Francesca Durham | 6/11/2026

BE INSPIRED Podcast Host: Francesca Durham Website: francescadurham.com

After a decade of building creative spaces for Black diaspora artists in Halton communities and a season of deep reflection on what we name, what we fund, and who gets to belong, I found myself needing to say something out loud that I had been holding quietly for a long time.

In this episode, I talk about the language we use to describe our communities and why I believe it matters more than most institutions are willing to admit. I share what ten years of producing cultural exhibitions taught me about the difference between programming and genuine investment. And I get honest about where I am personally, a period of realignment, asking not just what I'm good at, but what I actually want to build next.

ST!LL BLOOM!NG at the Art Gallery of Burlington has now come to a close. This episode is my reflection on what that exhibition was, what it wasn't, and what it revealed about the infrastructure that makes or breaks whether artists can keep making work.

✅ If you've ever felt like a single category couldn't hold all of who you are

✅ If you work in or alongside institutions and want to understand what authentic investment actually looks like

✅ If you're in your own season of realignment and wondering what comes next

This episode is for you.

Tune in, keep blooming, and Be Inspired ❤️

#BeInspiredPodcast #AfricanAndCaribbeanDiaspora #CulturalStrategy #STiLLBLOOMiNG #ArchitectOfBelonging #ArtsCommunity #WomenWhoInspire #BurlingtonArts #BlackArtsCanada #LanguageMatters

BE INSPIRED Podcast Host: Francesca Durham Website: francescadurham.com

After a month of curating three exhibitions and hosting a series of thoughtful artist conversations, I found myself reflecting on a deeper thread connecting it all, courage, vulnerability, and the quiet strength it takes to stay present through life’s uncertain seasons.

Keep in mind, 2 AM, wide awake and reflecting on the past few weeks when recording this.

In this episode, I'll share a personal story about the unexpected paths that shape us and the moments that remind us none of our experiences are wasted. From time spent working in hospice and palliative care spaces to guiding women through creative self discovery, these chapters have taught me something profound about hope, resilience, and the power of simply showing up.

Recently, an invitation arrived that stopped me in my tracks, a reminder that when we stay faithful to our path, even when it doesn’t make sense to others, life has a way of revealing why every step mattered.

✅ if you’ve ever questioned your path

✅ wondered whether the pieces of your life fit together, or

✅ found yourself in a season of waiting, this episode is for you.

Sometimes the most meaningful chapters begin when we least expect them.

Tune in, stay the course and Be Inspired ❤️

#BeInspiredPodcast #MindsetMatters #HealingJourney #WomenWhoInspire #CreativeLife #SelfLoveJourney

ST!LL BLOOM!NG: Artist Conversations | Episode #7 -Amanda Tkaczyk

In this episode of Artist Conversations, created alongside ST!LL BLOOMING: Emerging in Radiance, Rooted in Resilience, I sit down with poet, educator, and artist Amanda Tkaczyk to explore inherited wisdom, memory, and the layered truths carried within Caribbean sayings.

Her artwork True Say II: Speak Up or Sit Down invites viewers into a visual debate. The piece challenges fixed ideas of good and bad, instead suggesting that truth and falsehood, desirable and undesirable, are often contextual and culturally shaped.

Peonies bloom alongside so called weeds, reflecting the contradictions embedded in Caribbean proverbs and teachings. Viewers must tilt their heads to read the phrases woven throughout the composition, mirroring the mental shift required to engage perspectives outside our own.

At the center of the work sits an obfuscated QR code. A deliberate gesture that blurs the boundaries between private and public memory, much like the lived wisdom passed between generations.

During our conversation, Amanda speaks about the influence of her mother, the lessons embedded in Caribbean sayings, and how her background in poetry, teaching, and technology informs the conceptual structure of her work.

In a particularly moving moment, Amanda reflects on what participating in this exhibition means for her personally describing it as a quiet message to her mother:

"Hey mom… look. I’m still here. Still blooming."

Within the exhibition’s curatorial framework of Speaking in Proverbs, True Say II reminds us that wisdom is rarely simple. It lives in contradiction, context, and the lived experiences passed from one generation to the next.

This is a conversation about memory, inherited knowledge, and the courage to speak truths that ask us to see the world differently.

Guest: Amanda Tkaczyk Artwork: True Say II: Speak Up or Sit Down | Mixed Media | 2025

🖼️ ST!LL BLOOMING: Emerging in Radiance, Rooted in Resilience

📍 Art Gallery of Burlington

🗓️ On view until May 24, 2026

Artist Conversations is a podcast series created alongside ST!LL BLOOMING: Emerging in Radiance, Rooted in Resilience, exploring how artists navigate memory, identity, and the quiet power of becoming.