Artists Talk with LVA: October 09, 2025

Amelia Acosta Powell and Emily Tarquin are the new Artistic and Managing Directors of Actors Theatre of Louisville, and they are coming to our studios to discuss the future of ATL. Tune in to WXOX 97.1 FM / Artxfm.com each Thursday at 10 am to hear Artists Talk with LVA.

Emily Tarquin (they/them) is the new Managing Director at ATL. They are currently pursuing an Executive MBA at Bellarmine University (expected December 2027). As an Interim Managing Director in the theatre industry, Emily oversaw multi-department operations, stewarded financial resources, and developed systems to strengthen long-term sustainability.

Amelia Acosta Powell (she/her) is the new Artistic Director at the Actors Theatre of Louisville. Previously, she has been honored to serve as Associate Artistic Director at the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Line Producer at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and Artistic Associate & Casting Director at Arena Stage. She is a steering committee member of the Latinx Theatre Commons. 

World premiere of FDR's Very Happy Hour is October 15 - 26 at Actors Theatre
written by Regan Linton, directed by M. Graham Smith

Artists Talk with LVA: October 02, 2025

Norma Drish joined us to discuss the Woven Narratives Exhibition that she curated for The Little Loomhouse. There will be a closing reception: Saturday, Oct 11, 2-4 pm. Tune in to WXOX 97.1 FM / Artxfm.com each Thursday at 10 am to hear Artists Talk with LVA.

Norma Drish is a self-taught artist from the U.S. Virgin Islands whose work explores everyday life, culture, and nature through portraits, watercolor, fiber arts, and mixed media. She is also a teaching artist, sharing weaving, felting, and other art forms with children and adults in schools, libraries, and community spaces. Recently, she became Operations Manager at The Little Loomhouse, where she has curated Woven Narratives, an exhibition now on view in the Lou Tate Gallery through October 11.

Woven Narratives explores weaving as both craft and a powerful symbol of identity, memory, and connection. Exhibiting Artists include: Victoria Christensen, Ella Clemons, Wendy Dunleavy, Suzanne Edds, Jordan Lienhoop, Irene Mudd, Berkley Saltsman, Amy Sloboda, and Angelica Smith from Kentucky; Annalee Hanson from Mississippi, Pamela Palma from North Carolina, Sam Seurynck Griffith from Detroit, MI, and Paul Wilson from Salt Lake City, UT.

Artists Talk with LVA: August 14, 2025

This week, we talked with theatre artist Mollie Murk, who recently played Hamlet with Kentucky Shakespeare. Tune in to WXOX 97.1 FM/Artxfm.com each Thursday at 10 am to hear Artists Talk with LVA.

Mollie Murk is an actor, director, and teaching artist. In Louisville, they have worked most often for Kentucky Shakespeare Festival, playing Hamlet this past summer, Lady Macbeth, Viola in Twelfth Night, and The Woman in KSF’s 2021 Halloween thriller, The Turn of the Screw. Mollie has directed for three witches shakespeare. 

Mollie is an alum of Hope College and Shakespeare & Company’s Center for Actor Training, and is a proud member of the Ring of Keys Network: www.RingofKeys.org/keys/Mollie-Murk.

They have also performed at Actors Theatre of Louisville (The Wolves, Dracula, Dracula: The Radio Play, and Are You There?) Hope Summer Repertory Theatre, Derby Dinner Playhouse, Know Theatre of Cincinnati, Suspend Aerial Arts, and have enjoyed teaching at Commonwealth Theatre Center, Seattle Children’s Theatre, and Lookingglass Theatre Company.

Artists Talk with LVA: July 17, 2025

Jessica, Claire, & Lindsey

Curator Lindsey Cummins cut the ribbon on her CPI Fellowship project, "What We Need is Here: Finding Hope in Gathering Together in Places We Call Home", and she joins us with two of the participating artists, Jessica Chao & Claire Krüeger. Tune in to WXOX 97.1 FM/Artxfm.com each Thursday at 10 am to hear Artists Talk with LVA.

Lindsey Cummins (she/her) is a Louisville-based Independent Curator, Collections Manager, & Community Arts Organizer. As the Founder of AVID Collectors, she strives to impact local arts communities by uplifting artists, patrons, and private collections. Lindsey is the Curator & Collections Manager of the SNAP Art Collection Lindsey received her education at Louisville’s Hite Art Institute with a degree in Studio Art, Art History, and Modern Culture. She currently serves on the Board of the Portland Museum, the SNAP Art Foundation, and is a member of the International Association of Curators of Contemporary Art. 

Jessica Chao is a native to New Mexico and currently based in Louisville, Kentucky, earned a Bachelors in studio arts at UNM with a focus on lithography, sculpture, and painting. Jessica presented work at the Harwood Art Center, 516 Art, the New Mexico Cancer Center Foundation Gallery where she received “Curator’s Choice” presented by Regina Held, a field mural designed with the Bosque biologist team at Valle De Oro National Wildlife Refuge, and a large-scale art installation at the the National Hispanic Cultural Center Museum as an homage to her Chinese and Korean heritage. She has presented lithographs at the Chicago Art Department, and featured at Louisville Visual Art and Carbon Copy Gallery in Kentucky.   

Claire Krüeger received an MFA in Photography & Film from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2013. In 2021, she was a COLLIDER Artist-in-Residence at Louisville Free Public Library, and in 2024 was an Artist-in-Residence at Bernheim Forest in Clermont, Kentucky. Krüeger runs Take Shape Artlab, a set of creative programs designed to boost growth, problem solving, creative thinking, and collaboration through hands-on art making. Krüeger is the Creative Director of Spidertown, a collaborative zine project with Sean Rose.

Artists Talk with LVA: June 26, 2025

The 30th Anniversary exhibit of LAFTA (Louisville Area Fiber and Textile Artists) will open at Pyro Gallery on July 5. Kathy Loomis, Jessica Beels, and Casey Dressel discuss it on Artists Talk with LVA. Tune in to WXOX 97.1 FM/Artx.com each Thursday at 10 am to hear Artists Talk with LVA.

Jessica Beels holds a BA in Art History (Harvard University, 1985) and a Masters in Early American Decorative Arts (Winterthur Program, University of Delaware, 1992). Her crafts background includes many self-taught techniques. More formal training includes classes in metalwork (Penland School of Crafts, NC, and Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, ME), papermaking (Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, ME), and stone carving (Corcoran School of Art, DC). Recently, she has been making ungalvanized steel armatures and experimenting with sealing in the rust resulting from the metal's contact with the wet paper and ambient humidity.

Casey Dressel’s artistic mediums are painting, installation, and craft based mediums. She is the owner/proprietor of Capacity Contemporary Exchange Gallery on Main Street in Louisville.

Kathy Loomis learned sewing, embroidery and other kinds of handwork from her grandmothers and made her own clothes for 30 years. She is a self-taught quilter, starting my first quilt in high school using leftovers from garment sewing. Her work has been shown in both quilt and all-media shows in the US and Europe. Since 2016 she has been a member of PYRO Gallery, a cooperative enterprise in Louisville. 

Jessica and Casey are also a part of Anne Border’s LVA/CPI Fellowship project at the Passionist Earth & Spirit Center, Pathways to Presence, a permanent group of outdoor installations.