POPULARITY
I had David Griffin on today and he's a unique individual in so many ways, not only as an artist but as a person as well. I'm fortunate to be able to represent David's work. I'm also fortunate to have gotten the time to talk to him and understand the path he took to get where he is today.His story starts in Lubbock, Texas, which is not an area known for its art production of artists, and coming from a family where father was actually a very sophisticated entrepreneur who came from nothing. You can imagine if you're a young person growing up in Lubbock and your dad runs and develops truck stops, that they may not understand the creative juices that someone has. David just didn't give up what was obviously his path, his road from being a illustrator to an artist, to really capturing some major awards at museum shows.I love podcasts that just kind of go at their own pace, and this was one of those. It took two hours basically. So it's a part one / part two, and it took that long because that's where the story went from understanding his process to really making a major discovery of who he is as an artist and as someone who hears music in his colors in a way that I don't think he was even aware of.So it was fascinating as somebody who's doing an interview and I think it was a great experience for him as well. So this is a wonderful discussion that we had, and I hope you take the time to listen and also go to YouTube and just see the paintings we talk about.
The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast still has a podcast. Get new episodes the moment they're live by subscribing to the email newsletter:WhoJohn Kelly, CEO of Taos Ski Valley, New MexicoRecorded onNovember 13, 2025About Taos Ski ValleyClick here for a mountain stats overviewOwned by: Louis Bacon (since December 2013)Located in: Taos Ski Valley, New MexicoYear founded: 1955Pass affiliations:* Ikon Pass – 7 days, no blackouts* Ikon Base Pass – 5 days, holiday blackouts* Ikon Session Pass – 1-4 days, holiday blackouts* Mountain Collective – 2 days, no blackouts* Ski New Mexico True Pass – 2 days, holiday blackoutsBase elevation: 9,350 feetSummit elevation: 12,450 feet lift-served, 12,481 hike-toVertical drop: 3,100 feet lift-served, 3,131 hike-to.Skiable acres: 1,294 (some hike-to)Average annual snowfall: 300 inches claimed on website; calculated 36-year average using data sourced from Taos' 2010 master development plan, Ski New Mexico tallies, and media reports is 233 inches. The 10-year average falls to 166 inches. Here's the year-by-year breakdown:Trail count: 110 (24% beginner, 25% intermediate, 51% expert)Lift count: 13 (1 pulse gondola, 2 high-speed quads, 2 fixed-grip quads, 4 triples, 1 double, 3 carpets)Why I interviewed himLet's start with a superficially troubling number: Taos' long, steady decline in average annual skier visits:That doesn't look so good, especially when laid alongside the long-term increase in national skier visits:Taos not only declined in the context of national skier visits, but also among its peers. In winter 1983-84, Taos drew more skiers (241,000) than Telluride (132,460), Big Sky (136,000), Jackson Hole (177,000), Whitefish (I'm lacking an estimate for that winter, but the ski area then known as “Big Mountain” logged 209,000 skiers in 1980-81 and 170,581 in 1985-86). Taos (dark blue line below), continued to out-duel this group through about the mid-90s before falling off a cliff:So what happened? 1995 Taos, a freeride mecca before freeride was cool, should have been perfectly suited to flourish in a cultural moment when skiers began demanding more interesting terrain than the groomed superhighways that had become the industry's default setting. Sure, Taos was remote and a bit harder to access than, say, Keystone or Park City, but so were Jackson and Whitefish and Big Sky and Telluride. A partial explanation: Taos stopped modernizing. After replacing the Lift 2 double with a fixed-grip quad in 1994, Taos didn't install another new chairlift for 19 years. The first detachable didn't arrive until 2018. The resort banned snowboards until 2008. Meanwhile, Big Sky laced a tram to the summit of Lone Peak in 1995 and started pushing detachable quads up the mountain; the first high-speed quads arrived at Telluride in 1986 and Whitefish in 1989.It's not a perfect narrative – while Jackson Hole rolled out its short Sublette detach in the mid-90s, the mountain didn't install an upper-mountain high-speed chairlift until Casper in 2012. Skier visits went up and up and up all that time, probably due in large part to aggressive improvements at the Jackson Hole airport.Maybe, though, it's as simple as this: banger snow years descended upon Taos – and New Mexico in general – from the late ‘80s through mid-‘90s. It's little surprise that attendance ups-and-downs largely mirror snowfall patterns:But, as the corresponding trendlines show, Taos' skier visits have not declined at the same rate as the mountain's average annual snowfall. And while Jackson's long-term average snowfall has remained relatively constant, attendance has crept steadily upward. Attendance spiked at both mountains when the 2018-19 season brought both plentiful snow and the introduction of the Ikon Pass:Unfortunately, Taos stopped reporting skier visits after the Covid-shortened 2019-20 season, so we have less concrete insight into whether the mountain's recent investments in a reconfigured beginner area and a second detachable on the backside have insulated it from two historically poor snow years. This is why it's nice to have basic visitation data, and why I'm pushing the ski industry to again publicize annual attendance for ski areas occupying public lands (since going live with a chart of 2,406 years of skier visit data for 97 ski areas with 10 or more years of attendance available, I'm up to 2,822 years across 108 ski areas, and I have a total of 3,802 years of data across 184 active U.S. ski areas for which I could find at least one year of attendance).We do know this: Taos doesn't want to return to the world of 300,000-plus skier visits. Somewhere between 250,000 and 275,000 is the “right number for the experience we want Taos to have,” Kelly tells us on the pod. Meaning: fewer skiers spread via a modern lift network is a better business than 364,000 skiers funneling onto double chairs. This flips the busiest-equals-best narrative that made skier-visit counts a 20th-century bragging point. I've heard the same logic articulated by the leaders of Killington, Waterville Valley, and other ski areas that have created a better business even with fewer skiers on their mountains. Jackson Hole, too, halted its relentless upward surge – that 2020-21 dip was deliberate, as the mountain exited Ikon Base and implemented a reservation system.This approach makes sense to me. With U.S. skier visits surging (until this year) and an Ikon or Epic pass in every pocket, no one wants to brag about being busy anymore. Space is the new volume. Social media can still transform one bad liftline into an eternal meme, but at least most skiers on the ground will have a better day most of the time than they probably would have 30 years ago.What doesn't make sense to me is why, in a less-is-more era, ski area operators have suddenly decided that skier visits should be guarded like Fort Knox. If fewer skiers is a good thing and a stated goal, why hide the numbers? The resorts ought to just say “Hey we've deliberately reduced our annual skier count from 300,000 to 250,000 [or whatever] to create a better mountain for you.” Instead, this secrecy around volume just looks cagey - if national skier visit numbers are up, then why should skiers just believe ski areas when they say “trust us, it's better now,” and offer no data to support it? Perception is reality, and today's skiing zeitgeist, as channeled by social media, tells us that American skiers perceive busier mountains today than they did a decade ago.But I'm getting off track. Since Louis Bacon bought Taos in 2013, he's funded an almost-complete renovation of what had become America's most decrepit destination ski resort. I don't think any mountain operating on U.S. Forest Service