Episodes

  • ARTWALKING RADIO 06-12-2025 with guest Michaell Magrustche
    Jun 13 2025
    Michaell Magrutsche

    Michaell is an Austrian-Californian multidisciplinary artist, speaker, and author who transforms adversity into insight. Born with dyslexia and dysgraphia, Michaell was forced to rely on common sense and human connection over traditional systems—leading him to become a passionate advocate for human-centric living.

    Entirely self-taught, Michaell believes disabilities are gateways to deeper self-awareness and creative potential. Art saved his life, helping him understand the difference between being system-relevant and being truly human.

    Today, he inspires others through six thought-provoking books and over 400 global appearances since 2022, sharing his message: each of us is one of one—a unique expression in a shared human family.


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    1 hr and 31 mins
  • KXRN-25-05-08-19-00
    1 hr and 52 mins
  • ARTWALKING RADIO 04-10-2025 with guests Lynette Brasfield and Rickie Redman
    Apr 11 2025
    Lynette Brasfield
    Lynette Brasfield’s long career in public relations and communications includes stints as Vice President at Nelson Communications Group and Hill and Knowlton, serving clients as varied as PacifiCare Health Systems, Chapman University, and Anheuser-Busch.
    She’s also a published novelist (NATURE LESSONS, St. Martin’s Press, NY) and has taught fiction, served on panels at writers’ conferences, and written numerous articles on subjects including travel, mental health, and the challenges of aging. For two years, she served as the managing editor/features writer at Stu News Laguna. She loves hiking, cats, and working at the Susi Q.

    Rickie Redman
    Rickie has 14 years of experience working with seniors, including with Alzheimer’s Orange County, where she managed their Memories in Making art program and exhibition, and SCAN Health Plan, where she was a Volunteer Engagement Specialist. With a passion for education, creativity, art, and community outreach, Rickie manages organizational priorities to best serve clients. Rickie has a Bachelor of Arts with an emphasis on Therapeutic Arts. She is a certified Birren Center for Autobiographical Studies instructor and is currently training to be an End-of-Life Practitioner.
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    1 hr and 53 mins
  • ARTWALKING RADIO 03-13-2025 with guests Bob Borthwick and Marlo Bartels
    Mar 14 2025
    INTRODUCTION BY LEAH VASQUEZ:
    Clay, It's More Than Mud... It's combining the "Best of All Worlds." It's understood and appreciated that cultures around the world have their own unique characteristics; there are universal needs for beauty, sustainability, efficiency, and safety, as well as important design components, including identity and local criteria and requirements. For this month's program we spotlight two Laguna Beach luminaries who have worked together with Catalina Tile, and individually on numerous other local projects. All of which enhance "A Sense of Place, Here and Elsewhere." Leah Vasquez

    Marlo Bartels
    Marlo has been producing and installing permanent ceramic and stone sculpture, mosaics, pictorial murals and functional art for cities, institutions and personal clients since 1977. He works with ceramic tile, terrazzo & stone; shaping, forming, and glazing the clay elements by hand. With the support of a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts in Washington, D.C., he has developed new techniques for fabricating furniture and sculptures, using tile facings on ferro-cement with polystyrene substrates. His work includes sculpture, indoor and outdoor walls, fountains, floors, and functional art.

    More about Marlo Bartels

    Bob Borthwick
    A landscape architect, Bob Borthwick has had a lifelong love for the environment which began with childhood vacations to Yosemite. He has received professional awards for notable projects such as the Avalon Waterfront on Catalina Island, and the San Clemente Beach Trail. Bob completed a B.S. in Environmental Design at Cal Poly Pomona, where he now chairs the Landscape Architectural Advisory Board. He is a Guest Critic for scholarship competitions there, at USC, and at UCLA. Bob has served on several advisory committees for the City of Laguna Beach, including Trails and Open Space.
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    1 hr and 48 mins
  • ARTWALKING RADIO 02-13-2025 with guests Kas Sartori, William Withrow, and Tracy Wise
    Feb 14 2025
    GUESTS:

    Katherine Sartori, or KasAbout the Author: Katherine Sartori, or Kas, as her friends and readers know her, is a passionate writer, photographer, and teacher who believes in the power of creativity to connect us to ourselves and each other. Based in Los Angeles, California, Kas draws on her diverse life experiences to craft poetry and stories that resonate deeply with her readers. A former nun, author Katherine Sartori has created a fictional story, inspired by her own experiences as well as those of the Sisters she met. Her novel seeks to contrast idealism with the realities of convent living. Read reviews at Goodreads.com.
    More about Kas Sartori

