Arts Interview with Nancy Kranzberg

The multi facets of Rich O'Donnell span 65 years as percussionist, improvisor, composer, designer and builder of percussion and electronic instruments, teacher and writer.   He was director of the Electronic Music Studio at Washington University from 1980-2018. He has encouraged and facilitated the growth of independent contemporary music in the community for 49 years as music director of the St. Louis New Music Circle, which he left in 2009.  He retired in 2002 after 43 years as principal percussionist of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. In 2009, he co-founded HEARding Cats Collective, an artists collective working to keep St. Louis strange and wonderful.

Chris Pieman, Director of Advancement for The Sheldon, and Laurel Wacyk, Director of Education, stopped by to talk with Nancy about the happenings at the Sheldon, and the various educational programs.

The Sheldon hosts over 350 events each year. Artists like Dave Brubeck, Diana Krall, José Carreras, Herbie Hancock, Joan Baez, Willie Nelson, Lyle Lovett, B.B. King, Mavis Staples, Wynton Marsalis, Judy Collins and Renée Fleming have all performed on their stage. And over 300 exhibits have shown in the Sheldon's galleries since 1998. They also present a wide range of educational programs for schools serving over 30,000 St. Louis-area students each year, and they host hundreds of weddings, community events and other celebrations in their event spaces.

Lee Anne Mathews, Artistic Director of The Westport Playhouse, stopped by to speak with Nancy about her career as an actor and director, as well as her new position at the playhouse. ----

The Westport Playhouse is an intimate 240 seat theater in Westport Plaza, that holds all kinds of events including concerts  theater pieces, and more. ------

Upcoming events include "Songs for Ukraine" on September 17th, The Rocky Horror Picture Show with Flustered Mustard, Haunted Garage Horror Fest, and Shakey Deal: A Tribute to Neil Young. ------

Bob Bennett, Artistic Director of Jazz St. Louis, stopped by to talk with Nancy about the happenings of this jazz institution. ------

For over 25 years, Jazz St. Louis has been the foremost presenter of jazz in St. Louis and throughout the region. We are dedicated to preserving the legacy of this musical genre. Hundreds of local and nationally renowned musicians, such as Wynton Marsalis, Diana Krall, Harry Connick, Jr. and Al Jarreau have graced our stage. Our state-of-the-art Ferring Jazz Bistro has earned praise from artists and patrons alike as one of the best listening rooms in the country. Year after year, Jazz St. Louis strives to be the leader in showcasing unique and diverse jazz performers and preserves the shared cultural heritage embodied in jazz music through our educational programs. ------

Gina Grafos, Director and Chief Curator of Visual and Literary Arts for the Kranzberg Arts Foundation, stopped by to talk with Nancy about the happenings at the Kranzberg venues and galleries. Topics include Music at the Intersection, Exhibitions at the Dark Room Gallery, High Noon at the Hi Lo, and more. ——

Poet and Kranzberg Resident, Lizzy Petersen, stopped by to speak with Nancy about her life and poetry. ------ 

Lizzy Petersen is a poet from St. Louis, MO, where she works in public media and directs a student-run, after-school literary magazine, OutsideLitMag.com, through a partnership with St. Louis Public Schools. Her poetry has recently appeared in or is forthcoming in December, Image, Ninth Letter, Pinch, and Southern Humanities Review, among others.  She has been recognized for her writing by the St. Louis Regional Arts Commission's Artist Support Grant, the Mid-America Arts Alliance's Interchange Fellowship, the River Pretty Poetry Scholarship, and the Dairy Hollow Writers Residency, and she was a 2019-20 Community Arts Training fellow at St. Louis Regional Arts Commission. She currently serves as a contributing editor for $: Poetry is Currency and has previously served as the Managing Editor of River Styx and Co-Poetry Editor for Sycamore Review at Purdue University, where she received her MFA in Poetry.  ------

Dana Turkovic, Curator at Laumeier Sculpture Park, stopped by to speak with Nancy about the new exhibition, "Forest Through The Trees," which opens August 27th and runs through December 11, 2022. 

About "Forest Through The Trees": In art and in poetry, the beauty and power of trees is an alluring subject matter with infinite possibilities. The exhibition Forest Through the Trees pulls together a group of artists whose observations range from representation through landscape to conceptual experimentation where the tree is treated as both subject and object. The exhibition also incorporates works from Laumeier's permanent collection that utilize trees, expanding the theme to our outdoor galleries. ------

As a sculpture park focused on the conversation between art and nature, the works on view operate in harmony with and in reference to the natural landscape, both organic and manicured. Rather than viewed as a backdrop, the tree as a symbol of nature is respected and revered. Each of the artists in the exhibition approach this philosophy with wildly different interpretations. Whether literally carved from a tree trunk, cut from paper, planted in mass, compiled from thousands of carefully layered paint splotches or recreated with computer data, Forest Through the Trees celebrates and, in some cases, further complicates our relationship to nature. ------ 

EXHIBITION ARTISTS: Zadok Ben-David / Benjamin Butler / Charles Gaines / Lena Henke / Katie Holten / Miler Lagos / Jason Middlebrook / Andy Millner / Katie Paterson / Julius von Bismarck / Rachel Youn

