- This month on The Spark, our theme is "Creativity, Culture, and Care".

We'll learn about an organization focused on building community through arts education and developing young artists, a nonprofit freeform radio station representing Memphis's diverse music genres and voices, and a foundation advancing orthopedic care through education, research, and community outreach.

We'll also share a special moment from our Spark Awards 2025.

- From Higginbotham's founding in 1948, our insurance agency has been built on the values of customer service, leading with integrity and supporting our community.

We believe in promoting the positives, encouraging engagement, and leading by example to power the good.

Higginbotham Insurance and Financial Services is honored to be the presenting sponsor of The Spark.

- (male announcer) Additional funding for The Spark is provided by United Way of the Mid-South, EcOp, the Memphis Zoo, and by the Medical Education and Research Institute.

- Have you ever been excited by a new idea, inspired by watching someone lead by example?

When we talk about creating change, we start by sharing the stories of everyday heroes who are making a difference in their own way, so we can learn and do the same.

I'm Jeremy Park and this is The Spark.

They're an organization focused on community building through arts education and developing young artists.

We're here with the executive director of Contemporary Arts Memphis, known as CAM.

We're here with Derek Patterson, known as Patt.

So Pat, let's start out.

Give us a little bit of the background and the evolution for Contemporary Arts Memphis.

- Yeah, thank you, Jeremy.

So, Contemporary Arts Memphis was founded in 2022 by Derek Fordjour, who is a contemporary artist from Memphis, Tennessee.

And it started off as just a summer fellowship, the four weeks.

And through the meetings and just talking to different people, we realized that that wasn't enough.

And so we started with just a fellowship, and now we're at a point at our year five for the summer fellowship, so four years of CAM existence, but our fifth fellowship where we have a building that's located at 652 Marshall, where young people are able to come and create at no cost.

And you know, we have a bunch of artists on staff that mentor.

So we're just here making it work.

- Talk about the importance of this in terms of supporting our youth, our high school students, but what it does for them to open up opportunities for college, opportunities for professional career advancement.

So talk about the importance of your work.

- Yeah, I mean, I think the first thing is confidence.

So I think the program helps develop confidence, not in your art making, but in the way that you talk about art, right?

And then also in the way that you think about your career.

A lot of times, young people and even adults think that the only jobs are just the making of art, but there's a whole ecosystem that exists.

And here at CAM we take back the veil that art has, right?

We want you to know, one, the business of art.

We want you to know all of the jobs that exist in art.

And we're not feeding any dreams.

We're not doing any of those things.

We're actually being honest about it.

It's hard to be a artist.

It takes hard work and dedication.

But if you do that, then the proof is in the pudding.

So we get scholarships, we help them with scholarships, which is important.

But, you know, the biggest thing is that a lot of people don't know what to do with an art student because it's this veil over art completely.

And so one, we're teaching young people, but two, we're also teaching the parents and the teachers about this art ecosystem that makes everybody comfortable with allowing their young person or motivating their young person to go this route.

- You still have the summer experience as a main focus, but talk about the year round opportunities.

- Yeah, I mean, you know, I think the summer fellowship is like the treat actually, right?

Like, it's like the final stage.

But I think our year round program is actually where the magic is made because you start, you learn a studio practice, which is very important.

You can go to college and be very talented, but if you don't have a studio practice and a work ethic, you'll fail just like anything else.

And I think that's what the year round mimics, right?

We want it to look like college.

So when you go to college, you're already, you already have it, right?

You already have that muscle memory.

And I think that you're able to touch different materials often.

So you are not afraid.

You have that confidence.

You know about this material.

And the biggest thing is you're able to think about your work conceptually.

And that's one of the hardest things to learn as an artist is how to think about your art outside of you and how the audience will take it in.

- When you talk about these students coming through CAM, Contemporary Arts Memphis, going back into the classroom with the art teachers, with the other students, talk about how it changes the dynamic, the culture, for the classroom, for schools.

- You know, there's a seriousness that comes with art, but you often don't learn it in school.

And so coming here and being around like-minded people, people who have the same interests in art, and then with adults who take it very seriously and to meet, you know, artists like Amy Sherald who painted Michelle Obama and hearing her love for art, then you don't feel isolated.

You don't feel like an individual.

You feel like there's a community.

And one thing about CAM is that we build that community and it's very important to the success of the young students.

So going back to the classroom, the student automatically wants to kind of build a community and a seriousness.

And they have knowledge that even artists like myself who went to grad school didn't have that they can then tell the teacher, hey, this is a job that's in the art market.

You know, we just think about it as drawing and painting.

But somebody has to make that frame.

Somebody has to hang that work.

Somebody has to design those things.

So I think they have that ability to be able to, you know, reach one, teach one.

They're able to teach their peers, be an ambassador of CAM and just keep those our ideologies moving.

