Let's Chat Creative Pathways Podcast

In this episode, host Beth Bailey sits down with interdisciplinary artist, photographer, and filmmaker Maggie Meiners at the Chautauqua Institution residency. They dive deep into the beautiful, chaotic reality of balancing a professional art career, filmmaking, and motherhood, exploring how personal life experiences fuel creative evolution. Key Discussion Points: The Chautauqua Residency Experienc...

In this special pod swap episode, Beth travels on-site to the Local Threads Podcast headquarters for a back-and-forth conversation with host Molly! Releasing simultaneously across both feeds, this episode dives into the shared mission of highlighting local talent, building genuine community, and giving everyday creatives a voice. Beth and Molly discuss their very different creative pathways—from M...

From No Responses to His Own Gallery: Leroy Powell on Turning a Salon Wall Into Ivy Lane Gallery This episode of Let's Chat Creative Pathways is recorded inside Ivy Lane Gallery, the plant filled gallery space Leroy Powell built into Powell & Burke Salon , the Newbury Street hair salon he co-owns with his husband, Jason Burke. After sending roughly 20 outreach emails to galleries and getti...

What does it take to turn a childhood love of color into a thriving career in fine art? In this episode, we sit down with South Shore painter Jenny Kelley to trace her creative journey—from matching fabric swatches for iconic Cape Cod interior designer Joan Peters at age 15, to navigating the intense studio culture at RISD, teaching high school art, and eventually finding her voice as a painter of...

Beth is back from two months off and two weeks at Chautauqua Institution's visual arts residency, and she's got a lot to catch up on. In this solo episode: painting a mural for Levitate Festival, 2 lesson plans at their Creative Kids Camp, landing new funding from the Jack Tarver Family Foundation for afterschool arts programming at Downey Elementary, and what two weeks at an artist reside...

She pivoted back to painting one year ago. She won Best in Show out of 115 paintings. She got into an artist residency she almost didn't apply for. This is the summer update you didn't know you needed. Beth Bailey sits down solo to share everything that's happened since leaning back into her painting practice, and everything that's coming this summer. Spoiler: it's a lot. 🎨 WH...

We are celebrating a podcast milestone today with our very first repeat guest, Emily Smith! Since she last joined us on Episode 23, Emily and I have had so much more to talk about. We dive right into her inspiring career transition from the corporate music world at Zildjian back to her entrepreneurial roots in live theater sound engineering. Emily shares what it’s like running sound for local Sout...

In this episode, Beth sits down with ceramicist Sharrel Meeker @s.meekerceramics (formerly of the beloved brand Mud &Yarn, now S. Meeker) at her co-owned Andem Art Studios in Brookline Village. Sharrel shares her incredible journey from working as a massage therapist in California to moving back to Massachusetts after a metastatic melanoma diagnosis. She opens up about how a clinical trial led...

MICHELLE LEVESQUE | Let's Chat Creative Pathways with Beth Bailey | EP31 What happens when you follow the path you are "supposed" to take, only to realize your nervous system is begging for a reset? This week, Beth sits down with Dr. Michelle Levesque at her beautiful Dovetail Studio in the ET Wright building in Rockland, Massachusetts. @michellechunglevesque Michelle shares her fasc...

"The arts are for everyone, genuinely. You don’t have to know what you’re doing... it just feels good to be present." In this episode, Beth sits down with Julia Driscoll , the Executive Director of the North River Arts Society and co founder of the Wicked Women Makers Market . Julia returns to the studio for an honest, wide ranging conversation about her evolution from a "black shee...

In this episode, Beth sits down with painter Nancy Cloonan in her vibrant, plant filled home studio. Nancy shares her journey from studying printmaking and photography to finding her "true love" again through abstract painting. They dive deep into the technical side of acrylics, the value of repetition in art, and how Nancy’s commitment to a daily sketchbook practice has transformed her...

In this inaugural episode, Beth Bailey introduces a new interview series dedicated to uncovering the many ways people build creative lives. Beth shares her own "weird niche" journey, from her early days as a dual major at MassArt to her experiences as the "YMCA Art Lady" and a sign painter at Trader Joes. This series is born out of pure curiosity and a lifelong obsession with c...