lands has more completely remade itself in the past decade (rapidly changing Big Sky, Deer Valley, and Powder Mountain operate on private property). Glimmering new but reset to 1970s volume, Taos is beautifully positioned to tap a skiing public that's burned-out on Colorado and Utah crowds but accustomed to modern lifts and snowmaking.What we talked aboutTaos as a family ski mountain; last winter's Chair 7 upgrade and custom terminals; owner Louis Bacon's mission to “improve everything without changing a thing”; why Taos changed from Skytrac to parent company Leitner-Poma for its newer lifts; Taos' great base-area reorganization; the story behind the Free Tacos run; a green run from the top of every lift other than the fierce Kachina triple; Taos' massive evolution since 2015; whether the mountain is committed to long-term independence; the founding Blake family's legacy and presence at Taos today; executing rapid development on Forest Service land; [VIDEO BONUS: Cat photobombing]; running Taos with the context of having worked at also-independent Telluride; becoming a skier growing up in Nashville, Tennessee; Telluride's evolution from semi-affordable to gigantic housing puzzle; employee housing at Taos; the logic behind the proposed base-to-base gondola and navigating local opposition; thoughts on the evolution of lifts 2 and 8; preserving parts of the hike-to ski experience; Taos' evolution after the Kachina Peak lift; lift 7A; the Minnesotas glades from the masterplan; avalanche mitigation; old-school boot-packing; parking lot evolutions; an ideal annual skier visit number and why that number is below historic highs; and getting to Taos.What I got wrong* When we discuss the wood-paneled terminals on Taos' new Lift 7, I ask if they're thematically related to the “wood RFID gates.” This is a reference to an earlier conversation that I cut, about Taos finally installing RFID for the 2025-26 ski season (the gates carry a wood theme). * I said that the trees skier's left of the Pioneer chair were not a named run, but they in fact are, and “Free Tacos” has a pretty awesome story behind it.* I accidentally asked Kelly to, “lay out the housing landscape for Telluride” but meant to say “Taos.” I didn't catch this in real time, but Kelly – who spent several years at Telluride before moving to Taos in 2015 – caught it and course-corrected.Questions I wished I'd askedTaos' 2010 USFS masterplan proposed a 7,045-foot-long, 2,363-vertical-foot detach quad that would have run parallel to Lift 1 to the top of Lift 2:We did, however, discuss the proposed 545-vertical-foot, 991-foot-long Ridge Lift off of Lift 8, and why Taos nixed that machine from its latest MDP:Why you should (or shouldn't) ski TaosTaos, like Jackson Hole or Snowbird or Palisades Tahoe, has a toughguy reputation. The place ripples with hike-to chutes and glades. To calm visitors shocked by the vertical bump run rocketing skyward beneath Chair 1, Taos to erected this base-area sign decades ago:The sign refers to the infamous Al's Run, which typically ripples with moguls, but was closed on my last visit, in March 2025 (Lift 1 was open):Taos certainly has plenty of nasty. The terrain ripping off the Kachina Peak triple is among the steepest inbounds terrain I'm aware of in America. But what shocked me about the place was how approachable it was for my then-8-year-old son, a solid but very intermediate skier. Every chair other than Kachina offers a top-to-bottom green – and some mostly mellow blues – making Taos one of the better family mountains in America.A lot of the solid-black terrain sits above the lifts, and requires a short, easy hike. If you've ever humped up Catherine's at Alta or Spanky's Ladder on Blackcomb, the ascent off of Lift 2 over to Highline Ridge or West Basin Ridge isn't much longer, and it flattens out considerably after the short incline. Unlike East Wall at A-Basin or Highlands Bowl at Aspen Highlands, this is hike-up terrain that's approachable for people who (like me), live at sea level and only like going up the mountain on machines. The runs are steep, and solo missions are discouraged, but the easy-in and proximity to lifts means a strong skier could reasonably expect to tuck a half-dozen hike-up laps into an afternoon. Here I am huffing and puffing right off Chair 2:Dang those trees are steep even right off the jump. Crunch crunch crunch:Go up a bit higher, and things get Lord of The Rings pretty fast:Taos' only real buyer-beware statistic is its insane base elevation of 9,350 feet, which makes everything, especially sleep, a bit more challenging. That altitude is actually a bit lower than the bases at Copper (9,712) or Breck (9,600). I start to have trouble functioning around 8,000 feet, which is the Vail (8,120), Snowmass (8,110), Snowbird (7,760), and Mammoth (7,953) range. So maybe see how you do at one of those burners before leveling up above 9,000 feet. Or at least arrive knowing that Taos will try punching you in the face. Hydrate and lay off the beer bongs for a day or two. You'll be fine.Podcast NotesOn Stadeli liftsWe've got 16 of these guys left across 10 U.S. ski areas, including Lift 7A at Taos:On the character of old chairliftsI wrote last year that U.S. ski lifts' overall design aesthetic has deteriorated with the decline in number of manufacturers and a tacit emphasis on technology over beauty.And I love old Riblets and Halls and Yans, but sentimentalism that locks skiing in a time capsule ultimately stalls long-term growth and invites disaster-by-disintegration. Rather than fight to live in a museum, I've adopted a quest mentality to ride as many of these dinosaurs as I can before they go extinct:On Taos' base-area fliparoundOn Taos' current masterplanHere's the conceptual overview of Taos' 2021 U.S. Forest Service master development plan:The major unrealized part of this is the base-to-base gondola - here's the most recent plan for that lift:On “class A avalanche mountains” with more than 200 slidepathsKelly mentioned that Taos' more than 200 slidepaths earn it the designation of a Class A avalanche mountain. I of course went looking for a list of U.S. ski areas so classified, and of course did not find one. In a rare exercise in self-restraint, however, I also did not create one. A quick Google search suggests that that such a list would include Alta, Kirkwood, and Stevens Pass alongside Taos. I would also assume that Alpine Meadows, Palisades, Mammoth, Snowbird, Big Sky, Silverton, and Crested Butte are among the most avy prone. That is not a complete list or an attempt at one so please don't write that I “forgot about” some particularly avalanche-prone mountain that I'm not trying very hard to remember.On The Storm's first Taos podcastThe Storm explores the world of lift-served skiing year-round. Join us. Get full access to The Storm Skiing Journal and Podcast at www.stormskiing.com/subscribe
I had the good fortune to go and interview the Grand Canyon Superintendent, Ed Keable, and at the time, I was also allowed to do a tour of the Kolb House. This is a very special place and the story is amazing. It really is a story made for a movie. In fact, I'm surprised it hasn't been mad into one yet because it tells the story of these brothers that came to Arizona in 1901 and 1902, and they set up this photography studio, right on the edge of the Grand Canyon on the South Rim. It's still there, and we were given access to the property and to get to see and view how they lived in their house from 1904 until Emory dies in 1976. Inside is the photography room, the areas where they would have parties, and some of the most amazing views you've ever seen of the Grand Canyon. Part of the house is open as a museum, but part of it isn't. And we're going to show you the part that isn't. That's what's special about this and why I wanted to make it into a podcast. This is one of those that I highly recommend watching on YouTube.It's a pretty compelling story, and I think it's one of those places that you may never get to visit in person. Hopefully this tour via my podcast/video will give you a sense of what it's like and what it would have been like at the turn of the century in Arizona.
