Podcasts about wadsworth atheneum

A bill restricting cell phones in schools advances in Connecticut. Governor Hochul proposes some new changes to New York's criminal justice system. A yearly animal ritual in New England is not quite the same as it once was. Plus, a look at a new exhibit at Hartford's Wadsworth Atheneum.

Piper hosts the second Plaidcast LIVE! in front of a live studio audience at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, CT with guest Tik Maynard, who is a trainer, clinician, author and international-level rider. Brought to you by Taylor, Harris Insurance Services.Host: Piper Klemm, publisher of The Plaid HorseGuest: Tik Maynard is a trainer, clinician, and international-level rider who has combined his love of eventing with natural horsemanship. He and his wife, Sinead, who is a 5* eventer and member of the U.S. Equestrian Team, run Copperline Farm in Citra, Florida. Tik grew up riding in the show jumping ring and eventually became interested in the Modern Pentathlon, spending six years on the Canadian National Team. He competed in the Pan American Games, in three World Championships, and at 11 World Cups before focusing his competitive sights on eventing. He was long-listed for the Canadian eventing team for the 2012 London Olympics. Tik teaches clinics in the United States, Canada, England, and Scotland. He is a regular guest on podcasts, and the author of In The Middle Are The Horsemen.Title Sponsor: Taylor, Harris Insurance ServicesSubscribe To: The Plaid Horse Magazinewww.BrookeUSAevents.org

Piper hosts the first ever Plaidcast LIVE! in front of a live studio audience at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, CT with guests The Humble Hoof Podcast host Alicia Harlov, Olympic Gold medalist Peter Wylde and lifelong champions for our sport and community Fran and Joe Dotoli. Brought to you by Taylor, Harris Insurance Services.Host: Piper Klemm, publisher of The Plaid HorseGuest: Alicia Harlov is a full time hoofcare provider based out of Massachusetts. She focuses on getting to the root cause of hoof issues and lameness and considers the horse's diet, health, work, and living environment when working on a horse. Her interest in these factors contributed to starting a podcast of her own called The Humble Hoof, where she interviews vets and farriers around the world about hoof health and soundness. Guest: Peter Wylde is an Olympic gold medal show jumping rider who grew up in Massachusetts. Peter won the prestigious ASPCA Maclay Finals and the IHSA Cacchione Cup before turning his focus to show jumping. Peter won both individual and team silver medals at the 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg, the individual bronze medal at the 2002 World Equestrian Games and a team gold medal at the 2004 Olympics among many other accomplishments. Peter has also trained riders at both the Olympics and World Championships in both Show Jumping and Eventing. Guest: Fran and Joe Dotoli have dedicated their lives to the horse industry. As trainers, Fran and Joe trained riders to championship wins at nearly every major horse show at their Young Entry Stables in Massachusetts. Joe defines their success by the number of young equestrians who came through their barn and have gone on to achieve much success and are still involved in the sport today- among them, Olympic gold medalist Peter Wylde. Fran and Joe have dedicated their lives to serving our sport which they have been awarded for by the United States Hunter Jumper Association and the United State Equestrian Federation. Fran won the USHJA President's Distinguished Service Award honor three times and also the USHJA Volunteer of the Year award in 2020. Joe won the USEF Distinguished Service Award in 2001 for contributions to equestrian sport including the years he spent on the passage of the Safety Helmet Rule. Joe was also awarded the USEF Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017, which he shares with Fran because they did everything together. Title Sponsor: Taylor, Harris Insurance ServicesSubscribe To: The Plaid Horse Magazine

The (Un)Settled Podcast is a multipart special presentation of the Binder Podcast dedicated to the traveling exhibition (Un)Settled: The Landscape in American Art. From natural wonders to the open road, the landscape has long been a muse in American art. (Un)Settled questions the shaping of national identity through objects from the colonial era to present. The variety of media and makers helps to redefine whose view is considered and expands on landscape's relevance and resonance in art. In today's episode, host Drew Baron interviews the collaborators of the American South Consortium to learn more about how this partnership started before taking a deep dive into the themes of and inspiration for this exhibition. Featuring interviews with Erin Monroe, Laura Leonard, Glenna Barlow, Michael Neumeister, Margaret Lynn Ausfeld, Emily Stuart Thomas, John Carfagno, and Stan Hackney. This is one in a series of American art exhibitions created by the American South Consortium. Led by the Wadsworth Atheneum, the consortium brings together institutions from three distinct geographic regions including the Columbia Museum of Art (Columbia, SC), the Mobile Museum of Art (Mobile, AL), and the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts (Montgomery, AL).This multi-year, multi-institutional exhibition partnership was formed by the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art as part of the Art Bridges Cohort Program.

Nicholas Baume is the Artistic & Executive Director at Public Art Fund in New York City since 2009. A native of Australia, his career began in Sydney with Kaldor Public Art Projects and later the Museum of Contemporary Art. He was Contemporary Curator at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, Connecticut, before moving to Boston to join the Institute of Contemporary Art as Chief Curator. He and I discuss being artist centric, the American museum industry, the moment his eyes opened to contemporary art, how art can catalyze feelings you don't know you have, creating moments of access, sharing art with the world and serving the public, what defines success, what public art needs, authentic experiences, fundamental values, civic scale projects, the importance of diplomacy, and risk taking!

The curly hair movement – and market – is growing, as more people learn to style and to celebrate their natural hair. This hour, we hear from one salon that's just for natural curls in Connecticut. Luvena Leslie opened The Curly Hair Salon in 2011. "So many people have had bad experiences before they come to us," Leslie says. Viola Clune, a Yale student and editor of the New Journal, recently wrote a piece about salons like Leslie's, and the work they do to untangle "hair trauma," titled "Kinks in the Movement." She joins the conversation. Clune writes that The Curly Hair Salon "exists as a contradiction, intervention, remembrance, and stagnation at once. The ever-growing salon industry in New Haven suggests that there is something complementary about these contradictions, something inherent about them..." Plus, the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford has a new exhibit all about the optics and politics of hair. A curator joins us to discuss Styling Identities: Hair's Tangled Histories, on view through August 11. We also hear from one archivist who contributed to the exhibition and created an accompanying zine. GUESTS: Luvena Leslie: Owner, The Curly Hair Salon in New Haven Viola Clune: Editor, The New Journal and author of the article “Kinks in the Movement" Jama Holchin: Lead Curator for "Styling Identities: Hair's Tangled Histories" at The Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art Where We Live is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode.Support the show: http://wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, we talk to Ned Lazaro, associate curator of costume and textiles at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford. Lazaro is delivering a keynote address titled “What's the Uproar? The Dress that Rocked the ‘50s—The Scandal with the Sack” during a seated lunch with wine catered by Diane Browne, to be held 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 19 at the New Canaan Museum & Historical Society (tickets here). It's part of the NCM&HS's October4Design celebration—here's a calendar of events and here's an overview of related programming from Executive Director Nancy Geary.

Episode No. 586 features artist Justine Kurland. The Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford recently acquired a complete vintage set of Kurland's 69-picture "Girl Pictures" suite (1997-2002) and has installed it in the museum's 1934 Avery Court. (The building is known for having the first international style spaces of any American art museum.) The exhibition is on view through August. Kurland's series presents a fictional semi-narrative of an empowered, self-sufficient, ever-traveling community of young women. It is a feminist recasting of the long tradition of adolescent and vagabond narratives that foreground boys and young men. Aperture published the entire series in a book that includes a story by Rebecca Bengal. Amazon and Indiebound offer it for about $47. Instagram: Justine Kurland, Tyler Green.

Episode No. 580 features artist Sheila Pree Bright. Sheila Pree Bright is included in "Reckonings and Reconstructions: Southern Photography from the Do Good Fund," which is at the Georgia Museum of Art at the University of Georgia through January 8, 2023.  The Do Good Fund is a Columbus, Ga.-based charity that collects and makes available to museums photography of the American South made from the 1950s to the present. The exhibition includes artists such as Jill Frank, Baldwin Lee, Deborah Luster, Gordon Parks, and RaMell Ross. Bright's work builds narratives about social, political and historical events through series of pictures of landscape, social justice movements, suburbia, and more. Solo exhibitions of Bright's work have been held at the Clark Atlanta University Art Museum, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, and more. Bright's book "#1960Now: Photographs of Civil Rights Activists and Black Lives Matter Protests" was published by Chronicle Books in 2018. Amazon and Indiebound offer it for $18-30. This episode was taped live at the GMOA. Air date: December 15, 2022.

The Wadsworth Atheneum is dedicated to advancing knowledge and inspiring everyone to experience and appreciate excellence in art and culture

Episode No. 550 of The Modern Art Notes Podcast features historian and author Glenda Elizabeth Gilmore and curator Edith Devaney. Gilmore is the author of "Romare Bearden in the Homeland of His Imagination," which was just published by the University of North Carolina Press. The book examines how Bearden's address of his native South -- he was born and was initially raised in the Charlotte, NC area before his family was effectively forced to leave the South -- was informed by the vagaries of memory and even imagination. Gilmore is the Peter V. & C. Vann Woodward Professor Emerita of History at Yale University. Her previous books include "Gender and Jim Crow: Women and the Politics of White Supremacy in North Carolina, 1896-1920," and "Defying Dixie: The Radical Roots of Civil Rights, 1919-1950." Indiebound and Amazon offer "Bearden" for $26-40. Devaney discusses “Milton Avery,” a survey of the artist's career now at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford. The exhibition debuted at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth and is in Hartford through June 5. The exhibition features about 70 paintings Avery made between the 1910s and the mid-1960s and emphasizes Avery's interest in color. It's on view at the Wadsworth through June 5. “Avery” was co-organized by the Royal Academy, London, the Wadsworth and MAMFW. Its catalogue was published by the Royal Academy. Indiebound and Amazon offer it for about $45.

