Ruth Margraff is a playwright, librettist, musician and leader of the new opera music/theater movement in America. It would be hard to top the description of her that was given by Erik Ehn on NPR:

Ruth Margraff is a performance artist who looks like Shirley Temple, sounds like Marilyn Monroe and has the mentality of Thomas Merton eating alive William S. Burroughs. She’s got a savage imagination and a very sweet affect.

In this podcast Ruth talks about her collaborations with artists such as Nikos Brisco and Fred Ho, upcoming projects, and how her extensive travels have deeply influenced her work.

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We are saddened to report that the poet and performance artist Sekou Sundiata passed away this week. KadmusArts interviewed him one year ago as he was touring his latest work The 51st Dream State, when he discussed with us the process by which he created his rich, multi-faceted works.

Sundiata created the acclaimed theatre works The Circle Unbroken is a Hard Bop, which toured throughout the U.S. and received three AUDELCO Awards and a Bessie Award; The Mystery of Love, commissioned and produced by New Voices/New Visions at Aaron Davis Hall in New York and the American Music Festival in Philadelphia; Udu, a music theatre work produced at 651 ARTS, the International Festival of Arts and Ideas, and the Walker Art Center amongst other venues; and The 51st Dream State which he performed at the Vision Festival, the BAM Next Wave Festival, and the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. His most recent recording, Long Story Short, was released by Righteous Babe Records.

Grounded in the African American experience, Sundiata used his talents to help us explore who we are, and what makes for a life filled with meaning and beauty.

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Mia Hanak is the executive director of the Natural World Museum, which presents art to engage the public in environmental awareness and action. For her work, she has been nominated as the “Iconic Museum Leader of the Next Generation” by the American Association of Museums and the Getty Leadership Institute. The Museum is embarking on its latest traveling exhibition, Envisioning Change, which opened in Oslo in early June. The exhibition features artists from all over the world, who create work that speaks to environmental issues associated with climate change. The Natural World Museum inspires audiences to think and act on the environmental message of the exhibitions.

Mia talks with us about educating people about climate change through the arts, the Museum’s latest exhibition, and transforming art-fueled inspiration into action.

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