Shockoe Artspeak

Anni Albers is widely considered to be the foremost textile designer of the 20th century. She made major innovations in the field of functional materials and at the same time she expanded the possibilities of single weavings and individual artworks. She was also an adventurous graphic artist who took printmaking technique into previously uncharted territory. ...

Seemingly overnight, every company and social media platform has an AI presence that promises you a better experience, a more efficient engagement, and all the promises of better tomorrows, greater wealth, and a four hour workweek. While science fiction, the harbinger of all things new, shiny and terrifying, has been telling us this was coming ...

Seemingly overnight, every company and social media platform has an AI presence that promises you a better experience, a more efficient engagement, and all the promises of better tomorrows, greater wealth, and a four hour workweek. While science fiction, the harbinger of all things new, shiny and terrifying, has been telling us this was coming ...

Seemingly overnight, every company and social media platform has an AI presence that promises you a better experience, a more efficient engagement, and all the promises of better tomorrows, greater wealth, and a four hour workweek. While science fiction, the harbinger of all things new, shiny and terrifying, has been telling us this was coming ...

Seemingly overnight, every company and social media platform has an AI presence that promises you a better experience, a more efficient engagement, and all the promises of better tomorrows, greater wealth, and a four hour workweek. While science fiction, the harbinger of all things new, shiny and terrifying, has been telling us this was coming ...

Seemingly overnight, every company and social media platform has an AI presence that promises you a better experience, a more efficient engagement, and all the promises of better tomorrows, greater wealth, and a four hour workweek. While science fiction, the harbinger of all things new, shiny and terrifying, has been telling us this was coming ...

This week Ryan, Garreth, and Sam Taylor sit down to talk with Richmond-area painter Rachel Jeffers. In Jeffers' paintings, domestic objects take on the role of characters, forming a new tableau from one painting to the next. Each painting presents her with new visual problems to solve. A precarious, subconscious logic guides her way to ...

The American imagination has always had a sticky friend in travel. Movement from place to place has defined humanity for as long as we can recount, and travel–justifiably–has occupied our minds not just as a necessary pursuit, but also as a pleasure. Travel is known for many of its finer qualities from education and exposure ...

The American imagination has always had a sticky friend in travel. Movement from place to place has defined humanity for as long as we can recount, and travel–justifiably–has occupied our minds not just as a necessary pursuit, but also as a pleasure. Travel is known for many of its finer qualities from education and exposure ...

You've likely seen the movie Apollo 13 where actor Ed Harris plays Gene Kranz, the Flight Director for the titular space mission. After some rather drastic problems threaten to strand a crew of American astronauts in space, Kranz utters the phrase “failure is not an option.” Now the situation at hand for Kranz and the ...

Throughout human history, it has always been true that technology is ubiquitous. Paper is technology, pencils are technology, dig troughs for water to irrigate fields is technology. But technology changes, and we cannot assume that all technology is equal. Our digital age has given a great deal toward our perceived advancement, and has left us ...

Stories and narrative are so interwoven into our lives that we likely don't realize how many times in a day we tell or listen to a story, and we definitely don't take notice of the way we weave narratives into the reasons and explanations for why we do certain or actions or made certain choices. ...

We're back! We know, it's been a minute, but between the new semester, being sick, and general life, things got a bit hectic, but we are all back on track, well, and staving off life for long enough to be in the studio for a few hours. This week Ryan, Garreth and Cody sit down ...

It twas the Season, and it now tis the season: the season for resolutions. Every year, countless folks look back and look forward, hoping to have a new start in a new year. These resolutions have a tendency to all look the same, and the numbers say that it will only be a few weeks ...

Go to any bookstore or do a quick scan of books on Amazon, and you will likely see a number of titles touting joy. They will either be dealing with a topic you should be experiencing joy with like cooking or hiking or some other activity, or they will be self-helping you into a sense ...

The term self-control around the holidays usually is followed by some conversation on over eating or over drinking, but self-control is less about that in this conversation and more about the way we treat others and see the world around us. Our current culture prizes and even rewards reactionary outbursts as vindicating or justice, but ...

