The Art Box

We are going to start a new short podcast idea by interviewing artists whose works have received Best of Show awards. Not just at our local gallery but from anywhere. We will start with the Mesquite Fine Arts Gallery March exhibition "Through Our Eyes" and the Best of Show "Leaping Lizards Southwest Style" by Linda Harris. Linda is interviewed by Floyd Johnson. Enjoy.

Steve looks forward to Spring every year when Lori and Dan Rowland visit Gold Butte National Monument giving him friends to go out and play.  This year JT and Anastasiya came along with Dan, Lori, Ruby and myself on a good hike in Garden Canyon. The next day Lori and Dan visited our STEAM Center studio for a much anticipated podcast. Lori was her always brilliant self giving us a behind the scenes...

The Art Box was privileged to host director Fred Bell at our STEAM Center studio. Fred recently captured the Best Nevada Filmmaker award at the Dam Short Film Festival in Boulder City, Nevada for “Sounds of Blue Spaces.” Fred Bell is very comfortable sitting in the desert, miles from anywhere, listening to (and recording) the spirit of the land.  A 2005 article in the Seattle Times about “One Squa...

Our friend Bob Craig zoomed into our STEAM Center studio to chat about the Virgin Valley Theatre Groups coming production of Almost Maine. As Director, Bob provides us a unique look at this popular play, its stories, it's almost-ish, and it's magic. Gwen and I have our tickets for opening night, this is going to be our spring MUST SEE in the Virgin Valley and beyond.  Almost, Maine, a town that’s...

Linda and Tyler sat down with Pennsylvania based artist Denzy Dark recently for a wide ranging discussion of poetry, creativity, visual arts and life in general. This will go down as one of our best podcasts.   Denzy Dark, artistic alias for Dustin Nispel, is an international award-winning poet and visual artist. His works dive into dark surrealism with cumbersome emotion that pulls at the viewer’...

Linda and her granddaughter Natalie sat down during the summer to discuss music in the schools, and the physical and intellectual challenges of playing an instrument in a marching band.  Natalie has advanced in her music since this discussion, and recently won Gold for her saxophone solo in her District Competition.  She now advances to the state competition.  

Morgan Sjogren is an author, explorer, and defender of wild places. Her books and writing focus on human-powered adventure, public lands, conservation, history, travel, and food. Sjogren devotes much of her writing and time to advocate, educate, and inspire others to help protect endangered landscapes and the environment. Sjogren is the author of  Path of Light: A Walk Through Colliding Legacies o...

Our good friends from the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Jennifer Heroux and Rob Vinson drove to Mesquite to enlighten our listeners about the history of US wildlife refuges and how the Federal Duck Stamp Program has positively impacted wildlife through land preservation. Jennifer oversees the Nevada Junior Duck Stamp program and she takes time to explain how teachers and young artists can engage. ...

We wrapped up our visit to Elko, enjoying our old friends and making many new ones. Not much sleep, long ride up and back but our time was precious. We hope you can enjoy the myraid of talented guests that graced our mic. Many thanks to the worldwide fans of The Art Box and to our sponsors the Virgin Valley Artists' Association. 

Karen Terrey is a writer, editor, and writing coach, offering marketing and business writing, copy editing, publishing guidance, and creative writing workshops in Truckee through her business Tangled Roots Writing for clients of all ages.  She has taught at Lake Tahoe Community College, Sierra Nevada College, and Sierra College and has served as a poetry editor for the literary journals Pitkin Rev...

To quote my Grandmom and Annie MacKennzie "Welp", we tried to record during our annual shopping spree of the vendors setup in the Conference Center, and the background noise mostly washed out the conversations we had with  the many talented vendors. But here you go, the best we could edit. Hope you can semi-enjoy this.

WOW, is all you can say after a Kristyn Harris show, she PLAYS the guitar like no one else, and she belts out her tunes that has you tapping your toes and dancing in your seat. We caught up with Kristyn this year along with her Grandpa the evening before they headed north to work on her herds calving in Southern Idaho. Thank you Kristyn for an always fun interview. Have fun in Europe this summer a...

Back in 2023 our friend Roberta Townsand before we left for Elko said "make sure you see Jessie Veeder", well we missed her, but not this year. We were WOWed by Jessie (along with her dad on the harmonica) at the "Pretty Ranchy" show along with Yvonne Hollenbeck, Annie MacKenzie and Carin Mari. Linda beelined it to the stage and came back all excited that yes, Jessie would interview with us. We no...

