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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.

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 listen back to our conversation from earlier this year exploring 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.

The second annual Fringe Fort Myers returns May 30 – June 2. The four-day festival includes a wide array of performances from independent, experimental and alternative artists from all over the world. We get a preview from festival organizer and founder Bill Taylor. We also hear from featured performer Keith Alessi about the true experiences that inspired his one-man show “Tomatoes Tried To Kill Me But Banjoes Saved My Life.”

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.

In an unexpected and unprecedented move, last month, Governor Ron DeSantis vetoed $32 million dollars in state grants for more than 600 arts and culture organizations throughout Florida. We hear from Molly Rowan-Deckart with the Alliance for the Arts in Fort Myers, Elysia Dawn with United Arts Collier, and arts reporter Tom Hall about how local arts and culture organizations are coping with the lost funds and about the economic impact of the region’s arts and culture industry.

In an unexpected and unprecedented move, Governor Ron DeSantis, in June, vetoed $32 million dollars in state grants for more than 600 arts and culture organizations throughout Florida. We hear an encore of our conversation with Molly Rowan-Deckart from the Alliance for the Arts in Fort Myers, Elysia Dawn with United Arts Collier, and arts reporter Tom Hall about how local arts and culture organizations are coping with the lost funds and about the economic impact of the region’s arts and culture industry.

Renowned author, interviewer and photographer Victor Bockris is in Southwest Florida for an ArtSPEAK@FSW lecture and book signing in conjunction with the current exhibition at the Bob Rauschenberg Gallery titled “David BRADSHAW & William S. BURROUGHS: Propagation.” Over a career spanning more than half a century Bockris has interviewed and written about icons stretching from the Beat Generation to the 1970s Punk scene. We’ll talk with Bockris about his career, his approach to interviewing and his latest book “The Burroughs-Warhol Connection.”

The tragic loss, last summer, of the incomparable trumpet player Dan Miller has left a huge void in the jazz world. We preview this coming weekend’s “Celebration of Love and Life” tribute concert and learn about how his legacy will continue through the Dan Miller Jazz Foundation in a conversation with his long-time significant other Judi Woods. We also hear selections from a previous episode of this program featuring Dan Miller performing live in studio.

A conversation with Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Psychiatrist Dr. Ray DePaulo, M.D., ahead of his recent talk through the FGCU Provost Lecture Series and the Naples Discussion Group titled, “Depression: The Invisible Pandemic.”

Just ahead of Florida’s annual legislative session, which begins March 4, our panel of political scientists weighs in on key legislative proposals lawmakers will consider over the next two months including firearm regulations, relief for condo owners, property taxes, tax holidays, state election policy, and much more.