Chris Hansen, Executive Director of the Kranzberg Arts Foundation, stopped by to talk about the upcoming Music at the Intersection, which happens September 10th and 11th in the Grand Center Arts District. ----- 

Music at the Intersection is a civic-led effort presented by Kranzberg Arts Foundation in partnership with Steward Family Foundation and The Regional Arts Commission (RAC) of St. Louis. First held in 2021, the festival tells the story of St. Louis' musical, cultural and artistic heritage. It celebrates the city's imprint on the American songbook, the relationship St. Louis has with its Mississippi River sister cities, and the musical genres that have been birthed and fostered locally. Music at the Intersection gives a spotlight to national acts as well as St. Louis-based musicians across blues, jazz, soul, R&B, hip-hop, & rock and roll.————

Discrimination can take many forms. When J.D. and Ethel Shelley simply tried to purchase a house, they found themselves involved in a landmark legal case to fight for their right to move into their property. They were battling a restrictive covenant that tried to exclude them based on their race. ———

Click on search links to see if there are episodes with related content:  Cicely Hunter, Landmarks, Black History, Civil Rights,

Podcast Transcript: I’m Cicely Hunter, Public Historian from the Missouri Historical Society, and here’s history, on eighty-eight-one, KDHX. ———

For St. Louis to be named the 10th segregated city in the United States might have come as a surprise to those who heard it back in 2017, but St. Louis’s history is similar to many other urban cities. With all the hidden gems and history that surrounds this city, racial segregation became more fixed and evident as public policies and private practices tightened restrictions against Black communities. But these instances of discrimination and racism were often contested. We can look to Shelley v Kraemer, a court case that was argued in the Supreme Court and outlawed state enforced restrictive covenants. ———-

J.D. and Ethel Shelley and their children moved from Mississippi to Missouri. They were looking to purchase a home, so Elder Robert Bishop, who was their pastor and a realtor, showed them 4600 Labadie Avenue. The Shelley’s loved the home so much that they made an offer, and it was accepted. But, since the house had a restrictive covenant, the Shelley’s racial identity became a determining factor that restricted Black people from entering, purchasing, or occupying certain areas based on residential segregation. ———

The Marcus Avenue Improvement Association with Fern and Louis Kraemer as the plaintiffs were determined to stop the Shelley family from living in their newly purchased home. The Circuit Court ruled that the restrictive covenant was poorly executed since the property owners failed to sign the document. Then, the Missouri Supreme Court reversed the lower court’s decision and argued the restrictive covenant remained a legitimate agreement. The final ruling by the Supreme Court on May 3, 1948, established that restrictive covenants violated the Fourteenth Amendment and could not be judicially enforced even though it was a private contract. ———

St. Louis was important to the civil rights movement, and at the center of Black legal resistance, with court cases like Shelley v Kraemer and Gaines v Canada, and Dred and Harriet Scott’s freedom suit. In 1988, the Shelley House was dedicated as a National Historic Landmark and served as a “living memorial to the Shelley family and their fight against racial discrimination.” ———

Here’s history is a joint production of the Missouri Historical Society and KDHX. I’m Cicely Hunter and this is eighty-eight-one, KDHX, St. Louis. ———

Matthew Kerns, President & Artistic Director of St Lou Fringe, stopped by to talk about this year's festival, which runs August 15 through 21 at venues throughout the Grand Center Arts District. ------ 

Matthew is a John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts award-winning educator, critically acclaim theatre performance artist featured in American Theatre Magazine, and a 2020 St. Louis Business Journal Diverse Business Leaders Award recipient. ———   Matthew has been an Executive Producer, Director, and Artistic Director for Off-Loop Theatre [Chicago], Off-Broadway Theatre [New York], Reparatory Theatre [California], Regional Theatre [Iowa, Missouri, Colorado] and Educational Theatre [Chicago, California, Colorado, Iowa, Missouri]. ——   Matthew's artistic portfolio includes original performances [Xmas Carol, Chicken, Life in the Fastlane], Immersive events [Gay Fantasia, Home], and standard plays and musicals [Noises Off, For Colored Girls…, Frost/ Nixon] ———   Students that have trained with Matthew have gone on to work in television, film, major motion pictures, and on Broadway. From Saturday Night Live to Gotham, and from Six: The Musical to Jake, the State Farm Guy and beyond. ———   Matthew is an expert in the performance practices of Stanislavsky, Meisner, Grotowski, Somatic Movement, Improvisation, Roy Hart Vocal Technique, Moment Work, and Viewpoints. ———   He has presented at the NAIS Conference, National Writing Conference for Youth, Missouri Conference on the Younger Years, TCG National Conference, and at TEDx. ———   Matthew holds an Associate degree in Communications and Theatre from St. Louis Community College, a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Eastern New Mexico University, and Master of Fine Arts degree from Naropa University. ———   He married the love of his life, Mr. Sean Gottlieb, in a simple service under the St. Louis Arch in April of 2020. They reside in the Lafayette Square neighborhood in St. Louis, Missouri with their dogs Lewis, Harvey Milk, and Tuxedo the Cat. ———