The Abstract Athlete

Join the art professor, Ron Johnson (Virginia Commonwealth University) for episode five of our third season of podcasts with Malcolm Blacken, artist, former Virginia Tech Football player and Senior Director of Player Development for the Washington Football Team. Together they will discuss his path to becoming senior director of player development for the Washington football team. This episode talk...

Join the art professor, Ron Johnson (Virginia Commonwealth University) for episode four of our third season of podcasts with Sam Fischer, Loyola Marymount and team USA softball great Sam Fischer. Together they will discuss her journey to softball greatness. This episode will discuss her her life, what its like to hit all of the home-runs and her new podcast titled The Unknown Pro. For more informa...

Join the art professor, Ron Johnson (Virginia Commonwealth University) for episode three of our third season of podcasts with Omari Booker, painter, activist and former Belmont University Basketball player. Together they will discuss his life as an artist and his basketball career. This episode will discuss his struggles with mental health and how creativity is such an important component to his d...

Join the art professor, Ron Johnson (Virginia Commonwealth University) for episode two of our third season of podcasts with Alex Lytle, college lacrosse player Director of Creative Design an Brand Strategies for the Panthers Together they will chat about her artwork and the inspiration behind it. This episode will discuss how she became the Director of creative design for the Panthers and how she...

Join the art professor, Ron Johnson (Virginia Commonwealth University) for episode one of our third season of podcasts with Brett Tomko, former MLB pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodger, New York Yankees and more. Together they will discuss his 15 year baseball career and his art style and career. This episode will discuss his and his families cool histories regarding a Division II Baseball award nam...

Join the art professor, Ron Johnson (Virginia Commonwealth University) for episode twenty of our second season of podcasts with Rick Thorne, BMX legend and singer for the band Good Guys in Black. Together they will discuss his BMX career including the XGames and his band Good guys in black,. This episode will discuss how he is one of the few people to both compete and have his band play on Vans Wa...

Join the art professor, Ron Johnson (Virginia Commonwealth University) for episode nineteen of our second season of podcasts with Brian Poli-Dixon, UCLA and NFL (San Diego Chargers) wide receiver. Together they will discuss his path as an artist and interesting story of how he got back into art. This episode will discuss his football career and his unfortunate injury that cut it short. For more in...

Join the art professor, Ron Johnson (Virginia Commonwealth University) for episode eighteen of our second season of podcasts with Dr. Gonzalo Bearman, Virginia Commonwealth University Infectious Disease and Hospital Epidemiologist. Together they will discuss his college soccer career, his love of music and drumming, and some of his favorite drummers. . This episode will discuss living in a Covid w...

Join the art professor, Ron Johnson (Virginia Commonwealth University) for episode seventeen of our second season of podcasts with Matt Szczur, Major League Baseball player and Villanova Wildcat Football Legend. Together they will discuss his art and his subject matters, also a collaborative project he just completed with recently retired pro baseball player Micah Johnson. This episode will discus...

Join the art professor, Ron Johnson (Virginia Commonwealth University) for episode sixteen of our second season of podcasts with Dr Robert Winn, Director and Professor in the Division of Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine, Dr Ron Gartenhaus, Associate director for veteran’s health Director, Hunter Holmes McGuire Veterans Affairs Cancer Center Professor, Internal Medicine, and our own Dr...

Join the art professor, Ron Johnson (Virginia Commonwealth University) for episode fifteen of our second season of podcasts with Katie Houser, University of Georgia and professional Volleyball player. Together they will discuss her path as a volleyball player and her budding art career. This episode will discuss her transfer from Notre Dame and how she got into art. For more information on Katie H...

Join the art professor, Ron Johnson (Virginia Commonwealth University) for episode fourteen of our second season of podcasts with Shawn Thornton, 2-time NHL Stanley Cup winner (Anaheim Ducks and Boston Bruins) and current Senior VP of the Florida Panthers. Together they will discuss his path to becoming the Senior VP of the Florida Panthers and his amazing perseverance that led to a twenty year ho...

Join the art professor, Ron Johnson (Virginia Commonwealth University) for episode thirteen of our second season of podcasts with Justin Sell, Director of Athletics at South Dakota State University. Together they will discuss their longtime friendship in sports, working with premier college athletes, and dealing with sports in a post-Covid world. This episode will discuss the impact of sports on s...

Join The Professor, Ron Johnson (Virginia Commonwealth University) for our twelfth episode of season 2 along with Richard Sullivan, former MLB Pitcher with the Atlanta Braves and a world class painter & illustrator. Richard Sullivan has channeled his passion and energy for sports into a career as a world class watercolor painter and illustrator. His work is featured in a recent TOPPS baseball...

Join The Professor, Ron Johnson (Virginia Commonwealth University) for our eleventh episode of season 2. Joining him for this special Father's Day episode is the Werth family, a unique family of world class athletes, professional baseball players, US Olympians, elite college athletes, and world class artists! This podcast episode features Hillary Werth, one of our exhibition artists and former ath...

Join The Professor, Ron Johnson (Virginia Commonwealth University) for our tenth episode of season 2. Joining him is Alicia Dietz, a former Blackhawk helicopter pilot in the US Army and now professional artist and maker based out of Richmond, VA.. She is a graduate of Ohio University and Virginia Commonwealth University and has channeled her diverse background as a veteran, journalism, and art maj...

Join The Professor, Ron Johnson (Virginia Commonwealth University) for our ninth episode of season 2. Joining him is Jaraz Jenkins, an artist and musician based in Richmond, VA and graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University. Jaraz has channeled the struggles he has faced in life to become one of Richmond's hottest up and coming artists. He is using his voice and his talent to mentor youth, help...

Join The Professor, Ron Johnson (Virginia Commonwealth University) for our eighth episode of season 2. Joining him is Kyle Turley, former all-pro NFL offensive lineman for the New Orleans Saints, St. Louis Rams, & Kansas City Chiefs. Kyle has channeled his hard work and dedication as an athlete into a career as a musician, artist, & CBD/Cannabis entrepreneur. His leading CBD company is cal...

Join The Professor, Ron Johnson (Virginia Commonwealth University) and special guest host, Dr. Ron Gharbo, leading specialist in Heart Rate Variability and the first walk on all-american wrestler The Ohio State University for our seventh episode of season 2. Joining them is Tom Ryan, former championship wrestler at the University of Iowa, and current national championship wrestling head coach at T...

Join The Professor, Ron Johnson (Virginia Commonwealth University) for our sixth episode of season 2 with Kristen Holmes, former Team USA field hockey player, national championship field hockey head coach at Princeton University, and the Vice President of Performance at Whoop. Today's podcast will discuss Kristen's life beyond sports and coaching and how that guides her passion for sports performa...

Join The Professor, Ron Johnson (Virginia Commonwealth University) for our fifth episode of season 2 with Tony Mandarich, former professional football player, first round draft pick with the Green Bay Packers & Indianapolis Colts, and currently a world class photographer & digital artist. Today's podcast will discuss Tony's life beyond sports and his passion for photography and the arts. I...

Join The Professor, Ron Johnson (Virginia Commonwealth University) for our fourth episode of season 2 with Jay DeMerit, former professional soccer player and captain of the US Men’s National Team, Watford FC of the Premier League, and the Vancouver Whitecaps of the MLS. Jay along with his wife Canadian Olympic gold medallist Ashleigh McIvor established the Rise & Shine Foundation in 2016. Toda...

Join The Professor, Ron Johnson (Virginia Commonwealth University) for our third episode of season 2 with Justin Nelson of Above & Beyond Hockey Development out of Chicago, IL. Today's podcast will discuss his background as a hockey player and his transition to coaching and player development for hockey players of all levels. They will be discussing ways to keep kids engaged and training in to...

Join The Professor, Ron Johnson (Virginia Commonwealth University) for our second episode of season 2 with Maurice "Barcodez" Jackson of the band, Photosynthesizers hailing from Richmond, VA. Today's podcast will discuss the origins of this great band, their approach to making music, and how musicians are coping in today's crazy COVID world. This episode will also discuss the unique musical stylin...

Join the art professor, Ron Johnson (Virginia Commonwealth University) to kickoff our second season of podcasts with Ed McLaughlin, Vice President and Director of Athletics at Virginia Commonwealth University to discuss sports, creativity, and dealing with sports in a post-Covid world. This episode will discuss the impact of sports on society as well as the benefits of creative art exercise with s...