Riverside Chats

Alejandra Sandoval-Montañez is a mezzo-soprano and Holland Community Opera Fellow. The fellowship brings community-focused artists to live and work in Omaha. Sandoval-Montañez grew up in Mexico and received her Masters in Vocal Performance and Literature from the University of Illinois. Her stage credits include roles in productions of “Carnaval!,” “A Little Night Music,” “Pirates of Penzance” and “Patience.”Sandoval-Montañez is also an educator and social media manager. She runs the Instagram account Aspiring Opera Singers, which offers resources and inspiration to those coming up in the craft. The account has more than 22,000 followers.In this episode, Sandoval-Montañez and Michael Griffin are talking about techniques used in operatic singing, the role of live performance in shaping Omaha’s culture, and how the operatic tradition can meet today’s cultural needs.

Hana Baba is creator of the new audio series “Folktales From Sudan.” The series is a passion project inspired by the stories Baba grew up hearing when visiting relatives in Sudan. Each episode is a single story narrated by Baba with music and sound effects. Baba says the series marks the first time the tales have been recorded in English. “Folktales From Sudan” premiered in March and is now available wherever you get your podcasts.Baba is an award-winning journalist with KALW in San Francisco, where she hosts the long-running news magazine “Crosscurrents.” She reports on immigrants and communities of color, health, education, race, identity, culture, religion and arts. Baba was born in Sudan and migrated to the United States with her family as a child.Michael Griffin talks with Baba about storytelling’s role in culture, and the virtue of sharing African stories on a global scale.

It’s election season in Omaha, and today's guest is John Ewing, who’s running for mayor against incumbent Jean Stothert. We’ll hear from Stothert in next week’s episode. Ewing spent 25 years as a police officer before assuming office in 2007 as Douglas County Treasurer. He holds a bachelor's degree in business administration and criminal justice and a master's degree in urban studies from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.Ewing and Michael Griffin are talking about Ewing’s decision to seek mayoral office after decades of public service and his priorities if he wins the election on May 13.

Kaleb Michaud is a professor of rheumatology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and the director of Spielbound Board Game Cafe.Michaud grew up in Kansas, where he developed a passion for music and astrophysics. He holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of Rochester and a PhD from Stanford University. When he was 3 years old, Michaud was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease causing painful swelling and stiffness in joints and connective tissues. A doctor told Michaud’s parents that he may not survive past his early 20s. Living with the chronic illness inspired Michaud’s career change in 2001, when he returned to Kansas to work at the National Data Bank for Rheumatic Diseases. He joined the staff of UNMC in 2007 and is now a professor in the Division of Rheumatology and Director of the Rheumatology Fellowship Research ProgramMichaud is also a board game enthusiast with a personal collection of more than 6,000 games. He serves as the director of Spielbound, a nonprofit board game cafe he founded in 2014 at 33rd and Harney Streets.In this episode, Michaud and Michael Griffin are talking about Michaud's love of board games, how living with chronic pain inspired his rheumatology research and how he balances his diverse interests.

Joel Damon is an artist, curator and co-founder of the Project Project gallery space in South Omaha. Damon was previously on the show in 2022, in conversation with Tom Knoblauch.Damon is a painter and designer who gained recognition for organizing independent visual art exhibitions for local artists. He was the curator of the Bemis Underground, the Bemis Center’s former space dedicated to regional artist exhibitions, before its closure in 2014. The experience pushed him to open Project Project in 2014 with Josh Powell. Located at 18th and Vinton Streets in South Omaha, Project Project is entirely volunteer-run and hosts new visual art exhibitions each month as well as concerts and other public events, all of which are free. This summer, Damon is relocating to Berlin, Germany to work at a gallery and publishing company and pursue life as a missionary, Damon will also present the Hixson-Lied Visiting Artist Lecture at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 31 via Zoom. His lecture is presented by the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s School of Art, Art History & Design.Damon is in conversation with Michael Griffin about Damon’s entry into curation and art exhibition and how he makes space for other artists in Omaha.

Quinn Metal Corbin is manager of the Great Plains Theater Commons. Corbin has spent more than two decades in the performing arts. She’s worked as a casting intern in New York, a script production assistant on a Broadway musical, an assistant to a powerful entertainment agency executive, and an event coordinator for the National Theatre in London among other roles.In addition to her industry jobs, Corbin founded C+C Mini Factory alongside Chelsea Cates. C+C is a photography project featuring miniature figurines placed in quirky settings. They’ve collaborated with companies like Starbucks and Firefox and were awarded Instagrammer of the Year in 2015 by the Shorty Awards. As manager of the nonprofit Great Plains Theatre Commons, Corbin works to strengthen the local theater scene by fostering new work by playwrights and other theater artists through year-round programming and the annual New Play Festival, which takes place this year from May 25 to 31.Corbin and Michael Griffin are talking about Corbin's odyssey in the entertainment industry, GPTC’s mission and how it fits into the changing landscape of live performance.

