeglasses of Kentucky, Ralph Eugene Meatyard's optical shop and gallery where he would hang out in hopes of getting to tag along on photographic expeditions Meatyard and his friend Robert C May would take.While at UK Guy apprenticed under the late James Baker Hall (author/ photographer/UK faculty/and former Kentucky poet laureate).  He then went on to teach photography at UK himself for 14 years. His day job was at KET, where he was an award-winning documentarian as a writer/producer from 1973 until he retired in 2008.Guy Mendes has been photographing seriously, and sometimes not so seriously for over 50 years.  His most recent exhibition was a portrait show at the University of Kentucky Art Museum in 2022. Several of his photographic works are in the current show titled CONJURE at the  Loudoun House/Lexington Art League that will run Sept 17 – October 13.  This exhibition features work by 30 members of the Lexington Camera Club with 6 guest artists – teenagers from the northside of Lexington.  It is also part of the greater exhibition of photographs in the Louisville Photo biennial that was started in 1999 by four East Market Street Galleries in Louisville and has grown to now include more than 50 photographic exhibits at venues throughout Metro Louisville, Southern Indiana and Central Ky.  The Art League and the Downtown Library are the two Lexington participants.

Episode No. 13 of the Art Throb Podcast features John Paul Miller who after 50 years in the car dealership business and concurrently running a commercial real estate business has just published his first novel that has been five years in the making.As a young boy JP Miller always wanted to be a cowboy but the closest he ever came was watching horses and movies on television.  Then, 40 years ago he met his wife Judy who had been in the thoroughbred horse racing world her whole life and so it was through her that John Paul first got his experience and exposure to the world of horses.  Since then he has spent countless hours making up for lost time in riding lessons, in the saddle, on trails, at the barn, horse shows, rodeos and at thoroughbred race tracks.  He has listened to the life stories of trainers, veterinarians, jockeys, exercise riders and thoroughbred owners.​His own life experiences and the tales he's heard others tell, along with his love of horses and interest in writing stories have come together in an abundance of riches so to speak except in this case it turns out to be FALSE RICHES which is the title of his book published on 5th September.It's a story about people who have a tremendous amount of compassion for riders, jockeys and horses, and advocate for the protection and safety. John Paul Miller's debut novel False Riches takes the reader on a captivating journey into the heart of a Texas racetrack.  This thrilling story delves into the compelling tension between the love for animals and the allure of money that lies at the heart of the horse racing industry.  It is a novel that exposes the often-hidden truths of the racing world while exploring profound themes of loyalty, determination, and the quest for justice.

Episode No. 12 of the Art Throb Podcast features Dr. Fari Nzinga who is the Curator of African and Native American Collections at the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, KY. In addition to caring for and stewarding these collections, she coordinates special exhibitions as well.  Our conversation focuses on the current exhibition at The Speed Museum that Dr. Nzinga curated - Louisville's Black Avant-Garde: Robert L Douglas. Douglas, who died this past February at the age of 88, had been involved in the planning stages of his exhibition.  He was Professor Emeritus at the University of Louisville, a visual artist, community organizer, teacher and mentor to generations of artists and thinkers.  This exhibition of his work features more than 30 of his paintings, drawings, prints and sculptures and presents rarely seen work from across the span of his career demonstrating the breadth of his artistic practice and the depth of his impact both locally and regionally.Douglas was drawn to the work of the German Expressionists of the early twentieth century and their use of color to convey atmosphere and emotion.  He directly references these painting techniques in several of his works in this show with his use of bright and intense color, simple shapes, textured brushwork and the generous application of paint.  Douglas' work is at once rife with visual references drawn from art history and uniquely his own. He explores many themes in his work, including (but not limited to): Defining Black art and aesthetics; connections between Africa and African America; standards of beauty and femininity; art and everyday life; and improvisation and abstraction in the creative and artistic process.Louisville's Black Avant-Garde is intended as a four-part annual series spotlighting leading artists of the Louisville Art Workshop.  The first in this series with the work of Professor Robert L Douglas opened June 30 in the Chellgren Gallery on the second floor of the Speed Art Museum and will run until October 1, 2023.See examples of the art works mentioned at our website, https://www.artsconnectlex.org/art-throb-podcast.html

Episode No. 11 of the Art Throb Podcast features Stephen Wiggins a Lexington Printmaker who will talk about his work but primarily the commissioned series of panels for the VIA Creative public art bus shelter on the corner of Elm Tree Lane and Third Street.Stephen Wiggins was born and raised in Lexington on the Northside of Lexington near 7th Street.He has a BA in art studio from University of Kentucky,  Class of 2005, and an Associates Degree in Graphic Design from KCTCS, class of 2017. He is also a speedball art products demonstation artist, a Kentucky crafted artist and a Kentucky Guild of Arts and Craftsman member. His work focuses on fine art printmaking techniques including linocut, silkscreen, etching and lithography.  He also does Lego prints in his spare time and teaches and does public outreach for printmaking in Lexington and surrounding states.Stephen received the Visions Scholarship to do a residency as part of the Pentaculum program at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Gatlinburg Tennessee. He also received a full scholarship to take a class at Penland School of Arts and Crafts in Penland North Carolina.  He has presented on a panel of peers at the Southern Graphics Conference International 2022 in Madison Wisconsin.  He is married to Rebecca Wiggins and they have a two year old daughter named Margaret. Most recently his submission for replacement panels at the VIA Creative Public Art Bus Shelter on the corner of Elm Tree Lane and Third Street, was selected from an invitational call for site specific ideas and will soon be installed.Stephen submitted a series of five panels each depicting an African American individual with local historical significance especially to the east end neighborhood where the bus shelter is located.

