TRANSCRIPT:
FRED - It's Morning Edition on KRPS. I'm Fred Fletcher-Fierro.
Have you ever wanted to write and publish a book, but didn't know where to start?
The Pittsburg Arts Council this Saturday at 3:00 PM is holding a Craft of Talk Artist Talk at TOAST in downtown Pittsburg.
Joining us this morning is one of the four authors that will be on hand to speak about their experiences.
Pittsburg State’s Dr. Casey Hermanson has published six books, including the 2012 release. My favorite title, Analyzing the films of Clint Eastwood. Good morning Dr. Hermanson, thank you for your time.
CASIE - Thank you for having me, Fred.
FRED - I thought I would start first by talking about your work with the Pittsburg Arts Council of which you are an at-large board member. Could you tell me about the Council's work and how you became a part of it?
CASIE - Happy to. I'm actually quite a recent joiner to the Pittsburg Arts Council, which itself is fairly new.
Everybody local will be aware of the Pittsburg twice-annual art walk and the Arts Council was formed to take arts support in the region to the next level and so they are a not-for-profit organization.
The art walk remains their flagship event of the year, but the Arts Council was created to be able to generate and support arts in other ways, and the new Second Saturday series is one reflection of that.
And this one is the inaugural Saturday, this upcoming August 12th. But like it's like in the name, it will be every second Saturday going forward and it's a big old Pittsburg party.
FRED - So this is the first event like this.
CASIE - It is this is the absolute first, second Saturday and as part of that I curated, and the Pittsburg Arts Council is sponsoring a Craft of Art series.
So, this is the first of its kind as well. So, we thought that we'd launch a new series with the new second Saturday under the new Arts Council and we're doing it at TOAST.
Because they're a frequent supporter of the arts and a hosting venue for a lot of events, but also because this also is recent news. Pittsburg, the City of Pittsburg, decreed the streets between 4th and 7th to be the Pittsburg Arts District.
And that's the streets typically covered by the art walk. So, we wanted to host an event on this very first, second Saturday in the Pittsburg Arts District, which is why we're having it at TOAST.
FRED - So, if somebody's listening this event is open to the public, at no cost.
CASIE - It's a free event at TOAST and there will be other events on Facebook for the Pittsburg Arts Council. We've been trying to amplify and promote other events that are happening around town.
On Saturday the 12th, and we're hoping that the 2nd Saturday will catch on, the downtown Advisory Board has approved it and so anyone, anywhere, and host anything it doesn't need to be an Arts Council initiative. It doesn't need anyone's approval. Any kind of business can host anything.
If you are a law firm and you want to host a guitarist and do a second Saturday event anywhere in Pittsburg, even outside of the Arts District, that's fine. And of course, our focus is on the arts, but you could do a hot dog and 5K run and have that be a second Saturday event.
FRED - That's quite a combination.
CASIE - You know, it's like, well, maybe the hot dog after the run. But my point is that our focus is on the arts. But the second Saturday is not limited to the arts.
FRED - And you've really highlighted what it's like to live in a smaller town, frankly. You know, a town like Pittsburg where you can host these small local events, I mean TOAST just a five-minute drive from where we're sitting right now at Pittsburg State.
And could you talk about the three other authors who will be joining you on Saturday
CASIE - Absolutely happy to do it. I selected these authors for the first series. This one is an author talk but we think you know; September is probably visual arts and October is we think comedians. And then in November, we'll have other authors talk, but the idea is that these artist talks can be for any genre, you know, tattoo artists.
You know, contact us if you want us to organize something. Otherwise, organize something yourselves.
But this is not like a traditional reading, which you know are open mic, which has been very successful in Pittsburg and are well known.
Instead, I'm always fascinated by things that you wouldn't otherwise get to hear. About an artist, some aspects of their work.
How they came to do a certain thing, so this is not a talk that's strictly for authors or aspiring authors.
If YouTube has taught us anything, it's that people are interested in glimpses into the process of something that they're just curious about, so you don't need to.
Want to be a children's writer or a poet, or a playwright to come and listen to a children's writer and a poet and a fiction writer and a playwright? Give some glimpses into their creative process and ask questions.
So, I'm one of the featured speakers of this event because I've written 22 children's fiction books for higher education.
So, they were about literacy outreach, but they are children's writing and fiction, so I'll be talking about my creative process in terms of writing fiction for young readers.
And emerging writer, Chris Anderson, who is a colleague here at Pitt State in the English program, is a prize-winning poet. And so, he's going to talk about some aspects of his poetry, creative process.
Olive Sullivan is a prominent community member. She has two published poetry books and recently produced a multimedia event at Memorial Auditorium that was dance and poetry and drama combined.
And so, she'll be talking about something, you know, to be determined. It's like I'm along for the ride like everyone else.
And then our fourth speaker this upcoming Saturday is Lori Martin, and she is a fiction writer and poet, published in both genres.
She also is one of the prides of the English program here at Pitt State and is a product of the Iowa workshop, which is the nation's premier fiction writing workshop.
So, this time there are three of me, myself, and two colleagues from Pitts State and Olive Sullivan, who has PSU connections, but this is not a Pitt State event.
This is a community event and in future, we'll have a mix of authors from in town and around the region and different genres.
Essentially, I started with the part of my network that was the people that I could reach out to and tap on the shoulder at fairly short notice.
And now that we're rolling this out as a regular thing and we're already planning November's next author talk, we have a bit more prep time for that.
But every second Saturday of the month there will be something and this Craft of Art series. As I said, we don't own that phrase.
We don't own the concept.
Anyone interested in doing something if you're a musician and doing something like this seems like a great idea, and you might want to reach out and find a venue the downtown arts district is very receptive to it.
You can be anywhere in Pittsburg and host a second Saturday event, but the Pittsburg Arts Council is ready to help.
With, you know promotion event creation, there's a form on the website and it says what kind of help you need.
And so, the Arts Council exists to help support and promote art in any fashion within the Second Saturday framework or not come on out and support the local arts if not this Saturday, then when you see things rocking around, follow the Pittsburg Arts Council Facebook page, because it will often share and promote everything that we hear about in lots of different art genres that are going on around the region.
Dr. Casey Hermanson is a professor of English and Modern languages at Pittsburg State.
The Craft of Art artist talk is being held by the Pittsburg Arts Council this Saturday 8/12/23 from 3:00 to 5:00 PM. It's open to the public. Thanks for your time.
