Leslie Moody Castro and William Sarradet talk about recent events in the art world including the beheading of a public sculpture, the discovery of the oldest cave art, and fake Picassos in a Tasmanian Museum. "I connect with the sentiment of exhibitions as being a site of experimentation and play. I appreciate at some level vaunting art canon as the be-all-end-all record of what is important and aesthetic in human history but at some point, you trip over yourself just to have a handful of people be successful and valued."  See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2024/07/14/art-dirt-beheaded-sculptures-fake-picassos-and-cave-paintings/ If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Jessica Fuentes and William Sarradet discuss the redesign and expansion of the Arkansas Museum of Fine Art and the upcoming "Delta Triennial." "Traditionally, the Delta is a juried exhibition. This year AMFA decided to also have an invitational component. It still functioned as a juried exhibition, anybody could apply that fell within that geographic region, but the jurors also selected one artist from each of the states to be the invited artist." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2024/06/30/art-dirt-discussing-arkansas-delta-triennial/ If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Brandon Zech talks with Erin Dorn about her experiences working in Houston's art institutions and starting her own gallery, Seven Sisters. "It's a relationship-based industry, and being able to anticipate what your clients would like or would respond to and introducing them to new material is part of the cycle that comes with the territory." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2024/06/16/art-dirt-talking-with-erin-dorn-of-seven-sisters-gallery/ If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Inspired by recently unveiled controversial portraits of King Charles III and Catherine, Princess of Wales, Brandon Zech and Gabriel Martinez discuss portraiture's privileged place in art history. "For the entire history of portraiture, the goal has been to depict the person as they are because it has been the only way for us to be able to tell how people looked. But now that images of famous people can be ubiquitously found on the internet, artists have a little more freedom to play with the idea of what a portrait is." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2024/06/02/art-dirt-whats-the-point-of-portraiture/ This week's podcast is sponsored in part by the Center for the Advancement and Study of Early Texas Art (CASETA), which will present their Annual Symposium and Texas Art Fair from June 21-23 at the DoubleTree by Hilton – Greenway Plaza Hotel in Houston. The event will feature a variety of lectures and conversations revolving around Early Texas Art, along with an accompanying art fair. To see a complete list of events and register for the program, please go here: https://www.caseta.org/2022-caseta-symposium

William Sarradet and Gabriel Martinez discuss the Julio Torres film Problemista and its depiction of the difficulties of succeeding in the contemporary art world. "One of my favorite things about art film is that it certainly can follow a conventional narrative arc; it doesn't just have to be talking about Snow White and Prince Charming." If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2024/05/19/art-dirt-problemista-magical-realism-in-the-art-world/

Leslie Moody Castro and Jessica Fuentes discuss new art organizations, the appeal of non-urban spaces, and the many changes occurring at art institutions across the state. "There might be more opportunities in these smaller places because there are less restrictions and more space. It will be interesting to see how they continue to build, and develop, and how they find ways to sustain themselves."  See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2024/05/05/art-dirt-staffing-changes-new-museums-other-recent-news/ If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Brandon Zech talks with Texas artist Paul Hester about his over 50-year career taking photographs. "There are photographs that I look at and say 'that just feels right,' but there are others that bug the hell out of me, and those are the ones that stick with me." See related readings here:https://glasstire.com/2024/04/21/art-dirt-talking-art-architecture-photography-with-paul-hester If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Brandon Zech, Leslie Moody Castro, and Gabriel Martinez talk about the 2024 editions of the Dallas Art Fair and the Dallas Invitational. "The opening night party was kind of sparse. Normally it's a zoo; you can't walk through the lobby, the valet line is a mess. There was a nice crowd, but nothing like I have experienced in the past." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2024/04/07/art-dirt-recapping-dallas-art-fairs If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: glasstire.com/donate

Brandon Zech and Gabriel Martinez talk about the changing state of Houston's art scene and what the future may bring. "I think we're seeing one of the most significant changes in the Houston museum landscape in the last ten years. Galleries come and go, artist-run spaces come and go, smaller nonprofits come and go, but the places that we think of as our museums generally don't tend to come and go." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2024/03/24/art-dirt-houstons-changing-museum-scene If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Brandon Zech talks with actor, comedian, and art collector Cheech Marin about how he came to collect Chicano art, the Texas artists he's looking at today, and his museum, The Cheech, in Riverside, California. "The other great center of Chicano art was San Antonio, because they had a lot of artists and they supported them, but there was no director of any major museum that wanted to put their neck on the block and say yeah this is Chicano art. They loved me as a comedian but they weren't so sure about me as an authority on Chicano art, because these guys had studied it all their life and had unpaid student loans to prove it, so who is this doper comedian to say what's what about Chicano art?" See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2024/03/10/art-dirt-cheech-marin-talks-texas-art If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Leslie Moody Castro talks with artist, musician, and podcaster Barry Stone about how he engages with local artists, performers, and photography through his long-running project, Porch Swing Orchestra. “The relation of image and sound is, at its core, really what Porch Swing Orchestra and 'Vast is the Sea' is about. So, all the artists are bound, in diverse ways, through explorations of image, sound, and community.” See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2024/02/25/art-dirt-music-photography-with-barry-stones-porch-swing-orchestra If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

William Sarradet talks with Natalia Padilla about making art in Dallas, her work as a designer, and tips on applying to grants in the city. "My project, 'Yellow,' is a poem to the Dallas community. I love this city. It has taken care of me and allowed me to have a practice and explore my creativity." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2024/02/11/art-dirt-talking-with-natalia-padilla If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Brandon Zech talks with the Blaffer Art Museum's outgoing director, Steven Matijcio, about his approach to curating in peripheral art cities, engaging with local communities, and what he'll miss about Houston. "I have really come to love working in the unexpected place. Because in a lot of ways, I feel like you can spread your wings, you can oftentimes have more of an impact, you can get to know the community better. I really have loved these so-called non-center cities because I found a lot of richness in curatorially responding to them." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2024/01/28/art-dirt-an-exit-interview-with-the-blaffer-art-museums-steven-matijcio If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Brandon Zech talks with Glasstire's new Editor-in-Chief, Gabriel Martinez, about what makes a good work of art, how music, writing, and art differ, and why artists should know art history. "Every artwork is in dialog with art history, and I think it's important for artists to contextualize where their work stands in that conversation. It becomes shorthand, because you're using these past iterations of similar ideas and you’re speaking to them." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2024/01/14/art-dirt-talking-with-glasstire-editor-in-chief-gabriel-martinez If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Leslie Moody Castro talks with Harrison Guy about Houston's Fifth Ward, his Urban Souls Dance Company, and what keeps him motivated to build community in the city.  "Our projects are based on this thought process that memory builds the monument. The way that we look at it is that if you don't have a lot of assets in your community, because they're gone, for a lot of different reasons beyond your control, the thing that you do have is your memory...so if we look at the memories as the capital and we start to build from that, then we're starting from a place of asset versus deficit." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2023/12/31/art-dirt-talking-with-houstons-harrison-guy If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Jessica Fuentes, William Sarradet, and Brandon Zech discuss memorable art happenings, exhibitions, and events from 2023. "For a long time, and even still now, the art world has been caught up in the idea of a single genius, a singular voice, and the prestige of a solo exhibition. But I think coming out of the pandemic there was this need for community and coming together, and perhaps the amount of group shows this year is an extension of that." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2023/12/17/art-dirt-looking-back-at-2023 If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

William Sarradet talks with Houston's Sarah Welch and Fort Worth's Raul Rodriguez about the nature of zine festivals and the landscape of self-publishing in Texas. "I think being in Texas has actually put us at a good advantage for doing self-publishing work because there are so many major cities in the state...We've done some out of state stuff, but I think the events we do in Texas are often the highest quality." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2023/12/03/art-dirt-looking-at-zine-fests-and-self-publishing-in-texas This week's podcast is sponsored in part by the Houston Museum of African American Culture and their annual museum fundraiser and art auction, Champagne and Ribs, which is happening December 14 in Houston. The auction features works by internationally recognized artists Evita Tezeno, David McGee, Floyd Newsum, Johnny Floyd, and others. Your bid not only gets you an incredible work of art, but also goes a long way in sustaining the Houston Museum of African American Culture. The museum will be open during the week of December 3, from Tuesday to Saturday, 11a.m. - 6 p.m. to preview the auction and purchase Champagne & Ribs tickets online or in person. Learn more and support the museum here: https://hmaac.org

Jessica Fuentes, William Sarradet, and Brandon Zech discuss recent shows they've seen across Texas, the opening of new galleries in Houston, Austin, and Wimberley, and the art news that's been making headlines this fall. "In a lot of ways, Jeremy Strick's retirement from the Nasher Sculpture Center isn't surprising — we've talked recently about how we're kind of at a turning point where organizations across Texas are starting to see a certain generation retire or step back and new people come in to lead. It will be interesting to see what will happen next for the museum." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2023/11/19/art-dirt-rounding-up-fall-art-news-exhibitions-weve-loved If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Jessica Fuentes talks with Dallas' Darryl Ratcliff about the rise of unions for arts and culture workers. "Ultimately, we're all served by a more engaged public, and we're all served by taking care of people. And I know that our large institutions and their supporters want to do that, and sometimes it is up to us as artists, as culture workers, as people who are more on the ground, to help lead the way." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2023/11/05/art-dirt-discussing-the-rise-of-art-culture-worker-unions-with-guest-darryl-ratcliff If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

William Sarradet talks with Eric Schnell about what it's like to live, work, and run a ten-month residency program in Galveston. "Galveston is exactly the right size, where you can hold the whole island in your brain at one time. If it were bigger, that wouldn't be possible." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2023/10/22/art-dirt-talking-with-artist-galveston-artist-residency-director-eric-schnell If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Brandon Zech talks with special guest Jon Revett about life in the Texas Panhandle and about the 50th anniversary of artist Robert Smithson's "Amarillo Ramp." "Smithson is using the land to give you a place to re-view the land and see it from a different point of view and think about it in a different way." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2023/10/08/art-dirt-amarillo-ramp-cadillac-ranch-the-texas-panhandle-with-jon-revett Thanks to this week's podcast sponsor, the Menil Collection in Houston, Texas, and their exhibition, "The Iconic Portrait Strand by Nestor Topchy," on view now through January 21, 2024. On Thursday, October 12, at 7 p.m., Topchy will be joined by Timothy Morton, the Rita Shea Guffey Chair in English at Rice University, for an Artist Talk in conjunction with the show. The talk and the museum are both free to the public. Find details here: https://www.menil.org