This episode is a MUST for you brush artists. Nancy Harris McLelland found Ron for us after she saw us oohing and ahhing over his art hanging in the vendor area. He drove down the next day and we could of had a marathon episode but ran out of daylight. Listen and you will understand.  More about Ron: https://doublescoop.art/route-to-the-rurals/  

My name is Doug Figgs and I am a Western music singer/songwriter from Lemitar, NM. My musical influences include Country, Western, and Southern Rock. I can perform solo, as a duo, or as a trio (Doug Figgs, Jim Jones and Mariam) as "The Cowboy Way". I have 5 CDs currently available at the "Store" on this website. They are "All Because of You", a collection of Western/Americana songs mostly written...

We shared the media room with fellow press member Larry Hillberg from KMVR 89.5.  Larry, a friend from last years gathering presented a special poem at an open mic session. Enjoy. More about Larry: https://www.kvmr.org/users/larry-hillberg/ Thank you Larry.

As Steve made his way through the vendor area in the Elko Conference Center he ran into a fellow Children's book author, Gus Brackett. We enticed Gus to come over to our media room with the promise of a Ribeye Steak. OK, we lied about the steak but the nice guy Gus is, he stayed for a fun interview. This is an episode you will want to listen to. Thank you Gus! You can find out about Gus' books at:...

Linda being the adventurer she jumped right into dancing with the Basque dance company Txori Baltza with Katlyn, Olivia and Franci. Afterwards we dragged them into our Media room and with a ruckus concert going in the room next door, we proceeded to have a fun discussion of Basque history, delicious Starr steaks and their creative dancing. Though we may not be in the Basque Country, we are in peak...

It was not poetry that brought Nancy to use, it was Linda looking at some incredible paintings from Tuscarora where she ran into Nancy and started talking writing. Next thing you know Nancy is visiting with us in the Media room. You will enjoy this interview. More about Nancy: https://www.nancyharrismclelland.com/  

If there was a reason we could hardly wait to get back to Elko, it was probably Annie MacKenzie, bringing real prose from Jordan Valley, Oregon we just love her work and mater of fact delivery. We convinced her sister Megan to join in with us and we had a rousing conversation that you are going to love. OK, enough blabbering from me, time to start this episode for some listening pleasure. Thank yo...

Yeppers Linda and Steve got to sit down the Nevada Humanities Program Manager Bobbie Ann Howe for a wide ranging interview about humanities in our state.  Learn more about Nevada Humanities: https://www.nevadahumanities.org/ Learn more about Bobbie: https://www.nevadahumanities.org/blog/2021/11/4/what-i-love-about-nevada  

Linda and Steve were all smiles when Doris Daly was our first guest this year. Doris was on our mind all year after she wowed us with her brand of creativity last year in Elko. Doris brought along her husband Doc this year for an entirely fun interview. Sit back and enjoy as Doris and Doc entertain us. Doris web page: https://www.dorisdaley.com/home "If cowboy poetry was fresh milk and the cream t...

Linda and Steve just arrived in Elko for the 39th Annual Cowboy Poetry Gathering and sat down for a quick review of our schedule and goals. Get ready for our 13 episodes with the most amazing down-home creative talent in the USA.  Please enjoy our opening and closing music provided by Jessie Veeder and our opening and closing voice Diana Lee Rose.  We recorded from the media room at the Elko Conve...

Linda and Steve had the privilege of a visit by local graphics designer, regional entrepreneur, and author Dustin Berg. Put on your head set and sit down with us for an enjoyable thirty-minute chat. Mesquite Branding - https://mesquitebranding.com/ Purchase Dustins Book "All Around Mesquite" - https://www.amazon.com/All-Around-Mesquite-Nevada-Destinations/dp/B0CPG62LWP

Meet award winning editor and journalist James Luksic, Wright State University graduate and current Moapa Progress journalist. Jim is all about movies, great books and is beloved in our community. You can catch Jim's work at: https://mvprogress.com/?s=James+Luksic Movie Reviews: https://mvprogress.com/2024/02/20/critics-corner-bob-marley-one-love-earnest-but-lacking/