The Creative Exchange Podcast

With a needle and thread, award-winning artist Salley Mavor has spent the past 45 years creating whimsical fiber art that tells a story, stirs the emotions, and stimulates the imagination. Mavor’s one-of-a-kind art has been featured in over a dozen books she has either written or illustrated, including Pocketful of Posies which won the 2011 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award and the 2011 Golden Kite Awa...

Mark is a painter, illustrator, naturalist, cartographer, writer, printmaker — he’s also had stints as a wildlife field biologist, forest firefighter, gymnastics coach, and scientific illustrator.  In the first episode of Season 5 of the Creative Exchange, we get to know Mark as AFCC’s 2023 Artist of the Year and his connection to place through mapping, journaling, poetry and more. Today's sponsor...

This conversation was recorded live at Robert Henry's gallery and studio in Wellfleet, MA. Join us as we explore over 70 years of love, art and connection to Cape Cod as well as the ever-evolving practice and the latest chapter of his life as an artist. 

Senator Julian Cyr serves in the Massachusetts Senate representing Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket. First elected to the State Senate on November 8, 2016, Julian is now serving in his second term and is the youngest senator in the 40-member body. And he’s been a champion for arts and culture here on Cape Cod.  In this episode, we speak with the Senator about how the arts led him to a ca...

Where do you go when you live in fear because you’re different? If you’re Scott Townsend, you escape to the stage. It is here where Scott, lovingly known to many as Thirsty Burlington, has forged a career spanning more than 20 years. Regarded as one of the finest female impersonators in the business, Scott has found a home in Provincetown and a safe haven on the stage, allowing him to bravely face...

How do you encapsulate a 26-year career in the arts? For former Cape Cod Theater Company/Harwich Junior Theater Artistic Director Nina Schuessler it looks something like this – over 270 musicals and plays produced and/or directed. But sheer numbers don’t tell the whole story of Nina’s impact on and passion for the arts which will never go away despite her recent retirement. In this episode of the...

In this conversation with visual artist Deborah Howard and writer Susan Blood, we discuss wiping the canvas clean and starting over, the impermanence of art, the path of least resistance, and adapting your practice.   Susan’s writing has appeared in the Petigru Review, Christian Science Monitor, the London-based BachTrack, Provincetown Arts, and the Provincetown Banner. Her first book “How Not to...

In this conversation with Tara Vargas Wallace and Maria Daluz Reid, we discuss inspiring students through arts, creating access, building confidence, and further representation of the BIPOC community in the arts on Cape Cod.   Tara Vargas Wallace is an artist and founder of Amplify POC.  She is a strong voice and advocate through her work with marginalized populations with severe socio-economic ch...

In this episode "Being Content with the Unknown", we sit down with Paloma McLardy, the drummer and songwriter of the first all-girl punk band, The Slits.  Known as Palmolive in the punk scene, she now self-defines herself as a punk mystic. We explore her experience growing up in Spain under a Franco dictatorship, family and togetherness, her defiance to living a prescribed life, and how just 2.5 y...

In this conversation with Jo Hay and Jonatha Brooke, we talk about so many facets of being an artist such as building our confidence, what drives the passion for the work, being fearless, and creating to the “edge.”  We also discuss the impact of COVID, privilege, climate change, and even aging.

In this episode "Brazen Naked Ladies Everywhere", Aanjes joins us to discuss the art of the tease, how Brazen Belles came to be, and her own discovery of self-love and body positivity. Aanjes is the founder and artistic director of Brazen Belles, a cape-based burlesque production. She is the daughter of a musician and NOAA fisheries marine biologist, Aanjes performed music and acted in high school...

Esteban del Valle is a Brooklyn based interdisciplinary artist whose work ranges from drawings to video animation and large-scale murals. In this episode, del Valle discusses how his art has taken on a distinct personal significance as a result of our newfound connectivity (or lack thereof), revealing a profound perspective on the importance of art as a self care practice. 

Provincetown-based musician and actor Anne Stott discusses the seesaw of structure and stability and the ways in which a global pandemic has asked us to to both rediscover and redefine a balance of the two in order to create.

Boston-based independent recording and performing artist Will Dailey shares a fresh take on the ways in which social isolation has affected the way we consume, interact with, and share art. In this thought-provoking discussion, Dailey explores an interplay between oversaturation and his personal movement towards genuine, irreplicable interactions with his art.

Provincetown-based visual artists Laura Shabbott and Marian Roth discuss shifts in their approaches to creating, teaching, and sharing art as a result of the pandemic. With two distinct and wise perspectives, this conversation is dynamic, warm, and a reminder that community and the freedom to create are at the center of it all.

Visual artist, arts educator, and the 2021 Citizens Bank Pops by the Sea artist Carl Lopes discusses the interplay between teaching, creating, and the importance of uplifting artists. Now retired from a long career at Barnstable High School, he shares how his students have influenced his personal work as well as the dynamic intersection of culture and history embedded in his artistic process.

Through MassDevelopment and the Hyannis Transformative Development Initiative Partnership, visual artists Rachael Devaney, Deanna Nagle, and Lily Olin were each given stipends and studio space in downtown Hyannis--tasked with creating works that challenge existing narratives of life on Cape Cod. In this episode, they share about the experience with the Fellowship and their work.

Matthew Scinto is the Founder, Conductor, + Executive Director of the Cape Cod Chamber Orchestra. In this episode, he dives into how and why nothing--especially a global pandemic--can stop his growth as a musician, conductor, and arts leader. 

Ashleigh Gordon is a violist and Artistic & Executive Director of Castle Of Our Skins, a concert and educational series dedicated to celebrating Black artistry through music. This conversation dives into her relationship with the viola as it relates to her own personality and her work as a passionate music educator with a unique and thoughtful approach.   https://www.castleskins.org/ http://www.vi...

As a soloist for the Boston Ballet and career dancer, Palkens discusses the unexpected ways the pandemic has impacted his relationship with his performance-based art.

Musician Sarah Burrill joins us for an all-encompassing conversation on using her artistic platform to connect people in times of isolation, whether in the throes of lockdown or a battle with chronic illness. She also reminds us of the importance of a little something she likes to call, “going out for oxytocin”.

Emily Ruddock is the Executive Director of MASSCreative, an organization that works with artists, leaders, and supporters of the arts and cultural sector to advocate for the resources and support necessary to make Massachusetts a creativity-driven state. Jo Hay is a British American contemporary portrait painter who lives and works in Provincetown. Her latest work, Persisters, is an ongoing series...

Malissa Kenney is the Executive Director of Cape Cod Collaborative Arts Netowrk (CapeCodCAN), an independent organization in partnership with the Cotuit Center for the Arts that provides innovative and inclusive visual performance and literary arts programs for teens and adults of all abilities. Meanwhile, Jessica Wilson is the Managing and Artistic Director of the WatermelonAlligator Theatre Comp...

In this episode, we wrap up 2019 with some of our favorite clips from the year. From not-yet-released interviews at the Provincetown Film Festival to a few of our Season 1 and 2 guests, we found one common thread among our interviews this year: inspiration and the unique ways in which creative individuals find it. Featuring reflections from Paul Downs Colaizzo, Susan Blood, John Cameron Mitchell,...

Though she's always enjoyed music, Renzi didn't begin playing herself until her 20's. Now, a recipient of the 2017 Arts Foundation of Cape Cod Performing Arts Fellowship, Jordan has written, produced, and performed several original songs on Cape Cod and beyond. She has been invited to open for Kate Taylor, Paula Cole, Patty Larkin, and Marc Cohn, and has performed in SoFar Sounds shows in Boston a...