This summer was a hard one for me and others who knew the talented musician, actor, and producer Sarah Mitchell. Sarah took her life with a gun in August. Sarah was the daughter of local performers Gianna Drogheo and Steve Mitchell and I knew her since she was a girl. Audiences visiting or living in Fairbanks knew her from her engaging summer performances at the Palace Theater and Saloon. But Sarah was also a passionate champion of other artists. The best example of this is her project to create a CD of Jim Bell’s music. I spoke with Sarah just before the CD’s release. I replay it in tribute to her generous spirit.
Also on the show, “First Friday” events in Fairbanks are usually festive affairs where new work of painters, printers, writers and sculptors is unveiled in gallery openings. But in October, two first-Friday events have a more somber theme: gun safety. First, Well Street Art Company will display several banners with the portraits of scores of Alaskans wearing targets. Local photographer Kate Wool found herself called to respond with her images in the wake of repeated reports of mass shootings in schools and other public venues. The result was the “I am not a target” project. Her work came to the attention of the national For Freedoms organization, which seeks to stimulate social discussion through artistic expression. They selected Wool’s work for support.
And Chris Lott looks at the troubling language of suicide on Katexic Clippings. Listen to the show here.