Jessica Fuentes, William Sarradet, and Brandon Zech discuss exhibitions they've seen so far this fall, including shows at The Warehouse, Ruby City, Inman Gallery, the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, and beyond. "If you're going to use a kooky installation technique for a show, you've got to go all or nothing." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2023/09/24/art-dirt-discussing-fall-exhibitions-in-texas If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

To wrap up the summer, Jessica Fuentes and William Sarradet discuss what this season's hottest blockbuster says about our current moment. "The film has this incredible potency, but somehow it very neatly ties up what it aims to do...which is totally fine, but I feel like there's some need to find out what happens next, because we just spent a year waiting for this movie to come out and now it's over...so what's next?" See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2023/09/10/art-dirt-are-we-living-in-a-barbie-world If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Jessica Fuentes and Brandon Zech discuss our recent loss of numerous influential Texas art legends, and talk about the implications of Frieze's acquisition of The Armory Show and EXPO CHICAGO. "The people who are building a future in Texas are very much committed to being here and working here and buffing up and adding to the Texas art scene." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2023/08/27/art-dirt-a-changing-of-the-art-guard-when-a-locally-run-art-fair-is-bought-out If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Leslie Moody Castro and Brandon Zech discuss what's been happening in the art world this summer, including Sotheby's buying the Breuer Building in NYC, an increase in museum admission prices, and the Dallas Museum of Art picking an architecture firm to redesign its building.  "One element of this new design is a major almost floating contemporary art gallery at the top of the museum...this design and this incoming collection could transform the Dallas Museum of Art into one of the more important museums for contemporary art in America." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2023/08/13/art-dirt-museum-admission-prices-increase-sothebys-buys-the-breuer-building-the-dmas-big-redesign If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

William Sarradet talks with Dallas artist Andrea Tosten about calligraphy, her artwork, and her new position at the Oak Cliff Cultural Center. "I think my main point of being in this position is to get city dollars into artists' hands — public hands." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2023/07/30/art-dirt-talking-with-artist-andrea-tosten If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Jessica Fuentes and William Sarradet discuss their visits to Dallas-Fort Worth's newly opened Meow Wolf location. "One of the things about truly great art is that it changes every time you revisit it; you bring something new to it, you see something new in it, and you get to continue to explore it in various levels over an extended period of time." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2023/07/16/art-dirt-a-visit-to-meow-wolf-grapevine If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Brandon Zech talks with Ann Graham, who for the past ten years has run Texans for the Arts, about the ins an outs of art funding policy and how to advocate for art in your community. "At Texans for the Arts, we know that the arts are essential to our lives, so how do we bring that passion and commitment to the fore so citizens can get engaged, artist leaders and artists can get engaged, and elected officials and decision makers can get engaged." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2023/07/02/art-dirt-talking-with-ann-graham-from-texans-for-the-arts If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

William Sarradet talks with Lauren Shults, who is a Glasstire contributor and a reporter at the "Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post," about writing, art, and what it's like to live in a smaller, Hill Country town. "In smaller Texas towns, the social fabric is a little more tenured; people know each other — there’s a history that’s not getting wiped away with every generation." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2023/06/18/art-dirt-talking-with-writer-lauren-shults If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Leslie Moody Castro and Brandon Zech discuss a recent decision by the Supreme Court, which ruled against The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. "Forget about separating the art from the artist. Instead, can you separate the art from its intent?" See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2023/06/04/art-dirt-is-the-supreme-courts-andy-warhol-ruling-bad-for-artists If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Jessica Fuentes and Brandon Zech discuss "The Art of Making It," a 2021 documentary that explores the underside of the art world. "A lot of issues the documentary points out are just issues in the world, period." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2023/05/21/art-dirt-what-does-it-mean-to-make-it-in-the-art-world If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

William Sarradet talks with Nick Barbee about his artwork, his founding of the Galveston Art Lending Library, and why he decided to settle in the city. "The longer you stay on the island without going over the causeway, you become more relaxed and move at a different sort of pace." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2023/05/07/art-dirt-a-conversation-with-galveston-artist-nick-barbee If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Brandon Zech and Leslie Moody Castro break down the trends they found at the 2023 Dallas Art Fair. "Faux naïf surrealist figuration is the era we are solidly in right now." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2023/04/23/art-dirt-reporting-from-the-dallas-art-fair If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Brandon Zech talks with artist and public art specialist Tommy Gregory about the possibilities and pitfalls of making a public art project. "I think that art can be pretty, but it also should be challenging. It should make people think and look at the world differently, and that's always been my motivation." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2023/04/09/art-dirt-what-you-dont-know-about-public-art-part-2 If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Brandon Zech talks with Houston artist Janavi Mahimtura Folmsbee, who recently completed a large-scale installation in Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport, about the possibilities and pitfalls of making a public art project. "They don’t teach you business 101 in art school." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2023/03/26/art-dirt-what-you-dont-know-about-public-art-part-1 If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Jessica Fuentes and William Sarradet discuss the art they saw and the art spaces they visited in Laredo, McAllen, Corpus Christi, Rockport, Harlingen, and beyond. "One of my favorite things about traveling around Texas and going to different museums and galleries is seeing works by familiar artists in different spaces, because each space adds to the context and perception of the work, and can really change the way you view it." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2023/03/12/art-dirt-a-visit-to-the-valley-south-texas-part-2 If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Leslie Moody Castro talks with Dallas artist Vicki Meek about her Nasher Sculpture Center fellowship, for which she and a group of artists are researching, documenting, and interpreting the history of the Tenth Street Historic District Freedman’s Town in Oak Cliff.  "I wanted to be able to have a group of artists tap into this community, which is currently under siege in Dallas. We don't know whether or not it is going to survive." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2023/02/26/art-dirt-a-conversation-with-vicki-meek If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Jessica Fuentes and William Sarradet discuss their recent visit to Laredo, McAllen, Corpus Christi, Rockport, Harlingen, and beyond. "Today we're talking about some of the people we met through the museums, the institutions, the cultural organizations, and the collectors of South Texas." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2023/02/12/art-dirt-a-visit-to-the-valley-south-texas-part-1 If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Brandon Zech and Leslie Moody Castro discuss Yayoi Kusama's new Louis Vuitton collaboration, the coopting of Frida Kahlo's image, and other instances where an artist and their work is thrust into the commercial world.  "My question is: are these artists actually controlling their image, and does this image reflect what their ethics are as an artist?" See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2023/01/29/art-dirt-the-commercialization-of-art If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Jessica Fuentes and William Sarradet discuss some of their big-picture takeaways from Jerry Saltz's recent lecture at the Dallas Museum of Art. "If you're in art and culture for the long haul, if you're a lifer, you know cycles happen, and when people start to say something is out, cheesy, or needs updating, these are interesting clues that attitudes have shifted and something is coming up as a consequence." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2023/01/15/art-dirt-cave-painting-the-death-of-the-author-visiting-galleries If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Jessica Fuentes and William Sarradet discuss how looking at art and being in art spaces impacts our mental health. "In the same way that being out in nature can be restorative, being in a museum, where you're looking at works of art and are surrounded by groups of people, is a way to get people out of their house and into a social environment." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2023/01/01/art-dirt-is-art-good-for-your-mental-health If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Jessica Fuentes, William Sarradet, and Brandon Zech discuss memorable art happenings from 2022. "In the past year, art-related issues and stories have been picked up more in popular media in a really interesting way." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2022/12/18/art-dirt-looking-back-at-2022 If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Brandon Zech and special guest Pete Gershon discuss the history of Houston's artist-run spaces, and also talk about Gershon's new position as Curator of Programs at the Orange Show Center for Visionary Art. "If a space lasted for a year or a couple of years and then the proprietor moved on to do something else, that’s hardly a failure."  See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2022/12/04/art-dirt-discussing-houstons-alternative-spaces-with-pete-gershon This week's podcast is sponsored in part by the Nasher Sculpture Center. Muse on art, the body, and change in "Nairy Baghramian: Modèle vivant," an exhibition that The Dallas Morning News calls a “human and industrial mix.” See new works by the artist and explore the dialogue with classic masterpieces at the Nasher Sculpture Center, including Roy Lichtenstein, Aristide Maillol, and Henri Matisse. Plan your visit here: https://www.nashersculpturecenter.org/art/exhibitions/exhibition/id/1897/nairy-baghramian-modle-vivant/utm_medium/referral-paid/utm_campaign/exh-1pr-ae/utm_source/glasstire/utm_content/baghramian

Jessica Fuentes and William Sarradet discuss the different ways artists create work in response to violence. "When you're engaging with a work of art that responds to violence, it's really important to have quiet time to reflect and take in the seriousness of what you're looking at." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2022/11/20/art-dirt-how-artists-respond-to-war-and-violence If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Jessica Fuentes and Brandon Zech discuss the recent revelation that a Piet Mondrian painting has been hanging upside down since 1945, and also talk about the escalation of recent climate protests in Europe. "This Mondrian is going to remain upside down, probably for the rest of its existence, because of the sensitive nature of the artwork." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2022/11/06/art-dirt-an-upside-down-mondrian-climate-protests-in-europe-escalate If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

On the occasion of his exhibition at the Galveston Artist Residency, William Sarradet talks with artist J.R. Roykovich about the paranormal and how supernatural concepts can be activated in art. "I'm interested in the mechanics of how you reach an unknown entity, or an unknown destination, which I think is not at all dissimilar to artmaking." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2022/10/23/art-dirt-paranormal-art-a-conversation-with-j-r-roykovich If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

William Sarradet talks with artist Will Heron about his current show at Cluley Projects in Dallas, and his role as a liaison for Meow Wolf's upcoming location in Grapevine. "I'm of the mindset that if you want something, if you're curious about creating something, do it. Put yourself out there." Learn more: https://glasstire.com/2022/10/15/artist-on-artist-will-heron If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

William Sarradet and Brandon Zech on the recent cancellation of the Guggenheim's Hugo Boss Prize, and how Texas' art prize status has risen in recent years.  "Texas is awash in these big money art prizes." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2022/10/09/art-dirt-what-do-we-think-about-art-prizes If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Jessica Fuentes and Brandon Zech discuss the practical, real-world implications of being in the art world. "After you get out of school, being an artist is a lifestyle. It's a full-time job that oftentimes you don't get paid for, so you're really holding two full-time jobs so you can life your life and make art." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2022/09/25/art-dirt-the-things-they-dont-teach-you-in-art-school If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

