Speaking of the Arts

This week host Diana Moxon explores the works of two photographers. Dr David Lancaster (https://www.davidlancasterphotography.com/) is a photographer and physician at Capital Region Medical Center in Jefferson City and when the Delta variant started to flood mid-Missouri, he started a project called 'BROKEN', taking portraits of the healthcare workers, administrators and patients whose lives had been profoundly changed by the pandemic. Professor Priya Suresh Kambli (https://www.priyakambli.com/index.html) is a professor of art and photography at Truman State University and her collection entitled 'Buttons for Eyes' explores the cultural debates around migration and identity. Opening and closing musical credits with thanks to guitarist Yasmin Williams (www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com). Artwork, David Lancaster 'Reality' from BROKEN.

Each month the Missouri Arts Council features four artists on its website from a variety of arts genres, and on this week's show Diana Moxon checks in with the January four: St Louis-based musician, Vince Martin whose band supported Kiss when he was just 15; mixed media collage artist Melissa Donoho in Kansas City who has a fondness for leaving guerilla art shows in her wake; fabric-scapist Dave Walker in Columbia who turns scraps of fabric into fine art landscapes; and landscape artist Lee Copen who paints the Ozark countryside and riverways from her home in Mountain View. You can see and hear the works of this week's artists on their websites: http://www.vince-martin.com/; https://www.melissadonoho.com/; https://bestofmissourihands.org/walkerdavi/; https://www.leecopen.com/.Thanks, as always, to guitarist Yasmin Williams (http://www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com/) for the show's opening and closing music entitled, 'Restless Heart'.

With January a bit of a doldrum for the arts, this week Diana Moxon looks back on some of her visual artist chats from last year. Kirksville based artist Lindsey Dunnagan (https://www.lindseydunnagan.com/) was on the show in February talking about her collections of work that explore place and memory; painter Andy Thomas joined Diana in October to talk about his works that tell stories, and in particular the stories of American Presidents (https://andythomas.com/); St Louis jeweler Allison Norfleet-Bruenger came on the show in July and explained why she thinks of her works as her 'babies' (http://www.alnbcollections.com/); and in September Malcolm 'Airbrush Assassin' McCrae chatted about how art saved his life as a young teen and touring the country in his converted art bus (https://www.malcolmmccrae.com/home). Opening and closing music credits with thanks to guitarist Yasmin Williams (www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com)

In 2021 Diana Moxon dedicated one show each month to chatting with the Missouri Arts Council's featured artists. On this week's show she revisits four of the chats she had with the music makers on the 2021 roster: classic guitarist Patrick Rafferty, the Queen of Avant Soul Candice Ivory, bluegrass singer songwriter Ray Cardwell, and jazz songstress Denise Thimes. Opening and closing music credits with thanks to guitarist Yasmin Williams (www.yasmimwilliamsmusic.com)

As we head into the new year, Diana Moxon invites Unbound Book Festival Executive Director and Skylark Bookshop owner, Alex George to share his Skylarky commendations for the past 12 months of book releases, including most obscure title and the book that he loved so much he started reading it over as soon as he had finished it. And in Act Two of the show, Ragtag Film Society's Barbie Banks looks back over the year in film and shares her favorites including best doc, best actor/tress, the movie that you should only watch on a huge screen, and the film most likely to make you laugh so hard you had to pee. Opening and closing musical credits with thanks to guitarist Yasmin Williams (www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com)

This week Diana Moxon invites avid theatre goers and actors, Monica Palmer and David McSpadden, into the tinsel-strewn Speaking of the Arts studio to snuggle up by the crackling fire with some rum-spiced hot chocolates and warm blankets to look back over the past 12 months in local theatreland and make recommendations for who might receive the SpeakingoftheArties awards, if in fact they existed. Opening and closing music with thanks to guitarist Yasmin Williams (www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com).

Each December the Sager Reeves Gallery in Columbia brings in work by 20th century masters. This year the exhibit focuses on two artists who were central to the abstract expressionist movement but who never became household names: John Little and Jack Roth. Diana Moxon chats with Sager Reeves gallery curator and director, Hannah Reeves, about their work and their lives (https://sagerreevesgallery.com/). Plus there's a chat with painter Joachim Knill about his strangely haunting paintings of stuffed animals, which live in his installation work, National Treasure (http://www.joachimknill.com/); and interdisciplinary artist, Sukanya Mani, talks about her Tyvek-cutting artworks and how her art explores both the quantum world and the cosmos (https://www.sukanyamani.com/). Opening and closing music credits with thanks to guitarist Yasmin Williams (www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com)

