Art Works Podcast

Professor, art historian, and curator Dr. Nicole Fleetwood has spent years exploring the art of incarcerated people and how it is essential to our understanding of mass incarceration and the people it affects. A 2021 MacArthur Fellow, Fleetwood began this work as she reflected on her family’s and community’s history of imprisonment. The project grew into an award-winning book Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration  and a traveling museum exhibition also titled “Marking Time.” Both the book and the exhibit look at the work of some 35 artists who are currently incarcerated, formerly incarcerated, or who’ve been affected by the prison system.  In this podcast, Fleetwood discusses the ingenuity involved in creating art within the constraints of the prison system, the bonds that can be forged among prisoners who are artists, the sheer talent and dedication these artists bring to their work, and the insights about imprisonment that the artwork frequently displays. Dr. Fleetwood is passionate, knowledgeable, and deeply appreciative of the spark of creativity that won’t be extinguished even under soul-crushing circumstances. Follow us on:  Apple Podcasts   Google Podcasts

In March 2020, Joy Jones was rehearsing the part of Vera in the Arena Stage production of August Wilson’s Seven Guitars directed by Tazewell Thompson. It’s not a surprise that Arena Stage would be mounting Seven Guitars. A long-time grantee of the National Endowment for the Arts,  Arena Stage is a pioneer of the Regional Theater Movement and the largest company in the country dedicated to American plays and playwrights. The surprise came with the pandemic that closed theaters and brought the country to a halt or at least a pause.  It took over a year and a half, but Seven Guitars finally opened at Arena Stage in late November 2021 with cast and audience equally jubilant. In this podcast, Joy Jones talks about the role of Vera, playing August Wilson, working with Tazewell Thompson, re-entering the rehearsal room and the stage after the shut down, and learning to love the arts as a kid in Washington DC. (You can find my 2015 interview with Tazewell Thompson here). Follow us on:  Apple Podcasts   Google Podcasts

Andrew Krivak’s novel The Bear, which is a recent NEA Big Read title, is a story about the last of humanity. Yet the book somehow is remarkably hopeful. Set far into the future, it’s a fable that seems as old as time with a sense wonder that weaves throughout it. Without humans, or with the last of humans, nature has reclaimed its prominence and its rhythms once again prevail. The last two humans, a father and daughter, understand and live within those rhythms, which they must in order to survive. In this podcast, Krivak talks about how the book began for him, his desire to write a book in which nature was a protagonist, his love of storytelling, and his hopes for the conversations The Bear will provoke as an NEA Big Read title. Follow us on:  Apple Podcasts   Google Podcasts

Today, we revisit a conversation with 2019 NEA Jazz Master composer, conductor, and arranger Maria Schneider who creates highly original and evocative compositions for her jazz orchestra. A New York Thanksgiving tradition was a week-long series of performances by the Maria Schneider Orchestra at the Jazz Standard. As we know the pandemic put the performance of live music on hold for over a year, there was no residency in 2020 and sadly, the Jazz Standard has shuttered its location. But happily the Maria Schneider Orchestra has recently returned to the stage performing in late November at New Jersey Performing Arts Center. Much of Schneider’s music is autobiographical, evoking the Minnesota plains where she was born and raised. She returns to the theme of her childhood in a prairie town again and again; in fact, she’s come to realize that the foundation of her music is her hometown. She finds parts of it magical, and we certainly hear it in her music. Although she’s composed classical work and collaborated with David Bowie, Maria’s musical center remains in jazz. In this podcast, we talk about her connection to jazz (especially to the music of NEA Jazz Master Gil Evans), the ways in which she and the musicians in her band inspire one another, her collaboration with Bowie, and how her deep ties to Windom, Minnesota, translates into mesmerizing music. Follow us on:  Apple Podcasts   Google Podcasts

David Rodriguez is the Executive Vice President & Executive Producer of NJPAC (New Jersey Performing Arts Center)—it’s not only one of the largest performing arts centers in the country, it’s also one of the most diverse from its programming to its artists to its staff and its audiences. From its inception, NJPAC ‘s goal was to serve as a cultural anchor and help revitalize downtown Newark through the arts.  It does so in a number of ways from producing world-class events in one of its four theaters to programming free events throughout the city of Newark to offering a robust arts education program which reaches some students & families annually. In this podcast, David Rodriguez discusses NJPAC’s place in the city of Newark, its commitment and responsibilities to the community, its programming during the pandemic, its ever-growing arts education programming, and his own background as a Newark-born musician turned producer, including his decade-long stint running the Apollo Theater. Follow us on:  Apple Podcasts   Google Podcasts

