*This episode was recorded before Russia's invasion into Ukraine. Our guest, Ellina Chetverikova was born there and has family still living there. If you're able to support Ellina in her efforts to get her family out of Ukraine and to safety, you can donate to the links below. 

Venmo:

@ellina-chetverikova 

PayPal :

@[email protected]

In this episode, we meet our new co-host Peter Van Hyning! Peter and I talk with Art Academy of Cincinnati (AAC) alum Ellina Chetverikova. Ellina was born in Severodonetsk, Ukraine, in 1989. Her love of painting and drawing developed very early, and she's always felt drawn to represent her surrounding world and create images from life.

Listen to learn about how Ellina moved to Cincinnati, OH as an exchange student to pursue her education in Arts, her experience growing up in Ukraine, and how her practice has evolved since leaving the AAC. 

Resources:

Sugarlift Gallery

Bayan

Air Bud

In this episode, we're joined by two photographers who work in medium format, Caroline Bell and Bruce Bennett. Bell is joining as a guest host. Bennett was in town for his latest photo series, Love II, which was on view at the Weston Art Gallery from Nov 19, 2021 - Jan 16, 2022. Bennett explores issues of gender, sexuality, race, and socioeconomic status in large-scale black and white photographs. In this interview, we ask Bennett about how he got to this point, what it's like to balance editorial and personal work, his love for film photography, and what he misses most about art school.

On this episode, we talk with Anna Paulson and Caleb Francis of Main Street Studio. They are both 2020 graduates of the Art Academy of Cincinnati and have formed their studio during this unprecedented pandemic. Listen to learn more about their experience and what they look forward to now that they'll soon be opening their doors to the community.

On this episode, we talk shop. We're joined by Ellie Morris, who illustrated one of the winning designs for our annual T-Shirt contest. Through her design, Ellie pays tribute to the original performance artist and North America's only marsupial the opossum! 

Duta Dago and Nytaya Babbitt are upperclassmen at the Art Academy of Cincinnati. In this episode, we talk about the work they're creating, the founding of the Black Student Union, and their experiences as a student of color at a predominantly white college of arts and design.

Artist and Art Academy of Cincinnati (AAC) professor, Keith Benjamin just returned from a sabbatical, Covid may have prevented him from traveling, but after talking with Keith we learned the only traveling he wanted to do was the walk to his studio. During our interview, we talk about how Keith doesn't source his materials, how teaching influences his work, and what he did over his sabbatical.

Matthew Grote is Cincinnati based artist and designer, whose work ranges from furniture to painted murals. He recently created a series of light-based interactive public art installations in collaboration with Artworks for Switch on Avondale. We talk to Matt about his time at Fischer Price, his love of graffiti, and how he uses his industrial design background to work with communities to create long-lasting art.

The pandemic has caused anxieties to hit an all-time high, and the holidays aren't making it any easier. On this episode of ArtSkewl, we talk with Mental Health Counselor and Artist, Casey Riordan. Casey tells us how art has lead her to mental health and she gives us some advice for managing anxiety in these unprecedented times.