The SLC Performance Lab is produced by ContemporaryPerformance.com and the Sarah Lawrence College MFA Theatre Program. During the course, visiting artists to the MFA Theatre Program's Grad Lab are interviewed after leading a workshop with the students. Grad Lab is one of the core components of the program where graduate students work with guest artists and develop group-generated performance experiments. Tei is interviewed by Marisa Conroy (SLC23) and Kenneth Keng (SLC23). Tei Blow is a performer, educator, and media designer based in New York. Blow's work incorporates photography, video, and sound culled from found materials and mass media. He has performed and designed for The Laboratory of Dmitry Krymov, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Jodi Melnick, Ann Liv Young, Big Dance Theater, and David Neumann/Advanced Beginner Group. He also performs as Frustrator on Enemies List Recordings. Blow's work has been featured at Hartford Stage, Dance Theater Workshop, PS122/PSNY, Lincoln Center Festival, The Kitchen, BAM, The Public Theater, The Broad Stage, MCA Chicago, MFA Boston, Kate Werble Gallery, Baryshnikov Arts Center, The Wadsworth Atheneum, and at theaters around the world. He is the recipient of a 2015 New York Dance and Performance “Bessie” Award for Outstanding Sound Design for David Neumann/Advanced Beginner Group's I Understand Everything Better. Blow is one half of Royal Osiris Karaoke Ensemble, whose ongoing multipart series The Art of Luv is a recipient of the Creative Capital and Franklin Furnace Awards. Photo: Maria Baranova

With the New Britain Museum of American Art staging two concurrent exhibitions of Sol LeWitt’s prints, we listen back to our 2019 hour on the Hartford native, one of the giants of conceptualist and minimalist art. As an artist, LeWitt abandoned the long histories of painting and drawing and sculpture in favor of his Wall Drawings and Structures. And as an art figure, he abandoned the conventions of celebrity and resisted ever even having his picture taken. This hour, a look at Connecticut’s own Sol LeWitt. GUESTS: David Areford - Associate professor of art history at the University of Massachusetts Boston and curator of Strict Beauty: Sol LeWitt Prints for the New Britain Museum of American Art Lary Bloom - The author of Sol LeWitt: A Life of Ideas Andrea Miller-Keller - Was the Emily Hall Tremaine Curator of Contemporary Art at the Wadsworth Atheneum from 1968 to 1998 Cary Smith - An artist who makes abstract paintings Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe, Cat Pastor, and Chion Wolf contributed to this show, which originally aired May 9, 2019.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode No. 528 features artist Mitch Epstein and curator Edith Devaney. Steidl has just published Epstein's newest book "Property Rights." Featuring 197 pictures across 288 pages, "Property Rights" examines the relationship between the United States, land and the impact of the American nation on the people who live here. The book was edited by Susan Bell and includes texts by both Epstein and Bell. Indiebound and Amazon offer it for about $75. Epstein has published 15 books including "In India," "American Power," and "Family Business." Devaney discusses "Milton Avery," a survey of the artist's career at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. The exhibition features about 70 paintings Avery made between the 1910s and the mid-1960s and emphasizes Avery's interest in color. It's on view at MAMFW through January 30. "Avery" was co-organized by the Royal Academy, London, the Wadsworth Atheneum and MAMFW. Its catalogue was published by the Royal Academy. Indiebound and Amazon offer it for about $45.

Episode No. 527 features artist Jim Isermann and curator Oliver Tostmann. Radius Books has just published the monograph "Jim Isermann." For forty years the California-based Isermann has joined sculpture and painting to design, examinations of domesticity and queerness. Last year the Palm Springs Art Museum presented a survey of Isermann's career. Isermann has fulfilled commissions for sites as unalike as football stadiums at the University of Houston and in Arlington, Texas, and for Stanford and Princeton Universities. His work is in many major art museum collections, including at the Museum of Modern Art and the Hammer Museum. "Isermann" was designed by David Chickey and Mat Patalano. It features an essay by Christopher Knight and a conversation between Isermann and John Burtle. The book is available from Radius, Indiebound and Amazon for $60-65. With Eve Straussman-Pflanzer, Tostmann is the co-curator of "By Her Hand: Artemisia Gentileschi and Women Artists in Italy, 1500-1800" at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford. The exhibition explores how women artists succeeded even though many paths to professional development and patronage were closed to them. Among the artists whose work is included in the project are Gentileschi, Sofonisba Anguissola, Rosalba Carriera, Lavinia Fontana, and Virginia da Vezzo. "By Her Hand" is on view at the Wadsworth through January 9, when it will travel to the Detroit Institute of Arts. The exhibition catalogue was published by the DIA and is distributed by Yale University Press. Indiebound and Amazon offer it for about $40.

What more do we need to know about Sam Colt? In Hartford we have the iconic blue-domed Colt Armory, Colt Park, the Colt addition to the Wadsworth Atheneum, the Church of the Good Shepard and Colt's home Armsmear. But it turns out that we may not have known much about Colt's life before he became fabulously wealthy—he traveled with a novelty act, womanized, drank, smuggled guns to Russia, bribed politicians, and blew up ships in New York Harbor with electricity. Mary Donohue, Asst. Publisher of Connecticut Explored, the magazine of Connecticut history, digs into some of these stories with Jim Rasenberger, author of Revolver: Sam Colt and the Six-shooter that Changed America. He is the author of three other books—The Brilliant Disaster; America, 1908; and High Steel—and has contributed to the New York Times, Vanity Fair, Smithsonian, and other publications. A native of Washington, DC, he lives in New York City. Find out more at https://www.jimrasenberger.com/ Coltsville, Sam's industrial village including the Colt Armory, workers housing, and his estate, have been listed as a National Historic Landmark and authorized as a National Historical Park under the guidance of the National Park Service. For more history and self-guided tours, go to their website at nps.gov/colt. Find out more about Sam Colt in these Connecticut Explored stories: https://www.ctexplored.org/the-suspicious-colt-armory-fire/ https://www.ctexplored.org/sam-colt-mines-the-arizona-territory-2/ https://www.ctexplored.org/making-a-success-of-coltsville/ This episode of Grating the Nutmeg was produced by Mary Donohue and engineered by Patrick O'Sullivan. Donohue has documented the built environment and pop culture for over 30 years. Contact her at marydonohue@comcast.net This episode of Grating the Nutmeg received support from the State Historic Preservation Office of the Dept of Economic and Community Development with funds from the Community Investment Act of the State of Connecticut. Subscribe to Connecticut Explored at https://www.ctexplored.org/subscribe/  

This is a special Episode produced in collaboration with the Independent Art Fair, New York City. My guest is Nicelle Beauchene, founder of the eponymous gallery in New York, former president of the board of NADA (New Art Dealers Alliance) and co-founder, with Franklin Parrasch, of Parts & Labor in Beacon. In this talk Nicelle covers her life, from growing up in a farm town in Connecticut,  becoming a competitive snowboarder, competing against men and falling in love with art through a certain painting at the Wadsworth Atheneum. Her curiosity drew her to roam broader spaces and finally pursuing a career in the arts. She tells how it was for her being a professional woman in the art business while raising three kids. She talks competition vs. collaboration, how she took adversities and disencouragement as challenge and stepping stone. She opened up her gallery while being pregnant, running a succesful art business and having a family. She relates in depth how collaboration and integrity are her core values in working with artists, other galleries, institutions and collectors. She talks passion, ambition, gut feeling and new opportunities coming up, like moving with the gallery to a new space in Tribeca and her upcoming project at Independent, where she will present new works by Louise Despont, the artist she originally opened her gallery with. Nicelle gives an enlightening insight into her relentless support for the artists she works with. Listen to a clear minded and inspirational woman who knows and does what she wants. Recorded July 22, 2021, 36 min. Language: English

On episode #116  of the Speak Up Storytelling podcast, Matthew and Elysha Dicks are back, talking storytelling! In our follow up segment, we discuss our return to posting new episodes and our upcoming shows and workshops. August 18: Speak Up at Hill-Stead Museum (6:00 PM EST) August 20-21: Storytelling Workshop (Phoenicia Playhouse, Woodstock, NY) August 21: Speak Up at the Phoenicia Playhouse, Woodstock, NY (7:00 PM EST) October 23: Speak Up at The Wadsworth Atheneum (7:00 PM EST) Tickets available soon! December 4: Speak Up at The Connecticut Historical Society (7:00 PM EST) In our Homework for Life segment, Matt talks about finding stories through contrast.  Next we listen to a story by James Bengiovanni. Amongst the many things we discuss include: Authenticity of voice Capturing secondary characters in meaningful ways Raising the stakes The art of “the pause” Powers of location Alternatives to the impulse to play jokes loudly The importance of ending in the heart of the storyteller Next we answer questions about using stories in cover letters and job interviews. Lastly, we each offer a recommendation.  RECOMMEDATIONS Elysha: Crip Camp Documentary (Netflix) Matt: How Walking Can Build Up the Brain by. Gretchen Reynolds (NYTimes) _________________________________________________________ Support Speak Up Storytelling through our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/speakupstorytelling Speak Up merch at Cotton Bureau: https://bit.ly/3gc1h35 Purchase Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life Through the Power of Storytelling:  https://amzn.to/2H3YNn3 Homework for Life: https://bit.ly/2f9ZPne Matthew Dicks's website: http://www.matthewdicks.com Matthew Dicks's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/matthewjohndicks  Matthew Dicks's blog: https://matthewdicks.com/blog