Each month the Missouri Arts Council features four artists on its website from a variety of arts genres, and on this week's show Diana Moxon checks in with the November four: St Louis-based musician, singer-songwriter Candice Ivory aka the Queen of Avant Soul; conceptual artist Marco Rosichelli from Kansas City whose work scrutinizes and sometimes satirizes the nuances of the institutional nature of the art world; plein air and studio painter Janey Seamans Hale from West Plains; and watercolor artist Dana Forrester from Independence whose ouevre of brick wall ghost signs and corvettes has made him a unique voice in the art world. You can see and hear the works of this week's artists on their websites: https://candiceivory.com/; https://www.rosichelli.com/; https://www.janeyseamanshale.com/; https://danaforresterart.com/.Thanks, as always, to guitarist Yasmin Williams (http://www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com/) for the show's opening and closing music, 'Restless Heart'.

The holiday season is upon us and so are a slew of Christmassy/Holiday Season-themed performances. On this week's show Diana Moxon chats with writer/actor Stacia Fernandez and composer Danny J Rooney about their brand new musical, A Smalltowne Christmas, which makes its world premiere on Stephens College's Macklanburg theatre stage; Arrow Rock's Lyceum Theatre's Producing Artistic Director, Quin Gresham, talks about the return of their holiday season tradition 'A Christmas Carol'; Columbia Entertainment Company's Executive Director, Enola White, and director David Hall chat about the company's production of 'The Winter Wonderettes', and the Missouri Symphony Orchestra's Executive Director Trent Rash discusses MOSY's annual Symphony of Toys concert together with the concert's Creative Director, Melissa Bohon-Webel, and its conductor, Michelle di Russo. Opening and closing musical credits with thanks to guitarist Yasmin Williams (www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com)

It is Thanksgiving week here in America, so what better time to be thankful for all the arts chats of the year, and to look back on just a handful of them. There was the chat with the champion of Juneteenth, the fabulous Ms Opal Lee of Fort Worth TX back in February; in June Greenhouse Theatre Project's Elizabeth Braaten Palmieri and David Wilson talked about the one-woman show 'Grounded', and artist David Spear's finished his painting of the Blind Boone mural and talked about anamorphic perspective; Mizzou International Composer's Festival composer Nina Shekhar came on the show in July to talk about composing and her captivating work 'Quirkhead'; Ragtag Film Society's incoming artistic director, Chloe Trayner, joined host Diana Moxon in September to chat about her expectations of moving to the midwest from London - and her Blink 182 novel; and musicians Violet Vonder Haar and Sifa Bihomora were on Speaking of the Arts in September to talk about their music as they prepared to take to the Roots n Blues stages. Opening and closing music credits thanks to guitarist, Yasmin Williams (www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com).

On this week's show host Diana Moxon lingers in the world of classical music with pianist and Odyssey Chamber Music Series founder Ayako Tsuruta; Maestro Scott Yoo - violinist, Mexico City Philharmonic conductor and artistic director, and host of the PBS series 'Now Hear This'; and conductor Maestro Dr. Stephen Rogers Radcliffe, music director for the Missouri Symphony Conservatory and Director of Orchestral Activities for the University of Missouri. Ever wondered why classical music often feels less accessible than pop and rock? Why is Brahms being programmed so much right now? Why do orchestras need conductors? What are the rules between a composer and a conductor? It's all in the show. Opening and closing music credit thanks to guitarist Yasmin Williams (www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com). More links at https://www.odysseymissouri.org/; https://scott-yoo.com/; https://themosy.org/; http://www.stephenrogersradcliffe.com/

New plays, giant checks, and tiny 18th century rare treasures all make an appearance on this week's Speaking of the Arts with host Diana Moxon. Playwrights Monica Senecal Palmer and Mark Baumgartner drop in to chat about Talking Horse Production's Starting Gate New Play Festival 2021 and how it feels to send a play out into the world; Lisa Braman Bartlett and Lois Kay talk about the Veterans United Foundation's $231,530 donation to the North Village Arts District and the sculpture/art walk it will fund; and antique dealer Doug Solliday talks about Bilston patch boxes and feeling the ghosts in antiques! Opening and closing music credits with thanks to guitarist Yasmin Williams (www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com).

