Folklife – The Artist Vibe

Enjoy live music and shop directly from local artisans online with The Artist Vibe! This monthly virtual event, hosted by Tinesi Minikon, will feature one local performing artist and one local visual artist/artisan.  

Featured Artist: Martina Sestakova, Textile Artist
Martina Sestakova is a native of the Czech Republic and the owner at RADOST (est. 2016). The name of her company means ‘joy’ in Czech. Martina holds a BFA in Communication from the University of Maryland (College Park, MD) and an MFA in Fashion Design from the Academy of Arts University (San Francisco, CA). Martina engages in three areas of creative exploration: textile design, painting, and art education. As a textile designer, Martina invokes short stories from life experiences: they inspire her paintings turned into textiles. She gives specific names to the patterns as they are visual manifestation of actual moments. Her scarves have been featured on Voice of America, at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens (Washington, DC), the American Horticultural Society (Alexandria, VA), the National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library (Cedar Rapids, IO), and an array of shops across the United States. Martina’s design practice intertwines with her paintings in watercolors on yupo. In the series, “Visual Insights into Life’s Beauty,” she communicates words (as components of stories) and their associated emotions through colors, shapes, and textures.

Her artworks have been exhibited at a variety of venues, such as the BlackRock Center for the Arts (Germantown, MD), Adah Rose Gallery (Kensington, MD), Art Works Gallery (Richmond, VA), Latela Curatorial  (Washington, DC), and Emerge Gallery (New York, NY). Martina has co-curated three art exhibitions at the Adah Rose Gallery. She is a board member of Montgomery Art Association and a member of Capitol Hill Art League and Washington Water Color Association. As an art educator, Martina connects with her students through exploratory workshops. Her healthcare background allows her to share her education and eldercare expertise in art classes in independent and assisted living communities and with individuals in adult care day programs. Martina also brings creative projects to communities with limited access to the arts, such as individuals in correctional institutions and non-English speaking communities. Currently, she offers a variety of online art sessions through her small business.  Martina Sestakova resides in Kensington, MD. She continues to expand her practice through engaging in the textile design industry, sharing her artworks in exhibitions, and building a supportive community through her meditative workshops.

Featured Performer: Leon Scott, Comedian 
Leon Scott is a comedian based in Washington, DC and a comedy writer for Get Up DC on WUSA9. Before the pandemic Leon hosted multiple comedy shows all over the DC area. Now he performs on socially distant comedy shows and festivals across the country. Leon currently has two specials on streaming services, “District of Comedy” and “American Comic.”

The Artist Vibe is brought to by SSM Folklife partner, FAsMarketplace.