Gulf Coast Life: Arts Edition
John Davis has been a full-time Reporter/Producer for WGCU since 2009. He is the local host for NPR’s Morning Edition and producer and host for WGCU’s radio talk program Gulf Coast Life! John came to WGCU as an intern in 2007, and is now reporting on a broad spectrum of topics of interest to Southwest Florida. Prior to joining WGCU, he worked at WDUQ-FM in Pittsburgh, PA covering local government and general assignments.John studied journalism at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, before earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication from Florida Gulf Coast University. His work has garnered awards from the Press Club of Western Pennsylvania, the Radio Television Digital News Association, and a first place award and “Best in Show” from the Florida Associated Press for his investigative work in 2011. Send news pitches to wgcunews at wgcu.org
Latest Episodes
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Delta Blues guitarist, bassist and vocalist Anthony “Big A” Sherrod performed live in studio while in Southwest Florida for a Big A & The All Stars concert at Florida Gulf Coast University earlier this month. We’ll hear music and conversation from Sherrod along with Delta Blues documentarian, organizer and advocate Roger Stolle. -
The Southwest Florida Symphony showcases the orchestra’s concertmaster Orin Laursen in a March 16 performance of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D major. Ahead of the performance Laursen joins us to talk about the piece and his musical background. Maestro Radu Paponiu also joins the program to explore other works in the upcoming Masterworks concert. -
The Americans for the Arts’ AEP6 (Arts & Economic Prosperity Study 6) finds that Lee County’s nonprofit arts and culture sector generated more than $135 million in economic activity in 2022 and supported more than 2,500 full time jobs. We explore results of the study, and the case they make for more public support for the arts, in a conversation with Alliance for the Arts Executive Director Molly Rowan-Deckart, Florida Repertory Theatre Producing Artistic Director Greg Longenhagen, and local arts reporter and advocate Tom Hall. -
A conversation with artist and conservationist Niki Butcher ahead of an exhibition of her work opens at the Marco Island Historical Museum titled “Daydreaming: Niki Butcher’s Hand-Painted Photography.” -
Delta Blues guitarist, bassist and vocalist Anthony “Big A” Sherrod performed live in studio while in Southwest Florida for a Big A & The All Stars concert at Florida Gulf Coast University earlier this month. We’ll hear music and conversation from Sherrod along with Delta Blues documentarian, organizer and advocate Roger Stolle. -
Players Circle Theater in Fort Myers is mounting a production of the Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning drama “Proof,” by playwright David Auburn. We’ll explore the production in a conversation with Players Circle Theatre Producing Artistic Director Bob Cacioppo and actor Steven Coe. -
Pine Island artists Deb Zwetsch and Zan Lombardo have collaborated on a joint exhibition now at the Alliance for the Arts in Fort Myers titled, “We Contain Multitudes.” The artists join us live in studio to talk about the exhibition, their artistic inspirations and their artistic approaches, both collaboratively and as individual artists. -
Fort Myers-based artist Ananda War holds her first solo exhibition at DAAS CO-OP Art Gallery & Gifts titled “IS.” War is also a tattoo artist and owner of the Light Hand Tattoo & Healing Arts studio. Ahead of the exhibition’s opening reception, Feb. 2, War joins us in studio to talk about her creative process, her art and its connection to the metaphysical. -
The Southwest Florida Symphony’s next Masterworks concert, Feb 3, will feature Naples-based pianist Alexandra Carlson performing Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3, along with performances of Gideon Klein’s Partita for Strings, and Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8. We’ll delve into the program in a conversation with Maestro Radu Paponiu and the symphony’s community outreach ambassador Robert Van Winkle. -
The Wasmer Art Gallery at Florida Gulf Coast University hosts an installation titled “A Tenuous Framework,” Jan. 18 – Feb. 29. The installation comes from artistic collaborators and married couple Brent Budsberg and Shana McCaw. The exhibition continues the artists exploration of perceptions of history, ancestral memory, and psychological displacement. We take a deeper dive into the installation in a conversation with the artists and Wasmer Art Gallery Director John Loscuito.
