From the Newsroom: Rockford Register Star Podcast

Printmaker Sarah Reed-McNamara is the latest guest on “Meet the Artist,” the podcast from Register Star newsroom where we meet the artist who makes our community a more beautiful place.

Sarah operates SRMprints and recently established a collaborative maker space called GEM: Gather, Engage, Make, on State Street in downtown. She makes scarves, tea towels, table runners, and block prints with bold colors and tessellating designs.

Sarah moved to Rockford at age 17, and her early favorite memories here were with her dad checking out the CDs, show posters and books at Media Play, an entertainment shop on the east side.

She went on to earn an art history degree from Rockford University, where she studied and drew inspiration from the Mexican artists from the early- to mid-1900s who formed the collective called Taller de Grafica Popular. The diverse collection of men and women produced work to advance revolutionary and progressive causes which influence Sarah’s work today.

For the next year, Sarah will be Rockford Art Museum’s artist-in-residence, hosting printmaking workshops for young students. 

Sarah is a mother of two small children. And she happens to be married to one of Rockford’s most well-known figures, Mayor Tom McNamara. 

Listen to the podcast online at rrstar.com, and subscribe to "From the Newsroom: Rockford Register Star" wherever you find your podcasts.

More information

Rockford Register Star: www.rrstar.com

Host: Scott P. Yates; 815-987-1348; [email protected]; @scottpyates

SRMprints: https://www.etsy.com/shop/SRMprints

Instagram: @srmprints

GEM: Gather, Engage, Make https://www.instagram.com/gem_gather.engage.make/

Rockford Art Museum https://rockfordartmuseum.org

Music

From https://filmmusic.io

"Cold Funk" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)

License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Here’s our inaugural podcast episode where Register Star journalists share stories they are excited about. This week, multimedia journalist Scott P. Yates interviews education and social issues reporter Corina Curry.

The stories we discuss this week are:

Changes to Rockford Public Schools busing system kick in this fall (https://www.rrstar.com/news/20190801/thousands-of-rockford-students-headed-for-shorter-bus-rides)

Fate of Rockford west side school hangs in balance (https://www.rrstar.com/news/20190731/fate-of-rockford-west-side-school-hangs-in-balance)

Rockford prepares to open $17.7 million school (https://www.rrstar.com/news/20190801/rockford-prepares-to-open-177-million-school)

Listen to the podcast online at rrstar.com, and subscribe to "From the Newsroom: Rockford Register Star" wherever you find your podcasts.

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More information

Rockford Register Star: www.rrstar.com

Host: Scott P. Yates; 815-987-1348; [email protected]; @scottpyates

Music

Music from https://filmmusic.io

"The Path of the Goblin King v2" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)

License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Photographer James Hogan is this week’s guest on “Meet the Artist,” the podcast from the newsroom of the Rockford Register Star.

Hogan, a Rockford native, is the creative eye behind the Facebook photo series “Reflections of Rockford.”

He has reinvented himself several times throughout his life. From his youth in the punk scene here to his adult life as an Army soldier and a blue collar factory worker. Most recently he calls himself "The Man In The Hat" because he always wears his fedora while out making photographs.

Hogan’s path to this point has not been easy, though. He struggled with alcoholism, depression, and with finding his place as a family man and as a professional creator. But the way he’s managed his challenges can be a positive model for other struggling creative people.

At age 40, Hogan quit his stifling day job to pursue his creative career.

On this week’s podcast episode, Hogan tells us how he stays positive and how he hopes to inspire others to be more active in our city.

Listen to the podcast online at rrstar.com, and subscribe to "From the Newsroom: Rockford Register Star" wherever you find your podcasts.

More information

Rockford Register Star: www.rrstar.com

Host: Scott P. Yates; 815-987-1348; [email protected]; @scottpyates

Facebook: “Reflections of Rockford”

Instagram: @hoganx74 

Music:

From https://filmmusic.io

"River Valley Breakdown" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)

License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Penny Callahan recorded from her home 20 rounds of nearby gun fire on May 19, 2019, near American Legion Park in South Beloit.

Javier Jimenez is this week’s guest on “Meet the Artist,” the podcast from the newsroom of the Rockford Register Star.

Jimenez has just been named the first artist in residence of New Genres Art Space, which opened its doors on July 20th.