- Talk about how the community can help CAM.

- Yeah, I mean, you know, CAM is at no cost to the young people.

And we have no program that has a cost.

So it's a unique program.

It affords you a lot of different opportunities and places to go.

And I think, you know, I always say, the first things first before you even donate, man, I would want you to come and visit CAM.

And we're an open door.

I would love for you to come see what the students are making and then allow that to be the motivation for you to donate to us.

I mean, so starts by visiting and then being a part of our newsletter and going to our website and all those things.

- Well, when you mention the website, mention the website.

So where can we go to learn more and get involved with CAM?

- Yeah, so our website is contemporaryartsmemphis.org.

You can follow us on our Instagram @ContemporaryArtsMemphis.

And then if you have any interest on visiting and wanting to come by, you can email me at patterson@camsummer.org.

- Well, Pat, greatly appreciate all you and your amazing team do to power the good.

Thank you for coming on the show.

- Thank you, I appreciate you having us.

[upbeat music] - They're a nonprofit freeform radio station representing Memphis's diverse genres and voices.

We're here with Robby Grant, executive director of WYXR.

You can see it on the hat, which is awesome.

But Robby, let's start out, give us a little background on WYXR.

- Sure, yeah.

We're a freeform community nonprofit radio station.

We're at 91.7 FM on your FM dial.

We're at wyxr.org on the web.

We have, you know, we're a freeform station.

We're volunteer houred.

We have a small staff, but we have a really large volunteer base of about around a hundred volunteers that are in and outta the studios.

A few of 'em are remote.

All of them are Memphis connected, doing an hour to two hours of original programming a week, literally across all types of genres.

Mostly focused on music.

We do have a few community affairs and talk shows, but for the most part it's centered all around music.

And the curators are here in Memphis.

Not all Memphis music, but Memphis influenced.

And just, you never know what you're gonna hear on WYXR.

- Talk about the importance of what you do, when you talk about representing our diverse voices and genres.

Talk about the importance of your work overall.

- When we started the radio station, we wanted the station to represent, be a community radio station that represented all of the community.

I mean, in the past, not just in Memphis, but you know, in other cities it's, you know, community radio generally is about like one specific community within the city.

And so we've really taken an effort to have our DJs represent, you know, all of Memphis.

So Memphis is a music city, it's a cultural center.

And so, you know, what we're trying to do is amplify that.

You know, we're a radio station and we talk about the programming on air as our scaffolding that we build on top of.

So we do all types of events and all kinds of other things.

But it's really a meeting place for arts and culture, specifically in the music space for these DJs to come together, for them to meet, for them to cross pollinate.

They, you know, projects are created out of that.

But then the next shell out from there is our listeners.

So bringing those listeners in where you're listening maybe to a hip-hop show.

And there's, like I said, a country show on after, and maybe you weren't familiar with, you know, either one.

And it's turning you on to new music and just expanding your horizons.

Kind of breaking, there's no algorithm with what we're doing.

So it's like, you know, it's real people doing it.

And so that's where you really find the fun, the surprises, the experimentation.

And so, you know, we believe in that as artists and as curators and we just believe in that with WYXR, yeah.

- Talk about the events, because as you mentioned, the scaffolding, the engagement with the community as a big piece of this, so talk about events.

- Sure, yeah.

So we do, we have a couple of, a few event series that we've done throughout the, you know, that we're doing yearly now.

Coming up in March, we've got Meeting in the Middle, which is an industry conference, one kind of evening that we do at U of M where we bring in musicians and industry people to meet the students and talk with them.

We're gonna kick off in April our Stereo Sessions.

So those are once a month, once a month deep dives that we do at the Memphis Listening Lab on a classic Memphis record.

So this season we're gonna have everything from an indie record, to hip-hop record, to gospel record.

So those are a lot of fun.

We do something called the Dowd Awards, and that's named after Nathaniel Dowd, who was one of the first DJs in Memphis.

He was on WDIA, but he also did a lot to help his community.

And so we give these awards, to not just musicians.

They are musicians, but they also are doing something like teaching or, you know, some activism or something like that in their community.

'Cause a lot of times, it's hard to be a full-time musician.

And you know, you get recognized sometimes for that, but when you're trying to do those two things, you don't get recognized as often.

So we're doing that.

For example, we gave one to Ms.

Anita Ward who sang "Ring My Bell".

And so, but she was also a public school teacher for 30 years.

So we recognized both those aspects of her life at the Dowd Awards.

And then our big end of the year celebration is called Raised by Sound Fest.

We just came off a successful one of those in December where we have free music inside of the central atrium from about, from all afternoon long.

And then we do a fundraiser that this year it was sold out.

We do that in the theater and then we do just a complete throwdown after party 'til midnight up in the Crosstown Arts atrium where we have DJs and all kinds of stuff.

