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Ep.240 Rujeko Hockley is the Arnhold Associate Curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art. She co-curated the 2019 Whitney Biennial. Her current project at the Whitney is Amy Sherald: American Sublime. Other projects include Inheritance (2023), 2 Lizards (2022), Jennifer Packer: The Eye Is Not Satisfied With Seeing (2021), Julie Mehretu (2021), Toyin Ojih Odutola: To Wander Determined (2017) and An Incomplete History of Protest: Selections from the Whitney's Collection, 1940-2017 (2017). Previously, she was Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art at the Brooklyn Museum, where she co-curated Crossing Brooklyn: Art from Bushwick, Bed-Stuy, and Beyond (2014) and was involved in exhibitions highlighting the permanent collection as well as contemporary artists. She is the co-curator of We Wanted a Revolution: Black Radical Women, 1965-85 (2017), which originated at the Brooklyn Museum and travelled to three U.S. venues in 2017-18. She serves on the Boards of Art Matters, Institute For Freedoms, and Museums Moving Forward, as well as the Advisory Board of Recess. Photograph by Jody Rogac Whitney Museum ~ https://whitney.org/2019-biennial-curators ~ https://whitney.org/exhibitions/amy-sherald ~ https://whitney.org/exhibitions/amy-sherald-four-ways-of-being ~ https://whitney.org/exhibitions/inheritance ~ https://whitney.org/exhibitions/2-lizards ~ https://whitney.org/exhibitions/jennifer-packer ~ https://whitney.org/exhibitions/julie-mehretu ~ https://whitney.org/press/protest ~ https://whitney.org/exhibitions/toyin-ojih-odutola Time Magazine https://time.com/7210625/rujeko-hockley-hank-willis-thomas-art-inclusivity/ Observer https://observer.com/2025/04/exhibition-amy-sherald-american-sublime-whitney-dinner-opening-party/ Ursula https://www.hauserwirth.com/ursula/inside-the-issue-ursula-issue-11/ Surface Magazine https://www.surfacemag.com/articles/when-i-call-who-listens-rujeko-hockley-excerpt-for-freedoms/# Forbes https://www.forbes.com/sites/natashagural/2025/04/04/amy-sherald-american-sublime-at-the-whitney-re-imagines-american-realism-with-singular-visual-narratives/ M.M.Lafleur https://mdash.mmlafleur.com/most-remarkable-woman-rujeko-hockley/ Frieze https://www.frieze.com/article/rujeko-hockleys-top-picks-frieze-los-angeles-viewing-room-2023 CCL https://www.curatorialleadership.org/participants/ccl-smh-curators-forum/rujeko-hockley/ Artealdia https://www.artealdia.com/News/NEW-APPOINTMENTS-FOR-MARCELA-GUERRERO-AND-RUJEKO-HOCKLEY-AT-THE-WHITNEY-MUSEUM Culture Type https://www.culturetype.com/tag/rujeko-hockley/ artnet https://news.artnet.com/art-world/career-stories-rujeko-hockley-1962842 Athens Now https://athensnowal.net/sharing-the-spotlight/
On this episode, Zack, Jacob & Scott welcome artist and writer Renaldo Cooper to discuss just how important art is in video games. Before that they discuss the week's news from the video game industry and the games they've been playing. E-WIN Best Heavy Duty Gaming Chair Yetee T-Shirts - Mega Man Collection On This Episode (31:24) News (1:02:20) New Games (1:06:48) After Love EP (Xbox) (1:18:18) Urban Jungle (PC) (1:24:44) Tiny Garden (PC) (1:32:46) “From the Outside In” Topic: How Important Is Art? Grab the episode now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Google Play Music and more. If you love this episode and want other gaming content you can't get anywhere else, please support us on Patreon! Also, don't forget to check out our Discord Server and our web site, where you can read all of our written content.
There's an affliction going around lately within artistic circles. You might be experiencing it too, even if it's just a small voice or whisper in the back of your head. The affliction is the thought that, “My art doesn't matter”. Now, your immediate reaction might be to refute this and tell yourself, “Of course it matters/” And I agree and am here to remind you that, yes, your art does matter. But this constant nagging doubt could make you feel like an art practice isn't worth having after all.In this episode of The Savvy Painter podcast, you'll learn about what's special about your art and exactly why it matters, not just to you but to other people as well. I'll also discuss why you believe it doesn't matter and how your approach to your work could change if the thought was completely non-existent in your mind.3:20 - Why you sometimes believe that creating your work doesn't matter and how it leads to dissatisfaction in your practice8:09 - The most beautiful thing about being an artist and how it showcases a gift that most people don't have13:14 - How you impact people with your art, whether you're aware of it or not16:38 - The impact on you if the thought “my art doesn't matter” didn't exist in your head at all23:06 - One of the greatest realizations I've ever had about my own artworkMentioned in Why Your Art Matters (Even When You Think It Doesn't)Join Growth StudioSupport the show
A compilation episode of the answer to the question "why does art matter?" Thank you for being apart of our community, and we will see you in the new year. Happy holidays!
In this episode of Art & Cocktails, I'm (host Ekaterina Popova, Kat) sharing my personal reflections on the power of art after an amazing experience at Art Basel Paris. I'll dive into the joy of reconnecting with my art community, the inspiring conversations I had, and some of the most meaningful moments from the fair. This isn't just about what I saw—it's about how art connects us, helps us grow, and why it's more important now than ever. So, join me as we explore how we can all embrace our unique creative paths and make art a bigger part of our lives. Blog Post: https://www.createmagazine.co/blog/why-art-matters-today-reflections-from-art-basel-paris-2024 Call For Art: https://www.createmagazine.co/call-for-art Become a Subscriber and Support Indie Art Publishing: https://www.createmagazine.co/magazine Key Takeaways: Art is a remedy for survival and thriving. Connections made through art are invaluable. AI cannot replace the human experience in art. Smaller works can be just as impactful as larger ones. Art serves as a bridge across cultures and languages. The art community thrives on collaboration and support. Art is essential for expressing complex emotions. Artists should respect their own work and its value. Art can provide a break from societal challenges. Creativity is vital for personal and collective growth. Chapters: 00:00 - The Transformative Power of Art 03:42 - Experiencing Art Basel Paris 06:25 - Connections and Community in the Art World 09:29 - The Role of Technology in Art 12:20 - Reflections on Art's Importance 15:38 - Invitation to Embrace Art's Gifts 17:29 - Outro
Ross Bruggink is the Creator of Vicious Gardens. He launched Vicious Gardens on Kickstarter and raised $555,283. As a visual designer, Ross shares why art was so important in the success of his Kickstarter and how you can create great art for yours.
A world of machine art would be an eerie one. Art connects us to one another. We cannot, and we should not, replace that connection with an uncanny simulacrum of it. Read by Helen Lloyd. Image: The Tribuna of the Uffizi by John Zoffany. Credit: PAINTING / Alamy Stock Photo
Today's podcast is a little different. I hosted it live and made it an open Q&A. I had no idea what we would talk about, which is always a nice surprise. The conversation ended up going in the direction of: What happens when you don't quite believe you are good enough to write, make art, or whatever you create - and you feel you have extensive areas of improvement? What happens when you pour your heart and soul into your work and the fear of it being criticised - or just the fear of sharing it full stop can make you feel incredibly anxious? Whether critique sessions actually work Why it's important to understand why your art REALLY matters. We also talked about how external pressures can influence the work we create and we pondered this question together: If you could make any art without fear, judgement or external pressures - what art would you really make??? I don't actually know the answer to this myself, but when I ponder this question, I do know that there is a part of my art-making or creativity that hasn't been released. I know there is a part of me that would make art against the norm—whatever that is. A seed has been planted for sure.
Sculptor Dan Lam shares meaningful insights she's learned while building her career as a full-time artist. From developing vibrant, drippy sculptures to securing major exhibitions and building an international following on social media, Dan continues to show us what's possible.Here's what we discuss:1. How Dan's work evolved from painting to sculpture, and what helped her to develop her artistic voice.2. The moment Dan knew it was time to take a leap of faith and pursue an art career full-time.3. Why it's so important to create without judgment and to continue trusting yourself.About Dan -Instagram sensation Dan Lam's tactile, technicolor sculptures use unconventional materials to playfully tread a line between allure and repulsion. Made of painted polyurethane foam and often covered in spikes, her blob-like pieces that appear to melt and drip have brought Lam hordes of social media fans. Lam began experimenting with the possibilities of foam after receiving her MFA from Arizona State University, and she has continued to test its limits by scaling up. While her pieces appear otherworldly, Lam steadily draws inspiration from the everyday, taking cues from nature and the human body.Website: bydanlam.comIG: @sopopomo
Gaslit Nation is recharging our batteries for the big election ahead so we're re-running a popular episode this week: Andrea's interview with her longtime friend and mentor, the journalist, filmmaker, and author Nelson George. Exclusively for our Patreon community we're publishing an all new bonus show this Saturday on how to stop MAGA. To our supporters at the Democracy Defender level and higher, submit your questions for our Q&A in the comments below or in a private message -- we always love hearing from you! Our Q&A will be out later this month! Thank you to everyone who supports the show -- we could not make Gaslit Nation without you! Nelson George set off to become the greatest music writer in the world. In this surreal essay, he explains his strange relationship with Prince who summoned him to listen to new music; this confirms George's dream was achieved. Having come out of the projects in Brooklyn to contribute to the bohemian renaissance of Spike Lee turning Brooklyn into a global brand, George lived the explosion of Black culture across film, music, art, and more at the close of the 20th century and looks back at this groundbreaking time in a sweeping and important discussion of why art matters. This is an interview about artists -- it's for people who want to be artists -- it's for artists at all stages of their careers -- it's for people who love and consume art -- it's a discussion about the value of mentorship -- and the way to get to the heart of being an artist, why that's important, what that means, the practical ins and outs of how to do it. From the biography on his website: "Nelson George is the author of several histories of African American music, including Where Did Our Love Go: the Rise and Fall of the Motown Sound, The Death of Rhythm & Blues, and the classic Hip Hop America. He has published two collections of music journalism: Buppies, BBoys, Baps & Bohos: Notes on Post-Soul America and the recent The Nelson George Mixtape, which is available through Pacific Books. He has written several novels with music themes (The Accidental Hunter, The Plot Against Hip Hop, The Lost Treasures of R&B, and To Funk and Die in LA). In television, George was a producer on the Emmy Award winning The Chris Rock Show on HBO, a producer on Hip Hop Honors on VH1, and executive producer of the American Gangster crime series on BET. As a filmmaker, George has co-written the screenplays to Strictly Business and CB4. He directed Queen Latifah to a Golden Globe in the HBO film Life Support, which he also co-wrote. He has directed a number of documentaries including Finding the Funk, The Announcement, and Brooklyn Boheme (Showtime). George was a producer on the award winning documentary on Black music executive Clarence Avant, The Black Godfather, for Netflix. His theatrical documentary on ballerina Misty Copeland is called A Ballerina's Tale. He was a writer/producer on Baz Lurhmann's hip hop inspired Netflix series The Get Down. He is an executive producer of Dear Mama, a documentary series about Tupac Shakur directed by Allen Hughes." And, to add to this illustrious biography, Nelson has been a longtime friend and mentor who helped Andrea navigate the wily world of getting Mr. Jones written and produced. Fight for your mind! To get inspired to make art and bring your projects across the finish line, join us for the Gaslit Nation LIVE Make Art Workshop on April 11 at 7pm EST – be sure to be subscribed at the Truth-teller level or higher to get your ticket to the event! Join the conversation with a community of listeners at Patreon.com/Gaslit and get bonus shows, all episodes ad free, submit questions to our regular Q&As, get exclusive invites to live events, and more! Check out our new merch! Get your “F*ck Putin” t-shirt or mug today! https://www.teepublic.com/t-shirt/57796740-f-ck-putin?store_id=3129329
What's the point of public art and why does it matter? If you're interested in becoming more engaged and present with the world around you have a listen to this week's guest Patricia Walsh, public art consultant, who explores the intersections of art and the natural and built environments and shows how it helps us press pause and get present with the power of art in our public places.Patricia opens our eyes to how art in the public spaces and places around us can lift our everyday experience, help us to become more aware, appreciative and alive in the present moment, as well as engaging us in reflective thought, protest and participation with the issues that matter to us, to our communities, culture and the world we want to protect. We cover:CommunityCommissioningConflictControversyConservationClimate ChangeCoherenceConnectionCalmPatricia shows us how public art can give us pause for thought, help us connect with our environment, and bring meaning to our lives. You can find out more about Patricia's work on https://www.pawalsharts.com/And follow her on Linked in @PatricaWalshJoin Lou on LinkedinFollow her @brave_newgirl on Instagram Support the showLou is the founder of Brave New Girl Media, helping put your expertise, vision & mission in the spotlight by helping you launch and grow your podcast. https://bravenewgirlmedia.comPODCASTING SERVICES:Podcast production serviceCOURSES:Podcast planning workbookPodcast Guesting courseBOOK A CALL:Get in contact to book a 30 minute discovery call with Lou.Books by Lou Hamilton: Dare to Share- International bestselling guide to podcast guesting FEAR LESS- coaching guide to living more bravely Brave New Girl- How to be Fearless Co-author: Women Excelling Everywhere #1 International Best-seller Paintings by Lou @LouHamiltonart
Welcome to the Weekly Scoop! This week Will is re-joined by Ross Cohen, Junior Accounting Major and head of this year's Honors Art Showcase. In addition to spotlighting the event, they also discuss how students can become more artistically inclined and why Oxford is the perfect town for artists. Host: Will Jones Guest: Ross Cohen Editor-in-Chief: Violet Jira This Week in Oxford: Honors Art Showcase Submissions (Due 2/23) Ole Miss Baseball (Games 2/21 -- 2/27) UM Theatre presents Silent Sky (Begins 2/23) Black History Month Concert (2/27) This podcast is in association with the Daily Mississippian. Any feedback can be sent via email at dailymissmedia@gmail.com.