This is the kind of podcast I enjoy making the most. It's one of those in the perfect location that's just off the cuff. You see, I went to artist Shonto Begay's studio in Flagstaff. We were picking up some paintings, and it was just a great opportunity to spend some time with him talking about his work, his studio, and things that affect his life. It was actually a very moving interview, and I think you'll feel the same. Artist studios are sacred places. Shonto's studio is no different and in some ways even more sacred than usual. He shared a couple of extremely personal pieces that are in his studio. Paintings that not only show how he sees the world, but how he views the healing process. So it's a great video to watch. I know it's a podcast, but if you have the chance, watch it on YouTube. Not only is it a treat to be teleported inside an important artist's studio, but it's so real and in the moment.At one point he even goes, "oh no, I gotta go put some money in the meter!" We just run down to the street to put money in the parking meter while we were filming because that's what he has to do every day where his studio is. He had been at the studio all day getting his paintings ready for me. I felt so bad I was even prepared to pay his parking ticket. So this is a very interesting and beautiful podcast with Shonto Begay.
I had a very interesting conversation with Ed Keable, who's Superintendent of Grand Canyon National Park. The setting was unbelievable. We literally sat at the Kolb House overlooking the Grand Canyon. Ed was so fascinating though that I could really only focus on his story, and so the canyon just kind of melted away.He's has a very unique position with an immense amount of responsibility. He had a somewhat unexpected journey to get to be Superintendent because his training was as a lawyer. He worked for the Department of Interior for 23 years before becoming the Superintendent.He took the job at the beginning of Covid, so he was dealing with big problems from the very beginning. We talk about that, as well as other issues he faced such as the recent Dragon Bravo fire that swept across the North Rim and the ecological trouble facing the Colorado River. In fact, Ed is responsible for 277 miles of the river that passes through the Grand Canyon. He's on three different committees related to the Colorado River. Yet with all of these troubles he's facing, he clearly loves his job, and is clearly very good at it. It is the kind of profession that requires you to do a lot.I was enthralled for an hour listening to Superintendent Keeble, who is a very sharp, interesting human. I must say, I feel very lucky that we have someone of this quality in charge of such an important place, the Grand Canyon.
I had Wendie Martin on my podcast today, and she's co-owner of International Artist Publishing along with Adolfo Castillo. That's the media group responsible for magazines such as Western Art Collector, Native American Art, American Art Collector, American Fine Art Magazine, and International Artist. So she's got her hands full. We talked about her magazines, sure, but we mostly spoke about the process of how she got where is she is today. When i do these podcasts I want to know how people became what they became and their journey. Wendie's journey is a very interesting one.Her father was a car racer and somebody who was a specialist in fixing and rebuilding motors and we learn about how that affected her trajectory. She's still involved the automotive world and at one point became an auctioneer that specialized in auctioning classic cars. Wendie is just this very interesting person who's quite important in the world of Western & Native arts because of her magazines and their influence. She gets it. She loves collectors, she loves what she does, and this passion comes across in this podcast. That's why I do these things. To try and learn and to understand somebody like Wendie Martin. Someone who is really interested in, not only artists, not only collectors, but the entire business of art. That's a big component of what this podcast is all about. So enjoyed it a lot. This is Wendie Martin on episode 395 of the Art Dealer Diaries Podcast.
Sometimes you do podcasts not only because you're interested in the person, but you're also interested in just history, right? In this case, it's the history of Skip Andrews, his own personal journey as an artist, as well as his relationship with the iconic Arizona artist, Ed Mell.Skip and Ed were friends in high school and ended up working together in New York City in the late 60's and early 70's. They started a company together called Sagebrush Studios and did some really great work together. I got to hear stories about Ed and Skip and their antics and see artwork that I would have never guessed was done by Ed Mell.We see plenty of work by Skip as well who is a highly regarded illustrator, designer and airbrush artist. He did magazine covers for National Lampoon and Arizona Highways, worked on ad campaigns for Coca-Cola and Dickies, and showed us many other incredible works of commercial art.So this is probably the kind of video that is best taken in through YouTube, because you can see the images that we're talking about, and there's just something about seeing Skip's face as we discuss one of his closest and dearest friends. I found to be very interesting. I learned a lot. I had a great time. We filmed this in Ed's studio, which was a just a treat to be able to to do that, feel the energy of Ed and all the great paintings he had done alongside one of his best friends. This is Skip Andrews on episode 394 of the Art Dealer Diaries Podcast.
I love a podcast that's a little different. Today, Shonto Begay showed up with four new paintings and they're all terrific. One of them however was incredibly important because it explores Shonto's experience at an Indian school and how that affected him. I mean, he's 72 years old and this is something that still affects him to this day and I completely understand why. You see, he's able to make that world different in his own mind through the catharsis of painting. In this painting I'm referring to, he explores that and lets the viewer see it how they want to see it, but the story of the painting is there for everyone. If you go to the YouTube version of the podcast you'll be able to actually see the painting we're talking about.So we talk about the four paintings he brings in for about half of the podcast, and then we move over to the Maynard Dixon and Native American Art Museum where we talk about a couple of his other paintings that are a part of the exhibition "Native Voices: 75 Years of Creativity."One is called "Helpless," which is a monumentally important painting and a marker for Shonto's art career. It was done in 1996, and I've owned it for at least 15 years. It happens to be a very important painting in my life as well.Shonto is somebody that I respect and appreciate very much. You can hear the passion, the wisdom, and the energy that he breathes into the world as he speaks. He's just a remarkable individual, not only as a painter, but as just a human being. I'm grateful that I get to show his work and to call him my friend.This is Shonto Begay on episode 391 of the Art Dealer Diaries Podcast.
Today's podcast was a panel that I was a part of alongside artists Kim Wiggins, Martin Grelle, and my son, Charles Sublette, moderated by Tim Newton. We talk about Western art, the future of art in general, how the world perceives what we happen to specialize in.With the artists on the panel, we had two different but equally qualified individuals. There was Martin Grelle being on the traditional side and Kim Wiggins who is more of a modernist. They talk about how they see things in their world, from their perspectives as creatives.Then on the other end of the spectrum you have myself and my son, Charles. I was invited to the panel because of my 35 years of experience as an art dealer specializing in Western art, having worked with museums like the Briscoe on many occasions. Charles on the other hand, sees things in a different light because he's much younger and in tune with a completely different audience. So it's a good mix of how we see the world of Western art and where it's heading. It was fun to do and it lasted about an hour. We had some good Q&A afterwards. You can watch us on YouTube if you want to see how we just kind of talk and interact, which I think is always interesting.I'm typically surprised when I go and do one of these things, because you just don't know what's going to come up, or how others see what you see differently. That being said, Tim Newton did a lovely job of moderating all the different aspects and voices and it was a great time.So hope you enjoy this panel at the Briscoe Western Art Museum on Art Dealer Diaries Podcast episode 390.
This podcast is a very interesting podcast, because we get to talk to Curt Walters about his retrospective exhibition "Curt Walters: Resilience" at Western Spirit: Scottsdale Museum of the West. We walk through the exhibit and hear about his life as he speaks on his magnificent landscape paintings. Curt was born in 1950 and he lived in Farmington, NM and this is where his artistic journey really begins. It was so interesting to do this walk-and-talk with Curt through the museum. To be able to see and speak with him and understand what he's done in life in front of some of his most monumental works of art.I hope people come to see the show Western Spirit and I also hope you watch this on YouTube so you can really get the sense of what we were talking about. It's great as an audio-only experience, but there's something about actually seeing the paintings when he's describing them that is just wonderful.Anyhow, I'm glad to have had the chance to record this and I hope you enjoy. This is master Grand Canyon painter Curt Walters on Art Dealer Diaries Podcast episode 388.
