Always Welcome: A Social Arts Salon Sat, 27 Jun 2026 09:19:44 -0400 http://always-welcome.org en-us © 2026 Always Welcome: A Social Arts Salon yes Howard County, MD, USA a44072e6-89d0-564a-8bc2-80ce4c746a26 Mallorie episodic false Always Welcome is a Social Arts Salon where you don't have to be afraid to get it right to be welcomed. Hosted by Mallorie Kris Greene Kristoffersen, performance ethnographer, teaching artist, and 9th-generation Howard County, Maryland native, each episode uses lived experience and lived stories as the vessel for fostering new connections and deeper shared meanings. From conversations with family to field research across Howard County, this is an investigation into what it means to be human in a culturally complex, constantly evolving world. Pull up a chair. You are always welcome here. 

]]> Buzzsprout (https://www.buzzsprout.com) belonging, community, Howard County, cultural sustainability, storytelling Mallorie https://storage.buzzsprout.com/uwccjw15xtxf6zamb0btep9qgxha?.jpg Always Welcome: A Social Arts Salon http://always-welcome.org Oscar and the Riff-Raff on the Wall. Oscar and the Riff-Raff on the Wall. Imperfectly finding my voice and comfort, while exploring what it might take for us all to do so, welcome back to episode five of Always Welcome: A Social Arts Salon.

This is a one-week pause on the multi-part conversation with my parents, for a foundational reflection on the work of understanding and the experience of growing up curious. 

Thank you for joining me at the salon! Here's to more understanding for all.

Supported by a FY26 Maryland State Arts Council Creativity Grant.  

always-welcome.org | alwayswelcomesalon@gmail.com

]]> Imperfectly finding my voice and comfort, while exploring what it might take for us all to do so, welcome back to episode five of Always Welcome: A Social Arts Salon.

This is a one-week pause on the multi-part conversation with my parents, for a foundational reflection on the work of understanding and the experience of growing up curious. 

Thank you for joining me at the salon! Here's to more understanding for all.

Supported by a FY26 Maryland State Arts Council Creativity Grant.  

always-welcome.org | alwayswelcomesalon@gmail.com

]]> Mallorie Buzzsprout-19410131 Sat, 27 Jun 2026 09:00:00 -0400 612 curiosity, identity, belonging, Howard County, ancestry, race, performance ethnography, childhood, Always Welcome, Columbia MD 1 5 full false Meet My Parents. A Conversation in Four Parts. Part One. Meet My Parents. A Conversation in Four Parts. Part One. Before they were Mom and Dad, they were people. People with places, rhythms, rules, and a feeling they carried from the homes they were raised in, into the home they built together.

This is Part One of a four-part conversation with my parents, Lynda and Allen Greene, on the places that shaped them, the culture of their households growing up, and the first home they made together as a couple.

The rhythm. The beginnings. The structure. The love.

A note: this conversation was recorded with care and shared with my parents' full knowledge and participation. Their voices, their stories, their words. I am so grateful they said yes to this project and to each other. 

Supported by a FY26 Maryland State Arts Council Creativity Grant.  

always-welcome.org | alwayswelcomesalon@gmail.com

]]> Before they were Mom and Dad, they were people. People with places, rhythms, rules, and a feeling they carried from the homes they were raised in, into the home they built together.

This is Part One of a four-part conversation with my parents, Lynda and Allen Greene, on the places that shaped them, the culture of their households growing up, and the first home they made together as a couple.

The rhythm. The beginnings. The structure. The love.

A note: this conversation was recorded with care and shared with my parents' full knowledge and participation. Their voices, their stories, their words. I am so grateful they said yes to this project and to each other. 

Supported by a FY26 Maryland State Arts Council Creativity Grant.  

always-welcome.org | alwayswelcomesalon@gmail.com

]]> Mallorie Buzzsprout-19375250 Sat, 20 Jun 2026 09:00:00 -0400 1321 1 4 full false Early Memories Early Memories This episode is an invitation into memory and learning to navigate the world as it shifts.

To sit, to be with, to get to know. That takes time. Thank you for giving me yours.

A note: you will hear slip-ups in this episode. This is the practice of not being perfect and of letting the conversation be what it is. Always Welcome is a living, breathing thing. Thank you for your grace and being with me in the practice of understanding.