Wise-Hearted Ones: Why Your Art Matters with Deborah SokoloveWithin the strokes of art, we find whispers of the divine, a symphony of colors echoing the call of the soul.In this episode, Lisa Smith, the creative mind behind Convergence Art Initiative, orchestrates a captivating dialogue with her mentor and artistic luminary, Deborah Sokolove, about why art mattersAs the conversation weaves through the challenges artists face in a commercialized world, the duo illuminates the need for intentional engagement with art within the church.Interested in Deborah's Books, get your copy:- Sanctifying Art- Performing the GospelCheck out Deborah's art on her website: https://dsokolove.com/Follow Deborah:Facebook: @deborahsokoloveInstagram: @dsyakushijiLooking for a church that invites you to be not just a member but an artist in the divine masterpiece, Deborah invites you: seekerschurch.orgOn March 22 - 24, we invite you to join us for The Breath and The Clay 2024, A Creative Arts Gathering in Winston Salem NC. Register now!How does your creative calling resonate with the Wise-Hearted Ones? Join the conversation at www.soulmakers.org/bemakedoShare your thoughts about artists' divine role in God's epic narrative.TikTok: @bemakedopodcastInstagram: @bemakedopodcastFacebook: @bemakedopodcastSubscribe and follow Be.Make.Do. wherever you get your podcasts.
My book would not be possible without my co-creator and illustrator, Kevin Smola! He comes on the podcast to share his adventures as an artist from creating junk mail for a car dealership to becoming the Art Director at JD Finish Line. On the side, he's kept up his creative passion by starting The Smola Studio, a business where his creativity and childlike mind comes to life. ICYMI: I also included some of the audio from the virtual launch party! Stick around until the end to listen to Kevin share more about his process and Cam drop some inspiration for the new year. MY BOOK IS OUT NOW!Facingfearwithsara.com/bookLeave a review on Amazon or GoodreadsMENTIONED ON THE SHOWI held a virtual launch party for the book & celebrated my cancer free anniversary last week! If you want in on all the fun, make sure your email is on my subscriber list HERE! Kevin Smola | @thesmolastudio, His permanent art installation at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, home of the Pacers and the NBA All Star 2024 Cam Ayala | @camronayala, Virtual launch party special guest, lymphedema and amputee advocate, check out Cam's episode on the Facing Fear podcastSUPPORT THE SHOWPODCAST/CANCER MERCH: Visit facingfearwithsara.com/merchCATCH UP ON 100+ EPISODES: facingfearwithsara.com/episodesCONNECT Subscribe to my newsletter at facingfearwithsara.comInstagram - @facingfearwithsara, @saramcinerneyhauckTikTok - @facingfearwithsaraFacebook - @facingfearwithsaraWebsite - facingfearwithsara.comYouTube - Sara McInerney HauckEmail - hello@facingfearwithsara.com Support the show
The American Poet Robert Frost said, “no tears in the writer, no tears in the reader”. Rob Self-Pierson from the Brand Language Studio suggests brands and marketing need to take a more artistic, creative approach to campaigns to make deep, memorable human connections. Listen to my conversation with Rob on why he believes seeing brand language as an art form matters.
Authoritarian voters cosplay Rambo on the U.S. Southern border, literally hunting refugees and denying them basic human rights. Our interview this week features Lisa Molomot and Jeff Bemiss, the filmmakers behind the extraordinary must-watch Peabody Award-winning film Missing in Brooks County about the immigration crisis in America deliberately engineered for maximum cruelty by both Republican and Democratic leaders over the years, creating the world's deadliest border crossing. It does not have to be this way. In this discussion, you'll hear common sense solutions, unmasking an entrenched genocidal culture that has gone unchecked for far too long. Who was first in line to carry out the Holocaust? The authoritarian voter next door. Survivors described how their neighbors turned on them, throwing rocks through their windows. That's who Trump is appealing to, driving out people who have existed throughout history: longing for a strongman to crush their enemies, and put mouthy women, smug nonwhite people, those pesky gays, and don't forget entitled refugees in their place. These are the “vermin” Trump scapegoats as he travels the country, amplifying Russian disinformation, and consolidating his base: the authoritarian voter next door. Reality Winner, the patriotic whistleblower who confirmed extensive Russian hacking of our election systems after government officials tried to downplay it, has faced far harsher punishment than violent coup plotter Trump with his 91 criminal indictments. The American people see the threat to our democracy clearly, which is why they've built resilient grassroots power that ushered in yet another historic Blue Wave. The latest victory in a long list: Dauphin County, PA flipped to Democratic control for the first time in 100 years. We the People have done significantly more to protect our democracy than Merrick Garland's DOJ. Given the immense power we've shown, it's time to abolish the Electoral College, a monument to slavery, and agitate for other reforms to modernize the United States government. Gaslit Nation is working on a special series on how to Trump-proof our democracy, protecting us and future generations from his massive cult that ensures succession is guaranteed. Even after Trump is gone, another cultist will take his place. So it's time to expand our historic Blue Wave energy into overdue government reform. The nonsense press release from the Supreme Court pretending to care about ethics is not what we're talking about. As a thank you to our Gaslit Nation community on Patreon, look out the weekend after Thanksgiving for a special MAKE ART workshop in the form of a podcast that you can download and try at your own leisure. We're all natural born artists, and this act of self-care and meaningful therapy reminds us that our voices matter and that we're needed now more than ever. In his brilliant resistance pocket guide On Tyranny, historian Timothy Snyder urges us to be visible, and that visibility comes through creativity, as we use our voice for our collective good. The model of this has always been embedded in this show that has featured interviews with extraordinary artists like Nelson George, a writer of the hip-hop movement and Andrea's longtime mentor, and filmmaker Oleg Sentsov who survived a Siberian prison by writing a novel, stories, and directing a film. Yes, art matters. Art is survival. And each of us, to navigate these civilization-making-or-breaking years ahead, can embrace our inner artist to create a sustainable, livable future together. Artists imagine and show that another world is possible. As Sentsov said on our show: Dictators die. Art is forever. Look out for that special MAKE ART workshop next week! To get access to that, bonus shows, all episodes ad free, and more, subscribe to join our community of listeners at Patreon.com/Gaslit This week's bonus show will look at the latest in the Israel-Hamas war, troubling jumps in A.I., and answer questions from listeners at the Democracy Defender level and higher. Thank you to everyone who supports the show – we could not make Gaslit Nation without you! If you're in NYC, stop by 42 Second Avenue, between 2nd & 3rd Streets, to see a giant photograph of a “car cemetery” in Irpin, Ukraine, an area that suffered greatly during the early days of Russia's total war genocide. The photographer is Phil Buehler, and more of his work can be seen here: https://modern-ruins.com/irpin-ukraine-please-dont-forget-us/ You can also join Andrea this Thursday at NYU to check out a talk by Terrell Starr of the Black Diplomats podcast. Details here: https://twitter.com/terrelljstarr/status/1724146505001422925 Andrea joined Jennifer Taub, author of Big Dirty Money: Making White Collar Criminals Pay, on her podcast Booked Up. Listen here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/andrea-chalupa-on-dictatorship-is-easy/id1651929984?i=1000634521344 SHOW NOTES: MUST WATCH: Missing in Brooks County by Lisa Molomot and Jeff Bemiss https://www.missinginbrookscounty.com/ MUST WATCH: John Oliver on the Israel-Palestine Conflict https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJ9PKQbkJv8 Opening Clip: Trump in New Hampshire: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XE3S2_zWEIc Supreme Court Announces Ethics Code for Justices The decision comes after revelations about undisclosed property deals and gifts have intensified pressure on the court to adopt such a code. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/13/us/politics/supreme-court-ethics-code.html Supreme Court approval ratings at record lows, new Gallup poll shows https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/02/politics/supreme-court-record-lows-gallup/index.html In a Historic First, the Supreme Court Has Adopted a Code of Ethics The code, which does not include any enforcement mechanism, comes after ProPublica and other outlets disclosed that justices had repeatedly failed to disclose gifts and travel from wealthy donors. https://www.propublica.org/article/supreme-court-adopts-ethics-code-scotus-thomas-alito-crow FROM AXIOS: “Driving the news: In a Veterans Day speech in New Hampshire on Saturday, Trump vowed to "root out the communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country that lie and steal and cheat on elections." He then posted the same message on Truth Social, including the word "vermin" often used by Hitler and Mussolini to denigrate Jews and their political enemies. Trump went on to say that "the threat from outside forces is far less sinister, dangerous and grave than the threat from within." The big picture: Trump's increasingly violent rhetoric — calling for a U.S. military leader to be executed, mocking a near-fatal assault on a congressional spouse, urging police to shoot potential shoplifters — has become a staple of his brand as he faces the threat of conviction in four different criminal cases.” https://www.axios.com/2023/11/13/trump-vermin-fascist-language-speech “The institutional right is screening a “pro-Trump army of up to 54,000 loyalists” that, if elected, Trump plans to use to unleash DOJ on his political enemies, create deportation camps for millions of immigrants, and generally turn his whim into law.” https://twitter.com/MattGertz/status/1724037010183123157 We encourage you to check out the sponsor of this week's episode: Our listeners can go to HelloFresh.com/gaslitfree and use code “gaslitfree” for FREE breakfast for life! One breakfast item per box while subscription is active. Thank you so much for our sponsor, HelloFresh, America's #1 Meal Kit
Renowned artist David Bromley and his wife lawyer Yuge Bromley join The Conversation Hour to talk about importance of making art available to all. The team are also joined by music education advocate Anita Collins and Susannah Day from The Torch who discuss what it means to make art.