Hartford native Sol LeWitt was one of the giants of conceptualist and minimalist art. As an artist, he abandoned the long histories of painting and drawing and sculpture in favor of his Wall Drawings and Structures. And as an art figure, he abandoned the conventions of celebrity and resisted ever even having his picture taken. This hour, a look at Connecticut's own Sol LeWitt. GUESTS: David Areford - Associate professor of art history at the University of Massachusetts Boston Lary Bloom - The author of Sol LeWitt: A Life of Ideas Andrea Miller-Keller - Was the Emily Hall Tremaine Curator of Contemporary Art at the Wadsworth Atheneum from 1968 to 1998 Cary Smith - An artist who makes abstract paintings Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Chion Wolf contributed to this show, which originally aired May 9, 2019.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Velkommen til Connecticut, USA! I denne tredje del af sæson 6 (afsnit 232 af hele min rejse) kan du tage med på et spændende Couchsurfing eventyr gennem Connecticut i New England. Men lad os starte, hvor vi sluttede i den seneste episode i den mindste stat i USA, Rhode Island – og hvor jeg tjekker ind i min Airbnb i Rhode Island. ANKOMMER TIL PROVICENCE, RHODE ISLAND Da jeg banker på døren ved min Airbnb, bliver jeg mødt af min skønne værtsfamilie med en lille, men meget energisk og højrøstet hund. Det tog mig et døgns tid før den lille hund varmede op og blev gode venner med den danske vagabond, der havde invaderet dens hjem. Men det lykkedes. Det meste af den første dag i Providence brugte jeg bag computerskærmen og måtte vågne midt om natten for at instruere skuespillere i et studie i København. De havde kun tid om formiddagen, hvor det var nat for mig. (#nomade-liv). På vej videre kørte jeg gennem downtown Providence, mens jeg lyttede videre til Crime Town – en true-crime podcast om byen. NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND Herefter besluttede jeg mig for at benytte et forslag, jeg havde set på nettet under ”ting at se i Rhode Island” og kørte sydpå til den berømte Cliff Walk i New Port. Et smukt område på en ø med en dejlig udsigt, små stier og enorme huse. Det var skønt at gå en tur på klipperne og dufte havet. NEXT STOP: CONNECTICUT Senere samme dag ankom jeg til Connecticut – den tredje af de seks stater, som jeg ville besøge på denne roadtrip. Jeg havde bestemt mig for at bruge en anden form for indkvartering denne gang. Jeg ville bruge Couchsurfing. CONNECTICOUCH: ET COUCHSURFING COUCHCRASH Lad mig fortælle dig lidt om Couchsurfing konceptet inden jeg møder mine nye venner her. Couchsurfing.com er en gratis platform, hvor rejsende og værter kan finde hinanden og aftale et sted at overnatte. Det hedder Couchsurfing – altså Sofa-surfing, men du sover typisk ikke på en sofa. Jeg har gjort det overalt i verden, og jeg har altid fået mit eget værelse. Man opretter en profil og får gratis adgang til værter overalt i verden, som åbner deres hjem for en vildt fremmed. Platformen blev startet i 2004 og i dag er der mere end 15 millioner brugere. Du kan søge værter i mere end 200.000 byer overalt i verden, og kan sende en besked til dem, og høfligt spørge om de vil åbne deres hjem for dig. Der er ingen penge, der skifter hænder, men du bør ikke betragte det som et gratis hotel. Det er forventet, at du bruger tid med din vært og lærer dem at kende. Det er jo derfor de åbner deres hjem. Ja, det er rart at spare penge, men det bør ikke være hovedårsagen til at bruge Couchsurfing. Det er også normalt at give dem en lille gave. Det kan være en flaske vin, du kan invitere dem ud at spise eller måske tage noget ikonisk med fra din hjemby. Men det kan også være, at du bare synger en sang eller fortæller en historie. MØDER JASON En mand går ind på en bar og møder Jason og hans partner, Lee… Jeg ved at det lyder som starten på en dårlig vittighed, men det er, hvad der skete. Der var meget støj på baren og ikke ideelt til at optage en podcast, så vi gik ud bagved, hvor de har et udendørsområde med nogle borde og iskolde øl – og her mødte vi mange af de andre, der var kommet til CouchCrash, denne weekend. Jason er hovedmanden bag denne weekends arrangement. De kalder det ConnectiCOUCH, og afholder det hvert andet år i denne lille stat mellem Boston og New York. ”Dette er anden gang, vi laver det, efter den store succes, vi havde med den første for to år siden”, fortæller Jason. ”Vi forsøger at få folk fra hele verden til at komme hertil, og vise dem, hvor fantastisk Connecticut er”. Ikke alene er dette mit første CouchCrash, det er også mit første besøg i Connecticut. Og jeg er ikke den eneste – der kommer ikke mange turister her selvom det ligger meget tæt på både New York og Boston. ”Selvom Connecticut er en meget lille stat, er der en masse interessant at opleve, og der sker faktisk en masse her. Der er masser af historie og smuk natur. Og Connecticut er et sted, som var først med mange ting. Den første hamburger blev lavet her… og den første telefonbox i USA var her” Når Jason ikke er vært for vagabonder arbejder han som manager i et af statens store kasinoer. COUCHCRASH Couchsurfing værterne i området arrangerer dette CouchCrash: En flerdags event, hvor medlemmerne viser deres stat for hinanden og folk udefra. Vi kommer til at lære en masse om området og oplever byerne på en helt ny måde. Det er en helt speciel oplevelse, som jeg nu skulle prøve at opleve for første gang. ”Det er en fantastisk måde at samle Couchsurfing-værter og gæster fra hele landet kommer her til Connecticut og nyder, hvad staten byder på. Vi havde vores første ConnectiCOUCH i 2016 og blev enige om at afholde en hvert andet år. Vi tilstræber at tilbyde noget for enhver smag: udendørs aktiviteter, historiske udflugter, fester, ”river tubing”, besøg på museer og meget andet”. CONNECTICOUCH OG COVID-19 Denne episode er naturligvis optaget inden Corona-pandemien. Jason har netop fortalt mig, at de havde planlagt at lave endnu en ConnectiCOUCH i 2020, men den blev desværre aflyst. Nu er det planen at afholde den i august 2021, men kun tiden vil vise, om det også er for tidligt. Du kan finde Couchsurfing events over hele verden på Global Couchsurfing Event Calendar. COUCHCRASH OG FÅ NYE VENNER Et CouchCrash handler om at opleve noget i et område, men mest af alt handler det om at møde gamle venner og få nogle nye. ”Det er en fantastisk måde at møde mange forskellige mennesker. Specielt når mange kommer langvejs fra for at opleve Couchsurfing stemningen i Connecticut. Mottoet for Couchsurfing er: ”Mød venner du ikke har mødt endnu”, hvilket meget godt forklarer, hvad det hele handler om. Jeg har fået venner for livet takket være Couchsurfing. Det er helt utroligt at få specielle venskaber på denne måde”. Og det samme gælder for mig selv. Jeg har mødt mennesker rundt omkring i verden på denne måde, som jeg stadig er venner med. Inden jeg blev nomade, og stadig havde et hjem, var jeg selv Couchsurfing vært. Her havde jeg f.eks. en tysk mand og en colombisk kvinde til at bo hos mig. Tyskeren var på en cykeltur fra Sydtyskland til Nordnorge (og tilbage). En fantastisk mand med nogle vilde historier. Og kvinden boede i København, hvor hun underviste på et universitet. Hun ville gerne se lidt mere af Danmark og jeg viste hende rundt i Aarhus og tog hende med til byfest i Randers. Bagefter lærte hun mig at danse salsa i min stue. Jeg har også været på en Couchsurfing tur med mine børn. Vi overnattede hos nogle skønne mennesker i Rotterdam, Nederlandene, Gent i Belgien, and Normandiet, Frankrig. Helt fantastiske lokale oplevelser, som vi sikkert ikke ville have fået, hvis vi havde boet på hoteller. MARK TWAIN HOUSE & MUSEUM Den næste morgen mødte jeg ConnectiCOUCH’erne på en plads i byen Hartford. Med 125.000 mennesker er Hartford den næststørste by i Connecticut efter den lidt større Bridgeport. Skuespilleren Katharine Hepburn er herfra og i 17 år boede en anden kendt person her: hans navn var Samuel Langhorne Clemens, men vi kender ham nok bedre som Mark Twain. Huset, som Mark Twain boede i med sin familie, er nu et museum: the Mark Twain House & Museum. Og det var den tur, jeg valgte at hoppe med på. Og det varmede mit danske hjerte at opdage, at der var en LEGO-figur med manden lige indenfor. Sam Clemens aka Mark Twain blev født I 1835 og han døde i 1910. I 1874, da han var sidst i 30’erne, fik han dette hus bygget og han skrev nogle af sine mest berømte historier her: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer og opfølgeren, the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Han er kendt som ”faderen af amerikansk litteratur” og ”den største humorist, USA har produceret”. Jeg var med på turen gennem huset og museet og lærte en masse interessant om denne forfatter og hans arbejde. Ifølge guiden, kostede huset omkring 250.000 kr. at bygge, hvilket vil svare til godt 6 millioner kr. i nutidens penge. Hvis man medregner designermøblerne i huset, er det hele vurderet til næsten 19 millioner danske kroner. På det tidspunkt var Mark Twain stadig en ukendt forfatter, så det var hans hustrus arv, der betalte for huset. Det er ret stort – på mere end 1000 m2, og har 25 værelser på tre etager. Arkitektonisk er det et meget specielt hus, så uanset om du er interesseret i Mark Twain eller arkitektur, er det klart et besøg værd. Hvis du vil besøge det (efter pandemien – det er lukket lige nu her i marts 2021), så er det en god idé at lave en reservation i god tid. Det er en populær attraktion, og du risikerer, at der ikke er plads, hvis du venter til sidste øjeblik. FACTS OM HARTFORD De første engelske bosættere ankom her til i 1635, og i starten kaldte de deres by for Newtown, men det blev omdøbt et par år senere til Hartford. Så med næste 400 år er Hartford en af de ældste byer i USA. Når den er sådan en gammel by, har de været først med mange ting. De har det ældste offentlige kunstmuseum, the Wadsworth Atheneum og den ældste nulevende avis, The Hartford Courant. Hartford har kælenavnet ”verdens forsikringshovedstad”, fordi mange forsikringsselskaber har deres hovedsæde her. Og forsikring er stadig regionens største industri. Det er her i byen, serien Judging Ami finder sted. Den var i luften fra 1999-2005. Den var dog ikke filmet her. MØD MARGARETE WEBSTER Efter en tur rundt i Hartford med en af de lokale, Margarete, satte vi os ind i hendes bil – en kæmpestor Chevy Silverado. Jeg spurgte hende, hvorfor i alverden, hun har sådan en stor bil. ”Jeg var på et tidspunkt i gang med at renovere mit hus, og havde brug for en stor bil til at kunne transportere materialer fra byggemarkedet. Da mine børn flyttede hjemmefra, besluttede jeg mig for at tage på en 8-års tur rundt i USA. Og så var det godt at have en stor bil med plads til telt og kajak på taget. Senere købte jeg en autocamper og min Chevy var for stor til at trække efter den. Derfor solgte jeg den og købte en mindre Jeep. Og da den ikke kunne mere bestemte jeg mig for at få en ny Chevy Silverado.” Når folk spørger mig, hvor lang tid jeg vil fortsætte med at være nomade, siger jeg: ”Indtil en af mine unger gør mig til morfar”. De er begge kun midt i 20’erne og siger, at der kommer til at gå mange år. Amanda studerer design på Den Danske Designskole i Kolding og Clara læser til Antropolog på Aarhus Universitet. Faktisk har hun lige skrevet sin Batchelor om Digitale Nomader (#FarErStolt).  Margarets historie er ret lignende. Hun er bare lidt foran mig… “Da jeg blev bedstemor, forelskede jeg mig samtidig i en mand. Jeg havde altid lovet mig selv, at jeg ville slå mig ned igen på det tidspunkt. Selvom jeg nyder mit liv, savner jeg stadig mit liv på landevejen”. Vi er på vej mod Manchester lige udenfor Hartford, hvor Margarete bor. Men hun voksede op i Hartford, så hun burde nok kunne finde vej. Men mens hun er i gang med at fortælle mig sin livshistorie, kører hun forkert. LÆS MARGARETES BOG OG BLOG Du burde kigge forbi Margarets blog og overveje, at købe hendes bog om livet på landevejen. Den hedder Lessons from the Road, USA by Margarete Webster. Her er lidt af hvad der star på bagsiden: “Lessons from the Road, USA shares the travel adventures of a funny, single, 50-something-year-old woman, traveling across the U.S. in a pickup truck.”  Og så står der videre: ”Webster is navigationally challenged…” Eftersom vi lige er kørt forkert, kan jeg bare sige ”No shit, Sherlock”. Du kan bastille Margarets bog på Amazon – klik her. Hendes blog hedder lftrus.com (forkortelse af “Lessons from the Road, US”). Som bogen er den også spækket med gode rejsetips. ”Connecticut er på papiret den rigeste stat i landet, men det afspejler ikke helt virkeligheden. Det er fordi Connecticut er forsikringshovedstaden i USA – og de er en slags “usynlige banker” som slæber en masse penge til staten. Og derfor giver det et lidt skævt billede i statistikkerne”. Det var alt, vi havde plads til i denne episode. I den næste kan du blandt andet høre Margarete fortælle en sjov historie om hvordan ”The Yankees” kom til at hedde ”The Yankees”. Mit navn er Palle Bo, og jeg skal videre. Vi ses.     TALE BESKED FRA EN LYTTER Phil fra Yorkshire I England har klikket på banneret, hvor der står ”Sig Noget” og sendt mig en skøn talebesked: ”Hej Pablo. Det er Phil Chatterton. Jeg er i solbeskinnede Yorkshire og vil bare sige tak for din podcast. Du har fået mig igennem lockdown her i Storbritannien. Det er fantastisk at rejse med dig, mens jeg gør rent i huset, fodre hunden, bager brød – og samtidig rejser til forskellige lande med dig. Det har været en lang hård lockdown, og vi er ikke ude af den endnu. Men det der rigtigt har fået mig igennem den, er at lytte til dig. Lytte om de steder, du har været og på de mennesker, du taler med. Det giver mig håb og lys forenden af tunnelen. Ha’ det godt”. Mange tak, Phil…! Skønt at du ville tage dig tid til at sige hej. Og jeg skal nok lade være med at drille dig med, at du kom til at kalde mig Pablo. Tro mig, jeg er blevet kaldt værre. Du kan også gøre som Phil har gjort. Klikke på banneret ”Sig Noget” på Radiovagabond.dk Hvis du foretrækker at skrive, kan du sende en mail til lytter@radiovagabond.dk eller klikke på KONTAKT på radiovagabond.dk.

