Artspeak Radio with William Saunders and Kwanza Humphrey

Artspeak Radio, Wednesday, December 3, 2025, 9am -10am CST, 90.1fm KKFI Kansas City Community Radio, streaming live audio www.kkfi.org Producer/host Maria Vasquez Boyd welcomes entrepreneur/musician William Saunders and artist Kwanza Humphrey. WILLIAM SAUNDERS – Inside the Creative MindA deep dive into the creative process to illuminate the hidden architecture of creativity — how artists see, feel, imagine, and realize their inner worlds. By bridging the rational and the intuitive, we aim to inspire fellow creators and curious audiences to appreciate the deeper forces behind visual and musical expression. Artist, musician, producer, record label executive and supporter of the Arts, William Saunders publishes original music content from label artists and hosts the original podcast and video series, "Inside the Creative Mind" which interviews visual and musical artists to learn about how they create their artform, from inception through fruition. #creativemind #creativity #newmusic #kansascity Official Websitetinymessengermedia.com Founderwilliamsaunders.online KWANZAA HUMPHREY – Kwanza Humphrey is a prolific artist who creates emotionally evocative portraiture in oil on canvas and mixed media on paper. His impulse to express himself through images extends back to early childhood drawings and the simple practice of releasing frustration and inspiration through pictures. Kwanza has been bringing his visions to life for over 40 years. Kwanza is an award-winning artist who has been included in exhibitions across the United States. Including being one of the small group of artists selected for inclusion in the new terminal at the Kansas City International Airport. Kwanza’s masterful and disciplined work, often characterized as impressionist realism, resides in the permanent collection of the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, as well as extensive private collections. Artist Statement – I began drawing at a very early age. Drawing was a medium I could get lost in, with my imagination and thoughts. Painting for me is a natural extension of that process. While it is a completely different medium, the emotion I bring to it is the same. I start with a pencil or charcoal drawing on paper as a guide. Sometimes it’s just one drawing. Other times it’s several, but it’s always in black and white. I reserve color for painting. I like the spontaneity it can bring to the canvas. I use color and deliberate brushstrokes to create character, conversation or a feeling. I rarely mix colors when I paint. I like to use the raw color and have them mix optically. When I paint, I capture an emotion and feeling that you wouldn’t normally see. Painting is an emotional experience for me, where I often have a conversation with myself and shape a feeling. Other times I just let go and let my subconscious take over where color and brush are the medium I use to communicate. I gravitate to the human form and face. I enjoy people and scratching below the surface to show the essence of humanity. We all present a mask to the world to protect ourselves from the unknown. I’m looking to get past that façade and show the human connection we all share. I paint so that you look at something and see the emotion in it. We all bring something personal to the table. Your experience will allow you to see something no one else does, or you may have a similar connection with your fellow viewers. My goal is for my work to resonate with you in some way. I hope on some level it does. -Kwanza Kansas City’s role as a host site for FIFA World Cup 26 inspired a new exhibition at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. The fifth exhibition in the museum’s KC Art Now initiative, Personal Best features six local artist-athletes at the top of their game. The exhibition focuses on commonalities found at the intersection of this dual identity such as physicality, dedication, and determination, revealed through work in a variety of media and a range of styles. Personal Best currently on view through August 9, 2026. As with the four previous iterations of the KC Art Now initiative, the Personal Best project team collaborated closely with the artists to ensure that their voices are foregrounded and authentically represented. Each artist authored labels for their work in the exhibition and are featured in a video compilation interview discussing their dual identities as artist-athletes and what “personal best” means to them in both areas. This video will be featured in the exhibition.   Painter Kwanza Humphrey’s ancestral home is on the African continent, and through his work he reaches back in time to create a bridge with those who have inspired him and to whom he feels a deep connection. This includes the makers and wearers of the African masks he incorporates into his trio of paintings for Personal Best—including some from the Nelson-Atkins permanent collection, one of which will be on view in conjunction with his paintings.  A former football player for Missouri Western State University, Humphrey continues to play when he isn’t painting in his studio at Interurban Art House. “Football is a physical release, and painting is more of an emotional release.,” said Humphrey. “It’s an opportunity to observe everything around me, take it in, and come up with my own reflection on the world around me and deliver that onto my canvas.” Kansas City’s role as a host site for FIFA World Cup 26 inspired a new exhibition at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. The fifth exhibition in the museum’s KC Art Now initiative, Personal Best features six local artist-athletes at the top of their game. The exhibition focuses on commonalities found at the intersection of this dual identity such as physicality, dedication, and determination, revealed through work in a variety of media and a range of styles. Personal Best on view now through August 9, 2026. The Nelson-Atkins is located at 45th and Oak Streets, Kansas City, MO. Hours are 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Friday through Monday; 10 a.m.–9 p.m. Thursday; closed Tuesday and Wednesday. Admission to the museum is free to everyone. For museum information, phone 816.751.1ART (1278) or visit nelson-atkins.org. Inextricably Connected Among lush greens and shifting light, they gather in a forest that feels both ancient and present. Two wear masks, forms shaped by memory, tradition, and something older than language. Worn not to conceal, but to reach toward what’s been lost, or what might still be remembered. This is not a moment of ceremony, but of seeking. Each a thread in a larger weave: of earth, of time, of each other. The forest does not separate them from the world—it draws them closer to its rhythm. A quiet reminder that the roots beneath us are shared, and always have been. Check out these links for Kwanza Humphrey! Nelson Show Studio Mag article Blog entry