Kevin Clouther is an assistant professor at the University of Nebraska Omaha Writer’s Workshop, where he serves as program coordinator of the Master of Fine Arts in Writing.Clouther is also the author of the story collections “Maximum Speed” and “We Were Flying to Chicago.” His stories have appeared in Gettysburg Review, Gulf Coast, Joyland, New Orleans Review, Ruminate and StoryQuarterly, among other journals. He holds degrees from the University of Virginia and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and is the recipient of the Richard Yates Fiction Award and Gell Residency Award.In this episode, Clouther and Michael Griffin are talking about UNO’s MFA program, his love of fiction and the ritual of reading.

Brenton Gomez is a fixture of Omaha’s rap and skateboarding scenes. You may know him as Conny Franko, the name under which he’s been releasing music for the better part of two decades. He’s half of the hip-hop duo M34N STR33T with producer Adam Haug. Skateboarding was Gomez’s first love. His experiences street skating as a kid inspired him to spend much of his adult life advocating for skate park construction. In 2018, Gomez and his friends built ramps and rails on the unused tennis courts of Lynch Park on South 20th Street. In 2023, he helped convince the city to use ARPA funds to build an even better skating facility on the site. When Gomez isn’t skating or rapping, he’s a program coordinator at the Kiewit Luminarium. He’s also an avid reader who cites Gabriel García Márquez as one of his favorite authors. In this episode, Gomez is in conversation with Michael Griffin about how he forged his own path as a skater, artist and musician in Omaha’s DIY scenes.

Carmen Winant is an artist, photographer, writer, and art professor at The Ohio State University. Her work involves installation and collage work to examine survival and revolt through a feminist lens. Her traveling exhibition “The last safe abortion” opens Jan. 18 at Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts. “The last safe abortion” is an exploration of women’s health clinics and abortion providers, with a particular focus on the Midwest. The installation is composed of photos of behind-the-scenes work related to reproductive healthcare, such as answering phones, sterilizing equipment, conducting training sessions and scheduling appointments. Bemis’ Rachel Adams curated the exhibition, which was organized by the Minneapolis Institute of Art. “The last safe abortion” will be displayed alongside “Synchronicities: Intersecting Figuration with Abstraction.” The installations will run concurrently through May 4. In this episode, Winant is in conversation with Maria Corpuz about the origins of “The last safe abortion,” the logistics of how she put it together, and how Winant’s art has been affected by the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022.

Todd Lemke is the founder and publisher of Omaha Magazine, a 42-year-old regional publication covering the arts, lifestyle, entertainment, food and more. Lemke grew up in Papillion and graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1981 with a degree in journalism. In 1983, he started a print publication called Omaha Today, which eventually became Omaha Magazine. Omaha Magazine is behind the annual Best of Omaha list, Faces of Omaha, Faces of Lincoln, the new North Omaha First, and other special publications. It has been honored by the Great Plains Journalism Awards, the American Institute of Graphic Arts, and by the Omaha Press Club. In this episode, Lemke and Michael Griffin are discussing the origin of the magazine, the intersection of advertising and journalism, and what Lemke has learned in his 40 years in the industry.

Jahmai Brown is a painter, photographer and Hot Shops Art Center resident. An Omaha native, Brown attended North High School and graduated from the Kansas City Art Institute. His paintings are often works of bright colors, bold patterns and less traditional materials like glitter and magazine clippings. Brown was also among the artists who created the “Black Skies” mural in 2018 at 24th and Grant Streets, which highlights the experiences of the Tuskegee Airmen. Brown was only 17 when the mural was unveiled to the public. In this episode, Brown and Michael Griffin are talking about the inspiration behind his work, and his hope for viewers to interact with it. They're also talking about the skills he thinks are important for a young artist to develop, and how those artists can find support in Omaha.

Working in poetry, glass and installation, Aspen Monet Laboy’s art explores concepts of environmentalism and identity. In the summer of 2022, they implemented and co-hosted Corner’s Space at KANEKO, a public program exploring poetry through creative experimentation and collaboration. Laboy has published three books of poetry with a fourth on the way. Several of their selected poems were aired on Friday Live with Nebraska Public Media through NPR in 2023. Their writing has also been featured in local zines and performed in various galleries. Currently, Laboy is part of the 2023-24 Alternate Currents Cohort and Community Advisory Group through Amplify Arts. This year, they were awarded a scholarship from Penland School of Craft and were accepted into the Pilchuck Glass School Auction. In this episode, Michael Griffin and Laboy are in conversation about Laboy’s origins as a writer and artist, and how they became interested in glassblowing and sculpting. They're also talking about the economics of being an artist in Omaha and how we can better support the creative community.