Greetings from Connecticut, USA! Welcome to the third instalment of Season 6 of The Radio Vagabond travel podcast series. In this episode, (#187 of my entire nomad journey!) you'll join me for an exciting Couchsurfing adventure through Connecticut, New England. But first, let's start where I ended off in the previous episode in the smallest state in the USA, Rhode Island. I'm about to check-in to my Airbnb in Providence...let's do this! SEE PICTURES IN THE BLOG POST – CLICK HERE ARRIVING IN PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND As I knocked on the door of my Airbnb, I was immediately greeted by my wonderful host family with a small, very energetic (LOUD) dog. It took a day for the puppy to warm up to this dashing Danish vagabond, but we established an understanding. I spent my first day in Providence working in my room directing a voice-over recording from Denmark, which meant I had to set my alarm for the early hours of the morning (#nomadlife). After I finished work, I decided to take a drive through the city while continuing to listen to Crime Town, a true-crime podcast set in Providence.  NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND The next day, I decided to trust the internet suggestions of ‘things to do in Rhode Island' and headed South to the famous Cliff Walk to take in the scenery. The cliff walk is exactly that: a slow, wandering stroll on the cliff edge overlooking the vast Atlantic Ocean. It is so peaceful here, I really love the smell of the ocean. After I had enough of soul-searching on the cliff edge, I returned to my Airbnb in Providence and gathered my things: it was time to hit the road again. NEXT STOP: CONNECTICUT The next day, I arrived in Connecticut - the 3rd of the 6 states I will visit on my road trip. I decided on trying out a different method of accommodation this time around...I joined the Connecticut Couchsurfing community! CONNECTICOUCH: A COUCHSURFING COMMUNITY Let me tell you a bit about the Couchsurfing concept before I meet my new friends here. Couchsurfing.com is a free platform where travelers and hosts can find each other and organize a place to spend the night. It's called Couchsurfing, but you typically don't sleep on a couch. I've done it all over the world and every time I've had my own room. SEE PICTURES IN THE BLOG POST – CLICK HERE You basically just sign up and get free access to all available hosts. Couchsurfing was launched in 2004 and today they have more than 15 million users. You can search for hosts in over 200,000 cities all over the world and you have the opportunity to message these hosts and kindly ask for them to open up their home for you – for no cost. No money changes hands, but you shouldn't see it as a free hotel. It's expected that you talk to your hosts and get to know them. I mean, that's why they are opening their doors in the first place. It's nice to save money when you're travelling, but that shouldn't be the main reason! It's also normal to give them a small gift. It can be a bottle of wine, or you take them out for dinner or bring something iconic from your hometown. But it can also be you singing a song or telling a story... MEETING JASON A man walks into a bar and meets Jason and his partner, Lee… I know it sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, but that's what's happened. The bar was expectedly noisy and not ideal for podcast recording, so we went out back and found a quieter location for a chat over some ice-cold beers. Jason is one of the main organisers of ConnectiCOUCH, a Couchsurfing meetup (CouchCrash) hosted in Connecticut. Ittakes place over a weekend every other year. “This is our second event after a successful launch event two years ago. We're trying to bring people from all over the world together to show how really great Connecticut is” says Jason. SEE PICTURES IN THE BLOG POST – CLICK HERE Not only is this my first CouchCrash, but it's also my first time in Connecticut. And I'm not the only one – not that many tourists come here even though it's so close to both New York and Boston. “Even though Connecticut is a tiny state, there is a lot of really interesting and neat stuff happening here. There is a lot of history and outdoor beauty. But Connecticut is a place of a lot of ‘firsts': the first American hamburger was made here, and the first telephone booth in the country was made here too.” When Jason is not hosting vagabonds from all over the world, he works as a manager of the retail department of a big casino in the state.  COUCHCRASH The Couchsurfing community also organises CouchCrashes: multi-day events that members put together to celebrate their local Couchsurfing community. This is an awesome way for locals and travellers alike to connect, learn about the area, and see the cities in the state in a whole new way. It's also a great way to make new friends and enjoy an unforgettable and unique travel experience. I've heard about them during my travels but never had the opportunity to join – until now.  “It's a great way to bring all the devoted Couchsurfing hosts and members around the country to come to Connecticut and enjoy what we have to offer. We did our first ConnectiCOUCH in 2016 and we had a lot of people attend which propelled us to make it an bi-annual event. We wanted to make sure that there is an activity or event that caters to every taste: outdoors adventures, historical excursions, bar crawls, river tubing, history museum tours, etc.” CONNECTICOUCH AND COVID-19 This episode was recorded pre-Covid. Jason told me that they were planning to do another ConnectiCOUCH in 2020 that unfortunately got cancelled. The next one is scheduled for August 2021, but only time will tell if that is too soon. You can find all upcoming events all over the world on the Global Couchsurfing Event Calendar. SEE PICTURES IN THE BLOG POST – CLICK HERE COUCHCRASH TO MAKE FRIENDS CouchCrash is about getting to know the area but most of all it's about meeting up with friends and making new ones. “It's a great way to meet so many different people, especially when people have come from afar to experience the couch surfing vibe in Connecticut. The tagline for Couchsurfing is ‘Meet friends you haven't met yet' which encapsulates exactly what this movement is all about. I have made some long-lasting friendships thanks to Couchsurfing, it's amazing to be able to build such unique friendships.” I still maintain friendships with people I have met Couchsurfing to this day. It really is a way to forge strong bonds with people from all over the world. You never know where you're going to end up and having a network of friends around the world who you can meet up with and stay with for a few days is really magical. Yes, it truly is an enriching experience. Before I became a nomad, and actually had a home, I was also hosting people. I had a German guy and a Colombian woman staying with me. The German was on a bicycle trip from southern Germany to the northern tip of Norway, and back. An interesting guy with a lot of stories. And the Colombian woman was teaching maths at a university in Copenhagen and wanted to see more of Denmark. So, I showed her around and at night she taught me how to salsa. I've also been Couchsurfing with my kids. On a road trip from Denmark to France, we stayed with some wonderful people in Rotterdam, Netherlands, Gent in Belgium, and Normandie, France. Totally unique local experiences that we wouldn't have gotten, had we stayed in hotels. MARK TWAIN HOUSE & MUSEUM The next morning, I met up with ConnectiCOUCH event organisers at a square in Hartford to get ready for our day's excursion. With 125,000 people living here, Hartford is the second biggest city in Connecticut after the slightly bigger Bridgeport. Actor Katharine Hepburn was born here, and for 17 years another famous person lived here: his name was Samuel Langhorne Clemens, but we all know him better as Mark Twain. The house that Mark Twain lived in with his family is now a museum: the Mark Twain House & Museum. And that's the ConnectiCOUCH event I chose to do, even though that river tubing sounded interesting… Sam Clemens aka Mark Twain was born in 1835 and died in 1910. In 1874, when he was in his late 30's, he had this house built and wrote some of his most famous books here: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and its sequel, the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. He's known as "the father of American literature" and the "greatest humourist the United States has produced." I took a tour of the house and museum and learned a lot of interesting facts about the author and his work. According to the tour guide, the house cost around $40,000 to build which is the equivalent of around $990,000 in today's pricing. Coupled with the interior design and furnishings, it is collectively worth an estimated $3 million dollars. His wife's inheritance footed the construction bill as Mark Twain was not yet the literary demigod, he went on to become. SEE PICTURES IN THE BLOG POST – CLICK HERE The house measures 11‚500 square feet (more than 1000 square meters) ‚ and has 25 rooms distributed through three floors. It's quite big for an unknown writer but you can do that if you have a wife with money. The house itself is a work of art, whether your interest is Mark Twain or architecture. We learned a great deal about the history of Mark Twain‘s house, Twain himself and his family, and the staff that helped manage and care for the home. If you want to visit (after the pandemic – they are closed right now in March 2021), I highly recommend you make a reservation for tour tickets as far in advance as possible: it's a very popular attraction here, and you might not be able to get in if you don't. MEETING MARGARETE WEBSTER After the tour, one of the local event organisers, Margarete, took us on a tour around Hartford in a big ass Chevy truck: which has a backstory. “I was renovating my house and needed a truck to help with logistics, so I bought a Chevy Silverado. When my kids grew up and left the house, I decided to take my truck on an 8-year road trip around the USA armed with a tent, a kayak, and my laptop. When I returned, I sold my trusted truck and house and bought an RV.” After buying and disliking a Jeep, Margarete bought a new Chevy Silverado to continue her cross-country adventures. When people ask me how long I'm going to keep traveling, and when I'm going to settle down again, I always say: “Until one of my kids starts having kids themselves and I become a grandfather.” Both of my daughters are only in their mid-20's and busy studying in university. Amanda is studying arts and design at the prestigious Danish Design School in Kolding, Denmark, and Clara is studying Anthropology at Aarhus University, and actually just wrote her Bachelor dissertation about digital nomads. They both say that if that's what I say, I'm going to be traveling for a long time because they are nowhere near starting a family. Margarete's story is quite similar. She also used to be a nomad… “When I became a grandma, I met somebody and fell in love. I always told myself that if I had the chance at love I would settle down and take it. But even though I am still very much in love, I miss it terribly and still find myself scheming ways to get back to my life on the road.” SEE PICTURES IN THE BLOG POST – CLICK HERE The reason we're in Margarete's car is that she's going to give us a tour of Hartford. And that's something she's done before, as she works as a tour guide.  FACTS ABOUT HARTFORD The first English settlers arrived in 1635 and their settlement was originally called Newtown but was renamed Hartford in 1637. So, almost 400 years old, Hartford is among the oldest cities in the United States. Being such an old city, they have a few firsts here: Hartford is home to the nation's oldest public art museum, the Wadsworth Atheneum, and the oldest continuously published newspaper, The Hartford Courant. Hartford is nicknamed the “Insurance Capital of the World”, because the headquarters of many insurance companies are here, and insurance is the region's major industry. The city was the setting for the Amy Brenneman series Judging Amy, which aired from 1999–2005. However, it wasn't recorded here. Margarete lives in Manchester just outside of Hartford where we are right now – but she grew up here in Hartford. “I know Connecticut doesn't get a lot of press from the international and local communities, but I really like it here. If you like American history, there is a lot of interesting information here about how our democracy was formed.” As Margarete was telling me her story, we took a wrong turn and got a little lost...or we took the scenic route. GET MARGARETE'S BOOK By the way, you should check out Margarete's blog and consider getting the book she wrote after her life on the road. It's called Lessons from the Road, USA by Margarete Webster. Let me read a few words about the book from the back of it: “Lessons from the Road, USA shares the travel adventures of a funny, single, 50-something-year-old woman, traveling across the U.S. in a pickup truck.”  And then it goes on to say: ”Webster is navigationally challenged…” After getting lost with her just now, all I can say is: “No kidding”.  You can order Margarete's book on Amazon here. Her blog is called lftrus.com (short for Lessons from the Road, US). Like the book it is packed with some really great travel tips.  “So, Connecticut is purported to be the richest state in the country but that is not entirely reflective of reality. This is because Connecticut is the insurance capital of the country and the companies are the invisible bankers which make a ton of money which skews the figures.” That's all we have time for in this episode. Tune in next time to hear Margarete tell a funny story about the Yankees became the Yankees... I'm Palle Bo – ending on a cliff-hanger. And I gotta keep moving. See you. SEE PICTURES IN THE BLOG POST – CLICK HERE   VOICE NOTE FROM A LISTENER Phil from sunny Yorkshire clicked on the banner on theradiovagabond.com where it says, “Talk to me” and sent me a lovely voice message. ”Hi Pablo. It's Phil Chatterton. I'm here in sunny Yorkshire. Just wanted to say thank you for the podcast. You got me so far through the lockdown here in the UK. It's great to travel with you every week as I do my cleaning around the house,feed the dog, bake some bread, and go to different countries with you. It's been a really long hard lockdown, and we're not through it yet. But what's really kept me going is listening to you. Listening to the places you've been and the people you're talking to. It really gives hope and light at the end of the tunnel. Thank you ever so much and keep travelling. Take care now.” Thank you, Phil…! Wonderful that you would take the time to say hi. I'm not going to spend much time talking about the fact that my name is Palle, not Pablo. I know it's a difficult name for anyone who isn't Scandinavian but as long as you listen, Phil, you can call me Pablo anytime. Trust me, I've been called worse... If you also want to do what Phil did. Click on the “Talk to me” banner on the website – or in the link in your podcast app. And then record your voice – and re-record if you don't like what you said. Once you're done, you click send and I get a little soundbite I can use here on the show. Only thing is that the telbee web-app only works in Google Chrome. But both on a computer and on your smartphone. If you prefer to write, you can send an email to listener@theradiovagabond.com or go to Contact on theradiovagabond.com and fill out the form. Thanks… SPREAD THE WORD I'd like to ask you for a favour. If you like this episode, please tell a friend. I'm dead serious… Pick up the phone or send a message to a friend telling him or her about this podcast.  It's the best way to spread the word about this podcast, and I'll be so happy if you could help me this way. You are the best.  SPONSOR A special thank you to my sponsors, Hotels25.com, who always provide me with the best, most affordable accommodation wherever I am in the world.  The Radio Vagabond is supported in part by Hotels25. And something exciting is happening soon - they're building a new improved website with more inspiration and even better results. It's so exciting what's going to happen and I can't wait to tell you more about it. If you're listening to this episode sometime in the future – after mid-March 2021 (I know a lot of you guys do) it's already there. So, head over to hotels25.com and make a quick search. I guarantee that you won't find a better price anywhere. And in fact, if you do, Hotels25 will refund the difference.  RADIOGURU This episode was produced by me and my production company, Radioguru. If you need any help starting a podcast or if you need voiceovers in any language for online videos and other things, please reach out.

Episode No. 480 features artists Jill Mulleady and Umar Rashid. Mulleady and Rashid are included in "Made in L.A. 2020: A Vision" the Hammer Museum's biennial that has been installed -- but is not yet on public view because of the pandemic -- at the Hammer and The Huntington Library. The exhibition was scheduled to open last year; its opening date is dependent upon Los Angeles County guidance. (As of the publishing of this episode, COVID rates in LA County are nearly double the national average.) Online and offsite MinLA projects by Larry Johnson and Kahlil Joseph, and Ligia Lewis are on view now. Late last year, a small number of critics and journalists received a preview of the exhibition; The MAN Podcast is airing MinLA-oriented episodes last week and this week in an effort to support the artists in the exhibition while we wait. Mulleady's paintings, often or present-day scenes, are built from specific geographies and often from additions pulled from art's history, including references to specific paintings, as well as to familiar metaphors and allegories. Mulleady was born in Uruguay, schooled in London and lives in Los Angeles. She has had solo exhibitions at the Swiss Institute in New York and the Kunsthalle Bern, and she was included in curator Ralph Rugoff's 2019 Venice Biennale. Rashid's paintings at the Hammer present the fictional Battle of Malibu, an exploration of the maritime exploits of the Tongva and Chumash peoples native to the southern California coast. At the Huntington, Rashid critiques the Spanish dominion over indigenous Californians, including through the mission-and-presidio system and related colonial agricultural practices. Rashid has had solo exhibitions at the art museums at the University of Arizona and the University of Memphis, and at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford.

