Arts To Hearts Podcast

Some people live more life in one lifetime than most of us live in three. Mikki Hoogendijk is one of them. She survived a bomb attack. She lost people she loved. She built things and watched them fall apart, lived in cities she had to leave, and carried grief that would have stopped most people. And every single time, she didn't move away from the pain — she moved through it, and turned it into so...

What happens when life changes in ways you never imagined and you're left to rebuild from the pieces? In this episode of Season 6, Charuka Arora is joined by Micky Hoogendijk for one of our most moving conversations yet. Together, they explore grief, trauma, resilience, and the quiet strength it takes to keep living after profound loss. From surviving unimaginable experiences to navigating the las...

Creative burnout doesn't arrive in one moment. There's no single day you wake up and know. It starts so small you don't even notice, one yes, then another yes, then another. Until the things you love get quieter and quieter, the things that feel heavy get louder, and one day you realize you've been running on empty far longer than you'd like to admit. In this solo episode, Charuka Arora Founder of...

Success is often measured by what we build. Rarely do we talk about what it costs to build it. In Episode 7 of Season 6 of the Arts to Hearts Podcast, Founder Charuka Arora shares one of her most personal conversations yet. After six years of building Arts to Hearts, she reflects on burnout, the quiet pressure of always showing up, and the realization that, somewhere along the way, she had lost to...

The creative economy is worth nearly $10 trillion. So why do most artists never see a cent of it? That's the question Charuka Arora, founder of Arts to Hearts Project, brings to Nina Orm in Episode 6 of Season 6. Nina, founder of Creativity Meets Capital, has spent her career across finance, entrepreneurship, and politics and is now building the financial infrastructure the art world never gave it...

Artists create the work. But do they really understand the business behind it? In Episode 6 of Season 6, Arts to Hearts founder Charuka Arora is joined by Nina Orm, founder of Creativity Meets Capital, for a powerful conversation about the side of the art world many creatives are never taught to navigate: contracts, copyrights, ownership, licensing, negotiations, and the decisions that can shape a...

There's a question that follows almost every artist. Some days you barely notice it. Other days it's the loudest thing in the room. But it's always there: Will I ever make it? Will anyone see my work? Will I ever become the artist I imagine myself to be? And the hardest part there's no report card, no promotion, no guaranteed timeline. Just you, your work, and a lot of uncertainty. In this solo ep...

For most of her creative life, Charuka Arora Founder of Arts to Hearts Project believed creative success belonged to a certain kind of person people from the right city, the right family, the right circles. She did not see herself in that picture. A decade of building Arts to Hearts Project changed her mind. After six years of building Arts to Hearts Project and interviewing more than 200 artists,...

What if creative success has nothing to do with being born in the “right” place, having connections, money, or belonging in certain rooms? In Episode 4 of Season 6, founder of Arts to Hearts Project, Charuka Arora, will talk about the difficult realities behind building a creative life rejection, grief, uncertainty, showing up with no results, and continuing anyway. From growing Arts to Hearts fro...

Fifteen years ago, Ryan Stanier started cold-calling estate agents across London asking if he could borrow their empty shops for free. Most ignored him. One handed him the keys. That tiny pop-up became ArtBeat, then The Other Art Fair, one of the world’s biggest artist-led fair movements, spanning London, Los Angeles, Brooklyn, Sydney, Chicago, Melbourne, and beyond. But after more than a decade w...

For Episode 3 of Season 6, Charuka Arora, founder of Arts to Hearts Project, had a deeply meaningful conversation with none other than Ryan Stanier the founder behind The Other Art Fair and Fair Play. For years, Ryan has been working towards one powerful idea: making the art world feel more accessible, supportive, and human for artists. From starting with small pop-up exhibitions in empty London s...

In this solo episode of the Arts to Hearts Podcast, Charuka Arora, Founder of the Arts to Hearts Project pulls back the curtain on what it actually takes to make an Arts to Hearts book. From the six-month timeline behind every release, to running open calls, jury processes, and curating both emerging and established artists, Charuka walks through the full publishing journey. She also gets honest a...

