Art Throb

As a young girl growing up in Kentucky, Constance Grayson was drawn to and influenced by traditional handcrafts. She learned traditional quilting techniques from her Appalachian aunts and was fascinated, even as a young child, with the interplay of color, form and texture. Although she no longer utilizes the traditional techniques she learned as a child, she is still fascinated with the process of...

Shawn Okpebholo was born in Lexington, Kentucky and a graduate of Tates  Creek High School.  He earned his doctoral degree in composition from the   University of Cincinnati's Celloge-Conservatory of Music.  Currently he serves   as the Jonathan Blanchard Distinguished Professor of Composition at   Wheaton College-Conservatory of Music and the Saykaly-Garbulinska   Composer-in-Residence with...

After receiving his BFA from University of Louisville in 2005, James Robert Southard worked for years as a freelance photojournalist and artist. In 2008 he left for Pittsburgh for graduate school in Fine Arts at Carnegie Mellon University. After graduating in 2011he was invited to international exhibitions such as the Moscow Biennale for Young Art, Hel’Pitts’Sinki’Burgh in Finland, Camaguey Cuba’s...

Originally from Cynthiana, Kentucky, Wylie Caudill has emerged as a distinguished artist, rooted in the verdant landscape of Lexington. He is presently this year’s official artist for the prestigious 150th Kentucky Derby. Wylie's artistic narrative is woven with a distinctive imprint—a signature style he affectionately terms as "organic repetition." This unique aesthetic can be easi...

Kevin Nance is a photographer, arts journalist and poet living in Lexington, Kentucky. His photographs have been shown in solo and group exhibitions in Chicago, Portland, Danville and Lexington, including at the Lexington Art League, the Lexington Public Library, the University of Kentucky Hospital and Arts Connect’s Mobile Gallery. His two collections of photographs and haiku are Even If (Univers...

​Born in 1942 in Espanola, New Mexico, Arturo Alonzo Sandoval is a fiber artist and educator best known for his weavings and for incorporating unconventional recycled materials – including vinyl and microfilm – into his works.  Arturo taught at several schools around the country before accepting a faculty position in the art department at the University of Kentucky, Lexington, in 1974, where he re...

Mary Ann Taylor-Hall was born Oct. 17, 1937, in Chicago, but spent much of her childhood in Florida. She attended the University of Florida and earned a masters in English at Columbia University. She taught at Auburn University, Miami of Ohio and the University of Puerto Rico before coming to the University of Kentucky in 1977. She met and married her creative writing colleague, James Baker Hall,...

​Daniel Graham was raised in a military family and moved every two years for most of his life. ​He comes from a family of storytellers who love investigation and creativity. He earned his Undergraduate Degree at the University of Florida in Printmaking and a Masters Degree from the University of Georgia also in Printmaking. Between the two programs of formal education Daniel lived in downtown Wash...

Episode #23 of the Art Throb Podcast features a conversation with writer Jayne Moore Waldrop about her most recent illustrated children's book - She Remembered It All: The Art of Memory Painter Helen LaFrance . Jayne is the author Drowned Town , names a 2022 Great Group Reads seletion by the Women's National Book Association and INDIES Book of the Year Award silver winner in fiction; She...

Episode #22 of the Art Throb Podcast features a conversation with Kevin Lane Dearinger, a retired actor and teacher and recent author of a collection of poems titled COLD AS A SILVER SPOON. Kevin has written four volumes of theatre history two memoirs, assorted plays and monologues and five volumes of poetry. He tries to listen to a multitude of voices while striving to be true to his own voice. ...

Roda has more than twenty years of experience leading, assessing, and promoting library, museum, research, and educational services, including her work with the Keeneland Library and National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. Through her focus on creating responsive systems of access for researchers and racing fans around the world, Keeneland Library’s research services volume doubled during Roda...

​Episode 20 of the Art Throb Podcast features Colton Ryan and Lyndy Smith in conversation about the upcoming Lexington Theatre Company's production of the annual Concert with the Stars   in which Colton Ryan will be performing as the Headlining Veteran Star. Colton was recently nominated for a Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical for his performance as Jim Doyle in the Broadway prod...

