Listen to the conversation here with Dania Green about the creation of these two works of art, the intimacy inherent in self-portraiture, and the important role that mentoring has had in her life. You can follow Dania on Instagram.

Listen to the conversation here with Dr. Gale Bell about the legacy of her late husband, the support and nourishment he received while growing up in Watertown, and about his album “The Jazz Professor,” which he dedicated to his family members and on which his original compositions reflected in various styles the personalities of those he loved.

Listen to the conversation here with Jackie Dempsey, co-Artistic Director of Squonk, about the “community of the imagination” they hope to inspire, the joy she feels watching people experience their shows for their first time, and the thirty-year journey Squonk has taken from their origins in Pittsburgh to performing for audiences around the world.

Listen to the conversation here with Director Ray Terronez, Jr. and student performer Yanel Alaniz-Macias about how dance and costuming uniquely vary from one region to the next, the personal lessons learned from participating in a rigorous dance program such as this, and the importance of maintaining our traditional art forms.

Listen to the conversation here with Director Gaye Shannon-Burnett about her lifelong love of theatre, the impact this play has had as the first Broadway production written by a Black woman, and the ongoing resonance that the Harlem Renaissance continues to have in our culture today.

Listen to the conversation here with Pat Beréskin about the excitement she feels about her future, the legacy she has created as a long-time champion of the arts, and the unique position that the Quad Cities finds itself in with these new creative partnerships.

Listen to the conversation here with artist and educator Latoya M. Hobbs about her belief that Black women are preservers of their families and communities, the importance of accurate representation in art, and her prestigious mixed-media practice which includes printmaking and woodcutting.

Listen to the conversation here with Shelley Cooper, Director of The Threepenny Opera and Assistant Professor of Theatre Arts at Augustana College, about the underlying themes of this production, the playwright Bertolt Brecht’s conception of epic theatre, and the important lessons that students learn from immersing themselves in musical theatre.

Listen to the conversation here with Little Women Director and St. Ambrose Theatre Professor Dr. Corinne Johnson about the intentional choice of this production prior to her upcoming retirement this summer, the valuable lessons that students learn from a communal experience like theatre, and the many leaders working here in the Quad Cities – both inside and beyond arts organizations – that have emerged from the program and whom she has taught and mentored over the past three decades while working with undergraduates.

Listen to the conversation here with creative Aaron Dworkin about the integration of literary content with music which he has coined “musetry,” the complexity of the life of George Washington which he evokes in this work, and some unexpected parallels between his own personal life and that of the composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor.