Framing the Hammer

Broadway artist-turned-developer James Brown III joins us to explore Storyhouse Village, creative economy jobs, arts-powered community, and joy. 4A Arts believes that arts and culture are basic human rights and powerful tools for building a whole and healthy society.   Please follow our efforts and growth to change the narrative around American creativity and consequently to increase support from...

Episode 18 of Framing the Hammer finds us in etymological and philosophical hilarity with cartoonist Ellis Rosen. A cartoonist of many decades, Rosen has been featured in The New Yorker in addition to dozens of other publications, online, and restaurants in Manhattan. We explore his career, cartooning’s place in the creative economy, as well as 4A Arts’s study of the wellbeing economy. Additionall...

Professor Justin O’Connor of University of South Australia ’s Creative Economy Department joins us for episode 17 of Framing the Hammer to discuss the ideas behind his new book, Culture is Not an Industry . For decades, many governments capitalized on the notion of a "creative economy," fueled by the work of academics and economists, including Professor O’Connor. He has reformed the idea...

“Democratization of American Arts and Culture” means lowering or removing barriers to experiencing, creating, and sharing art. Through this process, ideas are explored, questions asked, humanity exposed, bonds created, and communities are greatly strengthened. Democratizing the arts also helps strengthen American democracy, by strengthening communities, building belonging, and advancing interest i...

A conversation with Arizona Citizens for the Arts (AZCA), the state arts advocacy organization fighting to increase funding in the Arizona state budget. In this episode, we chat with the AZCA Executive Director, Patrick McWhorter, and Director of Community Engagement, Sabrina Estrada. we touch on the exciting cultural developments statewide, as well as the distressing state of arts funding in the...

In episode 114 of Framing the Hammer , we chat with Richard Deming, Yale Director of Creative Writing and author of the recently published, This Exquisite Loneliness: What Loners, Outcasts and the Understood Can Teach Us About Creativity . In the book, Deming profiles six historic figures who publicly wrestled with loneliness and used creativity to cope ( Melanie Klein , Zora Neale Hurston , Walke...

In Episode 12 of Framing the Hammer , we chat with Jason McGatlin, a Hollywood producer who worked on films such as The Adventures of TinTin , Volcano , and the Disney+ series, The Mandalorian , and (not least of all), the seventh, eighth and ninth of the Star Wars series, The Force Awakens , The Last Jedi , The Rise of Skywalker .  4A Arts believes that arts and culture are basic human rights and...

In episode 12, we chat with Hilary Perkins, founder of Whippoorwill Arts (www.whippoorwillarts.org) a nonprofit advocating for music and musicians that recently underwent a comprehensive report on recommended wages for working musicians. We talk about the report that makes suggested base and graduated pay for musicians of all types, stripes, and locations.   4A Arts believes that arts and culture...

In episode 11 of Framing the Hammer , we chat with artists Boris Eldagsen and Jason M. Allen about their respective approaches to, uses of, and thoughts about artificial intelligence. Both Boris and Jason received awards for their work using AI, but they took different principled stands in accepting (or not refusing) their awards. Join us as we discuss AI as well as the definition of art, design,...

4A Arts dives into another aspect of the creative economy in our discussion with creative director Danielle Venne of Made Music Studio . Her firm specializes in “sonic branding” or, “The audio equivalent of a visual logo” as Danni says.  4A Arts believes that arts and culture are basic human rights and powerful tools for building a whole and healthy society.   Please follow our efforts and growth...

In our conversation with Mathew Boudreaux, known in the online crafting world as the “Themperor of Crafting”, @mx.domestic. Mathew addresses their favorite quilting and crochet projects, being a crafting influencer, the sense of community developed in the art world, social justice melding with arts, their idea that 95% is good enough (the last 5% will steal your joy), and finally, “without creativ...

In this episode of Framing the Hammer , we speak with Elena K. Holy, founder and director of the New York International Fringe Festival as well as the 4A Arts general manager. Elena has spent a lifetime as a theatrical producer with a passion for solving problems and creating more outlets to share more innovative theatre with the largest variety of theatre-goers. 4A Arts believes that arts and cul...

Jazz legend and current board member for 4A Arts, Larry Ridley, recounts his musical youth in the Indianapolis jazz scene, his time touring with jazz greats like the Montgomery Brothers, and his lifelong commitment to sharing jazz through education at the National Endowment for the Arts and starting the jazz program at Rutgers University.  4A Arts believes that arts and culture are basic human rig...

Framing the Hammer episode 106 brings us Troy Plumer, a Louisville, KY-based master’s student in history. Troy is an aficionado, though not a trained expert by his own admission, with the era around the Works Progress Administration (WPA) of the Great Depression and arts funding during that period. Troy contributed a guest blog to the 4A Arts website that’s full of interesting historical tidbits a...

A chat with Indigenous artist Ishkoten Dougi whom Gavin met at the Santa Fe Indian Art Market in August.  During our conversation, Ishkoten discusses many fascinating aspects of his art, creative process, and experience as a Native artist.  Of the many tidbits he shared, some highlights include that he feels forced to speak out and create artifacts that will set the historic record straight, parti...

Enjoy this conversation with an art therapist who works with violent criminals. Her nonjudgmental compassion for her patients and artistic process bring insight into the multitude of ways art restores our humanity and helps our self-understanding. We don’t share her last name or work location for reasons of privacy, particularly to protect her workplace, however we get into some deep topics regard...

In this episode , 4As executive director Gavin Lodge is reunited with his high school junior and senior English teachers, Katherine and Jim Starkey. This married dynamic literary duo inspired their students to think deeper, write expressively, and appreciate all things creative.  During this lively discussion they talk about how Jim developed a teaching technique with a framed hammer, their romanc...

Everyone is an artist! 4A Arts founder Charlie Reinhart explores creativity, inclusion, and how art belongs to everyone. Discover your creative side! Find our show notes here . 4A Arts believes that arts and culture are basic human rights and powerful tools for building a whole and healthy society.   Please follow our efforts and growth to change the narrative around American creativity and conseq...

Executive Director Gavin Lodge introduces 4A Arts and explores a new age of arts advocacy, where art shapes identity, economy, and democracy. 4A Arts believes that arts and culture are basic human rights and powerful tools for building a whole and healthy society.   Please follow our efforts and growth to change the narrative around American creativity and consequently to increase support from ele...