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/

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/

05/07/2026

What do our clothes reveal about who we are… and what do they hide?

This Friday at 9:45 am, I’ll be joined by artist Deborah Way to discuss her powerful new exhibition "What Wears You" at the Easthampton City Arts Gallery in Easthampton.

Through abstract fabric sculptures, Deborah explores identity, memory, vulnerability, class, and the hidden emotional layers we carry beneath our outward appearance. The work is tactile, psychological, and deeply human.

What Wears You is on view through May 29, 2026 at the ECA Gallery in Old Town Hall, Easthampton.

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

05/01/2026

What if we could see the past… again?

This Friday at 9:45 AM on WHMP’s Talk the Talk, I’m joined by Ligia Bouton to talk about her stunning exhibition The Remnant and The Echo—a project inspired by a 16th-century supernova and the incredible science of “light echoes,” where light from the past reappears centuries later.

Through video, photography, and sculptural work layered with real astronomical data, Ligia explores time, memory, and the often-overlooked contributions of astronomer Sophia Brahe. It’s a conversation that moves between art, science, and the stories that shape what we remember—and what gets lost.

Tune in live or catch the replay. This one will expand how you think about time itself.

📻 WHMP | Talk the Talk: https://whmp.com/podcasts/shows/talk-the-talk/
🗓 Friday, May 1
⏰ 9:45 AM

04/23/2026

This Friday at 9:45 AM, I’m joined by Chris Ferry, Festival Director of the Easthampton Film Festival, for a behind-the-scenes look at this year’s biggest lineup yet.

With 57 films, record-breaking submissions, and screenings across Easthampton and Northampton—including Smith College and Visions Video—this festival is a true celebration of independent film and local talent.

Tune in to hear what not to miss, how the festival is growing, and why this weekend is one for film lovers.

📻 Listen live: Friday, April 24 | 9:45 AM
WHMP / Talk the Talk https://whmp.com/podcasts/shows/talk-the-talk/

Tickets: https://www.easthamptonfilmfestival.com/

04/10/2026

What happens when movement, words, and sound meet without a script?

This Friday at 9:45 AM, I’ll be joined by Jennifer Polins of School for Contemporary Dance and Thought and one of the artists, Cameron Childs to talk about HUT X3, an interdisciplinary performance that brings artists together in real-time improvisation.

Now in its 14th season, HUT has become a space where risk, listening, and experimentation take center stage, inviting audiences into something raw, unexpected, and alive.

Cameron Childs brings a rich background in dance, choreography, and research exploring the body’s relationship to architecture, space, and lived experience. Jennifer Polins continues to shape HUT as a container for bold, boundary-pushing collaboration.

Listen live on WHMP or stream online to hear how this work comes together and why it matters now.

Then experience it live:
Saturday, April 11 at 8 PM
The Workroom, 33 Hawley Street, Northampton.

Tickets: zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/hut-performance-x3

04/03/2026

New plays. Live voices. That electric moment when something on the page becomes real.

Tune in at 9:45 am this morning as I speak with playwrights Talya Kingston and Harley Erdman about the Play By Play Festival 2026—a special 20th anniversary celebration of the Northampton Playwrights Lab.

From surreal journeys through Manhattan’s underworld to bold reimaginings of biblical stories and deeply human reckonings with truth, these staged readings invite you into the heart of the creative process—where stories are tested, shaped, and brought to life in real time.

🗓 April 23–26
📍 The Workroom, 33 Hawley Street, Northampton

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

03/27/2026

✨ Today on ArtBeat Report ✨

At 9:45 AM on WHMP / Talk the Talk, I’ll be in conversation with artist Donna Castellanos about her immersive exhibition Book of Wonder, Cover to Cover: A Hands-on Journey with Donna Castellanos, on view March 28–September 6 at the Springfield Museums.

We'll talk about transforming old books into playful, imaginative worlds, and why creativity is something we’re all invited into, not just something to observe.

Tune in live, or listen back here: https://whmp.com/podcasts/shows/talk-the-talk/

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