With Thanksgiving already in the past, the conversation of gratitude may seem like a non-starter for some, but gratitude is more about an entire mindset and way of seeing the world than as some Hallmark card type one-off statement whenever we may feel some guilt for our silence. Our parents, grandparents, teachers, or someone told ...

While patience may not be the most exciting topic you could think of, patience tells you a lot about what you are doing, why you are doing it, and how you measure success. For artists and designers, patience is easily baked into parts of their process or outlook on career, but impatience may be the ...

I heard about a faculty member at a top-tier art school who got ridiculed by another faculty member because they were teaching art students to run successful businesses. “You're just turning people into whores,” the faculty member said. The only thing my friend could say was “Well maybe your opinion is bad and wrong.” Just ...

It's Turkey Day, and we just want to say thank you! We are nearly to 150 episodes, and we couldn't have done it without YOU! We have so much to be thankful for and all our listeners and friends are definitely on that list. So enjoy the day off, have a big hunk or turkey ...

Just studio work: that's the goal, right? All day every day in your studio. Getting to make the work you want to make. Not having to juggle the hassle of a 9-5 desk job or contract work in a field you just don't really have a passion for. But how does that actually happen? And ...

This week Ryan, Garreth and Cody sit down with photographer, filmmaker and hip hop artist Tito Henríquez. Rapping under the name Dicho, Henríquez is the son of El Salvadoran parents who were displaced during the Civil War that lasted from the late 1970s until the early 1990s. Through family, his extensive travels to El Salvador, ...

This week Ryan, Garreth and Cody sit down with a long-time friend of the gallery, Richmond painter Curtis Newkirk, Jr. to hang out and just have a relaxed conversation. While the structure of a topic-based discussion is helpful in distilling information, conversations build relationships and can be more organic ways to get to topics that ...

“College can train you for a career.” “You'll always be taught the skills you need once you're hired.” “There are so many resources available to help you learn to do a new job.” All of these statements have their truth, but the category of skill they each refer to is hard skills: those skills that ...

This week Garreth and Cody sit down to give an update on what has been in the works for Shockoe Artspace and our team. The fellas check in with Ryan via phone about his time in Utah, and everyone gets to chat about his new solo show in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia. An unexpected guest ...

“College can train you for a career.” “You'll always be taught the skills you need once you're hired.” “There are so many resources available to help you learn to do a new job.” All of these statements have their truth, but the category of skill they each refer to is hard skills: those skills that ...

“College can train you for a career.” “You'll always be taught the skills you need once you're hired.” “There are so many resources available to help you learn to do a new job.” All of these statements have their truth, but the category of skill they each refer to is hard skills: those skills that ...

The most consistent thing about an artist's career path is how consistently inconsistent they tend to be. The place we start and the place we find ourselves are often widely different, but the only way we get from Point A to Point B is by learning. Part-time jobs, jobs that use some of the skills ...

“College can train you for a career.” “You'll always be taught the skills you need once you're hired.” “There are so many resources available to help you learn to do a new job.” All of these statements have their truth, but the category of skill they each refer to is hard skills: those skills that ...

“College can train you for a career.” “You'll always be taught the skills you need once you're hired.” “There are so many resources available to help you learn to do a new job.” All of these statements have their truth, but the category of skill they each refer to is hard skills: those skills that ...

This week, Ryan, Garreth, and Cody spend a bit of time sharing some things that have been circling around their brains. It's the end of the summer, and everyone is getting ready to get back into school, teaching or you're just having to get out of summer vacation mode at work. Whatever the case may ...

This week, Ryan, Garreth, and Cody sit down for another installment of Design Stuff, a segment devoted to design, designers and their words and ideas. This episode is devoted to another looming name in the design canon: Paul Rand. During his 80-something years on Earth, he proved the breadth of designers and had no issues ...

Artists aren't selling Tupperware. The idea of a side hustle usually revolves around some thing that you do in your time away from work that can make you some easy cash. The popular conversation leans more toward get-rich schemes and retirement before you're 40, but the reality of productive side hustles are more about creative ...

