Episodios

  • The Art Parlor for April, 2026 Presents: NVision Guitars!

    The Art Parlor for April, 2026 Presents: NVision Guitars!
    Apr 2 2026
    Episode Notes Welcome to The Art Parlor for April, brought to you by Friends in Art! It's been a spell and we are very glad to be back! Join us for an inspiring conversation with the creators of NVision Guitars, a mother-and-son team building custom adaptive guitars for musicians with disabilities. From tactile designs for blind players to ergonomic solutions for mobility challenges, their work is opening doors to music for everyone. Hear their story, their passion, and how they’re redefining accessibility in the arts. AI-Generated Transcript Jason Opinions expressed on ACB Media are those of the respective program contributors and cannot be assumed to serve as endorsements of products or views by Friends in Art, the American Council of the Blind, their elected officials, or staff. Friends in Art welcomes you to the Art Parlor, where visually impaired artists of all types will discuss their work. Pull up a chair, bring along your beverage of choice, and listen to thoughtful, stimulating conversations with visually impaired artists in all media and from all parts of the world. And now, here's your host, Anne Chiappetta. Ann Welcome everyone to the Friends and Art, Art Parlor podcast. I'm Ann Chiappetta, your president, and I'm joined tonight by some special guests. But before I get to them, I also want to let you know that Meghan Downing, one of our board members, is here to help us welcome our guests from Envision Guitars. So we have Renee and Tristan. And I just want to welcome you guys. I know we had you featured on our blog at www.friendsinart.org/news. If anybody wants to go there and check you guys out for your interview. So welcome, welcome, welcome. Renee Thank you. Thank you for allowing us to be here. Ann Sure. So you're from Iowa, right? Tristan Yep, we're from Ankeny, Iowa. So just a suburb outside of Des Moines. Ann So my new guide dog's name is Iowa, by the way. So really? Tristan Really? How did you know? Ann He was born in the I litter. And that's the name that they picked. So. Oh, okay. Yeah. I just thought that was a little, a cute little thing to let you guys know. Before we get into like the questions, could you give us a little bit of your history, how you started your business and maybe some of the reasons why? Sure, yeah, absolutely. Renee Well, Tristan started playing guitar when he was about 10 years old. And he's always had a love for guitar and played it and kind of messed around with building guitars all through high school. And anyway, about a year and a half, two years ago, I was having some health issues and Tristan was taking me back and forth to Mayo. And we just really got into some deep talks about life and the purpose of life. And I had recently retired from the military. So I had been running a Christmas decorating business that I had to actually quit due to the health issues. And so we were just talking over just what the future holds for both of us actually. And I said, you know, what would make you the happiest? What do you think would you would find most purpose in? And he said, I would find most purpose in building guitars. And that was just kind of out of the blue because I never knew that he actually just wanted to build guitars for a living. And I said, Well, you know, what's stopping you from doing that? And he said, I don't know. And I said, Well, what would that look like? And so we brainstormed on up to Mayo and we talked about how my dad, who was a quadriplegic, had went to Easter Seals and gotten training on leather making and he had gotten some tools from them and he had found his purpose through that. And then Tristan had shared with me that when he was younger, he used to play the guitar with his eyes closed because he was afraid that someday he may not be able to see and he was afraid that he may not be able to play the guitar. And so he'd been doing that for some time. And just on that same vein, we brainstormed the idea of what if we made guitars for people who can't just pull a guitar off of the shelf of a box store and play it. So what if we made guitars for people who have challenges, maybe some low vision or maybe they're blind or maybe they're in a wheelchair and they have spatial considerations or Parkinson's. You know, there's a variety of different challenges face where they can't just take a guitar, like I said, off of the shelf. And you know, as we dug into it, we realized there's actually nothing like that. There's nothing like that out there. There's guitars that look like tech toys, and there's guitars that maybe they have, you know, some tactile markers on them with glue or some homemade type of fashioned material to allow people to kind of use it, but nothing's actually made for people with these challenges. And we thought, well, why won't we, you know, we could do that. And so we have developed various adaptations for our guitars and we built a business around it. And that's what we do. So Tristan is the luthier and I do the ...
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    39 m
  • From the 2025 ACB Conference & Convention - Poems of Protest, Resistance, and Empowerment

    From the 2025 ACB Conference & Convention - Poems of Protest, Resistance, and Empowerment
    Oct 8 2025

    Welcome to this month's edition of The Art Parlor! This session was recorded at the 2025 ACB Conference and Confvention on June 28.

