On The radar Podcast w Esther Callahan

On The radar Podcast w Esther Callahan

On this episode of On the Radar, the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder's series highlighting Black Minnesota creatives, host Damenica Ellis sits down with Esther Callahan, a Minneapolis artivist, curator and co-founder of the BLK Collectors, whose work spans art direction, curation, consulting, activism and community building all in service of one mission: ensuring Black artists are seen, supported and paid. When Operation Metro Surge began and families across the Twin Cities were sheltering in place, Callahan did not wait. She reached out to the Legacy Building and began collecting art donations to build handmade art kits, distributing them to schools, health care facilities, shelters and organizations across the state. Every Wednesday, she hosts art donation drop-offs and kit-making sessions. As an independent curator and art director, Callahan centers local artists in for-profit spaces like hotels, coffee shops and apartment buildings, and curates exhibitions at spaces like the Gordon Parks Gallery at Metro State University. Her curatorial philosophy is intentionally unconventional, from wheat-paste installations on building exteriors to poetry walks in washable chalk on sidewalks, participatory exhibitions and installations designed to be viewed from the floor up or high above eye level. The question that launched the BLK Collectors began during her fellowship in the contemporary art department at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Callahan kept asking: why isn't the art owned by people who look like us? That question led to a collaboration with Kesha Williams, a gallerist at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, and eventually to the founding of the BLK Collectors, an organization working to make the local Black art economy more accessible and navigable, educating collectors on how to commission work and connect with Black artists and spaces doing that work right now in the Twin Cities. Callahan also shares her vision for a progressive studio crawl, modeled after a progressive dinner, where small groups move from artist studio to studio or gallery to gallery, sharing a meal and easing into conversations about art in an informal and accessible way. Coming up, Callahan is serving as art director for Soul of the South Side, the Juneteenth festival in its fifth year, where she is curating a retrospective of five years of photographs displayed through the second floor of the Coliseum building. To follow the BLK Collectors, find them on Instagram at @theblkcollectors and send a message to be added to Callahan's listserv for first access to upcoming events. To nominate a Black Minnesota creative for a future episode of On the Radar, visit msr.media.

On The radar Podcast w Pavielle French

On this episode of On the Radar, the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder's series highlighting Black Minnesota creatives, host Damenica Ellis sits down with PaviElle French, an Emmy-winning interdisciplinary artist, musician, dancer, writer, composer and arts educator whose decades of work have made her one of the most celebrated and deeply rooted artists in the Twin Cities. French grew up in the Rondo neighborhood of St. Paul, where she began singing in the choir at Maxfield Magnet School under Mary Hafner, director of music at Pilgrim Baptist Church. She trained at Mississippi Creative Arts Magnet School, performed professionally as a child alongside John Denver and Mannheim Steamroller at the Orpheum Theatre, and came up through Penumbra Theater, Stepping Stone Theatre and the Twin Cities slam poetry and hip-hop scenes, mentored by some of the most significant figures in Black American art. She is a McKnight Fellow, a Jerome Fellow and a MacDowell Fellow, whose work sits in the MacDowell library alongside Toni Morrison and James Baldwin. She is a two-time Emmy Award winner, most recently for her work as host of the Making Minnesota Music documentary series from the Minnesota History Center. In this conversation, French talks about her debut album Fear Not, a grief project written after the deaths of both of her parents five months apart. She discusses the Sovereign Suite, her celebrated response to the murder of George Floyd, commissioned by the American Composer Forum and bringing together the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Schubert Club, True Art Speaks, Walker West Music Academy and Purple Playground. The suite earned her the MacDowell Fellowship and has reached audiences internationally. French also shares details about a 100-page arts education curriculum she co-wrote with three educators, structured around truth, liberation and sovereignty and designed to help young people process trauma through art. She is currently seeking funding to offer it free to teachers and arts organizations across the Twin Cities. Looking ahead, she is developing a documentary called Legendary Pathmakers, tracing the interconnected web of Black creative life in Minnesota across generations through interviews with the artists, activists, educators and mentors who shaped her from childhood. She closes with practical advice for emerging artists: copyright everything, book yourself, build your own momentum and never let anyone talk you out of your style. On the Radar is produced by Emmanuel Duncan and presented by the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder.  #OnTheRadar #PaviElleFrench #Rondo #BlackCreatives #MSRNews #SovereignSuite #TwinCitiesArts #Emmy