Neo-Expressionist artist Elizabeth Murray breaks away from the artistic traditions of creating illusionistic three-dimensional space on a two-dimensional surface. Her artistic vocabulary has a "cartoony" flavor..Resources for this podcast episode include: Wadsworth Atheneum, Art Institute of Chicago, MOMA, Art News, PBS Art 21, and the writings of Robert Storr and Jonathan Fineberg. Image Credit: Wadsworth Atheneum..Are you a contemporary female artist who would like to be "exposed" on the podcast? :) Email me at bernadine@beyondthepaint.net

Neo-Expressionist artist Elizabeth Murray breaks away from the artistic traditions of creating illusionistic three-dimensional space on a two-dimensional surface. Her artistic vocabulary has a "cartoony" flavor..Resources for this podcast episode include: Wadsworth Atheneum, Art Institute of Chicago, MOMA, Art News, PBS Art 21, and the writings of Robert Storr and Jonathan Fineberg. Image Credit: Wadsworth Atheneum..Are you a contemporary female artist who would like to be "exposed" on the podcast? :) Email me at bernadine@beyondthepaint.net

Black, female painter Alma Woodsey Thomas composed brilliantly fractured abstractions of the natural world around her through painted mosaic patches arranged in concentric circles or stripes. Join me as we hover over a sea of red shapes and forms in the painting "Red Azaleas Jubilee." (1976)..Resources for this episode include Wadsworth Atheneum (www.thewadsworth.org), Tate Museum (tate.org.uk), Studio Museum (studiomuseum.org), the poet Mary Oliver and author Melina Rudman ("Sacred Soil: A Gardner's Book of Reflections")

Black, female painter Alma Woodsey Thomas composed brilliantly fractured abstractions of the natural world around her through painted mosaic patches arranged in concentric circles or stripes. Join me as we hover over a sea of red shapes and forms in the painting "Red Azaleas Jubilee." (1976)..Resources for this episode include Wadsworth Atheneum (www.thewadsworth.org), Tate Museum (tate.org.uk), Studio Museum (studiomuseum.org), the poet Mary Oliver and author Melina Rudman ("Sacred Soil: A Gardner's Book of Reflections")

Installation artist and sculptor Tara Donovan transforms everyday objects like foam cups, toothpicks and index cards, transforming the familiar into the unrecognizable through overwhelming accumulation. ..Resources for this podcast episode include: Wadsworth Atheneum (thewadsworth.org), Pace Gallery (pacegallery.com), Smithsonian American Art Museum (americanart.si.edu), Dia Art Foundation (diaart.org), and interviews with Marc-Christoph Wagner and Nora Burnett Abrams.

Installation artist and sculptor Tara Donovan transforms everyday objects like foam cups, toothpicks and index cards, transforming the familiar into the unrecognizable through overwhelming accumulation. ..Resources for this podcast episode include: Wadsworth Atheneum (thewadsworth.org), Pace Gallery (pacegallery.com), Smithsonian American Art Museum (americanart.si.edu), Dia Art Foundation (diaart.org), and interviews with Marc-Christoph Wagner and Nora Burnett Abrams.

On episode #98 of the Speak Up Storytelling podcast, Matthew and Elysha Dicks talk storytelling! In our follow up segment, we share emails from listeners and discuss our first Speak Up virtual show. We also discuss upcoming shows and workshops, all online! STORYTELLING SHOWS 2020 July 11: Solo show at MOPCO Improv Theater (7:30 PM) (virtual) October 17: Speak Up at The Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford CT STORYTELLING WORKSHOPS 2020 July 11: Advanced storytelling workshop in partnership with MOPCO Improv Theater (11:00-6:00 PM) (virtual) In our Homework for Life segment, Matt talks about a moment that happened just prior to the recording and how to handle it.   Next we listen to a story by Kat Koppett. Amongst the many things we discuss include: Opening with a clear and vivid scene Lists  Breaking the rules Names Preserving surprise Next we answer a questions about Hannah Gadsy's comedy special "Nanette" and revealing secrets in stories.  Lastly, we each offer a recommendation.  RECOMMEDATIONS Elysha: Schitt's Creek (television show) Matt: The Twilight Zone (television show) "To Serve Man" - https://bit.ly/2Nxubh6 _______________________________________________ Support Speak Up Storytelling through our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/speakupstorytelling Purchase Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life Through the Power of Storytelling:  https://amzn.to/2H3YNn3 Purchase Twenty-one Truths About Love:  https://amzn.to/35Mz1xS  Homework for Life: https://bit.ly/2f9ZPne Matthew Dicks's website: http://www.matthewdicks.com Matthew Dicks's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/matthewjohndicks  Matthew Dicks's blog: https://matthewdicks.com/blog

On episode #97 of the Speak Up Storytelling podcast, Matthew and Elysha Dicks talk storytelling! In our follow up segment, we discuss the events taking place in our country right now and how we hope to begin moving in the right direction. We also discuss upcoming shows and workshops, all online! STORYTELLING SHOWS 2020 June 20: "Stories from Around the World" at the Connecticut Historical Society (virtual) July 11: Solo show at MOPCO Improv Theater (7:30 PM) (virtual)  October 17: Speak Up at The Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford CT STORYTELLING WORKSHOPS 2020 June 15, 22, 29, and July 6, 13, and 20: Advanced storytelling workshop (8:00-9:30 PM EST) (virtual) July 11: Master class in partnership with MOPCO Improv Theater (9:30-4:30 PM) (virtual) July 27-31: Storytelling boot camp, CT Historical Society In our Homework for Life segment, Matt talks about the power of contrast when trying to turn a moment into a story.   Next we listen to a story by Roszena Haskins. Amongst the many things we discuss include: Shifting tones in stories Pausing  Explanation reveals with humor The power of the "but" Preserving surprise Next we answer a questions about our marriage and maintaining curiosity in an audience.  Lastly, we each offer a recommendation.  RECOMMEDATIONS Elysha: Fuck the Bread. The Bread is Over - https://bit.ly/3gUQQ4C Matt: The Science of Well Being - https://bit.ly/2MxzCMI _______________________________________________ Support Speak Up Storytelling through our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/speakupstorytelling Purchase Storyworthy: Engage, Teach, Persuade, and Change Your Life Through the Power of Storytelling:  https://amzn.to/2H3YNn3 Purchase Twenty-one Truths About Love:  https://amzn.to/35Mz1xS  Homework for Life: https://bit.ly/2f9ZPne Matthew Dicks's website: http://www.matthewdicks.com Matthew Dicks's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/matthewjohndicks  Matthew Dicks's blog: https://matthewdicks.com/blog

Feminist artist Louise Lawler takes pictures of other artist's works. She is a "spy" at auction previews, in museum storerooms, corporate boardrooms, private residences with her camera. Journey with me in a new-looking experience of the display of works of art after they leave the artist's studio. ..Resources for this podcast episode include Wadsworth Atheneum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), and artist Sherrie Levine.

Feminist artist Louise Lawler takes pictures of other artist's works. She is a "spy" at auction previews, in museum storerooms, corporate boardrooms, private residences with her camera. Journey with me in a new-looking experience of the display of works of art after they leave the artist's studio. ..Resources for this podcast episode include Wadsworth Atheneum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), and artist Sherrie Levine.

Welcome to my monthly episode about women and the visual arts in 19th century Hartford, Connecticut. Today we will journey beneath the wings of a protecting angel in the Memorial Window in the Church of the Good Shepherd, in Hartford's South Meadows. Plus a celebration of author Melina Rudman and her new book, "Sacred Soil: A Gardener's Book of Reflection."..Resources for this podcast episode include The Wadsworth Atheneum, William Hosley, "Colts: The Making of an American Legend."

Welcome to my monthly episode about women and the visual arts in 19th century Hartford, Connecticut. Today we will journey beneath the wings of a protecting angel in the Memorial Window in the Church of the Good Shepherd, in Hartford's South Meadows. Plus a celebration of author Melina Rudman and her new book, "Sacred Soil: A Gardener's Book of Reflection."..Resources for this podcast episode include The Wadsworth Atheneum, William Hosley, "Colts: The Making of an American Legend."

Welcome to my monthly, bonus episode, "Elizabeth Colt Series," focused on my writing process and research for my upcoming book of the 19th-century art patron. In this episode, journey through the Sampler; creative expressions by everyday women-compositions constructed with fibers and needle...Resources for this episode include Susan P. Schoelwer, “Connecticut Needlework: Women, Art and Family, 1740-1840, writer Mirra Bank and the Wadsworth Atheneum (thewadsworth.org) Special shout out to writer John Launius and his new book, "The Life and times of Missouri’s Charles Parsons: Between Art and War,” @parsons_book on Instagram.

Welcome to my monthly, bonus episode, "Elizabeth Colt Series," focused on my writing process and research for my upcoming book of the 19th-century art patron. In this episode, journey through the Sampler; creative expressions by everyday women-compositions constructed with fibers and needle...Resources for this episode include Susan P. Schoelwer, “Connecticut Needlework: Women, Art and Family, 1740-1840, writer Mirra Bank and the Wadsworth Atheneum (thewadsworth.org) Special shout out to writer John Launius and his new book, "The Life and times of Missouri’s Charles Parsons: Between Art and War,” @parsons_book on Instagram.