William Sarradet and Jessica Fuentes discuss the implications of an AI-generated painting's recent art competition win. "What does it mean to create art using AI? How is writing a phrase for AI software different than text-based artwork?" See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2022/09/11/art-dirt-should-ai-generated-art-compete-against-human-made-art If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate This week's podcast is sponsored in part by FotoFest and their 2022 Biennial exhibition "If I Had a Hammer," which will be on view September 24 through November 6, 2022 in Houston, Texas. Additionally, FotoFest is presenting the exhibitions "African Cosmologies: Redux," an adaptation of its 2020 Biennial, and "Ten by Ten," featuring selected artists from the 2020-21 FotoFest International Meeting Place Portfolio Review programs. Learn more here: https://fotofest.org/fotofest-biennial-2022

Jessica Fuentes and Brandon Zech discuss the opening of Michael Heizer's gargantuan sculpture, and how the work relates to other "big" art. "What is the biggest contemporary artwork?" See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2022/08/28/art-dirt-michael-heizers-city-and-other-big-art If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Jessica Fuentes and William Sarradet discuss the museums, galleries, and art you should see in Plainview, Canyon, Amarillo, and Wichita Falls. "We found that there are absolutely hidden gems in these locations — the people at the museums and universities have a longstanding history in the region. Even if they aren't from the Panhandle, they've been there a long time." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2022/08/14/art-dirt-a-visit-to-the-texas-panhandle-part-2 If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Jessica Fuentes and William Sarradet discuss the museums, galleries, and art you should see in Lubbock, Albany, and Abilene.  "Texas art isn't as simple as 'all of the best museums are in Dallas and all of the best nonprofits are in Houston' — there's always some standout in other parts of the state." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2022/07/31/art-dirt-a-visit-to-the-texas-panhandle-part-1 If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

William Sarradet and Brandon Zech discuss recent demonstrations in the UK, for which protesters superglued themselves to the frames of famous artworks. "If total divestment from a supposedly toxic industry is not possible in the short term, I would think the protest strategy would be to demand as big a piece of the pie as possible from the companies involved." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2022/07/17/art-dirt-on-art-money-and-the-recent-uk-just-stop-oil-protests If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

For the Fourth of July, Jessica Fuentes and William Sarradet discuss recent Texas exhibitions in which artists made work about what it means to be an American. "The act of taking apart the American flag and reconstructing it is an act of an artist using their First Amendment right...and shows how fortunate we are to be in a country where we can make those kinds of statements." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2022/07/03/art-dirt-discussing-recent-exhibitions-about-america If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

William Sarradet and Brandon Zech discuss the recent history of TV, streaming, and how the industry has changed our culture.  "Maybe we're ready to get back to sequential stories based around narratives; maybe we're a little binged out." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2022/06/19/art-dirt-is-the-golden-age-of-tv-over If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

William Sarradet and Brandon Zech discuss the current speculation around figurative art, and how artists are impacted when their works sell for exorbitant prices. "We pay a lot of attention to the flippers and the markets, but we don't think about what it's doing to the artists, because they're contradictorily the people with the least power, even though it's their work." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2022/06/05/art-dirt-on-speculation-art-flipping-and-the-market Today's podcast is sponsored in part by CASETA, the Center for the Advancement and Study of Early Texas Art, and their 18th Annual Symposium and Texas Art Fair happening Friday, June 10 through Sunday, June 12 at the Hilton Lincoln Centre in Dallas. The event will feature a variety of lectures and conversations revolving around Early Texas Art, along with an accompanying art fair. To see a complete list of events and register for the program, please go here: https://www.caseta.org/2022-caseta-symposium If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Jessica Fuentes and William Sarradet discuss the merits of the myriad women-only art shows that have come about in the last few years. "I look at the women-only shows we've had in Texas over the past few years and see a lot of nuance." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2022/05/22/art-dirt-on-women-only-art-exhibitions If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Jessica Fuentes and William Sarradet discuss the wider implications of machine learning in the creation of digital images. "I worry that we'll get caught up in discussing how many rules need to be placed on these technologies, when sometimes you can describe the issue simply by saying 'it's a machine — it can only solve specific problems.'" See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2022/05/08/art-dirt-discussing-machine-made-images If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

William Sarradet and Brandon Zech discuss the Dallas Art Fair's return to normal. "Who doesn't love a big, bright, blotchy swath of color?" See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2022/04/24/art-dirt-recapping-the-2022-dallas-art-fair If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

William Sarradet and Brandon Zech talk about Jeff Koons' ploy to send artwork to the moon, and discuss the Supreme Court's decision to hear a fair use case against Andy Warhol. "In some instances, the judges, in their opinions in these cases, delve into a sort of art criticism."  See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2022/04/10/art-dirt-jeff-koons-moonshot-warhols-fair-use-case-goes-to-the-supreme-court This week's podcast is sponsored in part by SFAI and Littleglobe, two Santa Fe-based arts nonprofits committed to collaboration as a way to support artists, creative practitioners, and culture bearers. “Santa Fe Stories from the Inside Out” are Littleglobe TV (LGTV) episodes and SFAI Tilt podcasts that highlight the histories and experiences of the people who make Santa Fe a diverse, creative place to live and work. Stay tuned for the upcoming episodes: LGTV on April 13th and Tilt on April 22nd! Learn more here: https://www.littleglobe.org If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

William Sarradet and Brandon Zech discuss the similarities and differences between two new Netflix documentary series. "Andy Warhol did kind of invent the persona as a brand, but at the time he pioneered it, there was no pride to his persona. With Kanye West, his brand is 98% pride." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2022/03/27/art-dirt-the-andy-warhol-diaries-jeen-yuhs-a-kanye-trilogy This week's podcast is sponsored in part by the Art Museum of Southeast Texas and their exhibition "Billy Hassell: Topography," on view March 26 through June 19, 2022. Billy Hassell is well-known for his depictions of Texas flora and fauna, often emphasizing the need for conservation of these species. This exhibition will focus on works from Hassell’s oeuvre that depict animals and plants that are local to Southeast Texas communities, as well as extinct animals once native to the area. AMSET is open seven days a week and admission is always free. For information, go here: https://amset.org If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Jessica Fuentes and William Sarradet discuss "CARNE y ARENA," a virtual reality experience by Alejandro G. Iñárritu, on view at Fair Park. "It truly is immersive — it transports you from where you are both physically and emotionally." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2022/03/13/art-dirt-on-carne-y-arena-a-vr-experience-in-dallas/ If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Jessica Fuentes, William Sarradet, and Brandon Zech discuss the story of Anna Delvey, and also talk about why so many galleries are moving to Los Angeles.  "If these galleries are regularly showing artists who could be acquired by big LA museums, moving to LA is a quick way for them to propel their artists' prices even higher." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2022/02/27/art-dirt-anna-delveys-scam-galleries-flock-to-los-angeles This week’s podcast is sponsored in part by The City of San Antonio’s Department of Arts & Culture, which has a robust line-up of art to discover for free. Currently on view in the department's Centro de Artes Gallery is an exhibition inspired by the New York Foundation for the Arts Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program. Learn more here: https://www.getcreativesanantonio.com If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Brandon Zech sits down with Leslie Moody Castro, who is currently serving as Glasstire's Guest Editor, to discuss the art scene in Mexico City, the foibles of curating, and a no-nonsense way to teach prospective artists.  "There's not an HR in the art world; there's no one way to do things. We're all figuring it out as we go along...none of us know what we're doing!" See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2022/02/13/art-dirt-a-conversation-with-leslie-moody-castro/ If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Jessica Fuentes and Brandon Zech discuss what they'd want to see from a new Dallas Museum of Art building. Plus, they recap a recent COVID-19 lockdown protest by over 60 Dutch cultural institutions. "This is just another phase in Texas museums deciding that because of collectors and because of work they've been acquiring, or work that they've been promised that hasn't come in yet, they need more space." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2022/01/30/art-dirt-the-dallas-museum-of-arts-expansion-dutch-museums-protest-lockdowns/ If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Jessica Fuentes, William Sarradet, and Brandon Zech discuss artist Andres Serrano's new found footage film. "I feel like Serrano as an artist often presents things so that you can digest them…he often plays with imagery that provokes very strong reactions." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2022/01/16/art-dirt-discussing-insurrection-andres-serranos-new-film/ If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

William Sarradet and Brandon Zech discuss memorable art happenings from 2021. "One of the things that we haven’t seen this year, that I really thought we might, is the closing of smaller nonprofits and smaller galleries." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2022/01/02/art-dirt-looking-back-at-2021 If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

William Sarradet and Brandon Zech discuss Meta's new virtual world and the recently proposed plans to modernize the interior of Notre Dame in Paris. "That would put the fear of God into you, if you walked into Notre Dame and there was a giant Louise Bourgeois spider looming overhead." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2021/12/19/art-dirt-exploring-the-metaverse-the-disneyfication-of-notre-dame This week's podcast is sponsored in part by the Art Museum of Southeast Texas and the museum's exhibition, "Francesca Fuchs: Serious and Slightly Funny Things," which is on view from December 18, 2021 through March 13, 2022. Houston-based artist Francesca Fuchs creates paintings and sculptures about artifacts from our daily lives. Using subtle color and shadow, Fuchs dissolves the distinction between high and low, between personal and public, between what we feel and what we know. AMSET is open 7 days a week and admission is free. For more information, visit https://amset.org If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Brandon Zech talks with Jessica Fuentes, Glasstire's new News Editor.  "Looking at art tends to be very personal, so I think about personal connections to my past and about my interests. Once I dive through that personal journey, I try to step outside of it and think bigger."  See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2021/12/05/art-dirt-getting-to-know-jessica-fuentes/ If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