What does it really take to turn an Instagram blog into internationally loved art books, magazines, and a creative platform artist around the world connect with? In Season 6, Episode 2 of the Arts to Hearts Podcast, founder Charuka Arora takes us behind every Arts to Hearts book, including the one that completely went wrong. From creative risks and unexpected mistakes to the pressure of building m...

In 1999, a man walked into Battersea Park with an idea the art world thought was embarrassing: put price tags on art. The galleries hated it. The critics rolled their eyes. He did it anyway. Twenty-five years later, that idea is called Affordable Art Fair 19 fairs across 16 cities, nearly 4 million visitors, over $780 million worth of art sold, and an entire generation of artists who got their fir...

On this week's Arts to Hearts Podcast, we sit down with Philemona Williamson, a painter whose work has explored adolescence, gender, and identity for decades. Her paintings carry layers of symbolism and narrative that have developed over a long career of making art that matters to her. In this conversation, Philemona talks about how motherhood, her child's transition, and her experiences with misc...

On this episode of the Arts to Hearts Podcast, host Charuka Arora, founder of the Arts to Hearts Project, talks with Sara Glupker, a Michigan-based fine artist whose work is inspired by nature, florals, colour, and the Midwestern landscape. Sara shares her experience of creating and running art workshops, including moments when turnout was low and plans didn't work out the way she expected. She sp...

In this episode of the Arts To Hearts Podcast, Ocki Magill, founder of Blue Shop Cottage in London, talks about her journey from advertising and fashion to building a gallery that supports emerging artists. She shares practical advice on presenting your work, building community, and staying adaptable in a changing art world. Ocki explains how small steps, genuine connections, and a clear online pr...

In this episode, Kim Hamburg talks with Charuka about how she found her way into making collages later in life. She shares how her kitchen became her studio, how she learned to let go of guilt, and how starting fresh in her fifties opened up a whole new chapter. Kim talks about learning technology, stepping into social media, raising kids, and giving herself the freedom to try something new. Their...

In this solo Thanksgiving episode, Charuka talks about gratitude, the lessons this year brought, and her wish to stop shrinking when life asks for more courage. She opens up about loss, change, and the people who helped her through it. A gentle and real conversation to close out the year.

On this week's Arts to Hearts Podcast, young curator Natasha opens up about her journey in the ever-changing world of contemporary art curation. She talks about how the role of curators has evolved from traditional methods to more collaborative partnerships with artists. Natasha compares the art scenes in America and Paris and highlights how online galleries are changing the game for art access. S...

This episode follows Katie Rodgers as she talks about what it means to take risks by being real in her work. After years in fashion, she chose to step away and start again in New Mexico. Katie shares how change tested her, what she learned about letting go, and why staying true to what feels right is worth the risk.

In this episode, Charuka sits down with Beulah Van Rensburg, co-founder of a quiet and inspiring artist residency in the French countryside. They talk about carving out time to create while juggling life's responsibilities, why artists often feel guilty stepping away, and how being around other creatives can rebuild confidence. Beulah shares her journey from exhibiting around the world to building...

In this episode of Arts to Hearts, Charuka talks with Delia LaJeunesse about helping people find art that suits their space and values, how social media affects artists, and why collecting can be more meaningful and approachable than most people think.

In this episode of the Arts to Hearts Project, host Charuka speaks with artist and community builder Diana Weymar about how her Tiny Pricks Project turned simple stitching into a global act of expression. They talk about making art in uncertain times, how creativity and activism can meet, and why slowing down to make something by hand still matters in a world that moves too fast. Diana opens up ab...

In this episode of the Arts To Hearts Project, Charuka sits down with painter and educator Amirah Rahim for a warm, open conversation about what it's really like to be an artist today. They talk about how marketing has changed, why it doesn't have to feel forced, and how artists can share their stories in a way that feels natural. Amirah talks about the ups and downs of building a creative career,...