On this episode of the Build Your Success podcast, host Brian Brogen welcomes Rob Sublette Vice President of Mountain Man Welding, a family-owned Denver welding and fabrication company founded in 1992 that transitioned from oil and gas into water infrastructure and has welded much of Colorado's major welded-steel water pipelines over the past 34 years. Rob shares his path from welder helper to project engineer, operations manager, and VP in 2024, and discusses buying out the business as his mom serves as president. He defines leadership as being people-first, accessible, and willing to work alongside crews. Rob outlines opportunities for young people in fabrication, emphasizing starting at the bottom, gaining real field experience, and being patient about pay and progression. He highlights 2026 challenges including tariffs affecting material lead times and the ongoing labor and training gap, and advises newcomers to stay humble, invest in themselves, and avoid job hopping. Guest Social: Rob Sublette |LinkedInGuestWebsite: https://mountainmanwelding.comHost Email:brianb@buildcs.netHost LinkedIn: Brian Brogen,PMP
If you didn't get to come to our Thomas Blackshear opening and hear this lecture, well, you're in luck, because we recorded it and it was really a wonderful event. Basically, it was Thomas Blackshear and myself talking about the show "Neon Cowboy Posse, The Ten Most Wanted Plus One," and how the whole series began. Questions like, "what was the impetus to do it?" We talk about the characters that Thomas came up with, and how I wrote the short story styled after a pulp fiction magazine to accompany the show.It's a very interesting lecture and i'm glad Thomas was so open to talking at my gallery. I really loved the fact that I got to be part of the creative process for the show. It's a rarity for art dealers. We usually get to come up maybe with an idea or the way we set things up, but to be actually part of the creative process was a real joy.As an added bonus, at the beginning of the talk folk recording artist Eli Blackshear (Thomas's son) sang two songs for us. We included that in the podcast as well and are so glad to get to share his talent with our audience.And so that's what this is all about. I hope you enjoy Thomas Blackshear, Eli Blackshear and myself on Art Dealer Diaries Podcast episode 387.
When you get to go to an artist's studio, it's literally a sacred place. That's just the best way I can describe it, because it's where creativity begins and ends and inspiration is found there, too. In this case, it was Thomas Blackshear II and his studio. To be able to see the things that made his career. Seeing the relics that he's held on to in addition to the WIP early stages of the show that is going to open here at Medicine Man Gallery on March 13, 2026. That second part was the main reason I was there. The show is called "Neon Cowboy Posse: The Ten Most Wanted Plus One" and I wanted to go to his studio to see how it was going. It's something we've been working on for almost two years and you get to see those early images of the pieces before they were completely finished.This studio tour was done like six months ago. You also see his props, his library and an insight into other sides of his life, which are the figurines that he's very well known for. I'd recommend watching this on YouTube, because I think it'll have so much more impact to be able to visualize everything we discuss.So this was a very special podcast because I'm in that inner sanctum and you get to be as well. This is Thomas Blackshear II on Art Dealer Diaries Podcast episode 386.See the show online:https://www.medicinemangallery.com/collections/march-6-2026
I had Jeremy Winborg on and what a wonderful person he is. I really enjoyed our talk. You know, he's just a classic artist in the sense that everything he's done in his life has been related to creating and making art.It might be a genetic thing. His father, Larry C. Winborga, is a well-known illustrator and fine artists and his daughter Swede Winborg is an up-and-comer on the Western Art scene. We had this discussion about how all of that affected his journey and how hard he still has to work on this journey. I mean, he really didn't hit his stride until he's in his late 30s and he's 46 now. So it's not one of these things where you you feel like, oh, he's just an overnight success. But was he actually? The answer is no. Being an artist is a very difficult journey. Jeremy typifies that journey and we talk about that. So he's just a lovely guy. Jeremy Winborg on Art Dealer Diaries Podcast episode 385.
This episode of the podcast is a recording of the lecture that Billy Schenck gave to collectors and friends at the Maynard Dixon and Native American Art Museum in early February 2026. The lecture centered around Schenck's prints and the many types of works he's reproduced over the past 55 years. Billy also discusses his iconic career, going into depth about his contemporaries and how he has been influenced by the ever changing cast of artists in his life. The lecture serves as the end point in a trilogy of podcasts filmed over the last 3 years. These three episodes of the podcast revolved his hugely successful 55-Year Retrospective exhibit and sale that opened at Medicine Man Gallery in Tucson, AZ on February 6th, 2026.Billy Schenck is a pioneer in the pop-western art movement and we are extremely grateful to have hosted such an important show. His work is on display in dozens of museums across the country, and will someday be housed in his own museum near Santa Fe, New Mexico. This lecture was not only educational, but very entertaining and I'm glad we were able to record it. This is Billy Schenck on Art Dealer Diaries Podcast episode 384.
I had artistic polymath Joel Oppenheimer on the podcast today who has recently retired from being an art dealer. He was the former president of Oppenheimer Gallery in Chicago, IL with his son David officially taking over last year. It's a wonderful gallery. There are many different components to Oppenheimer Gallery. One of them is art conservation, which is how I've gotten to know Joel over the years. Hands down the best paper conservator I've ever had the pleasure of working with. They also have a renowned art printing component. They make and sell prints of the works of ornithological artist J.J. Audubon. In fact, much like how I am known for my expertise on the artist Maynard Dixon, Joel is most likely the world's leading expert on Audubon and his prints. He's done a couple of different books on Audubon that showcase his knowledge as well as his commitment to achieving the highest quality reproductions possible.Anyhow, it was a long podcast, we talked for almost two hours, but it was very, very interesting. His life is definitely unique and he's a very wise individual.He's also an artist. Joel basically started as fine artist and navigated through the art world from expertise to expertise, and now with retirement, he's going back to his original love, painting and pastels. So this was very unique story of a very successful art dealer and I had a great time. This is Joel Oppenheimer part two.
I had artistic polymath Joel Oppenheimer on the podcast today who has recently retired from being an art dealer. He was the former president of Oppenheimer Gallery in Chicago, IL with his son David officially taking over last year. It's a wonderful gallery. There are many different components to Oppenheimer Gallery. One of them is art conservation, which is how I've gotten to know Joel over the years. Hands down the best paper conservator I've ever had the pleasure of working with. They also have a renowned art printing component. They make and sell prints of the works of ornithological artist J.J. Audubon. In fact, much like how I am known for my expertise on the artist Maynard Dixon, Joel is most likely the world's leading expert on Audubon and his prints. He's done a couple of different books on Audubon that showcase his knowledge as well as his commitment to achieving the highest quality reproductions possible.Anyhow, it was a long podcast, we talked for almost two hours, but it was very, very interesting. His life is definitely unique and he's a very wise individual.He's also an artist. Joel basically started as fine artist and navigated through the art world from expertise to expertise, and now with retirement, he's going back to his original love, painting and pastels. So this was very unique story of a very successful art dealer and I had a great time. This is Joel Oppenheimer part one.