William Sarradet and Brandon Zech break down the good and the bad from this year's Dallas Art Fair. "On one hand, you can't take your local dealers for granted and expect to have a successful fair. I think that's a fact. On the other hand, you can't have a successful fair if you're only showing local galleries." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2021/11/21/art-dirt-how-was-this-years-dallas-art-fair/ If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Brandon Zech sits down with guest Geraldina Interiano Wise to discuss ALMAAHH, a new organization aiming to create a Latinx-centered cultural and visual arts complex in Houston. "We are gaining a seat of our latinidad, meaning a destination place. So it is a place by Latinos, for Latinos, as a gift to the city of Houston. What that means: it's really a complex; it's a campus. We don't fit in one building." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2021/11/07/art-dirt-exploring-almaahh-a-houston-complex-for-latinx-cultural-and-visual-arts/ This week’s podcast is sponsored in part by Texas Talks Art, a weekly series of virtual, lunchtime conversations with curators from Texas’ leading cultural institutions and artists from across the state. Tune in every Tuesday at noon CST for these virtual talks, which are happening throughout 2021. All talks are free and open to the public. See the full schedule and register for upcoming talks at Texas Talks Art’s website: https://texastalksart.org If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

William Sarradet and Brandon Zech discuss the recent sale of Banksy's famous shredded artwork, "Love is in the Bin," and also discuss how the Vienna Tourist Board is evading censorship by showing the city's nude artwork on OnlyFans.  "If I were to purchase 'Love is in the Bin,' I would put the batteries back in the shredder, just to see what happens." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2021/10/24/art-dirt-banksys-25-million-shredded-sale-vienna-museums-create-onlyfans-account-for-their-nude-artworks/ If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Christina Rees and Brandon Zech discuss artist Jens Haaning's recent viral artwork, 'Take the Money and Run,' and also discuss David Hockney's recent essay about the state of abstraction. "This is the kind of thing that makes taxpayers angry in the U.S. … and this is the kind of thing that gets artists into hot water and gives them a really bad name." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2021/10/10/art-dirt-artist-takes-83000-from-danish-museum-is-abstraction-dead/ If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Brandon Zech talks with San Antonio-based artist Mark Menjivar about archives, social practice art, and Menjivar's new virtual residency project with Glasstire. "My work sometimes — some people engage with it and are like 'Really, is this art?' I remember being at a talk years back and someone asked 'Are you an artist? A journalist? A social worker?'" View "Security Questions," Mark Menjivar's project with Glasstire, here: https://projects.glasstire.com/menjivar This week’s podcast is sponsored in part by CASETA, the Center for the Advancement and Study of Early Texas Art, and its 2021 Virtual Fall Forum celebrating Early Texas Art on Friday, October 1st and Saturday, October 2nd. The free program will feature a variety of lectures, tours and conversations with leading scholars and curators revolving around Early Texas Art. To see a complete list of events and register for the free program, please go here: https://www.caseta.org/2021-virtual-fall-forum If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

William Sarradet and Brandon Zech discuss the rise of NFTs as online avatars, digital projects by Tom Sachs and Damien Hirst, and advertising's infiltration into the metaverse.  "The crypto market has been driven by individuals and groups of people creating these things more or less themselves. And now is the time when celebrities and companies come in." See related readings here: https://glasstire.com/2021/09/12/art-dirt-nfts-where-are-they-now/ This week’s podcast is sponsored in part by Texas Talks Art, a weekly series of virtual, lunchtime conversations with curators from Texas’ leading cultural institutions and artists from across the state. Tune in every Tuesday at noon CST for these virtual talks, which are happening throughout 2021. All talks are free and open to the public. See the full schedule and register for upcoming talks here: https://texastalksart.org If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Christina Rees and Brandon Zech discuss the effects that time has on our likes, dislikes, and perceptions about art. "The art that makes you uncomfortable, or that you don’t understand or that you’ve been dismissive of — that’s the stuff that can ultimately sneak up on you and become what you value the most." If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Artist Joey Fauerso joins writer Rainey Knudson for a discussion about how artist residencies can get you over the hump and on the path.

Christina Rees and Brandon Zech discuss Kusama's pumpkin that recently fell victim to a typhoon, experiential underwater sculpture parks, and the relationship between climate change and art "Museums and collectors are trying to preserve things that are ephemeral...I can't believe that in 1000 years museums will have been able to fully fulfill their missions." See related reading here: https://glasstire.com/2021/08/15/art-dirt-kusamas-pumpkin-underwater-sculpture-gardens-climate-change/ This week’s podcast is sponsored in part by Texas Talks Art, a weekly series of virtual, lunchtime conversations with curators from Texas’ leading cultural institutions and artists from across the state. Tune in every Tuesday at noon CST for these virtual talks, which are happening throughout 2021. All talks are free and open to the public. See the full schedule and register for upcoming talks here: https://texastalksart.org If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

William Sarradet talks with Christopher Blay about his tenure as Glasstire's News Editor, the trends he's seen in Texas art, and how being an artist impacts the way he approaches writing and curating. "My art practice ran smack into my role as a writer and art critic pretty early on. I think it came from the lack of real criticism that artists crave, good or bad." See related reading here: https://glasstire.com/2021/08/01/art-dirt-exit-interview-a-chat-with-christopher-blay/ If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Christina Rees and Brandon Zech discuss the optics and the reality of Hunter Biden's quest to be an artist. "There are many artists who are very successful who aren’t selling $500,000 paintings right now ... These are the kind of prices it would take an artist years to reach, if ever." See related reading here: https://glasstire.com/2021/07/18/art-dirt-whats-going-on-with-hunter-bidens-art/ If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Via Peter Lucas for Glasstire: "Though his work as both a solo artist and a member of the collective Otabenga Jones & Associates has been widely exhibited, Houston-based artist Jamal Cyrus had not had a comprehensive museum survey until his exhibition 'The End of My Beginning' opened last month at the Blaffer Art Museum in Houston; it will travel to the Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles in 2022. Great things are being written about the show, and the forthcoming exhibition catalogue will feature essays and an interview delving thoroughly into the contexts, referenced histories, and larger importance of this impressive body of work.   "Jamal and I are longtime friends, and with our emergence from the Covid shutdown coinciding with the opening of this mid-career museum survey, it seemed like a good time for the two of us to sit down and catch up. Recorded recently in Jamal’s studio, this hour-long podcast is a casual and rambling conversation in which we circle around some of his background and early influences, his creative approach and process, and how he sees himself at this transition point in his career. "Of course, music is referenced throughout, as it’s a primary influence and conceptual frame for both of us. Because of this conversation's informal flow and its focus a bit more on the artist than the art, this will likely be more revealing to those who are already somewhat familiar with and interested Jamal's work. (If you haven’t already, see the show!)"

"Artist On Artist" is Glasstire’s video and audio podcast series in which Glasstire’s News Editor, Christopher Blay, also an artist, hosts Texas-based artists and art professionals in one-on-one conversations. This week: Christopher Blay interviews (and plays a game of chess) with young artist Kingsley Onyeiwu, on the event of Onyeiwu's solo exhibition of drawings at Hooks-Epstein Galleries in Houston. From advice to his students (Onyeiwu is a Visiting Professor of Fine Art at Texas Southern University), to his love of control and process, the Nigerian artist discusses the duality of his roots in two cultures, and where his work is headed. “I became this artist who fell in love with being patient, taking little steps — little steps — towards the big goal at the end.”

Christina Rees and William Sarradet discuss some favorite LGBTQ offerings of the past month and beyond. Also: art they expect to see in museums and galleries going forward. "In which cases are we excused from dwelling in the depths of darkness?" See related reading, viewing, and listening list here: https://glasstire.com/2021/07/04/art-dirt-wrapping-up-pride-with-recommendations-art-we-hope-to-see/ This week’s podcast is sponsored in part by Texas Talks Art, a weekly series of virtual, lunchtime conversations with curators from Texas’ leading cultural institutions and artists from across the state. Tune in every Tuesday at noon CST for these virtual talks, which are happening throughout 2021. All talks are free and open to the public. See the full schedule and register for upcoming talks at Texas Talks Art’s website: https://texastalksart.org If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

From Hills Snyders' LOVE L-E-T-T-E-R-S (Part One): https://glasstire.com/2021/06/26/love-l-e-t-t-e-r-s-part-one/

Christina Rees and Brandon Zech discuss how the recent cultural swing toward honesty and sincerity has affected comedy, art, and music. "We’ve been through a decade of dishonesty and performance, and it seems like we’re in the middle of a swing away from that … there’s a real appetite for honestly." See this episode's reading list here: https://glasstire.com/2021/06/20/art-dirt-on-sincerity-honesty-and-the-art-of-our-time/ If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Christopher Blay interviews artist Annette Lawrence as she departs Texas for Bennington, Vermont to take a two-year teaching position. They talk about where their works intersect, and her journey from upstate New York to Denton, Texas after living in Houston in the 1990s. “All roads lead to Houston! All roads lead to Houston in Black art.”

Christina Rees and Brandon Zech discuss their most anticipated summer shows across the state, a jungle gym-like installation in Houston, and the optics behind Op art. "More than anything I just want to put my eyes on people and on art in these institutions … being in any of these spaces and looking at art is very moving." See this episode's reading list here: https://glasstire.com/2021/06/06/art-dirt-on-summer-shows-installation-art-and-recommended-road-trips/ If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Christina Rees and Brandon Zech discuss the things about the art world we don’t miss, the things we do miss, and how to pace yourself when venturing back out. "The way artists make their name in the world is by building consensus. And you can’t build consensus if people don’t see your work and talk to each other about the work." See this episode's reading list here: https://glasstire.com/2021/05/23/art-dirt-on-reopenings-getting-back-to-normal/ If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Christina Rees and Brandon Zech discuss the proliferation of private museums in the U.S. "Nowadays, museums are trying to figure out what the public wants and will show up for, and there's a kind of need for the spectacular. These private museums have the money and the means to make those shows happen in a way public museums don't." See this episode's reading list here: https://glasstire.com/2021/05/09/art-dirt-the-menil-the-broad-and-the-rise-of-private-museums/ This week’s podcast is sponsored in part by Texas Talks Art, a weekly series of virtual, lunchtime conversations with curators from Texas’ leading cultural institutions and artists from across the state. Tune in every Tuesday at noon CST for these virtual talks, which are happening throughout 2021. All talks are free and open to the public. See the full schedule and register for upcoming talks at Texas Talks Art’s website: https://texastalksart.org If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Christopher Blay's guest this week is Raul Rodriguez, artist and founder of Deep Red Press. They talk about Rodriguez’s work with his Texas art publication, his documentary photography, and how personal it gets when he photographs in his old Northside Fort Worth neighborhood. “I don’t know if it’s some kind of weird time warp or something, but I feel like I run into different versions of myself at different stages.”