What you do makes a difference. Listen in to hear why. Enjoy!!!
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The Exhibit, on MTV and the Smithsonian Channel, introduced America to the wonderful, brilliant Baseera Khan, and she joins Studio Noize to talk all about it. Baseera has been making her performances, sculptures, and installations for years, and her work explores materials and their intersections with identity. She talks about being on the show, her approach to exploring materials, and her life's many facets. We discuss her solo exhibition, I Am an Archive, at the Brooklyn Museum and the ways that experience changed her view of her work and herself. We learn more about her psychedelic prayer rugs, her upcoming project for Highline Park in New York, and some of the work from The Exhibit. Listen, subscribe, and share!Episode 167 topics include:making art on The Exhibitmeeting all the artistsusing identity in artpsychedelic prayer rugsI Am an Archive exhibition at the Brooklyn Museumbeing an artist during the pandemicdealing with rejection as an artistthe excitement of exploring materials how your practice can change after a big projectBaseera Khan is a New York-based performance, sculpture, and installation artist who makes work to discuss materials and their economies, the effects of this relationship to labor, family structures, religion, and spiritual well being. Khan is currently working on a public art commission on The High Line for fall 2023. Khan mounted their first museum solo exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York (2021-22), and opened their first solo touring exhibition in Houston, Texas at Moody Arts Center for the Arts, Rice University (2022-2023). Khan has representation at Simone Subal Gallery, New York where they mounted their first solo exhibition called Snake Skin (2019). They have exhibited in numerous locations such as Wexner Center for the Arts (2021), New Orleans Museum of Art (2020), Munich Documentation Centre for the History of National Socialism, Munich, Germany, Jenkins Johnson Projects, Brooklyn, NY (2019), Sculpture Center, NY (2018), , Aspen Museum (2017), Participant Inc. (2017). Khan's performance work has premiered at several locations including Brooklyn Museum of Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, and Art POP Montreal International Music Festival. Khan completed a 6 week performance residency at The Kitchen NYC (2020) and was an artist in residence at Pioneer Works (2018-19), Abrons Art Center (2016-17), was an International Travel Fellow to Jerusalem/Ramallah through Apexart (2015), and attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture (2014). Khan is a recipient of the UOZO Art Prize (2020), BRIC Colene Brown Art Prize and the Joan Mitchell Painters and Sculptors Grant (2019), was granted by both NYSCA/NYFA and Art Matters (2018). Their works are part of several public permanent collections including the Solomon R. Guggenheim, Whitney Museum of American Art, Brooklyn Museum of Art, the Walker Art Center, MN, and the New Orleans Museum of Art, LA. Khan's work is published in 4Columns, The New York Times, The New Yorker, Artforum, Art in America, BOMB, Brooklyn Rail, and TDR Drama Review. Khan is an adjunct professor of sculpture, performance, and critical theory, and received an M.F.A. from Cornell University (2012) and a B.F.A. from the University of North Texas (2005)See more: www.baseerakhan.com + Baseera Khan IG @baseerakhanPresented by: Black Art In AmericaFollow us:StudioNoizePodcast.comIG: @studionoizepodcastJamaal Barber: @JBarberStudioSupport the podcast www.patreon.com/studionoizepodcast
Ep.142 features Evita Tezeno. A Port Arthur, Texas native and graduate of Lamar University, she lives and works in Dallas. Tezeno's collage paintings employ richly patterned hand-painted papers and found objects in a contemporary folk-art style. Her work depicts a cast of characters in harmonious everyday scenes inspired by her family and friends, childhood memories in South Texas, personal dreams and moments from her adult life—and influenced by the great 20th century modernists Romare Bearden, Elizabeth Catlett, and William H. Johnson—scenes of joy animate her vision of a Black America filled with humanity. As the recipient of the prestigious Elizabeth Catlett Award for The New Power Generation, Tezeno has built a career as an acclaimed multi-disciplinary female artist. Her work is included in the permanent collection of the African American Museum of Dallas and the Embassy of the Republic of Madagascar, the Pizzuti Collection, Columbus, OH; Bill and Christy Gautreaux Collection, Kansas City; and Beth Rudin DeWoody Collection, Palm Beach; among others. In addition, her work has been acquired by prominent collectors, entertainers, media personalities and athletes, including Esther Silver-Parker, Samuel L. Jackson, David Hoberman, Denzel Washington, Star Jones, Laurie David, and Susan Taylor, among others. She has been awarded commissions by the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans, The Deep Ellum Film Festival in Dallas, and the legendary New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival ("Jazz Fest"), where in 1999 she became the first female artist to design its celebrated poster. Recent solo exhibitions include Better Days (2021) at Luis De Jesus Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA; Evita Tezeno and Jas Mardis: Sharing Memories (2021) at ArtCentre of Plano, Plano, TX; Memories Create Our Yesterdays and Tomorrows (2019) at Thelma Harris Gallery, Oakland, CA; Memories That Speak To My Soul (2018) at Stella Jones Gallery, New Orleans, LA; and Thoughts of Time Gone By (2017) at Peg Alston Gallery, New York, NY. Selected group exhibitions include Réinterprétation (2020) at C.O.A. Contemporary Art Gallery, Montreal, Canada; Phenomenal Women #UsToo (2019) at the African American Museum, Dallas, TX; Love in the Time of Hysteria (2019) at Prism Art Fair, Miami, FL; Flagrant Rules of Ensued Emancipation 2019 at John Milde Gallery, Dallas, TX; Modern Day Muse (2019) at ArtCenter of Plano, Plano, TX; Arts Past & Present (2018) at George Bush Library, Dallas, TX; Daughter of Diaspora – Women of Color Speak (2018) at Hearne Fine Art, Hot Springs, AR; and New Power Generation 2012, curated by Myrtis Bedolla at Hampton University Museum, Hampton, VA. Her work has been published and featured in numerous publications and media outlets, including Artforum, Artillery Magazine, Art Matters with Edward Goldman, Document Journal, Black Art in America, Collective Arts Network Journal, Culture Type, The Dallas Examiner, D Magazine, Dallas Woman, North Dallas Gazette, Fort Worth Star Telegram, Dallas Morning News, Eclipse Magazine, ONYX Magazine, The Shreveport Times, Visionary Art Collective, Visual Art Source, NBC 5 - DFW (video), and MAG-RAW Creations (video). Photo credit: Henry Miner Artist https://evitatezeno.com/ Luis de Jesus Gallery https://www.luisdejesus.com/artists/evita-tezeno Artillery Mag https://artillerymag.com/gallery-rounds-luis-de-jesus-los-angeles/ Art Now LA https://artnowla.com/2022/05/14/evita-tezeno-my-life-my-story/ Glasstire https://glasstire.com/2022/04/22/dallas-museum-of-art-announces-2022-art-fair-acquisitions-including-three-texas-artists/ Thelma Harris Gallery https://www.thelmaharrisartgallery.com/evita-tezeno Platform Art https://www.platformart.com/artists/evita-tezeno Black Art in America https://www.blackartinamerica.com/products/tezeno-evita-pookie Town and Country https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/arts-and-culture/a39981945/dallas-art-fair-2022/ Two x Two https://twoxtwo.org/catalogue/2022/i-am-proud/
A weekly magazine-style radio show featuring the voices and stories of Asians and Pacific Islanders from all corners of our community. The show is produced by a collective of media makers, deejays, and activists. Host Miko Lee talks about Theatre & Memory with Bay Area native artists: composer Byron Au Yong and playwright Lauren Yee. They provide behind the scenes news about their upcoming productions at ACT and Berkeley Rep. More info on our guests: Byron Au Yong, composer The Headlands, ACT Lauren Yee, playwright Cambodian Rock Band, Berkeley Rep Transcript: Theatre and Memory or Why Art Matters [00:00:00] Miko Lee: Good evening and welcome to APEX Express. I'm your host, Miko Lee, and tonight we're talking about theater and memory or why art matters. So many artists grapple with this concept of memory and how each of us has a different story to share. And tonight we get to hear from two bay area locals, a playwright, and a composer, each share a bit about their creative process and why art matters to them. I have the pleasure of speaking with composer, Byron Au Yong who had been creating music for the Headlands, which opens this weekend at act. And with playwright Lauren Yee who's musical Cambodian rock band comes back home to Berkeley rep at the end of the month. First off. Let's take a listen to one of Byron Al Yong's compositions called know your rights. This is part of the trilogy of the Activists Songbook. This multi-lingual rap, give steps to know what to do when ice officers come to your door. song That was know your rights performed by Jason Chu with lyrics by Aaron Jeffries and composed by my guest, Byron Au Yong. Welcome, Byron Au Yong to Apex Express. We're so happy to hear from you. [00:04:11] Byron Au Yong: Thanks, Miko. It's so great to be here. [00:04:13] Miko Lee: I wanna talk to you about a couple of things. First and foremost, you have the Headlands that is opening up at ACT really soon. Tell me about who your people are and where you come from. [00:04:27] Byron Au Yong: Sure. So my grandparents, both maternal and paternal, left China in the late thirties and they both immigrated to the Philippines. And so both my parents were born to Philippines in different areas. And so I come from a family of refugees who then settled into Philippines and my parents were not the first in their family. They were actually both the fourth and they left and immigrated to the United States when the United States opened up immigration in post 1965. So they were part of that wave. And then I was born in Pittsburgh. They, they were actually introduced here in Seattle. And I was born in Pittsburgh because my dad was in school there. And then they moved back to Seattle. So I'm from Seattle and in 2016 I moved to San Francisco. [00:05:17] Miko Lee: Thank you. So you are a composer. Have you always played music and have you always been attuned to audio? Tell me about how you got started as a composer. [00:05:28] Byron Au Yong: Sure. As a kid my parents divorced when I was age seven and I was an only child up until age 16. My mom worked. In the evenings. And my dad wasn't in the household and so I had a lot of time to myself and I would sing a lot to myself. And then my next door neighbor was a piano teacher, and so I started to play the piano at age nine, and then at age 11 I started to write stuff down. And yeah, so I've been doing music for a bit. [00:05:59] Miko Lee: So music has always been a part of your life, essentially. It's been your playmate since you were young. [00:06:04] Byron Au Yong: Yes, absolutely [00:06:05] Miko Lee: Love that. So tell us about the Headlands that's gonna be opening at ACT pretty soon. [00:06:11] Byron Au Yong: Yeah so The Headlands is a play by Christopher Chen, who you may know is playwright, who is born and raised and continues to live in San Francisco. And it's his love letter to San Francisco. It's a San Francisco noir play. It's a whodunit play. It's a play about a main character who's trying to figure out who he is after the death of his dad. Which causes him to wonder who he is and where he is from. I'm doing original music for the show, this is gonna be an American Conservatory Theater, and Pam McKinnon, who's the artistic director, will be stage directing this production as well. I actually met Chris Chen in 2013 when I had a show called Stuck Elevator that was at ACT. And I've been really fascinated with his work as a playwright for a while, and so I was thrilled when ACT invited me to join the creative team to work on music. Miko Lee: Oh, fun. Okay. I wanna talk to you about Stuck Elevator next, but first let's stick with the headlines.This is a play that's about memory and storytelling. I'm wondering if there is a story that has framed your creative process. Byron Au Yong: Yeah. Thinking about this show as a memory play, and, memory as something, we go back in our memories to try and figure stuff out, which is very much what this play is. And also to claim and to. figure out if something from our memory was recalled maybe in completely. And so the main character is, piecing together fragments of his memory to figure out who he is in the present. And considering this I actually went back to music. I composed when I was still a teenager. I actually dropped outta school and was working a lot. I think I realized early on that I was indeed, I wanted to dedicate myself to being an artist and was very concerned about how I would make a living as an artist in the United States. And so I thought I'll figure out how to make money away from the music. And so I had a lot of jobs and I was trying to write music, but, I was in a sad place, and so I never finished anything. I have a bunch of fragments from this time. But on Memorial Day I woke up and, it was sunny in Seattle and so I said, I'm gonna finish a piece of music today. And that became part of a project in mine where every Memorial Day I finish a piece of music and it's a solo piano piece that I finish. And so, going back in my personal history, I found one of these Memorial Day pieces and thought, oh, this actually works. Because it's a bit awkward and it doesn't resolve, and I remember who I was back then, but it's also me piecing together things and so I used that as the foundation for the music, for The Headlands, which is a different thing. If you didn't know that was my source material, that's in some ways irrelevant. But that's my personal connection in thinking about music for this. And of course I've also done a lot of research on film noir. A lot of noir films were set in San Francisco. And and the music is awesome, amazing of this genre. And, it's mysterious it is a certain urban Americana music. And so I include those elements as well. [00:09:36] Miko Lee: Thank you. That's so interesting that you have a Memorial Day ritual to create a piece of music. I'm wondering if, aside from the Headlands, have you used the Memorial Day Music in other pieces you've created? [00:09:48] Byron Au Yong: No this is the first time. [00:09:51] Miko Lee: Wow. Yeah. That's great. [00:09:53] Byron Au Yong: I think Miko is because, it's a private thing for me. I think the other thing too is as you mentioned, music was my friend growing