September 17, 2025

Out on Film Festival ✦ Charmaine Minniefield's "Praise House" Project ✦ ArtsATL weekly cultural calendar ✦ Kosmo's Vinyl of the Week ✦ Improvement Movement

49 minutes

✦ The Out on Film festival has not only been a place where the diverse voices of the LGBTQ+ community can see themselves on the big screen, but it has also served as a safe haven, a place of education, and a family reunion. City Lights Collective co-host Jon Goode sat down with Festival Director Jim Farmer to discuss the origins of the event and what you can expect from Out on Film today.

✦ For the last several years, a tiny yet momentous structure has popped up on sites of significance throughout Atlanta, inviting visitors to step inside moments of history. Charmaine Minniefield's "Praise House" Project replicates gathering spaces of worship that glued Black communities together since the days of slavery and beyond. The next installation for "The Praise House" will be at South View Cemetery in Lakewood Heights on September 21. There, they will honor the victims of the 1906 Atlanta Race Massacre, an outburst of horrific violence that killed dozens of Black citizens. WABE arts reporter Summer Evans spoke with Minniefield about this new site of remembrance.

✦ City Lights Collective member Shane Harrison spends his days at Arts ATL looking for cultural events to share with readers. He joins us weekly to share highlights, and today his mix includes the latest in the "Off the Wall" film series and a look at this weekend's Japan Fest.

✦ Visual artist and music enthusiast Kosmo Vinyl bought his first LP when he was nine. He spent the next several decades immersed in music and began his professional career at London's pioneering indie label, "Stiff Records." In 1979, Kosmo started working exclusively with "The Clash," who were once billed as The Only Band That Matters, and stayed by their side until the punk icons disbanded in 1986. Over the years, Kosmo's record collection became legendary. In 2014, he began posting about his favorite releases on social media for his series, "Kosmo's Vinyl of the Week," and he joins us weekly to share the stories behind the records he treasures. This week, he tells us about Hoagy Carmichael's "Hong Kong Blues."

✦ Atlanta's own Improvement Movement has been making waves across the city and beyond with lush vocal harmonies, clever arrangements, and a sound that refuses to sit neatly in one genre. Now, they're bringing that energy to the main stage at this year's Shaky Knees Festival. City Lights Collective producer Josh Thane spoke with keyboardist Zach Pyles and drummer Tony Aparo from the band ahead of their upcoming Shakey Knees performance about how they came together, the influences behind their music, and what's next for this rising Atlanta favorite.

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