Thursday, November 28, 2019, 12 noon WPKN 89.5 FM www.wpkn.org Host: Duo Dickinson A LIVE, real-time podcast, intended to accompany feasting and preparation for feasting on our one fully secular, non-football-reflated national holiday: Thanksgiving. The reality is that these celebrations usually happen in a home, and share domestic life with friends, relatives and strangers. But that is not the full story. Before there was today”s Thanksgiving, there was a very different time. Before the mass-marketing hype, NFL games, Butterball Turkeys and Ocean Spray Cranberry Jelly – not to mention mini-marshmallows roasted over squash. How did we celebrate, 100 years ago? Two hundred years ago? How did Native American Culture feast and celebrate before they were invaded? What happened after 1620? How did humans use their homes to celebrate Thanksgiving in each of those eras? Home Page has two thoughtful historians of America and Pre-America Live On-Air to talk to us about how we have done Thanksgiving through the centuries: William Hosley is a cultural resource development and marketing consultant, social media expert, historian, writer, and photographer. He is passionate about local history and historic preservation and has developed a deep attachment to dozens of places worth caring about. He was formerly Director of the New Haven Museum and Connecticut Landmarks, where he cared for a chain of historic attractions. Prior to that, as a curator and exhibition developer at Wadsworth Atheneum. Bill has studied, lectured and advised museums and heritage destinations around the country. Bill has also served as a content specialist for PBS, BBC, and CPTV film documentaries. Dr. Donal Rankin is Yale-trained surgeon and Emergency Medicine Physician who retired a few years back from Bridgeport Hospital. His interests now focus on Indian American culture and tradition and archaeology for the Friends of the Office of State Archaeology (FOSA). Dr. Rankin has participated in numerous digs and at present deliver the Connecticut Archaeology Road Show with Gary Nolf, one of the founders of FOSA. He has given talks on the Universe, local history, slavery, and the abolitionist movement. He is a member of St. Andrews Episcopal Church and Madison Post 79 of the American Legion.

The Wadsworth Atheneum

Birdies for Charity: The Wadsworth Atheneum

Renaissance artist Giorgione through his painting "La Vecchia," (translates to old woman) inspired me to explore our aging and the portrait. This episode is part 1 of a 4 part mini-series on our shared humanity of "growing old." Resources for this episode include The Wadsworth Atheneum (www.thewadsworth.org)

Renaissance artist Giorgione through his painting "La Vecchia," (translates to old woman) inspired me to explore our aging and the portrait. This episode is part 1 of a 4 part mini-series on our shared humanity of "growing old." Resources for this episode include The Wadsworth Atheneum (www.thewadsworth.org)

Explore the historical and autobiographical through artist Howardena Pindell's visual vocabulary of texture, bright colors in her evocative work "Autobiography: Water / Ancestors / Middle Passage / Family Ghosts," mixed media work from 1989I want to acknowledge Wadsworth Atheneum for resources and images used in this podcast episode. www.thewadsworth.org. Learn more about Howardena Pindell at howardenapindell.org

Explore the historical and autobiographical through artist Howardena Pindell's visual vocabulary of texture, bright colors in her evocative work "Autobiography: Water / Ancestors / Middle Passage / Family Ghosts," mixed media work from 1989I want to acknowledge Wadsworth Atheneum for resources and images used in this podcast episode. www.thewadsworth.org. Learn more about Howardena Pindell at howardenapindell.org

Experience the beauty and energy of the natural world through the evocative paintings, "Landline" by abstract painter Sean Scully; vertical compositions of horizontal stripes, elements of a landscape stacked one atop of another in pure color! The works discussed, "Landline See" and "Landline, 1999" are part of an exhibition at The Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, CT. Go to thewadsworth.org; image credit @thewadsworth. Links to other references include articles from Irish Times (Aidan Dunne's Artist Sean Scully: ‘It’s about stacking, putting things in order’-9/29/18) and ArtFixDaily (artfixdaily.com), 9/11/18) and author Roger Caitlin 9/20/18 @smithsonian.com)

Experience the beauty and energy of the natural world through the evocative paintings, "Landline" by abstract painter Sean Scully; vertical compositions of horizontal stripes, elements of a landscape stacked one atop of another in pure color! The works discussed, "Landline See" and "Landline, 1999" are part of an exhibition at The Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, CT. Go to thewadsworth.org; image credit @thewadsworth. Links to other references include articles from Irish Times (Aidan Dunne's Artist Sean Scully: ‘It’s about stacking, putting things in order’-9/29/18) and ArtFixDaily (artfixdaily.com), 9/11/18) and author Roger Caitlin 9/20/18 @smithsonian.com)

Explore the austere portrait through a series of black and white photographs in contemporary artist Lorna Simpson's "Bits and Pieces" Explore with me a juxtaposition of image and text that reveals the black experience. "Bits and Pieces" is part of the collection at the Wadsworth Atheneum, please visit their site at thewadsworth.org and listen to a commentary by Contemporary Art curator Andrea Miller-Keller at tap.thewadsworth.org.

Explore the austere portrait through a series of black and white photographs in contemporary artist Lorna Simpson's "Bits and Pieces" Explore with me a juxtaposition of image and text that reveals the black experience. "Bits and Pieces" is part of the collection at the Wadsworth Atheneum, please visit their site at thewadsworth.org and listen to a commentary by Contemporary Art curator Andrea Miller-Keller at tap.thewadsworth.org.

American Modernist Arthur Dove paints grain towers in his hometown of Geneva, New York as he experienced it using simple forms, shapes and color. You can view the work, housed at Wadsworth Atheneum at thewadsworth.org. Special thanks to the Met Museum and author Robert Atkins; they provided wonderful resources in my research for this episode. Special thanks to Global 365 (www.global365.com) for their support. You can also see the image @beyondthepaintpodcast on Instagram and at beyondthepaint.net

American Modernist Arthur Dove paints grain towers in his hometown of Geneva, New York as he experienced it using simple forms, shapes and color. You can view the work, housed at Wadsworth Atheneum at thewadsworth.org. Special thanks to the Met Museum and author Robert Atkins; they provided wonderful resources in my research for this episode. Special thanks to Global 365 (www.global365.com) for their support. You can also see the image @beyondthepaintpodcast on Instagram and at beyondthepaint.net

Two women, Judith and her Maidservant sit with the head of Holoferne's moments after Judith decapitates him. Experience it through the lens of Baroque painter Orazio Gentileschi, father of the famed Artemisia. Image credit: Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, CT thewadsworth.orgI also mentioned the podcast Miss Information--please check them out @missinfopod on twitter

Two women, Judith and her Maidservant sit with the head of Holoferne's moments after Judith decapitates him. Experience it through the lens of Baroque painter Orazio Gentileschi, father of the famed Artemisia. Image credit: Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, CT thewadsworth.orgI also mentioned the podcast Miss Information--please check them out @missinfopod on twitter

Salvador Dali and Max Ernst are among the Surrealist artists whose works are on view in Monsters & Myths, an exhibit at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford. This hour, we go behind the scenes and take an in-depth look at Connecticut's place within the Surrealist movement. Support the show: http://wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Explore the panoramic landscape by Hudson River School artist Frederic Church in his magnificent composition, "Syria by the Sea," currently on view at The Wadsworth Atheneum's exhibition "Frederic Church" A Painter's Pilgrimage." You can learn more about the exhibition and view the work at the Wadsworth website at www.thewadsworth.org.

Amongst all the sitters in art history, the people who sit to have their portrait painted, only a few possess this remarkable skill: to cast the most beautifully perplexing smile, that, with a simple curve of the lips, writes novels of emotional expression. This is one such smile. You can find the images for this episode and the notes for the show on accession.fm. 

Explore the panoramic landscape by Hudson River School artist Frederic Church in his magnificent composition, "Syria by the Sea," currently on view at The Wadsworth Atheneum's exhibition "Frederic Church" A Painter's Pilgrimage." You can learn more about the exhibition and view the work at the Wadsworth website at www.thewadsworth.org.