In part two of episode 28, we rejoin community arts educator Beth Bailey to wrap up our exploration of the Greetings from Duval Elementary residency. This half of the conversation focuses on the "how" of community art. Beth shares insights on collaborating with guest artists, the technical process of building woven pop up cards, and the strategy behind a successful community Family Night. We also...

Host Beth Bailey takes us behind the scenes of her latest community art residency, "Greetings from Duval Elementary." In this deep dive, Beth breaks down the logistics of running a grant-funded program for over 400 students. She shares the reality of balancing artistic vision with school budgets, the importance of paying visiting artists, and why she chose to personally absorb a funding...

I am back with a solo update on everything happening in my studio right now. In this episode, I am giving you a behind the scenes look at how I manage grant funded projects without hitting burnout. Whether you are curious about my experience with multi site residencies or wondering how I transition between mediums like ceramics and painting, I am sharing the lessons I have learned from my recent c...

In this very special episode of Let’s Chat Creative Pathways, I am joined by a woman who has been a foundational part of my own creative journey: my mom, Marian. We sit down to explore the evolution of her life as a maker and the many ways her creative practice has shifted over the decades. Marian shares her earliest memories of sewing alongside her grandmother, a skill that eventually gave her th...

Welcome back to Episode 25 of Let’s Chat Creative Pathways! This week, we are sitting down with Kristina Junco, a local artist and elementary special education teacher who beautifully blends her passion for creativity with her work in the classroom. In this episode, Kristina takes us back to her childhood in Lancaster, PA, describing what it was like growing up with a mother who made creative play...

See Melissa and her work live and in person at her gallery opening "Requiem in Bloom" on January 10th from 2-6pm at Clemens Gallery, Hingham Public Library. Work is on view from January 10th - February 5th In Episode 24, I sit down with photographer Melissa Diane Clayton to discuss the unexpected path that led her to the lens. We talk about her early, powerful exposures to both visual ar...

In this episode, I talk with musician and sound engineer Emily Smith Payton about the creative thread that has run through her life from childhood to her career today. Emily and I grew up in the same community and shared many of the same early arts experiences, especially Mrs. Lewis’s school productions, which shaped so many of us. Although we were in different years and never on stage at the same...

In this very special episode I share the recording of my MAEA 2025 Community Arts Educator of the Year award presentation. Earlier this fall I missed the official ceremony that honored arts educators from across the state, including the Museum Educator of the Year from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston and a Lifetime Achievement recipient from Marlborough Public Schools. I am incredibl...

In this episode, I sit down with Tiff Nunes McCarthy , a key player of the creative team at ⁠ Levitate⁠ , a New England lifestyle brand celebrating all things outdoors, music, and arts. Tiff and I trace her creative journey all the way back to her roots in Venezuela (after I initially botch that and then fully let her colleague Pat C take the fall for the misinformation. Sorry, Pat, pretty sure I...

In this solo check-in, I share updates on what’s new with Creative Pathways , how my studio practice has been shifting and evolving, and some exciting upcoming events and collaborations . I also take you behind the scenes of my current show at Clay Lounge in Somerville , which showcases ten years of artistic exploration in ceramics —a decade-long journey of learning how to translate the images in...

In this solo episode I share honest behind the scenes updates that give a look at how I run my creative small business day to day, from balancing studio work and community projects to keeping everything moving as a one woman operation. In the second half I dive into my social media “non plan,” a refreshingly unstructured approach where I simply share whatever I’m genuinely working on that day. I b...

Episode 18 of Let’s Chat: Creative Pathways is all about reconnecting and planning for the future. I start by checking in on health — 3 weeks post-op — plus sharing updates on current client work and taking a look at my schedule a year out. I’m also excited to introduce my Creative Pathways Corporate Art Residency, a new program bringing collaborative art experiences into workplaces. This episode...

In Episode 17, I share personal challenges of finding balance, the forced slow downs I’m learning to embrace, and how I juggle my pottery business with running Creative Pathways, a nonprofit bringing art into communities. I dive into the grant cycle I’m in right now—and how you can tap into grants for your own creative work. I’m also putting out a call for artists and local creatives to join me as...