The Inspiring Conversations Podcast

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https://youtu.be/yobsdN3UNf8

Jeff sits down with CJ Ward to hear him share some very compelling reflections about the power of conversations in bringing about healing between people and between communities.

He also speaks about his experiences in contributing work to the The Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Project at Living Arts and what it has been like for him to move to Tulsa and becoming a part of the community.

From CJ-
"There is therapy in expression, and freedom in self-expression. Whether literary, visual, musical, or physical, a unique perspective has the potential of bridging gaps - spiritually, mentally, and physically. Bridging gaps, and lapses in humanity. Gaps that may divide and separate humanity based on surface level judgment(s). I believe this is why arts & humanities will always go hand and hand. Art is beauty conveyed through the creative lenses of an artist, free spirit, and/or a free mind."    Let’s work together!

To learn more about CJ, visit
For youth mentorship and/or counseling (limited availability):
https://www.cjwardcreations.com/the-ward-wellness-services

To book for workshops, sponsorships, trainings/webinars/seminars, or speaking engagements:
https://www.cjwardcreations.com/booking-speaking-engagements

For products and other services:
https://www.cjwardcreations.com/products

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https://youtu.be/h3DUsU27AxM

Jeff sits down with Christina Henley, co-curator of the The Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Exhibit at Living Arts to hear about what this experience has meant to her at a deeper level, about her perspective on the impact of this exhibit on people who have interacted with it, and her thoughts on how this has been a "mind altering" experience for her and for many others.

Artist Statement-
Creating is a sensory experience for me in process and execution. I think about the materials I use. How they feel to the touch, the texture I want to show and convey. Choosing colors that are striking, bold, unusual and jarring, and the emotions I want to evoke to myself and the viewer. Sometimes, I'll include three dimensional elements to push the piece even further into the sensory experience. I want the viewer to feel what I feel by what they see, while also forming their own interpretation or idea of what they are looking at. I don't want to conform and I think my artwork expresses that.

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https://youtu.be/N_AiiTGVAcU

Jeff sits down with Grammy Award winning multi-instrumentalist musician, producer, arranger,  composer, recording artist, and podcast host Leo Sidran to hear about his journey in creating a longform interview podcast, The Third Story, and about how he developed his own unique musical style over the years.

To learn more about Leo and his music and work, visit 
http://www.leosidran.com

To learn more about Leo's podcast, visit
http://www.third-story.com

Leo Sidran is a multi instrumentalist musician, producer, arranger, composer, recording artist, and podcast host.

The Third Story podcast features long-form interviews with creative people of all types.

Their stories of discovery, loss, ambition, identity, improvisation, risk, and reward are deeply moving and compelling for all of us as we embark on our own creative journeys.

He was born and raised in Madison, Wisconsin, which is sometimes referred to as 70 square miles surrounded by reality. His father, Ben Sidran, another multifaceted music man, provided my early musical sustenance. His mother, a weaver and travel agent, provided texture and safe passage.

He got his start writing songs professionally as a teenager when the Steve Miller Band recorded four of his songs for their 1993 Wide River album. His father was working with Miller at the time, which is how he made the connection, but even then, at the ripe old age of 15, he was interested in production. So, Steve invited him to play keyboards, guitars and drums on the record. 

He co-produced the Academy Award Winning song, "Al Otro Lado Del Rio" from the film The Motorcycle Diaries with Jorge Drexler in 2005. 

After the Oscar win, he made a move to Brooklyn and not only started producing records for other artists, but also composing music for film and television commercials amassing a catalog of 100s of major TV ads for clients like Coca-Cola, Visa, Lincoln, McDonalds, Stella Artois, Ford, Garnier and over a dozen film scores for outlets such as ESPN 30 for 30, Discovery, IFC, Sundance, and PBS. 

As a drummer, he has played and recorded with jazz luminaries including Phil Woods, Howard Levy, David Fathead Newman, Clark Terry and Dave Grusin, and as an engineer he has worked with artists ranging from Snarky Puppy to Massive Attack.

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https://youtu.be/nLuCmF2oA5w

Jeff sits down with artist Kelsey Irvin to hear about her artistic perspective, her career, how she got started, and about how she and her work have evolved over the years.

To learn more about Kelsey and her work, visit
www.kelseyirvin.com
www.instagram.com/kelsey.irvin

https://vimeo.com/258729079
https://vimeo.com/187060686

Driven to bring new life to objects that may otherwise have been lost in time, Kelsey Irvin finds herself collecting traces of lives lived – “memories misplaced in need of recognition.” After spending many years exploring a wide range of techniques and media, the artist has developed a unique way of incorporating drawing, painting, and collage into almost all of her work. Reaching for a balance between the past and the present, her work exudes a deep sense of nostalgia. 

Irvin studied at St. Lawrence University in Upstate New York before venturing to Southern California, where she now lives. Her paintings are in public and private collections throughout the United States, Italy, Dubai, Greece, Singapore, and China. 

“Using vintage ephemera in my work is a way to pay homage to those memories, those lives. In a world that is becoming more digital each day, I’m driven to bring new life to objects that may otherwise be lost and deteriorated in time. The challenge I seek is to maintain a balance between working with such old objects and recreating them in a contemporary artwork that holds the test of time.”

