Arts Interview with Nancy Kranzberg

Gina Grafos, Chief Curator of Visual and Literary Art for the KAF, stopped by to speak with Nancy about the various endeavors of the foundation. Subjects include the various galleries, exhibits, and projects happening, including "Walls Off Washington."

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.

The Pulitzer Arts Foundation is an art museum devoted to presenting the art of today and works from the past within a global context. Located in the heart of St. Louis for more than 20 years, its home is an architectural landmark designed by celebrated architect Tadao Ando. Open and free to all, the Pulitzer is a cultural and civic asset to the St. Louis community and a popular destination for visitors from around the world. ------

At the Pulitzer, expansive light-filled galleries host world-class art exhibitions and anchor an array of free programs, ranging from talks to concerts, literary readings, dance, performances, and wellness workshops. The Pulitzer is a place where ideas are freely explored, new art exhibited, and historic work reimagined. ------

In addition to the museum, the Pulitzer campus has several outdoor spaces, including Park-Like—a garden of native plants and pathways, the Spring Church—an open air stone pavilion and beloved landmark, and the Tree Grove—a shady picnic spot with oak and redbud trees. -------

Chris Denman stopped by to speak with Nancy about the happenings at Mid-Coast. ------

About Midcoast: Mid Coast Media is a collaboration of professionals experienced in entertainment-centric production, design and promotion. ----- 

Clients range from nationally known actors, comedians, musicians and brands to St Louis-based podcasters, artists, venues and events. ------ 

Our diverse, mix-and-match skillset offers clients a variety of creative solutions, all under one roof. ------

David Kirkland, the owner and executive chef of Turn Restaurant and David Kirkland Catering, believes food and music brings people together. He began his career in the early-1990's, bouncing from the Café at St. Louis Art Museum (Catering St. Louis) to Frazier's Brown Bag, and then Venice Café. Kirkland learned everything he could from some of the city's best. In 1996, he moved to San Francisco and began focusing on his music interests, becoming a resident DJ at several clubs throughout the city. However, he never lost his love for the culinary arts, cooking for friends and family and exploring the area's now famous farm-to-table approach to food. After moving back to St. Louis, Kirkland returned to the kitchen with a mission, taking the helm at Café Osage in 2007. He opened Turn Restaurant and David Kirkland Catering in Spring of 2016.------

The Sheldon Concert Hall in St. Louis, Missouri was designed by noted 1904 World's Fair architect Louis C. Spiering and built in 1912 as the home of the Ethical Society of St. Louis. Musicians and public speakers throughout the years have enjoyed the perfect acoustics of the Sheldon Concert Hall, earning The Sheldon its reputation as "The Carnegie Hall of St. Louis."[1][2] Well-known singers and ensembles have performed at The Sheldon, and speakers such as Albert Einstein, Dwight Eisenhower and Ernest Hemingway have spoken from its stage. The St. Louis Chapter of the League of Women Voters was founded in The Sheldon's Green Room. ———

When the Ethical Society relocated to St. Louis County in 1964, The Sheldon became primarily a music venue. Then, in 1974, a former singer with the Duke Ellington Orchestra purchased the facility, transforming The Sheldon into a church and the site for many jazz and gospel concerts. A California attorney with a love for chamber music purchased the building in 1984 at the urging of the Paganini String Quartet. He engaged Walter F. Gunn to restore the building and upon completion Gunn began operating The Sheldon in 1986 as a venue for concerts and community events. ———

Juan William Chávez is an artist and activist whose multidisciplinary practice extends across public sculptures, installations, paintings, drawings, and unconventional forms of beekeeping and agriculture. He often works collaboratively on social-practice projects that address the environment, food rights, and urban ecologies. His exhibitions focus on themes of the urban environment, ecology, sustainability, craft/labor, activism, identity, and archaeology of place. Chavez has exhibited at ArtPace, Van Abbemuseum, McColl Center for Art, Tube Factory Artspace, John Michael Kohler Arts Center, The Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Laumeier Sculpture Park, and Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis. Chavez's work was most recently included in El Museo's survey of contemporary Latinx art, ESTAMOS BIEN - LA TRIENAL 20/21. His interdisciplinary approach to art has gained the attention and support of prestigious institutions like the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, Creative Capital, Graham Foundation, ArtPlace America, Andy Warhol Foundation, and Art Matters Foundation. Chávez holds a BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute and an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Chavez was born in Lima, Peru, and raised in St. Louis, MO, where is lives and work.

About Todd Mosby: 

Award-winning instrumental composer and guitarist, Mosby is a storyteller and a landscape artist. He uses the guitar to whisk listeners away to a borderless realm where jazz, North Indian, composition and folk-rock create transformative experiences.

His latest album, Land Of Enchantment, is a gorgeous scrapbook of the visual, emotive, spiritual and cultural interactions Mosby has experienced within the New Mexico region of the United States.

Land of Enchantment, explores the mystique the New Mexico region and the passion it held for iconic American Southwest artists such as Georgia O'Keefe and Ansel Adams. Select album highlights include "Place In The Sun," "Moonrise Samba," and "Georgia's World." 

Joe Gfaller joined Metro Theater Company as Managing Director in the summer of 2019. In partnership with Artistic Director Julia Flood, since his arrival MTC has seen record growth in donor and audience households and developed innovative new programs responding to the COVID-19 pandemic from The COVID-19 Memory Project to an all-St. Louis virtual reading of A Christmas Carol featuring Ellie Kemper, Sterling K. Brown, first responders, and many others. ----- Prior to joining MTC, Joe served for 8+ years as Director of Marketing and Public Relations for Opera Theater of Saint Louis, where he received national recognition for his work in building young, diverse, and national travel audiences for the company and in expanding OTSL's civic footprint as producer of the company's Opera Tastings initiative, through artist community tours, and through the creation and growth of the company's Engagement + Inclusion Task Force and Young Friends Steering Committee. He has also served in marketing and/or development roles the Alliance Theater, the American Repertory Theater, and 7 Stages. As a consultant, he has worked with the National Blues Museum, the documentary Flint: The Poisoning of an American City, and the Utah Symphony, among others and served on a wide range of boards. As a professional stage director, he has directed over two dozen productions, including regional premieres by Caryl Churchill, David Mamet, Peter Sinn Nachtreib, and Addae Moon. He serves as adjunct faculty at Webster University in their Arts Management and Leadership MFA program, is a member of the Leadership St. Louis Class of 2013, the LEAD Atlanta Class of 2006, and graduated with honors from Harvard University. ------

Bulrush STL is a contemporary dining and craft bar experience in the Grand Center Arts District just a short walk to the Fox Theater and Symphony. Two-time James Beard semi-finalist chef, Rob Connoley features contemporary foods rooted in Ozark cuisine. Their goal is to define Ozark cuisine by looking into the past – the origin story, so to speak, when the indigenous Osage people first encountered the immigrants and settlers, who also brought the enslaved into the region known as the Ozarks. This is a messy story. A story often filled with troubling histories – histories that aren't ignored. Their focus is on the food and using our platform to give voice to the story tellers of the past. They look at how each of these cultures offered ingredients, techniques and traditions to what melted together to become what we now know of as Ozark Cuisine.