William Sarradet and Brandon Zech discuss how art meme accounts have taken over Instagram. "The intersection of what is considered to be mainstream and what is considered to be the elitist underbelly of the art world comes to a very weird point in these accounts." See this episode's reading list and a list of art meme accounts here: https://glasstire.com/2021/04/25/art-dirt-why-we-love-and-hate-art-meme-accounts/ If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Christopher Blay and guest Carol Ivey talk about the role the artist's studio plays in her work, her early years as a painter in Austin, Farrah Fawcett, and how she made the leap from abstraction to still life painting. "I moved to Seattle! And the thing about Seattle is that it is the emerald city, in an evergreen state. And so you can't be there and not focus on plant life."

Christina Rees and Brandon Zech on the ongoing debate about museums deaccessioning objects from their permanent collections. "If MoMA could build a new building because they knew someone who would buy Picasso's 'Les Demoiselles d'Avignon' for $600 million... would they sell it then?" See this episode's reading list here: https://glasstire.com/2021/04/11/art-dirt-should-museums-deaccession-their-collections/ If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Artist On Artist is Glasstire’s video and audio podcast series in which Glasstire’s News Editor Christopher Blay, also an artist, hosts Texas-based artists and art professionals in one-on-one conversations. This week's guest artist, the Austin-based Deborah Roberts, discusses her process, her current major solo exhibition at The Contemporary Austin, and how identity features in her work. “We see this monolithic idea of what the world thinks is Blackness, but we know that the Black experience is whatever the Black person has. That’s the Black experience. And that’s the individual experience.”

Christopher Blay and Christina Rees discuss the recent explosion of murals across the state. “I wonder if artists are being commissioned to beautify cities in a way that ignores the time that we live in.” See this episode's reading list here: https://glasstire.com/2021/03/27/art-dirt-the-mural-boom-in-texas/ This week’s podcast is sponsored in part by Texas Talks Art, a weekly series of virtual, lunchtime conversations with curators from Texas’ leading cultural institutions and artists from across the state. Tune in every Tuesday at noon CST for these virtual talks, which are happening throughout 2021. All talks are free and open to the public. See the full schedule and register for upcoming talks here: https://texastalksart.org If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Artist On Artist is Glasstire’s video and audio podcast series in which Glasstire’s News Editor Christopher Blay, also an artist, hosts Texas-based artists and art professionals in one-on-one conversations. Our guest this week is Dallas-based artist Xxavier Edward Carter. We talk about love, loss, graduate school, and how Carter sees his physical presence in his work. “There can’t be that divide, because ultimately I’m going to be the one getting the scrutiny; I’m going to be the one that has to answer for [the art], so my life has to reflect that, you know — walking it like you talk it.”

Christina Rees and Brandon Zech break down the meteoric rise of NFTs. “These things aren’t necessarily meant to be bought and kept — they’re meant to be flipped — that’s the point. That’s how they gain value.” See this episode's reading list here: https://glasstire.com/2021/03/14/art-dirt-what-are-nfts-and-how-did-one-sell-for-69-million/ This week’s podcast is sponsored in part by the Art Museum of Southeast Texas (AMSET) and its current exhibition, Delita Martin: Conjure. The show, which features Martin’s twenty-one new portraits of Black women, presents viewers with a profound celebration of Black women’s lives and experiences. The exhibition runs March 13 – May 23, 2021. AMSET is located at 500 Main Street in Beaumont, Texas. For more information, go here: https://amset.org If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Artist On Artist is Glasstire’s video and audio podcast series in which Glasstire’s News Editor Christopher Blay, also an artist, hosts Texas-based artists and art professionals in one-on-one conversations. Our guest this week is North Texas- based Erica Felicella, a performance artist who counts among her wide range of influences photographers (she was an assistant to Goef Kern) and Gregory Crewdson, vaudeville, and even land art icons Andy Goldsworthy and Robert Smithson. “I heard someone actually scream out [during a performance] 'When is she going to do a magic act?' I was trying not to crack up and I thought: this is just perfect.”

Christopher Blay invites Bill and Pam Campbell to talk about their 46-year run with one of the longest-running galleries in Texas, William Campbell Contemporary Art. Last month the couple announced their retirement, and that the gallery continues with new owners, Fort Worth Contemporary Art Partners. “We still love the business and we really thought we would keep working until we couldn’t anymore, and just close the doors. So we’re thrilled that it is going to continue.”

Artist On Artist is Glasstire’s video and audio podcast series in which Glasstire’s News Editor Christopher Blay, also an artist, hosts Texas-based artists and art professionals in one-on-one conversations. For this episode, Blay participates in a session of Carolyn Sortor’s “Being Together,” one of two projects Sorter created for her Glasstire artist residency. The conversation explores the true nature of being together, our present state of isolation, artificial intelligence, and free speech. Learn more about Sortor’s Glasstire residency here: https://glasstire.com/2020/12/05/announcing-carolyn-sortor-as-glasstires-virtual-artist-in-residence

Inspired by the career of Clint Willour, Christina Rees and Brandon Zech discuss the transformational impact a single person can have on an art scene.  "Even though we're not in a 'major art scene' (although we really are, here in Texas), we have a lot of people who are making a powerful impact."

Christina Rees and Brandon Zech discuss artists' use of windows as makeshift galleries and question if cities should force businesses to put art in empty storefronts. "To be fined for not putting art in your windows — that concept honestly blows my mind... it's the opposite of what we're used to." This week's podcast is sponsored in part by Texas Talks Art, a weekly series of virtual, lunchtime conversations with curators from Texas’ leading cultural institutions and artists from across the state. Tune in every Tuesday at noon CST for these virtual talks, which are happening throughout 2021. All talks are free and open to the public. See the full schedule and register for upcoming talks at Texas Talks Art's website: https://texastalksart.org If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Brandon Zech talks with Houston artist and Glasstire contributor Henry G. Sanchez about the challenges of public arts funding during a pandemic. If you'd like to learn more, you can read Sanchez's recent articles about arts funding in Texas: Part 1: https://glasstire.com/2020/11/23/arts-funding-in-pandemic-texas-part-1 Part 2: https://glasstire.com/2020/12/01/arts-funding-in-pandemic-texas-part-2-houston If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Artist On Artist is Glasstire’s video and audio podcast series in which Glasstire’s News Editor Christopher Blay, also an artist, hosts Texas-based artists and art professionals in one-on-one conversations. This week Christopher Blay’s conversation with guest Ciara Elle Bryant touches on her navigation through graduate school as a Black woman, her mentors and influences, as well as creating opportunities for Black artists. “There are things that are happening in Dallas that Black artists will never know about, because there wasn’t a Black person in the room to share the information with a Black artist.”

Christina Rees and Brandon Zech talk about the landmark events of 2020, and their takeaways from an unusual year. "2020 is going to stand as this incredibly strange marker in so many people's lives for so many reasons, and visual art is no exception." If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Christina Rees and Brandon Zech talk about nativity scenes, Christmas art, and the inherent kitschiness of our beloved holiday traditions. "If you leave a few Christmas decorations up year-round you're tacky, but if you leave an entire house full of Christmas decorations up year-round you're eccentric and fun." If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Artist On Artist is Glasstire’s video and audio podcast series in which Glasstire’s News Editor Christopher Blay, also an artist, hosts Texas-based artists and art professionals in one-on-one conversations. This week, Christopher Blay speaks with Austin-based artist Betelhem Makonnen, who uses video, photography and installation as she considers perception, presence, and place. This conversation touches on the unreliability of memory, how the artist perceives time, and how her work deals with where we currently find ourselves. “I think that is ultimately what is at the foundation of my practice — it is an insistence on mobility, which is like freedom and liberation. To move.”

Christina Rees and Brandon Zech talk about the recently discovered (and removed) monolith in Utah, and about the wonderful work of a minimalist sculptor.  "I'm not particularly for trampling on a pristine landscape to put a joke out in the middle of the desert, but then again... .." If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

For this week's episode, Christopher Blay is joined by Jin-Ya Huang, the interdisciplinary artist and founder of the Dallas-based initiative Break Bread, Break Borders. Huang shares ideas about Social Practice, the immigrant experience, and bridging communities one meal at a time. “It’s always like: In here we’re an artist, in here we’re a social entrepreneur, in here we’re making policy changes. Whatever it is, it's being in a space where we feel like we’re needed the most to make social impact.”

Christopher Blay hosts Dr. Fahamu Pecou, an interdisciplinary artist and scholar. They talk about Trapedemia (including his exhibition at Conduit Gallery in Dallas), African roots, as well as how Pecou's paintings, performances, and academic work reframe the conversation around Black masculinity. "These are mirrors. These are affirmations. I want people, especially Black people, to look at these paintings and see themselves."

Christina Rees and Brandon Zech talk about the opening of the MFAH's landmark new building for modern and contemporary art. "My overall impression is that this building is good for Houston, good for the art, good for the MFAH of course, and it's great for art lovers. And right now, it's even good for Texas and Houston artists because there is quite a bit of Texas and Houston art inside this building." If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Christopher Blay hosts Jonathan Morris, a Fort Worth entrepreneur and community leader. They talk about the marriage of art and commerce, and how Morris' Hotel Dryce You Are Here Art Grant could help build an inclusive community in Fort Worth. “I think it's important that we tell a full, more complete story of who we are as a city, and doing that through art and the lens and perspectives of Black and Brown artists is a really special way to tell people about the city that I love. This art grant is my way of tackling and acknowledging what those opportunities can look like, and I don't want to be the last person to do so.”