This week, we hear some stories and interviews from our archives. We find out what a Reveal/APM Reports investigation tells us about police de-escalation training in New England, and visit police in New Hampshire who are reaching out to children who've been traumatized by witnessing crime. We also explore the work of Marsden Hartley, whose art defined the rocky coast, the looming hills, and the working men of Maine. Plus we visit New England's biggest flea market, where the people are as fascinating as the stuff on display. A lobster made from horseshoes at the Brimfield Antiques Flea Market. Photo by Ziwei Zhang De-Escalation Many of the high-profile police shootings of the last few years across the U.S. have a disturbing common thread: they happen within a few minutes, or even a few seconds, after police arrive on the scene. Several states require “de-escalation” training for their police officers. It’s meant to avoid situations where deadly force is viewed as the only resort. Officer Jennifer Lazarchic at a police training session in March 2016. Photo by Courtney Perry for MPR News In New England, three of our six states have such mandates: Maine, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. Still, training requirements, and how well they are carried out, vary from state to state. Below: An interactive map from APM Reports. A recent episode of Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting worked with APM Reports to examine de-escalation state by state. Our guest is APM Reports correspondent Curtis Gilbert, author of the report “Not Trained to Not Kill.” We dig into the details and learn how New England states measure up. Types of police calls the Manchester ACERT team responded to July 2016 through March 2017. Graphic by Sara Plourde for NHPR When police respond to a domestic violence call or a drug overdose, children are often on the scene when officers arrive. Manchester, New Hampshire police found that in 2015, 400 children had been on-scene during such calls. Research shows that children exposed to trauma are more likely to be violent — and victims of violence — later in life. So Manchester police officers are trying something new: returning to the scene of such crises to see if they can help. The first-of-its-kind program is called ACERT: Adverse Childhood Experiences Response Team. New Hampshire Public Radio’s Emily Corwin reports. Marsden Hartley’s Maine Mt. Katahdin in Maine, Autumn -2 by Marsden Hartley, 1939-40, Metropolitan Museum of Art Portrait of Marsden Hartley by Carl Van Vechten, U.S. Library of Congress In the permanent collection of the Wadsworth Atheneum, the nation's oldest art museum in downtown Hartford, Connecticut, is a painting by Marsden Hartley called “Down East Young Blades,” depicting three colorful figures standing on a pier. Massive, strapping, working men with comically broad shoulders are pictured with the images of their trade: lobsters, fish, and logs. Hartley's career, stretching from the early years of the 20th century to his death in 1943, celebrated the vast and wild scenery of New England; specifically, his home state of Maine. The exhibition “Marsden Hartley's Maine” will be featured at the Colby College Museum of Art in Waterville, Maine July 8 through November 12, 2017. (“Downeast Young Blades” is on loan from the Wadsworth for the exhibition). Our guest Donna Cassidy, Professor of Art and American and New England Studies at the University of Southern Maine, co-authored the exhibition book about the artist's relationship with the Pine Tree State. Fiddlers and Peddlers Of the 530 refugees who arrived in the New Haven metro area last year, more than 270 were children. Many have just finished their first year in school in the United States. WNPR's Diane Orson reports on an arts program that's partnered with the region's resettlement agency to create a special after-school violin class for the young refugees. A piece of “folk art” made from a carousel horse and a mannequin. Photo by Ziwei Zhang In the 1954 film Brigadoon, the protagonists discover a magical village that only appears for one day every hundred years. Brimfield, Massachusetts is kind of like that. The town only has about 3,500 permanent residents. But for a week in each of May, July, and September, the town transforms into a bustling tent city known as the Brimfield Antique Flea Market. The market dates back to the 1950s and today boasts over 250,000 visitors, stretching half a mile down Route 20. The next show will run July 11 to July 16. At a market like this, the stuff comes with stories, and NEXT producer Andrea Muraskin found plenty on her visit last September. Be sure to check out the slideshow below. About NEXT NEXT is produced at WNPR. Host: John Dankosky Producer: Andrea Muraskin Executive Producer: Catie Talarski Digital Content Manager/Editor: Heather Brandon Contributors to this episode: Emily Corwin, Alexandra Oshinskie, and Diane Orson Music: Todd Merrell, Lightning on a Blue Sky by Twin Musicom, New England by Goodnight Blue Moon, “Family and Genus” by Shakey Graves, “The Mountain” by the Heartless Bastards, “A Hard Day’s Night” by the Beatles Get all the NEXT episodes. We appreciate your feedback! Send praise, critique, suggestions, questions, story leads, and pictures of your own flea market finds to next@wnpr.org.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week, we tackle the confusing and contradictory world of health care, from politics that are personal, to overcoming the trauma of being a refugee, to the shifting language of addiction. We also explore the work of Marsden Hartley, whose art defined the rocky coast, the looming hills, and the working men of Maine. Marden Hartley, Lobster Fishermen, 1940-41 Metropolitan Museum of Art New Ideas in Health Care We go to a clinic in Vermont that's working to help treat the mental health issues of the refugee community there, both from past traumas and the stresses of transitioning into a new culture. And caregivers are pushing back against terminology that they think minimizes an illness or condition. That means the term “post-traumatic” is out, in favor of language that acknowledges the ongoing nature of trauma. In New Hampshire, many on the front lines of the opioid epidemic are coming to see addiction as a medical disorder. And the Republican plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act stalled in Washington, D.C., in part because of predictions that up to 24 million people could lose their health insurance. That would include many people who voted for Donald Trump. We hear from a high-profile skeptic of Obamacare who's changed his point of view. Ajuda Thapa, center in black, learns about Lake Champlain Chocolates on an outing with other Bhutanese refugees who have sought mental health treatment at UVM’s Connecting Cultures clinic. Kathleen Masterson/VPR Marsden Hartley’s Maine Portrait of Marsden Hartley by Carl Van Vechten, U.S. Library of Congress In the permanent collection of the Wadsworth Atheneum, the nation's oldest art museum in downtown Hartford, Connecticut, is a painting by Marsden Hartley called “Down East Young Blades,” depicting three colorful figures standing on a pier. Massive, strapping, working men with comically broad shoulders are pictured with the images of their trade: lobsters, fish, and logs. Hartley's career, stretching from the early years of the 20th century to his death in 1943, celebrated the vast and wild scenery of New England; specifically, his home state of Maine. The exhibition “Marsden Hartley's Maine” is at the Met Breuer in New York until June, when it moves to the Colby College Museum of Art. Our guest Donna Cassidy, Professor of Art and American and New England Studies at the University of Southern Maine, co-authored the exhibition book about the artist's relationship with this place. Mt. Katahdin (Maine), Autumn -2, 1939–40, Metropolitan Museum of Art Recognition Angelica Merino Monge was ten years old when she, her mother and her older brother fled El Salvador. She lived in the U.S. illegally until recently, when the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or DACA was passed, enabling her to become authorized to work and stay in the country. She's putting herself through college and is now president of the Latino International Students Association at Holyoke Community College. We hear her story as told to the Words in Transit Project at New England Public Radio. Last, we hear a story about recognition, a long time coming. Portland, Maine is remembering a long forgotten African American man who served, and was injured, in one of the nation's earliest wars. It's a saga that began more than two centuries ago, and a story of justice twice denied — or at least delayed. Larry Glatz (left) and Herb Adams immediately make plans to add “Quazi-War with France” to William Brown’s gravestone after unwrapping it. Troy R. Bennett/Bangor Daily NewsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When the photographs of Robert Mapplethorpe were exhibited at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford in 1989, there were protesters on the street and lines around the block as thousands queued up to pay an extra fee to look at these pictures, which lay at the heart of a heated debate about public funding for the arts.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Darryl Sivad picked up his first camera in high school. Richard Avedon invited Sivad to join him in New York City for a rare opportunity – a two-year internship. A delay in transitioning from Detroit to New York cost him that opportunity. However, highly regarded photographer Anthony Barboza did engage Sivad as an assistant. It was here that Sivad was able to refine his own vision as a photographer. Sivad’s passion for photography continues alongside his career as an actor/writer. His images can also be seen in the following publications Black: A Celebration of Culture; I Shook Up the World; Saturday Night/Sunday Morning and Black Renaissance/Black Noire. Sivad has exhibited nationally including most recently at the UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History, the Leica Gallery, the Wadsworth Atheneum of Art, The African American Museum in Philadelphia, PA and the California African American Museum. His work is also in the permanent collections of the Museum of the African Diaspora and the Smithsonian Institute.Sivad’s film and television career has included being a series regular, recurring and guest star on Friends, Fresh Prince of Bel Air, The Jamie Foxx Show, ER, The Naked Truth, NYPD Blue, Two and a Half Men, Talkin’ Dirty After Dark, Fear of a Black Hat and A Cinderella Story. You can discover more about his career and work by visiting . Also check out a funny short-film, he co-wrote and stars in called . Darryl Sivad recommends the work of . For streaming audio or subscribe to the podcast for free via

Three bands make up the painting: a blue sky, pink and grey clouds, the green meadow. A tree at left frames the composition, the central haystack provides a point of focus, a few animals add extra interest, and some exquisite reflections persuade us of the artist’s painterly skills. If we were to follow the thin, flat bayou meandering through the marshland, where would it take us? The distant hills have none of the grandeur or drama expected of landscapes at this period. Even the hand of the artist seems peculiarly absent. We are left with a haystack at the centre of the painting which, on closer examination, is a rather strangely shaped mound. Where, exactly, are we? Marshlands – at the mouth of the Parker River in Ipswich, Massachusetts, or Hoboken in New Jersey, or Southport, Connecticut – held a great fascination for Heade; he produced more than a hundred paintings of the subject. These canvases have various descriptive titles: passing or approaching storms, sudden shower, after the rain, sunrise, sun breaking through, after the rain. Our attention is drawn to the natural forces and meteorological phenomena that shape these environments. Clearly, it was the changing atmospheric conditions and variations in light that attracted the artist. Is this what fascinates us still? Heade began painting salt marshes in about 1858 and continued to paint them for more than four decades, in pairs, thematic groups, or as long series. He worked on marshland subjects intermittently, alternating them with Romantic mountain, tropical, southern or northern landscapes.1 At times, for variety, Heade included duck hunters or their hutches, hayricks or covered haystacks in his marsh scenes – he even created still-life paintings of marsh canvases propped up on trestles.2 Despite all these variants, even with staffage, the best of Heade’s paintings are characterised by a mysterious emptiness. Just as a marsh is a transitional zone between land and water, Heade’s Luminist paintings sit slightly apart from those of the Hudson River School. Like many of his contemporaries, Heade travelled widely: in his early twenties he spent two years in Rome, travelled in Brazil from 1863 to 1864 and his life in the United States was peripatetic. Sunlight and shadow, the Newbury Marshes encapsulates both major European aesthetic traditions: idyllic, light-filled scenes or intense, northern specificity. Looking at Heade’s marsh paintings, those who value stillness may be think of Friedrich’s The Great Preserve c. 1832. Conditions of light in both paintings – twilight in Friedrich’s, the combination of sunlight and shadow in Heade’s – liberate colour from naturalism, contributing an intriguing violet tinge to each scene. Both artists use unnatural colour palettes, and only a few motifs. But like composers, they obtain seemingly endless variations from these notes. In Sunlight and shadow, the Newbury Marshes, Heade makes the ordinary exotic. Lurid colours give the painting a hallucinatory quality, the solitary haystack takes on mystical power, and the deceptive simplicity of the scene makes it seem hyper-real. Here the Sublime verges on the transcendental. Lucina Ward 1 Heade and Church were close friends – Church passed his studio, in a 10th St New York, to Heade – and Church also encouraged his interest in South America. 2 See Gremlin in Studio II c. 1871–75, Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford; for this and others, see Theodore E. Stebbins et al., The life and work of Martin Johnson Heade: a critical analysis and catalogue raisonné, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000.