Eclectic Airwaves Build Sense of Place: artist Bo Bartlett’s forges new community connections through his Cougar Radio show ArtHaus
“After my son Eliot passed away in 2014, I had an overwhelming urge to create a radio show.” Bo Bartlett said. “Eliot and I always had a special bond through music. He would share with me music he liked and I would share with him old favorites.”
Bo Bartlett’s voice comes cool and soothing over WCGU 88.5 Cougar Radio, Columbus State University’s student radio station. Bo, an internationally-acclaimed artist and filmmaker, intones us as Alexandra Stréliski’s “Plus tôt” twinkles over the airwaves, “Good morning, SleepyTown. The purpose of art is to wake us up. The purpose of ArtHaus Radio is to wake us up gently.”
The radio show airs Saturday and Sunday mornings from 9 to 10 a.m. and can be streamed from the website arthausradio.com. The show is lovingly curated by Bo.
“It seems to me that in the age of streaming, our playlists (as much as we might love them) can somehow isolate us and make us feel alienated. I feel there’s a need for local radio that taps a sense of place and collective listening.”
Just as many of Bo’s paintings (excellent examples can be found at The Bo Bartlett Center, 921 Front Avenue, Columbus), ArtHaus Radio draws on Bo’s experiences growing up in Columbus.
“I have strong memories of listening to the radio as a child. My parents’ radio dial was always set to WDAK, so every morning I’d listen to Big Johnny Reb (Reb was for rebel). Cousin Al had a radio show focused on local personalities and country music, like Hank Williams, Patsy Cline and Chet Atkins. At night I’d listen to my transistor radio as it picked up stations as far away as Cuba, Chicago, New Orleans and Wolf Man Jack playing jazz, Latin and 50s and 60s contemporary.”
“Through its eclectic mix,” Bo says, “ArtHaus Radio harkens back to the diversity I experienced in that early listening.”
10 episodes are currently available to stream from the website, each one built on a theme. Episode 1: Sleepytown features eclectic tracks like Tim Buckley’s “Dolphins” and Lola Marsh’s “Morning Bells.” And the playlist, 14 songs plus a monologue by Bo about childhood hunting excursions with his father, leave one ready to approach the day with sharper eyes and a clearer mind, as Devendra Banhart’s “Wake Up, Little Sparrow” plays out and invites us to move into our day. Other Episode themes include Hometown, an episode dedicated to his wife and artist Betsy Eby, and more abstract organizational concepts such as Space and God.
“Usually, in the middle of each episode, I tell a story from my nostalgic memories of this place, often attempting to break into larger, universal themes to convey the microcosm to macrocosm.”
Bo’s attention to the way the specific becomes universal permeates the selections on each episode and informs his process for building the playlists. The playlists are personal for Bo and beautifully build a relationship over the airwaves—a relationship between Bo and his audience, and between audience members themselves. Each episode is a journey, and journeys shared, whether physical, mental or spiritual, build the universal bonds so vital to Bo.
“In these times, we are craving a sense of community and connection because somehow the all-you-can-eat buffet of content ironically silos us in our information-gathering habits. The music on ArtHaus is not selected through a computer algorithm; it’s chosen specifically for listeners in Columbus with many local tie-ins both historically and contemporaneously.”
by Tom Ingram