Northwest Indiana arts, one conversation at a time.
Art On The Air gives regional artists, musicians, writers, designers, and arts organizers room to explain the work behind projects. It pairs long-form guest conversations with practical spotlights on exhibits, theater seasons, concerts, festivals, and community events.
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Art On The Air treats regional arts coverage as a conversation, not a bulletin board. The show is rooted in Northwest Indiana, with regular attention to galleries, theaters, civic venues, public media events, symphony programs, art centers, and local festivals. Its episodes tend to open with a clear table of contents. Then the show gives artists and organizers enough space to tell the longer story. That structure makes it both useful and intimate. A typical hour might move from colored pencil work inspired by birds and native plants to an Americana-flavored album, then close with details for an arts festival. Another episode may spend the full feature with Help Hounds and their folk, roots, and country-inflected sound. Visual art, music, theater, books, design, textiles, and community arts education all sit comfortably in the same frame. The interviews often begin with biography and gradually arrive at process. Guests talk about why a themed exhibit can focus creativity, why a book cover should avoid expected imagery, or why sewing is difficult to teach through a screen. The show does not rush those explanations. It lets a painter, illustrator, novelist, saxophonist, tribute performer, fabric artist, auditorium director, or playwright describe the decisions behind the public-facing result. The practical details matter too. Dates, venues, websites, broadcasts, archives, and contact information are repeated with the care of a local radio program that expects people to actually show up. The tone is warm and civic-minded. It is promotional, but not glossy. The appeal comes from hearing working artists and arts advocates speak plainly about craft, constraint, opportunity, and community. Art On The Air is especially strong for listeners who want culture at human scale: who made the work, where it can be seen, how it came together, and why a regional audience might care.
Made for: Art On The Air is for listeners who follow regional culture, local venues, gallery shows, theater, music, books, and community arts events. It especially suits people who like artist interviews with practical event details attached.
What sets it apart: The show combines long, patient creator interviews with civic arts listings, so it functions as both a conversation series and a local culture calendar. Its strength is the way craft stories and event information stay connected.
ART ON THE AIR is an hour-long radio show / podcast that opens with a short interview about local art events in Northwest Indiana's three county area, then continues to the long-form feature interview portion. Guests include individual artists, photographers, gallery owner/curators, festival sponsors, authors, the shakers and movers in NW Indiana, Chicago and beyond vibrant art, theater, and music scene, plus much more. Hosts are Larry A Brechner, long-time theater director, photographic artist, and arts organization board member, and Ester Golden, owner of The Nest in Michigan City.
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Art On The Air connects musicians and records to the artists, venues, and local institutions that help creative work reach a public.
Art On The Air builds its editions from unhurried conversations with working artists and reports on nearby cultural events. Larry Brechner and Esther Golden let guests explain how creative work develops, moving comfortably between music, visual art, writing, and theater while…
This is where your next gallery crush arrives with a sewing lesson and an arts-festival date.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
Christine Hubbell's colored-pencil work gives this regional arts program its most memorable conversation.
Colored-pencil artist Christine Hubbell is the most engaging voice in this Northwest Indiana arts program. She talks about birds and native plants drawn on translucent surfaces, and about the themed exhibitions she enjoyed at Denver Botanic Gardens.
A working musician's design story sits inside a wider regional arts and theater preview.
Art on the Air frames Anne Richmond Boston as both musician and working visual artist, which gives the episode its most useful angle. Boston discusses freelance design, illustration, and music, including her time learning from mentor Don Trousdale and the story of her…
A Christmas-week arts episode where clay, Ukraine, and Indiana history connect through working lives and creative practice.
Art On The Air's Christmas-week episode moves through Indiana ceramic artist Dick Lehman's reflections on finding a writer's voice through clay, a return conversation with photographer Tom Doody about his recent time in war-torn Ukraine, and a look at Lost Treasures of Indiana.
Apple details, software habits, and everyday technical friction.
Records worth hearing, reasons worth arguing over.
Celebrity, clothes and chaos, talked through at full speed.
Art on the Air features Indiana ceramic artist Dick Lehman, photographer Tom Doody, and author Joseph Pete in a single Christmas-week program on Lakeshore Public Media and WVLP.
Art On The Air opens with the Center for Creative Solutions’ 2025 Poetry Showcase, led by Cynthia Head in La Porte and tied to World Creativity Innovation Week from April 15 through 21.
This episode of Art on the Air features musicians Marty and Corinne Lucas discussing their folk band Return to Normal, Marty's work in optical music recognition, Corinne's new executive director role, and a spotlight on Dune Arts Foundation's production of Two Trains Running.
This episode of Art on the Air features Billy Foster's musical journey and highlights the Chesterton Art Center's September exhibit.
Art on the Air features Christine Hubbell, a colored pencil artist with training from the Denver Botanic Gardens, and Scott Tyring, whose Americana album Love, War, and Misadventures grew from songs written in his twenties.
This episode features the band Help Hounds discussing their debut album and highlights the Chesterton Art Center's outdoor gala.
This episode of Art on the Air features interviews with painter Anna Ryan Drew and audiobook narrator Shelby Mundt, and spotlights the 2026 Northwest Indiana Listen To Your Mother event.
This episode of Art on the Air features interviews with illustrator Scott Christian Sava about his book Becoming an Artist and playwright Zachary Mark about his play Second Glance, plus a spotlight on a PBS screening event.
This episode of Art on the Air previews an Elton John tribute artist, interviews a saxophonist, and promotes an arts education fundraiser.
Art on the Air on Lakeshore Public Media features a spotlight on the LaPorte County Symphony Orchestra's Elton John tribute concert (April 18, 2026) with executive director Emily Yiannis, followed by two main interviews.
Art on the Air on Lakeshore Public Media features a spotlight interview with Christine Hubbell of the Area Artists Association about their 'Anything Goes' exhibit at the LaPorte County Convention and Visitor Center, running April 1 through May 31, 2026.
Art on the Air spotlights Dunes Arts Foundation’s 75th season, with Steve Scott calling the theme "still standing" and highlighting "Jesus Christ Superstar" plus the new-play festival.
This episode of Art on the Air features an all-music show with singer-songwriter Hillary Reynolds, rock trio The Problem With Kids Today, and a spotlight on the LaPorte County Symphony's Hoosier Star event.
This episode of Art on the Air features artist Sophie Gamand, an encore interview with curator Marla Showfer, and a spotlight on the 43rd Annual Lubeznik Arts Festival.
This episode features interviews with the Midwest Museum of American Art's director Brian Byrne about his 43-year career and retirement, and with Canterbury Summer Theatre's artistic directors about their 57th season.