    Poetry is meant to be read aloud. In this session, poems written by Langston Hughes, Mya Angelou, Denise Levertov, Alan Ginsberg, and other powerful talents were performed and discussed.

    Facilitated by: Annie Chiappetta.

    We thank you for your support and hope you enjoy the show!
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    1 h y 5 m
  • The Art Parlor for September Presents: Abbie Johnson Taylor

    The Art Parlor for September Presents: Abbie Johnson Taylor
    Aug 31 2025
    Episode Notes Welcome to the September edition of The Art Parlor, brought to you by Friends in Art! In this episode, we speak with author and entertainer, Abbie Taylor. Join us as we explore her journey starting as a music therapist, with music entertainment and writing following in step. We also learn about her newly-published book, Living Vicariously in Wyoming: Stories. It was a pleasure having Abbie with us on the Art Parlor and we hope you enjoy the show! To learn more about her and stay up to date, visit her website at www.abbiejohnsontaylor.com. AI-Generated Transcript Opinions expressed on ACB Media are those of the respective program contributors and cannot be assumed to serve as endorsements of products or views by Friends in Art, the American Council of the Blind, their elected officials or staff. Friends in Art welcomes you to the Art Parlor, where visually impaired artists of all types will discuss their work. Pull up a chair, bring along your beverage of choice, and listen to thoughtful, stimulating conversations with visually impaired artists in all media and from all parts of the world. And now, here's your host, Ann Chiappetta. Good evening everyone, welcome to the Friends in Art Art Parlor, where artists and audiences thrive. You can find us on www.friendsinart.org. Tonight we are talking to Abbie Johnson-Taylor, and Abbie is a singer, a musician, a poet, and an author. Did I miss anything, Abbie? I don't think so, I think you covered it all. All right, and we're going to talk a little bit about your newest book, Living Vicariously in Wyoming, which is a great title, by the way, and all the other creative things you do in your life. Hopefully we can get it all in in the time that we're going to be talking to you. So, Abbie, first maybe you tell us a little bit about yourself, where you live, what you do, and then we'll go from there. Okay, well I'm in Sheridan, Wyoming, and I am, as you said, a writer, and I'm also a singer. I've published seven books, and there's two novels, two poetry collections, and a memoir, and then this new short story collection that just came out back in March. And when I'm not writing, I entertain monthly at two or three senior facilities in the community, plus at our local senior center, and then I also do the music for a local church the second Sunday of the month. And then in the fall, winter, and spring months, I sing with a group called the Hubcaps, which meets at the senior center and does most of our performances there. My goodness, you need a personal assistant to like help you out. Right, well, that's what I have my AMAZON ECHO devices for, and my iPhone. So, yeah, yeah, definitely. So, how long has it been for you, like, when did you get the bug, like this, you know, I know that, at least I think I remember you saying you came from a musical family, and can you talk a little bit about that? Well, my grandfather played the saxophone in a band, and so I think I must have inherited his musical genes. And then my younger brother did play drums for a while, and I think he still does, but I don't know that he does it on a regular basis as much as I do play the piano and guitar and sing. But yeah, I have, and when I went, my mother loved to tell this story about how I started playing music. They had purchased a used piano, upright piano, and they thought it would just be a toy. And I was about five years old, and I was digging around one day, and I don't really remember this, but my mother said she heard me playing "da-da-da-da," and so she immediately went to call a piano teacher. Oh, and so where did you go from there? Well, I took lessons, you know, off and on. At that time, we were living in Tucson, Arizona, and I, you know, took lessons from several teachers, and then we moved here to Wyoming, and I took lessons for another year or so, and then I finally gave up, and I then got interested in playing popular songs and then singing and using the piano to accompany myself. And I pretty much did that, you know, through my teen years. And then in college, when I decided to study music therapy, I had to get a guitar, because, you know, if you're working, like, in nursing homes, and of course the residence rooms don't have pianos, and so you need something portable that you can take, you know, and play when you're in those situations. So, and that's basically how my music career got off the ground. How long did it take for you to really learn the guitar and feel confident with the guitar? Well, I actually, I'm guessing maybe like one semester, because I just took a beginning guitar class, and that was really all I needed for what I was going to do. Just, you know, learn some basic stuff, you know, just to play, you know, a few chords here and there, nothing, nothing really fancy. So, yeah, about a semester. And then, you know, the piano kind of, I really don't remember how long it took to learn the piano. I was pretty small when I started, but, you know, I...
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    50 m
  • The Art Parlor for May, 2025 Presents: Johnny Cassidy