up. The piano was. Definitely one of my best friends. And so solo piano pieces for me are, it's where you can have an audience of one. And one of the things that helped me, when I was not in school was. Playing through a lot of different other solo piano pieces. And so part of these Memorial Day pieces too are that they're meant to be simple enough that they could be sight read. And so if, if there's a musician who you know, is in a similar state of, oh, I'm not able to really do anything, but I want to be with music. I can sight read through, these different Memorial Day pieces. [00:10:38] Miko Lee: And do you have them set in a specific part of your house or where, how, where do you keep your Memorial Day projects and when do you open them up to look at them? [00:10:48] Byron Au Yong: Oh yeah. They're handwritten in a folder. None of the things so special. [00:10:54] Miko Lee: What was it that inspired you to go back and look at them for the headlands? [00:10:58] Byron Au Yong: Oh, you know what it is there are, be, because I know you, you also create stuff too in your memory of your catalog.I'm wondering if you have. If you have works that, that you remember that you made and then tho those works may remind you of a certain mood you were in or a certain room or and so I think they're musical things from certain or, things I was experimenting with for these Memorial Day. Said, I'm like, oh, I remember this. Let me go back to the folder where I collect this stuff every year and look through it. And I think that parallels actually the headlands and what the main character is doing because he recalls, and what's so cool about the production is we go into the same scene, but there's like a clue that's been revealed. And so we as an audience get to revisit the scene again. And there's a different interpretation of what was happening in the scene. And so what might have been like a scene between Henry's parents, Lena and George, which he thought, oh, this is how it was when I was a kid, when I was 10 years old. Thinking about it, remembering it, but now with this new information, this is how I'm gonna interpret the scene. And so I think similarly with, music from my past, these Memorial Day pieces, I'm like, oh, this is what I was interested in working on. But now as a older composer, I'm like, ah, and I can do this with this material. [00:12:26] Miko Lee: I love that. And I also really appreciate that this play about memory you pulled from your Memorial Day pieces, that it goes with this whole flow of just re-envisioning things with your own frame and based on where you're at in any given time. [00:12:42] Byron Au Yong: Totally. [00:12:43] Miko Lee: I know that the show was created 2020, is that right? Yes. Is that when, first? Yeah, Byron Au Yong: I think it's right before the pandemic. Miko Lee: Yeah. And you've had several different directors, and now in a way you both are coming home to San Francisco and artistic director, Pam McKinnon is directing it. I wonder if you have thoughts about some of the difference approaches that these directors have brought to the process. [00:13:06] Byron Au Yong: Oh, yeah. And, miko, this is the first time I'm working on the headlands. And so when it was at Lincoln Center, there was a different creative team. [00:13:12] Miko Lee: Oh, so the music, you're just creating the music for this version of the show. [00:13:16] Byron Au Yong: Yes, correct. Wow. And it is a new production because that Lincoln Center was in a stage called LCT 3, which is a smaller venue. Whereas this is gonna be in a Toni Rembe theater, which is, on Geary. It's a 1100 seat theater. And the set is quite fabulous and large . And what's also great is, aside from Johnny, all the cast is local. And like it will have the feel of a San Francisco production because many of us live here, have lived here and know these places that are referenced in the show. [00:13:51] Miko Lee: Thanks for that clarification. So that's really different to go from a small house at Lincoln Center to the big house at a c t Yes. With local folks with, your local music. That brings a very different approach to it. I'm excited to see it. That sounds really interesting. And now I wanna go back to talk about Stuck Elevator, which I was so delighted to learn about. Which was your first piece That was at ACT what, back in 2013? So tell our audience first about where Stuck Elevator came from and then tell what it's about. [00:14:23] Byron Au Yong: Sure. So stuck elevator. So I was living in New York in 2005 and there were some there were some images of like photos in the newspaper, initially it was local news because it was a Chinese delivery man who was missing. And most of the delivery people at the time, they carry cash, they won't go to the police. And there, there had been a string of muggings and then one was actually beaten to death. And so it was local news that this guy was missing. And then a few days later, and in New York Times, there was a big article because he was found in an elevator in the Bronx and he had been trapped in his elevator which had become stuck. And he was trapped for 81 hours, which that's like over three days. And so it made international news. And then when I read the article and learned more about him, there were many parallels like where he was from in China, which is Fujan Province, which is where my grandparents left that he was paying a debt to human smugglers to be in the United States. And different things that I thought, wow, if my grandparents hadn't left I wonder if, I would be the one who was, paying to be smuggled here rather than paying for grad school. And so I became quite fascinated with them. And then also, realized at the time, in 2005, this is like YouTube was just starting, and so all like the Asian American YouTube stars, they weren't as prominent in the news. And, BTS wasn't around then. So for me to see an Asian male. In the US media there was always this feeling of oh why is this Asian male in the news? And then realized, oh, it's actually part of a larger story about being trapped in America about family obligation, about labor, about fear of, in his specific case because he's an undocumented immigrant, fear of deportation. So there were many issues that, that I thought were broader than the specific story. And so I thought, this would be a great opera slash musical. So that's what it became at [00:16:23] Miko Lee: you, you basically read a story and said, whoa, what is this? I feel this is so wild. And then created it into an opera. Yes. Also, it just resonated with me so much as a person who has been trapped in elevators, in broken elevators six different times, . Oh my goodness. Yes. I'm like, wow. And his story, that many hours, that has to be like a record. Byron Au Yong: Right? Nobody else has been trapped that long. Yeah. It's a record. Miko Lee: So you created this piece, it premiered at ACT? Yes. Did you ever connect with the guy that was stuck in the elevator? [00:16:59] Byron Au Yong: No. So the New York Times did something which is actually not cool. They they revealed his immigration status and that at the time I'm not sure if it's still the case,but at the time, you're not allowed to reveal people's immigration status. Especially, in such a public way. And so what was cool was that the AALEDF, which is the Asian American Legal Education and Defense Fund, they the volunteer attorneys there step forward to represent Ming Kuang Chen and his case and ensure that he had legal representation so he would not be deported. The thing is, he was suffering from PTSD and there was also another case at the time it was a different un undocumented immigrant case that AALEDF was representing that had a bit more visibility and so he actually didn't want to be so much into public eye, and so he went back into hiding. And so while I didn't meet him specifically, I met his translator. I met other people at AALEDF met with other people who were related to the stories that he was a part of. So for example, used to be an organization, which I think they've changed their name, but they were the Fujanese Restaurant Workers Association. Most of the undocumented immigrants who worked in restaurants at the time are from Fujan Province. Also, Asian Pacific American Studies at New York University. Is a mix o f people who were working in restaurants as well as people, scholars who were studying this issue. [00:18:46] Miko Lee: Can you describe a little bit about Stuck Elevator for folks that haven't seen it? Sure. How did you conceive of this piece, that song? [00:18:53] Byron Au Yong: Yeah so it's a thru sung piece about a guy who's trapped in America. He's a Chinese food delivery man, and he's, delivering food in the Bronx. And what I think is You know what I didn't realize when I started it. And then I realized working on it was the thing about being stuck in the elevator is, especially for so long, is that you and I don't know if this is your case, Miko it's so fascinating to hear you've been trapped six different times. There's the initial shock and initial oh my gosh, I have to get out. And then there's this. Maybe not resignation but there's this, okay. Okay. I'm gonna be here so now what? Now what I'm going to do and the time actually, especially for someone who works so much delivering food and sending money back home to his wife and son in China and his family is that he actually is not working, right? And so he has time to consider what his life has been like in New York for the past, the two years he's been there. And to consider the choices he's made as well as to remember his family who are back in China. And part of this too is you're not awake the entire time. Sometimes you go to sleep, and so in his sleep he dreams. He has hallucinations. He has nightmares. And this is where the music theater opera really starts to confront and navigate through the various issues of being trapped in America. [00:20:22] Miko Lee: Any chance this will come into production, somewhere? [00:20:26] Byron Au Yong: Yeah, hopefully, we were just at Nashville Opera last week, two weeks ago. [00:20:30] Miko Lee: Oh, fun. [00:20:31] Byron Au Yong: so Nashville Opera. So the lead Julius Ahn who was in ACT's production is an opera singer. And and he had told the artistic director of Nashville Opera about this project years ago. And John Hoomes, who's the artistic director there had remembered it. Last year John Hoomes reached out to me and said, you know, I think it's the time for to be an operatic premiere of Stuck Elevator. And so we had an amazing run there. [00:20:58] Miko Lee: Great. Wow. I look forward to seeing that too somewhere soon. Yes. I also wanted to chat with you about this last week, a lot of things have been happening in our A P I community with these mass shootings that have been just so painful. Yes. And I know that you worked on a piece that was called The Activist Songbook. Are you, can you talk a little bit about that process and the Know Your Rights project? [00:21:23] Byron Au Yong: Yeah, absolutely. And I'm gonna back up because so Activist Song Book is actually the third in a trilogy of which Stuck Elevator is the first, and related to the recent tragedies that have happened in Half Moon Bay and also in Monterey Park. The second in the trilogy is it's called the Ones. It was originally called Trigger, and it also has the name Belonging. And I can go through why it has so many different names, but the first in the trilogy was Stuck Elevator, and it was prompted by me again, seeing an Asian male in the US media. So the second actually all three are from seeing Asian males in the US media. And the second one was an incident that happened in 2007 where a creative writing major shot 49 people killing 32, and then himself at Virginia Tech. And and when this happened I realized, oh shoot Stuck elevator's part of a trilogy. I have to figure out how to do this show called Trigger or what was called Trigger. And then realized of the different layers in a trilogy. Yes. There's this initial thing about Asian men in the US media, but then there's this other thing about ways out of oppression. And so with Stuck Elevator, the way out of oppression is through the main character's imagination, right? His dreams, his what ifs, right? The possibilities and the different choices he can make with the second one, what me and the creative team realized is that, the way out of oppression is that the creative writing major who you may remember was a Korean American he was so isolated at Virginia Tech and the tragedy of him being able to purchase firearms and then kill so many people, including himself in working on it, I was like, I need to understand, but it's not this story I necessarily want to put on stage. And so what it became is it became a story, and this is also the national conversation changed around mass violence in America. The conversation became less about the perpetrator and more about the victims. And so it became a choral work for community performers. So rather than a music theater opera, like Stuck Elevator, it's a music theater forum with local singers. And this was actually performed at Virginia Tech during the 10 year memorial of the tragedy. And this one I did eight site visits to Virginia Tech and met with people including the chief of police of Blacksburg. First responder to director of threat assessment to family members whose children were lost. A child of, teachers were also killed that day to counselors who were there to Nikki Giovanni, who was one of the faculty members. So yeah so many people. But this one, the second one, the way out of oppression is from isolation into community, into belonging. And Virginia Tech Administration said we could not call the work trigger. And so the work there was called (Be)longing with the be in parentheses. And now we've done a new revision called The Ones partially influenced by the writer, one of his teachers was June Jordan who was at UC Berkeley. And she has a phrase, we are the ones we've been waiting for. And so the ones which is a 2019 revision, the show, what it does is Act three youth takeover, right? It's about coming of age and an age of guns, and the youth have become activists because they have no choice because they are being shot in places of learning, and so Parkland in Chicago and other places have been influential in this work. And then the third in the trilogy is Activist Songbook. And for this one we went back to an earlier asian male who was in the US media, and that was Vincent Chin who you may know was murdered 40 years ago. And so activist song book is to counteract hate and energize movements. And it's a collection of different songs that is even further away from musical theater opera production in that the rally component of the songs can be taught within 10 minutes to a group of people outdoors to