Blog - The Project Room

Displacement: Visual Artist Veit Stratmann Paris-based artist Veit Stratmann, who presented the work title L'Aquila at The Project Room in 2012, has made a practice of researching and writing about places of massive upheaval and its impact on the people who have lived there. After the recent terrorist attacks in Paris which took place near his home, we had a conversation about the connections between this event and his work, and what motivates him to be an artist, especially during difficult times.

Learning Outside The Classroom: Electronic Artist Michna Adrian Michna shares his perspective on what makes a good song, how college transformed his musical style, and advice for young musicians.

The New Art Marketplace: Digital Artist Kevin McCoy In this interview, we visit with Kevin McCoy during the launch of his first company, an online platform for the buying and selling of digital artwork.  Monegraph, as this company is called, could change everything about how we value artwork and how artists get paid for the work they make.

In 1978, Gilbert Baker, a drag queen and community activist in San Francisco, responded to his friend Harvey Milk's assertion that the gay rights movement needed a new symbol. The pink triangle had been in use but was connected to the atrocities of the Holocaust, and the movement needed something uplifting to replace it. Using his creativity, his sewing skills, many many volunteers and even more fabric dye, Baker designed and produced the Rainbow Flag- or Gay Pride Flag- that we know today.

This month's podcast is a conversation with Seattle-based artist Ellie Dicola. As part of Seattle Storefronts, a program that places artist projects in vacant storefront spaces, Ellie created the installation Was Here. As a corporeal monument to places that are gone, Was Here is a documentation of local businesses and organizations that have disappeared over the last handful of years. Ellie refers to her project as a map of experiences, and in our discussion of evolution and change, we explore what it means to give voice to memory and to create a place to collectively mourn the intangible.

For this month's podcast, TPR Editor Tessa Hulls sat down with Sarah Smith and Micah Stanovsky of Sawhorse Revolution, a Seattle nonprofit that teaches carpentry skills to high school youth. With an emphasis on projects that serve their local communities, Sawhorse has constructed everything from tree houses to garden beds. Recently, they've been garnering national attention for their project The Impossible City, a partnership with the Nickelsville homeless community in Seattle, in which students are building micro-homes for homeless residents.

TPR is proud to share our first ever online sound piece, created by New York-based Daniel Neumann in response to our interview with him in his studio. The conversation addresses the idea of monument through Daniel's use of found objects and personal history- have a listen!

Getting Good: Interdisciplinary Artist Tameka Norris Artist Tameka Norris dives into issues of intellectual property, authorship, appropriation and her relationship to art history as she discusses the vulnerabilities encountered while building a legacy in our digital era. 

This month, Director of the Project Room, Tia Kramer sat down with Seattle-based poet and artist Natasha Marin. Their discussion moved from her various works in poetry, performance, and visual art, to her upbringing in Canada and how the country's politics influences her work.

Monuments, Durian, & Portable Toilets:  Artist Jenifer Wofford   Visual artist and educator Jenifer Wofford met with TPR editor, Tessa Hulls, in San Francisco to discuss the themes of monument and memory and their presence in Jenifer's diverse body of work.

Paradox and Choice: Visual Artist Jennifer Dalton Visual artist Jennifer Dalton hosted TPR at her Brooklyn studio recently, where she makes thought-provoking work about her (and our) surroundings.

The legacy of Alvin Ailey has a powerful presence for those who appreciate the history of American dance, and American culture in general. This month in our podcast series, Alvin Ailey dancer and choreographer Matthew Rushing talks with Jess Van Nostrand about his memorable introduction to dance as a young man, and how he relates to our current Big Question, “How Are We Remembered?”

Jess Van Nostrand took a New York-centric storyline this month, interviewing author Sherill Tippins, who recently published a book about the famous NY art hub, The Chelsea Hotel. Sherill uncovered incredible stories about the creative people who lived and visit this historic hotel, and it’s a perfect fit for our current “Monument” topic. Thanks for listening!

Icelandic visual artist Hrafnhildur Arnardottir aka Shoplifter invited TPR Founder Jess to her studio in New York for a conversation about collecting, making, and our current Big Question, "How Are We Remembered?" Much was discussed beyond these topics as well, including playing between art and fashion. have a listen!

Jess sits down with artist Juan Pablo Macias to talk about his upcoming show that documents

Japanese Noh master Munenori Takeda and composer Garrett Fisher of the Fisher Ensemble join Jess at the Project room to talk about their collaboration and our current topic of "transformation" and how it relates to the rich tradition of opera and Japanese Noh Theatre.

Musican and visual artist Paul Rucker and Jess sit down to talk about his on-going project on slavery and its relationship to current American issues about race and equality

Author Jesmyn Ward stops by the Project Room to have a conversation about her memoir "Men We Reaped"

Writer, Director, an Actor Peres Owino visits the Project Room to discuss her new film "Bound: Africans vs. African Americans"

Author Rebecca Walker visited The Project Room on November 18, 2013 to talk with TPR Founder Jess Van Nostrand and Off Paper Editor Tessa Hulls about her latest book, Adé: A Love Story, the fiction-like memoir about the man she fell in love with during her travels as a young woman.

Brothers and authors Joe & David Henry join Jess at the Project Room to talk about their new book, Furious Cool: Richard Pryor and the World That Made Him