The Art Box

Rachel, Linda and Steve had the pleasure of chatting with our friend Reenie McFarland the other day. If you do not live in Mesquite, Nevada, after hearing this conversation with Reenie, you will want to move here. Reenie McFarland                                                                                         2-3-2023 As the daughter of an Army colonel, I grew up in a variety of locations...

Living my real-life six degrees of separation from Dulzura, California, to Las Vegas, Nevada to Lincoln City, Oregon, Steve happened upon incredible humans and artists Wick Alexander and Robin Brailsford via friends Paula Jacoby Garret and Niki Price.  I hope by listening you will gain as much as I did in interviewing them. Robin Brailsford Lead Artist, Inventor, Aesthetic Engineer, Silversmith Br...

Gregory Summers ASI / OPS “We go outdoors to enjoy the land or stay inside to avoid it. It is the outdoor artist that brings the outside in.” Born in the Flint Hills, Gregory Summers began his professional career at Hallmark Cards Inc in 1979. A Master Engraver, he now paints primarily “En Plein Air” across the globe with a limited pallet of only 4 colors. Former Vice President of the Greater Kans...

Amy Wells bio is coming soon.

Linda and Steve had the pleasure of hosting an amazing couple, who give back with their amazing talents to their adopted town of Mesquite.   Eric is a member of the Virgin Valley Art Association and of the Virgin Valley Photographic Society. Eric has a pre professional degree in pharmacy from Green River Community College, A Certificate of Highest Honors from the Glen Fishback School of Photograph...

It was our pleasure to interview one of our founding members Harlo Birkholz recently. Instead of typing Harlo’s story here, we will let you just listen. Below are a few of his poems for you to enjoy. Who's in the Mirror I stumbled and it wasn't my toe That got me in trouble. I tried to blame the rock, the berm, the world, Until I saw me, in a mirror of my mind.   Shocked, I said, “THIS has to end”...

Last September we recorded our first outdoor episode with two of Steve’s favorite friends and humans Teresa Skye and Dave Ward. We met while volunteering for the US Fish and Wildlife Service at Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. We have been holding this episode to coincide with Teresa’s Brown Bag presentation and workshop on Nature Journaling on April 4. You can sign up here: https://www.mesqu...

The Art Box had an amazing fun interview with screen-writers Sue and Nancy last week. Our sides hurt from laughing and we can hardly wait for their newest Melodrama to open on March 17. You can get tickets at the Mesquite Fine Arts Center Monday-Saturday 10am to 4pm or on-line at: https://www.tix.com/ticket-sales/vvtgnv/6616 Let's learn more about these two dynamos. Nancy Arnold has appeared in co...

Meet Johnny Trujillo. junior at Virgin Valley High School, Mesquite, Nevada. Recent recipient of an Emerging Artists award from the Virgin Valley Artists' Association, Johnny carries a 4.0 GPA, is an amazing artist and soccer player. The Art Box is looking forward to chatting with Johnny through the coming years. Thank you Eric Wordal for hosting this episode. 

Join Linda and Steve as we interview some amazing artists at breakfast over the course of the week. 

On Day two we attended an open mic session and enjoy an amazing array of Cowboy Poets.  If you have a heart you are going to love this episode. We nabbed Glen Bair, from Ephrata, Washington for an interview along with his wife and one of his favorite daughters. Glen brought the audience to tears with his rendition of the "Calf in the Bathtub". Read more about Glen at: https://columbiabasinherald.c...

An honest-to-goodness cowboy who became one of the leading lights of the cowboy poetry movement, Waddie Mitchell knew of what he spoke long before be became a recording artist. Waddie was born Bruce Douglas Mitchell in 1950, and he grew up on a ranch near the Ruby Mountains south of Elko, Nevada. Living in an area not wired for electricity and where TV and radio reception was poor at best, Mitchel...

Russ Westwood was born in Moab Utah. He was raised on a mink ranch, but spent a lot of time around horses and rodeos. He is a retired Firefighter/Paramedic. He has served as the director of the Mesquite Western Roundup for several years and performs regularly in their shows. He is an active member of the Cowboy Poets of Utah. He recently won a Championship Buckle at the 2019 National Cowboy Poetry...

