In this episode we welcome Anna Tsouhlarkis & Shane Perley-Dutcher, both artists in residence at Indigo Arts Alliance in July 2024, were commissioned to produce a permanent sculpture on the grounds of Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens (CMBG), and that was unveiled during our second symposia entitled, Deconstructing the Boundaries: The Land Fights Back. The first of its kind at the Gardens, this program brings together community members of all backgrounds to ground ourselves in difficult conversations, creative expression and the power of being together. Please enjoy their words, recorded by Nolan Atvater.

Today we will meet Minoo Emami, who was an artist in residence at Indigo Arts Alliance in June of 2024. Emami is an Iranian multidisciplinary artist and brings over three decades of experience to her rich artistic journey and is deeply committed to art practice, teaching, and exhibition. In this interview, Emami talks about her current project while at Indigo Arts Alliance, which is related to Persian domestic culture and how the materials she uses are all from home spaces.

Today we will meet CC Paschal who was an artist in residence at Indigo Arts Alliance in May 2022. CC, who is an award -winning audio journalist and experimental documentary artist led the editorial vision for NPR's critically acclaimed narrative series Louder Than a Riot. In 2017, she was a lead producer of Gimlet Media's Peabody award-winning production Uncivil. CC studied aesthetics, earning a B.A. in Art and Philosophy from Hamilton College in Clinton, NY in 2010.

Today we will hear from Raquel P Miller who was a Black Seed Studio Resident in January 2024 at Indigo Arts Alliance. Born and adopted from Cuenca, Ecuador, Raquel is an emerging artist from Biddeford, Maine. From painting to drawing, her work is focused on the confrontations and expressions of identity, experiences, and emotions. She was the recipient of a 2022 BIPOC Fellowship at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, and in 2023 was awarded a residency at SPACE Gallery’s Residency Room in Portland, Maine. Her work has been displayed online, in New York at Collarworks (Troy), Deanna Evans Projects (NYC), SOIL Gallery (Seattle)and throughout Southern Maine at the Harlow, the Buoy Gallery, New System Exhibitions, Alice Gauvin Gallery, and Engine.

Today we will hear from Dr. Krina Patel who was an artist in residence at The Indigo Arts Alliance Studio in April 2024. A practicing multimedia artist and researcher, Dr. Patel designs and develops inclusive community based arts projects collaboratively with educators and healthcare practitioners. Her passion for the arts in learning, healing and well-being comes from her experiences practicing and promoting the creative arts in a range of settings from schools to neighborhoods and with diverse groups including immigrant communities in the United States and disability communities in South Asia. Together with an arts and health collective and a neighborhood community health organization, Dr. Patel creates opportunities for engaging in creative expression and cultural experiences that invites participation from all.

In this episode we welcome Nyamuon Machar 19’, Maya Williams, Brian J. Evans 23’, and Samuel James 20’, were all participants in ECHOES. This is part 2 and a continuation from season 1 finale. Echoes, Led by Black Haitian American composer, violinist and activist Daniel Bernard Romain, ECHOES was a site-responsive composition project that aims to reflect the breath, sorrow and beauty of Portland, Maine’s complex history and relationship to its Black community, utilizing live performance to mark, reclaim and celebrate a site of significance and enduring legacy. With the Abyssinian Meeting House as inspiration, Daniel Bernard Romain created an original score, to which local artists across disciplines are invited to remix and respond. In their interview, these artists reflect on the collaborative project that took place in May 2024 and their contributions.

In this episode we welcome Nyamuon Machar 19’, Maya Williams, Brian J. Evans 23’, and Samuel James 20’, were all participants in ECHOES. Led by Black Haitian American composer, violinist and activist Daniel Bernard Romain, ECHOES was a site-responsive composition project that aims to reflect the breath, sorrow and beauty of Portland, Maine’s complex history and relationship to its Black community, utilizing live performance to mark, reclaim and celebrate a site of significance and enduring legacy. With the Abyssinian Meeting House as inspiration, Daniel Bernard Romain created an original score, to which local artists across disciplines are invited to remix and respond. In their interview, these artists reflect on the collaborative project that took place in May 2024 and their contributions.

In this episode we welcome Shane Charles, who was an artist in Indigo Arts Alliance's Mentorship Residency Program in April of 2023. Shane Charles was born in Maine and creates paintings, sculptures and photographs within a process of abstraction and poetics. Charles is a direct descendent of the Penobscot Nation and is also of (colonial) British ancestry. His grandfather was a mapmaker and his father was the Penobscot tribal surveyor after the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act of 1980. Charles received his Master of Fine Arts degree from UNC at Chapel Hill, where he focused on sculpture and performance. He previously studied painting at the University of Maine through the indigenous Wabanaki program. Charles utilizes raw and sourced material, body prints and open compositional spaces, to engage with themes of artifact, presence and continuity.