be used right away. And that one, the way out of repression is through organizing. [00:25:49] Miko Lee: Well, Byron Au Young, thank you so much for sharing with us about all the different projects you've been working on. We'll put a link in the show notes to the headlands that folks can see at a c t. Tell our audience how else they can find out more about you and your life as a composer and more about your work. [00:26:05] Byron Au Yong: Sure. I have a website. It's my name.com or b y r o n a u y o n g.com. [00:26:12] Miko Lee: Thank you so much for spending so much time with me. [00:26:14] Byron Au Yong: Of course. [00:26:15] Miko Lee: You are tuned into apex express on 94.1, KPFA an 89.3 K P F B in Berkeley and online@kpfa.org. We're going to hear one more piece by composer, Byron Al young called This is the Beginning, which was prompted by Lilly and Vincent chin and inspired by Helen Zia and other organizers. song That was, This is the Beginning by Byron Au Yong and Aaron Jeffrey's. Featuring Christine Toi Johnson on voice and Tobias Wong on voice and guitar. This is a beginning is prompted by organizing in response to the racially motivated murder of Vincent Chin in Detroit. This hate crime was a turning point for Asian American solidarity in the fight for federal civil rights. Lily chin Vincent's mom refused to let her son's death be invisible. Next up, I have the chance to speak with playwright Lauren Yee who's musical Cambodian rock band. Returns to Berkeley rep where it first got its workshop and it will be there from February 25th through April 2nd. And here's a teaser from Cambodian rock band by Lauren Yee. Take a listen to seek CLO. song Miko Lee: Welcome Lauren Yee to Apex express. [00:34:35] Lauren Yee: Thank you so much, Miko. [00:34:37] Miko Lee: We're so happy to have you a local Bay Area person. Award-winning playwright. Coming back to town at Berkeley Rep with your show, Cambodian Rock Band. Yay. Tell us about the show. [00:34:51] Lauren Yee: Yes so Cambodian Rock Band. Is actually a piece that has some of its like earliest development roots in the Bay Area and also like specifically at Berkeley Rep. Getting to bring the show to Berkeley rep really feels like some sort of poetic justice. In addition to the fact, that it's like my old stomping grounds. . Essentially Cambodian rock Band started in 2015, or at least the writing of it. It actually started, if I'm being honest much earlier than that. I think it was about 2010 2011. I was down in San Diego in grad school and one of my friends was just like dying to go see this band play at a music festival. She was like, I saw this band play. They're amazing. You should totally come. And I was like, sure. And I don't know if you've ever had this experience, but it's like, going somewhere, hearing a band, and even before you know anything about them or their story, you just fall in love. You fall like head over heels in love and you say, oh my God who are these people? And I wanna know everything about them. And that band was Dengue Fever. Which is amazing. You fell in love with the band first. Yep. Before the play. Yes. And it was the band Dengue Fever which is an LA band. And their front woman Choni Mall is Cambodian American and she leads this sound that I think started in covers of Cambodian oldies from that golden age of rock for them, and has over time morphed into Dengue Fever's own original sound. Like we're nowadays, they're coming out with an album soon, their own original songs. But I fell in love with Dengue Fever and I was like, oh, okay, who are these people inspired by? And I just went down that rabbit hole of learning about this whole musical history that I never knew about. My own background is Chinese American. I'm not Cambodian American. And so a lot of kids who grew up in the public school system, I did not get basically any education about Cambodian history and America's role in seeding the elements that led to the Khmer Rouge's takeover the country, and the ensuing genocide. [00:37:12] Miko Lee: So you first fell in love with the band and then you went down an artist rabbit hole. We love those artist rabbit holes. Yes. And then what was your inspiration for the play itself? The musical? [00:37:22] Lauren Yee: Yeah so I fell in love with the music and I was like, there is something here because you had all these musicians in Cambodia who like, when 1975 hit and the communists took over the country there was just a time when like the country was a hostile place for artists where artists were specifically targeted among other groups. And so much of Cambodia's musicians and its musical history, was snuffed out, and I was like, there is a story here, that I find deeply compelling. And for a long time I didn't know how to tell that story because there's just so much in it. And then came 2015 where two things happened. One was that I was commissioned by a theater in Orange County called South Coast Rep, and they invited me to come down to their theater and just do research in the community for two weeks on anything you want. So I was like, I wanna look at malls, I wanna look at the video game culture down there, all kinds of things. And one of the things that I was interested in and just bubbled to the surface was the Cambodian American community, which is not in Orange County proper, but in, situated largely in Long Beach, right next door. And it just so happened that while I was there, There were just a lot of Cambodian American music related events that were going on. So the second annual Cambodian Music Festival, the Cambodia Town Fundraiser, Dengue Fever, was playing a gig in Long Beach. Like all these things were happening, that intersected me, with the Kamai or Cambodian community in Long Beach. And the other thing that happened coming out of that trip is that I started beginning to write the seeds of the play. And I did a very early workshop of it up at Seattle Rap. And I'm the sort of playwright. probably like writes and brings in collaborators like actors and a director sooner than a lot of other people. Most people probably wait until they have a first draft that they're comfortable with, whereas I'm like, I have 20 pages and I think if I go up and get some collaborators, I think I can generate the rest of it. So I went up to Seattle with kind of my, 20 or 30 pages and we brought in some actors. And that workshop had an actor named Joe No in it, and I knew Joe from previous work I'd done in Seattle. But during our first rehearsal when we were just like chatting he said to me like, this is my story. And I was like, oh, it's a story that calls out to me too. Thank you. And he was like no. You don't understand. Like, So my parents were born in Battambang Cambodia. They were survivors of the Khmer Rouge. I feel deeply connected to this material. And that conversation sparked. a very long relationship, between me and Joe and this play. That I, I think of him as like the soul, of this play. He became just like an integral part. And in the South coast rep production and in subsequent productions he's kind of been like our lead. He is Chum, and it's a role that I think is like perfectly suited for who he is as a human being and what his like essence is. And also he plays electric guitar which I think influenced things a lot because initially it was a play about music, right? It wasn't a musical, it was just people like talking about a music scene that they loved. And as I went along and found like the perfect people for these roles it was like, Joe plays electric guitar. It would be crazy not to have him try to play a little electric guitar in the show. And that kind of began that, the evolution of this play into a piece where music is not only talked about, but is an integral part of the show. You know that it's become a show that has a live band. The actors play the instruments. They play about a dozen songs. And it's a mix of Dengue, half Dengue Fever songs, half mostly Cambodian oldies. It's kind of been an incredible journey and I could not have imagined what that journey would be, it's hard to replicate. [00:41:53] Miko Lee: I love that. So has Joe been in every production you've done of the show so far? [00:41:57] Lauren Yee: So he hasn't been able to be in everyone. There were two productions happening at the same time, and so he could only be in one place at one time. But I bet you he would've tried to be in two places at once. But he's basically been in almost every production. And the production that he's in currently running at the Alley Theater in Houston is is like the production, the original production directed by Chay Yew. [00:42:24] Miko Lee: Wow. And was it difficult to cast all actors that were also musicians? [00:42:30] Lauren Yee: In some ways there there's I think if you were starting from scratch and you like open your window and you're like, where could I find some actors? I think it would be tough. But I just kept running into kind of like crazy happenstance where I would find a person and I wasn't even thinking about them musically. And they'd be like, yeah, like I've played bass, for 15 years. and I could kind of do drums, right? That what was remarkable is that there were all these Asian American actors who were like known as actors. But then once you like, dig down into their biographies, you're like, Hey, I see like you've actually played drums for X number of years, or, Hey, I see that you play like guitar and bass. Miko Lee: Tell me more about that. Lauren Yee: So it's almost like finding all these stealth musicians and like helping them dust the instruments off and being like, Hey, come back here. Fun. And so it's just been, it's just been like a joy. [00:43:27] Miko Lee: Oh, that's so great. I know the play is about music and also about memory, and I'm wondering if there's a story that has framed your creative process that stands out to you. [00:43:39] Lauren Yee: I don't know if it's one specific memory, but I find that just a lot of my stories I think they deal with family. I think they deal with parents and their grown children trying to reconnect with each other, trying to overcome family secrets and generational struggles. I would say I have a great relationship with my father. But I think, in every parent and child relationship, one thing that I'm fascinated by are these attempts to get to know someone, like especially your own parent, even when you know them well, and especially when you know them well. That kind of is able to penetrate that barrier that sometimes you hit in generations, right? That there's a wall that your parents put up. Or that there's this impossibility of knowing who your parents were before you had them because they had a whole life. And you only know this like tiny bit of it. And I think I'm just like fascinated by that. I'm fascinated by the impact of time. I'm fascinated by extraordinary circumstances and the ordinary people who lived through those times. And I think for a large part, even though Cambodian rock band features a family whose lived experience is different from my own. I think there's a lot of my own relationship with my father that I put into that relationship. This desire to know your parent better, this desire to know them even as they're trying to protect you. So yeah. [00:45:06] Miko Lee: What do your parents think about your work? [00:45:10] Lauren Yee: I think my parents are incredibly supportive, but like different in the way that one might think because my parents aren't arts people they of course like enjoy a story or enjoy a show, but they're not people who are like, I have a subscription to this theater, or I'm gonna go to this museum opening. and so their intersection with the arts, I feel like has been out of a sense of like love for me. Their ways of supporting me early on when like I was interested in theater and trying to figure out a way to go about it, like in high school when I was trying to like, put on a show with my friends and they were like in the back folding the programs or like building, the door to the set. And hauling away, all the furniture, so we could bring it to the theater. So like my parents have been supportive, but in a very, like nuts and bolts kind of way. Miko Lee: That's so sweet and that's so important. When I was doing the theater, my mom would come to every single show. Lauren Yee: Just Oh, bless that is, bless her. [00:46:14] Miko Lee: Ridiculous commitment. Yeah. I don't that for my kids, like every show. I wanna back up a little bit cuz we're talking about family. Can you tell me who are your people and where do you come from? [00:46:27] Lauren Yee: Ooh. That's such a great question. I think there are like many ways of answering that. When I think of home, I think of San Francisco, I live in New York now. But my whole youth, I grew up in San Francisco. My parents were both born there. My grandmother was born and raised there, one of my grandfathers was, born more like up the Delta and the other side of my family, my grandparents came from Toisan China. So on one hand, my family's from like that Pearl River Delta part of China. And at various times, like made a break for the United States. I think starting in the 1870s and spanning into the early 20th century you know, so we've been here for a while. And another way of thinking about it is we're all very, I think, suffused in our family's history in San Francisco. It's hard for me to go to a Chinese restaurant with my family without somebody from our table knowing somebody else in the restaurant, like inevitable. And it's something that never happens to me. I don't think it's ever happened to me when living in New York. Yeah. And I think And that's fun. That's fun. I love that. Yeah. Yeah. And I think b eing able to be Chinese American. Growing up in San Francisco, it's different than other, Asian Americans living in other parts of the country. Like in a strange way, it allows you to like be more of whoever you wanna be, right? When you're like not the only one. That it allows you to like, potentially choose a different path and not have to worry about. I don't know, just like carrying that load. [00:48:01] Miko Lee: That is so interesting. Do you mean because there's safety, because you're around so many other Chinese Americans, Asian Americans, that you can bring forth a greater sense of your individuality? [00:48:13] Lauren Yee: Yeah, I think so, like I went to Lowell High School where, you know, two thirds of the class is Asian American. There's just such a wide range of what an Asian American student at Lowell looks like. And what we're interested in and how our weird obsessions manifest so I think I just felt more freedom in differentiating myself cuz I like theater and I like storytelling. [00:48:36] Miko Lee: That's really interesting. Thanks so much for sharing that. I'm wondering, because Cambodian rock band is partially