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CREATIVE CALLBACKS

Creative Callbacks is a radio series that spotlights local and regional Creative Exchange Fund artists, sharing how their work shapes and inspires their communities. Produced with KUAF and Ozarks at Large, the series reaches over 600,000 listeners, amplifying bold ideas, first-time grant recipients, and experimental work.

Creative Callbacks is a storytelling series that highlights local and regional artists who have received support from the Creative Exchange Fund. Since its launch in 2024, Creative Callbacks has expanded in 2025 through a partnership with KUAF and Ozarks at Large, bringing these artists’ stories to public radio across Northwest Arkansas, eastern Oklahoma, and southern Missouri. Each episode centers the voices of creatives, offering listeners an intimate look at their process and the impact they’re making in their communities.

2026 EPISODES

Springdale rapper Del on performing solo, Lost Nopales Productions

Michael Del Rio is a rapper and hip-hop artist based in Springdale. He’s also a member of Lost Nopales Productions, an artist collective formally known as the Latinx Theater Project. Michael will be performing at the Medium on Wednesday night at 7p.m. under his stage name, Del. Originally from Ulvade, Texas, Michael moved to northwest Arkansas when he was two years old.

Springdale photographer documents trans Arkansans on film

Tyson Banks is a traditional darkroom photographer based in Siloam Springs. His project, “Portraits of Intimacy,” explores close-up images of transgender Arkansans.

Choreographer Jeremy Williams brings 'Building Bridges' to NWA

Jeremy Williams is a choreographer and producer originally from North Little Rock, with experience working in theater in New York and Oaxaca. Williams currently works as director of the Argenta Contemporary Theatre in North Little Rock. He’ll be at The Medium Saturday, hosting a unique, interactive performance.

Mend It, Darn It brings accessibility, community to clothing repair

Jessica Robin is the founder of Mend It, Darn It, a free monthly meetup created for attendees to revive clothing items with provided supplies and expert guidance. Robin grew up in Northwest Arkansas and has been sewing for over 20 years, spending time at the University of Arkansas Theatre Costume Department and at Interform before it dissolved last year. She says the end of Interform prompted her to want to create a space like Mend It, Darn It for community members who want to work on their craft or just give clothing items a second life.

Joel Darling on 'Half Power', ambient music

Joel Darling discusses his work at the Medium, which was conceptualized during the COVID-19 pandemic under the moniker “Half Power”.

Artist Katy Kane makes art from immigrant women's stories

Katy Kane’s studio space at The Medium is full of her art — finished pieces and works in progress. She’s an artist, designer and practitioner of therapeutic arts. Her work can include collage and take aim at patriarchy, or be vibrant images of tigers or cheetahs. She creates murals for homes and businesses and pet portraits, too.

Katy’s current project, “Art with a Cause,” combines painting, collage, origami and original interviews. Here, in her own words, more about her and her art — including the attraction of assembling collage.

NWA Fat Fashion Show celebrates fat bodies on the runway

The NWA Fat Fashion Show is taking place later this month at the Medium in Springdale. Katherine Fitzwilson and Annalise Robins are the producers of the show. They spoke with Ozarks at Large’s Sophia Nourani at the Carver Center for Public Radio. Robins is an undergraduate student at the University of Arkansas studying apparel merchandising and has hosted fashion shows in the past. She says the idea for a fat fashion show came to her, and Fitzwilson’s online presence inspired her to pursue it.

Brett Pitts explores ‘home’ through portraits of Fayetteville’s unhoused

Brett Pitts is a photographer raised in Fayetteville. After spending his childhood in northwest Arkansas, he proceeded to live several other places, including Alaska, before making this region his now permanent home.

Through the years, Pitts says he self-taught and developed his skills in photography, and the focus of his lens shifted from taking photos as he went, to landscapes, to eventually capturing mutual aid work for the unhoused community in Fayetteville. Pitt says this work was especially meaningful for him.

Artist Profile- Xanat Howe

Xanat Howe is a ceramist from Mexico City. In her new collaborative installation at The Medium, she uses her craft as a way to connect to indigenous Mexican medicine tradition. The installation also includes a soundscape and film by musician Ben Drane and filmmaker Justin Howe.

Fayetteville artist invites play with sensory art exhibit ‘Drum Roll, Please’

Multimedia artist Jennifer Baugh’s new interactive exhibit Drum Roll, Please transforms sound, light, and touch into an immersive sensory experience at The Medium in Springdale, Nov. 7–9.

Three Dead Idols- The Medium artist profile

3 Dead Idols, or Tyler Bolden, is one of 37 multidisciplinary artists awarded the grants through the Creative Exchange Fund. The Creative Exchange Fund provides financial support and studio space for Arkansas artists to take creative risks.

Lauren Sonder brings felt piano dream show to The Medium

Pianist and composer Lauren Sonder will present her felt piano dream show at The Medium in Springdale, part of the Creative Exchange Fund Mixtape series that highlights multidisciplinary artists in Northwest Arkansas.

Lyshell McBride’s 'Bloom Room' honors survivors with immersive art

Artist Lyshell McBride discusses her installation, “Bloom Room,” opening at The Medium in Springdale. The interactive space, part of the Creative Exchange Fund, celebrates healing and resilience for survivors of domestic violence with art, music and community partnerships.

If water remembers, where does it forgive?

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2024-2025 EPISODES

Timothy Smith

Sculpting Space

Lyle Oberman

Dance for Everyone

Jessica Davenport

Reimagining Sunday School

Paige Dirksen

Printing New Traditions

Monsterboy Lives

Sound, Soul and Survival

Ashtyn Barbaree

Breaking Through the Ceiling

Patti Steel

Looping Through Boundaries

Theresa Delaplain

Classical Music Reimagined

Carla Nemec

Celebrating Golden Creatives

Breseida "Brioch" Ochoa

Flowering Visions

Eddie Canyon

Hip-Hop's Creative Risk-Taker

Macy Burr

Painting the Sound of Bach

Brandy Lee Harris

Fashion Meets Rock & Roll

Craig Colorusso

Sound and Light in Space