So Billy Schenck and I have been working on a two year project. It's a retrospective, a 55-year retrospective, and we did a catalog. This podcast was filmed a year ago at Billy's studio where we talked about this project at length.Now, you get to actually see what we've been working on. To put all this effort in and to get to see them all together is exceptionally gratifying. I'm sure it's gratifying for Bill because this is a big deal, but it's a big deal for me too. On top of all of his important works that make up the museum show, Billy has has been putting away new works for two years for this show. Large format photographic prints that have never been shown before, as well as some of his caption pieces and a beautiful group of his landscapes.It was quite interesting to try to set this up because we're looking at his life's work (his serigraphs and foundational paintings) in combination with the result of a life of working on art (his newest body of work). The museum show has a good portion of his serigraphs paired with his early paintings. Trying to figure out that balance from a curatorial standpoint was an interesting experience.If you're listening to the podcast, go to YouTube, go check out the show, not only the gallery show, but the museum show. We have included a preview of the show in this version of episode 377 of the Art Dealer Diaries Podcast. So this podcast that you're listening to is the culmination of all the work that we did over the last two years to get to this point. It was an exercise in storytelling, telling the Billy Schenck story, and I think we've done a beautiful job of it.
I had a podcast today with Erika Victor, who's this just unique individual who I had originally met at the Far West show in Austin, Texas. I had followed her on her Instagram because I liked her work. I just thought it was very unique. It has a sensibility that's different from most other people, and that's what I'm looking for in an artist. Erika came by my gallery in Tucson to record this episode and I had no idea that by the end of the podcast I'd be showing her work. I truly didn't expect to have that happen. After seeing her work in person, getting to speak to her for an extended period of time, all of that really solidified my idea that this is a person that has what it takes to succeed as an artist and is committed to her craft. She's from Kansas, and she got her degree in photography, but nowadays she teaches art in Zuni, New Mexico. Not everybody can make the transition to a place like Zuni. It's beautiful, I love the place and the people, but it's very isolated. Erika moved there for her job, but picked Zuni specifically over a handful of other options because of the landscape (something she absolutely loves to paint). She loves painting people too and her paintings of Native American people exhibit a contemporary approach to a classic western art theme.Anyhow, I enjoyed this podcast a great deal and I hope you like this podcast as much as I did. This is our newest represented artist as of January 2026, Erika Victor.View available works by Erika Victor here: https://www.medicinemangallery.com/collections/victor-erika
I had a wonderful podcast today with Sean Michael Chavez. If you are anywhere in the Western art world in 2026, you will have heard his name and more than likely seen his artwork. Chavez really exploded onto the scene over the last eight years, but like everything good in this world, it took a long time to get there. It definitely didn't happen overnight, though sometimes it might seem that way. Sean will be the first to tell you that he's a 30 year overnight success. We talk about his journey of growing up in New Mexico and how he found his path in the arts through graphic design, evolving into a traditional artist after many lived experiences. To him, it was clear he was an artist from the get-go.Teasing out these little moments and stories from his life that show how he got to where he is today was a great experience for me. It's a real joy for me to listen to somebody and to be able to follow that journey in real time. I think this was a beautiful interview. I enjoyed it and I think you will enjoy it as well. This is Sean Michael Chavez on episode 380 of the Art Dealer Diaries Podcast.
Got to meet with Len Chmiel today. He's one of my favorite artists. He's just incredibly gifted and I've always been a huge fan of his work. We were at the Coors Art show in Denver and we found a little hidden conference room, and we sat down and talked. In fact, at the end of the the show that we were doing, the music was playing and it was kind of beautiful.Len is just such a creative individual. There's people that you meet in this world who think very deeply about their craft. From the smallest details of lighting to the canvas and how he finds the inspiration. We talk about inspiration, the things that make you want to make a painting in the first place. Len and I agree, you can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it every day as a true artist, which he does.After the interview was over he said, "oh yeah, I lived in this place in Redondo for two years. I just kind of boarded up the windows and lived on a couch and did my artwork. That's just how I had to do it and just live there." He as barely making a living but for him it was just part of the road he was on. It was part of his journey. You know, the journey of an artist is one that is filled with struggle. That being said, there are great rewards if you can do it. Len has and I highly encourage you to go follow him on Facebook and see what he's done.If you're at any of the shows that he exhibits at, make sure you go and see his work. He's terrifically important and this was very fun and enlightening to speak with him. This is Len Chmiel on the Art Dealer Diaries Podcast episode 379.
In this episode of Fresh Tracks Weekly, we discuss a renewed threat to Wyoming's famous mule deer migration. New oil and gas leases on BLM land are near critical winter ranges and migration corridors for the Sublette mule deer and pronghorn herds. We discuss how the Rock Springs Resource Management Plan is being bypassed and why "energy independence" is no longer a valid excuse for poor conservation. We also cover several headlines from the week, including 2026 federal budget cuts, the reopening of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, and the controversial "flooded corn" baiting debate in waterfowl hunting. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
What a wonderful podcast I had with Marilou Schultz. She is a master weaver and a math teacher who grew up in Leupp, Arizona on the Navajo Nation.She has been teaching her entire life and is justs now going into weaving full-time. There's good reason for that too. You see, Marilou's weavings are very in demand. She has a waitlist that includes the Basel and MoMA collections. What she has done is interpreted various computer chips through the lens of a traditional Diné weaver. It's just an amazing story. She got a commissioned by Intel to do a rendition of the Pentium chip in 1994. She's a fourth generation Navajo Weaver and she uses her background in mathematics to create these incredible textiles. I was fortunate enough to get one of these ordered a year ago, and she brought it to me today. I got to see it for the first time during this podcast and you can see my eyes light up as she unravels this masterpiece.I highly recommend that you watch this on YouTube because you will be able to see her interact with the textile, as well see her tell her story, which is quite remarkable. This is one of my favorite podcasts that I've done. I hope you enjoy it. This is master Diné weaver, Marilou Schultz on the Art Dealer Diaries Podcast.
This podcast is really a "part two" podcast in the sense that Billy Schenck and I have been working over two years on his 55-Year Retrospective show. We released a podcast that was recorded a year before this one, where we were discussing the planning process and that conversation continues in this episode as we approach the opening reception.It takes a lot of time and energy to pull off a show of this magnitude. The show opens February 6, 2026 and it was very interesting to attack it in this way, knowing we're in the process of making history. What we're talking about and how it's going to be looked at by future by historians, stuff like that.We filmed this at Billy's house which is a really beautiful place. It is filled with all the things that creatives need to be inspired. You see, his entire house will ultimately become a museum (It's part of his nonprofit organization) so we're kind of living through real history. It's amazing.I fully expect that this podcast will be played in the museum sometime in the future, as a point of reference of this moment in time when he had this monumental retrospective featuring so much work.Anyways, it was a wonderful interview. Even if you can't make the retrospective, you can listen to this podcast and get a feel for the important contribution that Billy Schenck has made to the art world.There's a book that we did on the this show as well, which is available on our website if you want to take the show home with you. I hope you enjoy. This is Pop Western art icon Billy Schenck on the Art Dealer Diaries Podcast.
