Art Lovers Forum Podcast

Today’s guest is Bex McCharen, who uses they/them pronouns—an interdisciplinary artist, fashion designer, filmmaker, and founder of the inclusive fashion label Chromat.   Across fashion, textiles, painting, photography, social practice, and film, Bex explores one of the most personal and politically charged questions of our time: Who has the right to define who we are?   For Bex, identity is not n...

  The art world was caught off guard last Wednesday morning when The New York Times reported that Pace Gallery—one of the most influential and respected galleries in the world—plans to reduce its artist roster by approximately 50 artists and eliminate about 50 staff positions. In the article, Marc Glimcher, Chief Executive Officer of Pace Gallery, offered a candid assessment of the current state o...

  For decades, one of the most important missing links in the history of artificial intelligence has been sitting quietly in storage. It’s soon going to be owned by a major institution. How do I know? I’m in charge of the project. I’m just starting my search. My client is Michael  J. Freeman,,.Ph. D., an American inventor, who is widely recognized across the technology, science, toy, and education...

There is a strong possibility you have never encountered anyone quite like Stella Chrone. She is not only striking and intelligent, but has also lived a life shaped by experiences far outside the familiar paths most of us know. In this episode, you’ll hear the remarkable story of her journey—one defined by courage, discipline, and the determination to leave a highly insular upbringing and forge he...

We’re celebrating not one, but two extraordinary milestones by the brilliant multidisciplinary artist Randi Renate, whose work lives at the powerful intersection of art, biology, and ocean science. First—her stunning outdoor sculpture, “Are We Psychic Coral-Polyps?”, has been selected for a major ecological exhibition at the Parrish Art Museum , Water Mill, NY (the Hamptons)  where it will be on v...

Gallerist Bella De Almeida, founder and artistic director of The Living Room gallery , is redefining how art is experienced in Miami and its surrounding communities. Through The Living Room concept, she positions art as a conversation space for creative exploration and cultural immersion. Bella curates intimate, multidisciplinary gatherings that bring together culinary arts, literature, music, dan...

The Miami art world is getting a jolt of New York energy. There is a new collaboration between Pendentive Studio and Kates-Ferri Projects that will bring artists represented by the New York City gallery to Miami audiences. The partnership kicks off Friday, March 13th with a group exhibition at Pendentive Studio (7615 Biscayne Blvd) featuring Lisu Vega and Juan Henriquez. Interior designer Phoebe O...

Mike Shultis is an artist but you would be accurate if you called him a theatrical set designer, an architect, an antique dealer, an editor and a story teller. His paintings are three dimensional,  better known as assemblages.    Mike likes to say his art productions are ancient story lines repeating itself to show the cycle of history. He edits the message.   There are not that many artists who c...

In just one podcast interview, Ombretta Agró Andruff, the founder and executive director of ARTSail Residency and Research, gave me a renewed interest in the ocean. Ombretta understood immediately why I wasn’t keeping up with all of the changes that are happening in the ocean that most definitely impact our climate. NYC does that to you.    Now that I look at the ocean every day in Miami Beach, I...

The minute I met Grace Hopkins at the Berta Walker Gallery in Provincetown, MA, I knew I wanted to interview her for Art Lovers Forum. She is deeply involved in the art world, and I felt she could teach me so much. I was so right. For most of the year, Grace is the director of the Berta Walker Gallery, one of the most respected in PTown. She loves working for Berta who has a strong understanding o...

  Welcome to Art Lovers Forum. There’s a nonprofit art organization that’s quietly becoming a global force — using creativity to stand up for Israel and to fight antisemitism. It’s called Art World for Israel, and I have to thank artist Dahlia Dreszer for introducing me to its incredible founder, Ariel Penzer. Ariel told me that since the attacks on Israel on October 7th, 2023, too many Jewish art...

Today I’m thrilled to introduce you to Michele Landel, an American textile artist who lives and works in Sèvres, France. We actually met two years ago during Christmas when she and her husband, Greg, were vacationing in his parents’ Miami apartment — which, by coincidence, happens to be in my condo building. When Greg’s mother learned that my husband, Eliot, and I are art collectors, she said, “Yo...

