An interview series focusing on the contributions of local women and non-binary artists.
This program is hosted by Nancy Gebhart as a collaboration between the Margaret Sloss Center for Women and Gender Equity and KHOI Community Radio. Click on each artist's name to access a recording of their interview.
March 2023
March 2023 Featured Artists
Catherine Reinhart (she/her) is an interdisciplinary artist from Ames, IA. Reinhart creates fiber work and conducts social practice with abandoned textiles around themes of labor, connection, and care. She received her MFA - Textiles from the University of Kansas and a BFA - Integrated Studio Arts at Iowa State University. Reinhart exhibits locally, nationally, and internationally. She has exhibited at the Department of Land Economy, Cambridge University and Cambridge Artworks, Cambridge, UK, and the Spencer Museum of Art, Lawrence, KS. Reinhart has been selected as a presenter at the “Mending and Making Workshop” organized by the Endangered Material Knowledge Programme at the British Museum. Catherine's interview will air on March 6, 2023 at 4 pm CST.
October 2022
October 2022 Featured Artists
Tanvi Rastogi (she/her) is a former public librarian whose main area of focus was creating community spaces in which young people with marginalized identities were represented and validated and could find safe outlets for self-expression and exploration. She began painting in 2019 as a form of distraction and stress relief and primarily works with watercolor and pen or acrylic and Sharpie. In the years since she began painting, Tanvi has amassed a large collection of portraits of her partner Kris, as well as portraits of other Ames locals. Tanvi holds degrees in Sociology and Information Science from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ.
Zoë Fay-Stindt (she/Z/they) is a queer, bi-continental poet with roots in both the French and American south. Their work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, featured or forthcoming in places such as Southern Humanities, Ninth Letter, and Poet Lore, and gathered into a chapbook, Bird Body, winner of Cordella Press' inaugural Gwendolyn Brooks Poetry Prize. She lives right here in Ames, Iowa, where she is an MFA candidate at Iowa State University, an award-winning teacher, and a volunteer at Mustard Seed Community Farm.
Sang Lee (she/her) is an artist and designer living in Ames, Iowa. She is originally from Seoul, Korea, and grew up in Korea and Thailand before moving to the U.S. to study art. She received an MFA in Printmaking from Southern Illinois University and a second MFA in Graphic Design from Iowa State University. Sang's passion for cultural diversity and working with marginalized groups led her to work on her MFA thesis in graphic design, in which she researched the impact immigrant artists have on American culture and society, which allowed her to inform the community in Ames of the importance of culture and diversity, as well as the effects of migration on the community of artists in the U.S. Sang is currently working on doctorate research in Design/Human-Computer Interaction at Iowa State. She aims to further the understanding of the intersectional identity of audiences and designers, emphasizing the importance of addressing issues relating to equity and biases in design classrooms.
Vivian M. Cook (she/her), originally from the mountains of Arizona, serves as Community Engagement Director for The Eco Theatre Lab, Co-Producer for Focal Theatre Lab, and member of the Ames Climate Action Team. With a B.A. in Performing Arts and French, she is now a graduate student studying Community Development, Sustainable Agriculture, and Youth Program Management at ISU. In her studies and practice, Vivian works at the intersection of arts, community engagement, and social and environmental justice.
"Hello! My name is Charlie Esker (they/she). I am a local, nonbinary artist, born and raised in Iowa. I studied integrated studio arts and psychology at Iowa State and now work as a full time artist. In essence, my work has become a celebration of queerness and the queer experience, both my own and that of the larger queer community which inspires me every day. My art has grown and changed so much through my own transition, and I will continue to explore and evolve along with it."
Charlie, Vivian, Sang, Zoë, and Tanvi were asked to provide a playlist to accompany their interviews. Those songs were collected as an ARTiculations Volume 2 Spotify playlist that aired with the interview series.
March 2022
The first volume of interviews in the series featured Jamie Malone, Kristin Roach, Sara Merritt, and Helen Barton. The interviews aired during Women's History Month, March 2022, on KHOI Radio, 89.1 FM on Mondays at 4pm for local listeners. This interview series is part of the #WomenKnowStuffToo program series. Launched in 2020, #WomenKnowStuffToo has aimed to celebrate the expertise, special skill sets, and unique perspectives of women and non-binary artists through talks, workshops, and discussions.
This program was a collaboration with Dr. Emily Morgan, College of Design, Dr. Ruxandra Marcu and Nancy Gebhart, Margaret Sloss Center for Women and Gender Equity, and Rosie Rowe, Parks Library. Special thanks to KHOI Community Radio, Humanities Iowa, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
March 2022 Featured Artists
Helen Nabuduwa Barton (she/her) is a designer and creator living in Ames, Iowa. Growing up in Uganda, community and connection are some of her core values. Helen considers her space of strength and influence to be working with minority-owned or allied businesses, and collaborating to share their voice and impact. She is currently working as a User Experience Designer, and staying involved in the Ames community after graduation.
Sara Merritt (she/her) works full time developing educational programming for Reiman Gardens at Iowa State University. She is also an artist, professional belly dancer, and educator with over 20 years’ experience teaching a range of programs from painting and problem-solving to martial arts, transnational fusion dance, science communication, and more. She holds a B.A. in Art, Sexuality and Aesthetic Perception from UMass-Amherst, an MFA in Painting from the San Francisco Art Institute, and an Informal Learning in Museums Professional Certificate from Oregon State University. Sara is consistently drawn to the connections between things and people, the intricacies of visual patterning, and the spectrum of perception – especially as an exploration through distortion. She believes absolutely and equally in the transformative powers of visual expression and informal education.
Kristin M Roach (she/her) is an artist, author, and creative entrepreneur. Trained in painting with a history in craft & fibers, she takes an interdisciplinary approach to her work. Kristin uses scientific data and cast-off materials to create drawings, paintings, and immersive installations about backyard ecology. Kristin is best known for her monochromatic paintings of migratory birds on junk mail. Her art and zines are internationally exhibited and collected and her book, Mend it Better, has been published worldwide. She currently lives and works in Ames, Iowa.
Jamie Malone (they/them) is an Iowan traditional and graphic illustrator who graduated with a B.A. in Biological/Pre-Medical Illustration in 2019 from Iowa State University. They have been working as a freelance illustrator for many non-profits, authors, and schools in the central Iowa area. Past clients include One Iowa, Mainframe Studios, Young Women's Resource Center, FoodCorp INC, and Confluence Brewing Company. They were a selected artist for the 2020 Trans People Are Sacred National Billboard Campaign organized by artist Jonah Welch and SaveArtSpace. Their most recent accomplishment is "And That's Their Family!", a children's book by author Kailee Coleman, that Jamie fully illustrated.