For most creative fields, there is the education you receive in the classroom and there is the education you receive in the field. From internships, to apprenticeships to straight-up training courses, the path to professional creative is one of constant learning. But when do you know when you are good to go out on your ...

Careers are funny things. For every person who knew exactly what they wanted to do at a young age, there are dozens who take a less direct path. This squiggly path from job to job and interest to interest only looks straight in hindsight, but it seems to be more the norm than not. There ...

Hospitality may get a bad wrap. Or, more precisely, it may just be misunderstood. Hotels, cruises, or your grandma's house may be the thoughts that come into your head when you hear this term, but hospitality is core to making places, homes, and people feel welcome in private and semi-private spaces. You could even argue ...

This week, Ryan, Garreth, and Cody sit down for an installment of Design Stuff Bonus Round to pick up where they left off last week. And while you may not recognize the name, you have heard the name of one of his students: Saul Bass. Kepes' work as an artist, educator and theorist was monumental ...

This week, Ryan, Garreth, and Cody sit down for another installment of Design Stuff, a segment devoted to design, designers and their words and ideas. And while you may not recognize the name, you have heard the name of one of his students: Saul Bass. Kepes' work as an artist, educator and theorist was monumental ...

We do a lot of talking around here because we think the world is an incredibly rich and diverse place with a plethora of human experiences that require us to stop and take inventory of just what the heck is happening. But sometimes when we talk, there is still more left unsaid. Let's be honest, ...

What does it look like to catalog a day in your life? How do you remember the small moments and interventions that cause you to stop for a brief respite from the bustle of a busy day? Seeing what is always there, and noticing what is ordinary, according to this week's guest, is hard to ...

If you are a practicing maker long enough, you will likely have a place where all the things you have started and never finished live. Some of these objects might be simple notes about ideas, and some of these objects might just need the final bits of spit and polish. Regardless of how many there ...

Spend a few minutes thinking of all the terrible stereotypes of artists and see how angry or sad you get. While you certainly may know a person or two who fits into those spaces, the stereotype is definitely not where you want to spend your time. Now think of all the terrible stereotypes of entrepreneurs; ...

You've seen his work almost everywhere during your entire life, but you have likely never heard his name. Saul Bass's career started when he was young and only came more prolific as he worked on some of history's most iconic logos, film title sequences and eventually became one of Hollywood's most sought-after visual stylists. From ...

In any given day, we are likely to come across more information and more content than our ancestors may have experienced in a year or several years or maybe even their lives. We are constantly being handed things to discover, ideas to interpret and news to accept without a second thought. We are saturated by ...

In any given day, we are likely to come across more information and more content than our ancestors may have experienced in a year or several years or maybe even their lives. We are constantly being handed things to discover, ideas to interpret and news to accept without a second thought. We are saturated by ...

In any given day, we are likely to come across more information and more content than our ancestors may have experienced in a year or several years or maybe even their lives. We are constantly being handed things to discover, ideas to interpret and news to accept without a second thought. We are saturated by ...

You've heard us say it at least a few times on this podcast: art and design. These two fields are so closely aligned, but can seem miles apart from one another. Historically, we see the separation of design from the larger body of art around the middle of the nineteenth century, but the fracturing in ...

During art school, having someone come into your studio and talk about your work seems like a normal thing: your friends come in, your studiomates come in, and your professors come in. But after graduation, when the studio is in your home, or in your backyard, those visits are fewer and farther between. Outside of ...

Milton Glaser is easily one of the three best known graphic designers in the United States, and his storied career has been marked by a constant pursuit of art and craft. He has had the distinction of one-man-shows at the Museum of Modern Art and the Georges Pompidou Center. He was selected for the lifetime ...

We see every episode as a chance to open up a conversation and provide a few handles so you can dig deeper into the ideas or thoughts we present. We never expect to be comprehensive in how we approach a topic. We are just a few folks with experiences and knowledge that we want to ...

As with everything else we talk about, a deep dive into freewill implicates a number of assumptions and ideas that we have about how and why the world works. Something simple has many moving parts, so it follows that something more complex (like the concept of freewill) has so many more including choice, responsibility, hiding, ...