Artists Talk with LVA: February 5, 2026

This week's guest, Aurora Noctua, recently exhibited at Grady Goods + Artpunk Gallery. Tune in to WXOX 97.1 FM / Artxfm.com each Thursday at 10 am to hear Artists Talk with LVA.

Aurora Noctua is a Kentucky native and local Louisville artist, writer, and designer. Her favorite medium is traditional pen and ink, coupled with mixed media techniques. Her hobbies are martial arts, video games, biking, hiking, writing, playing violin, and running the occasional Dungeons and Dragons campaign

"Ad Astra Per Aspera" Aurora Noctua's First Solo Show was at Grady Goods + Artpunk Gallery through Jan 31, 2026.

Artists Talk with LVA: March 12, 2025

It's almost time for LVA Honors & LVA Executive Director Angela Hagan joined us to talk with two of this year's Honorees: Chuck Swanson & Juliet Taylor. Tune in to WXOX 97.1 FM/Artxfm.com each Thursday at 10 am to hear Artists Talk with LVA.

Dr. Angela Hagan became the Executive Director of Louisville Visual Art in September 2024. For over a decade, she worked in leadership functions including development, marketing and communications, and community engagement for nonprofit organizations focused on affordable and fair housing, education, youth development, and art (KMAC Museum) before spending a decade at Louisville-based Fortune 60 health plan Humana, where she led functions  and teams in member engagement and community health strategy and insights.

Chuck Swanson is an artist, primarily a painter, but he is also one of the pioneer gallerists in Louisville, having opened a gallery on Bardstown Road in 1982 and then in 1998 on East Market Street in what would eventually become the celebrated NuLu neighborhood. For the record, Swanson opened the space near Market and Clay well ahead of the rechristening of the area, so he must be counted as one of the reasons why the once-neglected and depressed environs became a hot spot for redevelopment.

Juliet Taylor is an interdisciplinary artist working with quilting & wearable art. She was a featured designer in the 2024 KMAC Couture and was a part of the Material Obsessions exhibit in the fall of 2024 at KMAC Museum. Most recently she has worked as the lead fabricator on the SPARK sculpture scheduled to be unveiled on the LVA building in February 2025. Juliet was a student in LVA’s Children’s Fine Art Classes and at DuPont Manual Visual Art Magnet.

Artists Talk with LVA: March 16, 2023

LVA Honors is March 22 and this week we talk with two of the Honorees, Doug DeWeese (Visual Art Educator) & Ceirra Evans (Emerging Artist). Tune in to WXOX 97.1 FM/Artxfm.com at 10 am each Thursday to hear Artists Talk with LVA.

Douglas DeWeese was born and raised in Louisville and has taught art in that community for Jefferson County Public Schools for nearly 27 years.  Doug earned his Bachelor’s degree in Georgia, a Master of Art in Teaching the visual arts from the University of Louisville, and is a National Board Certified teacher.

He has been a part of the visual art faculty at duPont Manual High School for 21 years where he teaches painting, drawing, and printmaking classes.  He has been vital in modernizing and continuing high standards for the visual art magnet program and school, serving on the Admissions Committee, Instructional Leadership Team, Hiring Committee, and former sponsor of the National Art Honor Society at duPont Manual High School.  

Ceirra Evans is a Louisville-based painter depicting Appalachia and the working-class southern narrative. Ceirra’s work has been reviewed by Hyperallergic, The New Yorker, and other publications. Her work is exhibited in 21c Louisville and is held in multiple private collections.

Born and raised in Eastern Kentucky, Evans’ body of work depicts scenes directly from her early life in the foothills of the Appalachian region. Her work depicts stories of generational poverty, trauma, rural queerness, and familial relationships. Ceirra’s work uses humor and illustration to sift through the discourse critiquing the region.

Artists Talk with LVA: December 15, 2022

LVA’s The Local Muse will be at the Flea Off Market's Holiday Bazaar at The Henry Clay Building! Saturday, December 17th, & 18th. Featured artist, Katlyn Thompson will have her artworks on display and available for purchase. and we talked with her this week. Tune in to WXOX 97.1 FM/Artxfm.com each Thursday at 10 am to hear Artists Talk with LVA.

