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.“

Artists Talk with LVA: November 7, 2024

Dr. Jabani Bennett will be participating in Open Studio Weekend Nov. 16-17 AND opening her solo exhibit, “And say hi to your mother”, at the The Kentucky Center for African American Heritage’s Elmer Lucille Allen Gallery. Tune in to WXOX 97.1 FM/Artxfm.com each week to hear Artists Talk with LVA.

Dr. Jabani Bennett (she/they) served as the first Black woman director of the Women’s Center at the University of Louisville and as a student in 2007 was the student  events coordinator at the center and led one of the few community-wide celebrations for LGBTQIA women on campus.

Dr. Bennett has shaped and provided oversight over numerous creative and inclusive learning and engagement programs for diverse learners across their lifespans. Her career as an award-winning arts educator in New York City and Louisville public schools informs her current projects in social justice, cultural equity planning, and empowering self-identified femmes and feminine-presenting women through the arts. 

Artists Talk with LVA: July 18, 2024

Cyd Iyun & Mary Jefferson

Mary Jefferson is producing the 2024 Ken Clay Renaissance Awards on July 27 with an adjoining exhibit at the Louisville Free Public Library featuring 3 women including fabric artist Cyd Iyun. Mary & Cyd join us in the studio this week to talk about the event. Tune in to WXOX 97.1FM/Artxfm.com each Thursday at 10 am to hear Artists Talk with LVA.

Mary E. Jefferson is a Louisville writer, talent producer, business leader and former Executive Director of the African American Women's Literary Series.  In partnership with Jamie Keith, she is also the former co-founder of The CERA Group, a boutique business development and management company.  A cultural arts and social justice advocate, the Appalachian native and UofL alumni, occasionally pens, researches and develops organizational grantmaking for talent management platforms and youth educational programs. In April, 2022, Mary established the, LOUISVILLE ORGANIZING ARTS GROUP as a public platform to highlight and pay tribute to Ken Clay, Louisville native, arts trailblazer, diversity gamechanger and the inaugural recipient of the, 2023 KEN CLAY RENAISSANCE HONOR AWARD.

Cyd Iyun is a New York native and has been a Louisville resident for 40 plus years.  As a designer, seamstress and fabric designer, Cyd owns and manages, Creating Beauty with Fabric where she imagines, designs and pieces together bold color-patterns and designs for utilitarian purposes such as dinner napkins and masks to uniquely amazing couture in the forms of casual and formal apparel.  Cyd will be the Artist-in-Residence for a children's interactive and hands-on arts workshop, Thursday July 25th from 2:30-3:45 at the historic Western Library, 610 So.10th Street.  The artist is part of a trio of collaborators in a new mixed media arts exhibit, DIVERSITY WOMEN'S ART ON CANVAS.  The installment opens Friday, July 26 from 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m. @ Bernheim Gallery in the Main Library, 301 York Street.

Artists Talk with LVA: July 11, 2024

As we begin the Centennial year for Louisville Visual Art's Children's Fine Art Classes, LVA opens an exhibit of work from some of the teachers, and 2 of them, Wilma Bethel and Claire Krüeger join us in the studio. Tune in to 97.1 FM/Artxfm.com each Thursday at 10 am to hear Artists Talk with LVA.

Analog experiments, a love of camp, and melancholy humor inspire Claire Krüeger. Her work includes videos, photographs, illustrations, and zines and she is passionate about community arts, printed matter, and accessible media. She received an MFA in Photography & Film from VCU in 2013. Claire is based in Louisville, KY.

Wilma Bethel has taught for LVA in the Children’s Fine Art Classes for 52 years. She taught for JCPS for over 40 years. She was the first recipient of the LVA Honors in Visual Art Education.

The LVA Teacher’s Exhibit runs July 12 through August 22 at Louisville Visual Art at 1538 Lytle Street. An opening reception with the artists is scheduled for July 12 from 5 - 7 pm.

Artists Talk with LVA: March 14. 2024

Sheila Fox is a mixed-media artist who resides in Louisville, KY. She has been drawing for well over twenty years but has been painting since 2016. She signs her works under the artist name GodivaGoddess. Her motivation is rooted simply in being a Black Woman in America. She focused most of her life attending to work and supporting her family but has always known that she was an artist. She specializes in capturing the timeless essence of black women; and tackles the beauty within history, race, power, and repression. 

On March 21 Sheila will be recognized as the Emerging Artist at the 2024 LVA Honors, a fundraiser for Louisville Visual Art. Find out more about the event and how to purchase tickets here: louisvillevisualart.org/lva-honors