ArtTalk Article in the Dayton Daily News

Tune in for artist talks
By Pamela Dillon
Contributing Writer
Friday, April 11, 2008

Photographer and arts advocate Tiffany Shaw-Diaz has a new venue that will help bridge the gap between artists and the general public. "ArtTalk" is a half-hour long conversation between Diaz and a monthly guest artist on Miami Valley Communications Council public access channel CATV 23.

"I've been involved in the arts for four years now," said Shaw-Diaz. "But a lot of my friends are confused by the arts. They think it's very insular and esoteric. I really just want to take down those borders and connect artists with nonartists."

She's accomplishing that by bringing in local artists to the Miami Valley Communications Council studio in Centerville and sitting down to have a chat about what makes them tick as an artist. Her first guest is photographer Kidtee Hello.

Shaw-Diaz begins ArtTalk with a stylized moving collage set to music. The half-hour segment is comprised of a general question-and-answer session of the artist's background, analyzing their art, artistic process and what inspires them, current projects and future plans.

And what might the general public find out about Hello? Well, for one thing they will discover the development of her unusual name. But more importantly, Hello is a versatile photographer who creates Goth culture images, commentaries on the human condition, comic book photos and light paintings. She has even shot stills for a horror film in Buffalo, N.Y.

"You'd be surprised at how many people don't have a good experience with art and don't get into it at all," said Hello, who obtained her dark room experience at Sinclair Community College and took some classes at the Ohio Institute of Photography and Technology. "But if they see something that interests them, they will want to be a part of it ... whatever 'that' is."

Shaw-Diaz started her video training when she and her husband, Richard Diaz, put together a commentary on the Dayton Circus Creative Collective's first Side Show in 2006. One hundred hours between them was edited into a final 50-minute show and it premiered at the Oregon Express.

"It was such a rewarding experience and embraced by the community," said Shaw-Diaz, who has scheduled sculptor Shon Walters and ArtStreet Director Susan Byrnes for May and June. "Afterwards, I thought, 'Wow, public access has a real power and people are watching.' "

Contact contributing writer Pamela Dillon at pamdillon@woh.rr.com.