    The Art Parlor for May, 2025 Presents: Johnny Cassidy
    May 12 2025
    Episode Notes Welcome to the May edition of The Art Parlor! This month, oru guest is Johnny Cassidy. He is a BBC journalist and a fellow for the Reuter’s Institute for the Study of Journalism. Johnny Cassidy has been a TV and radio producer at the BBC for more than 17 years. He has recently moved into a new role into digital news, working on longer-term projects, specifically on how to best reach opportunity and under-served audiences. He is a passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion and believes strongly in universal accessibility for everyone. We are proud to now offer you a transcript of this episode and those in the future. Thank you and enjoy! AI-generated Transcript Opinions expressed on ACB Media are those of the respective program contributors and cannot be assumed to serve as endorsements of products or views by Friends in Art, the American Council of the Blind, their elected officials, or staff. Friends in Art welcomes you to the Art Parlor, where visually impaired artists of all types will discuss their work. Pull up a chair, bring along your beverage of choice, and listen to thoughtful, stimulating conversations with visually impaired artists in all media and from all parts of the world. And now, here's your host, Ann Chiappetta. Welcome to the Art Parlor. I'm your president, Ann Chiappetta, and the Art Parlor is brought to you by Friends in Art, the place where blind and low vision artists and audiences thrive. You can find us on www.friendsinart.org. Today's guest is Johnny Cassidy. He's a BBC journalist and a fellow for the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. Johnny Cassidy has been a TV and radio producer at the BBC for more than 17 years. He's recently moved into a new role into digital news, working on longer-term projects, specifically focused on how best to reach opportunity and underserved audiences. He is a passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion and believes strongly in universal accessibility for everyone. Welcome Johnny. Hello, Ann. How are you doing? Thank you so much for having me here. Yeah, wonderful. I'm glad you could make it and we managed to figure out the time change. At last, eventually, yeah. Right. Yeah. So before we get started into my questions, I just want our listeners to know how we met and we met through the Descriptathon of all things. And I just wanted to know what you thought of the overall experience for anyone that's listening that might be considering to do a Descriptathon. Well, the first thing to say is, if you are considering to do it next year, go for it. It was a fabulous, fantastic experience. Not least because I got to meet you, Ann, and we're talking here today. So if nothing else, that was a huge bonus. But the Descriptathon, it was a really good experience. It wasn't anything that I had experienced before. I didn't know what to expect really from it. So it was totally different. I think, you know, trying to work like that in such a big, massive collaborative way with so many people, hats off and huge kudos to the whole team at Descriptathon who managed to corral and manage that big group of people. And I think for so many people to show a passion and an interest in making images accessible to blind and low vision people, I think, you know, it's a it was just there's so many positives from it. It was just really, really good. So if anybody is considering it for next year, definitely go for it. I thought it was fantastic. Yeah, I totally agree. That's why I keep coming back. I think once you do it, you can't stop. It's just it's such an affirming experience for everybody. And you know, and it's not an easy thing either. There's, you know, times where you're like, oh, boy, I got to keep going. There's a lot of frenetic parts that just kind of come together. You don't think it's going to come together. And you say, oh, oh, wow. You know, I don't know if we'll make it to the end. But then you do. It's like, I don't know how it happens, but it happens. I think the management team must be doing so much really, as you say, frenetic stuff in the background, behind the scenes, under the waterline. Because it does. You know, I was exactly the same as you. I was thinking this is chaotic. And then it slowly but surely comes together and you find your feet. You know what it is that you're doing before you know it. Those three days are up and three big full days and they're open. There's really good, solid product to show for it. So yeah, brilliant experience. Yeah, I agree. Wow. OK, so there's a plug for the descriptor that's done. So more serious things, I guess. Could you share with us your vision loss journey and maybe incorporate that into who you are and maybe how you got to be a writer and that kind of. Yeah, from a young age, I was always short sighted. I wore glasses, first of all. But when I was I think I was maybe as young as seven, I started wearing contact lenses because there are these big, heavy glasses that I wore. ...
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    1 h
  • The Art Parlor for April, 2025 Presents: Izzi Guzman

