Thursday, Mar 4, 2021 5:26 PMUpdated Saturday, Mar. 6, 2021 2:31 PM
Public radio station grows statewide, Indigenous partnerships
Tami Graham, KSUT executive director, is on air in the radio station’s broadcast room on Wednesday at the station’s new location in Ignacio. The radio station’s move to one of the former Southern Ute Indian Tribe casino buildings has been in the works for at least 10 years.
Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
KSUT Public Radio’s new, $2.5 million home near Ignacio is already helping the radio station expand its statewide and Indigenous programming partnerships.
The radio station’s move to one of the former Southern Ute Indian Tribe casino buildings has been in the works for at least 10 years. Part of the station’s goal was to use the larger space to become a hub for Indigenous programming, create a media training center, offer new programs and expand its news coverage.
Tami Graham, KSUT executive director, shows one of several production rooms Wednesday at the station’s new location in Ignacio. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Tami Graham, KSUT executive director, is on the air in the radio station’s broadcast room Wednesday at its new location in Ignacio. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Sheila Nanaeto, tribal radio station manager, in the tribal broadcast room at KSUT Public Radio’s new facility Wednesday in Ignacio. Nanaeto said: “One thing nice about the new broadcast room is when you interview someone you can be face-to-face, unlike at our old location my back was turned to them.” Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Tami Graham, KSUT executive director, is on the air in the radio station’s broadcast room Wednesday at its new location in Ignacio. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Tami Graham, KSUT executive director, works a new state-of-the-art sound board in the radio station’s broadcast room Wednesday. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Tami Graham, KSUT executive director, works a new state-of-the-art sound board in the radio station’s broadcast room Wednesday. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
KSUT Public Radio’s new, $2.5 million home Wednesday in Ignacio. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
KSUT Public Radio’s new facility Wednesday in Ignacio. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
New electronics in the KSUT Public Radio facility Wednesday in Ignacio. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Sheila Nanaeto, tribal radio station manager, in her office at KSUT Public Radio’s new facility in Ignacio. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
KSUT Public Radio’s new facility in Ignacio. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
KSUT Public Radio’s new facility in Ignacio. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
The KSUT Public Radio meeting room at the radio station’s new facility in Ignacio. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Rob Rawls with KSUT Public Radio works in one of the production rooms at the radio station’s new facility Wednesday in Ignacio. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
KSUT Public Radio’s live performance room remains under construction at the radio station’s new facility in Ignacio. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Tami Graham, KSUT executive director, shows the view of the Pine River Valley from the back of the station’s new facility in Ignacio. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
After raising $1 million, and receiving a $1 million funding match from the tribe, the dream became a reality, said Tami Graham, KSUT executive director.
“I have to pinch myself sometimes when I’m in the new building or when I’m on air in front of this beautiful new console,” Graham said. “It was a lot of hard work for many years, so it’s just nice to sit literally in the midst of the fruits of all our labor.”
The nonprofit radio station, which went on air in 1976, is best known for National Public Radio news and an eclectic mix of music. As Four Corners Public Radio and Southern Ute Tribal Radio, it serves communities in four states.
It was providing those services from a 1,300-square-foot, former Indian Health Services Clinic.
The new building comes with brand-new broadcast and production equipment, two on-air studios and three content production rooms. (The final sound panels for a production room were delivered Wednesday.) The old building had one production space for two radio stations.
“That’s a huge upgrade and really increases our capacity to produce programming,” Graham said.
Sheila Nanaeto, Southern Ute Tribal Radio station manager, in the tribal broadcast room at KSUT Public Radio’s new facility Wednesday in Ignacio. “One thing nice about the new broadcast room is when you interview someone you can be face-to-face, unlike at our old location my back was turned to them,” Nanaeto says.
Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
The station is already expanding its statewide partnerships and content creation. KSUT has partnered with KUNC Public Radio on state Capitol coverage and the Colorado News Collaborative on a statewide mental health series called “On Edge.” It plans to air a new five-part series about grief in early April.
KSUT is also continuing its collaboration with Rocky Mountain PBS on a program called “Native Lens” and with Dream Warriors, a collective of Indigenous artists. The station is also producing programming for and with Indigenous youths through its “Native Braids” program.
“This was a true collaborative project between the tribe and individuals and businesses in the region,” Graham said.
smullane@durangoherald.com
KSUT Public Radio’s new, $2.5 million home comes with brand-new broadcast and production equipment, two on-air studios and three content production rooms.
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