Episode #10 of the Art Throb Podcast features Steve Hester who will talk about his book Malchus and Me , ​a novel that retells the story of the Passion of Christ, but through the eyes of  the motley crew from the wild side of Jerusalem who manage to get caught up in those final days.  It is a story of salvation, told from the margins.Steve Hester grew up as the son of Southern Baptist missionaries, converting to Catholicism in his late twenties. He has been a landscaper, factory worker, farmer, store manager, slumlord, contractor and journalist, following wherever the Holy Spirit Leads.He was ordained as a Permanent Deacon in 2016 and currently serves his parish – Historic St. Paul's Catholic Church on Short Street in Downtown Lexington – in this role and as pastoral associate.  He is vice president of Fortunate Families, a National LGBTQ Catholic Ministry and is also active in the LGBTQ ministry at his parish.  He is married with two children.This book – Malchus and Me was published this year, it is the story of Jesus' final days, told through the eyes of Roman Soldier, a Temple Guard – both drunks and a brothel keeper.  It is told in a contemporary colloquial style, with lots of wry humor, disbelief that turns to belief, interspersed with little biblical quotes to keep the reader on track.  Hugely readable and relatable.  Humorous and human.

Episode No. 9 of the Art Throb Podcast features Pamela Perlman who will talk about her most recent novel titled: AFTER THE RACE.Pamela was born and raised in Lexington, Kentucky.  She received her degrees in English Literature and Journalism from Indiana University after which she spent a couple of years as press secretary on Capital Hill after which she worked as a television news reporter. She then went to the University of Kentucky College of Law graduating with a Juris Doctorate and, for the last two decades has worked as a federal criminal defense practitioner.Pamela first wrote plays to be performed by her two younger sisters at family gatherings – she says that these, thankfully haven't survived. But the same enthusiasm for the arts and particularly the written word infuses her first novel After the Race, which was published by Rabbit House Press in early march of 2020 right before the pandemic shut down the world.  Her short fiction has been published by Avant/Appalachia, Still: The Journal, New Limestone Review and Nowhere Magazine.  She lives in Midway with her rescue dogs and writes under the name Pamela Dae.Jacinda Townsend, author of Saint Monkey writes:"After the Race is ripe with heartache, regret, and the struggle to find one's place in the world. Perlman writes with rich detail and created flawed characters that will keep you in suspense."

Episode No. 8 of the Art Throb Podcast features Julien Robson who talks about the Mary and Al Shands Collection, the exhibition of their work Rounding the Circle currently at the Speed Art Museum, and the Great Meadows Foundation that today has awarded more that $850,000 in grants to over 300 artists in the region. ​Julien is an Independent Curator who shares his time between the US and Austria. Educated at art schools in the UK, he began his curatorial career in the University Gallery system in England, and subsequently spent ten years working in private galleries in Vienna.Moving to the US in 2000, for eight years he served as the curator of contemporary art at the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, and then at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art in Philadelphia organizing many solo and group shows at these museums.In 2012 he moved back to Louisville and began curating the collection of contemporary art collector couple Mary and Al Shands and, in 2013, edited and contributed to Great Meadows: The Making of Here, a book about the Shands' house and collection.  In 2015 he helped found INhouse, an initiative of Kentucky contemporary art collector and philanthropist Brook Smith that supports residencies and special creative projects.  In 2016 Robson was appointed the director of the Great Meadows Foundation, an initiative of Al Shands that supports the growth of artistic activity in the Kentucky region. Additionally since Al Shand's passing in 2021, Julien now holds the position of Director of the Mary and Al Shands Art Preserve.The Speed Art Museum will present Rounding the Circle: The Mary and Al Shands Collection, a major exhibition celebrating the extensive and significant collection assembled by the late Alfred R. Shands III (1928-2021) and his wife Mary Norton Shands (1930-2009), until August 6, 2023.