    William Withrow About William: He is a designer, storyteller, and lifelong creative with a background in advertising and marketing. As the founder of a successful advertising agency, he spent years shaping brands, crafting brochures, ads, promotional material, and bringing ideas to life through design. Now, he applies that same creative vision to publishing, collaborating with his partner to design beautifully crafted poetry journals that merge aesthetics with literature. Design has been part of William’s life for over 60 years, but in recent years, he has started to embrace writing. His deep sense of intuition—an ability to perceive things before they happen—has always guided his creative work, and it naturally weaves into his storytelling. More about William Withrow

    Tracy Wise Raised internationally across Asia by artist parents, Tracy Wise places a strong emphasis on visual art and music in her writing. Tracy holds a BA in Theatre and Spanish from Washington University and an MA in Cultural Studies from the University of East London. Her debut work, Madame Sorel’s Lodger, is a Van-Gogh-inspired story about an artist and the impact he has on a small French village. The novella is published by Laguna-Hills-based press, Type Eighteen Books. In her free time, Tracy designs social media for her local Friends of the Library in Redlands, California. More about Tracy Wise


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    1 hr and 57 mins
  • ARTWALKING RADIO 01-9-2025 with guests Daniel Gary Busby and Tom Horvath
    Jan 10 2025
    Message from Leah Vasquez...
    Hello, Artwalking friends! We welcome you to another inspiring episode of Artwalking Radio here in beautiful Laguna Beach, where creativity and community thrive together. This week, we’re delighted to bring you not one but two extraordinary guests who are shaping the cultural landscape of our town! First, we have Daniel Gary Busby, a remarkable artist whose dynamic works captivate and inspire. Daniel’s art explores the intersections of form, texture, and emotion, creating visual narratives that transform the ordinary into the extraordinary. We’ll dive into his creative process, hear about his journey, and get an exclusive peek at what’s next for him. Joining us as well is Tom Horvath, Director of Marketing and Communications from the iconic Laguna Playhouse, a cornerstone of our arts community. Tom will share insights into the exciting programs and productions that continue to make the Playhouse a cultural gem, along with behind-the-scenes stories that bring the magic of live theater to life. It’s a lineup you won’t want to miss! Tune in this [day/time], and celebrate the vibrant artistic spirit of Laguna Beach with us. Keep walking in art, Leah Vasquez

    Daniel Gary Busby
    Daniel, M.M., D.M.A./UCLA has made a varied career as a pianist, singer, conductor, teacher, administrator, philanthropreneur, and music critic. In his retirement, he takes joy in walking and caring for dogs under his DaddyDogDaycare auspices.A versatile conductor. Dr. Busby’s theatrical credits span both the musical theater and operatic genres—from Stephen Schwartz’s Godspell to Igor Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress.

    With a career that spans 40 years and has had global reach, he is equally fluent in genres of cabaret, traditional musical theatre, new musical work, opera, drama, and comedy. He has been a regular musical fixture at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera, and universities like USC, UCLA, and UC Irvine. He will be serving as the music director for International City Theatre’s upcoming production of DESPERATE MEASURES in Long Beach, CA. The show runs from 20 February to 9 March 2025 at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center.

    BRIEF HISTORY:
    Born of mixed parentage, a German Jewish father and a Mexican Catholic mother, Gary grew up in Anaheim, California. His father, though an engineer was the nephew of the great film choreographer Busby Berkeley… the Busby family owned what has become the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey circus and performing is in the genetics.

    Gary’s mother, Carmen, was a big band singer in her youth and instilled in him a sense of how a singer can shape a lyric, bend a musical line, and interpret a song. It is from her that Gary draws on his deep connection to his mexican/indigenous roots.

    Tom Horvath
    Tom is Director of Marketing, Communications, and Public Relations, is a marketing professional with over 15 years of experience in the theatre industry. He began his career as a performer, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Performance from Wagner College, followed by a Master of Arts in Arts and Culture Management with a marketing concentration from the University of Denver.

    With a background that combines both on-stage and off-stage expertise, Tom has focused on adapting to post-COVID operations in his work. Most recently, he served as Director of Brand Development for a senior living community, where he enhanced brand identity and secured major partnerships with organizations such as Hoag and California State University Long Beach, strengthening the overall well-being of residents and providing an appropriate environment for them to age-in-place. Now, Tom is thrilled to apply his skills at the Laguna Playhouse, where his passion for the arts and marketing will help create impactful, community-driven initiatives.