about when the communists took over Cambodia. If, when you were growing up as a multi-generational Chinese American, did you hear very much about communism and the impact on China? [00:48:57] Lauren Yee: I did not. And possibly it was swirling around. And I was too young to really understand the impacts. But when I look back on it, a lot of my plays, Cambodian Rock Band included, have to do with the intersection of Communism and American culture. Like another play I have called The Great Leap which was at ACT in San Francisco, also dealt with American culture like basketball, intersecting in communist China in the 1970s and then the 1980s. And like, honestly, in retrospect, the effects of communism were all around me growing up in San Francisco in the nineties. That the kids that I went to school with, like in elementary school, came there in various waves, but a lot of them pushed from Asia because of the influences of communism that you had of a wave of kids who came over. In the wake of the fall of the Soviet Union, you had kids who came preempting, the Hong Kong handover back to China. You had kids, who came to San Francisco in the wake of the fall of the Vietnam War. So there were like all these, political movements the effects of war that were like shaping the people around me. And I didn't realize it until like very much later. [00:50:19] Miko Lee: Oh, that's so interesting. Thank you so much. By the way. I really loved the Great Leap. It was such an interesting thank you way of really talking about some deep issues, but through such an American sport like basketball I enjoyed that so much. So thank you so much for sharing about your San Francisco influence. I'm curious because you've been writing TV now limited series like Pachinko and also congrats on writing the musical for Wrinkle In Time. Amazing. Thank you. [00:50:49] Lauren Yee: That is a book that I loved and just shook me, I forget what grade I was in, but I was probably like, 10 or 11 or something. So I think the fact that I get to interface and get to dig into such an iconic work as Wrinkle in Time, blows my mind. [00:51:05] Miko Lee: That is going to be so exciting. I'm really looking forward to that. Yeah. Yeah. But my question was really about you working on Pachinko and these other series, how different is playwriting to screen versus TV writing? [00:51:17] Lauren Yee: Yeah. I think in a way like the work that I did on Pachinko, for instance, like I was on the writing staff, that's a role where you're like supporting the creator of the show, which in this instance is Sue Hugh, who is just an incredible mind. And she had like kind of this vision for what she wanted to do with the adaptation of Pachinko. And, you know, you, as a writer on staff you're really helping to support that. So I think your role is a little bit different when you're brought on staff for tv that you're helping to birth the thing along and contribute your part. Whereas when you're a playwright like the piece remains with you, and you just have I think a greater sense of control over what happens to it. [00:52:00] Miko Lee: What surprised you in your creative process while you were working on this play, this musical? [00:52:08] Lauren Yee: I think the thing that I realized when I was writing Cambodian Rock Band is that in order for the play to really click together is that joy has to be at the center of it. That Cambodian rock band is a piece about art and artists and family surviving really horrific events. And in order to tell that story, you need to fall in love with the music. You need to understand why these people might have risked their lives. For art, you need to understand why art matters. And I think a feature of my work is finding the light in dark places that there is a lot, in the play that is heavy. There are points where it is surprisingly and shockingly funny and that there are moments of just incredible heart in places like you probably won't be expecting. And I think that's been a big lesson of developing this piece. [00:53:14] Miko Lee: Lauren Yee thank you so much for talking with me and sharing about Cambodian Rock Band and your artistic process. I know it's gonna be running at Berkeley rep February 25th through April 2nd. Where else is it running for folks that might not live in the Bay? [00:53:30] Lauren Yee: Yeah, so if you live in the Bay Area, or if you want just see it again, which is totally fine. Lots of people see it again. This same production is going to travel to arena stage in DC over the summer in the fall it'll be at Fifth Avenue and Act Theater up in Seattle, and then at the very beginning of 2024 it will be at Center Theater Group. [00:53:54] Miko Lee: Thank you so much for chatting with me today. I really appreciate you and your work out there in the world. [00:54:00] Lauren Yee: Thank you, Miko. [00:54:02] Miko Lee: That was playwright Lauren Yee. And I'm going to play you out, hearing one song from Dengue Fever, which is in Cambodian rock band. This is Uku. song [00:56:55] Miko Lee: Thank you so much for joining us. Please check out our website, kpfa.org backslash program, backslash apex express to find out more about the show tonight and to find out how you can take direct action. We thank all of you listeners out there. Keep resisting, keep organizing, keep creating and sharing your visions with the world. Your voices are important. Apex express is produced by Miko Lee Jalena Keane-Lee and Paige Chung and special editing by Swati Rayasam. Thank you so much to the KPFA staff for their support have a great night. The post APEX Express – 2.9.23 Theatre & Memory or Why Art Matters appeared first on KPFA.
In this KEEN ON episode, Andrew talks to BLK ART author Zaria Ware about the audacious legacy of black artists and models in both European and North American art. ABOUT ZARIA WARE. Zaria Ware is a writer and the author of “BLK ART: The Audacious Legacy of Black Artists and Models in Western Art” (2023). She lives just outside Detroit, MI. BLK ART is her first book. ABOUT ANDREW KEEN: Name as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting KEEN ON, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy show. He is also the author of four prescient books: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Suzan Shutan is a CT based Artist, Curator, Educator and recipient of multiple grants including an Artslink grant, Art Matters grant, Berkshire Taconic Foundation grant, two NY Foundation for Contemporary Art grants and three CT Commission Artist Fellowships. She has attended artist residencies at Bemis Foundation NE, Yaddo NY, Proyecto Ace, Argentina. Her work has been featured in 23 solo exhibits including Zacheta National Gallery in Warsaw Poland, Aldrich Museum CT, The Painting Center, NY, University of Massachusetts Hampton Gallery, Amherst, Islip Art Museum NY, Kenise Barnes Gallery NY, Garrison Art Center, NY, Housatonic Museum, CT, Five Points Center for the Visual Arts, CT, Arts & Cultural Center of Florida and has had work exhibited in 198 group exhibitions throughout Germany, Poland, Ukraine, France, Holland, Australia, Canada, Argentina, Columbia and USA. Her work has been published in the books Paper Art Installations II, Post Road Literary Books and has been reviewed by Smithsonian Magazine, Sculpture Magazine, NY Times, Art New England Magazine, Artscope, High Performance, and blogs such as Art Spiel & Yale University Radio/Praxis Museum of Non Visible Art. Public commissions include Log-Me-In Headquarters, Boston, MA and Sloan Kettering Hospital, NY and her work can be found in private and museum collections as well as viewed on Artsy, First Dibs, Geoform, Instagram (@sshutan), FB, Pinterest, Linked in and at www.suzanshutan.com. Suzan has worked as a Museum Director & Curator of Education, Director of a Municipal Public Art Program, and has taught at RISD, University of Massachusetts, University of Nebraska, Quinnipiac University, currently teaches in low residency MFA programs including Lesley College at Harvard, MA and has taught Sculpture for fifteen years at Housatonic Community College
“Human rights are held by all persons equally, universally and forever.Human rights are the basic standards without which people cannot live in dignity.These rights are inalienable. This means you cannot lose these rights just as you cannot cease to be a human.“ - The World As It Could Be In this episode, we learn from Sandy Sohcot and Ellen Sebastian Chang of The World As It Could Be Human Rights Education Program. We also learn about a collaboration between TWAICB and Talaterra that will help environmental professionals from diverse fields advance their work within a human rights framework.What circumstances led to the creation of The World As It Could Be?How do Sandy and Ellen introduce people to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?How have they strengthened the relationship between community members and law enforcement?How is The World As It Could Be and Talaterra collaborating to help environmental professionals view their environmental work through a human rights framework?These questions will be answered in this episode.We begin with Sandy explaining how The World As It Could Be, got its start.(A quick note to our regular listeners. This episode is a little longer than our usual episode.)LINKSThe World As It Could Be (TWAICB)TWAICB FacebookTWAICB Instagram (@TWAICB)TWAICB LinkedInJoin TWAICB Email ListAlameda County Deputy Sheriffs Activities League (DSAL)Rex FoundationRegister for Amplify Your Practice for People and the Planet (begins January 19, 2023). Join Sandy Sohcot and Ellen Sebastian Change of The World As It Could Be Human Rights Education Program to amplify the impact of your environmental education practice.In this workshop, you'll consider your educational objectives and the impact your programs have on people and the planet. You will engage in conversation about the fundamental purpose of environmental education and reflect on how the Universal Declaration of Human Rights connects with your practice and environmental education overall.Pre-enroll yourself (pre-enrollment ends January 1, 2023)Pre-enroll yourself and a colleague (pre-enrollment ends January 1, 2023)(Note: Regular Registration begins on January 2, 2023. Check back here for links on January 2.)___________________________________________ABOUT SANDY SOHCOTDirector and originator of The World As It Could Be Human Rights Education Program. Sandy holds a California Lifetime Teaching Credential. In July 2001, Sandy became Executive Director of the Rex Foundation and served as in that capacity through 2013, to help renew the Foundation in the absence of direct Grateful Dead concert funding. In 2006, as part of her work, Sandy developed The World As It Could Be initiative to raise awareness about the human rights framework. The initial work evolved to become a full program with curriculum that includes the creative arts as a vital part of teaching about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Since January 2014, Sandy has been Director of TWAICB, now a program of the Alameda County Deputy Sheriffs' Activities League (DSAL). Sandy has been active in the small business and women's communities of San Francisco. She co-founded the Women's Leadership Alliance, and is past president of the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners. In July 1999, the San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women honored Sandy with their Women Who Make a Difference Award. Sandy served as a Commissioner on the San Francisco Human Rights Commission 2004 – 2008.___________________________________________ABOUT ELLEN SEBASTIAN CHANG:Ellen Sebastian Chang (she/her), whose creative practice spans 45 years, is a storied figure in the performing arts, as a multi-disciplinary director (theater, opera, dance, and installation) arts educator, and lighting designer. "I create as a director, producer, writer, and teaching artist. I began my theater practice as a lighting technician (Berkeley Stage Company) and designer. In 1981, I shifted to directing/writing/creating devised experimental performances with the premiere of Your Place is No Longer with Us which followed a ten-year-old biracial girl throughout a Victorian mansion in San Francisco. In 1986, I was the co-founder/co-artistic director of LIFE ON THE WATER, a national and internationally known presenting and producing organization at San Francisco's Fort Mason Center. In the 21st century, with Deep Waters Dance Theater I have co-created 14 Episodes of "House/Full of Blackwomen," in 2020 episode 14 called New Chitlin Circuitry: a reparations vaudeville; “How to Fall in Love in A Brothel” interactive installation, performances and short film with Sunhui Chang and Maya Gurantz commissioned by Catherine Clark Gallery; “A Hole In Space (Oakland Redux) created with Maya Gurantz connecting to Oakland neighborhoods via 24-hour video portal; Consulting Producer for “Whoopi Goldberg Presents Moms Mabley” HBO and interviewee; “Fabulation” by Lynne Nottage Lorraine Hansberry Theater with Margo Hall and Daveed Diggs. Lost and Found Sound with The Kitchen Sisters. Since 2006 as the ongoing Creative Director and Teaching Artist for The World As It Could Be Human Rights Education Program (TWAICB) I co-created curriculum and a series of successful initiatives employing the creative arts to deepen learning about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and its principles. My perspective is an ongoing desire to engage creatively and collaboratively, to make works that connect us across disciplines, cultures, class, and break through our fears by challenging our learned beliefs. I have collaborated with and directed the works of KITKA, Gamelan Sekar Jaya, Eisa Davis, Youth Speaks, Holly Hughes, Word for Word, Center for Digital Story Telling, Fauxnique, Magic Theater, Lorraine Hansberry Theater, The Kitchen Sisters, Bill Talen, Anne Galjour, Felonious with One Ring Zero, Robert Karimi and George Coates Performance Works."Between 2013-2017, she was the co-owner and events planner for the award-winning West Oakland restaurant FuseBOX, with co-owner and Chef Sunhui Chang.She is currently serving as Resident Owner and Board Member for East Bay Permanent Real Estate Cooperative/Advisor for Esther's Orbit Room Project/Artist Housing.She is a recipient of awards and grants from Creative Capital, MAP Fund, A Blade of Grass Fellowship in Social Engagement, Art Matters, Kenneth Rainin Foundation, NEA, MAP Fund, Creative Work Fund, California Arts Council, Sam Mazza Foundation and Zellerbach Family Community Arts Fund.Diversity and Social/Human Justice Work through the Arts with Ellen Sebastian ChangFishing Lessons, a digital storytelling project in collaboration with StoryCenter MUSIC:So Far So Close by Jahzzar is licensed under a Attribution-ShareAlike License.
