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: June 27, 2024

Sara Olshansky has won the 2024 Bill Fischer Award for Visual Art and she joins us 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.

Sara Olshansky was born in Louisville, Ky in 1995. She is currently a working artist based in Louisville. She graduated from the Hite Art Institute at the University of Louisville in 2018 with a BFA in 2D Studio Art, a BA in Art History, and a minor in Spanish Language.  In 2017, she attended Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona where she participated in contemporary, Spanish fine art practices and engaged with international art institutions across Europe. Olshansky is a draughtsperson and 2D media artist. She is interested in exploring addition and erasure of imagery on a single picture plane and how this technique might mirror construction and perception of lived experience.

The Bill Fischer Award is granted by the Community Foundation of Louisville and Louisville Visual Art.

Artists Talk with LVA: June 20, 2024

On June 28 The Speed Museum will open Louisville's Black Avant-Garde: William M. Duffy, a solo retrospective of Duffy's work. Duffy and Speed Curator fari nzinga will join us in the studio to talk about this important exhibit. Tune in to WXOX 97.1 FM/Artxfm.com each Thursday at 10 am to hear Artists Talk with LVA.

LOUISVILLE'S BLACK AVANT-GARDE: WILLIAM M. DUFFY

June 28 through September 29 at The Speed Museum

William M. Duffy is a lifelong resident of Louisville, KY. After graduating from high school in 1971, he enrolled in the Louisville School of Art in Anchorage, KY to pursue his interest in drawing and painting. Upon graduating with a B.F.A. in Painting in 1976, 

Duffy has always shared his talents by teaching, and over the past 40+ years he has taught all ages from every social and economic background. In February 1997, he received an official commendation from the Board of Education for "sharing his outstanding artistic gifts with students and staff in the Jefferson County Public Schools". In 2018, Duffy was one of the first artists to be awarded Imagine Greater Louisville 2020 grants. One for his "Portraits of Pride" project, working with the West End School students on paper collages. The other, he received for his "In My Community" project, working with the New Albany, Indiana Griffin Community Center children on paper collages.

Duffy was the recipient of the Louisville Visual Art 2022 Legacy Award.

Dr. far nzinga is Curator of African and Native American Collections at the Speed Museum. She was most recently a visiting professor and scholar in residence at the Bell Hooks Center at Berea College. She brings experience as a curator, educator, and cofounder of the Color BLOC, an information-sharing network for emerging artists and arts professionals/workers of color. nzinga has been tasked with reinterpreting the displays of the Native American and African art collections, bringing them in line with DEAI initiatives and expanding connections to the Museum’s collections, exhibitions, and programs. She has previously held positions at the New Orleans Museum of Art, the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, and Kalamazoo College, and received her Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology from Duke University.

The recording begins during Dr. nzinga’s remarks in response to the 1st question, which was how The Speed came to develop the Louisville Black Avant-Garde series of exhibitions.

Artists Talk with LVA: June 6, 2024

Rescheduled from May 30: Printed Zine III Stop Digging happened June 1 with an exhibition at Outsider Art Museum & Gallery. Lindsey Cummins & William Smith will tell us all about it this week. 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, collector, archivist, and arts community organizer. As the Founder of AVID Collectors, she strives to impact local arts communities by uplifting artists, patrons, and private collections. 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 and the SNAP Art Foundation.  Lindsey was recently selected to be a Curate Purchase Inspire (CPI) Fellow with Louisville Visual Art.

William Smith (he/him) is an Art History and Economics graduate from the University of Louisville. There he acted as Vice President of the Honor Student Council’s Outreach Committee, working to raise awareness for and facilitate interactions between the campus and the creatives of its greater city. William has interned with the Fund for the Arts, and today works as the Administrative Coordinator of the Portland Museum.