Nat's Sidewalk Stories

shownotes with pictures at natkalbach.com

Some buildings hold a whole city's story inside them — and some people dedicate years to making sure those buildings don't disappear. Chris Perez, president of the Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy and founder of the Bayside Park Neighborhood Association, has been doing exactly that. This conversation moves between the personal and the civic: how an outsider earns his place in a community, why his...

shownotes and full transcript at natkalbach.com

natkalbach.com/podcast

Nirupa Umapathy has lived in Jersey City for over two decades. She fell in love with it the way a lot of us do — one corner at a time, one regular table at a restaurant where the owner knows your order. But she may be leaving. And what's striking is that even as she's falling out of love with Jersey City, she's still thinking about how people could fall in love with it. This conversation is about...

Lucy Rovetto is a Jersey City-based painter, printmaker, and curator whose work asks hard questions about power, fear, and the structures we don't let ourselves question. Raised in Greenville, she spent years traveling and working internationally before returning to Jersey City, where she won a city artist live/workspace lottery and never looked back. She's curated exhibitions at JCTCI and the Mus...

Woolpunk ® is a fiber artist, activist, and educator who has called Jersey City home since 1995. She stitches into enlarged photographs of buildings, streetscapes, and sites of tragedy — turning wool and thread into acts of remembrance, protest, and love. In this conversation, we explore what it means to be punk with a needle, how Jersey City became her muse, and the cultural losses the city still...

In this solo reflection, Nat looks back at Season 2's nine conversations and the thread that runs through them all: What gets preserved? What gets lost? Who decides? She connects these questions to her new painting "Unfinished – Past, Present, Future," which depicts the Jersey City Powerhouse using layers of sepia underpainting to represent the stories that are still showing through. shownotes at...

show notes on natkalbach.com/podcast

shownotes at natkalbach.com/podcast

Shownotes at natkalbach.com/podcast

Zach Green's relationship with stained glass began in Lambertville, where a mentor told him to "get out of this town," and led him through Zanzibar's Batik workshops to Jersey City's historic windows and the legendary 111 First Street artist studios. In this conversation, we explore how growing up in Trenton taught him to see beauty in broken things, why stained glass restoration is an endangered...

Timothy Herrick, writer, journalist, and longtime Jersey City resident, discusses his new book The Subconscious City: Love, Art and Artists, Jersey City, USA . We explore the relationship between artists and urban spaces, the role of documentation in capturing vanishing moments, and what it means to think visually in a rapidly changing city. Shownotes on natkalbach.com/podcast

In this powerful conversation, Jersey City photographer Duquann Sweeney shares his philosophy that photography is fundamentally an act of care. From his Bergen Lafayette neighborhood, Duquann has spent years documenting the dignity, joy, and everyday beauty of his community through striking black and white portraits. We explore his recent work honored by the Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy, the...

Andrea McKenna's studio journey spans from a century-old garage on a Jersey City dead-end street to her aunt's former bedroom in Fort Lee. In this conversation, we explore how personal loss transformed her artistic practice, the evolution of Jersey City's art community, and what it means to hold space for other artists while navigating your own creative path. Andrea shares the story of the Raven G...

I kick off Season 2 with Rimli Roy, founder and artistic director of Surati Studio, whose journey from IT programmer to cultural institution builder embodies the best of Jersey City's immigrant experience. From her first Halloween in America to creating festivals that unite thousands, Rimli shares how cultural work happens organically,through one person's willingness to share what they love, combi...

In this special season finale, Nat sits down with her dear friend Chelsea Castro, Vice President of the Jersey City Landmarks Conservancy, for what starts as playful banter between two "separated at birth" preservation enthusiasts who find profound meaning in skeleton keys tucked in leather satchels and vintage clothing hidden in walls. But as their wandering conversation unfolds, something deeper...

In this episode of Nat's Sidewalk Stories, I explore the intersection of poetry and native plants with Ann Wallace, Jersey City's former poet laureate, and Kim Correro, a passionate advocate for native plants. Together, they host The Wild Story podcast, connecting ecological awareness with artistic expression. We discuss finding nature in urban landscapes, how slowing down leads to remarkable disc...

About This Episode We explore how a century-old religious statue workshop transformed into one of Jersey City's most intimate jazz venues while maintaining its creative spirit. Ted Chubb shares how The Statuary brings world-class musicians and neighbors together in a unique home setting. Meet Ted Chubb Ted Chubb is a trumpeter, educator, and co-owner of The Statuary with his wife Rachel. A Jersey...

About This Episode In this conversation, we explore the creative journey of Jersey City native Irene Christodoulakis, whose work spans from grassroots art initiatives to major HBO productions, and how deep roots in a place can inspire authentic storytelling. Meet Irene Christodoulakis Irene is a screenwriter, gallery assistant at Art House Gallery, and film industry professional who grew up in Gre...

In this episode, Colin Egan shares the remarkable 30-year journey of saving Jersey City's historic Loew's Jersey Theatre from demolition. Built as one of five Wonder Theatres in 1929, this grand movie palace was slated for demolition in 1987 until Colin and a dedicated group of volunteers stepped in. From chopping ice on the roof to rebuilding the grand pipe organ piece by piece, Colin reveals how...

Meet Thaler Pekar Thaler Pekar is the founder of Thaler Pekar & Partners, a consultancy celebrating its 20th anniversary helping organizations build cultures of excellent communication. Her work spans executive coaching, institutional story collections, oral histories, and high-end content creation. As both a Hoboken resident of nearly four decades and a former Jersey City professional who wor...

About This Episode Musician, writer, and cultural historian Tris McCall shares three decades of observing Jersey City's evolving arts landscape. From documenting lost creative spaces to mapping emotional geographies through characters and songs, Tris offers a unique perspective on how place shapes our creative expressions. Meet Tris McCall Tris McCall has been a fixture in Hudson County's creative...

Meet Jin Jung Jin Jung is a visual artist, educator at NJCU, and creator of the WERE HERE project. Born in Seoul, Korea and having moved to the US at age 11, Jin uses public art to explore community history and create connections to place. Her handmade ceramic markers throughout Jersey City honor forgotten histories while creating what she calls "shelters for stories that might otherwise fade away...

In this episode, Nat speaks with preservation expert Kelly Carroll about the power of community-driven historic preservation. Kelly shares how neighborhoods across New York City have successfully advocated for their historic districts and why even unsuccessful preservation campaigns can strengthen community bonds and build civic engagement. Kelly Carroll is a preservationist whose career has focus...