On this week's show a lusciously written new book about the food history of India; the life of a touring Broadway actor during a pandemic; and New York circa 1989 and a production that ties that world with 2021. Host Diana Moxon chats with award-winning food writer, Nina Mukerjee Furstenau about her new book 'Green Chili and other Imposters' which mixes memoir, a lot of food history sleuthing, with pages of delicious Bengali recipes; actor John Hemphill looks back on 18 months of no theatre and his imminent return to the touring production of Dear Evan Hansen; and MU Theatre Department's director Joy Powell talks about their new production of RENT and what a powerful connection it offers to today's young actors with the struggles of their contemporaries a quarter of a century ago. Opening and closing musical credits with thanks to Yasmin Williams (www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com)

A swedish mystic artist, a woman who runs with wolves, a mid century painter who explored the micoscopic and the massive, a musical revue set in an unmarked bar on Christmas Eve, and the chance to acquire art and support an organization that has been supporting artists for over 60 years. And it's all on this week's show, with actor and director Elizabeth Braaten Palmieri and playwright Julia Valen from GreenHouse Theatre Project talking about their Urban One Acts: 'Hilma' and 'Wolf Play'; Stephens College's Macklanburg Theatre director Jennifer Hemphill chatting about reworking the musical revue 'And the World Goes Round'. In the fine art world Hannah Reeves from Sager Reeves Gallery talks about becoming a partner of the Sager Reeves gallery, and the work of Lawrence Kupferman; and Kelsey Hammond from the Columbia Art League gives a peek at the second annual Patrons' Party. Opening and closing music with thanks to guitarist Yasmin Williams (www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com).

Each month the Missouri Arts Council features four artists on its website from a variety of arts genres, and on this week's show Diana Moxon checks in with the October four: Carthage-based painter, Andy Thomas, who paints works that tell stories from Civil War battles to saloon brawls and political history - including a particular painting that hit the news cycle in 2018 and, for a short while, became the most talked about painting in the country; magic realism painter, Brie Duey from Bucklin, whose works reimagine a symbiotic relationship between people and the natural environment; Kansas City's Poet t l Sanders who is an educator, a motivator, a body builder, a bass player, a film maker and a language artist; and Priscilla Block from St Louis, former Executive Director of St Louis Artworks and now, once again, with an art room of her own. You can see the works of this week's artists on their websites: https://andythomas.com/, https://www.brieduey.net/, https://www.poettlsanders.com/, https://www.beaumontstudios.space/. Thanks, as always, to guitarist Yasmin Williams (http://www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com/) for the show's opening and closing music, 'Restless Heart'.

On this week's show, host Diana Moxon chats with three songwriting musicians - Audra Sergel, Phylshawn Johnson and Violet Vonder Haar, about making their dream of a mid-Missouri music center for children and adults come true; to theatre director, Ed Elsea, whose production of Joseph Kesselring's classic farce 'Arsenic and Old Lace' opens next week at Columbia Entertainment Company, about interjecting freshness into an 80-year old play; and The Stable Boys' Stacie Pottinger talks about diving into improv for the first time at the age of 47 and making the move from the rehearsal room back to the stage after 18 months away. Opening and closing music credits with thanks to guitarist Yasmin Williams (www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com)

As Broadway returns to the stage, so too do many regional theatres including Stephens College's Macklanburg Playhouse, which opens the third revised edition of the romantic comedy 'Almost, Maine', revised by the playwright, John Cariani, to better reflect our post Me Too! movement world. And Ragtag Film Society's new artistic director, London-based Chloe Trayner, a veteran of film festival management with the London Open City Documentary Film Festival, chats with Diana about films, film-making, and what she likes to put on her chips (or fries). Opening and closing music credits thanks to guitarist Yasmin Williams (www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com).

Like so much in 2020, Columbia's annual Roots n Blues festival was stymied by the pandemic BUT this weekend it is back with 3 days of music that puts female musicians front and center. On this week's show Diana Moxon chats with festival owners Tracy Lane and Shay Jasper about how they are keeping festival-goers safe, and about some of the local performers who will be on stage - and ambulating - this weekend. Plus musician Violet Vonder Haar of Violet and the Undercurrents (http://www.violetandtheundercurrents.com/) talks about transitioning back to live performances, and singer songwriter Sifa Bihomora talks about her career since leaving for the Berklee School of Music (https://open.spotify.com/artist/5DA0mc4BCT6DKnFgwY2Owa). Opening and closing musical credits with thanks to guitarist Yasmin Williams (www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com)

