Imagine being creative but living in a community without a place to freely share that creativity.
“There’s got to be a place where you can have a voice and tell your story,” said Kristen Chesak, Executive Director of the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo.
Through the Arts Council’s Creative Café podcast – produced in partnership with Public Media Network – Kristen and her team give local artists a platform to share their work, discuss upcoming events, and celebrate Kalamazoo’s thriving arts scene. You may have heard it on the radio!
“Just knowing there’s a space where anyone can walk in the door and tell their story and have their story publicly aired is amazing to me,” she noted. “Absolutely amazing, that type of access right now is really really important.”
Kristen believes storytelling and creativity are essential to a healthy community. “You should be able to tell your story,” she emphasized. Creative Café helps amplify artists who may not have a large following, connecting them with audiences across the community and beyond.
“There will always be things we talk about as a community and as a nation that we won’t agree on – probably ever – but the idea that this country is founded on, you have a right to voice it. You can’t give that up. Public Media Network is a space where they hold that idea.”
Your support makes this kind of local storytelling possible. Through your generosity, artists like those featured on Creative Café continue to have a space to share their voices, and to remind us why local creativity and the arts matter. Donate to support local voices here.