So that's a fundraiser and a community event for us.

And then we do kinda little things all throughout the year with our DJs.

We'll do DJ nights and some other WYXR Presents stuff.

So we love getting out there in the community and really, you know, interacting and being involved in the music scene.

- Well, obviously listening, participating, and showing up for events, what are some other ways we can support your efforts?

- Oh, sure, well we are a nonprofit radio station, and so a large part of our funding comes from listeners.

We do pledge drives twice a year, but you can give anytime at wyxr.org, and that is super helpful.

We also have ways you can volunteer.

We have a get involved button on our website.

It's a really fun way.

We're at a lot of the festivals in town, like ones that you have to pay to go to, but you can volunteer for WYXR and get in and help us out and also enjoy the festival.

You know, we're also, on our website under the FAQs, if you're interested in getting a show.

And so that's a little harder to do.

We're pretty full, but we're always entertaining ideas and concepts, so yeah, reach out that way too.

- So where do we go to learn more and get involved with WYXR?

- Sure, wyxr.org on the web, 91.7 FM on your FM dial.

We're all over social media @WYXR_Memphis, and again, at wyxr.org.

You can sign up for all of our newsletters that we've got.

- Well, Robby, thank you for all you and your amazing team do to power the good.

Thank you for coming on the show.

- Thanks for having us, Jeremy.

[upbeat music] - The Spark Awards annually recognize and celebrate individuals and organizations that have made outstanding contributions to the community.

The 2025 Nonprofit Award for organizations with a budget between 1 to $5 million went to Junior League of Memphis.

[soft music] - My name is Lori Evans.

I am the president of The Junior League of Memphis, which is a nonprofit organization of women that was founded in 1922 here in Memphis, Tennessee.

We're 103 years old and we're still making a change in this community.

We are an organization of women that believes in giving back to our community through community service, developing the potential of women and training.

And we are just really excited about this opportunity to be a recipient of the Spark Award.

Well, where we are today, WKNO, Junior League of Memphis had a hand in starting WKNO the Children's Museum of Memphis, Church Health Center, Hope House.

We also were instrumental in saving the Orpheum when the Orpheum one was about to be demolished.

And just thinking about where Hope House is today, for example, 30 years later, and knowing it started in the kitchen of a member of The Junior League of Memphis who was the president at the time and still living.

And when they celebrated the 30th anniversary last year, was able to come back and see the impact that started in her kitchen, at her kitchen table, but see what had actually birthed 30 years later.

We have several community programs.

G.R.O.W.

is one of them.

And what it is is opportunity every Thursday for our members to go to Lester Community Center to provide dinner, supper for the families, but they bring them together at a table.

And then we also have a pre-K program at Brewster Elementary School, which is right down the street, where our volunteers go out two or three days a week to work with the pre-K classes to do read, they read to the classes.

And then we also provide additional support and resources to the teachers in the building.

We also have a partnership with Sweet Cheeks Diaper Ministry, which is really amazing.

And we also provide, you know, supplies for women and young girls for those special times of the month.

And it is just really impactful to see how we are pouring, still pouring into the community, but how also how, how the community still needs the work of The Junior League of Memphis.

And I'm just always really just touched by that.

And sometimes when I feel like I'm questioning myself about, you know, what are we doing and what is the impact that we're making, I go place myself in a community program and I just volunteer.

And that's kind of, it just brings me back to center to know that the work that we're doing is still relevant and it helps us as a organization to continue to be visible, valuable, and valuable not only to our members, but also to the community.

[soft inspirational music] - They're a foundation advancing orthopedic care through research, education, and community outreach.

We're here with the executive director of the Campbell Clinic Foundation, Jenny Koltnow.

And let's start out, give us some background on the Campbell Clinic Foundation.

- Thanks Jeremy.

I'm so happy to be here and so excited to represent the Campbell Clinic Foundation.

We are the education and research arm of the Campbell Clinic, but even bigger, we're a extension of the orthopedic knowledge base, the education trust for the, really, the whole world.

Since 1946, we have been in operation.

We've been defined by our resident and surgeon training programs, but over time, and certainly within the last six or seven years, we've really put a stronger emphasis in how we can invest our resources and our expertise in our local community.

- You all are very well known when it comes to not only Campbell Clinic, but the Campbell Clinic Foundation for the orthopedic Bible, so to speak.

And so give us a little background on that side and we'll tie in the research and the education piece.

- Absolutely.

You know, I was actually tickled.

When I first started working here I ran into a colleague who had broken her wrist while on a trip in Japan, goes into a clinic, goes to get it checked out, and one of the surgeons asked her where she was from and she said Memphis, Tennessee.

And promptly, he went to the back of his office, came and returned with a large book that said Campbell's Operative Orthopedics and knew that that had been produced in Memphis.

