Muse Moments
Muse Moment Artist Videos
Muse Moments, part of KET’s Kentucky Muse series, features short documentary videos of artists who are doing amazing and inspiring things.
Brandon Smith
Brandon Smith, grew up in rural Kentucky on a small cattle farm. Cows turned into an inspiration for him while in graduate school at the University of Cincinnati, where he majored in painting. Smith, now a professor of painting at the University of Kentucky, continues to paint cows in his own unique way.
Jay Flippin
Jay Flippin of Morehead spent his life making and teaching music. A faculty member at Morehead State University for 45 years, Flippin took great care and pride in teaching young people. In his performing life, Flippin worked regularly with several jazz and commercial groups as well as dozens of top artists, including the Count Basie Orchestra, Ray Charles, LeAnn Rimes, and Blood, Sweat, and Tears.
Cindy Johnson
Cindy Johnson, lead botanical architect for the northern Kentucky studio Applied Imagination, shows the process used to create a botanical representation of the Carson Mansion of Eureka, Calif., one of the most notable examples of Victorian architecture in the United States. Standing 54 inches tall, the model uses the natural textures and shapes of plant materials to express every elaborate detail.
Sylvia Ryerson
Sylvia Ryerson is a fiddler player originally from Massachusetts. In college, Ryerson studied the rapid growth of prisons in Appalachia. This and her love of traditional music brought her to Whitesburg, Ky., and specifically to Appalshop, a multi-disciplinary arts center. Ryerson is the public affairs director at WMMT, Appalshop’s radio station, and hosts a radio show called Hot 88.7 Hip Hop from the Hill Top/Calls from Home. Ryerson also participates in the Traditional Music Project by teaching elementary students Appalachian fiddle.
Jacob Isenhour
Jacob Isenhour is a visual artist from a family full of artists and architects. Isenhour talks about his journey through school at Western Kentucky University and the University of Cincinnati and his collaborative mixed media project SLAPface. After moving back to Jessamine County he felt called to his family roots of architecture and built and designed his own home.
Berndnaut Smilde
Berndnaut Smilde is a contemporary visual artist from the Netherlands. KET caught up with him while he was exhibiting at the Land of Tomorrow Gallery in Louisville. Smilde is known as the “cloud artist” because he creates awe-inspiring photographs of “clouds” he makes in architecturally interesting spaces.
Jeremy Shelby
Jeremy Shelby, a rapper from Lexington, Ky., has faced many obstacles in his life. He was diagnosed with cancer as a teen and during college his best friend was killed. Through these devastating times he found a way to stay positive and turn his worries and sorrows into music that inspires others.
Dane Waters
Dane Waters is an eclectic musician from Louisville, Ky. Growing up, Waters was surrounded by music. Her mother was an opera singer with the Kentucky Opera. Waters joined chorus in high school and went on to study opera. She writes many of her own songs and performs solo as well as with bands in Louisville, including Sapat and Softcheque. She enjoys song writing and finds inspiration from sounds in her environment.