As we ready for our busiest day we start with a review of our schedule and then we got lost and an angel called Marianne saved us, then graced us with some song. Sit back and enjoy as we frame up our day and listen to some music. You can find out more about Marianne Thomas at: www.mariannesongs.com

Delightful is how we would describe our time interviewing and being entertained by Doris.  "If cowboy poetry was fresh milk and the cream that rises to the top was the very best, then Doris Daley would be very rich and very fattening." So says renowned cowboy ambassador Waddie Mitchell about an Alberta ranch girl whose love of wordsmithing has made her one of North America's favourite western poet...

Fisher was raised in a San Joaquin Valley, CA farming family, and was active in 4-H and FFA. While studying Equine Science at the College of the Sequoias she rode horses for customers and was captain of the college horse show team. She rode sale pens for extra money at a local livestock sale and earned honors at Intercollegiate and Quarter Horse shows. During college she began singing big band sta...

We were so delighted when former Montana Poet Laureate Mandy Smoker agreed to sit down with us for an interview.  Mandy is the living embodiment of "pay to forward" with deep involvement in education for the underserved, her deep feeling poetry and now children's books. She describes the transmission of a poem as “rigorous juggling.” Carefully, she twines language, fuses vocabulary and in the proc...

We fell in love with Yvonne when she described herself on stage at the Opening event as a rose between two thorns. She was a busy as a South Dakota Rancher during branding, but we somehow managed to get her to sit down with us at the Art Box. Such a sweetie, Linda and I were blessed.  A little bit about her. Poet, Quilter, & Entertainer Yvonne Hollenbeck performs her original poetry throughout the...

This is it folks, our final episode from the gathering.  First a huge thanks to the Buchanan Family Band from Yerrington, NV. Besides a great show on our opening night, a super family interview they allowed us to use their rendition of "Little Brown Jug"  as our opening and in episode interludes. What a nice family and so very talented. The volunteers worked so very hard, our press liaison Karyn w...

Linda and Steve have been anxious to have Patricia as our guest, what an interesting, heartfelt chat opening our eyes to the life of a successful author and such a fine human. Thank you Patricia.   Patricia Leavy, Ph. D., is a sociologist and bestselling author. She has published over 40 books, earning commercial and critical success in both nonfiction and fiction, and her work has been translated...

Linda and Paul Villanueva visited with the Art Box at the Mesquite Library Learning Center and if one can judge by the voracity of laughter it was a smashing success. How lucky is our little town to have talents like Linda and Paul performing for us.  You can find their music and schedule at: http://mesquitecafebluesband.com and on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/mesquitecafebluesband Thanks...

WOW what a voice!!!! We just loved Kristyn's performance and happily hosted her and her grand mom on our little podcast. Check out her website: https://kristynharris.com/ Kristyn Harris is a multi-award-winning singer, songwriter, and entertainer known for her western swing spin on original and classic songs of the western and rural lifestyle. She is recognized for her powerful voice, swing rhythm...

Were we ever lucky to grab Headliner Poet Annie and her sister Megan for an Art Box guest appearance. Annie help tech us that no matter how big the star they have time to be ultra nice to everyone.  While known as the family rambler, Annie Mackenzie has her roots planted firmly at the fourth-generation family ranch in southeast Oregon, 30 miles north of the small town of Jordan Valley. She spends...

Reporting almost live from the 38th Annual Cowboy Poetry Roundup in Elko, Nevada. We are here by generous grants from Nevada Humanities, the National Endowment of Humanities and of course our own Virgin Valley Artists' Association. We are recording on the run, lots of background noise and we will do our best on the volumes.  Today we were entertained by a young group of musicians of the Buchanan f...

Thanks to a grant by the Nevada Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities, The Art Box is going on a road-trip to The 38th National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada February 1 - 4 2023. We interviewed famous Mesquite Cowboy Poet, Russ Westwood prior to going just to get in the mood for some good western fun.  Check back to your podcast app as we will be publishing episodes fr...