On The Radar w Kprecia Ambers

On this episode of On the Radar, the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder's series highlighting Black Minnesota creatives, host Damenica Ellis sits down with Kprecia Ambers, a Minneapolis-based visual artist whose vibrant figurative work is built around a simple but powerful intention: putting love into the world. Ambers describes herself first as a child of God, and that foundation shapes everything she creates. Her work centers Black beauty, self-love and representation, drawing on a desire she felt acutely growing up and in college, where she rarely saw herself reflected in the creative spaces around her. The response to that absence became her artistic direction. Her style is figurative and intentionally approachable. She works primarily in Adobe Illustrator, using the pen tool to break photographs down into shapes and rebuild them into something vibrant and expressive. One of her signature choices is leaving eyes out of her figures, a deliberate move that opens the work up to the viewer. Without a fixed gaze, the person in the piece can be anyone. The emotion belongs to whoever is looking. Color is central to everything Ambers makes. The palette is bold and intentional, designed to stir feelings of positivity, encouragement and good energy. And because she works digitally, her art is built to move, across murals, vinyl wraps, bus wraps, packaging, home decor, stationery, greeting cards, shower curtains, rugs, mugs and journals. That vision has already landed in significant places. Ambers previously licensed her work through Target, with designs appearing on pillows, tumblers, rugs and shower curtains. She also created the artwork for Soul of the Southside, a project centered on themes of generational connection and family, and completed a billboard project in partnership with Alaina. Commercial licensing remains her long-term goal, building an art library she controls and can deploy across products and platforms on her own terms. Her path to visual art ran through an unexpected detour. After exploring fashion design and finding those courses unavailable, she landed in web design. A graphic design course changed everything. A single poster project revealed what she was actually after: art as a vehicle for human connection. Ambers recently joined the Rondo Exchange, where she now has her own space to showcase how her work translates across different products and surfaces. She describes the opportunity as arriving right on time, a chance to pour back into her own artistry and let her community see the full range of what her art can become. Coming up, Ambers will be showing work at Art-A-Whirl from May 15 through 17 on the third floor of the California Building in Northeast Minneapolis. She is also planning to participate in the Selby Art Fair in June, Juneteenth events and an upcoming gala hosted by the African American Leadership Forum centered on the health of Black women, girls and femmes, with an Afrofuturism theme, for which she is currently creating an original piece. To follow her work or shop online, find her on social media at @Kprecia and visit https://www.kpinspires.com. On the Radar is presented by the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder. Read more community news and culture coverage at msr.media. #OnTheRadar #KpreciaAmbers #KPInspires #BlackArtists #Minneapolis #RondoExchange #MSRNews #BlackArt #ArtAWhirl

On the Radar: Sayge Carroll of Mudluk Pottery Studio

This episode of On the Radar features Sayge Carroll, co-founder of Mudluk Pottery Studio—a grassroots ceramics space redefining what it means to create in community. Rooted in South Minneapolis, Mudluk is more than a studio—it’s a sanctuary for expression, healing, and connection, built as a Black, queer, woman-owned space where artists of all backgrounds can come together.   Sayge shares their journey as an interdisciplinary artist, blending clay, sound, and storytelling to honor ancestral lineage while building spaces that bring people together. From community feasts to inclusive programming and hands-on workshops, this conversation explores how art can be both deeply personal and powerfully communal—and why getting your hands in the clay might just reconnect you to something bigger

ON THE RADAR w Antione Jenkins

On this episode of On the Radar, we sit down with Minneapolis-based multidisciplinary artist Antione Jenkins, whose work spans from custom sneakers to large-scale community murals. From early beginnings doodling in school to creating powerful public art across the Twin Cities, Jenkins shares how he turned his passion into a full-time creative career. We talk about his journey building Skntones, collaborating with major brands and sports teams, and using art as a tool to highlight Black excellence and uplift community voices. From the iconic “Truck Angel” mural to new work inside Target Field, Jenkins is making his mark on the culture one piece at a time.   Tap in for a conversation about creativity, purpose, and what it means to make the world your canvas.