Julie Kingsley is an award-winning author, educator, and the co-founder of the Manuscript Academy and Manuscript Wishlist, joining Dr. Lisa Belisle on Radio Maine to explore creativity, resilience, and the courage to put stories into the world. A Scarborough native with deep French Canadian roots, Julie reflects on how Maine’s mill towns, immigrant histories, and close-knit communities shaped her voice and her debut novel, “The Space Between You and Me”, winner of the IPPY Gold Medal and the 2025 Moonbeam YA Gold Medal. Drawing from decades of teaching—from middle school classrooms to community college—Julie shares how education, entrepreneurship, and storytelling intersect, and why young adult fiction is such fertile ground for exploring identity and possibility. She offers candid insights into the writing process, rejection, revision, and trusting the creative community around you, while championing Maine as a place where grit and imagination thrive.

Join our conversation with Julie Kingsley today on Radio Maine, and be sure to subscribe to the channel.

Radio Maine is sponsored by the Portland Art Gallery

Sean Thomas, manager of the Portland Art Gallery and a photographer with roots in documentary filmmaking, joins Dr. Lisa Belisle on Radio Maine to reflect on creativity, community, and the evolving role of artists in Maine’s cultural landscape. A Cape Elizabeth native and graduate of the Savannah College of Art and Design, Sean traces his path from photography and film to gallery leadership, where he now champions more than 60 artists with care, curiosity, and respect. He shares thoughtful insights on the importance of creative community, the vulnerability of making art public, and how constructive critique helps artists grow over time. Drawing on his experience traveling across Maine and beyond to meet artists in their studios, Sean emphasizes trust, storytelling, and accessibility as core values of the gallery. His perspective highlights a distinctly Maine sensibility—welcoming, relationship-driven, and grounded in place—while offering a broader reflection on how art connects people.

Join our conversation with Sean Thomas today on Radio Maine, and be sure to subscribe to the channel.

Radio Maine is sponsored by the Portland Art Gallery

Grant Auber, a multidisciplinary artist whose work spans painting, music, design, and film, joins Dr. Lisa Belisle on Radio Maine to discuss the creative forces that shape his wide-ranging practice. Raised in Rhode Island and deeply influenced by sneaker culture, hip-hop, and early design obsessions, Grant developed a visual language rooted in rhythm, instinct, and flow. His artistic evolution—from drawing sneakers in school to producing music, directing videos, and creating large-scale abstract paintings—reveals a mind finely tuned to cross-disciplinary inspiration.

Grant speaks candidly about the powerful role creativity played during a significant health challenge between 2020 and 2023, and how art became both expression and anchor during a time of intense introspection. With connections to both Maine and Charleston, he continues to explore how environment, music, and emotion intersect in his work.

Join our conversation with Grant Auber today on Radio Maine. Don’t forget to subscribe to the channel.

Radio Maine is sponsored by the Portland Art Gallery

Brett Aldrich, an Ayurvedic counselor, breathwork practitioner, and founder of Seed the Spirit, joins Dr. Lisa Belisle on Radio Maine to explore how ancient healing practices can help us navigate modern life. A Maine native with a richly layered background—from competitive athletics to trauma-support advocacy—Brett’s path shifted in 2020, a pivotal year that opened the door to studying Ayurveda, yoga, and Spiraldance breathwork more deeply.

Drawing from over a decade of yoga training, advanced breathwork certification, and personal experiences supporting her own family’s health, she now guides clients through seasonal living, somatic awareness, and gentle, sustainable change. Brett shares how breath, food, and rhythm connect us to the natural world, especially in Maine, where shifting seasons shape both our inner and outer lives.

With warmth and clarity, she offers tools for grounding, healing, and reconnecting with oneself—no matter where one is on the journey.

Join our conversation with Brett Aldrich today on Radio Maine. Don’t forget to subscribe to the channel.

Dr. Jana Mohr Lone, executive director of the Philosophy Learning and Teaching Organization (PLATO), joins Dr. Lisa Belisle on Radio Maine to share her lifelong mission of helping children explore life’s biggest questions through philosophy. Trained as both an attorney and a philosopher, Jana discovered early on—as a graduate student and mother—that children naturally ask profound questions about bravery, friendship, death, and purpose. Her work now empowers young people to reason thoughtfully, listen deeply, and engage in meaningful dialogue, whether in classrooms, ethics bowls, or community programs across the country. Based in Camden, she collaborates with Maine schools and the University of Maine, as well as schools and educators across the country and internationally, to bring philosophy and ethics to students of all ages. With a passion for nurturing curiosity and honoring children’s voices, Jana offers a compelling vision for how philosophical inquiry can strengthen communities and inspire lifelong reflection.

Join our conversation with Dr. Jana Mohr Lone today on Radio Maine. Don’t forget to subscribe to the channel.

Radio Maine is sponsored by the Portland Art Gallery

Megan Rosenberg, a dedicated Special Olympics Maine athlete and health messenger, brings remarkable heart, resilience, and advocacy to her work both on and off the field. From early beginnings in California to representing Maine at multiple national competitions, Megan has built a life shaped by athletic discipline, community connection, and a deep commitment to helping others pursue healthy, active lives. Now preparing to compete in unified golf alongside her mom, she continues to model grit and positivity—whether running beside teammates who need support, encouraging healthier choices, or speaking openly about personal challenges with honesty and strength. Megan’s strong ties to Maine’s Special Olympics community, the Law Enforcement Torch Run, and even the Portland Art Gallery through her aunt, artist Ann Trainor Domingue, add warmth and depth to her story.

Join our conversation with Megan Rosenberg today on Radio Maine. And don’t forget to subscribe to the channel.

Radio Maine is sponsored by the Portland Art Gallery

Emily Blaschke is a Portland Art Gallery artist whose mixed-media assemblages transform found objects into vibrant, layered stories. In this conversation with Dr. Lisa Belisle, Emily shares how her art evolved from figurative work at UC Berkeley to the richly textural collages she now creates in Maine. Her inspiration often begins at antique shops or even the local dump, where she collects discarded materials—Barbie dolls, jewelry, paint, and nail polish—and gives them new life. With roots that stretch back to Down East Magazine, founded by her grandfather, Emily has deep ties to Maine’s creative community and now helps foster it through her work with Yarmouth Arts and the Portland Museum of Art. Her pieces invite discovery, joy, and connection, reminding us that beauty can be found in what others leave behind.

Join our conversation with Emily Blaschke today on Radio Maine.

Mike LaRosa, founder of LaRosa Studios and represented by the Portland Art Gallery, brings an uncommon duality to his life’s work—he’s both a practicing pharmacist and a professional artist. Raised in Syracuse, New York, with a background in engineering and pharmacy, Mike ultimately found fulfillment through painting—proof that science and creativity can coexist in harmony. His vivid, hard-edged abstractions and Maine-inspired landscapes reflect a disciplined precision balanced by emotional spontaneity. From family hikes near Deer Isle to his fascination with cinematic color and rhythm, Mike’s art reveals how structure and imagination can share the same canvas. Now living in Norway, Maine, with his physician wife and young son, he continues to explore how love—for color, composition, and connection—drives both his professions.

Join our conversation with Mike LaRosa today on Radio Maine.

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