Artists Talk with LVA: January 29, 2026

Thaniel Lee joins us to discuss his first curatorial effort, Market Boom: Emerging Artists from Louisville’s East Market District 2000–2008, the day before it opens at WheelHouse Art. Tune in to WXOX 97.1 FM / Artxfm.com each Thursday at 10 am to hear Artists Talk with LVA.

Thaniel Ion Lee's work explores both the body and the mind. His work attempts to make the viewer look beyond the everyday by juxtaposing unrelated symbols and words to force the viewer to connect concepts that are normally separated in the viewer's mind.

Lee's work has been exhibited at the Speed Art Museum, the Kentucky Museum of Art + Craft, and was represented at Swanson Contemporary in Louisville, KY from 2005 to 2019. His work can be found in the collections of the KMAC Museum, 21c Museum Hotels, the University of Louisville, as well as in private collections across Kentucky, California, and New York, among others.

Market Boom: Emerging artists from Louisville's East Market District 2000-2008 at WheelHouse Art, Curated by Thaniel Ion Lee

January 30 - March 14, 2026. Opening reception Friday, January 30, 2026, 6:00 - 8:00 pm.

Artists Talk with LVA: July 3, 2025

Artistas Cubanos Chévere opens at Louisville Visual Art on July 11th. Two of the artists, Carlos Gamez De Francisco & Julio Cesar joined us in the studio this week. Tune in to WXOX 97.1 FM/Artxfm.com each Thursday at 10 am to hear Artists Talk with LVA.

Carlos Gamez de Francisco was born in post-revolutionary Cuba in 1987, to a Cuban-Spanish mother and a Cuban-American father. He grew up in Cuba and was educated in an academic style heavily influenced by the Russian Academy. At age five, he determined, with absolute certainty, that he would be an artist. By the time he was fifteen, Gamez de Francisco was diligently painting 8 hours a day, every day. Today, he often spends 15 hours a day painting and feels “very blessed to do what I love.”His exceptional talent, hard work, and perseverance led him to earn artistic commissions and recognition.

Julio Cesar Rodríguez Aguilar was born in 1976 in Holguin, Cuba. From a very early age, he was enthusiastic about drawing. As an adolescent, he entered the Vocational School of Art Raúl Gómez Garcia, and later he entered the Professional Academy of Visual Arts in his city, graduating in the specialty of Painting, Drawing, Photography, and Artistic Weaving in 1995. Julio also went on to be a professor of the arts and involved himself in book illustration, stage and costume design, muralism, and more. 

He specifically found fascination in surrealism, which provided him with the necessary vision of what he most identified with: the mystical, the surreal, and the poetic.

Artists Talk with LVA: May 8, 2025

Louisville native and U of L grad Robyn Gibson is a Black artist focused on self-portraiture and the exploration of her trauma, grappling with Black identity, the depiction, perception and value of Black bodies, and what it means to be authentic. She joins us in the studio this week to talk about that and more. Tune in to WXOX 97.1 FM/Artxfm.com each Thursday at 10 am to hear Artists Talk with LVA.

Robyn Gibson is an emerging artist and curator living and working in Louisville, KY.

She completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Louisville in 2014, earning a BFA in Painting and a BSBA in Marketing. Since receiving her MFA in 2018 from the New York Academy of Art, Gibson has been developing her multidisciplinary art practice.

After she started boxing in 2016, Gibson began incorporating it into her art practice. Larger-than-life-sized bold, gestural charcoal figures on canvas, a lyrical writing style meant to pack a punch, and voluptuous vessels inspired by her own curves all convey the movement and force important to her work and inspired by her boxing practice. The act of taking up space and claiming ownership of it is important to her work. As a Black artist focused on self-portraiture and the exploration of her trauma, Gibson grapples with Black identity, the depiction, perception and value of Black bodies, and what it means to be authentic.

Artists Talk with LVA: January 30, 2025

WheelHouse Art is pleased to present Amalgamation, a group exhibition featuring 46 artists on view now through February 15, 2025.T wo of these artists, Robert Stagg and Ethan Osman, will join us live in the studio this week. Tune in to WXOX 97.1 FM/Artxfm.com each Thursday at 10 am to hear Artists Talk with LVA.

2025 marks the 35th year of WheelHouse Art/B. Deemer Gallery, founded in 1990 by Brenda Deemer. Amalgamation celebrates the gallery's history by pairing together 23 B. Deemer Gallery legacy artists with 23 artists who started exhibiting here since the transition to WheelHouse Art. This exhibition brings into focus the continuing threads of talent, quality, and conceptual interests of the artwork featured in the gallery.

WheelHouse Art will host several receptions throughout the exhibition on Saturday afternoons from 1:00 - 3:00pm. Each reception will feature a handful of artists with artist talks at 2:00 pm.

February 1, 1:00 - 3:00pm: Robert Stagg, Ethan Osman, Lindsay Moremen, and Megan Bickel

February 8, 1:00 - 3:00pm: Thaniel Ion Lee, Liz Price, Brian Harper, Tiffany Carbonneau, Robyn Gibson, and Sabra Crockett.

Since graduating from the Kansas City Art Institute in 2006 with a BFA in Animation, Ethan Osman has continued a studio practice of making hand made, process based animated films. In its approach, the work is largely informed by parenting a neurodivergent child, his experience managing StudioWorks, an art studio that supports neurodivergent adult artists and his own experience living with learning disabilities. In recent years, he has developed collaborative relationships, shown work in film festivals, and galleries, and created commissioned work. This year, a music video was made for the song “Bananas” to promote an upcoming album by Bonnie Prince Billy.

Born in New Orleans, Robert Stagg has been an artist based in Louisville for more than 40 years. He holds 4 degrees in studio art and art history from the University of Kentucky, theUniversity of Louisville, and Louisiana College. He has work in several private and corporate collections including Brown-Forman, Corp., Capitol Holding, Commonwealth Insurance, the University of Louisville, and Louisville Gas & Electric.  

Artists Talk with LVA: October 17, 2024

Julian Powers has art with Wheelhouse Art and recently completed this mural at the Ballardsville Kroger. Tune in to WXOX 97.1 FM/Artxfm.com each Thursday at 10 am to hear Artists Talk with LVA.

Julian Powers is a Louisville-based digital artist and painter. In his work, Julian delves into the realm of Turing patterns, where mathematics and art converge to form captivating visual narratives. 

“Through meticulous study of algorithms and natural processes, I craft compositions that reflect the intricate beauty found in biological systems and physical phenomena. Each piece serves as a testament to the inherent harmony and complexity of nature, rendered through digital mediums with a balance of precision and spontaneity. By inviting viewers to engage with these dynamic patterns, I aim to evoke a sense of wonder, contemplation, and connection to the profound mysteries of our universe.”