Christopher Blay and Riley Holloway talk about painting, family, politics, "Home," and recognizing ourselves in the people and culture that make up the Black experience. “I wanted to highlight those moments that made me, literally — you know, right — like I'm in some of these images.”  If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: glasstire.com/donate

Christopher Blay, Christina Rees, and Brandon Zech talk about what the recent postponement of a show of works by Philip Guston says about museums and culture today.  "If museums continue their history of being traditionally white spaces, then when you put a painting of the KKK in them, it will be reinforcing that white space. If you have the diversity of a great multitude of art and artists in those spaces, then they become true places for dialogue and learning." If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Christopher Blay and Bernardo Vallarino discuss Vallarino's work which addresses the hollow sentiments of "Thoughts and Prayers" in the face of violence in society. Blay's conversation with Vallarino took place at the Nasher Sculpture Center where Vallarino is the inaugural artist for Nasher Public, a new initiative at the Nasher. "The ribbons [central to Vallarino's installation at the Nasher] became a physical manifestation of this very hollow action that, without any real action behind it, has no effect on the violence that exists out there." If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: glasstire.com/donate

Christina Rees and Brandon Zech discuss the implications of closures of a blue-chip London gallery and a storied NYC nonprofit, and tackle recent vandalism at three German museums.   "I don't think damaging art is performance, but using a clown flower to squirt liquid onto antiquities to deface them is one of the most absurd things I've heard." If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Christopher Blay and Christina Rees discuss how a recent national report about culturally vibrant cities, which only counted one Texas region among its top 40 places, impacts our ideas about the state and its artists. “I still don’t know how this report necessarily reflects the real, on-the-ground working lives and experiences of the people who make these places ‘culturally vibrant.'” If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Christina Rees and Brandon Zech discuss the art world's (still nascent) use of virtual and augmented reality, how VR undercuts traditional art experiences, and its real potential in the hands of artists.  "For somebody who has so many doubts about where the digital revolution is taking us, I'm actually quite excited about virtual reality in art, because I do think that artists will continue to push the boundaries of what it can be ... I do think a lot of artists are capable of doing something that we haven't imagined yet." If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Christina Rees and Brandon Zech discuss the good, the bad, and the future of in-person art fairs. "I’m a person who loves art, and I found Art Basel Miami to be a draining and kind of frightful experience." If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Christina Rees and Brandon Zech discuss how hurricanes, fires, floods, earthquakes, tornados, and other disasters impact art, artists, and the ethos of cities. "Texas in and of itself is a dramatic and exciting place to live, and it can also be a heartbreaking place to live." If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Christopher Blay talks with Janeil Engelstad about the history and current projects of her organization, Make Art with Purpose. "MAP gives local artists a platform and funding and a space to do [work] that addresses something politically or socially."

Christina Rees and Brandon Zech discuss a recent shakeup in the New York gallery scene and how the pandemic will affect art galleries in the long term.  "It’s hard not to believe that about 30% or more of galleries will be gone by this time next year." "They’ll either be gone, or they’ll be some sort of shell of their former selves."

Christina Rees and Brandon Zech discuss all of the weirdness we love (and hate) about the art world. "When you hear about stolen artwork you may as well grieve the death of that work because you may never see it anywhere again."

Christina Rees and Brandon Zech discuss what makes our homes homey, the overwhelming sameness of airbnbs and other urban spaces, and how the pandemic is affecting our view of home life. "I think a lot of these conversations address the question: is there a way to make spaces more flexible, versatile and humane?"

Christopher Blay and Christina Rees talk about the events of the last few weeks, and whether black artists are holding out hope that this moment will move the needle on racial violence and injustice. “I think artists aren’t waiting for museums and galleries to create a response to what’s happening in the world. I think it's either something that infects you and invades your work, or something that’s always a part of who you are and you can’t make anything else.“

Brandon Zech and Christina Rees talk about their visit to the newly reopened Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. "My whole point in visiting the museum was to answer the questions ‘Can I enjoy the art?' Can I get through the distraction of the sense of being out in public?"

Christina Rees and Brandon Zech walk you through the surprisingly unstressful process of buying excellent art online, at all price points. “Have fun with it. Buying art online is an interesting adventure, and right now it’s going to a very good cause. Artists and galleries are hurting and it’s a good idea to support them if you can.” Watch the video version of this conversation: https://glasstire.com/2020/05/21/top-five-may-21-2020-tips-for-buying-art-online/

Christina Rees and Brandon Zech have an honest conversation about some realities they’re happy to get a break from. “It’s terrific that we’re getting a vacation from these things.” Watch a video version of this conversation: https://glasstire.com/2020/05/14/top-five-may-14-2020-things-we-dont-miss-about-the-art-world/

Brandon Zech and Christina Rees talk about Marina Abramović, the Kennedy assassination, and why conspiracy theories and art don't tend to mix. "People in the art world are kind of Teflon about this. There's a lot of skepticism. It just doesn't tend to circulate in the industry that we work in. So when it happens it's really strange." If you like Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor by visiting https://glasstire.com/donate

Brandon Zech and Christina Rees take an optimistic view of a more collaborative future for Texas art, artists, and institutions, and their more appreciative audiences. "There’s a lot of sweat equity that artists are willing to put into their own shows if you give them the space in a museum."

Brandon Zech and Christina Rees discuss how artists and arts workers will adapt to and navigate our new landscape. "The only people who are going to be making art are people who really are artists and really want to make art. And they'll have to do it without thinking that they're going to make a living off of it."

Brandon Zech and Christina Rees discuss the difficulties faced by museums and nonprofits, the government stimulus bill, and the possible closure of art schools as a result of the pandemic. "This is still early days. I was talking to somebody on the phone who knows a lot about higher education, and he was sounding the alarm, essentially saying that he thinks a number of universities are going to shut because of this." This week’s podcast is supported in part by The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth and their program 'Being There: Revisiting Tuesday Evenings' at the Modern, a rebroadcast of past Tuesday Evenings lectures on YouTube. Terri Thornton, Curator of Education, will introduce each presentation, with an online chat to follow. Join the museum, as usual, on Tuesdays from 7-8 PM for the program. For more information, go here: bit.ly/2UJaOoD

Brandon Zech and Christina Rees discuss the effect of the novel coronavirus on Texas-based galleries, museums, and artists.  "I’m most afraid for mid-tier galleries and nonprofits."

Christina Rees talks with Michael Auping, the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth's Chief Curator from 1993 to 2017, about the Modern's presentation of his current exhibition 'Mark Bradford: End Papers.' "I was feeling like abstraction had really dried up, that it had really come to the end of the line. And then I found Mark Bradford. And I thought, ‘Ah ha, here’s another rabbit hole that we can really go down.’"

In this podcast, Glasstire's Christopher Blay and William Sarradet interview attendees at the Dallas Museum of Art's exhibition 'Speechless: Different by Design' during a recent DMA Late Night opening. "It's interesting to be in a museum space and have all of the exhibitions have to do with touch. It's an interesting feeling, almost like you’re doing something you shouldn’t be doing."

Brandon Zech and Christopher Blay discuss whether artists make good critics, why blue-chip artists won't write criticism, and the difficulties of text art. "You don’t see Jeff Koons writing a review about an exhibition for Artforum."

Christina Rees talks to Terri Thornton, Curator of Education at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, in celebration of the 25th anniversary of her long-running, acclaimed guest lecture series Tuesday Evenings at The Modern. "I have a real fondness for the brains of artists. People laugh about artists not being good communicators and I just think that’s a load of crap."

Christina Rees and Neil Fauerso on their most bonkers movie-going experiences, and why you should still see movies on the big screen. "The best films of cinema are better than any TV show that’s ever been made… and that really comes through when you see the films in a movie theater."

Christopher Blay, Christina Rees, and guests Heyd Fontenot and Dean Daderko discuss the ins and outs of a successful artist residency. "I want a residency to change my perspective — you want to make something new and to be affected by the space, the place, and the people."

Brandon Zech and Christina Rees discuss what to expect from art in Texas over the next ten years. "I see smaller, more splintered audiences that are more passionate. And then I see this whole other art world that really is about theme-park entertainment."

Brandon Zech and Christina Rees discuss their favorite Texas art exhibitions from the past decade. “I was really shaken by this show. Even talking about it is taking me back to that place.”

Brandon Zech and Christina Rees discuss all of the ways you can gift art in the holiday season. "I try not to be too much of a bully about giving art away as a Christmas gift. I certainly don’t want my friends and family to be like ‘oh my god, here we go with the art again.'" This week’s podcast is supported in part by The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth and their exhibitions Robyn O’Neil: WE, THE MASSES, on view through February 9, 2020, and FOCUS: Martine Gutierrez, on view through January 12, 2020. For more information, go here. This week's podcast is supported by The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth and their exhibitions Robyn O’Neil: WE, THE MASSES, on view through February 9, 2020, and FOCUS: Martine Gutierrez, on view through January 12, 2020. For more information, go here: bit.ly/33AcPXg

Brandon Zech and Christina Rees on what makes for a rewarding studio visit. “You can walk into an artist’s studio and it can look chaotic; it can look like a mess. But that doesn’t mean that what’s happening there is chaotic or messy.”

Glasstire Editor-in-Chief, Christina Rees, and guest writer, Neil Fauerso sit down with SCRiBBLES director Lynnsey Ooten and writer & actor Brandon Garegnani.

Glasstire Editor-in-Chief, Christina Rees, and guest writer, Neil Fauerso sit down with Brian Emond, writer & actor on Vice Guide to Big Foot.

Glasstire Editor-in-Chief, Christina Rees, and guest writer, Neil Fauerso sit down with the filmmakers of The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain; producer & actor Enrico Natale, director & writer David Midell, and executive producer Sharad Chib.

Glasstire Editor-in-Chief, Christina Rees, and guest writer, Neil Fauerso sit down with Zoe Ward, director & writer of Soft & Pink.

Christina Rees talks with Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth curator Alison Hearst about the museum's acclaimed Focus exhibition series, the politics of art acquisitions, and the work of current Focus artist Martine Gutierrez. "The way the Focus series works here is that we only work with artists who aren't in our collection, so there's a lot of things I'm thinking about when I'm planning these shows: who isn't represented in our collection? Where are the holes in our acquisitions, and also where are the holes in the exhibition programming in Texas and beyond?" This podcast is sponsored by The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth and its exhibitions Robyn O’Neil: WE, THE MASSES, on view through February 9, 2020, and FOCUS: Martine Gutierrez, on view through January 12, 2020. For more information on the show, go here: bit.ly/2XlXSpz

Brandon Zech and Christina Rees discuss whether or not big-name art attractions are worth braving the crowds. "A lot of the art attractions that have a weight behind them are the hallmark pieces of art history, or the pieces that have come into the public eye — like the Sistine Chapel or the Mona Lisa." This week's podcast is supported in part by The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth and their exhibitions Robyn O’Neil: WE, THE MASSES, on view through February 9, 2020, and FOCUS: Martine Gutierrez, on view through January 12, 2020. For more information, go here: bit.ly/33AcPXg Art Dirt is also supported by the University of Houston School of Art and their MFA and MA in Art History programs. The deadline to apply is January 15, 2020; to start your application and to learn more, go here: uh.edu/kgmca/art

Christina Rees talks with artist Robyn O'Neil about her life, her work, and her current exhibition at The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. "I was a kid who set out to be an artist by the time I was walking around. I said I would be an artist when I was five. It’s all I’ve ever cared about doing." This podcast is sponsored by The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth and its exhibition Robyn O’Neil: WE, THE MASSES, on view from October 18, 2019 through February 9, 2020. For more information on the show, go here: bit.ly/2qPNevd

Brandon Zech and Christina Rees on the life and work of The Art Guys, a collaborative duo comprised of Jack Massing and Michael Galbreth. "I don’t think that everything The Art Guys did was fun and gentle. I think there could be some nihilism and anger behind the work, and that’s one of the things that makes it very complicated and resonant."

