May 2018

Month

LEGENDS, BEATS & GROOVES

Legends, Beats & Grooves is a Hip-Hop DJ showcase to entertain and educate on the History of the DJ, Turntablism, and Hip-Hop Culture.

On this conversation with Gary Thomas, owner of Gees Records, we talked about the relevance of every guest on this event, on the Hip-Hop, Pop, and Music Culture in general.

This event will feature Legendary DJ’s and Hip-Hop pioneers like Grandwizard Theodore (Credited with inventing the scratch), Large Professor (Super Producer, DJ, formerly of Main Source), DJ Tony Tone (Cold Crush Brothers) as well as Rob Swift and Mista Sinista from the X-ecutioners, also known as X-men.

Legends, Beats & Grooves is scheduled for Sunday, May 20th at 3:00 PM at Gateway City Arts

LegendsBeatsandGrooves

May 19, 2018 0

Olivia Mausel

It’s an honor to have Olivia Mausel as our guest on this episode, as she is bring recognized by the City of Holyoke for her work and dedication to preserve and share the history of the city.

After being at the Holyoke Historical Commission, Olivia continues working on projects that involve the preservation, research. and education of the historical legacy of Holyoke. On this episode, we honor Olivia and we have a fascinating conversation about her work, and an invitation to participate in a workshop on how to safely clean gravestones at the Smith’s Ferry Cemetery, scheduled for May 19th and 20th.

You can find more information about the workshop on Facebook

Also, you can visit the Holyoke Preservation Trust to know more about the projects Olivia is currently working on.

May 15, 2018 0

Gándara Impact Center

This is our very first podcast session from Springfield, MA, at the new Gándara Youth Acces Center, named The Impact Center.

This is a safe, welcoming space for young adults, ages 16 to 21, to receive support, connecting them to resources for job placement, housing, education, mentoring, or just having a safe space where to be, without judgment.

On this session, Impact Center’s Director, Kristine Rodriguez, along with Carmelo Torres, and Amanda Alicea, talked about the services available at this new site, and we also did the first official recording at the center’s media room, that will allow youth to learn how to create and produce their own media projects.

We invite the public to visit the Impact Center at the grand opening, open house, and ribbon cutting event, on May 18th, 2018 from 12:00 to 2:00 PM. The Impact Center is located at 41 Taylor Street in Downtown Springfield, MA.

For more information about The Gándara Center and all the array of services available, you can visit gandaracenter.org

Also, you can follow the Impact Center’s activities on Facebook and Instagram

May 14, 2018 0

MUSEO CASA CAUTIÑO-INSÚA: ROMANCE, ARQUITECTURA Y ECONOMÍA

Radioplasma presents, a special session, recorded after the opening of a museographic comparative architectural installation between Museo Casa Cautiño-Insúa, Guayama, Puerto Rico, and Wistariahurst Museum, Holyoke, MA. This is the first time in history that a museum has been transposed into another Museum. Their joy is that it is and that Puerto Rico did it!

This episode is a conversation with its curators, Alvilda Sophia Anaya-Alegría, a professor at Cambridge College; and visiting from Puerto Rico, Aníbal Rodriguez Ayala, historian and Museum Curator for el Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, who presents the contemporary perspective of Guayama, within the larger context of the South of Puerto Rico. Alvilda brings the curatorial aspects of the economics of the past as it transcends to a global economy in the 19th century.

This installation is sponsored by El Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña in partnership with Wistariahurst Museum, and El Sol Latino Newspaper, Amherst, Massachusetts, and is open to the public from April 5th to May 25th, 2018.

The curators are making sure that the second last name, Insúa, is always included whenever the name of the Museo Casa Cautiño comes up in any searches, because; this house was Doña Genoveva’s. Genoveva Insúa-Villar was already in the 19th century, a woman ahead of her times, she was an economist who managed five corporations successfully for over 20 years, after her husband’s death. This house was owned by her, as she received it as a gift from her husband, Genaro Cautiño Vasquez.

May 10, 2018 0

Robert E. Barrett Fishway Tour

Fishway FULL

Holyoke has power! This episode, recorded in location, is an audio tour of the Robert E. Barrett Fishway, with Kate Sullivan, Director of Marketing and Communications for Holyoke Gas & Electric, and Elizabeth Austin, Coordinator of Public Programs at the Robert E Barrett Fishway.

We talked about the fishway, the fish migration, the importance of the Holyoke Dam and the Canal System, and we captured the sounds and energy of the river, on a tour of the facility, as an invitation to the public to visit and tour the Fishway on its current season, from Wednesday through Sunday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, May 2nd until June 10th, 2018. Also, it will be open on Memorial Day.

27789168_unknown — The fish counting room, where fish are being visually counted as they are being lifted.

For more information, you can visit the Holyoke Gas & Electric website.

May 9, 2018 0

The problem with PROMESA

Promesas

As part of the screenings in Holyoke of “PROMESA”, a documentary by Michelle Falcon, the audience attending the Holyoke Community College and the Holyoke Public Library, has been offered the opportunity of engaging in a conversation with the filmmaker and two activists from Puerto Rico, Samantha Medina Figueroa, and Johanyvette Rodriguez Gonzalez.

On this bilingual podcast session, we discuss the current events in Puerto Rico, the protests, activist movement, the crisis, the corruption in the local government, and the need to address all of these issues inside and out of the island.

May 3, 2018 0

River Roll & Stroll 2018

River roll 18

We are meeting in the middle, for the River Roll & Stroll, 2018. Our guests are Cassandra Holden and Kyle Homstead, and they are the producers in charge of the logistics for the second River Roll and Stroll, happening on May 6th, 2018, at the Veterans Memorial Bridge, between Holyoke and South Hadley.

We talked about what is being planned for this ephemeral street festival where music, arts, food, and community will meet to enjoy the view of the Holyoke Dam and the Connecticut River.

For all the details of events, music, performers, food, and organizations present at the River Roll & Stroll, you can visit the official website: www.rollandstroll.org

Also, you can check the events and festivals Cassandra and Kyle are producing as Laudable Productions

Related: You can listen to the conversation of last year with Sean Condon, creator and main organizer of the River Roll & Stroll, published on May 5th, 2017.

River Roll and Stroll Street Festival – Interview with Sean Condon

May 2, 2018 0

PROMESA, a documentary film by Michelle Falcón.

Promesa

Filmmaker, Michelle Falcón (left), and activist, Nathalie Vicencio (right), are our guests on this bilingual session to talk about the screenings of “Promesa”, a documentary film by Michelle Falcón, telling the stories from families and people from Puerto Rico, and the economic crisis.

This documentary is named after the acronym of the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act, that also means “promise” in Spanish.

We discussed the creation of the documentary, and how the need for help to the families relocated to Holyoke and the Pioneer Valley, led Nathalie on taking the initiative of creating a volunteer group to assist them on the daunting process of getting a household.

“Promesa” will be screened on May 2nd at 11:00 AM at Holyoke Community College, and on May 3rd at 6:30 PM at the Holyoke Public Library. The screening will be followed by a Q&A session with the filmmaker, and three activists featured in the documentary. These two screenings will be bilingual with subtitles, free, and open to the public.