Art Throb

Lori Meadows, Board Chair of Kentuckians for the Arts and former Executive Director of the Kentucky Arts Council, joins host Kate Savage to discuss the essential role of arts advocacy across Kentucky. Lori sheds light on the dramatic decline in state arts funding—from $4.5 million in 2001 to just $1.8 million today—ranking Kentucky 45th in the nation and second lowest in the South for per capita arts allocation. Together, Lori and Kate explore the challenges of uniting the state’s diverse creative communities, the economic impact of the arts sector, and the ways arts organizations serve broader community needs, from mental...

Jim Clark, Executive Director of the Henry Clay Memorial Foundation, joins Kate Savage for a wide-ranging conversation about Ashland, the historic Lexington estate once home to Henry Clay. They discuss Ashland’s architectural evolution, the intentional landscape design echoing European traditions, and the site’s ongoing role as a gathering place for arts, culture, and community. The conversation also delves into Ashland’s layered history—including its legacy of slavery—and current efforts to address this past through initiatives like the forthcoming “Breath of My Ancestors” memorial by sculptor Vinnie Bagwell. Jim Clark shares insights on balancing preservation and progress, from...

Keelan O’Sullivan, writer, curator, and executive director of Institute 193, joins host Kate Savage to discuss Casey Joiner’s exhibition "Housekeeping," a dreamlike photographic meditation on family, grief, and the architecture of memory. Keelan explains how Casey’s images—rooted in the experience of losing her father and inheriting the family home—balance personal specificity with universal resonance, offering moments of beauty within the landscape of loss. The conversation pivots to the story and mission of Institute 193, a nonprofit contemporary art gallery and publisher dedicated to amplifying artists from the modern South and supporting their careers beyond regional boundaries. Keelan det...

In my conversation with Jeremy Kisling we talk about the importance of creating a sense of belonging for young people at the Lexington Children's Theatre.  Jeremy emphasizes the universal need for all individuals to find spaces where they can be authentic and free from societal expectations.  The discussion also explores the role of theatre in personal development, community engagement and the future vision for the theatre's impact on youth.  We also talk about the evolution of themes for young people and the substances of contemporary theatre for youth.
The Lexington Children's Theatre has been in existence for 87 years, Jer...

Joe Farrell, veteran director with a distinguished 60-year career, and actor Joe Gatton, well-known in the Lexington theater scene, join host Kate Savage to discuss their upcoming production of Conor McPherson’s "The Weir" at the Antagonist Theatre. The conversation explores the play’s haunting Irish folklore, its setting in a rural pub where ghost stories are shared to impress—and ultimately reveal—the inner lives of the characters. Joe Farrell and Joe Gatton reflect on their collaboration, the thrill of working in an intimate 60-seat space, and the challenges and joys of recreating Irish accents and atmosphere. The cast and...

Dr. Vicki Bell, Professor of Music Theory at Asbury University, and Dr. Stephen Bolster, retired Chair of Music at Berea College, join host Kate Savage to share their story as newly appointed co-artistic directors of the Kentucky Bach Choir. Vicki and Stephen recount decades of collaboration, their combined musical backgrounds, and the unique advantages of co-directing a choir—such as sharing responsibilities, blending their skill sets, and diversifying the group's leadership. They discuss the upcoming Bachtoberfest fundraiser at West Sixth Barrel Room, which blends German food, drinks, and music in an effort to attract new, younger audiences, and detail th...

​Marina Ubaldi Ritter and Lucinda Zoe, members of the Carrot Cake Collective, join Art Throb host Kate Savage to talk about about their efforts to document the history and recipes of the beloved Alfalfa Restaurant in Lexington. The conversation explores the impact of the restaurant's closure during the pandemic, the importance of preserving its legacy, and the community that formed around it. They discuss the challenges of creating a cookbook that reflects the restaurant's unique culture, the significance of sustainability practices, and the role of art and creativity in building community.

The episode highlights the collective's mission to...

Margaret Price, award-winning writer and recipient of the Kentucky Arts Council's Al Smith Fellowship, joins host Kate Savage to discuss her new novel Where Stillness Speaks, inspired by decades of research into the mystical world of Kentucky’s Shaker communities. Margaret shares the story’s origins, from a chance encounter with a local storyteller to deep dives into Shaker journals and the secrets of Pleasant Hill. She reflects on the Shakers’ reverence for stillness, radical forgiveness, and their belief in things unseen—including visions, female divinity, and sacred places hidden in the Kentucky landscape. The conversation traces both Margaret’s personal...

Kevin Nance is a writer and photographer in Lexington. His books include EVEN IF and MIDNIGHT, both collections of photographs and haiku; GENEVA’S GARDEN: FOUR SEASONS OF BEAUTY IN LEXINGTON’S GRATZ PARK, a book of photographs; and most recently SMOKE, a poetry collection just out from Accents Publishing,

As an arts journalist, Kevin writes for Lexington’s online arts magazine Undermain and has also written for the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Poets & Writers Magazine and other publications.

​As a photographer, Kevin’s work has been exhibited widely and will be represe...