Brandon Zech and guest host Seth Mittag recap the Glasstire DataHack, talk about the wild and crazy things computer programs can do, and discuss why artists should learn about technology.

In this Art Dirt podcast, Brandon Zech and Christina Rees talk about why Texas' art scenes are underestimated outside of Texas, and how we might fix that.

On Location at The Other Art Fair, Dallas: Talking with the Artists by Glasstire

In this Art Dirt podcast, Brandon Zech and Christina Rees talk about how nonprofit art spaces contribute to Texas' art ecosystem. Thanks to this week's podcast sponsor, Aurora Picture Show and its upcoming film series 'Powerful Vulnerable,' running September 19-21. For more information on the program, go here: bit.ly/2maSs27

In this Art Dirt podcast, Brandon Zech and Christina Rees talk about how art criticism functions today. "Art writing has veered in two or three different directions away from what feels like honest and rigorous and thoughtful criticism; it's become lifestyle writing."

In this Art Dirt podcast, Brandon Zech and Christina Rees break down their experiences with open calls and juried exhibitions, tackle questions of entry fees and how you (can't) game the system, and the special case of public art opportunities. "I hate rejecting work. I always choose too much work because I get really attached when I start looking at entries, and I just can’t reject a piece I've already gotten attached to."

In this Art Dirt podcast, Brandon Zech and Christina Rees talk about how galleries have changed over the years, the politics of art-as-business, and what Texas artists should expect from their galleries in 2019. "One of the reasons I think artists crave having a gallery is this almost ineffable relationship that forms that’s about dialogue and context. And it’s different from having a network of artists you work with."

In this Art Dirt podcast Brandon Zech and Christina Rees talk about what makes each of Texas' distinct art regions tick.  "If you don't want to play by any rules and you don't give a crap about any sort of establishment codes of how to do things, Dallas could be an interesting place to make your mark." Thanks to this week’s podcast sponsor, the Rockport Center for the Arts and their exhibition, Angalee DeForest: Illuminated Reflections. For more information on the show, go here: bit.ly/2S3S2Xh

In this Art Dirt podcast, Brandon Zech and Christina Rees talk about censorship, the pitfalls of didactic messaging, and what not to do when making political art. Thanks to this week’s podcast sponsor, the Rockport Center for the Arts and their exhibition, Angalee DeForest: Illuminated Reflections. For more information on the show, go here: http://bit.ly/2S3S2Xh

In this Art Dirt podcast, Brandon Zech and Christina Rees help you plan your summer road trip by recapping all of their favorite smaller-town museums across the state of Texas. Thanks to this week's podcast sponsor, The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth and their exhibition, "Disappearing—California, c. 1970: Bas Jan Ader, Chris Burden, Jack Goldstein." For more information on the show, go here: http://bit.ly/2FoK4Tl

In this Art Dirt podcast, Brandon Zech and Christina Rees talk about the radical transparency of a week-old, anonymous spreadsheet that discloses the salaries of museum, non-profit, and gallery workers. “Historically it’s been gauche to talk about how much you make, and it’s taboo to ask your co-workers how much they make. That’s about the protection of employers, not employees.”

In our latest Art Dirt podcast, Brandon Zech and Christina Rees talk about the merits of shock value, the uselessness of labels, and the dread of getting stuck watching a bad performance.

In our latest Art Dirt podcast, Brandon Zech and Christina Rees start out talking about artists who have been kicked off of Instagram, but quickly devolve into how social media platforms can be useful and problematic ways of engaging with the art world. "I think you'd be hard-pressed to find someone saying that no moderation whatsoever is the solution to this problem...I don't know why our darkest impulses have to be out there for everyone to see anyway."

Peter Plagens: Artist-Slash-Critic by Glasstire

In this podcast, Glasstire's William Sarradet catches some notable exhibitors at the Dallas Art Fair on its opening night, to chat about the art they're showing this year. Exhibitors in this podcast include Cris Worley Fine Arts (Dallas), Harlan Levey Projects (Belgium), Nancy Littlejohn Fine Art (Houston), galerie frank elbaz (Paris/Dallas), Green Art Gallery (Dubai), Ulterior Gallery (New York), Sicardi | Ayers | Bacino (Houston), Voloshyn Gallery (Kiev), and McClain Gallery (Houston).

Day five of Glasstire’s podcast from the Satellite Art Show in Austin was guest hosted by Austin-based artist and curator Rebecca Marino. On the episode, she talks with four individuals participating in Satellite: Sarah Sudhoff, Ana Vizcarra Rankin, Daniel Lisi, and Sherri Littlefield — and with the event's producer, Anna-Liisa Benston. This is the fifth in a series of podcasts brought to you by Glasstire from Satellite. For more, go here: https://glasstire.com/2019/03/24/on-location-at-the-satellite-art-show-day-5/

Day four of Glasstire’s podcast from the Satellite Art Show in Austin was guest hosted by Austin-based artist Tammie Rubin. On the episode, Brandon Zech talks with Rubin about what’s up with ceramics, the grittiness of Austin art spaces, and how artists can build the kind of community they want to be a part of. This episode also features two other conversations: the first with Satellite exhibiting artist Fati Jafri, and the second with Sara Vanderbeek and Eric Manche of DORF, an Austin alternative space.

Day three of Glasstire’s podcast from the Satellite Art Show in Austin was guest hosted by Austin-based gallerist Jill Schroeder of grayDUCK Gallery. On the episode, Brandon Zech talks with Schroeder about what it's like running a gallery in Austin, performances at Satellite, and a big show by an under-recognized artist now on view in New York. This episode also features two other conversations with Satellite exhibiting artists: the first with Houston artist Jumper Maybach, and the second with Kyle Heinly of the Florida-based Off Center Art Center. This is the third in a series of podcasts brought to you by Glasstire from Satellite.

Day two of Glasstire’s podcast from the Satellite Art Show in Austin was guest hosted by Austin-based artist Michael Anthony García. On the episode, he talks with two artists participating in Satellite —  Nicole Goodwin and Elizabeth Axtman — about the politics of blackness, the history of slavery, and the complex relationship between Jeffrey Dahmer and O. J. Simpson. This is the second in a series of podcasts brought to you by Glasstire from Satellite.

For day one of Glasstire's podcast from the Satellite Art Show in Austin, we talked to Houston-based performance artist and Experimental Action festival co-organizer Julia Claire Wallace, and Satellite's performance art curator and Performance Is Alive founder Quinn Dukes, about the challenges of producing performances at an art fair, Texas' performance art community, and their advice for budding artists. We also talked to Houston artist Henry Sanchez about his upcoming project along Houston’s Buffalo Bayou. This is the first in a series of podcasts brought to you by Glasstire from Satellite. https://glasstire.com/2019/03/15/on-location-at-the-satellite-art-show-day-1/

Neil Fauerso talks to Austin's Daedelus Hoffman and Lindsay Starr run Cattywampus Press and Dirty Dark Place, among other art endeavors.

Rainey Knudson and Christina Rees discuss all the ways the Banksy prank of half-shredding a painting during a Sotheby's auction was unimpressive.

A conversation with author Pete Gershon on the publication of his book Collision: The Contemporary Art Scene in Houston, 1972-1985. With Rainey Knudson and Christina Rees.

Neil Fauerso talks to Hills Snyder — a Texas and New Mexico-based artist and Glasstire contributor — about the draw of the American West, alternative ways of talking about and teaching art, and how a small New Mexico town differs from Marfa. “In my class at UTSA, I’m a sort of homeopathic tincture that’s an alternative to the usual Western art history trip you get at an American university art program.” Glasstire is a Digital Publication that examines Visual Art in Texas. Find our weekly Top 5 Art Exhibits, features on Texas based artists, and news. Keep in touch at glasstire.com

Neil Fauerso talks to Veronica Ortuño — owner and director of Las Cruxes in Austin (a gallery, shop, performance and community space) — about aesthetic development, her new interior projects in Detroit, and actualizing your vision.

Rainey Knudson and Christina Rees discuss the big Texas shows we'd most like to see, and why we're launching the Glasstire Art Writing Prize. “If you give the the strongest artists in Texas the space to stretch out and perform, and the resources to make really great work, they do it. They bring their game.”

Neil Fauerso, based in San Antonio, is Glasstire's Guest Features Editor this summer. In this podcast, Neil chats with Glasstire's Editor-in-Chief Christina Rees about the first art they were exposed to, the vitality of horror, the Trump movie trailer, and the art-political landscape of Texas.

In this podcast, Brandon Zech interviews circus performer and artist Johnny Meah about his life, his work, and how carnivals have changed over the past 50 years.

Julius Eastman was a provocative, outspoken composer active in the 1970s experimental music scene in New York. His titles for his works, including Gay Guerrilla, Evil Nigger, and Crazy Nigger, created an uproar at the time among academic circles and continue to provoke discomfort. His infamous 1975 performance of John Cage's Song Books, in which Eastman undressed a male volunteer onstage and made sexual overtures to him, incensed Cage and created a permanent rift with the elder statesman. Things would go downhill from there for Eastman, who struggled to make ends meet and was eventually evicted from his Lower East Side apartment, losing all his compositions and possessions in the process. As a promising young singer and pianist, Eastman had performed at Carnegie Hall and the Lincoln Center; but he died in 1990 at the age of 49, homeless and forgotten in Buffalo, NY. Recently, there has been a resurgence of interest in his work, with an exhibition and tribute at the Kitchen in New York earlier this year. Our host David McGee speaks with composer and self-described "accidental musicologist" Mary Jane Leach, who co-authored the 2015 book Gay Guerrilla (Eastman Studies in Music); and with Houston composer and writer Chris Becker.

Rainey Knudson and Christina Rees discuss whether artists really have to be politically engaged in their work.

