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WXOX RETURNS TO WASHINGTON D.C. Smithsonian Folklife Festival of Festivals ART FM Radio Corner June 16 - 20, 2026 10 AM - 5 PM EDT ART FM is returning to the nation's capital this June 16 - 20th broadcasting each day from 10 AM to 5 PM directly from the National Mall as part of the 2026 Smithsonian Folklife Festival! USE THE PLAY ARROW to TUNE  Lila Hayden & Max Cash of WXOX interview Commissioner Anna Gomez of the FCC @ Folkife 2025 2026 SMITHSONIAN FOLKLIFE RADIO CORNER Growing out of the radio broadcast established by Next Wave Teen Academy students during the 2025 Festival, ART FM is working with the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage to establish a "Folklife Radio Corner" in the heart of the Arts and Industries Building. The satellite studio will provide hands-on experiences in radio for visitors to the Folklife Festival Marketplace. Attendees will have opportunities to dedicate songs and send messages to listeners in far away locations! They will also be able to engage in the development of radio programs specifically revolving around the various cultural activites at the Festival. The ART FM broadcast will coincide with the first week of the Smithsonian Folklife Marketplace festivities happening within the building. We will focus on the week's theme "Remembering Together" as well as the Festival of Festival's Theme "Culture of the People, For the People, and By the People". Because this year's Festival takes place in so many different locations, we hope the Radio Corner can serve as a focal point bringing the distant participants together from across the country as we celebrate everything that makes this country unique! We invite you to join us there, we'd love to get you on the airwaves! If you are intersted in submitting audio for broadcast during the live broadcast from the Smithsoian Folklife Festvival, we'd love to have your participation! Please use the following link: SUBMIT AUDIO FOR THE FOLKLIFE BROADCAST HERE! The ART FM Folklife broadcast can be heard 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. Catch ART FM LIVE from the Smithsonian Folkife Radio Corner from June 16 to 20, 2026 beginning at 10 AM and broadcasting until 5 PM daily. Connect with ARTxFM on social media:
SMITHSONIAN FOLKLIFE RADIO CORNER 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. In addition to the broadcast booth, WXOX will present a variety of hands-on creative activities for festival attendees. 
2026 WXOX FOLKLIFE CREW 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. Persuing her undergraduate studies at Howard University, Jordan is dedicated to telling stories that make a difference — one frame at a time. LILA HAYDEN DJ / Musician 
Lila Hayden began her violin studies at age 5 and has performed with the Louisville Civic Orchestra, Louisville Academy of Music, and Trinity Presbyterian Church. Beyond performing, she has shared her passion for classical music as a radio show host at WXOX for over 3 years, co-hosting the Louisville Academy of Music Radio Hour and her own series "Listening with Lila." Apart from WXOX, she was an intern at WUOL 90.5 FM. She was Radio Participant at the 2025 Smithsonian Folklife Festival with ART FM, where she enjoyed her experience so much she is back as an intern with the Festival this summer. She is a rising second-year at Dartmouth College studying Quantitative Social Sciences, where she is an Associate Consultant in the Dartmouth Consulting Group; a Lead Consultant in the Center for Social impact's non-profit consulting program; a Contributor for Data Visualization at The Dartmouth; a project assistant for a wellness LLM chatbot model; and an Advising Fellow for high schoolers navigating the college admissions process at a national non-profit, Matriculate. From rhythm to rhetoric, Lila has a genuine interest in learning and making a positive impact around her. Johnny Jones, Simmons College Chair, Cross-Cultural Communications  Johnny Jones is the creator and host of "The SummerMan Mixtape Chapbook Series" and "HBCU Homecoming" weekly broadcasts on Art FM 97.1 (www.artxfm.com). Johnny teaches at Simmons College of Kentucky, the 107th Historically Black College/University, where he serves as chair/program coordinator of Cross-Cultural Communication and creator of its Creative Arts and Communication concentration. An interdisciplinary creative and native tongue of the Arkansas Delta, JJONES's radio programs complement his