One of the things I love about doing this podcast is that I get a variety of people that come through my life. In this case it's Bill Healey, who I've known probably 25 plus years. His role, his part of the art ecosystem is different than many of the other people I've had on, and that is of a collector. He's a true collector who has this unique history, which I went into and I found very, interesting. How he went from economics, to commercial development, to then retiring and devoting his life to art. First Western art, Russells, Remingtons, etc., followed by an epiphany when he was at the Heard Museum, seeing images of the Native American boarding schools. I remember that exhibit very well. I have one of these images in my own collection hanging in my own office. I look at it all the time just to help keep me grounded. Well, that image really set him off on a new odyssey to understand Native art and history in a different way. He then sold off the majority of this Western material, and focused on collecting Indigenous American art. Bill has built this huge collection, part of which he donated to the Saint Louis Art Museum. They did a beautiful book on the collection and he's going to continue to give away pieces that he's collected to museum institutions to help tell the story of indigenous artists ranging from 1920 to today. It's a fun ride of through his life and over 60 years of collecting. I think it's a real gift that Bill shared it with us.
You know, one of the great things about going to an artist's studio is you get an inside look at how they make art, how they create, how they see their world. With Maeve's work in her studio, you really get a glimpse of that process. If you ever get the opportunity to go to an artist's studio, take it for sure, because it allows you to feel that what they feel, how they get to where they get artistically. Maeve's studio is quite remarkable. The way that she has things set up, and how she visually transfers things from paper to the acrylic that she works on. It's just so complex and impressive to see in person.So I highly recommend this podcast if you can watch it on YouTube, just because you'll get to live inside the studio for 40 or so minutes. It's brings it all to life. How she creates, how her world comes to be. For me, that's a real gift.
With so many of these individuals I interview, art is really the only thing they see themselves doing in life. Oil painter Raj Chaudhuri on the other hand was a very successful software engineer before committing to art. He could have gone that route and been hugely successful, especially considering the timeframe he was doing it. But no, he HAD to be an artist.You see, Raj has been drawing since he was a little boy. He'd even won contests in school and at his university when he wasn't even an art major. He grew up in, India, and we get to talk about that whole component of his life. Eventually he moves to the United States from India and goes to Ole Miss to become an economist of all things. He was actually working on a PhD when he finally said "I've got to do what I love." Thankfully he did because he's an excellent artist. We met in Denver during for an event put on by the Coors Western Art Show, a special kind of summer preview with lectures, all getting ready for their January exhibition. They have some lovely art, and it's really just a fun time. One of the highlights for me was speaking with Raj. One thing led to another and next thing you know Raj was on a flight to Tucson to see my gallery and record this podcast.What makes an excellent podcast to me is when I come away learning things and getting a new sense of what it means to be an artist. This was very easy in talking to someone like Raj. It was very insightful and fun. So I hope you enjoy this podcast as much as I did.
I had the great pleasure of going to Ezra Tucker's studio and doing a podcast with him. It's so interesting to go in these sacred places that artists create, and it changes your perspective. To just feel the intimacy and the importance of these spaces... It really can't be overemphasized. What happens in these areas of creation, and how somebody like Ezra spent the time, the thought, the energy, and the money to make it a place that really works for him. I think a great takeaway from any artist that's listening to this is that your space is important. Don't underestimate the importance of having a place that you can create and feel comfortable doing so. For Ezra, this truly is a space that he's developed, much like a piece of art.It's a real gift to me to be able to go in and for him to share something like this, because it is such an intimate thing. So I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. This is Ezra Tucker's studio on the Art Dealer Diaries Podcast episode 373.
The best kind of podcasts sometimes are the ones that you weren't planning, and that's the one I had today with Ernie Lister. He is a silversmith and is an incredible master of his craft. There's no doubt about that.I've known about Ernie for a very long time. I've talked to him, but only at Santa Fe during Indian market. Things move very fast at that event and you can't really have this sort of conversation. So he came into the gallery today and I said, hey, how about a podcast? And he goes, sure, I'd be happy to. And it's a very interesting podcast. You get the sense of what it means to take your art form seriously, which he does. For him, It comes from a different place. A place of heritage. If you really want to understand what it means to be a master Diné silversmith, then look no further. I mean, this is a guy who shows his work around the world. He has a huge following in Japan.This podcast was to me a really a gift from the gods to be able to spend time with this man and hear about what he does and how he does it. So I hope you enjoy it as much as I had fun doing it.
Today on the show, a woman's experience after ICE detained her husband. Wyoming has submitted some novel ideas to try to get a slice of 50 billion in federal dollars to transform healthcare. We hear more details. And what happened during the arraignment of the man who brought a wolf into a bar. Those stories and more.
I had Steve Weil on the podcast today. It was a really a fun, interesting interview because it wasn't done in the studio. It was actually done at Rockmount Ranch Wear Headquarters in Denver. I highly encourage you go to this store (and bring your wallet) because there's some really great things inside. I definitely walked away with a few Western and Hawaiian shirts.You see, Steve is the third generation owner of this company. That's a really, really rare thing these days. His brand has been a staple in the realm of Western fashion for 80 years. His grandfather started it 1946 and he was the first guy to do a "snap" western shirt. Not to mention that everyone has worn this brand. Elvis, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Robert Plant, and more. I found it all absolutely fascinating. I knew the store was there, and I had been in it before, but to actually get to hear the man himself speak about how it all came to be was awesome. We get a behind the scene tour of the building, the museum area showing the history of these shirts and his family, and even a look at the garage where he keeps his vintage automobile collection.It a very interesting podcast and I hope you can take the time to watch it. If you find yourself in Denver do yourself a favor and visit Steve's store. I think you'll find it just as cool as I did.
I love spontaneous podcasts. That's what happened today with Randy Barton. He's a Diné (Navajo) artist and is just a very interesting man and a very unique and important artistic voice. He has a great story. He moves from the reservation to Winslow, AZ and gets into hip hop culture and graffiti at a very young age. He runs with this, and it becomes the story of his life. Randy lays it all out in our conversation.This is one of those that you should watch on YouTube. Granted, this is an ART podcast, so they're all better with added visuals, but also because he's just such an animated individual. It's fun to be in his presence. He has a magnetism that you just can't put into words, but you know it when you feel it.I got to watch Randy do a live painting this summer and it was amazing to see. He's just so multi-dimensional in his creativity, from traditional art, to graphic design, to fashion, to dance, to music, to filmmaking. It was a really fun, interesting, and overall dynamic podcast that just happened out of thin air. After speaking with him for an hour or so, I like to think that's how Randy's life is. Things are naturally spontaneous for him and he's the type of person that - when he feels something, he just does it. So anyway, I had a great time, and I think you will too. This is Randy Barton on Art Dealer Diaries Podcast episode 370.