Episode No. 7 of the Art Throb Podcast features Kevin Lane Dearinger who will talk about his most recent publication, a theatre history titled Eleanor Robson Belmont - a Theatrical Life, as well as his other plays and poetry.​Author Kevin Lane Dearinger, a Woodford County native, is a former teacher and retired professional actor and singer. He has written an assortment of books and plays. His publications include four theatre histories, four poetry chapbooks; his plays; Regarding Mrs. Carter, Naked on Request, **Four Squares: a Kentucky Quilt, and Expiation,; as well as two memoirs, On Stage with Bette Davis and Bad Sex in Kentucky.  After forty-seven years in Manhattan, he returned to live and write in Kentucky.  Kevin's essays peeking behind the curtain for the Lexington Theatre Company have appeared online, and he has worked on several radio dramas for the much-lamented Athens/West Company. He writes for hours every day, most often in Lexington's coffee shops, although he has never had a cup of coffee in his life.   His work attempts to keep time with his Kentucky heritage, his love of family, his LGBTQ identity, and his own erratic pulse.**A play in one act and four voices. Four monologues exploring Kentucky sounds in the heart and on the fringes of the LGBTQ communityWhen Mrs. August Belmont died in 1979, just before her 100th birthday, she was remembered as a philanthropist and advocate for the arts, especially the Metropolitan Opera--but before her triumphs as Mrs. Belmont, she had dignified the American stage for 13 glorious years as Eleanor Robson, actress. Her splendid voice, understated style, and always-evident intelligence thrilled legions of theatregoers and enthralled the best playwrights of her time, including Israel Zangwill, Clyde Fitch, and George Bernard Shaw.Despite the brevity of her career, Eleanor Robson stands as a prototype for many actresses who followed her--women who sought to control their own careers and demanded artistic respect and freedom, and who, by the twenty-first century, would confidently call themselves not actresses, but actors. This is the first book-length biography of her, focusing especially on her theatrical career.

Episode No. 6 of the Art Throb Podcast features Marty Wayman, Suraya Shalash and Kris Ratliff who talk about the ActOut Theatre Group, with a focus on their roles in the upcoming production of Five Lesbians Eating Quiche.ActOut Theatre Group, was founded in 1997 by several individuals dedicated to sharing their passion with others. Based in Lexington, Kentucky it is an active and enthusiastic Theatre Group with events and activities taking place year-round. ​Their mission is to promote and produce quality, thought-provoking LGBTQ+-themed theater in and around the Central Kentucky region in a positive, supportive, and non-judgmental manner.  Their intent is to be an all-inclusive entity encouraging all members of the Central Kentucky acting community to participate in theatre productions  that addresses LGBTQ+ themes. They have a new production soon opening  at the Black Box Theatre in the PMDAC.  ​The play 5 Lesbians Eating Quiche, co-written by Andrew Hobgood and Evan Linder, finds five women assembled in a church basement (along with the audience – this is an interactive play) for the 1956 annual meeting of the Susan B. Anthony Society for the Sisters of Gertrude Stein's annual quiche breakfast. The normally idyllic gathering, where the motto is “no men, no meat, all manners,” is upended when the Society's matriarchs must confront the startling revelation that an atom bomb may be falling on their fair city. As fears are confronted and confessions fly, the chipper ladies stay firm in their commitment that the quiche is a mighty thing and that one must “respect the egg”.Marty Wayman is Director, Kris Ratliff plays Wren - The Events Chairperson, and Suraya Shalash plays Dale - The Historian.​The show lasts about 1 hour and 20 minutes and is appropriate for women, men and young adults over 13.Performances at the Pam Miller Downtown Arts Center, 141 East Main Street, Lexington, KYFriday, Saturday, June 9 and 10, 8 o'clock curtain.Friday, Saturday, June 16 and 17, 8 o'clock curtain.Sunday, June 18, 2 o'clock curtain.

Episode No. 5 of the Art Throb Podcast features Kris Grenier who will talk about the 7500+ miles of hiking trails she has walked and how she has captured some of these awesome landscapes into needled-felted artwork scenes.As a backpacker and ultramarathoner, Kris Grenier explores the world on foot. Her travels have taken her from the hills of Georgia to the peaks of New England and from Death Valley to Mount Whitney, the top of the contiguous United States. After returning home to her family's small farm in Harrison County, Grenier records her memories in two-dimensional wool feltings to share with others the wild places she loves. Grenier has enjoyed the opportunity to exhibit her art and passion for public lands at regional art shows, where her award-winning work has been praised for its originality and authenticity. Collectors appreciate the expressive realism of Grenier's art and note that it has a soft, familiar feeling, like a treasured memory. Having earned her BA in Environmental Studies from Transylvania University and conducted ecological research in both Lexington, Kentucky, and the White Mountains of New Hampshire, Grenier considers her role as an artist to go beyond the visual interpretation of wild lands. In galleries and festivals, Grenier enjoys sharing stories of the landscapes depicted in her work and aspires to kindle a conservation ethos in viewers. Her focus has turned to large-scale pieces that allow viewers to imagine themselves in the backcountry and evoke the grandeur of expansive natural landscapes. A juried artist in the Kentucky Crafted Program, Grenier was recently awarded a 2022 Emerging Artist Grant by the Kentucky Arts Council. Grenier's first large-scale solo exhibition, 7500+ Miles, debuted at Boyd's Station Gallery in Cynthiana earlier this year.https://wanderstruckstudio.com/