For the history of St. Margaret's Hall and Trinity School visit:
 trinityschoolmd.org/about_trinity/history

Supported by a FY26 Maryland State Arts Council Creativity Grant.  

always-welcome.org | alwayswelcomesalon@gmail.com

]]> This episode is an invitation into memory and learning to navigate the world as it shifts.

To sit, to be with, to get to know. That takes time. Thank you for giving me yours.

A note: you will hear slip-ups in this episode. This is the practice of not being perfect and of letting the conversation be what it is. Always Welcome is a living, breathing thing. Thank you for your grace and being with me in the practice of understanding.

For the history of St. Margaret's Hall and Trinity School visit:
 trinityschoolmd.org/about_trinity/history

Supported by a FY26 Maryland State Arts Council Creativity Grant.  

always-welcome.org | alwayswelcomesalon@gmail.com

]]> Mallorie Buzzsprout-19340710 Sat, 13 Jun 2026 10:00:00 -0400 420 1 3 full false Always Welcome: It Begins Always Welcome: It Begins This is where it starts.

In the first full episode of Always Welcome: A Social Arts Salon, Mallorie Kris Greene Kristoffersen arrives with her whole self -- the skin on her face, the voice that got too loud, the whisper she conditioned herself into, and the invitation back to full volume.

This episode is dedicated to her grandmother, Sylvia Ann Cofield, and to all the conversations we never got to have with the people we love.

Part life journey. Part community investigation. Rooted in Howard County, Maryland.

If you have ever felt like you were living your life at a whisper, this one is for you.

always-welcome.org | alwayswelcomesalon@gmail.com

Supported by a FY26 Maryland State Arts Council Creativity Grant.  

always-welcome.org | alwayswelcomesalon@gmail.com

]]> This is where it starts.

In the first full episode of Always Welcome: A Social Arts Salon, Mallorie Kris Greene Kristoffersen arrives with her whole self -- the skin on her face, the voice that got too loud, the whisper she conditioned herself into, and the invitation back to full volume.

This episode is dedicated to her grandmother, Sylvia Ann Cofield, and to all the conversations we never got to have with the people we love.

Part life journey. Part community investigation. Rooted in Howard County, Maryland.

If you have ever felt like you were living your life at a whisper, this one is for you.

always-welcome.org | alwayswelcomesalon@gmail.com

Supported by a FY26 Maryland State Arts Council Creativity Grant.  

always-welcome.org | alwayswelcomesalon@gmail.com

]]> Mallorie Buzzsprout-19304167 Sat, 06 Jun 2026 08:00:00 -0400 430 belonging, community, Howard County, oral history, personal narrative, voice, identity, cultural sustainability, Columbia MD, performance ethnography, always welcome, social arts salon 1 2 full false Welcome to Always Welcome: A Social Arts Salon Welcome to Always Welcome: A Social Arts Salon Pull up a chair -- or take a walk with me.

Always Welcome is a community podcast rooted in Howard County, Maryland. Each episode, host Mallorie Kris Greene Kristoffersen journeys across the county connecting with social practitioners, business owners, and local residents -- asking the question at the heart of it all: what does belonging and community mean for you?

Recorded at Lake Elkhorn, Columbia, MD.

Supported by a FY26 Maryland State Arts Council Creativity Grant.  

always-welcome.org | alwayswelcomesalon@gmail.com

]]> Pull up a chair -- or take a walk with me.

Always Welcome is a community podcast rooted in Howard County, Maryland. Each episode, host Mallorie Kris Greene Kristoffersen journeys across the county connecting with social practitioners, business owners, and local residents -- asking the question at the heart of it all: what does belonging and community mean for you?

Recorded at Lake Elkhorn, Columbia, MD.

Supported by a FY26 Maryland State Arts Council Creativity Grant.  

always-welcome.org | alwayswelcomesalon@gmail.com

]]> Mallorie Kristoffersen Buzzsprout-19267333 Sun, 31 May 2026 08:00:00 -0400 106 belonging, community, Howard County, Maryland, oral history, cultural sustainability, social arts, performance ethnography, podcast, storytelling, Columbia MD, autoethnography, facilitation, connection, identity 1 1 trailer false