Jimenez is a Rockford native with a long history of illustration and screen printing here. He began his commercial printing enterprise as Saturated Threads Screenprinting. Through this work he was introduced to fellow illustrators who formed the collective known as Fatherless. Since 2010 that group, based in Rockford, has been showing their work internationally.

Jimenez is a husband, a father, a grandfather. And now he begins his newest role at New Genres Art Space.

On the podcast, listen as Javier shares his inspirations, his desire for a work-life balance, and how he’ll apply his creativity at New Genres Art Space.

Listen to the podcast online at rrstar.com, and subscribe to "From the Newsroom: Rockford Register Star" wherever you find your podcasts.

More information

Rockford Register Star: www.rrstar.com

Host: Scott P. Yates; 815-987-1348; [email protected]; @scottpyates

RRSTAR stories:

Rockford library adds new media, digital arts through partnership

Profile: Javier Jimenez

815: Creating and displaying art in the Rockford region

Charlottesville rally coverage:

https://www.progress-index.com/news/20170812/officials-white-nationalist-rally-in-charlottesville-linked-to-3-deaths

Instagram: @javier__jimenez

New Genres Art Space: https://www.newgenresartspace.com/

Fatherless: Twitter @wearefatherless, Facebook.com/wearefatherless, and Instagram @wearefatherless

Music:

From https://filmmusic.io

"Basic Implosion" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)

License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

This week Jason Judd and Iga Puchalska, co-founders of New Genres Art Space in Rockford are guests on the “Meet the Artist” podcast from the Rockford Register Star.

New Genres Art Space opens for the first time on Saturday, July 20th. Judd and Puchalska tell us why they started their non-profit and what it means for Rockford.

They each have extensive backgrounds in art creation and education. They’ve held roles in galleries and universities in Utah and in Illinois.

Puchalska is a Polish-born, research-driven animator and educator hybrid. She focuses on the impact of teaching digital art and animation in historically under-served communities. She holds advanced art degrees from Northern Illinois University and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Puchalska is married to Judd. He is a Rockford native. He previously worked as an art editor, and had leading roles in galleries at various organizations around Illinois. And he’s even been a registrar at Rockford Art Museum.

The two met while working at a gallery outside of the city. Since then, they’ve returned to Rockford to raise their two year old child closer to family. It’s here they hope to make the dream of an art space possible.

Listen to the podcast online at rrstar.com, and subscribe to "From the Newsroom: Rockford Register Star" wherever you find your podcasts.

More information

Rockford Register Star: www.rrstar.com

Host: Scott P. Yates; 815-987-1348; [email protected]; @scottpyates

New Genres Art Space: https://www.newgenresartspace.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/newgenresartspace/

Music:

From https://filmmusic.io

"Wholesome" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)

License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Cassandra Rose Wills, known as the artist Cassandra Rosetry, is the latest guest on the “Meet the Artist” podcast from the Rockford Register Star.

Wills is a poet and an entrepreneur. She is a graphic designer and marketer for small businesses. Her writings focus on institutional racism, prejudice and classism. She writes about senseless inner city violence and the nurturing power of motherhood.

As the single mother of five children — ages 10, 7, 5, 4 and 2 — she’s learned to co-parent with her mother and her partner.

She says she hasn’t found the secret to a work/life balance. But she cites her amazing support network as the reason her family does well.

Wills encourages her children to question things like authority figures: “A person with a title doesn’t entitle (that person) to be above questioning,” she said.

Wills recites several of her poems during this episode. She shares how she draws inspiration from paintings and drawings.

Listen to the podcast online at rrstar.com, and subscribe to "From the Newsroom: Rockford Register Star" wherever you find your podcasts.

More information

Rockford Register Star: www.rrstar.com

Host: Scott P. Yates; 815-987-1348; [email protected]; @scottpyates

Cassandra Rosetry on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamcassandrarosetry/

“Rock the Vibe Fashion Show”: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/rock-the-vibe-fashion-show-tickets-63413495472

Music:

From https://filmmusic.io

"Smooth Lovin" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)

License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Shaniqwa Porter is this week's guest on "Meet the Artist." Porter's use of bright primary colors, screams for your attention and her dripping pastels and earth tones, keep you engaged with the canvas.