    In addition to his work at the Laguna Playhouse, Tom serves as a Board Member for the non-profit agency Professional Arts Education Center (PAEC) in Torrance, where he assists with marketing, fundraising campaigns, and creating opportunities for South Bay youth to achieve their dreams of becoming theatrical performers.
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    1 hr and 52 mins
  • ARTWALKING RADIO 12-12-2024 - with guests Christopher Regan and Jerome Gastaldi
    Dec 13 2024
    Message from Leah Vasquez...For December's program, "Energy Used Well" we feature two diverse perspectives from two individuals, Christopher Regan and Jerome Gastaldi as we explore "Nature Nurturing Culture". Please join us as we share the diversity of Laguna Beach and celebrate its culture.

    Christopher Regan - Laguna County Water District Assistant General Manager strives to keep Laguna's residents thinking about water conservation and its impact on our lives and our environment. He is highly knowledgeable about Laguna's water history and how residents before the district's formation in 1925 had to pump water from a well. He will also discuss water education, landscape, and conservation.

    Jerome Gastaldi / aka: Robert Abbott - In his ninth decade he has the exuberance and energy to continue producing art, experimenting with conceptual interactive videos, and reshaping landscapes with open space projects related to his sculpture. Currently exhibiting "Finding Light" at Seven Degrees

    He founded the Modern Art Museum in Santa Ana, CA. Hosting exhibitions included paintings by David Hockney, Gerhard Richter, Rufino Tamayo, etc., and as director for the FACT gallery in Laguna Beach displaying local and international artists. He has authored: Keep an Eye on Your Soul and Art & Reality. Today Gastaldi focuses much of his time on large-scale commissions for industry public buildings parks and resorts. His work is included in museum collections in America and Asia. A quote tells us much about his philosophy and practice: "The exercise of analyzing fresh ideas of younger artists and studying the works of modern masters is a source of intellectual and visual stimulation that causes me to react." Jerome Gastaldi
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    1 hr and 56 mins
  • ARTWALKING RADIO 11-14-2024 with guests Bill Darnall and Kyle Caris
    Nov 15 2024
    Message from Leah Vasquez...For November, we are looking at the art form of ceramics, often admired but least understood. Bill Darnall and Kyle Caris will be our guests discussing and exploring this untque forms of artistic expression.

    Bill Darnall - Bill is a seasoned ceramics artist and educator with over 50 years of experience. He has been a member of the Sawdust Art Festival in Laguna Beach, California, since 1973, where he showcases and sells his ceramics and photography, creates display booths, and offers live demonstrations. Darnall has served on the Festival’s Board of Directors, including two years as its President. As an educator, he taught ceramics at Laguna Beach High School for 30 years, served as the head coach for the boys’ and girls’ golf teams, and chaired the scholarship committee. He also worked as the school district's photographer and contributed to art curriculum development. Beyond Laguna Beach, Darnall has taught ceramics at the Palos Verdes Art Center and the Laguna Beach Recreation Department. He holds an Associate Arts degree from Chaffey College and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Irvine, along with a California State Teaching Credential in Studio Art. His commitment to the arts and education is reflected in his lifelong dedication to teaching, creating, and mentoring.

    Kyle Caris - Kyle was born and raised in Southern California where he grew up surrounded by an active artist community. He began ceramics in High School at the age of sixteen, finding the need to poke every bag of clay he passed. He continued his ceramics education at Orange Coast College, Orange County, CA, and began to work as a lab technician and teacher at Muddy’s Studio in Santa Ana, CA. In 2018 Kyle began showing and selling his work at the Sawdust Art Festival in Laguna Beach, CA, and in the Spring of 2019, he moved to Kansas City, MO to study ceramics at the Kansas City Art Institute. After 3 successful years, he graduated with his Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree with an emphasis in Ceramics in 2021. While in College Kyle formulated his own clays and glazes and explored multiple firing ranges, and techniques and exhibited his work regularly. After College Kyle worked as the Education Liaison and assisting technician for Laguna Clay Company which exposed him to a wealth of information and experience. Currently, Kyle teaches Introduction to Ceramics at Orange Coast College and exhibits his work at the Sawdust Art Festival in Laguna Beach, CA.
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    1 hr and 48 mins