"The subjects of my work can be whimsical in nature and invite the viewer into a brightly colored, dream-like universe. From turtles nesting in clouds to manta rays swimming in moonbeams, the creatures living in this universe are expanded with each piece I create.

I am also a local graduate of DuPont Manual High school in 2013. I went on to earn an Elementary Education degree. I am now a JCPS Art Teacher passionate about working with Elementary students to cultivate a creative, trauma-informed, and equitable culture for our future artists of Louisville."

Visit The Local Muse booth at the Flea Off Market's Holiday Bazaar at The Henry Clay Building! Saturday, December 17th, 11 am-6 pm, and Sunday, December 18th, 11 am-5 pm.

Vignette: 2021 Academy Outstanding Seniors

“God is the Greatest”, Tarina Henry, duPont Manual

By Keith Waits

Entire contents are copyright © 2021 Louisville Visual Art. All rights reserved.

How we measure academic development has been a somewhat controversial topic for quite some time now, but when we step into the arts the range of progress can be especially difficult to determine unless you know the student. If we follow a rubric for skills in draughtsmanship or understanding of color it can seem a dry and impersonal method to summarize what is expected to be a highly personal means of expression. These students were recognized in an awards presentation at the Opening Reception for the 2021 Academy at LVA Exhibition:

Academy at LVA student Elaina Render, a senior at duPont Manual, has many still life studies in her portfolio that allow us to track her earnest growth, but it is in her “Poe” that we see the cumulative results. The B&W pen and ink drawing is almost perfectly composed, a cleanly executed graphic illustration that displays a sensibility following in the footsteps of the legendary Edward Gorey.

Elaina was accepted into a whole roster of top schools, and has decided to attend Georgia Institute of Technology.

“Poe”, Elaina Render, duPont Manual

North Oldham senior Malva Wieck’s pencil study of a wrapped peppermint shows an attention to detail and accomplished comprehension of dimension. The thought of spending a few hours looking intently at a piece of candy might sound like the epitome of boredom, but that patient observation is an instructor’s dream. 

In the fall Malva will attend the “school of my dreams”: Amherst College, where she has been awarded significant financial aid and intends to double-major in Environmental Science and Art History.

“Minty Fresh”, Malva Wieck, North Oldham HS

Raegan Coots spent five years in the LVA Children’s Fine Art Classes (CFAC) and four in the Academy, all while staying on the Honor Roll and being consistently recognized for outstanding achievement at Trinity High School. His “Clipper Ship” has the straightforward narrative thrust that places us in the pages of a book; the vessel moving off the edge of the page suggesting a continuing story.

Raegan has been accepted into Indiana University Southeast where he expects to major in Fine Arts with a concentration in Graphic Design.

“Clipper Ship”, Raegan Coots, Trinity HS

In contrast to these first three young artists, Tarina Henry has come to the Academy at LVA in just her last semester before college, but she was clearly busy at the Visual Arts Magnet at duPont Manual and being a Governor’s Scholar. Her “God is the Greatest” is a stunning expression of islamic culture that shows off a very sophisticated use of color.

Tarina has committed to the University of Kentucky’s College of Design for Architecture. She has received a Diversity Scholarship and Provost Scholarship on top of KEES, Federal Pell Grant, and other financial support.

Since 1925, LVA visual art education programs have been not only training the next generations of artists but also building an arts rich education for future leaders in all walks of life. Congratulations to all Academy at LVA seniors!

The 2021 Academy of LVA Exhibition
May 7 - 20

Monday through Thursdays 1 - 4 pm

LVA Gallery
1538 Lytle Street
Louisville, KY 40203
(502) 584-8166

Scroll Down to view more images

“Watermelon Haze”, Tarina Henry, Academy at LVA and duPont Manual student

“Northern Lights”, Malva Wieck, Academy at LVA and North Oldham HS student

“Apple a Day”, Elaina Render, Academy at LVA and duPont Manual student

“Eagle”, Raegan Coots, Academy at LVA and Trinity HS student

Written by Keith Waits.
In addition to his work as Operations Director at the LVA, Keith is also the Managing Editor of a website, Arts-Louisville.com, which covers local visual arts, theatre, and music in Louisville.