Open Studio

This week on WUKY's Open Studio Tom Musgrave welcomes illustrator, graphic designer, comic book artist and graphic novelist Justin Stewart. He talks about his superhero origin story with art, the challenges of the kind of storytelling that he does, and what makes Kentucky such a good setting for these stories.

2026 is the 50th anniversary for the University of Kentucky College of Fine Arts and Tom welcomes back Mark Shanda, Dean of the college, to talk about how it plans to celebrate this milestone, as well as how the college has evolved in five decades and where it's going from here.

Woodford Theatre's third and final weekend of Footloose runs October 2nd through the 4th. Executive Artistic Director Daniel Ellis joins Tom to talk about this show and the rest of the season.

An exhibit that explores visual art as a mode of spirituality is opening September 18th at Christ Church Cathedral in Lexington. Co-curator Melissa Bright joins Tom Musgrave to talk about this free exhibit, which is part of Lexington Art League's Gallery Hop.

This week on WUKY's Open Studio, Tom Musgrave gets a preview of this year's Festival Latino de Lexington from organizers Francie Chassen-Lopez and Betty Abdmishani of the Foundation for Latina American Culture and Arts which puts on the festival in cooperation with Lexington Parks and Recreation.

Saturday's From the Front Porch Jazz series in Lexington's East End represents a homecoming for Michael Cruse. In addition to being an accomplished jazz musician, arranger, composer and educator, Michael is also a jazz at Lincoln Center performing artist and a headliner at Dizzy's club in New York city. He's also collaborated with Wynton Marsalis among others. In this week's Open Studio, Tom Musgrave talks with promoter Jim Embry and the artist himself.

This week on WUKY's Open Studio, Tom Musgrave talks with Lyric Theatre executive director Christian Adair about the history and mission of the venue as well as a number of upcoming community events.

With a new school year upon us we're revisiting a conversation Tom Musgrave recently had with Austin Vahle, the Arts Magnet Coordinator & Curriculum Coach for the Visual and Performing Arts Academy at Harrison Elementary. It's a dynamic, lottery-based magnet school where creativity, collaboration, and academic excellence thrive. VPAA offers a full spectrum of arts programming, including band, dance, music, orchestra, theatre as well as digital art forms.

The Lexington Art League's annual Woodland Art Fair is one of Central Kentucky's largest free cultural events; with food and drink, musical performances throughout the weekend, and nearly 200 of the nation's finest artists. This year's event, August 15 &16, marks the fair's 50th anniversary. Tom Musgrave gets a preview from LAL assistant director Faville Donahue.

This week on WUKY's Open Studio Tom talks with Soreyda Begley, the new president of Casa De La Cultura Kentucky. The local arts group helps U.S. born Hispanic and Latino children connect with their ancestry and culture through workshops, dance performances and other community-wide events. Begley says priority 1 and 1a includes finding a permanent headquarters for the organization.