The Art Equation: A Now Be Here Podcast

Welcome to the final installation of The Art Equation! In our last episode, Kim sits down with Yayoi Shionoiri of NYC’s Powerhouse Arts to discuss her long and varied career as an arts worker, the professionalization of the art world, and new and emerging models of art fairs. The two examine where we are as an art world, where we’ve been, and (possibly) where we’re going. Enjoy one last episode as...

It’s the season finale! We’re revisiting all of our fantastic guests from this season, as they answer our biggest blue-sky question of them all: but is it Art? Kim and Patricia provide some background on the question’s interesting origins – and their own reflections – as we wrap up a season that has featured 10 incredible folks from all different areas of the art world. Whatever your favorite epis...

We’re back in New York! Kim sits down with Dia Art Foundation curator Matilde Guidelli Guidi. The two unpack the central question of what a curator truly is and the work that they do to take an artist’s ideas into reality. Covering Dia’s programming (encompassing both changing and permanent sites and the work of a focused group of artists across the 1960s and 70s), Kim and Matilde chat about the p...

In this episode, Kim and Patricia revisit our ongoing Art & Tech series with transdisciplinary artist Nancy Baker Cahill! Nancy walks us through the origins and inflection points within her artistic practice, spanning paper drawings, virtual reality projects, and monumental augmented reality exhibitions. Our trio discusses some of Nancy’s key literary influences, the animal experience of mothe...

Join us for a conversation with the founding director of Creative Capital and longtime arts advocate Ruby Lerner! In this solo episode, Kim sits down with Ruby as she shares invaluable advice about how artists can build a stronger network of long-term support. Ruby draws on her long history as an arts worker and supporter, and shares resources that people in the arts might already have that can mo...

In this episode, reference specialist Elizabeth Botten brings us behind the scenes at the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art. The conversation dives into Elizabeth’s path to working at the Archives, how deep archival research really works, and everything that goes into documenting, preserving, and accessing original materials from artists and art world figures throughout American history. Kim...

Today, our hosts are sitting down with arts writer and cultural storyteller Sala Elise Patterson! The trio discusses the dynamic breadth of Sala’s practice, from experimental documentary projects and her work as a trustee of The Phillips Collection, to her path writing for outlets such as The Atlantic, Kinfolk, Harvard Design Magazine, Vogue, British Journal of Photography and The New York Times....

We're back at the Getty! Today, Kim is solo and chatting with Julie Wolfe, sculpture conservator at The Getty Museum. The pair discuss Julie's path to museum conservation, her book on Roy Lichtenstein's outdoor painted sculptures, and the realities of art couriering. Diving deep into the significance and evolving science of sculpture conservation, Julie offers insights into what it means to stewar...

Welcome to the conservation lab! Kim and Patricia bring on two art conservators from the Getty Research Institute, Melissa Huddleston and Elyse Driscoll, to discuss their paths to becoming conservators, the excitements and challenges of conservation work, and some of their favorite objects in the Getty's collection. Melissa and Elyse offer fascinating insight into the intricacies of the art conser...

We're off to New York! Patricia takes us inside the 2025 College Art Association conference in New York City. Patricia and guest interviewees bring listeners through the experience of being at a conference centered around scholarship and teaching in the visual arts. Providing history, a summary of some of this year's speakers, and artist interviews, this episode brings us back to the central theme...

Welcome to LA Art Week 2025! Kim gives Patricia a rundown of her experience attending Frieze LA and Felix Art Fair. Including interview clips from surprise guests, our hosts break down the emotional landscape of this year's fairs. Offering thoughts on the relevance of the art fair model and where people from different art world backgrounds fit into the fair ecosystem, Kim, Patricia, and guests tal...

We welcome our first guest to The Art Equation! Los Angeles-based artist Lisa Diane Wedgeworth talks about the power of saying YES, her new suite of prints, and reorienting her practice after a life shift. In our conversation, we explore the challenges artists face in navigating their public personas as well as the fear and catharsis of change.   Mentions: Lisa Diane Wedgeworth, https://www.lisadi...

Kim and Patricia sit down to talk about how artists and arts professionals use technology, and to what ends. We trace a line from the Sony Portapak to avant-garde film movements, feminist film theory to artists taking ownership of their archives, exhibition modeling, AI, cybernetics, and more. What effect does our tech use have on art itself, and society at large?   This episode is the first in an...

How do you use your time? Kim and Patricia discuss daily routines, how artists and writers get into "the zone," studio habits, gallery exhibition planning, and navigating artist/curator conversations about the technicalities of putting on an art show. Join us to learn about the inner workings of studio practice, the work of research, and some contemporary artists' relationship to process. [Recorde...

What inspired an art historian from Cuba and an artist from Chicago to start a behind-the-scenes podcast about the art world? Listen and find out! Our hosts sit down to chat about the origins of the podcast and share a bit about themselves. Hear their backgrounds and the story of how Now Be Here began. A great episode for first-time listeners and a teaser of what's to come. [Recorded November 2024...

The Art Equation is a podcast from Now Be Here, where art historian and curator Patricia Ortega-Miranda and contemporary artist Kim Schoenstadt talk with artists, writers, curators, registrars, archivists, and more, about everything that goes into pulling off an exhibition and being part of the art world. Now Be Here is a fiscally sponsored nonprofit, hosting a visual directory of women and nonbin...