Friends, why is art important? An uptick in vandalism against famous pieces of art, calling to mind outbreaks of iconoclasm throughout history, has raised questions about art's value and purpose. On today's “Word on Fire Show,” I discuss with Brandon Vogt why art matters. A listener asks, is God's true nature love or truth? What's the interplay between those two? Links The Great Story of Israel: Election, Freedom, Holiness by Bishop Robert Barron NOTE: Do you like this podcast? Become a patron and get some great perks for helping, like free books, bonus content, and more. Word on Fire is a non-profit ministry that depends on the support of our listeners…like you! So be part of this mission, and join us today!
Being in the art and culture industry for more than 30 years, Izan Satrina Mohd Sallehuddin, Senior Director of Partnerships & Creative Sector of Think City Sdn Bhd shares her journey of going the extra mile to advocate and empower the art and culture community. She is also the former founding CEO of Cendana, short for Cultural Economy Development Agency. Image Credit: Think City Facebook Page
Join host Liv Charette as she talks all things web3 and NFTs with co-founder of the Bulls and Apes Project, Anthony Mongiello. Follow the Bulls and Apes Project: // Twitter: https://twitter.com/BullsApesProj // Discord: https://discord.com/invite/bullsandapesproject // Website: https://www.bullsandapesproject.com/ // Follow Liv on IG: www.instagram.com/livcharette // Follow Liv on TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@livcharetteofficial // Follow Liv on Twitter: www.twitter.com/livcharette // Pre-save "Space From You": https://livcharette.lnk.to/SPY --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/shesonthelist/message
Susan Sherrill Axelrod is a writer and editor whose work has appeared in numerous magazines and newspapers. A former restaurant owner, she is now the Editor-in-chief for Culture (“the ultimate publication for those who love cheese”). Her love of culture goes beyond the culinary: she has an undergraduate degree in French and Italian literature, and has traveled all over the world. Now a Maine resident with a strong connection to the Boothbay region, she shares her talents with the Portland Art Gallery community via “Art Matters,” a weekly web and email column featuring interviews with our artists. Learn more about Susan Sherrill Axelrod on this week's episode of Radio Maine.
What defines art? What makes one an artist? What does art teach us—and why does it matter?To help us make sense of a world elusive to many, today I convene with the singular Heidi Zuckerman.A woman I've known for over 30 years, Heidi has devoted her entire professional career to understanding art, the people who make art, and why we should care.Heidi currently serves as CEO and Director of the Orange County Museum of Art, where she is overseeing construction of a spectacular new building designed by legendary architect Thom Mayne of Morphosis, scheduled to open in October 2022.In addition, she hosts Conversations About Art (a podcast on which I was privileged to be a guest) and is the author of the Conversations with Artists book series.This is a conversation about art.In addition to tracking Heidi's career arc, we discuss what defines art, what makes for great art, why we should care about art, and why artists matter.We discuss the barriers to accessing art. How art can and should be democratized. And the role of art and artists in this era of offense and content overload.On a personal level, this one is very meaningful given my long history with Heidi.I really enjoyed this conversation—I hope you learn as much as I did.Watch: YouTube.Read: Show notesToday's Sponsors:Outerknown: High-quality, sustainably produced, and great-looking men's and women's clothes. Go to outerknown.com and enter my code ROLL at checkout to get 25% off your full-price order.Squarespace: The easiest way to create a beautiful website, blog, or online store for you and your ideas. Visit Squarespace.com/RichRoll for a FREE trial, and when you're ready to launch, use the offer code RichRoll to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.LMNT: A science-backed electrolyte drink mix with everything you need and nothing you don't. Right now LMNT is offering my listeners a free sample pack with any purchase—that's 8 single serving packets FREE with any LMNT order. Try it out at drinkLMNT.com/RICHROLLLevels: Making continuous glucose monitoring mainstream for the first time ever. Learn more about your metabolic health with personalized insights & biometric data. Learn more at levels.link/RICHROLLAthletic Greens: 75 whole food sourced ingredients designed to optimize 5 key areas of health. Go to: athleticgreens.com/richroll to get a FREE year supply of Vitamin D AND 5 free travel packs of AG1 with your first purchase.Peace + Plants,Rich See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
What convictions that you have? How do you want to live your life and how you want to—if you consider yourself a creator, craft your art. It's a tender thing to have the courage of your conviction and to know when to be buck convention in order to give birth to something truly novel. For me, I love rules. Mainly to learn the rules of whatever genre I'm studying so that I can break them and attempt something new. In today's episode, Nastassja talks to us about her journey to becoming a fiber artist. She'll share with us how her art helps her to understand Black girlhood in the US. Nastassja's work will surprise and delight you. Mostly her approach to her work, may give you new perspectives in your own life. Nastassja Swift is sculptural fiber artist redefining her use of portraiture through wool to create work that speaks to spirituality, history and place in relation to the body. Nastassja was recently invited to Penland School of Craft's Winter Residency as a Distinguished Fellow. She is the recipient of a 2022 -23 VMFA Fellowship, the 2021 Dr. Doris Derby Award, the Art Matters 2021 Artist2Artist Award, the Black Box Press Foundation 2021 Art as Activism Grant, and the 2020 Virginia Commission of the Arts Fellowship. Her work has been acquired into the Grace Linton Battle Memorial Fund for the Arts Collection, as well as Quirk Hotel in Charlottesville. Nastassja Swift is currently living and working in Virginia. Get to know more about Nastassja: Keep up with your host Martine Severin https://martineseverin.com/ Follow This Is How We Create on IG. https://www.instagram.com/thisishowwecreate_/ This is How We Create and edited and produced by Martine Severin and edited by Ray Abercrombie
BUZZ's Inside the Hive: Marketing Tips That Give Nonprofits More Buzz
It can be challenging enough for someone to create an artistic experience. It's something else entirely to secure the marketing and funding support to get the art in the public eye.In today's show, BUZZ creator Michael Hemphill visits the Taubman Museum to learn about its "Healing Ceiling Tiles" project, which will be featured in an upcoming episode of BUZZ on PBS. And he attends the Roanoke Arts Commission's announcement of the first ever ART MATTERS award recipients, which provide $3,000 grants to the following public art initiatives:Charlie Brouwer | The Benediction ProjectBrian Counihan | Daisy Chain World Art ParadeBryan Hancock | National Youth Poet Laureate Program Toya Jones | Back to Black Art ShowHeather Marshall | Youth Art Workshops /Oliver Hill Justice Center Waiting Room ArtJane Gabrielle McCadden | The Singing Tree ProjectKathryn Schnabel | Artist Workshops for Sustained EngagementKatie Trozzo & Joy Truskowski | Singing CirclesJohn Woodrum | I Heart Southeast Sculpture Project Lynsey Wyatt | Queer Your Aerial Arts and Activism Project Are you a nonprofit with an event that we could help promote? Or a marketing problem we could help fix? Contact us and we'll share on an upcoming episode.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - FOLLOW US:F A C E B O O K ➜ http://facebook.com/buzz4goodI N S T A G R A M ➜ http://instagram.com/buzz4goodL I N K E D I N ➜ https://www.linkedin.com/company/buzz...T W I T T E R ➜ http://twitter.com/buzz4goodW E B S I T E ➜ http://buzz4good.com- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The United States has more than 1.5 million nonprofits — from homeless shelters, food banks and rescue squads to children's choirs, science museums and animal refuges — that employ one out of every 10 Americans. Like any company, nonprofits have salaries and bills to pay, a budget to balance. They require money. And if enough people don't know about them, don't believe
Today I give a great big thank you to all of you content creators out there! Your art matters! In addition to giving another auditioning tip, I also share ideas on how to pull yourself out of anxiety when it starts to feel crippling. There is power in, “What If”. I close today's episode with some more words of inspiration from, Fearlessly Different. Enjoy!!!
This is the last episode in our Your Art Matters week bonus series. Twice a year we bring artists together from around the world to bring you inspiration, fun and amazing free resources. *Please note our competition has now closed. In the episode, I talk about how art has taken me on this journey and almost brought me back to the beginning. I also tell you how you can enter our competition and win some prizes. Enjoy!