On this week's show a cross-section of Columbia's arts instigators, each working creatively to change expectations. The Missouri Symphony Orchestra is taking classical music out to local drinking holes and Executive Director Trent Rash talks about Preludes at the Pub; the University of Missouri's theatre department teams up with the international Climate Change Theatre Action to present 13 short plays written by playwrights around the world following the prompt of "Envisioning a Global Green New Deal" and director Kasey Lynch talks about their production; Film-maker Matt Schacht talks about the return of the COMO Shorts Film festival and the importance of giving film makers a local platform; and at the Columbia Art League the Interpretations show returns and Diana talks with Executive Director Kelsey Hammond along with artist John Fennell and writer Lori Younker about their experience of interpreting each others' work. Opening and closing music credits with thanks to Yasmin Williams (www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com)

Each month the Missouri Arts Council features four artists on its website from a variety of arts genres, and on this week's show Diana Moxon checks in with the September four: Kansas City-based precious metals jeweler and sculptor Genevieve Flynn, who uses ancient metalworking techniques to create heirloom art pieces; Malcolm 'Airbrush Assassin' McCrae from Cape Girardeau, who is traveling the United States on his art bus to spread creativity and positivity; St Louis jazz singer Denise Thimes, who has sung for three queens including the Queen of Soul; and Columbia painter David Spear, who chats about creating an artistic alter-ego and the importance of protecting an artist's artistic legacy. You can see the works of this week's artists on their websites: https://www.genevieveflynn.com/; https://www.malcolmmccrae.com/; https://denisethimes.com/; https://www.alleywayarts.com/. Thanks, as always, to guitarist Yasmin Williams (http://www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com/) for the show's opening and closing music, 'Restless Heart'.

As the Daniel Boone Regional Library kicks off its month-long One Read program, host Diana Moxon chats to this year's One Read author Casey Cep about her book 'Furious Hours Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee', which brings together the story of a serial killer in 1970's Alabama, a savvy lawyer, and the writer Harper Lee, who tried to write a book about the accused - but never convicted - killer, the Reverend Willie Maxwell. Opening and closing music credits with thanks to guitarist Yasmin Williams (www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com).

Music takes center stage on this week's show with host, Diana Moxon, taking a peek at an upcoming rock musical, an open house studio tour, and the Roots n Blues festival. Columbia Entertainment Company's director of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Caleb Alexander, chats about taking on the production as both its director and band member; film-maker and president of VidWest, Matt Schacht, talks about creating a community media center and taking on the responsibility for the public media cable channel formerly known as CAT TV; and Roots n Blues directors, Tracy Lane and Shay Jasper, introduce four of the performers who will be at this year's festival: Mavis Staples, Lennon Stella, Tank and the Bangas, and Sifa. Opening and closing musical credits with thanks to guitarist Yasmin Williams (www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com)

Three incredibly different theatrical productions open in Columbia in the next 10 days: scenes from Shakespeare performed on a lake, a musical about invading aliens, and a monodrama about a Holocaust survivor. On this week's show Diana chats with Greenhouse Theatre Project founder, Elizabeth Braaten Palmieri, and actor Richard Harris Jr. about their production of 'Lake Shakes'; actor Aaron Krawitz talks about 'Golgotha' a one-man play at Talking Horse Productions that explores the life of Albert Salvado, a former Sonderkommando at Auschwitz, and his life of loss and guilt; and director Christopher Gould takes us behind the scenes of 'Plan 9 The Musical from Outer Space' which plays at Maplewood Barn. Plus Diana catches up with Corey Dunne, the Office of Cultural Affairs Program Specialist, about this year's Celebration of the Arts event and the city's bicentennial commemorative poster, designed by Ken Nichols. Opening and closing music thanks to guitarist Yasmin Williams (www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com). More information about this week's events at www.greenhousetp.org; www.talkinghorseproductions.org; www.maplewoodbarn.com; www.comoarts.com.

Each month the Missouri Arts Council features four artists on its website from a variety of arts genres, and on this week's show Diana Moxon checks in with the August four: Watercolor artist and professor at Truman State in Kirksville, Rusty Nelson; St Louis-based fantasy surrealism painter, Mollie Chounard, whose personal philosophy is to put joy out into the world through her art, and who spent lockdown using her art to save the US postal service; Glyneisha Johnson, a poly-disciplinary collage/graphite/installation artist working in Kansas City, whose work explores the refuge of black interior spaces in a world that privileges whiteness; and Columbia ceramic artist Eric Ordway, who describes working with his hands as a sacred experience. You can see the works of this week's artists on their websites: https://nelsonartkvmo.com/; https://www.molliechounard.com/; https://glyneishajohnson.com/; https://ericordway.com/. Thanks, as always, to guitarist Yasmin Williams (http://www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com/) for the show's opening and closing music, 'Restless Heart'.