Donnalynn Patakos, editor-in-chief of Portray Magazine, opens this episode with profound insights on how to create the best life possible. She shares her perspective on navigating the art world, choosing the right life partner, and—perhaps most importantly—how you see yourself. And she speaks from experience: Donnalynn is living the kind of life that many art lovers dream about. Her most inspiring...

Tom Huth is the retired principal of Thomas R. Huth Architects in Newton, MA, a practice he founded in 1982. I always wanted to ask Tom if there really was a difference between artists and architects. It took Tom three seconds to answer me. “I consider myself an artist who does architecture for a living. Both professions require a devoted commitment because it’s very difficult to achieve a vision,...

We bought our first Francie Bishop Good sculpture from the Mindy Solomon gallery, Miami, in 2023. It was the  “Walking in Circles,” piece made from wood and ceramic with Synthetic polymer paints. 16" x 16" x 7”.  We wanted it because you couldn’t tell if it was a piece of art or a dining  accessory. It was whimsical and daring.    Now that I know Francie I feel so lucky to own a sculpture that mak...

I wanted to interview David Mikesell of Gross Pointe Farms, MI, for quite some  time now. At 88 years old, he can teach us a few things about life, especially why art makes him happy.  After 36 years in labor law management at Honigman Miller Schwartz & Cohn in Detroit, David decided to devote his retirement years to creating all kinds of art. His art is daring, colorful, modern, and thought-p...

Welcome to Art Lovers Forum.  Today we spotlight the bold, electrifying work of Cuban-American artist Alex Núñez, whose newest installation at the Faena Art Project Room in Miami Beach is a must-see this summer. Titled “There’s a Gator in the Pool,” this site-specific immersive experience isn’t just art—it’s a full-body encounter. Núñez transforms the gallery into a surreal aquatic landscape, usin...

   Welcome to Art Lovers Forum, where today’s episode might just blow the doors off everything you thought you knew about motorsports and contemporary art. I’m thrilled to introduce two visionary women who are rewriting the rules of both industries: Zoë Barry and Spring McManus. Together, they’re launching DART Car—a revolutionary platform that fuses high-performance racing with high-impact art, a...

Have you noticed the shift? A whole new generation of gallerists is emerging around the world—and they’re transforming how we experience art. Gone are the days of cold, intimidating gallery spaces that left first-time visitors feeling unwelcome. Today’s gallerists are opening their doors—and their minds—to a new kind of collector. They’re making art more accessible, more personal, and more social....

Today’s guest is someone who quite literally lives between worlds—both geographically and creatively. Leslie Moody Castro is an independent art curator and writer who splits her time between Austin, Texas, and Mexico City, a rhythm she’s kept for over twenty years. Her practice is deeply rooted in movement, collaboration, and conversation—whether across borders, between disciplines, or within comm...

I have never met an artist as exuberant as Dahlia Dreszer. She is so passionate about her work that she throws concerts, discussions, and special speaking engagements just to gather important collectors together with like-minded people. She recently built an immersive environmental experience in the gallery, Green Space, in Miami. The title of the show, “Bringing the Outside In,” is all about tran...

Dave Ross is living a life in the art world that most people would love to have. He went from a top-ranking Wall Street analyst to a promising abstract painter who is receiving very positive reviews from collectors. My husband and I bought two paintings from Dave that we adore, one of them is an absolute favorite. Dave is what I call a free spirit who believes in the art of the possible. He surrou...

There are so many extraordinary stories to the life of Miami gallerist Mindy Solomon that I just don’t know where to begin this introduction to Art Lovers Forum. She says you can pretty much follow her life by the ceramics she’s collected over the years and the ones she exhibits in her gallery. Most of them tell a story that parallels her life. I keep thinking of the one where Mindy basically clos...

Leon Ford is an author and activist who wants to open a non-profit art gallery in Pittsburgh that showcases powerful works but also serves as a hub for community connection and dialogue. Leon has real life experience to make this happen. When he was 19 years old in 2012, Leon was shot five times by a Pittsburgh police officer as he was racially profiled during a case of mistaken identity. He has b...

I met Graham Wilson, the founder of Swivel Gallery in New York City, for the first time a few weeks ago at the Material Art Fair in Mexico City. I have been hearing positive news about the four year old gallery from a few art collectors recently and got curious how Graham functions in such a competitive market as New York. I think once you hear his interview in Art Lovers Forum you will get a life...