Artists Talk with LVA: February 13, 2025

Tonight (February 13, 2025)t Louisville Visual Art unveils the SPARK Sculpture and its designers, Laura Haddad & Tom Drugan joined us to talk about it live in the studio. Tune in to WXOX 97.1 FM/Artxfm.com each Thursday at 10 am to hear Artists Talk with LVA.

Laura Haddad & Thomas Drugan specialize in conceptually driven public art that is often integrated into large-scale infrastructure projects. Past and current work includes art for roadways, bridges, transit stations, public utilities, architectural facades, industrial artifacts, museums, libraries, and urban plazas and parks. Working in the public realm, the artists pursue their interest in using site conditions as inspiration for art concepts. Haddad|Drugan strives to create poetic one-of-a-kind artworks that on one level act as place-making icons but on another are layered with subtler complexities that unfold over multiple viewings.

The studio’s site-specific approach to new projects includes research and investigations about a site’s physical, functional, natural, social, and historical aspects. 

From this the artists establish a conceptual framework for the art and develop specific forms and materials that best express the idea. Haddad|Drugan operates at the scale of both sculpture and planning and approach the thematic or sequential linking of individual artworks as a form of conceptual art unto itself.

Artists Talk with LVA: February 6, 2025

Pandora Productions opens "She Kills Monsters" on Feb. 7 and Gil Reyes & Kate Holland Ballowe came to the studio to talk about it this week. Tune in to WXOX 97.1 FM/Artxfm.com each Thursday at 10 am to hear Artists Talk with LVA.

For more than 25 years, Pandora Productions has been the only theatre company in the Louisville Metro area and most of Kentucky exclusively dedicated and most trusted to tell the stories of the LGBTQ+ communities.

Gil Reyes is the current Artistic Director of Pandora Productions and has directed several productions there in the last 2 years. Previously he was a co-founder of Theatre [502], worked with Stage One Family Theatre and Jon Yarmuth and was the winner of the Moth Story Slam in 2013.

Kate Holland Ballowe has been an important behind-the-scenes presence in Louisville theatre for years, primarily as a stage manager. But has also been featured onstage in Godspell and Little Shop of Horrors for Pandora.

She Kills Monsters by Qui Nguyen opens February 7 and runs through February 23  at The Henry Clay Theatre  An epic D&D campaign brings Agnes closer to her sister. Fantasy meets dramatic comedy in this homage to the geek and warrior within us all.

Artists Talk with LVA: January 30, 2025

WheelHouse Art is pleased to present Amalgamation, a group exhibition featuring 46 artists on view now through February 15, 2025.T wo of these artists, Robert Stagg and Ethan Osman, will join us live in the studio this week. Tune in to WXOX 97.1 FM/Artxfm.com each Thursday at 10 am to hear Artists Talk with LVA.

2025 marks the 35th year of WheelHouse Art/B. Deemer Gallery, founded in 1990 by Brenda Deemer. Amalgamation celebrates the gallery's history by pairing together 23 B. Deemer Gallery legacy artists with 23 artists who started exhibiting here since the transition to WheelHouse Art. This exhibition brings into focus the continuing threads of talent, quality, and conceptual interests of the artwork featured in the gallery.

WheelHouse Art will host several receptions throughout the exhibition on Saturday afternoons from 1:00 - 3:00pm. Each reception will feature a handful of artists with artist talks at 2:00 pm.

February 1, 1:00 - 3:00pm: Robert Stagg, Ethan Osman, Lindsay Moremen, and Megan Bickel

February 8, 1:00 - 3:00pm: Thaniel Ion Lee, Liz Price, Brian Harper, Tiffany Carbonneau, Robyn Gibson, and Sabra Crockett.

Since graduating from the Kansas City Art Institute in 2006 with a BFA in Animation, Ethan Osman has continued a studio practice of making hand made, process based animated films. In its approach, the work is largely informed by parenting a neurodivergent child, his experience managing StudioWorks, an art studio that supports neurodivergent adult artists and his own experience living with learning disabilities. In recent years, he has developed collaborative relationships, shown work in film festivals, and galleries, and created commissioned work. This year, a music video was made for the song “Bananas” to promote an upcoming album by Bonnie Prince Billy.

Born in New Orleans, Robert Stagg has been an artist based in Louisville for more than 40 years. He holds 4 degrees in studio art and art history from the University of Kentucky, theUniversity of Louisville, and Louisiana College. He has work in several private and corporate collections including Brown-Forman, Corp., Capitol Holding, Commonwealth Insurance, the University of Louisville, and Louisville Gas & Electric.  

Artists Talk with LVA: January 23, 2025

Louisville quilter “Sunshine Joe” Mallard joined us to talk about his piece, the Obama Tie Quilt, which has been accepted into the collection of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago. Tune in to WXOX 97.1 FM/Artxfm.com each week at 10 am to hear Artists Talk with LVA.

For more than 50 years, American Quilt Maker Joseph Mallard also known as ‘Sunshine Joe’ has chronicled world, national, and local events through his vibrant and intricately detailed thread collages. Born of brilliantly-colored embroidery floss, fabric, patience and time, Mr. Mallard’s work competes in national and international quilt shows.

Sunshine Joe’s exquisite tapestry-quilts consist of thousands of tiny hand tied knots. They take 4 to 5 years to complete. They pulsate with color, energy, and joy.  He uses his quilts as a teaching tool in classrooms, community Centers, homeless shelters, senior citizens facilities, libraries, juvenile detention centers and quilting guilds.

Mr. Mallard was inducted into the McComb, Mississippi Wall of Fame for his quilting and his work with children in November 2019.

His exhibit, Joe Mallard:  Threading His Grandmother’s Needles, is on view at the National Quilt Museum through February 25.

Artists Talk with LVA: January 16, 2025

Erica Chinise Wilcox. Born in 1990 in Cleveland, Ohio. She moved to Louisville, Kentucky in 2014 where she eventually found mentorship with artist Bob Lockhart.

Now she is a member of Pyro Gallery and is exhibiting with another new member, Janet Dake, in “New Beginnings”, which runs throughJan 26, 2025.

“I began my journey into pencil artwork when I was 17 years old. I didn’t use creation to escape life, but I instead used it to process and understand it. At that age, trying to understand my queerness and my place in the world as a young black woman brought on a large bought of depression.  It wasn’t until I discovered art within Spiritual Alchemy that I gained a deeper understanding of myself and artwork. Spiritual Alchemy reminds me of the workings of my mind and my artwork – I strive to understand who I am and the people around me to heal myself, thus healing the world.

With my Intuition, Meditations, and Alchemy being my main inspiration, I strive to capture the link between human and Godlike energy. My goal is to evoke deeper thinking to encourage mental, emotional, and spiritual understanding. Many people will say that I am an activist – If I am an activist, it is one for spirit and the connection with self that we desperately crave. We all need the reminder of connection with self and others; Balance is vital in this world.“