The 14th annual Roots n Blues festival returns to Stephens Lake Park from September 24th-26th and features a line-up of almost exclusively women artists. On this week's show Diana Moxon chats with Roots n Blues co-owners, Tracy Lane and Shay Jasper, about the devastation of the past year, programming an all women festival, and navigating public health protocols. Plus director Hephzibah Niamh and actor Lena Ajans talk about this weekend's one-night only Guerl-rilla Theatre at Talking Horse Productions, and the Columbia Art League's Kelsey Hammond and Jabberwocky Studio's Linda Schust give a peek inside the Art Bus. Opening and closing music thanks to guitarist Yasmin Williams (www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com)

Photographer Shane Epping and his work have been a constant in Columbia for the past 16 years, but next month Shane and his family leave mid-Missouri and head to Laramie, WY, where he will take up a newly created photojournalism endowed professorship at the University of Wyoming. So, on this week's show, host Diana Moxon, gives Shane the arts exit interview in a wide ranging chat that covers his work as a sports and news photojournalist, his art photography, his volunteer work with the organization Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep (nowilaymedowntosleep.org), why his camera helps him find meaning in the world, his new job, and what he's going to miss about Columbia. Plus Diana plays more of a piece of music featured very briefly on last week's show, 'Quirkhead' by Nina Shekhar, performed by Third Angle String Quartet with soprano Tony Arnold. Opening and closing music credits with thanks to guitarist Yasmin Williams (yasminwilliamsmusic.com).

Each summer since 2010, the Mizzou New Music Initiative has held its Mizzou International Composer's Festival, selecting a handful of up-and-coming composers to study with the festival's guest composers (this year Chen Yi and David T. Little), give and take workshops, and produce an original composition to be played by the internationally acclaimed ensemble, Alarm Will Sound. On this week's show Diana Moxon chats with the festival's Managing Director, Jacob Gotlib, and to three of the selected resident composers - Nina Shekhar (https://ninashekhar.com/), Shuying Li (https://www.shuyingli.com/) and Celka Ojakangas (https://www.celka.net/). Opening and closing music credits thanks to guitarist Yasmin Williams (www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com)

Each month the Missouri Arts Council features four artists on its website from a variety of arts genres, and on this week's show Diana Moxon checks in with the July four: St Louis-based jeweler, Allison Norfleet Bruenger, whose pendant designs are only ever made once; firework residue artist, Kyle Selley, who uses fireworks and smoke bombs to create celestially reminiscent art in Kansas City; Bluegrass Americana singer songwriter Ray Cardwell who started his career as a 6-year old on the stage in Branson and now lives in Jefferson City; And Columbia's mixed media artist Lisa Bartlett, whose works tell the stories of people of strength. You can see - and hear - the works of this week's artists on their websites: https://alnbcollections.com/; https://www.kyleselley.com/; https://raycardwell.com/; https://lisabartlettart.com/. Thanks, as always, to guitarist Yasmin Williams (http://www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com/) for the show's opening and closing music, 'Restless Heart'.

Things to do while sipping fruity cocktails. This week show host, Diana Moxon, chats summer reading tips with Skylark Bookshop owner, Alex George; visits Sager Braudis Gallery's Small Works Exhibit with its curator, Hannah Reeves; and gets the origin story behind the FLY Dance Company's blend of hip hop dance and classical music before their Missouri Symphony Orchestra's Hot Summer Nights finale performance this weekend. Opening and closing music credits thanks to guitarist Yasmin Williams (www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com).

Although each of the arts in this week’s chats can trace their roots to European arts of bygone times, each of those roots has blooms that stretch into modern America. We have a medieval English king immortalized by Shakespeare transported to the Ozarks, a Dutch reformation art genre given a 2020 twist in Columbia, and an opera singer who is versed in 18th and 19th century European composers but who is in Columbia to pay homage to an overlooked 20th century American composer. Show host, Diana Moxon, chats with Dana Bocke and Mark Baumgartner from Maplewood Barn theatre, artist Bethanie Irons (artwork pictured), and soprano, Carline Waugh. Opening and closing music credits with thanks to guitarist Yasmin Williams (www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com)

