ArtBeat Report on Talk the Talk

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ArtBeat Report on Talk the Talk

Each Friday morning, local artist, curator and arts community organizer Donnabelle Casis highlights art happenings in the Connecticut River Valley.

https://whmp.com/podcasts/shows/talk-the-talk/

08/20/2026

This Friday, I’ll be joined by Emma Chubb, Associate Director of Curatorial Affairs at the Smith College Museum of Art, for a conversation about *Composing Color: Paintings by Alma Thomas from the Smithsonian American Art Museum*.

Known for her radiant color, rhythmic patterns, and inspiration drawn from nature, music, and outer space, Alma Thomas created a visual language unmistakably her own. We’ll talk about her remarkable artistic journey, the works visitors will experience at SCMA, and why her bold vision still feels so fresh today.

Tune in **Friday at 9:45 AM on Talk the Talk/WHMP**
https://whmp.com/podcasts/shows/talk-the-talk/

Composing Color: Paintings by Alma Thomas from the Smithsonian American Art Museum is organized by the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Generous support has been provided by the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, Chris G. Harris, the Wolf Kahn Foundation, and Susan Talley.

The exhibition is made possible at SCMA by the support of the Suzannah J. Fabing Programs Fund for the Smith College Museum of Art; the Charlotte Feng Ford, class of 1983, Research and Travel Fund for Contemporary Art; the Ann Weinbaum Solomon, class of 1959, Fund; and the Art Bridges Foundation’s Access for All program.

08/13/2026

This Friday I will be speaking with Lidya Rivera-Early of the Mi Museo Committee about the Springfield Museums fourth annual Latino Arts Festival, a free celebration of the art, music, stories, and cultures that make Greater Springfield’s Latino community so vibrant.

We’ll talk about the work of Mi Museo, the importance of representation in our cultural institutions, and what’s in store for this year’s festival, including a special homecoming lecture with Smithsonian curator Dr. Ariana A. Curtis, live Puerto Rican bomba music and dance, artmaking, family activities, and exhibitions from the Museo de Arte de Ponce.

🎙️ Tune in LIVE Friday, August 14 at 9:45 AM on Talk the Talk/WHMP for ArtBeat Report! https://whmp.com/podcasts/shows/talk-the-talk/

08/07/2026

This Friday I'll be joined by artist Ava Harper to talk about her moving exhibition, Familial Bestiaries, now on view at Split Level Gallery at 33 Hawley Street in Northampton. This show is co-curated by Adrienne Albro-Fisher & Sophie Gill through A.P.E. Gallery's Emerging Curators Program.

What happens when art becomes a way to hold grief, memory, and love all at once?

Inspired by the loss of her sister, Ava's work weaves together photography, printmaking, and drawing to create a deeply personal world where oversized rabbits embody warmth and childhood, while vultures—often seen as symbols of death—become unexpected caretakers. Her work explores the spaces between reality and imagination, inviting us to consider how we remember, heal, and care for one another through loss.

Join us as we discuss the stories behind the exhibition, the symbolism of these powerful images, and how art can transform even our most difficult experiences into moments of connection.

🎙️ ArtBeat Report
📻 Friday at 9:45 AM
WHMP • Talk the Talk https://whmp.com/podcasts/shows/talk-the-talk/

Familial Bestiaries is on view through August 28 at Split Level Gallery, 33 Hawley Street, Northampton. The opening reception takes place during Arts Night Out on August 14 from 5–8 PM.

07/31/2026

Can art help us heal?

In a world filled with constant noise and distraction, what if an art exhibition became a place to simply breathe?

Join me for a conversation with interdisciplinary artist Angelica Olstad and Danielle Amodeo of Arts Equity Group about Music for Healing, an immersive exhibition that transforms the gallery at Paper City Clothing Company into a space for restoration through sound, movement, visual art, and neuroscience.

We'll explore how music affects the nervous system, why rest is essential to creativity and wellbeing, and how this exhibition invites everyone, regardless of their background, to slow down, listen, and reconnect with themselves.

📻 Friday at 9:45 a.m.
WHMP | Talk the Talk https://whmp.com/podcasts/shows/talk-the-talk/

Public Events you can attend:
- Piano Masterclass and community listening session with Angelica Olstad:
Wednesday, August 26 | 6-8pm free; advance sign-up required. More details coming
soon.

- Closing Reception and Embodied Movement Workshop: Thursday, August 27 | 6-8pm; Free and open to all; we recommend wearing comfortable clothing; the workshop
will be accessible to all ages and experience levels. Paper City Clothing Company
Gallery: 144 High St, Holyoke, MA 01040

07/24/2026

In an era of instant digital images, film photography is making a remarkable comeback, and it's bringing people together in unexpected ways.

This Friday at 9:45 am on ArtBeat Report, I'll be joined by Nikki and Dan, founders of Abracadabra Film, Easthampton's new community film lab, to talk about turning their passion for analog photography into a creative hub where artists, photographers, and curious beginners can connect.

