B+S With Friends

Zeek Taylor is a prominent LGBTQ+ trailblazer who married his longtime partner, Dick Titus, on May 10, 2014, after 42 years together, and became the first legal same-sex male couple to be married in the American South, an event that drew international media attention.  Zeek is also an award-winning American painter, storyteller, and recipient of the prestigious Arkansas Governor's Arts Award...

Jim Obergefell is an American civil rights activist who was the lead plaintiff in the 2015 United States Supreme Court case Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage throughout the United States. Listen in as he describes the love of his life, John Arthur, and how his fight continues to inspire generations of people seeking justice and equality. 

Mario Elías is a multidisciplinary artist of Cuban and Syrian descent based in Chicago. His work spans fiction, nonfiction, photography, painting, and printmaking, often exploring themes of identity, memory, and cultural inheritance. His book Queering the Male Gaze reimagined masterpieces of the classical and modern canon through essays and self-portraiture, giving voice to the often-overlooked qu...

Amina Cruz is a photographer known for capturing queer punk scenes within the Latino community and breaking cultural barriers with her work. Cruz captures the intimate moments shared between queer folk and is trying to expand the Latino identity with their work.  @aminacruz.studio  www.aminacruz.com/

Judy Giera is an artist, arts worker, and the Associate Director of Collections for the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art in New York City, which is one of the only collecting institutions in the world dedicated to LGBTQ+ art and artists. In addition to her work managing the museum's collection of 30,000 objects, she has curated multiple projects for the museum. You can learn more about Judy at: ju...

K.M. Soehnlein is an author, activist, and educator who discusses the challenges that the LGBTQ+ community faces today. Enjoy this week's encore episode, which provides a hint at the topic of our upcoming exhibition. 

Enjoy this episode with our Empowerment Grant winner, Monica Rodriguez. Monica "Mo" is a Chicago-born multidisciplinary artist whose work centers on healing, transformation, and emotional evolution through creative practice. Raised in a family where creativity was deeply valued, she has been making art for as long as she can remember, using it as a way to process experience, move through...

Stephanie Lampkin, PhD, is the Curator at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, and has 12+ years of experience specializing in museum collections, museum education, exhibitions, and historical interpretation. Her research examines the early Black and indigenous histories of Florida, the southbound routes to freedom, and geographies of freedom. Enjoy this engaging c...

This week we're doing something a little different by offering you a weekly update, insight on images that lend themselves to Valentine's Day and a reminder of what's on exhibit and what's up next. 

Mina Morita is a director of vital new plays that champion creative rebellion. She creates worlds where audiences and artists face uncomfortable truths and discover possibility together. Mina is a recent recipient of the 2026 United States Artists Fellowship. You can find more information at: https://minamorita.com

Kalada Halliday, our 2025 Empowerment Grant winner, is a Nigerian-American photographer and educator living and working in the Brox. For more than a decade, he has made pictures of his daily life, centered on putting a compassionate lens to the spaces he inhabits, and the communities he is a part of. Particularly those that are overlooked at marginalized. Enjoy this episode as Kalada discusses his...

Katherine Ryckman Siegwarth is the Executive Director of Cincinnati's FotoFocus. She joined the organization in 2021 as the Biennial Director with 15 years of experience in art museums and archives. Siegwarth has a range of experiences and is an alumna of the Museum Leadership Institute’s NexGen 2020 Executive Education for the Next Generation of Museum Leaders program. You can find more info...

Miguel Luciano discusses the upcoming Fall of Freedom movement, happening November 21 and 22, 2025. Fall of Freedom is an urgent call to the arts community to unite in defiance of authoritarian forces sweeping the nation. Our Democracy is under attack. Threats to free expression are rising. Dissent is being criminalized. Institutions and media have been recast as mouthpieces of propaganda. Novembe...

Enjoy our conversation with Black Art Speaks President and CEO Alandes Powell. In addition to her role at the Cincinnati-based arts collective, Powell is renowned for her extensive community advocacy, including the creation of Cincinnati's Black Lives Matter Mural, which draws inspiration from her poem, "We Want What You Want." www.blackartspeaks.com  IG: black.art.speaks

Rahsaan “New York” Thomas is writer, curator, director, producer, social justice advocate, restorative justice circle keeper, youth counselor, and runner. He is the co-founder of the San Quentin Film Festival and Executive Director of Empowerment Avenue.  Listen in to this engaging conversation with New York.  https://www.empowermentave.org/ https://www.rahsaannewyorkthomas.com/ https://www.sanque...

Enjoy a repeat episode with Fizz White, Deputy Director of Mission Programs & Communications of The Matriots, a non-partisan, Ohio-based, political action committee dedicated to supporting, endorsing, and encouraging women candidates. Listen in on our conversation about the importance of electing more women leaders.

Thank God For Abortion is working to eliminate the criminalizing stigma around abortion by providing an apology-free space, and is committed to allowing others to repossess their narratives from the extreme right by inhabiting a joyful and authentic place for discussion. You can find them at: www.thankgodforabortion.com  and IG: @thankgodforabortion

Winnie van der Rijn is a multi-disciplinary artist of opportunity– collecting materials, experimenting with techniques and pursuing her curiosities. Her art practice includes textiles, sculpture, collage and collaboration (which she considers its own art form). She plays well with others! Winnie actively exhibits her work throughout the United States and internationally. You can find her at: IG @w...

Performance artist Asia Stewart centers her conceptual work on her body as a living archive. She devises rituals that reflect the way she weathers life in a deeply extractive society. Stewart’s performances frequently unfold as social experiments that negotiate terms of agency and power with audiences. You can find more of her work at: asiastewart.com

Carolee Schneemann was an American visual experimental artist, known for her multi-media works on the body, narrative, sexuality and gender who is a part of our permanent collection and featured in our current online exhibition. Enjoy this repeat episode with Rachel Churner, director of the Carolee Schneemann Foundation, who is also an art critic, editor, and part-time faculty member at Eugene Lan...

Eric “Maserati-E” Abercrombie was born in Oakland Ca. and was featured in the Emmy nominated documentary "Q-Ball." Eric has been a co-host of the Last Mile Radio on Sirius XM, and is the Sound Designer for the Uncuffed podcast in Solano State Prison and San Quentin State prison. He plans to show the world people are not defined by their past circumstances. Maserati-E Plans to change the...

Greg Eskridge is a founding member of the Uncuffed radio program and podcast. On July 23, 2024, Greg was released from San Quentin prison after serving 30 years and 25 days and currently serves as Uncuffed’s first Leadership Fellow. Greg looks forward to continuing to elevate the voices of system-impacted individuals. Follow Uncuffed at www.uncuffed.org and IG: we.are.uncuffed

This episode features the social impact arts administrator and grassroots community organizer and the artist, who is incarcerated, Cuong "Mike" Tran. Mike called in from his prison environment for this conversation. We appreciate your patience with the audio, but listen in. It's a great conversation. You can find more information on Wendy's newest endeavor on Instagram at: @jus...

Marcus Manganni is a New York based sculptor and installation artist who is best known for his innovative, site-specific works that confront the crisis of mass incarceration. For today's episode, all questions were created by students at the California Institute for Women. Enjoy this insightful and provocative discussion. 

In celebration of the upcoming opening of Hilma's Ghost's mosaic mural at Grand Central Station next week, please enjoy this repeat episode featuring Dannielle Tegeder and Sharmistha Ray. You can get a sneak peek of the design at: https://www.hilmasghost.com/abstract-futures