How do you do it? is the question that runs through this week's Speaking of the Arts. How do you perform an outdoor musical in the Missouri summer heat for a production where traditionally the actors are all wearing big furry animal costumes? How do you put together an art exhibit in just one gallery that represents 200 years of history? How do you wrap 2-sides of a 2-storey building in a mural that celebrates an icon? How do you play composer Fred Onovwerosuoke's Sonata No3 for two pianos? It's all answered in just one hour when host Diana Moxon chats with the University of Missouri Theatre Department's Joy Powell, curator Audrey Florey from the Boone History and Culture Center's Montminy Gallery, artist David Spear, Odyssey Chamber Music Series Director and pianist, Ayako Tsuruta, and Ghanaian-Nigerian-American contemporary composer, Fred Onovwerosuoke. Opening and closing music credits with thanks to Yasmin Williams (www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com) (Pic courtesy of Mat Powers Matlock of David Spear original mural artwork)

Each month the Missouri Arts Council features four artists on its website from a variety of arts genres, and on this week's show Diana Moxon checks in with the June four: Springfield-based dancer, choreographer and educator, Azaria Rianne Hogans, who explores gender and racial equality through dance; wildlife photographer, Greg Holden, in Eureka; Pleasant Hills-located fused glass artist, Barb Byrnes, whose specialty is memorial glass; And professional classical guitarist, Patrick Rafferty, in Affton. You can see - and hear - the works of this week's artists on their websites: https://www.azariariannehogans.com/; https://www.gjholden.com/; https://barbbyrneglass.com/; http://www.patrickraffertyguitar.com/. Thanks, as always, to guitarist Yasmin Williams (http://www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com/) for the show's opening and closing music, 'Restless Heart'.

This week's Speaking of the Arts is an eclectic mix of film, classical music, and theatre. Host Diana Moxon gets a review of the recent True/False film fest from its Director of Marketing, Stacie Pottinger, plus a look ahead to a couple of outdoor summer Ragboat screenings; the Missouri Symphony Orchestra's Executive Director, Trent Rash, talks about the upcoming Hot Summer Nights program; Jill Womack gives an update on TRYPS kids theatre's move to their new old home at Columbia Mall; and actor Elizabeth Braaten Palmieri and director David Wilson talk about working together on Greenhouse Theatre Project's production of the George Brant one-woman play 'Grounded'. Thanks to guitarist Yasmin Williams for the opening and closing music credits (www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com)

Having mastered Guitar Hero as a young teen, Yasmin Williams picked up a guitar, sat it horizontally across her lap, and developed her style of lap-tapping guitar. This week her second album 'Urban Driftwood' is released on which she not only proves herself a master of the technique, but also her compositional maturity and her ability to seamlessly blend multiple musical heritages. On this week's show Diana Moxon spends the whole hour with Yasmin, talking about the influences in 'Urban Driftwood', her adventures with the kora, and the making of her first music video.

Speaking of the Arts founder, Monica Palmer, is back for this week's show and talks about her favorite subject: Theatre! with three leading lights from the Columbia theatre scene. In Act I Enola White, Executive Director of Columbia Entertainment Company talks about their upcoming show, 'Killer Party: A Murder Mystery Musical' (opens June 24th), and getting back into the theatre after so long away. In Act II, Monica chats with director, Christopher Gould, and actor, Morgan Dennehy, about their next show 'Fifth July' by Lanford Wilson, opening June 3rd at Maplewood Barn theatre.

Each month the Missouri Arts Council features four artists on its website from a variety of arts genres, and on this week's show Diana Moxon checks in with the May four: Warrensburg-based painter Gary Cadwallader and his extrovert paintings; Contemporary impressionist Regina Willard in West Plains; Byron von Rosenberg - poet, illustrator, storyteller and the poet laureate of Byrnes Mills; And award winning, international concert pianist, Hyejin Cho, a player and proponent of the music of Robert Schumann and collaborative pianist at Truman State University. You can see - and hear - the works of this week's artists on their websites: https://www.garypaints.com/; https://www.reginawillard.com/; https://idontwanttokissallama.com/; https://www.hyejinchopianist.com/. Thanks, as always, to guitarist Yasmin Williams (http://www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com/) for the show's opening and closing music, 'Restless Heart'.

In a time of endless cancelations, the True/False Film Fest pulled off the near impossible this week and moved their entire festival outdoors. And although only a few documentary directors were able to make the journey, two of those who were in town for the Fest stopped in to chat with Speaking of the Arts host, Diana Moxon. Peter Nicks returned to the Fest with the third in his Oakland trilogy, 'Homeroom', (the previous two also played at earlier Fests: The Waiting Room 2012, The Force 2017) and talked about the trilogy's exploration of the relationship between the education, criminal justice and health care systems in America. For director Aurora Brachman, True/False is the first festival she's been able to attend in person since starting her film career. Her short 'Club Quarantine' looks at the phenomenon of the nightly virtual queer dance party 'Club Quarantine', which launched as lockdown started last year. Plus there's music from Yasmin Williams' album 'Urban Driftwood'.