Porter, born and raised in Rockford, is inspired by female empowerment and dedicated to self-love and self-reflection.

She is an only child of a single mother. She drew early inspirations from her mom, aunt and grandmother. She dabbled in early works doodling on papers and bedazzling kids’ shoes.

“I just paint from my experience and what I come from and how I view the world, which is from a black woman’s standpoint,” Porter said.

Porter began painting two years ago during a period of depression. She turned on some music one night and painted the figure of a woman.

Her work is mostly bold portraits of strong and proud figures. Her body of work brings to mind the surrealism of Salvador Dali, the female strength and inner struggles of Frida Kahlo, and the pop portraiture of Kehinde Wiley.

Porter’s previous shows include the Vibe Life Expo at Rivets Stadium in Loves Park in May 2019.

Shaniqwa visited the Register Star newsroom two weeks ago for this podcast.

More information

Rockford Register Star: www.rrstar.com

Host and producer: Scott P. Yates; 815-987-1348; [email protected]; @scottpyates

Shaniqwa Porter on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/callmesalsa

Background music:

From https://filmmusic.io:

"Dream Catcher" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)

Licence: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

The Rockford hip-hop collective known as the Derelict Dynasty Corps. practices the sub-genre of hip-hop known as backpack hip-hop, in which its members are ready at a moment’s notice for a public performance by carrying all they need in their backpacks.

Three local members, Chris Sweeney, the artist known as Chris Geebus, his son Kain Sweeney, known as Kain the Able, and Justin Whitworth, the artist known as Jay Church, visited the Register Star newsroom last week to share their story.

Chris is the illustrator of the portrait sketch series depicting local notables. He shares the creation story of Derelict Dynasty Corps. Its members initially struggled to find public venues in which to perform in Rockford. We hear how that changed as the group worked to improve the negative stereotype of hip-hop artists.

We get an exclusive first-listen to not one, but two previously unreleased songs: one by Kain The Able and another by Jay Church.

Listen to the podcast online at rrstar.com, and subscribe to "From the Newsroom: Rockford Register Star" wherever you find your podcasts.

___

More information

Rockford Register Star: www.rrstar.com

Host: Scott P. Yates; 815-987-1348; [email protected]; @scottpyates

Derelict Dynasty Corps.:

Email: [email protected]

Instagram:

@domddc815

@jaychurchddc

@chrisgeebus1

@kaintheable

@michaelmiccheck

@IQtrackteam

@stonetheunknown

Music:

“Something (Produced by Black King Pin)”

By Jay Church

“Kain Kong (produced by Party Hat)”

By Kain the Able, on his album “Music Is Me.” Expected release date is June 2019.

“All Night (produced by Roe Royal)”

By Jay Church, on his album called “Ready.” Expected release date is Fall 2019.

Doc Slafkosky, co-owner and operator of J. R. Kortman Center for Design and The Kortman Gallery, is the latest guest on the Register Star's "Meet the Artist" podcast.

Slafkosky and co-owner Jerry Kortman opened the shop on North Main Street in downtown Rockford in November of 1986.

Kortman focuses mainly on the day-to-day operations of the shop. Slafkosky travels frequently to international destinations. He uses the trips to find objects for the store and artists for the gallery. To this day, the shop offers decorations and home gadgets of Rockford memorabilia and other objects with an international flair.

Slafkosky has witnessed a generation of creatives transform the city, and come through the Kortman Gallery located on the second floor of the shop.

“If we want to keep Rockford vibrant, its through the arts and culture that you do that,” he said. “I think for the longest time we didn’t understand that. I still think a lot of our civic leaders don’t get that either. I think they think it’s about taxes and about potholes and those kinds of things. Infrastructure and all that is very important, but that’s not the only thing.”

His passion for the arts and for Rockford comes through in his storytelling. Slafkosky was kind enough to visit the Register Star newsroom for this podcast right after a trip to Rome.

More information

Rockford Register Star: www.rrstar.com

Host: Scott P. Yates; 815-987-1348; [email protected]; @scottpyates

J.R. Kortman Center for Design and The Kortman Gallery:

Open: Tuesday - Friday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Telephone: 815-968-0123.

Online: http://jrkortman.com/

Music:

"Universal" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/