Art Works Podcast

A conversation with Lissa Frenkel, the CEO of the Gaillard Center in Charleston, South Carolina. Lissa shares the story of the Gaillard Center, a multidisciplinary cultural hub--whose renovation was completed in 2015 under the guidance of National Medal of Arts recipient  Mayor Joe Riley-- that has since become a cornerstone of the Charleston arts community.  Lissa discusses center's mission to pr...

An in-depth interview with 2021 National Heritage Fellow Joanie Madden , the legendary Irish musician and leader of Cherish the Ladies .  In this podcast, Joanie recounts her early life in the Bronx, New York, where she was born to Irish immigrant parents from County Galway and County Clare and shares how her father, an All-Ireland Champion accordion player, profoundly influenced her musical journ...

This July 4th, let's revisit Lin-Manuel Miranda and his revolutionary musical "Hamilton."

A conversation with Adriana Pierce, a trailblazing dancer, choreographer, and director, who is reshaping the ballet world through her initiative, Queer the Ballet. Pierce discusses her early dance experiences and how her passion for dance led her to notable positions at the New York City Ballet and Miami City Ballet, where she spent seven years honing her craft.   But at the same time, there was m...

Community Activist, Organizer and 2024 National Heritage Fellow Pat Johnson, a pillar of the Pocahontas, Arkansas community, shares her work preserving local history and fostering community fellowship through the Eddie Mae Herron Center. She founded the Center in the very building where she once attended a segregated one-room school, transforming it into a cornerstone for celebrating Black culture...

Curator Tyler Blackwell Discusses the Innovative Initiatives that Make the Speed a Community Hub

This week's podcast is a heartfelt remembrance of blues harmonica master and 2017 National Heritage Fellow Phil Wiggins, who passed away last month. Phil Wiggins was celebrated for his extraordinary skill and soulful music, deeply rooted in the Piedmont blues tradition. In this interview, he shared his journey from his early days in Washington, D.C., playing with renowned bluesmen, to his long-sta...

Director of Education and Violin/Viola Teaching Artist at the Paterson Music Project (PMP) Shanna Lin gives us the program's history: it’s an El Sistema-inspired program established in 2013 with 32 second graders and now serves over 500 students from 25 schools in Paterson, N.J. PMP offers after-school programs four days a week and on Saturdays, including string orchestra, concert band, guitar, ja...

We’re celebrating Jewish American Heritage Month by revisiting my interview with LGBT and ethnic scholar and author Lillian Faderman who discusses her book "My Mother's Wars." The book is a reconstructed narrative that explores the life of Faderman's mother, a Jewish immigrant in the United States, navigating the complexities of love, survival, and identity against the backdrop of the Great Depres...

President of  Actors' Equit y Kate Shindle and the  NEA  Director of Theater & Musical Theater  Greg Reiner  discuss the current challenges, strategic innovations, and the evolving landscape of American theater.  Kate provides an overview of the history and evolving mission of Actors' Equity in safeguarding actors and stage managers.  While Greg discusses the NEA's strategic funding to support...

Playwright and director Psalmayene 24 discusses his career trajectory from his unique approach to theater, his recent direction of the world premiere of Tempestuous Rising at Arena Stage and his upcoming projects, including his current direction of Metamorphosis at the Folger Theatre . We talk about his journey from dance to theater, first as an actor and eventually to playwriting and directing in...

We’re closing out Arab-American Heritage Month with author Diana Abu-Jaber who discusses growing up with an Irish-American mother and a Jordanian father who never felt at home in the US, the lively tensions between cultures, and the centrality of this to her writing.  We discuss her two memoirs, "The Language of Baklava" and "Life Without a Recipe." She describes the impact her father and grandmot...

We’re celebrating National Poetry Month with 2021 NEA Literature Fellow, poet Leslie Sainz who discusses her debut poetry collection, "Have You Been Long Enough at Table."  Sainz reads from her collection and talks about its major themes including the ambiguity, displacement, and impact of cultural heritage as a daughter of Cuban immigrants. She discusses the variety of poetic forms used in her co...