This week Diana Moxon chats with William Horner and Stacey Woelfel, the directors of a new documentary, "Keep the Cameras Rolling: The Pedro Zamora Way", produced by a group of up and coming University of Missouri film makers; Drops in on Jefferson City's Capital City Productions where the musical 'tick, tick...boom!' opens in mid-May, and talks to its director Mike Azar and lead Gordon Knatcal about the composer's links with Stephen Sondheim; Visits the Boone History and Culture Center's Montminy Gallery to find out about the Earth Water Fire art exhibit with artists Kate Gray, Jo Stealey and Don Asbee; And finally stops by Talking Horse Productions' where its Original Monologue Contest is back for a Second Season and Artistic Director, Adam Brietzke spills some beans. Opening and closing musical credits with thanks to guitarist Yasmin Williams (www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com). And for anyone who would like to register to attend the test screening of "Keep the Cameras Rolling: The Pedro Zamora Way" on Monday May 3rd at the Missouri Theatre, here is the registration link: https://missouri.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1Tjrse7mXEdtKjc

This week's show is a potpourri of arts events both IRL and virtual. Playwright and performer Andrew Black opens his new one-person, one-act show called 'What Same Sex Marriage Means to Me' and talks to host Diana Moxon about which of the 7 archetypal story plots he sees it as; Beth Pike from the State Historical Society of Missouri talks about some of Missouri's bicentennial events including the Missouri Art Now traveling art exhibit; Jabberwocky Studios' Linda Schust talks about this weekend's Africa Fest and how being virtual opened up some opportunities for them; and as the 2021 Unbound Book Festival comes to a close, festival director Alex George chats about its culminating keynote event with Pulitzer prize-winning poets, Tracy K Smith and Jericho Brown. Opening and closing musical credits thanks to guitarist Yasmin Williams (www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com).

Each month the Missouri Arts Council features four artists on its website from a variety of arts genres, and on this week's show Diana Moxon checks in with the April four: photographer Jen Everett from St Louis, who uses photography and sculpture to document nuances of Blackness in America; artist Grant Kniffen from Dardenne Prairie, who explores the stories of the Midwest and West; multi-media artist Laura Bigger, Assistant Professor of Art at Truman Stat University, who uses her art to explore the relationships that exist among humans, animals, and ecosystems; and Springfield-based tuba player Ralph Hepola, who released his first tuba album - concisely titled 'Tuba' - last year. You can read more about the artists at https://www.missouriartscouncil.org/featured-artists/ as well as on their own websites: https://jeneverettart.com/home.html; https://kniffenart.com/; https://www.laurabigger.com/; https://ralphhepola.com/. Thanks, as always, to guitarist Yasmin Williams (http://www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com/) for the show's opening and closing music, 'Restless Heart'.

The past year has exacted a huge amount of resilience, determination, patience and forebearance from our arts leaders all the while expecting them to stay optimistic and creative for the rest of us. And that is what each of Diana Moxon's guests this week have managed to do as their 2020 plans were dashed and they had to reinvent their productions for 2021. Diana chats to Andrew Jorgensen, the Director General of Opera Theatre of St Louis about their outdoor summer festival season; University of Missouri theatre director, Xiomara Cornejo talks about her production of the José Rivera play 'Marisol'; and the Missouri Symphony Orchestra's Executive Director, Trent Rash, reveals a little about a new documentary about the orchestra called 'Another World'.

As the arts world starts to peek over the parapet, this week show host Diana Moxon goes behind the curtain to chat with arts consultant, Sara Leonard to hear what she's talking to arts organizations about; Columbia's Office of Cultural Affairs Manager, Sarah Dresser to find out how local arts organizations are navigating funding plans for the next 12-18 months; and Quin Gresham, the Producing Artistic Director for the Lyceum Theatre in Arrow Rock for an update on their 2021 season plans. Opening and closing music courtesy of guitarist Yasmin Williams (www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com)

Repeat show: This week Speaking of the Arts host, Diana Moxon, revisits the Missourian newspaper's Progress in the Arts award and chats with the 2020 winner, Brandon Hall of the Columbia Jazz Orchestra, along with three of the nominees: musician Violet Vonder Haar; vocal coach and Columbia College Assistant Professor Nollie Moore; and Ragtag Film Society Operations Director, Carly Love. This show first aired on November 27, 2020. Opening and closing musical with thanks to guitarist Yasmin Williams (www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com)

