Artists Talk with LVA: February 26, 2026

Chenoa Buster is an MA candidate in Curatorial Studies at the University of Louisville’s Hite Institute. She opens her thesis exhibit at Artportal on March 6 and joins us in the studio this week. Tune into Artists Talk with LVA on WXOX 97.1 FM every Thursday at 10 AM.

Chenoa Buster is a curator and interdisciplinary artist located in Louisville, Kentucky. She is currently a candidate for a Master's Degree in Curatorial Studies & Critical Theory at the University of Louisville. Chenoa has been working as a freelance artist for 8 years with experience in installation, curation, painting, and photography. 

Her thesis exhibition Life is Elsewhere: Social Surrealism in Kentucky Photography,  opens March 5th at ArtPortal in the Portland neighborhood. It brings together contemporary Kentucky photographers and historical works to explore how surrealist strategies respond to social environments.

Participating contemporary artists include Jon Cherry, Ryan Grant, Jo Morecraft, WeirdHaus Photography, Natalie Christenson, Josie Seymour, Carey Neal Gough, Amber Theineman, and Misha Bocharov. The exhibition also features historical work by Cranston Ritchie

Life is Elsewhere: Social Surrealism in Kentucky Photography

March 5th, 2026-May 7th, 2026, Opening Reception Date: March 5th, 6pm-8pm

Location: ArtPortal, 1535 Lytle St, Louisville, KY 40203

Life is Elsewhere: Social Surrealism in Kentucky Photography

Chenoa Buster

Artists Talk with LVA: February 19, 2026

Matt, Tim, & Dawn

The 2026 Art in City Hall exhibit is now open, and this week our guests are 3 of the artists: Dawn Della Bella, Matthew Hagan, & Tim O' Connell. Tune in to WXOX 97.1 FM / Artxfm.com each Thursday at 10 am to hear Artists Talk with LVA.

Dawn Della Bella was raised in San Diego, California, but she and her family moved to Louisville in 1994. She and her husband both worked for the Archdiocese of Louisville for over 25 years and retired together in 2022.  Now, I spend all of my free time painting. 

Tim O’ Connell took a 20-year sabbatical from art in the 90s to coach volleyball. First at Male High School, then at DuPont Manual. Art filled the void after he retired. Since then, he has been selected to display at the Kentucky Bourbon Festivals, and, more recently in the Galt House East.

Matthew Hagan is an accountant by trade and also a landscape and wildlife photographer. He lives in Louisville, KY, with his wife and two daughters. He and his family love the great outdoors and can often be found hiking, kayaking, and traveling. Matthew is also an avid fisherman, and when not working or with his family, can usually be found wading in a stream or on a river.

The 2026 Art in City Hall exhibit runs through January 2027 at Metro Louisville’s City Hall. This year’s exhibition also includes work from Sheila Fox and Isabella Corine.

2026 Art in City Hall

Dawn Della bella, Matthew Hagan, Tim O' Connell

Artists Talk with LVA: February 12, 2026

Kathryn Brooks, MA candidate in Hite Art Institute's Curatorial Studies program, joined us this week on Artists Talk with LVA on WXOX 97.1 FM to discuss their thesis exhibit at 21c.

Kathryn Brooks, a student in the MA Program in Critical & Curatorial Studies at the Hite Institute of Art + Design, curated After Precarity as part of the program’s culminating MA Thesis Project, gaining hands-on experience organizing a professional exhibition at a major contemporary art venue.

After Precarity runs through June 2026  at the 21c Museum Hotel, 700 W Main Street, Louisville, Kentucky 40202 (top floors, galleries 4 & 5)

After Precarity features work that has rewritten the narrative of discardable consumer goods, finding beauty in what was disposed of. 

Louisville-based artists, including UofL Professor Mitch Eckert, Albertus Gorman, Lori Larusso, and Tom Pfannerstill, each find their muse and often their material of choice in the discarded articles of consumer goods found in trash receptacles, along riverbanks, and on roadsides.

After Precarity at 21c Museum & Hotel Louisville

Kathryn Brooks

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.

Ad Astra Per Aspera at Grady Goods

Aurora Noctua

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.

"Market Boom: Emerging artists from Louisville's East Market District 2000-2008" at WheelHouse Art

Thaniel ion Lee