Creative Cafe
Episodes
234 episodes
Creativity in Action - Edison Neighborhood
This week on Creative Café, we’re talking about creativity in action in Kalamazoo’s Edison Neighborhood. I’m joined by Emma Master to share how an Arts Fund grant is supporting a public art residency that brings artists and community together. ...
Nike Designer Wilson W. Smith III - Don't miss it!
On Creative Café, we sit down with Jennifer Cooley and Miriam Thomas to talk about bringing legendary Nike designer Wilson W. Smith III to Kalamazoo for a special Artful Evening. Hear how this event connects to the Future Now exhibitio...
A Conversation Through Us - Negar Dena Afazel
Violinist Negar Dena Afazel joins Creative Café to discuss her new performance “A Conversation Through Us,” a powerful collaboration with vocalist Tricia Tetzlaff that blends violin, voice, and storytelling to explore the shared e...
Akiko Yamamoto, Prairie Ronde Artist Residency - Part III
We round out our 3-part series on the Prairie Ronde Artist Residency with Akiko Yamamoto, a Japanese-born, Brooklyn-based artist whose work explores migration, identity, and cultural translation through intricate layers of paper, texture, and p...
Catching up with Queer Theatre
Connar Klock joins us to talk about the current projects and shows being undertaken by Queer Theatre Kalamazoo. We chat about shows, playwright projects, and upcoming auditions, and construction projects.
RADFest 17
We were live from Epic Center, talking with artists from RADFest 17, the region's best Alternative Dance Festival. We spoke with Wellspring Artistic Director Marissa Bianan, RADFest curator Jennifer Glaws, and Claire Porter, who has made the jo...
Art Hop 2026 - Kalamazoo Candle Company
The March 2026 Art Hop is right around the corner, and we sit down with Adam McFarlin of the Kalamazoo Candle Company, one of the event’s longtime mainstays. Now in a new home on the Kalamazoo Mall, Adam shares how the business continues ...
Angels in America at the Civic - AIDS Quilt makes a visit
The Kalamazoo Civic Theatre is presenting Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches. Director D. Terry Williams and Director of Volunteers Mike Artis sit down to discuss this epic and deeply moving production, the powerful mes...
Mariana Norena, Prairie Ronde Residency Artist - Part II
Creative Café continues its three-part series featuring the artists selected for the 2026 Spring Residency at Prairie Ronde in Vicksburg. In Part 2, host Kristen speaks with Bogotá-born, Chicago-based multidisciplinary artist
Xingyu Huang, Prairie Ronde Spring Residency - Part I
In Part 1 of this 3-part series, Kristen learns more about the artists that will make up the 2026 Spring Residency at Prairie Ronde in Vicksburg, beginning with Artist Xingyu Huang, someone who currently splits their time between Chicago and LA...
Eclectic Glass Guild - Celebrating 10 years
It is the 10th anniversary of the Eclectic Glass Guild here in Kalamazoo. We celebrate this milestone with Judy Konesni and Jeanne Zumburs to chat about glass, community and what it takes to build something that lasts. Originally aired on Satur...
Purpose-Driven Hip Hop - Slym Beno
Today on Creative Cafe, we are joined by Slym Beno, a purpose-driven hip hop artist whose work blends motivational lyricism, faith-influenced storytelling, and an unwavering commitment to authenticity. Originally from Cleveland and now rooted i...
Future Now: Virtual Sneakers to Cutting-Edge Kicks at the KIA
On this episode, we explore how museums are not only places where we revisit the past, but spaces that help us imagine the future, and why a bold new exhibition opening this February invites Kalamazoo audiences to think differently about design...
Institute of Public Scholarship - "We See You"
As we begin 2026, we are continuing our conversation about storytelling and the power of community voices. Today, we are joined by Dr. Michelle Johnson and Denise Miller of the Institute of Public Scholarship. We will be talking about how their...
The Power of Storytelling Part 2
In part two of this 2-part series, Kristen Chesak continues her discussion with Marcel Fable Price about the power of storytelling, and the healing it provides. We enjoy one of Marcel's original fables. Originally aired on Saturday, January 3, ...
The Power of Storytelling Part 1
In this two-part series, Marcel Fable Price joins Kristen Chesak to discuss the power of stories and storytelling, how this rich tradition transcends all cultures and societies, and how storytelling can be a powerful form of healing. Originally...
New Year's Fest Kalamazoo is 40!
Deb Droppers, Director, and Adam Ostrander, Board Member of New Year's Fest, reminisce about 40 years of alcohol-free family fun during Downtown Kalamazoo's New Year's Fest. Get a preview of the 2025 schedule of events. Originally aired on Satu...
Visiting Brush the Block - Festivals and the economic successes that follow
Kristen sits down with Jane Ghosh, President and CEO of Discover Kalamazoo, Bob Lewis, Partner at Millennium Restaurant Group, and Fritz Brown of Treystar to talk about the economic and social impact of festivals in downtown Kalamazoo, specific...
Celebrating the Community Arts Awards - CMA recipients Robin Nott and Brad Wong
In our final installment of the 5-part series spotlighting the 2025 Community Arts Award recipients, we sit down with Community Medal of Arts Recipients Robin Nott and Brad Wong. Originally aired on Saturday, December 6, 2025, at 8 am on WKZO 5...
CREATE! Art Hop December 2025
Kristen sits down with Elaine Unzicker, Aubrey Rodgers, and Kim Shaw to preview the December 2025 Art Hop. The theme is CREATE! Enjoy 55 stops, and more than 250 artists at the largest Art Hop of the year. This episode originally aired on Satur...
Celebrating the Community Arts Awards - CMA Recipients Fran Dwight and Al Harris, Jr.
In the fourth of our five-part series, we celebrate two of the four Community Medal of Arts recipients, Fran Dwight and Al Harris, Jr. We will celebrate the recipients in person on Tuesday, December 9, 2025, at 7 pm in the Lake Auditorium on th...
Celebrating the Community Arts Awards - Epic Award!
Today we are celebrating the 2025 recipients of Epic Award. We talk to Jeremy Koch and Rob Weiner of Farmers Alley Theatre and John Kern of Prairie Ronde Residency and Gallery. We will celebrate both in person on December 9, 2025 at 7 pm at the...
Celebrating the Community Arts Awards - Hoogstraten Award and Business Arts Award
Welcome to the second episode in a 5-part series celebrating the 2025 Community Arts Awards. Today we are celebrating April Woodward Slack, recipient of the Gayle Hoogstraten Arts Leadership Award, and Lynn Chen-Zhang, one of the founders of Zh...
Celebrating the Community Arts Awards - Young Artists Award
Welcome to our first in a series of 5 episodes celebrating the 2025 Community Arts Awards. Today, we talk with Ivan Tai and Felix Bahrou. The Community Arts Awards will be celebrated in person on Tuesday, December 9, 2025, at 7:00 pm pm at the ...
Celebrating Knowledge at the November Art Hop!
We explore one of the 45 stops for the November Art Hop with Steve Walsh, executive director of the Vine Neighborhood Association, and artists Janice March-Prelesnik of Music Medicine Collective, and Donna Vogtmann of Pysanky and Pyrographic Ar...