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WXOX GOES TO THE SMITHSONIAN! This summer, the WXOX Next Wave Academy heads to Washington D.C.!  The teenagers of ART FM will be hosting a pop-up radio station on the National Mall as a part of the 2025 Smithsonian Folklife Festival.   The WXOX crew will provide live coverage of the festival events for listeners worldwide on www.artxfm.com and through the free WXOX Apps.  Back in Louisville, audiences will be able to tune in through their radios on WXOX 97.1 FM and WXND 100.9 FM. Photograph by Aron Conaway The theme of this year's Festival is Youth and the Future of Culture.  Class of 2025 High School Graduates - Aaron Ziegler (DJ SoTek),) Lila Hayden (musician), Jordan Gray (documentarian), and Maxwell $ Selby (broadcaster) - have been selected for their unique talents to represent WXOX in the nation's capitol.  This crew will be sharing discussions, live performances, and musical explorations of an emerging generation each day of the 2025 Festival.                     Tune into ART FM July 2-7, 2025 from 11 AM to 5:30 PM daily to hear their LIVE BROADCAST from the 2025 Smithsonian Folklife Festiva!! Connect with WXOXFolklife on social media:                                                       The WXOX satellite studio --based in the lobby of the Arts and Industries Building-- will provide hands-on experiences in radio for visitors to the Folklife festival.  Attendees will have opportunities to dedicate songs and send messages to listeners in far away places!!  They will also be able to engage in the development of radio programs specifically revolving around the various youth-focused activites at the Festival.  The soundbooth will be outfitted with a computer, a radio mixer, two turntables, and three microphones.  This set-up will enable the Next Wave students to create radio programs that include both recorded music and live interviews.  NEXT WAVE FESTIVAL GOALS: * Introduce Festival attendees to the Magic of Radio! * Provide live coverage of Festival events, talks, demonstrations, & performances. * Allow listeners worldwide the opportunity to experience the Festival in real time. * Interview Festival participants, organizers, & attendees. * Promote Festival happenings. * Provide Festival information and updates. * Provide hands-on radio broadcasting opportunities. * Unite the Smithsonian Folklife Festival with sound! * Preserve Festival audio for future generations to experience.   Next Wave activity booth at the Fund for the Arts Kickoff Event The WXOX crew will also be equipped with mobile recording devices that will allow them to roam the Festival, reporting on activities and speaking with attendees.  Likewise, the team can get a direct-feed from the soundboard of any P.A. system at the Festival to live broadcast talks, performances, and other demonstrations.  ART FM will be honored to bring the sounds of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival to the ears of listeners all around the world! In addition to the broadcast booth, WXOX will present a variety of hands-on creative activities for festival attendees.  These will include turning album covers into art, collaging with electrical tape, and responding to audio promopts for future broadcasts. WXOX FOLKLIFE CREW MAX $ SELBY WXOX Next Wave Director Maxwell Cash Selby was born into the ART FM family and has been an integral part of the station's development since day one.  Over the years he has played many roles from program coordinator to graphic designer to technical assistant.  He has been a DJ and station promoter for WXOX 97.1 FM since he was a child and has recently cultivated a number of youth initiatives for student broadcasters nationwide including the Next Wave Teen Academy and the 2024 Grassroots Radio Conference Student Radio Summit.  His published works include technical contributions to Radio World Magazine and Wiley’s For Dummies series. Outside of the studio, Max has served as Class President, Founder of his school’s Future Problem Solvers Team, Quick Recall Champion, and AP Scholar.  He is a curator and an artmaker; a skateboarder and a squash player.  Max loves a city full of music and looks forward to continuing his work in radio at WTUL 91.5 FM at Tulane University this fall. LILA HAYDEN Musician / Speech Champion Lila Hayden is an avid musician.  Playing violin since age 5 and working her way through the completion of the Suzuki method pedagogy, she now performs with the Louisville Civic Orchestra, Louisville Academy of Music, and Trinity Presbyterian Church.  In addition to playing classical music, she loves to learn about it as well-- serving on her school's academic team and co-hosting a classical music radio hour on WXOX 97.1 for over two years.  Her other main passion, besides music, is public speaking.  Last year, she placed top 15 in 4 national tournaments in Informative Speaking. In addition to speech, she has found interest in mock trial as the co-captain of her school’s team for two years.  This past year, She won the 1st Place Attorney Award at the Yale Bulldog Invitational Tournament with a perfect score for the tournament.  Overall, she loves learning about music and enjoys sharing it with others.  This fall, she will bring her talents to the halls of Dartmouth College. JORDAN GRAY Filmmaker / Documentarian As an aspiring filmmaker and future Film & Television major from Kentucky, Jordan Gray is driven by a deep passion for storytelling that connects, uplifts, and inspires.  At the heart of every project she creates, she is committed to making people feel seen, heard, and understood. Her most notable projects —the Scholastic Art Award-winning short film What is Success? and her documentary series The Cultural Diet —explore themes of identity, culture, and representation.  These projects highlight Jordan's goal to blend social commentary and visual storytelling.  Jordan approaches each project with a mix of creativity; business-minded strategy; and a deep sense of empathy, believing that film has the power to spark change, build community, and encourage compassion across cultures.  Embarking upon her undergraduate studies at Howard University this fall, Jordan is dedicated to telling stories that make a difference — one frame at a time. AARON ZIEGLER DJ SoTek Aaron Ziegler (DJ SoTek) is a native of Louisville, Kentucky who enjoys mixing a wide range of music from Pop to Techno. He is known for his series of pop-up dance events that bring youth together in unique locations around the city.  Discovering music, skateboarding, and graphic design are some of the hobbies he enjoys most when not DJing.  He is a 2025 graduate from the DuPont Manual magnet school and will be continuing his education at University of Cincinnati where he will be studying graphic design. WXOX FOLKLIFE BROADCAST SCHEDULE (working):

ABOUT THE WXOX NEXT WAVE: WXOX Next Wave Teen Academy. Class of 2024. Photograph by Aron Conaway ARTxFM's NEXT WAVE: TEEN RADIO ACADEMY is a radio learning adventure that provides Louisville area high school students with the skills they need to become professional broadcasters.  At the Academy, student DJs get hands-on experience with the ART FM studio equipment and obtain the FCC training required for FM Broadcasting nationwide.  To learn more, visit the Next Wave website or check out "A New Wave" by Luke Boggs, the recent feature about our Teen Radio program in On The Record Magazine, a publication by the DuPont Manual High School Journalism & Communications magnet program.     If you have any questions please e-mail nextwave@artxfm.com

           

ARTxFM P.O. Box 5103 Louisville, Kentucky 40255 USA

ARTxFM / WXOX 97.1 FM Louisville  *  P.O. Box 5103  *  Louisville, Kentucky 40255