    The Art Parlor for April, 2025 Presents: Izzi Guzman
    Apr 11 2025

    It was a pleasure to visit with our guest, Izzi Guzman, in this edition of The Art Parlor! Listeners may remember her from previous Friends in Art showcases. A dynamic trombonist, composer, arranger, and educator, Izzi is passionate about sharing joy, creativity, and authenticity through music. Based in Miami and Orlando, Florida, she aims to bring stories to life through her art and foster accessible and creativity-driven music education for the next generation.

    Izzi’s innovative and technical prowess has earned her recognition, and she has performed with renowned groups such as the John Daversa Big Band, Frost Jazz Orchestra, and Florida Wind Symphony Jazz Orchestra. Along the way, she has collaborated with jazz legends like John Daversa, Jazzmeia Horn, Brian Lynch, Etienne Charles, and Marcus Strickland, solidifying her place in the jazz world.

    Listen as she recounts her journey, beginning with her childhood, and how her passion for art led her to explore music, which eventually expanded to include multiple brass instruments! You can learn more about Izzi and stay abrest of her career and social media by visiting her website: www.izziguzman.com.
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    57 m
  • Art Parlor for Feb, 2025 Presents: Michael W Moran!

    Art Parlor for Feb, 2025 Presents: Michael W Moran!
    Feb 7 2025
    Episode Notes

    On this edition, we're talking with author, Michael W Moran. He wrote his first book, a memoir titled "I did it Without Looking – a Blind Man's Recovery from Addiction". In his introduction, Michael writes, "I am blind and I'm an alcoholic." There was no cure for the glaucoma causing his blindness. Thanks to a twelve-step program and lots of help from others, he put down the drinks and drugs in 1982. Now, 42 years later, he's put together this heartfelt narrative of the main events of his life. Mike's friendly and open personality draws upon his world view. Listen and see for yourself how his refreshing message of hope and optimism will lighten your step.
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    55 m
  • The Art Parlor for September Presents: Mark Carlson!

    The Art Parlor for September Presents: Mark Carlson!
    Sep 2 2024

    Hello, everyone, and welcome to our September edition of The Art Parlor!

    This month, our guest is author and historian, Mark Carlson!

    Mark Carlson is a witty writer, ravenous reader, historian, and author of nine books. He is a freelance writer and aviation historian. He is a member of several military, maritime, historical, and veteran organizations.

    A contributing writer for over a dozen national magazines, his articles run the gamut of topics from aviation, military history, classic film and television, dogs, humor, and essays. He started by writing stories about his first Guide Dog, Musket, and later, about his work at the San Diego Air & Space Museum.

    Carlson’s most recent project is preparing his next book for publication, When Yamamoto Ran Wild, the Pacific War from Pearl Harbor to Midway, to be released in the summer of 2024. He is currently writing the definitive account of the Lincoln Assassination, entitled Tyrannicide – The True Story of Booth and Lincoln. Carlson established FUNspeakable in 2009 and has given lectures for several local organizations, adult communities and schools.

    NLS BARD catalog #75126; approximate reading time ten hours (2011). The book is also available from Amazon and Kindle:

    Come listen as Mark tells us about himself and his journey with writing, blindness, guide dogs, and beyond!
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    56 m
  • Art Parlor for June Presents: Our First Town Hall Meeting

    Art Parlor for June Presents: Our First Town Hall Meeting
    Jun 14 2024

    Welcome to our edition of Art Parlor for June, 2024! This episode is a recording of our first Town Hall meeting, which was recorded in May. You will be informed about what FIA has planned, hear feedback from members and other participants, and learn how to become a member, among other topics. As always, you can learn more about us at . Thank you for listening!.
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    1 h y 28 m