As Spring arrives so too do the arts events multiply and this week host Diana Moxon visits with five local people and places to chat about upcoming events: Director Chris Bowling discusses Columbia Entertainment Company's Carol Burnett Show: A Collection of Sketches; Orr Street Studio's Director, Mallory Donohue, chats about reopening the studios for First Friday; The Unbound Book Festival's Executive Director, Alex George, reviews some of the festival's upcoming events; Dr. Joy Powell lifts the lid on the University of Missouri's Chancellor's Arts Showcase; and Columbia Art League Executive Director, Kelsey Hammond, explains why their 'Tiny Things' exhibit makes you go 'awww!' Opening and closing music thanks to guitarist Yasmin Williams (www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com)

We are finally coming full circle on this new world order year, and on this week's show host Diana Moxon checks in with two events, which were some of the last IRL events of 2020: the True False Film Fest and the University of Missouri's annual Undergraduate Visual Arts and Design Showcase. Ragtag Programmer, Ted Rogers, talks through True/False's mini at-home fest, Hindsight - 8 films from the True False archives spread out over 8 weeks; University of Missouri Assistant Professor of Theatre Costume Design, Marc Vital chats about the Showcase along with two of its exhibitors, photographer Kylee Isom, and videographer, Maddy Gomez; and Greenhouse Theatre Project's Elizabeth Braaten Palmieri spills a bean or two about their mysterious GreenLight Special variety night. Opening and closing music thanks to Yasmin Williams www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com.

Each month the Missouri Arts Council features four artists on its website from a variety of arts genres, and on this week's show Diana Moxon checks in with the March four: writer, storyteller and Classical Indian Dancer, Nartana Premachandra from St Louis; stainless steel sculptor Doug Cox from Republic (Springfield); realist with a hint of the surreal painter Natalie Wiseman from Joplin; and abstract geometric painter and ceramicist Kevin Umaña in Kansas City. You can read more about the artists at https://www.missouriartscouncil.org/featured-artists/ as well as on their own websites: https://www.nartanapremachandra.com/; https://jdcoxrocksmetalart.com/; https://www.nataliewisemanartist.com/; https://kevin-umana.com/. Thanks, as always, to guitarist Yasmin Williams (http://www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com/) for the show's opening and closing music, 'Restless Heart'.

Last July, Diana Moxon chatted with conductor Marlon Daniel about his introduction to music, his career, the difficulties facing black musicians and conductors in the classical music world, and the music of Joseph Boulogne Chevalier de St Georges. As Black History Month draws to a close, Diana revisits her chat with Maestro Marlon Daniel.

Miss Opal Lee of Fort Worth Texas has been promoting June 19th as a day of unity and freedom for over 40 years and last year delivered a petition of 1.5 million signatures to congress to recognize Juneteenth as a federal holiday. On this week's show Miss Opal shares with Diana Moxon her history with the Juneteenth celebration and her lifelong commitment to education. In Act II of the show her grandson, Columbia-based actor and musician Richard Harris, talks about playing Louis Armstrong, his manager Joe Glaser and Miles Davis in the one-man play 'Satchmo at the Waldorf' about the life of Louis Armstrong, opening to limited audiences next weekend at Columbia Entertainment Company. To sign Miss Opal's petition to recognize Juneteenth as a federal holiday go to www.therealopallee.com before the end of February. Opening and closing musical credits with thanks to Yasmin Williams www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com

Each month (since December 2020) the Missouri Arts Council features four artists on its website from a variety of arts genres and on this week's show Diana Moxon checks in with the February four: visual artist Lindsey Dunnegan; author/poet FC Schultz; glass artist Wanda Tyner; and soul musician/vocalist Brian Owens. You can read more about the artists at https://www.missouriartscouncil.org/featured-artists/. Thanks as always to guitarist Yasmin Williams (http://www.yasminwilliamsmusic.com/) for the show's opening and closing music, 'Restless Heart'.

Theatre, cabaret, cinema, art exhibits - they are all going on whether we are there in person or watching from afar. On this week's show host Diana Moxon chats Academy Awards and the world of Ragtag Cinema with its Co-Executive Director, Barbie Banks; explores local artists' interpretation of Dante's Divine Comedy with the Columbia Art League's Kelsey Hammond; and goes behind the scenes with Audra Sergel, Rochara Knight and Enola White to find out more about this weekend's Cabaret for a Cause: Lovers, Losers and Loners.