MacArthur Fellow and 2002 Pulitzer-Prize Winner in Drama for “Topdog/Underdog, ” Suzan-Lori Parks tells us about her current play ”Sally and Tom” * now having its NY premier at the Public Theater . It’s a play within a play about Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson and combines Parks’ love of  American history and theater. We discuss the play's exploration of fraught subjects such as enslavement, s...

As we’re gearing up for the 2024 NEA Jazz Masters’ tribute concert, we are revisiting my conversation with 2017 NEA Jazz Master Bassist Dave Holland. From his roots in the English working class to becoming an admired figure in the jazz world, Holland shares his musical journey, marked by a deep passion for the bass, a transformative stint with Miles Davis, and a dedication to the next generation o...

We’re taking a deep dive with Willard Jenkins into his life in jazz. Willard discusses his early exposure to jazz in Pittsburgh and Cleveland, crediting his parents' record collection for his initial fascination with the genre, and the profound impact local jazz scenes and radio had on his musical journey. Willard recounts his transformative college years at Kent State University, detailing how hi...

In this special edition of Art Works , Chair of the National Endowment for the Arts Dr. Maria Rosario Jackson and U.S. Census Bureau Director Robert Santos have a far-ranging discussion that explores the intersection of arts, culture, and statistical science. Moderated by the NEA’s Director of Research and Analysis Sunil Iyengar, the two agency heads begin their conversation by mapping their journ...

In this podcast, Amina Claudine Myers discusses her journey from the gospel choirs of Arkansas to becoming a 2024 NEA Jazz Master , highlighting her significant contributions to jazz, gospel, and blues. We discuss her early life in Blackwell, Arkansas, and Dallas, Texas, sharing stories of how family and church planted the seeds of her future in music and her transition from gospel music to discov...

Co-founder Kirsten Cappy introduces us to I'm Your Neighbor Books —which aims to build communities where immigrants are welcomed and feel a sense of belonging by sharing diverse immigration stories in children’s literature—and explains the collaborative roots of the organization among leaders from immigrant communities, authors, illustrators, educators, and librarians.  She discusses the Welcoming...

2020 NEA Literature Fellow Danielle Evans is author of two collections of stories  Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self and The Office of Historical Corrections , published ten years apart and to great acclaim. Today, we’re revisiting my 2021 interview with Danielle. In this podcast, we explore her intricate narratives that weave through the themes of history, race, and grief. Danielle shares h...

We’re revisiting my conversation with the 2021 National Heritage Fellow, Reginald “Reggio The Hoofer” McLaughlin, a master tap dancer whose feet tell stories of tradition, perseverance, and cultural heritage. In this podcast, Reggio  discusses his childhood love for tap dancing sparked at community centers in Chicago, his transition from a successful career as an R&B bassist to a full-time tap...

In this tuneful podcast, 2024 NEA Jazz Master Saxophonist Gary Bartz talks about his life and career, touching on his roots, influences, collaborations, and the philosophical underpinnings that have guided his artistic journey. Born in Baltimore in 1940, Gary's musical journey began in a segregated America, where he found music to be a universal language that could transcend societal barriers. He...

In honor of Black History month, we’re revisiting this 2011 conversation with author and 2015 National Humanities Medalist Isabel Wilkerson   In this tuneful podcast, Wilkerson discusses her acclaimed book "The Warmth of Other Suns,"   exploring the profound impact of the Great Migration on American culture. This migration saw six million African Americans relocate from the rural South to the urba...

Screenwriter and Director Cord Jefferson discusses his critically acclaimed film, “American Fiction” which is a satirical exploration of popular culture’s often narrow and limiting representation of Black people.  We catch up with director/writer Cord Jefferson whose film ” American Fiction”    has been nominated for five academy awards (Best Picture, Best adapted screenplay  (Jefferson), best act...

Steve Zeitlin, founder and executive director of City Lore , and Phyllis Zimmer, founder and president of the Nurse Practitioner Healthcare Foundation , discuss their joint project "From Heritage to Health" (H2H).  Funded partly by the National Endowment for the Arts, this initiative aims to integrate storytelling and the arts into healthcare, particularly for a culturally diverse population.  Zei...