Brandon Zech on a series of signs that are ubiquitous in the Houston landscape. For a written version of this story, and for more pictures of the FIX OVEN A/C signs, go here: http://glasstire.com/2018/04/30/the-story-of-houstons-fix-oven-a-c-signs/

A conversation with host David McGee and guests Felicia Johnson and Stanford W. Carpenter about the cultural phenomenon of the movie The Black Panther, which as of writing is the top-grossing super hero movie of all time in the US, having surpassed $1.3 billion globally in revenues. Recording, mix, and original music by @cbeckermusic.

Rainey Knudson and Christina Rees discuss controversies in the museum world about where the money is coming from. "If the Kochs want to make a $35 million donation to Glasstire, we'll certainly consider it."

Rainey Knudson and Christina Rees discuss artist Christoph Büchel's proposal to designate the prototypes for a wall between the US and Mexico as a national monument, and whether any of this is art.

Rainey Knudson and Christina Rees discuss the new, $23 million Ellsworth Kelly artwork titled "Austin" on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin, and why on earth the people in charge don't want it to be called a chapel.

Daniela Antelo is an artist and realtor living and working in Houston. Her art is primarily performative uses the body to deal with ideas around communication, relationships, and the urban landscape. Originally from Caracas, Venezuela, she moved to Florida with her family at age 12, and after living abroad in Dubai, she moved to Houston in 2010 when her husband was relocated for work.  Together with Brenda Cruz-Wulf she started the Las Girls Collective in order to collaborate on site-specific performances and experimental dance films. Antelo is also The Marriage Story Collector, an ongoing project for which she interviews strangers about how they interpret marriage.

In this episode I interview Soledad Arias, an artist in New York who works as a medical interpreter. Originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina, Soledad has lived in NYC for almost 20 years. Being bilingual, her life, artwork, and (luckily) her job revolve around language. She is interested in exploring the human condition through the medium of speech. At a time when words seem to be thrown around blindly, accelerated by the speed of social media, Arias reminds us of the importance of empathy, practicing emotional listening, and that meaning and specificity still matter.

In our latest Art Dirt podcast, Rainey Knudson speaks with Houston artist David McGee, who is the subject of two exhibitions in Houston this fall, at Texas Gallery and the Houston Museum of African American Culture. "Listen, Donald Trump should be the president of Sharknado."

Rainey Knudson and Christina Rees discuss the week's art news: the return of the Texas Biennial, the Guggenheim's decision to pull controversial videos from a new show, and the death of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner (that's Lauren Hutton in her bunny outfit from the 1960s).

In the aftermath and psychic static of Hurricane Harvey, Peter Lucas brings us this special 2-hour radio show featuring a ton of Houston music and catching up with a handful of Houston musicians and DJs along the way. Blues, r&b, soul, jazz, funk, folk, psychedelic rock, punk, and more. May this homespun broadcast help you feel, deal, and replace the sheetrock of your soul.

Rainey Knudson and Christina Rees discuss the response to Rainey's article about painted electrical boxes as public art.

This episode is about Cathy Fairbanks, an artist living and working in LA who truly sees herself as having a dual career as a nurse. She primarily identifies with working in sculpture, specifically ceramics. But her work doesn’t really look like your traditional ceramics - they kind of morph into wonky yet delicate assemblages with materials like paper mache. You can find out more about her work at http://catherinefairbanks.net.

Christina Rees and Rainey Knudson discuss the week's news.

Christina Rees and Rainey Knudson discuss the week's art news. "One of the protest signs said 'When Did Blasphemy Become Art?' and I just had to have a chuckle."

This is Tommy Gregory, an artist living in Houston, TX. And, probably like everyone listening, he’s had his share of good and bad jobs over the years. After getting his MFA from UT San Antonio, he landed a job at the City as their Public Art Specialist. He then moved to Houston to be the Project Manager for Public Art at the Houston Arts Alliance. Currently he’s the public art program curator and interim director at the Houston Airport Systems. Throughout all these jobs, he has kept up his career as an artist and also curated dozens of exhibitions across the state and this is Not A Hobby. photo by Grady Carter.

Christina Rees and Rainey Knudson discuss the recent spate of removals of Confederate statues, and last week's dismantling of a Sam Durant outdoor sculpture at the Walker Art Center. Image of Robert E. Lee statue removal by Matthew Hinton, via the New Orleans Advocate: http://www.theadvocate.com/new_orleans/news/article_40dccfac-3c91-11e7-8121-83e3757dd400.html

This is an interview with Dixie Friend Gay, an artist living and working in Houston. She had grown up in western Oklahoma on a cattle ranch, made her way to New York to be an artist and eventually settled in Houston. Her work focuses on the sacredness of nature, looking specifically at the wild southern native landscape. Her detailed lush paintings have led her to create large mosaic murals and sculptures in the public realm all over the US. We have a video online that documents her most recent installation “Books of a Feather”, which consists of three 15-foot tall mosaic birds in front of the Alice M Young Library in Houston. For this interview, she talks about how to balance being a mother and an artist, advice on how to get involved in public art, and how her first public intervention was taking political action against a series of gates that were put up between affluent and minority neighborhoods in Houston.

Christina Rees and Rainey Knudson discuss celebrities doing performance art, and the issue of artists gentrifying poor neighborhoods. Also discussed: killing animals for food + favorite music videos from the 80s!

Rainey Knudson and Christina Rees on art that's a cry for attention; whether artists should have to talk about their art; and whether it's a good idea to cross over from the nonprofit to the commercial side (or vice versa) of the art world. BONUS: they disagree on John Currin!

A conversation between the photographer Catherine Opie and Eileen Myles, author of "Chelsea Girls" and numerous volumes of poetry, in Houston on April 29, 2017.

The sixth episode of Not A Hobby features Rahul Mitra. He was born in Hyderabad, India, and lives in Houston. His work is heavily drawing based - mostly black ink on paper - through which he’s created his own visual vocabulary. He sees his work much like notes and his drawings like an extension of his handwriting. Rahul is also a scientist. He is the program director at The Center for RNA Interference and Non-Coding RNAs at the MD Anderson Cancer Research Center in Houston. RNA, or ribonucleic acid, is one of the three major biological macromolecules that are essential for all known forms of life. They are the messenger between our DNA and the ability to produce proteins. A non-coding RNA is a RNA molecule that is not translating between DNA and protein production. So the idea is to introduce non-coding RNA into cells to disrupt production of particular proteins and whatever gene expression they trigger or suppress. Thus non-coding RNA can be targets to treat cancer. All of this is to say that Rahul is pretty with it - looking at things on such a molecular level, testing out theories that might never come to fruition and all the while looking at society as a whole understanding how external forces can influence us on the microscopic level.

Art Dirt 3: Texas Art Fairs: the Good, the Bad, and the Dallas by Glasstire

In Glasstire's Art Dirt podcast, Christina Rees and Rainey Knudson discuss the controversy over Dana Schutz's painting of Emmett Till in the Whitney Biennial.

In Glasstire's new Art Dirt podcast, Christina Rees and Rainey Knudson discuss whether it's too soon for happy art, the new Moody Center at Rice University (and the demise of Rice Art Gallery), and Spring Break plans.

Dallas artist Thor Johnson weaves a tall tale of international art-crime intrigue in the Panhandle.

This episode is a little different than the previous Not A Hobby interviews - our guest is Dirk Rathke, an artist living and working in Berlin, Germany, and he does not have a full time job that he balances with his art career. But I wanted to interview him anyways since I feel like there is a fascination among the artist community in the US that longingly looks to their European colleagues. There is a sense that the funding and general support from the European governments for their artists is much more generous, so that they are able to focus full time on their art career without having to take 2nd or even third jobs. Dirk is a painter and has lived in Berlin quite some time. He was in Houston for an exhibition late last year and I wanted to ask him some frank questions about what the assistance situation is really like in Germany. You’ll be surprised how familiar it all sounds despite some glaring differences.

Shannon Duncan, an artist in Houston, does not have a full-time job - she has about 4 part-time jobs that make up her approximately 50 hour work. She certainly isn’t alone in cobbling together various jobs to make ends meet, but through it all she has had a decade-long commitment to working at Starbucks. Listen to Shannon discuss her work, her multiple jobs, the fun of adjunct teaching, and hopes for what will come next after her "coffee break" from Starbucks.

Ariane Roesch interviews three artists - Martha Hughes, Julian Mock, and Alyce Santoro - that all live and work in Marfa about what drew them to the city and the logistics of being an artist in the middle of nowhere. This podcast is sponsored by Eric Jarvis and crushpad productions in Houston.

For its third episode, Not A Hobby interviews Heyd Fontenot who has balanced jobs with his art career over the last 30 years. He has been the wonderful director at Centraltrak in Dallas for the last 5 years. "If you can keep making art, you win."

Being an artist is a lot of work. Not only do you have to continuously come up with good ideas and then execute them, but you also have to deal with the professional side of things, including promoting yourself, which often has no relation to the creative part of making work. And still, most artists don't make their living off of their art work. But they don't stop being artists. So to make ends meet, many artists have another job. Welcome to Not a Hobby, where we interview those artists who balance a full-time job and an art career. For these people, being an artist is not just a something you do in your leisure time. Episode 1 of Not A Hobby interviews Houston artist Solomon Kane.

In Episode 2 of Not A Hobby, Ariane Roesch interviews Krista Birnbaum. Her work ranges from photographic to sculptural and is somewhat whimsical, very detail oriented, and deals with control over nature.

On October 17, 2015, Glasstire welcomed the legendary artist Robert Irwin to Houston for a talk with Michael Govan, director of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Their warm, irreverent conversation about their history of working together at thrilled Houston audiences and continues to garner views on our Youtube channel. Robert Irwin is regarded as the central artist of the L.A.-based “Light and Space” movement in the 1960s. He designed the architecture and grounds of Dia: Beacon Center for the Arts; and the lush Central Gardens for the Getty Center in Los Angeles, California.

Jizzy Lizzy: I Desire To Win (Smile More) by Glasstire

Jizzy Lizzy: I Desire To Win by Glasstire

Jizzy Lizzy: I Desire To Win (Weight Loss Guru) by Glasstire

Roberta and Richard Huber describe their collecting process

Rosa de Salazar y Gabino, Countess of Monteblanco and Montemar by Glasstire

Discussion about the Christ Child Figures from the Roberta and Richard Huber collection in the "Highest Heaven" exhibition currently on view at the San Antonio Museum of Art.