writing and focus on Black narratives in modern and contemporary theatre, media, and performance in 21st-century American society. Johnny's more recent publications include a tribute to late rapper MF DOOM in Hip Hop Comics and his continuous critical and creative work in the tradition of Zora Neale Hurston, of which he served as a 2021 Hurston on the Horizon Fellow with the Project for the History of Black Writing. BRIAN MANLEY WXOX DJ & Audio Editor  Brian Manley has been a DJ on Louisville's community low power FM station ARTxFM 97.1 FM WXOX-LP since they hit the internet with a 24 hour stream in 2013 and then received their FM license in 2016. He's been a community radio DJ since 1992. He has provided live coverage of events such as the Breonna Taylor protests and the U.S. Presidential elections for the Pacifica Radio Network. In addition to his work editing the WXOX Smithsonian Folkife inteviews, he has worked as an editior on national radio productions including This Ain't No Disco: This is CBGB. His radio programs Driftless Turmoil and Night Train Cocktail Lounge are produced live on WXOX each week and syndicated by community radio stations nationwide. SHARON M. SCOTT Co-Founder & General Manager  Sharon Scott is the General Manager and Co-Founder of ART FM / WXOX 97.1 FM Louisville, a noncommercial radio station committed to providing artists and community members access to the airwaves for creative and experimental use. Built with her husband Sean and their son Max, WXOX currently has over 100 volunteer DJs bringing entertainment and new ideas to listeners all over the world. Scott is a regular contributor to Radio World Magazine reporting on LFPM topics. She also serves on the Board of the Association of Affiliates (AOA) representing over 200 Pacifica affiliated stations. Her second book Low Power FM for Dummies was released by Wiley Press in 2023. Since the passage of the Local Community Radio Act and the global proliferation of listening online, Sharon Scott sees a bright future for creative broadcasting and a powerful force in community radio united. MAX $ SELBY WXOX Next Wave Director WTUL Music 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 sound and is currently atteneding Tulane University in New Orleans where he is a Dean's List student seving as the the Music Director at WTUL 91.5 FM. SEAN SELBY Co-Founder & Chief Operator  At WXOX, Sean Selby brings together his passion for audio with his talent for carpentry. As Station Co-Founder and Chief Operator, Sean assembled the first transmitter for ART FM and has overseen the technical operations of the station ever since. He hand-built the ART FM studio and it was subsequently named one of top 25 most "Spectacular Radio Stations" on the planet according to Radio World magazine. In 2026 he introduced Blue Sky HiFi to the local community and now hosts free monthly listening events at the WXOX Studio. As Chief Operator of ART FM, Sean has an ear for detail and is dedicated to providing the best listening experience possible, even in the most challenging conditions -- including the Arts & Industries Building on the National Mall. Johanna Sims DJ / Producer  Johanna Sims is the co-host of Hundred Proof Fountain on ARTxFM, where she has spent more than 13 years sharing conversations with artists, musicians, poets, historians, and cultural educators. She also brings this experience and curiosity to her profession as an Archival Producer for documentary films. A passionate storyteller and lifelong lover of folk traditions, Johanna delights in uncovering the histories, traditions, and creative expressions that shape and connect cultures around the world. She is honored to join the Smithsonian Folklife Festival and looks forward to celebrating the people, stories, and traditions that bring us together. 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 has just completed his first year at the University of Cincinatti as a producer at Bearcast Media and a student in Graphic Design. WXOX 2026 FOLKLIFE BROADCAST SCHEDULE (working): |
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THE WXOX FOLKLIFE ARCHIVES FOLKLIFE 2025: YOUTH AND THE FUTURE OF CULTURE click to access recordings |
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ARTxFM P.O. Box 5103 Louisville, Kentucky 40255 USA |
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ARTxFM / WXOX 97.1 FM Louisville * P.O. Box 5103 * Louisville, Kentucky 40255
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