The Spark

Fridays at Noon, Saturdays at 3pm

The Spark is WMRA's own creative look at --well-- creativity.    We dig into whatever people are passionate about in the WMRA region:  sculpture, model railroading, costume-making, poetry, whatever  --we might go there. 

We want to hear from those who are doing artsy or interesting or wonderful or obsessive things.  We also recognize that lots of creatives are a tad shy and might not ever speak up for themselves. 

You can put something on our radar about yourself or can tell us about someone you know of who might be interesting by sending an e-mail to the show host, Martha Woodroof:
WoodroMH@jmu.edu
(To launch an email to Martha automatically click here. )

Scroll down to hear past segments.

Consider this hour a community-wide celebration of the many people among us who invest time, energy and discipline into pushing against life's boundaries.

Listen to a typical 2012 version of the show's end credits (including Martha asking to hear from those who know about creative goings-on) : here (60 seconds).

2013 Spark intern Julia Skinner has been tasked with blogging about potentially Spark-worthy peers, and you can find the link to that blog on this page.

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The Spark
12:03 pm
Mon March 4, 2013

Scholarly Journal's Twittery New Look

Image: WMRA News (tw) composite illustration from VQR sources

The grand old academic journal, the Virginia Quarterly Review, has boldly uploaded itself into the iPhone era with a zazzy website brimming with eyecandy.  We'll meet the VQR web-editor, Jane Friedman. 

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The Spark
8:00 am
Mon March 4, 2013

Artistic Appropriation or Just Inappropriate?

At Harrisonburg arthouse café,  The Artful Dodger, a painting in a Rashidi Barrett art exhibit struck one visitor as  disturbingly familiar --maybe another artist’s concept.   It was.  Soon news media from Norfolk to Richmond to the Shenandoah Valley were noticing.

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The Spark
1:00 pm
Fri March 1, 2013

Spark Intern Julia

2013 Spark intern Julia Skinner has been tasked with blogging about some potentially-Sparkworthy peers. 

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The Spark
12:00 pm
Fri March 1, 2013

How On Earth Does This Not Sink?

Boatmaker Dave Gentry's surprisingly durable designs make the ancient gossamer "skinboat" (skin or fabric over a wooden frame) doable for home-crafters. 

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The Spark
12:03 am
Thu February 28, 2013

Big LOVE (Web Extra)

Student-decorated LOVE letters

schoolkids' art project we mentioned on The Spark involved decorating giant letters that spell LOVE --evoking the state tourism slogan, "Virginia Is for Lovers." Now you can peek at the finished creations at the WMRA Harrisonburg  studio (map)

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The Spark
11:47 am
Fri February 22, 2013

Is That A Jujube? Edible Landscaping

One can find unusual plants like gooseberries, quinces, jujubes, and hops  along with traditional items like cherries and apples. We meet Michael McConkey from Edible Landscaping in Afton. 

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The Spark
11:32 am
Fri February 22, 2013

A Real "Hunger Game"

In much of the world, famine and drought are real.   Through a new board game, international student Jacob Mayiani, with JMU ecology professors, is trying to teach his fellow Maasai people in Kenya that their own cattle-grazing practices might contribute to the climate-conditions which cause so much suffering.    

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The Spark
12:22 pm
Fri February 15, 2013

Old-Fashioned Chocolate-Making --Like AZTEC Old!

Working cacao beans upon a volcanic-stone grinding bench with a push-pestle while perched on a handmade seat, foodie Leni Sorensen shows students how to make reeeeeaallly "old fashioned" chocolate.  

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The Spark
12:22 pm
Fri February 15, 2013

Romance Writer Joanna Bourne

The award-winning novelist lives on a mountain top overlooking Afton. So, how’d she come to write romance novels anyway? 

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The Spark
12:34 pm
Fri February 8, 2013

A Bowl of Good

Katrina Didot turned world travel, an appreciation for hospitality, and an interest in fair pay into the restaurant, A Bowl of Good.  

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