Well that book is now in its 15th edition.

It's translated into seven languages.

It's distributed literally all of the world, but it is written by our Campbell Clinic physicians and is really sort of the cornerstone and a real symbol of the impact that we've had really in every part of the world.

- Touch on that research side, because when you look at advancements and procedures and protocols and surgeries, you all are on the forefront of so many different sides of this.

So touch on that piece.

- This is where the rubber meets the road.

This is why, you know, say if you or I had a hip replacement 10, 15 years ago, we probably would've been in a hospital for 5 to 10 days.

Today, that same surgery is done in an outpatient clinic, and you will be home, in your house, on your favorite chair by three o'clock in the afternoon and start physical therapy the next day.

In fact, you probably walked to your car, albeit with some help, but you did.

So this is only because of research.

And so we are participating in studies that are our own homegrown, but also working with literally institutions around the world, Europe, Asia, South America, and throughout the US, from the Mayo Clinic to Johns Hopkins to Vanderbilt, Stanford, you name it.

But because we're all sharing information, we're all using data in order to drive better care, better outcomes, and really, just better public health.

- Touch on the community outreach, because you all do a tremendous amount locally, but you also too do lot in other places.

So touch on community outreach.

- Sure.

We are, after all, you know, we've been in this community for a hundred years and this is where we have grown.

This is really the sort of mothership of our operation.

Even as Campbell Clinics expanded, even as we've, you know, developed and sent off residents all over the country.

And so we're looking at working at with schools and community organizations to get interested kids in the pipeline for medical careers, specifically in orthopedics.

We are doing outreach clinics where we are bringing our expertise to provide, say, foot and nail care to people who are living in housing insecurity.

And we are also doing events and programs that are honing our residents skills so that they can work and train alongside their peers in underserved communities around the world through medical missions.

But really one of the biggest things that we've had in place now for about eight years is our Center of Excellence for Cerebral Palsy Care and Research.

And so, you know, not many folks know about cerebral palsy, but it is incurable and is one of the most common developmental disorders that exists.

Many of the kids who we encounter, because after all, why would a child with CP see an orthopedist, unless they weren't able to walk, unless they were having difficulty in movement.

And so each year now, we're serving more than 500 patients.

Again, we have a really extensive national network, but our objective is to bring the best resources and manage care as best we can so that all of the therapies, the treatments, and just the navigation of a very challenging diagnosis is within reach for the families and for the patients themselves.

- How can the community support your efforts?

- Well, the first is get to know us.

Easy to find, Campbell-foundation.org.

We're also very active on Instagram and LinkedIn, but we have a number of events over the course of the year.

If someone goes to our website under About, we have events listed.

And so we have education lectures.

We have outreach events.

And then our big events in the fall starting with Campbell Celebrates, which is really a party with heart where we're really not only elevating the real need for orthopedic care, but also showing how it is, you know, relevant and meaningful for all of our lives.

And so that is on September 25th of this year.

And then the Memphis Turkey Trot is another opportunity for anyone, regardless of your running enthusiasm.

We are the beneficiaries of the Thanksgiving Turkey Trot on November 26th this year.

So lots of ways to jump in.

And certainly, if nothing else, we're a DM or an email or a phone call away, - We'll mention again the website and where we go to learn more and get involved.

- And that is Campbell Foundation, Campbell-foundation.org, or just find us at Campbell Clinic FDN on Instagram and it's a great place to start.

- Well, Jenny, thank you for all you and your amazing team do to power the good.

Thank you for coming on the show.

- Thank you, Jeremy.

[upbeat music] - Memphis was and continues to be built on creativity, culture, and care.

We're fortunate to have so many individuals and organizations both rooted in the work of fostering community through creativity, culture, and care, while empowering the next generation and enriching our city through those same three words.

Through Contemporary Arts Memphis, we see how creativity opens doors and invites new voices into the conversation.

Through WYXR, culture stays vibrant, curious, and connected through the broadcasted sounds and stories that make our city move.

And through the Campbell Clinic Foundation, care takes action by advancing research, helping people heal, regain mobility, and keep moving forward.

These organizations remind us that a strong community doesn't happen by accident, it happens by intention, when we show up by participating, listening, learning, creating, giving, and supporting one another.

So where can you help power the good and become a spark?

To learn more about each of the guests, to watch past episodes, and to share your stories of others leading by example, visit wkno.org and click on the link for The Spark.

We look forward to seeing you next month and we hope you'll continue joining with us to create a spark for the Mid-South.

- From Higginbotham's founding in 1948, our insurance agency has been built on the values of customer service, leading with integrity and supporting our community.

We believe in promoting the positives, encouraging engagement, and leading by example to power the good.

Higginbotham Insurance and Financial Services is honored to be the presenting sponsor of The Spark.

[upbeat music] [acoustic guitar chords]