Irvin’s work is in the art collection at the International Museum of Collage, Assemblage and Construction in Santa Fe, NM. She has been in exhibitions at Laguna Art Museum, Pensacola Museum of Art, Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, Attleboro Arts Museum, and in several gallery exhibitions across the United States as well as Greece.

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https://youtu.be/_rOAGN2jDOs

Jeff sits down with artist and educator Francine Campbell as she shares some incredibly compelling and meaningful stories about her experiences growing up in Deep Greenwood and about the connection between her childhood and why she chose to work as a teacher.

She also speaks very candidly about her artwork that is featured in The Race Massacre Centennial Project at Living Arts of Tulsa and about some of the other artists' work that really speaks to her.

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https://youtu.be/Vn8o8B75fpg

Jeff sits down with artist Adam Carnes as he shares very deeply about what informs his work, about how moving to Tulsa and working here has changed his Consciousness, and about his work that is in the Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Project exhibit at Living Arts of Tulsa.

Adam Carnes (b. 1981), is a Tulsa transplant via Brooklyn. He received his MFA from the New York Academy of Art and BFA from the Ringling College of Art and Design.

To learn more about Adam and his work, visit
https://www.adamcarnes.com
https://www.instagram.com/adamcarnesart/

*Photo by Melissa Lukenbaugh & Tulsa Artist Fellowship

GKFF awarded Carnes with the 2017-2020 Tulsa Artist Fellowship. 

Growing up in Florida during the development of the Information Age, Carnes has been striving to maintain his connection with humanity through painting. Skira Rizzoli’s
publication “The Figure” includes Adam’s work and is sold in museum book stores like the Met, Royal Academy and National Gallery. 

His Griots art pieces were published in BOMB Magazine’s Summer 2021
issue #156 and “RELEASE ME, the Spirits of Greenwood Speak” anthology.

These “Griots” pieces are an extension of my “Strangers, Friends & Sacred” series and they honor the 1921Tulsa Race Massacre survivors for their contributions to Tulsa’s Historic Greenwood District, dubbed “Black Wall Street” for it’s thriving concentration of black entrepreneurs. 

The overarching narrative speaks to the triumph of the human spirit.
Griot is a “West African troubadour-historian. The griot profession is hereditary and has long been a part of West African culture. The griots’ role has traditionally been to preserve the genealogies, historical narratives, and oral traditions of their people; praise songs are also part of the griot’s répertoire.

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https://youtu.be/4Z5gcfO9NHw

Jeff sits down with Patrick McNicholas to hear him share about all of his artistic work over the years, about how he got started, and more specific information about Time-Travel Tulsa.

Patrick McNicholas is the artist behind Time-Travel Tulsa. His time-bending artwork has been featured in various museums and exhibitions since the creation in 2018. Nearing the centennial of the Tulsa Race Massacre, McNicholas began a powerful series memorializing the Greenwood community and resilience to rebuild. His work is now on display at Living Arts for the Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Project.

To learn more about Patrick and his work, visit
https://tulsapast.com

IG & FB
@tulsapast

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https://youtu.be/cGhIkcYpAZ4

Jeff sits down with Dr. Delia Gillis to hear about her work in education and about her creative endeavors.

She shares very compellingly about why it is so important to her to teach and share history and Africana Studies to her students and about her passion for making it relevant and about what is going on today.

Dr. Gillis also reflects about why it is so important to her to participate in the Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Project Exhibition at Living Arts that opens May 7th.

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https://youtu.be/GRb65RBg5jY

Jeff sits down with artist Marium Rana to hear about her artistic perspective, about her process, and what it all means to her at a deeper level.

She also speaks about her work that is on exhibit currently for the OVAC Momentum show at Living Arts of Tulsa.

Marium Rana is an American-born Pakistani visual artist, who works primarily in ink and aqueous media. She is a graduate from Florida State University, where she received a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Studio Art in 2013 and a Masters in Art Education in 2014. 

In 2011, Marium received a research grant from Florida State University to study Mughal miniature painting in Lahore, Pakistan. She was a teacher of visual art and art history in Tampa, Florida for 5 years. 

Marium has exhibited, curated exhibitions, painted murals, and taught workshops all over the United States. 

Her work has been on display at the Children’s Museum of Manhattan, Yale University, Aqua Art during Art Basel Miami Beach, and the Joshua Tree Art Gallery among others. 

Marium currently resides near Tulsa, Oklahoma.

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https://youtu.be/do7n48EFD_M

Jeff sits down for a brief visit with artists Letitia Huckaby and Skip Hill about their upcoming exhibit at 108 Contemporary, "My Soul Looks and Wonder How I Got Over" which opens April 3rd and runs through June 20th.

“My Soul Looks Back and Wonder How I Got Over” is a thoughtful visual dialogue that uses art to examine how the pervasiveness of a collective past informs our present, and how the persistence of hope and collective purpose positively redeems us to our present, and our future. Hill and Huckaby use collage and fiber and for this specific body of work are influenced by the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921.