ARTSPEAK RADIO with Frank Lingo, Adri Luna, Rich Brull, Curt McMillan, & Angie Jennings

Wednesday July 5, 2017

Host/producer Maria Vasquez Boyd talks with author Frank Lingo, artist Adri Luna, make48 co-founders Rich Brull & Curt McMillan, gallery coordinator/curator Angie Jennings & painters Teresa Dirks and Chris Frye.

Frank Lingo is a former columnist for The Kansas City Star, his novel, Earth Vote is a fictional story about everyone in the world getting a chance to vote for peace. People with supernatural powers from another planet, the Lumans, telepathically address all people on Earth at once. Accompanying the message is a bright comforting light. The Lumans say there will be a yes or no vote in one week and that a 2/3 super-majority is necessary to implement their plan. Everyone in the world, including children, can vote yes or no telepathically and no one can interfere with anyone else’s vote. The Lumans stipulate that voting yes means all guns and bombs will be banned worldwide – and they have the powers to detect and disarm anyone attempting to defy the ban.
Also arriving are evil aliens called Ranks, who smell bad and want to colonize the Earth for its perfume production. The Ranks become allies with Earth’s tyrants in an effort to defeat the Lumans’ vote.
The Lumans and Ranks fan out to campaign for and against the vote with political and spiritual leaders, the media and regular folks around the world.
Before all this happens, we meet three American window washers amid the turmoil of their everyday lives. Fairly is a white divorced recovering alcoholic who is trying to re-unite his family. Fred is a black ex-basketball star whose girlfriend’s daughter witnesses a murder. And Camilla is a young Latina whose kid brother gets in trouble with a gang. We follow how these people and their families respond to the Lumans’ offer to make world peace.
The story shifts among the window washers, the Lumans and the Ranks until the week ends with the climactic vote.
www.earthvote.world

Adri Luna- Artist, Associate Director of the Cherry Pit Collective
An original work of art reflects, enhances and sometimes magnifies the personality of the individual of the owner. Surrounding yourself with art creates an opening for conversation and an exchange of ideas. It gives people permission to share thoughts, feelings, and impressions they might not normally be compelled to share.
Adri is Associate Director of the Cherry Pit Collective, a communal studio space for artists, makers, and creatives, where the work and vision of women are emphasized and celebrated. Members work together to support and promote each other through a shared workspace and jointly share work, costs, benefits, and risks. Monthly programming includes classes and events for skill sharing within our community and to foster collaboration over competition. All are welcome to apply for studio spaces and to attend our events, but female-identifying artists and members of other marginalized communities will be prioritized. The Cherry Pit Collective is located at 604 E. 31st St. KCMO

www.adriluna.com
www.cherrypitcollective.com

Rich Brull/Curt McMillan-Make48: Inventing Against the Clock.
Teams apply and compete to develop a new commercial product idea in a 48 hour invent-a-thon weekend. Teams have 48 hours to plan, prototype and pitch a new idea within the specifications of a challenge, revealed at the start of the 48 hours.
Teams build a prototype.
Teams utilize a variety of tools, materials, work spaces and expert guidance provided by a resource-rich fabrication workshop. The workshop and staff, “tool techs”, provide the resources to prototype ideas of ranging complexity for competitors of varying building expertise.
Pitch your idea to the judges.
When time expires, teams pitch their idea to a panel of product development, scouting and sales experts.
Prizes and licensing potential.
Top three teams will be awarded prizes, including a crowdfunding campaign and licensing consideration!

Rich Brull-Competition has always been a source of inspiration. In the early ’90s, Rich began building robots for Robot Wars, the live event and eventual television show. Rich and his team performed so well, the founder of Robot Wars invited them to represent the United States at the heavyweight championship in England later on in ’90s.
In 2011, Rich brought five of his friends in Kansas City together to form The Steel Table Group. With several patents pending, the Group continues to pitch product ideas for licensing. Rich has been involved with the Maker movement for more than a decade now. He currently sits on the Inventor Center of Kansas City’s board. His young son Ted is a talented inventor in his own right, having started not one but two profitable companies.

Make48 co-creators Curt McMillan and Rich Brull are a dream team. The longtime friends and Kansas City natives have been collaborating for years now. Curt’s first official foray into product development was competing with Rich in the Staples Invention Quest. Drawing on his success as a national high school debate champion.
Inspired to keep inventing, Curt helped found the The Steel Table Group. Curt has been participating in the Maker movement for more than a decade. He is currently President of the Inventors Center of Kansas City, the largest association for inventors in the country as well as a 501c3 nonprofit organization. He formed Make48 in part because he wanted to help bridge the gap between those communities.
He envisions Make48 as a facilitator, a vehicle that will show people who are bright and creative and have good ideas the way. The competition is really a celebration of the magic he’s experienced working towards a prize, under a lot of pressure, with the encouragement of a talented teammate by his side.

www.make48.com

Angie Jennings Gallery Director/curator 2016 Main Gallery, artists/painters Teresa Dirks & Chris Frye
Opening receptions: July 7th and August 4th.
July 7th at 7pm there will be a brief talk about the show and introductions to the artists.

This summer we celebrate love. Love as depicted by 5 artists. 3 painters and 2 photographers. We each have our own unique way expressing this strong emotion, through literal translation to abstract. The works in this exhibit give the viewer a different sense of the word love.

2016 Main KCMO
Opening reception Friday July 7, 7pm

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