Our city's 1830 Chophouse is celebrating five years in business. Shawn Sublette and Brady Martin join us to recap the journey. What began during downtown renovation is now a downtown Lebanon destination! What does the future hold...and how can you get your tastebuds around some of the Chophouse's famous bread pudding. The answer lies in Episode 235 of the #LovinLebanon Podcast! 1830 Chophouse Website: https://1830chophouse.com/ Scotch 4 Dummies YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1ZL5bS6kkNVdxcnGf8NVLg
I had the very dynamic Knox Kronenberg on today. He's a fine art photographer and he's got a really interesting story. He's pushing the envelope and he's only 27, but it feels like he's 40. Knox has really found his niche. We're talking about major endeavors. It's like doing directing a movie. I mean, he can spend up to $70,000 on a single shot. He has a clear vision, especially for as young as he is. It's really interesting to see how utterly and completely focused a guy like Knox can be. He sees who he is and what he wants to forge his legacy. I think when you're that driven at that age you're going to be successful.Looking at some of the shots that he shared with me, it's just beautiful, amazing work. He's a classic artist in that he lives to create. He is a storyteller who also happens to be a fine artist with a camera. So yeah, I like Knox. He's a very nice, animated, gifted individual. I genuinely think he's one of those that you'll look back at this podcast and go, oh, yeah, that was an important guy and he was young when he did that. That's how it felt for me at least and I'm glad I get to be a part of that history.Anyhow, this is storyteller Knox Kronenberg on Art Dealer Diaries Podcast episode 369. I hope you enjoy.
Today's podcast is a little different because it's a panel that was done at the Coors Western Art Show Collectors Roundup in September 2025. They have a show that's in January 2026 and this is kind of a preview get together with collectors, artists, and other key figures in the Western art world. This particular event was a panel that was part of the programming for this preview event. The panel featured Kevin Doyle, the Director of the Jackson Hole Art Auction, Josh Warren, who's the Associate Publisher of Western Art & Architecture Magazine and myself. Joshua Rose was the moderator and asked us questions about Western Art and what to expect in the future of the genre. I think it's a fun and interesting discussion and there were some things that came out and you go "yeah, I agree with that," and other stuff where you're saying "maybe I don't agree with that." Regardless, it was a fun and unique conversation and I thought you might enjoy it as an episode of the podcast.
My favorite podcasts are the ones where I get to go to the person's studio and/or house, sit in their environment, and talk to them. It gives me such a deeper understanding of that person and where their creative juices come from.I got to do that with renown sculptor Star York. We've been working on a 50 year retrospective, and this was part of that project. We recorded this interview in August in preparation for her Retrospective show here in Tucson on October 24th. It's a two part podcast. The first part is us sitting and talking on her front porch and part two is the two of us going into her studio and doing a deep dive on what she does, how she does it, and why she does it. Part one and part two are very different types of podcasts. One is more from the personal background standpoint. The other one, really more of what's happening today. Anyhow, this is Star York part two on the Art Dealer Diaries Podcast. I hope you enjoy.
My favorite podcasts are the ones where I get to go to the person's studio and/or house, sit in their environment, and talk to them. It gives me such a deeper understanding of that person and where their creative juices come from.I got to do that with renown sculptor Star York. We've been working on a 50 year retrospective, and this was part of that project. We recorded this interview in August in preparation for her Retrospective show here in Tucson on October 24th. It's a two part podcast. The first part is us sitting and talking on her front porch and part two is the two of us going into her studio and doing a deep dive on what she does, how she does it, and why she does it. Part one and part two are very different types of podcasts. One is more from the personal background standpoint. The other one, really more of what's happening today. This is Star York part one on the Art Dealer Diaries Podcast. I hope you enjoy.
I had Jeremy Lipking on today and he is such a wonderful artist. I've always been a fan of his work. You know, it's not a far stretch to compare him to somebody like John Singer Sergeant or Joaquín Sorolla. He has this strong sense for posing figures, highlighting their emotions and body language. The way he sees these images in his head and then is somehow able to translate them to the viewer is quite remarkable.In early September 2025 our schedules lined up and I finally had the opportunity to record a podcast with him. We had been talking about doing this for quite a few years, but I wanted to do it in person as opposed to recording over Zoom. We actually got together during the Far West Show here in Austin and recorded on the balcony of my hotel room with the beautiful backdrop of the Austin skyline in the background. Like all these podcasts, I came away with something unique. In this case, it was the essence of who this individual is and his humbleness, quite frankly. I found out something unique that I had never even considered. You see, Jeremy is a quarter Native American, and it's not something that he's really spent time talking about or exploring so much. So for me, that was quite interesting, to say the least, to hear about that component of his life. That's the thing. You have to take your time when interviewing people so you can hear their story in full. Jeremy was very generous and let everybody get to hear about his world. So I had a great time with this really important artist. He's got a retrospective that's going to come up in April 2026 at the Booth Museum that you don't want to miss. This is Jeremy Lipking on Art Dealer Diaries Podcast episode 365.
I had a great interview with Starr Hardridge and he's just an incredible artist. He's Muskogee (Creek) and is known for his pointillism paintings that he does primarily of Native imagery. He also does some abstract artwork, which I really like as well.It's a very unique style and takes an insane amount of time to do it. We even talk about how he does it, which usually I get more into the story of the person rather than the process. His style is just so unique and it's worth listening or watching this deep dive into it to find out how he does it.He has this incredible journey like so many artists that I've interviewed. It is not an easy path to get to the promised land, and I do believe Starr is at that point. In fact, I ended up winning a draw to buy a piece of his art from the Eiteljorg because I really wanted one for my collection. I had a great time talking to Starr. We did this at the Eiteljorg Museum and we got a room setup and just podcasted. I learned a lot about him and that's the great thing about this podcast, and not just for me, but other people that get to hear this, you get to get this inside view of the individual.So this is Starr Hardridge on Art Dealer Diaries Podcast episode 364.
Doing podcasts can be such a joy and it was with Jordan Sprigg. This is the beauty of social media and the internet. My son and I found images of Jordan's sculptures online and we both gravitated to the man's work. It's just so interesting. He uses found material to build these beautiful sculptures of wildlife. Fish, ibex, rhinoceroses horses, etc.He seemed like a really creative and genuine person on his Instagram account so we reached out to him in Australia to do the podcast. He lives over by in Perth (Or at least not too far from Perth) and he said, sure, I'll do a podcast with you.You can feel the joy in this man's work. I recommend watching it on YouTube, just because you can see the smiles and the wonderment of how he became the artist that he is today.He was a kid that drew and played with Legos, but he went to university for psychology and that's where he thought he was going end up. You see, he's a fourth generation farmer, in Australia. Then one day he art world finally opened up to him when he visited a sculpture exhibit on a beach in Australia.He was able to show his work through Instagram, and his account blew up to over a million followers. So and we talk about that, what is that like to have so many followers and how he deals with all of the attention. Jordan even had one video that had over 50 million views. So I had to ask him what's it like to go viral, you know? You might be surprised about his thoughts on something like that. I know I was.That's what this whole podcast is about. Identifying those unique voices in the world. In this case, it's an artist who creates because he must create. So I hope you enjoy. This is Art Dealer Diaries Podcast episode 363 featuring Jordan Sprigg.
Barry Walsh, who's a specialist in Hopi Kachina, did a lovely presentation talking about different types of the kachinas and, as he refers to them, as katsinam. It was uniquely interesting because he's got, you know, decades of research and understanding of the kachinas themselves and has close ties to the Hopi. He says in his lectures, he's not a expert. That 'an expert' could only be one of the Hopi carvers. That being said, Walsh has interviewed countless Hopi kachina artists and scribed numerous books on the topic.This is a good podcast to watch on YouTube because we use all his slides from his presentation. If you ever wanted to really get a good sense about kachinas, the different types, and where it all began, this is a very good lecture.
Today on the show, the man who allegedly ran down a wolf on a snowmobile last year has been indicted. We get updated on the case. The number of rural hospitals delivering babies is dwindling. So midwives are stepping up to help low-risk women. And, towns and cities in the state have made over 12 million dollars so far this year from historic horse racing machines. Those stories and more.