Today, we revisit our interview with 2018 National Heritage Fellow and black ash basket maker Kelly Church. An Anishinaabe belonging to the Gun Lake Potawami Band, Church combines the centuries-old tradition of ash tree harvesting and processing, creating ribbons of ash she then weaves into stunningly original and colorful baskets. Tied to her artistry is a deep commitment to keep this tradition not just alive but vital. She’s taken on a task that’s become more difficult and urgent since the ash tree is being destroyed by an invasive species: the emerald ash borer. In this podcast, Kelly Church takes us on the journey of taking a living tree and recreating it as a basket, the significance of the black ash tree for the North East people, and the steps she’s taking to keep this traditional art intact for the next generations. Follow us on:  Apple Podcasts   Google Podcasts

Arlo Iron Cloud (Oglala-Sioux) embraces and celebrates Lakota culture through his radio broadcasting, photography, filmmaking, language reclamation, and work in food sovereignty. He passionately embraces Lakota tradition and is deeply committed to its future. Iron Cloud is the station manager (and long time programmer) on KILI Radio—the radio station designed by and for the Lakota people on the Pine Ridge Reservation. In fact, he produced an episode of the NEA-funded podcast, Out of the Blocks from Pine Ridge. He works with his wife Lisa in the food sovereignty movement, which is focused on traditional foodways. And he documents every day life on Pine Ridge through his photographs. Iron Cloud is a dynamic guest, and once you hear his voice, you’ll know why he’s in radio.  In this podcast, Iron Cloud talks about Kili Radio, the weight and joy of language reclamation, and discovering with Lisa the traditional and sustainable foodways of the Lakota. Follow us on:  Apple Podcasts   Google Podcasts

Today, Hill Country blues musician, songwriter, and 2021 National Heritage Fellow Cedric Burnside talks about bringing his musical roots to the 21st century. Cedric Burnside has the blues in his bones: his father, uncles, and cousins all played. His grandfather was blues legend R.L. Burnside, known to Cedric as “Big Daddy.” Cedric essentially grew up in R.L.’s house, listening to the music, playing along at the regular house parties and at the local juke joint. Beginning his musical career as a drummer, by the age of 12 or so, he was backing R. L. on tours. A songwriter most of his life, he added guitar-playing to his musical repertoire and began a successful solo career. In this podcast, Burnside talks about his “really amazing, adrenaline-pumping little childhood,” his relationship with R.L., what makes Hill Country blues Hill Country blues, and his joy in bringing the music to the world. Follow us on:  Apple Podcasts   Google Podcasts

Dr. Niyati Dhokai is Program Director of Veterans and the Arts Initiative at George Mason University’s Hylton Performing Arts Center.  The program has been supported, in part, by Creative Forces®: NEA Military Healing Arts Network-- an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the U.S. Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs.  Creative Forces places creative arts therapies at the core of patient-centered care at clinical sites throughout the country, including telehealth services. It also invests in increased access to community arts activities to promote health, well-being and quality of life for military service members, veterans, and their families and caregivers. That’s where Veterans and the Arts Initiative comes in—it’s an arts and community hub for people connected to the military. Since Veterans and the Arts initiative began in 2014, it has served over 10,000 people—developing robust workshops in music and art as well as performances and events for the community. In this podcast, Niyati Dhokai discusses the unique aspects of programming for veterans, service members, and their families, the very concrete ways art creates community, how the program continues to evolve, and the support and resources Veterans and the Arts has received from Creatives Forces.    A further note: Applications for Creative Forces Community Engagement Grants—managed in partnership with Mid-America Arts Alliance—are available now to eligible organizations for emerging and established projects. You can find the guidelines at maaa.org/creativeforces.  Deadline for applications is December 15, 2021. Follow us on:  Apple Podcasts   Google Podcasts

Co-founder, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter for the band Los Lobos, named 2021 National Heritage Fellows, Louie Pérez is one of the great storytellers. For more than 40 years, he’s written songs from the Chicano experience that speak to the joys, struggles, challenges, and hopes of everyday life.  Los Lobos is an East LA band who came together almost 50 years ago, and, miraculously, it still consists of the same four founding members; Pérez, David Hidalgo, Cesar Rosas, and Conrad Lozano (Steve Berlin—the new kid—came on board in 1984). Los Lobos began as rockers who came to appreciate the traditional Mexican music of their parents—so much so that they devoted themselves to it for ten years. They played (and play) authentic music, but they approached it with the energy of rockers. Their big breakthrough came when they contributed music to the soundtrack of La Bamba, including the title song which became a mega-hit. As Pérez says, “a little band from East LA, that had a number one record of a traditional Mexican song. The name of the band was Los Lobos. That’s quite a statement.  Another snapshot of Chicano culture as it moves forward.”  Their entire discography can be seen as snapshots of Chicano culture as they moved through and with different musics from rock to traditional to zydeco to R&B but always referring back to their Chicano roots. In this musical podcast, Pérez takes us through the formation of Los Lobos, their love of traditional Mexican music, their lifelong commitment to bring that music and culture to the world, the extraordinary journey of “La Bamba,” their roots in East Los Angeles, and the brotherhood the band shares. Follow us on:  Apple Podcasts   Google Podcasts