Then, photographer Trevor Powers shares the story behind his powerful series of 35mm photographs documenting New England's independent wrestling scene. More than action shots, his images reveal the passion, belonging, and vibrant community found both inside—and outside—the ring.

Listen live at 9:45 am https://whmp.com/podcasts/shows/talk-the-talk/

🎙️ ArtBeat Report
📅 Friday, July 24
🕘 9:45 AM
📻 WHMP / Talk the Talk

07/10/2026

Tomorrow on ArtBeat Report!

What happens when an art exhibition invites you to do the one thing you've always been told not to do... touch the art?

Join me live at 9:45 am as I welcome Kiah Tinkham, owner, co-curator (with Eva Pushkova), and artist-in-residence of Waterway Arts in Turners Falls, to talk about their interactive exhibition, PLEASE TOUCH.

Featuring fifteen artists, the exhibition transforms visitors from observers into active participants. Some artworks respond to touch, others invite you to build, play, discover, or collaborate, creating a living record of everyone's participation. It's a joyful exploration of the connections between artist, audience, and community—and a reminder that creativity belongs to all of us.

We'll also talk about Waterway Arts' mission to make art accessible and why they've created a space they lovingly describe as "a living room with bizarre hours where you come for the commerce but stay for the community."

📻 Listen live Friday at 9:45 AM on Talk the Talk / WHMP for this inspiring conversation about art, participation, and building creative community. https://whmp.com/podcasts/shows/talk-the-talk/

06/19/2026

Tomorrow at 9:45 am, I'll sit down with Dean Brown of PULP Holyoke to explore the gallery's newest exhibitions, on view June 13–July 12.

In the main gallery, Anna Hepler, Roger Brouard, and Sean Sullivan present work that invites us to slow down and look more closely—through sculpture, drawing, and mixed media that examine memory, material, perception, and process. In the front gallery, Sean Greene's vibrant abstract paintings create a luminous counterpoint, using color and gesture to explore emotion and human connection.

Dean shares how these four distinct artistic voices came together, what conversations emerge between the works, and why seeing them in person offers an experience that can't be captured on a screen.

🎧 Listen to our conversation https://whmp.com/podcasts/shows/talk-the-talk/, see the exhibitions before they close on July 12.

06/05/2026

**Please Note an Earlier Time this Friday**
At 8:15 am on WHMP/Talk the Talk, I’ll be speaking with co-curators Madison Palffy and Rick Myers about B A D T I M E, an ambitious new exhibition at Caesura Unit in the Paragon Building, 150 Pleasant Street, 2nd floor, in Easthampton.

Bringing together more than twenty artists from Western Massachusetts, New York, Europe, and beyond, the exhibition explores themes of the body, repetition, labor, endurance, and the traces we leave behind. Included works span from 1871 to several newly commissioned pieces.

Head to Caesura Unit this Friday, June 5, at 8:30 pm (doors open at 6:30 pm) to experience an artist book performance, a rare public film screening, a live audio piece, and a listening event.

Tune in for a conversation about contemporary art, community, and a bold new gallery space in Easthampton. https://whmp.com/podcasts/shows/talk-the-talk/

05/29/2026

What happens when a community stitches its feelings about war into a shared work of art?

Today at 9:45 am on the ArtBeat Report on WHMP/Talk the Talk, I’ll be joined by Emma Chubb and Matt Cummings of OOO (Out of Office) in Easthampton, along with artist Mahwish Chishty, to discuss WOUNDS WE WEAR.

Wounds We Wear asks viewers and participants to consider their relationship to U.S. war technology and its current wars. Through embroidery, conversation, and collective participation, this powerful project invites community members to transform their emotional responses into patches that will become part of a larger installation exploring memory, identity, and the human impact of conflict. Chishty will incorporate these collectively-made patches into the installation at the center of her fall 2026 solo exhibition at the Herter Art Gallery at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Join us for a conversation about art, community, and the stories we carry beneath the surface. Tune in at 9:45 am here: https://whmp.com/podcasts/shows/talk-the-talk/

05/22/2026

For 30 years, William Baczek Fine Arts has brought exceptional contemporary art to downtown Northampton while building connections with artists and collectors around the world.

This Friday at 9:45 am on the ArtBeat Report on Talk the Talk, I’ll be speaking with gallery founder Will Baczek about the gallery’s 30th Anniversary Exhibition, featuring both longtime gallery artists and exciting new voices working across realism, abstraction, sculpture, film, and video.

We’ll talk about the evolution of the gallery, the changing contemporary art world, and what it means to sustain a vibrant arts space in Western Massachusetts for three decades.

The exhibition is on view through June 6th.

Tune in Friday at 9:45 am: https://whmp.com/podcasts/shows/talk-the-talk/

Address

15 Hampton Street
Northampton, MA
01060

Opening Hours

9am - 10am

Website

https://whmp.com/podcasts/shows/talk-the-talk/

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