Seth Tusker, son of the late artist and educator John Regis Tusker, joins Kate  to recount the creation and evolution of the Mythos Experience—an immersive, reflective art encounter originally inspired by his father’s work. Seth shares the story of how the program moved from its first pop-up in a church sanctuary to being embraced by Lexington’s schools, and how the experience centers on guided journaling, self-discovery, and connecting deeply with art through touch and personal reflection. He discusses recent collaborations with Fayette County Public Schools and Dunbar High School, where students created poignant, collage-based responses to Tusker’...

Celeste Lewis, longtime manager of the Pam Miller Downtown Arts Center (PMDAC), joins host Kate Savage to reflect on more than a decade of transformation at this Lexington cultural hub. Celeste traces the building’s evolution from a retail block to a multi-use arts center, noting key milestones like the closure of beloved venues Alfalfa’s and Ann Tower Gallery, changes in gallery spaces, and how the center navigated challenges—including revitalizing underutilized floors through crucial ARPA funding. She details the diversity and purpose of PMDAC’s three galleries, the explosion of community engagement in the newly renovated event and rehe...

Michael Morris is a photographer and designer living in Louisville, KY and working in marketing.
​He is a self-described introvert who is much more comfortable writing to people than talking to them, who uses photograph and exploration as a way to force himself to try and connect more with the world.
He began exploring Kentucky in late 2011 with an old Hasselblad camera, some black and white film and a thermos full of coffee, looking for anything interesting to put before the lense.  Since then he has traveled well over 250,000 miles around the state and "wasted more film" tha...

Sarah Porter, Music Program Specialist at Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, and Becky Soules, Director of Collections and Education, join host Kate Savage to explore the profound influence of music and craft in Shaker life. Sarah delves into the unique, unifying role of Shaker music—sung daily in a cappella unison, often accompanied by dance, and integral to both worship and work—sharing insights on its history, regional influences, and its modern-day revival through daily programs. Becky expands on the Shakers’ celebrated craft traditions, from broom making and chair caning to textiles and kitchen wares, highlighting the Village’s rotating...

Noa Gimelli, expert in female economic participation and chair of the Fund for Greater Lexington, joins host Kate Savage to discuss the ambitious vision behind incubating transformational projects for Lexington—including a proposed Visual and Performing Arts Center downtown. Noa explains how the Fund’s advisory group mapped local needs into five pillars—arts and culture, youth, green spaces, housing, and transportation—leveraging community data and qualitative research to identify high-impact opportunities. Together, Kate and Noa dive into the phased research and feasibility process behind the new arts center, why Lexington urgently needs a mid-sized performance venue, and how similar...

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 produ...

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 c...

About Ghost Music
It’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 ho...

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...

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 g...

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 ho...

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 ce...

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 e...

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...

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...

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 o...

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...

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 wit...

​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 Am...

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 m...

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 Cente...

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 a...

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 Ri...

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...

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...

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 Revi...

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...

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 a...

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...

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...

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 t...

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 Louisvil...

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.  Pokem...

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...

​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...

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 an...

​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 exhi...

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...

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.

For more a...

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...

​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 20...

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. 

For more and to connect with us...

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 o...

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.

For more and to connect with us, visit https://www.artsconnectlex.org/art-throb-podcast.html

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...

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...

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 Rob...

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 h...

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, co...

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 c...

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...

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.

P...

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.
Duration: 00:52:52

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 Be...

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 no...

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 fe...

Alex Narramore, sugar flower artist, discusses her art form, love of gardening and source of inspiration.

Alex Narramore owns The Mischief Maker in Lexington, Kentucky.  She is a botanically accurate sugar flower artist and grows all of the flowers in her gardens that she uses later as live references to sculpt her sugar flowers.  Alex works from the design stage to the finished  product, incorporating the art skills of drawing, sculpting, baking and painting along the way.

These sugar flowers adorn the cakes that she designs. Each sugar petal, stamen, and flower part is made by...

Janet Holloway is an award-winning Kentucky-based author and entrepreneur. Her career has spanned a broad and varied base. Janet has worked as a high school Spanish and English teacher, been in theatre production in New York City and worked with youth in East Harlem. In 1990 after a period of working for local government in Lexington, Kentucky, she started her own enterprise, Women Leading Kentucky, a non-profit that continues to this day providing leadership opportunities, empowerment support, and scholarships for women attending Kentucky colleges or universities.
Having written and published two previous books, both memoirs; Willful Child (2012) and, Leaving...

Until quite recently Jennie Leavell, original owner and publisher of ACE Magazine in Lexington, KY., and Ana Melendez, aged twelve and in the sixth grade at Paris Middle School, Paris, KY., were total strangers.
But, as is so often the case, it was happenstance that placed them together in
what turned out to be a perfect collaboration.  
Last year Jennie wrote the children's book "Sammy's Story" completing it in three
days shortly after he had passed away.  Sammy was a cat whose life had been
beset with mistreatment and a series of upheavals - that...

Jon Kolkin is a physician, an international medical volunteer, an award-winning  author, an Integrated Medicine Health Coach and an internationally recognized photographer. Through his set of life experiences he is uniquely qualified to share universally relevant, practical, science-based strategies for living a more balanced, compassionate life whilst simultaneously maintaining one’s physical and emotional health.
The Headley-Whitney Museum is presenting the world premiere of “Shades of Compassion” a travelling photography exhibition of 50 curated works by 41 artists from all over the world and sponsored by The Shades of Compassion Foundation, which was founded by Jon Kolkin. Each image in the sho...