ON THE RADAR

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.

On The Radar with Kevin Washington: Rhythm, Legacy, and the Sound of Community

On this episode of On The Radar, we sit down with Kevin Washington — a master drummer, educator, and genre-blending musician whose sound carries the spirit of Black music across generations. From his Detroit roots to his impact on the Twin Cities music scene, Kevin shares his journey, his approach to rhythm and storytelling, and how he’s using music to mentor, connect, and keep the culture alive.

Maxie Rockymore: Award-Winning Filmmaker on Black Storytelling, "Fresh Cut" & What Comes Next

In this episode of On the Radar — the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder's series highlighting Black Minnesota creatives — host Damenica Ellis sits down with writer, screenwriter, filmmaker, and playwright Maxie Rockymore to talk about her roots, her craft, and the stories she refuses to stop telling. Rockymore grew up in South Minneapolis, surrounded by Black families who had migrated north from Mississippi, Texas, and Alabama. She spent her childhood at Hosmer Library reading Langston Hughes and Nikki Giovanni, sat on neighbors' porches absorbing their stories, and was writing love poems for classmates for a dollar in high school. There was never one turning point, she says — writing simply always was. "I still see myself on the back steps in South Minneapolis writing stories, writing poems and just knowing that I was going to be a writer." Her short film "Fresh Cut," produced at Urban Touch Barbershop in South Minneapolis, follows Buzz — a young Black man released from juvenile detention who goes to work at his stepfather's barbershop while grieving the loss of his mother. To write it authentically, Rockymore spent a full year in the barbershop before putting the final script together. The film screened at the Twin Cities Black Film Festival, then traveled to festivals in California and Greece, including the Muses Film Festival. At the Golden Gate International Film Festival, it won the audience choice award with the highest views and ratings. Throughout the conversation, Rockymore speaks to her core artistic mission: writing Black people in their full humanity — not pathologized, not reduced to stereotype, but whole. "We have problems, we have deaths, we have violence, but what I don't like and what I try not to do is pathologize the Black experience. We are wonderful people. We're beautiful people. We have a past that precedes slavery because we have a history from Africa." She also looks ahead: Rockymore is currently writing a new screenplay set in Minnesota about a young Black woman schoolteacher navigating professional pressure, family, identity, and what success truly means. She hopes to bring it to a table read at the Minnesota Screenwriters Workshop, where she serves as president. For emerging Black writers and filmmakers in Minnesota, her message is clear: write constantly, take classes at Film North or the Playwrights' Center, volunteer on sets, and stay immersed in the art. And advocate for the funding that makes it all possible. "I wish there were more financial opportunities, more financial backing and funding for African-American women as filmmakers and artists and screenwriters. Because at the end of the day, you have to pay people." 🎬 Follow Maxie Rockymore on Instagram: @maxie.rockymore 🌐 Nominate a Black Minnesota creative for On the Radar: msr.media

Tish Jones on 20 Years of True Art Speaks | On the Radar | MSR News

In this episode of On the Radar, the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder's series spotlighting Black Minnesota creatives, host Dominica Ellis sits down with poet, MC, cultural producer and educator Tish Jones. Jones is the founder of True Art Speaks, a Twin Cities arts organization now celebrating its 20th anniversary. Built on a mission to cultivate literacy, leadership and social justice through spoken word and hip-hop culture, True Art Speaks has spent two decades working with young people, professional artists, aspiring creatives and communities in schools, prisons and beyond. In this conversation, Jones talks about what it means to live poetry as a way of life, not just a practice. She reflects on growing up in St. Paul's historic Rondo neighborhood and how that community shaped her voice, her purpose and her understanding of Black history on a national and global scale. Jones also breaks down what it means to be a cultural producer, how she thinks about convening people around Black genius and creative expression, and why cultural spaces rooted in specificity matter now more than ever. To mark the 20th anniversary of True Art Speaks, Jones is curating a monthlong residency at Ice House in Minneapolis, with March's event featuring an all-women lineup in celebration of Women's History Month, including Jand Dela Ray, Sienna, Jana the Moon, Cricket, DJ Cassopia and Omi Aoma. She also discusses her writing prompt decks, designed to give people an accessible entry point into poetry and social impact writing, with accompanying lessons dropping in April for National Poetry Month. And she is dreaming big about t