Artists Talk with LVA: July 10, 2025

This week, we talked with Licia Priest, the winner of the 2025 Bill Fischer Award for Visual Art. Tune in to WXOX 97.1 FM/Artxfm.com each Thursday at 10am to hear Artists Talk with LVA.

Licia Priest: I Am We Crafting Community in Paper Tole is at KMAC Museum through August 17th, 2025

Priest is a bold interdisciplinary artist whose work blends painting, photography, digital media, sculpture, and even scent and sound. Rooted in personal reflection and cultural reclamation, her vibrant, layered pieces draw on childhood memories, travels to Zimbabwe, and a deep connection to textiles.

This body of work is an ongoing investigation into identifying and analyzing African & African-American cultural similarities & differences due to the African Diaspora.  Priest’s artistic practice explores perceived views versus the realities of Africa. Through an onsite immersion in African culture, similarities & differences are captured through photography.

Intrigued by traditional “craft” techniques, Priest utilizes them to express ideas, feelings and vision thereby creating “fine art” that appeals to the mind and touches the emotions . African art does not draw such a clear delineation & thus she, of African roots seems more drawn inherently to that way of viewing art, despite being a product of African-American heritage.

The process used in this body of art is called, Paper Tole. First comes  photographs, then manipulation of the imagery through color changes, merging imagery, altering line, space & shape. Next duplicates of the image & use of up to 40 layers occurs, cutting each layer out by hand , stacking shaping & coloring the edges & then assembling the work. This is a fresh new approach to a very old “craft”,  to create a level of depth & complexity in the work that echoes the depth & complexities of African & African-American cultural norms.

Artists Talk with LVA: March 20, 2025

Julien Robson and Natalie Weis joined us this week to discuss Rounding the Circle, their book about the Al and Mary Shands collection. Tune in to WXOX 97.1 FM/Artxfm.com each Thursday at 10 a.m. to hear Artists Talk with LVA.

Rounding the Circle: The Legacy of Mary and Al Shands is a handsome hardcover volume, rich with full-color photography, that celebrates the art collection and philanthropy of the two late Louisville collectors.

The book's four essays (authored by Julien Robson, director of the Great Meadows Foundation; Peter Morrin, former director of the Speed Art Museum; John Yau, celebrated poet and art critic; and Natalie Weis, arts writer) chronicle Mary and Al's collection, the 2023 exhibitions at the Speed and at KMAC Museum, the sculpture preserve established on their Crestwood estate, and the creation of the Great Meadows Foundation. This non-profit has given more than $1M to Kentucky artists. It also includes short recollections by 12 artists impacted by Al or the foundation.

Trained as an artist at Bath Academy of Art and the Slade School of Fine Art, Julien Robson has held curatorial positions at the John Hansard Gallery at the University of Southampton (1984-1989), Speed Art Museum, Louisville, Kentucky (2000-2008) and Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Museum (2008-2012).

Natalie Weis is a writer and creative director based in Louisville, Kentucky. As an arts writer she has been featured in Dwell, Hyperallergic, Sculpture, Collectors, Burnaway, Ruckus, and on NPR. 

For over 13 years in the advertising world, she was a creative director who developed strategy and has written award-winning campaigns for brands including Maker’s Mark, Utz, Monogram, Carrier, GE Aviation, OhioHealth, The Speed Art Museum, Louisville City FC, Bardstown Bourbon Tourism, and The Library Foundation.

Artists Talk with LVA: April 11, 2024

From 2023 KMAC Couture

KMAC Couture is April 13 so this week we had 4 of the designer/artists in the studio with us: Juliet Taylor, Mallory Quisenberry, Edwin Ramirez & Trevor Decuir.

Tune into Artists Talk with LVA every Thursday at 10 am on 97.1 WXOX-FM or stream on

KMAC Couture is a wearable live art runway show presented by KMAC Museum. It is the signature fundraiser for KMAC Museum that provides funding for the Museum's educational programs and exhibitions. This event offers a unique way to experience art and fashion. KMAC Couture features and supports emerging and established artists, costumers, designers, and milliners through the extraordinary presentation of original couture pieces of wearable art and conceptual fashion designs. For tickets click HERE

Juliet Taylor is an interdisciplinary artist working with quilting wearable art. This is her first time with KMAC Couture.

Mallory Quisenberry is a fashion designer the founder of Green Folk Collective which features her “handcrafted slow fashion designs. This is her first time with KMAC Couture.

Edwin Alberto Ramirez is a Multimedia artist, costume designer, DJ, & pro dog trainer.

Trevor Decuir is a queer fiber artist just beginning to display work publicly.

Edwin and Trevor are working together on this KMAC Couture.

Artists Talk with LVA: January 18, 2024

Lori Larusso joined us in the studio this week to talk about her current exhibits in Dallas, TX and Danville, KY s well as the new monograph about her work, “Confected Landscapes”.

Lori Larusso is an American visual artist working primarily with themes of domesticity and foodways. Her body of work encompasses paintings and installations that explore issues of class, gender, and anthropocentrism, and how these practices both reflect and shape culture. Larusso’s work is exhibited widely in the US and is included in various public collections such as KMAC Contemporary Art Museum, 21c Museum, and other noteworthy private collections. She has been awarded numerous residency fellowships including Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, McColl Center for Art + Innovation, Sam & Adele Golden Foundation, and MacDowell where she received a Milton and Sally Avery Fellowship. She is a recipient of the Kentucky Arts Council’s Al Smith Fellowship, Kentucky South Arts Fellowship, and multiple grants from the Great Meadows Foundation and the Kentucky Foundation for Women. She currently lives and works in Louisville, Kentucky, and is represented by Rubine Red Gallery in Palm Springs, and Galleri Urbane in Dallas, TX.

Artists Talk with LVA: March 9, 2023

This week we talk with Sunyang Lim in South Korea about the Korea Fiber Art Forum and Feral Fagiola about the exhibit she has curated for the 849 Gallery, Solve et Coagula, opening Friday. Tune in to WXOX 97.1 FM/Artxfm.com each Thursday at 10 am to hear Artists Talk with LVA.

Sunyang Lim is a Professor, Dongduk Women’s University, Seoul, Korea Fiber Arts, and Textile Design. She earned both a BFA and MFA from Dongduk Women’s University, Seoul, Korea, BFA, and has also studied at SUNY and in France and received her Ph.D. from Hanyang University. She is just one of the many artists participating in the Korea Fiber Form Biennial in Louisville. Her work can be seen at KMAC.

Feral Fagiola is an interdisciplinary artist exploring desire, power, and fetish in their work. Feral’s practice engages industrial materials, processes, and spaces as refractions of physical and implied structures of power on the body. Their sculptural objects, installations, and performances fantasize bodily possibilities through erotic rituals and material transformations. They are now the studio manager at Kentucky College of Art + Design (KYCAD).

Solva et Cuaglia, curated by Feral Fagiola is at KYCAD’s 849 Gallery through the end of March