Santa Fe Indian Market is such an interesting event and should be on every art lover's bucket list. This is the 103rd market and it's always the third week in August. They have a big ceremony to kick the weekend off and it's when they judge all the different art that comes in from all the artists.Medicine Man Gallery and the Sublette Family Foundation for the Arts provide the funds for the Best of Show award, so we get to attend this exclusive event. I wanted you to be able to experience the event and if you watch it on YouTube, you can actually see the artist win and the pieces that won them the awards. For these artists, winning can be such a life changing event. The winners have their name called up as the best of their respective classification, whether it's pottery, jewelry, weaving etc. then they allow the judges to decide who is the best of all. Santa Fe Indian Market Best of Show is an extremely rare accolade to have as an artist. This year is no different than any other. I am soooo happy I was not a judge. It would have been very difficult to determine who was the best of the best. I was a surprised when they announced the winner and was somebody who was participating in Santa Fe Indian Market for the very first time. To be honest, it was a remarkable piece that won and there's no question it was among some of the toughest competition in years.It's so much fun to hear and to see the artists and their families and how they react to winning. The joy you can see on their faces is second to none and well deserved. So I hope you enjoy this podcast. This is the Best of Show award ceremony for the 2025 SWAIA Santa Fe Indian Market.
Billy Schenck's 55 Year Retrospective will open February 6, 2026 at Medicine Gallery, and over a year ago, I came out to Billy's studio to talk to him about what we're planning to do. It's been a year since then, and with the show coming up next year, that makes it a two year project. So you get to see Billy's studio (if you're watching on YouTube) and be able to hear the thought process behind what's required to do such a comprehensive show.I mean, it's going to be his life's work, from his serigraphs to his older paintings to new paintings as well. We'll be using the entire gallery, as well as the Maynard Dixon & Native American Art Museum for this exhibition. This podcast will give you a taste of what's coming and the explain the basic requirements for an artist and a dealer to pull off a show of this magnitude.There's a lot of moving parts, two years worth, for that matter, and there's a companion art book that Billy put together and I had the privilege to write the introduction for itSo I hope that you enjoy the podcast, but I also hope that you put into your databases the February 6th, 2026 date for this show. It's going to be important and it's going to be a party. There's going to be a lot of work there spanning the entire career of the legend, Billy Schenck.
I had Daniel Gerhartz on today. What a pleasant, lovely human being that he is. I've always been a fan of his work. It's emotionally driven. For me, when I see it, I feel things.This is a man who has taken his work seriously since really junior high and started showing when he was 25 years old. In fact this year was his 35th Prix de West. He's 60 now and he's had quite the journey.I think for artists, especially the end of the the part of the podcast is very helpful. Dan gives some really helpful tips and shares his perspective on on the art world. This information is really helpful if you're a young artist, trying to break into the business, and trying to be that person who maybe follows in the same footsteps as Dan.This was a really enjoyable conversation and it's really why I do these podcasts. Getting to spend an hour with somebody who's a remarkable artist that you respect and really get to talk about what makes them tick. For me, it was a gift and I'm grateful. This is Daniel Gerhartz on episode 359 of the Art Dealer Diaries Podcast.You can see work by Daniel on his website:www.danielgerhartz.com
I had Marc Sternberg on today, and it was a very interesting podcast, a little different than what I normally do. Marc contacted me, wanting to interview me for the documentary he's working on titled "Cowgirls: The Women of Western Art."Marc had seen a show that was about cowgirl art at Western Spirit: Scottsdale's Museum of the West, and he was wondering why an exhibit focusing on women was separated from everything else. He just didn't understand why it had to be an entirely separate exhibit. That experience led him down this rabbit hole of women in Western art and he jumped in head first as any inquisitive creative person does when they get that nugget of information that really makes them invested in something new. Marc goes "Well, I think maybe I should do a documentary on it." So he's working on this film now and he's interviewing some of the top women in the Western art space.Like I said, it's a little different because he wanted to interview me and I wanted to interview him. So we just kind of interviewed each other. You get this great talk about the film and what he's doing and what he's hoping to accomplish. Then I flip it on it's side and let him interview me on questions that he has that are pertinent to his documentary.So it's an interesting podcast that covers a lot of ground. Not only cowgirl art, but women artists in general. But I had a great time, very fun and, you know, I think if you are interested in this dialog, you will find it fascinating.Watch the trailer for "Cowgirls: The Women of Western Art" here:https://vimeo.com/1100188514
I recently visited the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum for the 2025 Prix de West Invitational Art Exhibition & Sale. They have this event every year in June and it's a wonderful gathering of some of the very finest Western and Native American Artists. It's basically all sculpture and paintings, and you have very traditional art, but you also have very contemporary art as well.I interviewed five different individuals for the podcast while I was there. They were all very gracious to give me their time to talk about their paintings and what they're currently doing. So it's a little less in-depth on the journey, but much more heavy on the process, which I like. It's interesting for me because that's usually not my thing as much as trying to figure out why individuals create art the way they do.So there's, a group of these podcasts and I'm going to have them come out once a week. This is the final episode in the series and it features a true master of contemporary portraiture, Scott Burdick.
I recently visited the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum for the 2025 Prix de West Invitational Art Exhibition & Sale. They have this event every year in June and it's a wonderful gathering of some of the very finest Western and Native American Artists. It's basically all sculpture and paintings, and you have very traditional art, but you also have very contemporary art as well.I interviewed five different individuals for the podcast while I was there. They were all very gracious to give me their time to talk about their paintings and what they're currently doing. So it's a little less in-depth on the journey, but much more heavy on the process, which I like. It's interesting for me because that's usually not my thing as much as trying to figure out why individuals create art the way they do.So there's, a group of these podcasts and I'm going to have them come out once a week. This episode features Montana-based landscape painter, Josh Elliott.
I recently visited the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum for the 2025 Prix de West Invitational Art Exhibition & Sale. They have this event every year in June and it's a wonderful gathering of some of the very finest Western and Native American Artists. It's basically all sculpture and paintings, and you have very traditional art, but you also have very contemporary art as well.I interviewed five different individuals for the podcast while I was there. They were all very gracious to give me their time to talk about their paintings and what they're currently doing. So it's a little less in-depth on the journey, but much more heavy on the process, which I like. It's interesting for me because that's usually not my thing as much as trying to figure out why individuals create art the way they do.So there's, a group of these podcasts and I'm going to have them come out once a week. This episode features legendary cowboy artist, Howard Post.
I recently visited the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum for the 2025 Prix de West Invitational Art Exhibition & Sale. They have this event every year in June and it's a wonderful gathering of some of the very finest Western and Native American Artists. It's basically all sculpture and paintings, and you have very traditional art, but you also have very contemporary art as well.I interviewed five different individuals for the podcast while I was there. They were all very gracious to give me their time to talk about their paintings and what they're currently doing. So it's a little less in-depth on the journey, but much more heavy on the process, which I like. It's interesting for me because that's usually not my thing as much as trying to figure out why individuals create art the way they do.So there's, a group of these podcasts and I'm going to have them come out once a week. The first episode in the series features Eric Bowman and Brett Allen Johnson. I hope you enjoy.