Welcome to our 50th episode! It's a special one as we are in the middle of our Your Art Matters week. Twice a year we bring artists together from around the world to bring you inspiration, fun and amazing free resources. *Please note our competition has now closed. In this episode, I talk about my journey with art and where it began. Enjoy!
Join us as we celebrate our annual Your Art Matters event. Twice a year we bring artists together from around the world to bring you inspiration, fun and amazing free resources. *Please note our competition has now closed. In this episode, I share with you my journey through art school and how it has led me to where I am today.
The creative force behind the globally acclaimed Pacific Standard time: Art in L.A. 1945-1980 and of the upcoming 2024 PST Series, Getty Foundation Director Joan Weinstein's passion for the visual arts, art history, philanthropy, conservation and preservation is unmatched. Join us as we delve into how “art matters in our understanding of one another and in preserving the cultural heritage of mankind.”
A silly little assignment one mom gave her kids during the pandemic has spurred a movement, that's the story in your Good News today!
Karla Diaz was born in Los Angeles, CA. She received an MFA from the California Institute of the Arts in 2003 and a BA from California State University Los Angeles in 1999. Her works have been exhibited nationally and internationally at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA; LAXART, Hollywood, CA; Pitzer College, Claremont, CA; California State University Los Angeles, CA; San Jose Museum of Art, CA; Institute for Contemporary Art, Boston, MA; Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL; Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, MI; the Serpentine Gallery, London, U.K.; and Museo Case de Cervantes, Madrid, Spain.She has been the recipient of numerous grants and awards from Art Matters, New York, NY; Tiffany Foundation, New York, NY; City of Los Angeles, CA; Riverside Art Museum, CA; and CalArts, Los Angeles, CA. Karla Diaz lives and works in Los Angeles, CA.
In a world of turmoil, art matters more than ever. At least, that's what today's guest believes. As the Founder of Matter Studio Gallery, ceramic artist and master carpenter Karla Funderburk realized her longstanding vision for an exhibition space where artists from Southern California can share their work and their voices. As much an art gallery as a vital community hub that celebrates inclusiveness through artistic expression, Matter Studio Gallery fills an essential need in the ever-evolving city of Los Angeles. Joining us today, Karla shares the story behind the name of the gallery and how she hopes to make a difference, one visitor at a time. We discuss the sometimes unseen impact of art, finding a balance between making art and making a living, and the power that art has to shine a light on injustice and connect people rather than divide them. You'll also learn about the Memorial Crane Project, a nonprofit organization that Karla created to commemorate the victims of COVID-19, and how it holds space for the memorials many people were unable to have, plus so much more. After listening to this episode, we hope that you will not only be inspired to pursue your own creative visions but also see art as a way to raise awareness, create empathy, and foster collective healing. Tune in today to find out why art matters! For more info, please visit: https://notrealart.com/karla-funderburk
061 How to make a living doing what you love with Michelle Lloyd | Your Art MattersYour art matters and it's possible to make a living doing what you love! This week Michelle Lloyd, founder of United ArtSpace joins UNLOCKED for a conversation on why Your Art Matters, how to unlock our potential and help us all to make a living doing what you love. Following a challenging childhood, and being diagnosed with ADHD & Dyslexia, Michelle entered adulthood crippled with anxiety and depression. She went from job to job and always felt dissatisfied, worthless and unhappy. But eventually, she finally discovered the answers to why her brain felt totally inadequate and what she needed to do. I adored being in a creative environment, and finally decided to take a sabbatical from work and become a full time art student. I spent 6 years exploring art and my voice, which also served as great therapy. After graduating and applying for every job going and getting nowhere, she decided to open her own art studio and a place where artists came together to create art. United Artspace was born. United Artspace has since grown into a 4,500+ community of art lovers from around the world and she helps people answer the question, how to make a living doing what you love. In this episode, we UNLOCK... How to UNLOCK your full potential How to remove the barriers to fear and what holds you back from living the life you deserve Why your art matters and how you can make a living doing what you love "I have worked with thousands of artists who said they were scared to put their work into the world. They were scared to call themselves an artist. They were terrified to sell and put a price on their work. Fast forward to today, these once terrified artists are now confidently making and selling work they are proud of."Find out more about the amazing work at United Art Space https://www.unitedartspace.org/ (here ) https://www.unitedartspace.org/ Connect with Michelle https://www.linkedin.com/in/shellelloyd/ (here) https://www.linkedin.com/in/shellelloyd/ Listen to Michelle's podcast Your Art Matters https://www.unitedartspace.org/your-art-matters-podcast/ (here) https://www.unitedartspace.org/your-art-matters-podcast/ Patreon thanks! Shout out to the amazing Patron supporters for keeping this podcast going; thank you Ant Howe, Cheri Brenton, Steve McDermott & Rory Barnes! You are all amazing! Come Join the UNLOCKED community where you can receive... Early access to episodes Patron shout outs and recognition at the end of every episode Exclusive backstage content and bonus episodes Ask me anything - have your questions answered online Shape the future of the podcast with your requests. Live hangouts every month supporting each other to UNLOCK success (Optional - become a sponsor of the show!) Exclusive giveaways and HUGE Discounts off my online courses and so much more... To be a Patron and support the podcast just head to this https://www.patreon.com/theunlockedpodcast (link) or head to https://www.patreon.com/theunlockedpodcast I can't wait for you to be a part of this journey! Free Resources https://mailchi.mp/0d35be4cdc01/8hyymfp0m6 (FREE Ebook 10 SIMPLE STEPS TO SELL WITH CONFIDENCE ) https://mailchi.mp/fecf67ff6878/10-tips-to-improve-your-productivity (FREE Ebook 10 tips to improve your productivity) Free Workbook : https://drive.google.com/file/d/18hahQ2osX2InxaPGkhJ9gd0MgjeQEMIr/view?usp=sharing (Understanding Your Values) FREE EBOOK : Ihttps://www.rickylocke.co.uk/ebook (mprove your confidence and create awesome videos with a smartphone) Follow me on https://www.instagram.com/rickylockemagic/?hl=en (Instagram) & https://www.facebook.com/RickyLockeMagic (Facebook) at: https://www.instagram.com/rickylockemagic/?hl=en (@rickylockemagic) For more about me and what I do, https://www.rickylocke.co.uk/ (check out my website) PODCAST MERCHANDISE!!! It's...
BC and Anton discuss LEGOS, the Black Artist and Designers Guild, and a few of the artists they expect to be in the Wakanda National Art Museum.
That urge or compulsion to document, to capture, to witness, to share, because some thing or moment touches you so deeply, is at the core of being human. This is what separates us from other creatures and living things on the earth. Art separates us. Art is the vehicle we use to capture moments like these. Art is created when a moment, an experience, a sunset, a landscape, a person, overwhelms your senses and compels you to capture the feeling, the emotion, the connection to other humans, in whatever your medium is—words, paint, music, theater, film, pictures, poetry, voice. This is Why Art Matters.Visit www.kellybargabos.com to listen to all past episodes and/or connect with Kelly.
We have the power to stand for what matters to us and others. But sometimes, it's easy to stay quiet and not say anything even when we ought to. Everybody's convictions are different, but you've got to stick with yours. Your voice matters, and standing for what's important to you is being your authentic self. In this episode, we are joined by Chester Gregory, an award-winning Broadway veteran and artist. Chester has made numerous television appearances and his Broadway show credits include Motown, Dreamgirls, Tarzan, Shrek, Cry baby, and Sister Act. Chester has also created his own One Man Show, and he has recently been spotted opening the Tony Awards. During the episode, Chester shares his journey and experience as an artist to provide you with life lessons and tools that make your world a better place. During this episode, you will learn about; [00:17] Chester's career backstory [02:14] How Chester got on the Tony Awards [03:48] The story behind “Black Art Matters” writing on Chester's jacket [06:47] Advocating for self and sticking with your conviction [11:39] Chester's journey in the art and support that positioned him to success [15:39] What makes Chester feel seen in his career [17:13] About Chester's hair and Miss Jessie's hair product [21:49] Why Chester prefers wigs while performing [23:39] Chester's perspective on facial hair [25:49] How Chester dealt with haircuts during show tours [27:56] About Chester's Tik-Tok videos [32:41] What Chester is grateful for and what he's looking forward to [33:36] How to reach out and connect with Chester Notable quotes “Be authentic to yourself and stand with what's important to you.” “Your voice matters, stick by your convictions.” “People understand the intention behind what you're doing.” Connect with Chester Gregory Website: https://www.chestergregory.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chestergregory/ Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/ChesterGregory Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This week I'm exploring the cult of swimming in revolutionary China, with Ferren Gipson: art historian, writer, presenter, and a doctoral researcher in Chinese art at SOAS, University of London. Ferren is the host of the Art Matters podcast, and the author of The Ultimate Art Museum, with a forthcoming title for Quarto Publishing on the way.Tune in as we discuss the function of rivers and seas in Chinese propaganda poster art, Mao's cult of swimming and the dawn of the Cultural Revolution, and how the humble dressing gown became an unlikely heroic garment. We also consider how Chinese revolutionary realist art differed from Soviet socialist realism, the stories behind some of the most well known French swimming paintings (or swimming-adjacent paintings), and the pictures from art history you definitely would NOT want to swim in.You can follow Ferren on Twitter and Instagram. The art history course mentioned in this week's show was Art and Revolutionary China, taught by Ferren for Black Blossoms School of Art and Culture - I'd recommend checking out all their courses.You can follow me @AmberButchart, #MakingASplashPod to find out more about future guests and episodes, and find some of the images discussed in this episode.*Please be aware that cold water swimming can be dangerous. Read and follow the advice at the Outdoor Swimming Society if you are new to it* Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
We all know music has power. It can change our mood, remind us of favorite memories, even take our hearts and souls to a soaring new place with its beauty. A few notes can leave us beaming with pride for the world's greatest athletes or instantly convinced terrifying sharks are nearby. Our guest, Travis Branam, decided to harness the power of music into a Vocal Coalition, empowering Colorado youth to conquer hate by leading a musical revolution for Love. Join us for a powerful conversation and don't forget to swing by www.vocalcoalition.org too.
Welcome to the Kindred Podcast! This week's Do Good focus is on art and why it matters. Join us for our conversation with artist Jaime Arlene. She's a studio fine artist who works in many different mediums, though she is perhaps best known for her watercolor work. In this episode, we discuss how art is everywhere and in everything, a bit about our own careers, how art changes the world around us, and how art is a crucial part of today's culture. To learn more about Jaime and to view her beautiful art, visit www.jaimearlene.com.
Director of The Dixon Gallery & Gardens talks about the Dixon's collection, its new education center, how the Dixon connects with the city – and its neighborhood.
Welcome back! This week, I sat down with Bonnie (who also featured in episode 1) and we discussed our favourite female friendships in books. From Matilda and Miss Honey to Anne Shirley and Diana Barry, female friendships in books are so important and wonderful, and we loved recording this episode for you. Let us know your favourite female friendships in books! Join me next week for a discussion on Watch Us Rise by Renée Watson and Ellen Hagan! Visit the corresponding blog post here to access a full transcription of this episode! Books mentioned (in order of their mentioning) Art Matters by Neil Gaiman, illustrations by Chris Riddell Watch Us Rise by Renée Watson and Ellen Hagan Matilda by Roald Dahl Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson Emma by Jane Austen Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark The Women In Black by Madeleine St John Rik and Milly's podcast: Yonks Ago My Instagram and Goodreads The Community Library's Instagram and Goodreads Cover artwork is by Ashley Ronning Ashley's Instagram, website, and printing studio website
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