Katharine was appointed in August 2023 as Museum Manager of the 21c Museum Hotel here in Lexington.  Prior to that she has worked as an educator at a number of museums including The National Gallery of Art, the Washington National Cathedral, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and, for the majority of her career, at the Getty Villa in LA where she managed the Gallery Teaching program. Katharine h...

Episode 18 of the Art Throb podcast features Jessica Winters, one half of the husband/wife team who in 2011 founded PRHBTN, Lexington's first street art festival. For more than a decade, Jessica and John Winters have facilitated the installation of large-scale murals by international artists throughout Lexington and have hosted annual gallery events to provide opportunities to local and regio...

On Today’s Interview, Arts contributor Kate Savage talks to Lexington musician Buffy Lawson about her music and her recent induction into the Kentucky Academy of Local Musicians Hall of Fame. For more and to connect with us, visit https://www.artsconnectlex.org/art-throb-podcast.html

Episode 16 of the Art Throb podcast features John Hockensmith who is the owner of Hockensmith Fine Art Editions Gallery and Press in Georgetown.  We talk about the retrospective exhibition of over 188 artworks by Lexington artist Henry Faulkner on show at the Headley Whitney Museum until 12 November.  Henry Faulkner was a prolific artist until his untimely death in 1981 when his car was t-boned at...

In the depths of Appalachia's haunting beauty, a gripping thriller unfolds, taking readers on a journey through time and tragedy. But beware, for within the pages of Chris McGinley's novel lies an unexpected twist that will leave you breathless. As escaped convicts wreak havoc on a small mountain community, a young girl emerges as a beacon of hope, a skilled huntress seeking redemption....

Episode No. 14 of the Art Throb Podcast features Guy Mendes, a Lexington photographer who began his photographic career almost by accident.  A young transplant from New Orleans, he arrived at the University of Kentucky in 1966 hoping to become a journalist. The following year, he attended a rally to hear Wendell Berry speaking out against the Vietnam War. The two struck up a friendship that would...

Episode No. 13 of the Art Throb Podcast features John Paul Miller who after 50 years in the car dealership business and concurrently running a commercial real estate business has just published his first novel that has been five years in the making. As a young boy JP Miller always wanted to be a cowboy but the closest he ever came was watching horses and movies on television.  Then, 40 years ago h...

Episode No. 12 of the Art Throb Podcast features Dr. Fari Nzinga who is the Curator of African and Native American Collections at the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, KY. In addition to caring for and stewarding these collections, she coordinates special exhibitions as well.  Our conversation focuses on the current exhibition at The Speed Museum that Dr. Nzinga curated - Louisville's Black Ava...

Episode No. 11 of the Art Throb Podcast features Stephen Wiggins a Lexington Printmaker who will talk about his work but primarily the commissioned series of panels for the VIA Creative public art bus shelter on the corner of Elm Tree Lane and Third Street. Stephen Wiggins was born and raised in Lexington on the Northside of Lexington near 7th Street. He has a BA in art studio from University of K...

Episode #10 of the Art Throb Podcast features Steve Hester who will talk about his book Malchus and Me , ​a novel that retells the story of the Passion of Christ, but through the eyes of  the motley crew from the wild side of Jerusalem who manage to get caught up in those final days.  It is a story of salvation, told from the margins. Steve Hester grew up as the son of Southern Baptist missionarie...

Episode No. 9 of the Art Throb Podcast features Pamela Perlman who will talk about her most recent novel titled: AFTER THE RACE. Pamela was born and raised in Lexington, Kentucky.  She received her degrees in English Literature and Journalism from Indiana University after which she spent a couple of years as press secretary on Capital Hill after which she worked as a television news reporter. She...

Episode No. 8 of the Art Throb Podcast features Julien Robson who talks about the Mary and Al Shands Collection, the exhibition of their work Rounding the Circle currently at the Speed Art Museum, and the Great Meadows Foundation that today has awarded more that $850,000 in grants to over 300 artists in the region. ​Julien is an Independent Curator who shares his time between the US and Austria. E...

Episode No. 7 of the Art Throb Podcast features Kevin Lane Dearinger who will talk about his most recent publication, a theatre history titled Eleanor Robson Belmont - a Theatrical Life, as well as his other plays and poetry.​ Author Kevin Lane Dearinger, a Woodford County native, is a former teacher and retired professional actor and singer. He has written an assortment of books and plays. His pu...