Program Descriptions

6/15/08
This month’s Artifacts explores the concept of mentoring and the relationships that evolve from the mentoring process. Host Karen Dumas speaks to three pairs of mentors and mentees who talk about the lessons they have learned from each other and the importance of continuing the cycle and passing the torch....a stab in the dark.

5/18/08
This month's Artifacts explores the concept of mentoring and the relationships that evolve from the mentoring process. Host Karen Dumas speaks to three pairs of mentors and mentees who talk about the lessons they have learned from each other and the importance of continuing the cycle and passing the torch

3/15/08
On this week's Artifacts we pick up where Jazz at the Center left off. Join host Karen Dumas as she engages Frank Manning in a music-intensive show with the music of Ella Fitzgerald and Chick Webb, "Sing me a Swing Song (And let me dance)."

2/17/08
No Information Currently Available.

1/20/08
On this week's Artifacts Karen Dumas will explore the relationship between the African American community and classical music with Aaron Dworkin, MacArthur Fellow and President/Founder of the Sphinx Organization; Rick Robinson, section bassist with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra; and Rita Jordan, member of the Classical Roots Young Friends Committee.

12/16/07
Karen Dumas talks with director, choreographer, and educator Aku Kadogo about her work in Detroit and around the world; and about directing a contemporary version of Langston Hughes classic "Black Nativity" at Wayne State University.

11/18/07
Over the past six years the DIA has reinvented itself, stripping the building down to structural steel and cinderblock, re-imagining the look and feel of the building, and re-installing its vast collection in new and reconfigured galleries. Karen Dumas will talk to David Penney, the DIA’s Vice President of Exhibitions and Collections Strategies, about the concepts behind the new DIA; and to Valerie Mercer, Curator and Department Head for the General Motors Center for African American Art at the DIA, about the five new galleries dedicated to African American art.

10/21/07
The program features interviews with Tania MacGee, Executive Director of the Sphinx Organization, and Ronda Greene, Knight Foundation Outreach officer at the Henry Ford, in which they talk about how their organizations are working to change the face of arts and culture.

9/16/07
Arts League of Michigan students and parents discuss their experiences in the arts mentoring program, Jazz Camp 2007.

8/19/07
Regina Carter, master jazz violinist and MacArthur fellow joins host Karen Dumas for a conversation about music.

7/15/07
Meet two Detroit artists who are contributing much to our cultural scene. Dancer and teacher Penny Godboldo explores the intersections of religion and dance; while visual artist Pat Kabore is known for her impressionistic takes on life through prints, mixed media, and fiber works.

6/17/07
Karen Dumas discusses what makes downtown Detroit a great place to be in the summertime with N'Gia Kai, Director of Programs for Campus Martius; Juanita Moore, President and CEO of the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History; and Ann Parsons, President and CEO of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

5/20/07
The StoryCorps Griot project, an initiative to record 2,000 oral histories of the African American Experience in 10 cities over the next year is featured. The project is in Detroit through mid-June. Our guests on this edition of ARTiFacts are Dr. Lonnie Bunch, the Founding Director of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African American History & Culture, Melvin Reeves, Project Manager of the StoryCorp Griot Project, and Don Vest, Chair-Emeritus of the Arts League of Michigan.

4/15/07
This program is dedicated to a place and a painting called Nancy's Tea Room. The place was in Bowling Green, Kentucky, where Rick Nahm, President of Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Educational Community, bought his first R&B record at the age of 10 in 1959. The painting was realized by Ivan Stewart, a Detroit artist born in Louisiana whose work focuses on African American history. The story is about how a love of music, art, and history brought Rick and Ivan together in Nancy's Tea Room.

3/10/07
In this episode Karen and Oliver will discuss the idea behind ARTiFacts, talk with MSU professor and bassist Rodney Whittaker about the nature of jazz, and talk with vocalist Shahida Narullah about her relationship to music.