In this special live episode of Creative Guts, recorded in partnership with the New Hampshire Art Association (NHAA), we gather a panel of extraordinary women artists to talk about making meaningful work and navigating the realities of being women in the arts. 

Joining the discussion are Cat Graffam, a painter, game developer, and content creator whose work bridges traditional and digital worlds; Maria Oakley, a painter, sculptor, and ceramicist; and Lori Moretti, a figurative painter. We are chatting while surrounded by work inspired by the memory of Sue Werner Thoresen, whose exhibition at the NHAA deepens the conversation about identity, memory, and artistic expression.

Learn more about each artist on their websites:

Moderated by Creative Guts co-host Becky Barsi, our conversation spans inspiration, process, visibility, challenge, community, and what needs to change to make the art world more equitable for women and gender-diverse people.

Creative Guts would like to thank the NHAA for hosting this event!

Listen to this episode wherever you listen to podcasts or on our website www.CreativeGutsPodcast.com. Connect with us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Discord.

If you love listening, consider making a donation to Creative Guts! Our budget is tiny, so donations of any size make a big difference. Learn more about us and make a tax deductible donation at www.CreativeGutsPodcast.com. 

Any views or opinions expressed by our hosts or guests do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Creative Guts.

In this episode of Creative Guts, co-hosts Becky Barsi and Joe Acone sit down with Lee & Dr. G, a New Hampshire-based blues/jam band known for their improvisational performances, deep musical chemistry, and roots in blues, rock, and funk traditions.

Lee & Dr. G have built a following through energetic live shows that balance tight musicianship with spontaneity, creating performances that feel different every night. In our conversation, we talk about how the band developed its sound, what makes improvisation so central to their creative process, and how they navigate collaboration, performance, and keeping live music thriving in New Hampshire’s local scene.

Learn more about Lee & Dr. G, their upcoming performances, and where to catch them live across New Hampshire and beyond on their website https://leedrg.co/ and also on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/lee_dr.g/,

Listen to this episode wherever you listen to podcasts or on our website www.CreativeGutsPodcast.com. Connect with us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Discord. Subscribe to our Substack newsletter at creativegutspod.substack.com. 

If you love listening, consider making a donation to Creative Guts! Our budget is tiny, so donations of any size make a big difference. Learn more about us and make a tax-deductible donation at www.CreativeGutsPodcast.com. 

Thank you to Kennebunk Savings Bank for being an official sponsor of the podcast!

Thank you to our friends at Art Up Front Street Studios and Gallery in Exeter, NH and the Rochester Museum of Fine Arts in Rochester, NH for their support of the show! 

Any views or opinions expressed by our hosts or guests do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Creative Guts.

In this very quick bonus episode of Creative Guts, co-hosts Laura Harper Lake and Joe Acone chat about NH Gives 2026 and why you should invest in Creative Guts during this special fundraiser!

Creative Guts needs your support to awaken creativity, community, collaboration, and opportunities for gutsy creatives of all ages. Our podcast, programs, and zines stuff can’t happen without the support from people like you who care about the art and culture of our state.

You know what that means: Donate now! Make a gift to Creative Guts at https://www.nhgives.org/organization/Creative-Guts and support work that uplifts creatives in our state.

NH Gives 2026 is happening June 9th - 10th from 5 pm to 5 pm. 

If you happen to catch this bonus episode after that window of time, then you can make a donation to Creative Guts through our website! Our budget is tiny, so donations of any size make a big difference. Learn more about us and make a tax-deductible donation at www.CreativeGutsPodcast.com. 

Thanks for your support! 

In this episode of Creative Guts, host Laura Harper Lake chats with creatives at the Luna Moth Zine Fest on April 18, 2026, in Manchester, NH. 

Get ready for wonderful conversations with the event’s organizer, amazing vendors, and even a Creative Guts volunteer. We chat all about their art and why zines and creativity matters. 

Listen to this episode wherever you listen to podcasts or on our website www.CreativeGutsPodcast.com. Connect with us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Discord. Subscribe to our Substack newsletter at creativegutspod.substack.com. 

If you love listening, consider making a donation to Creative Guts! Our budget is tiny, so donations of any size make a big difference. Learn more about us and make a tax-deductible donation at www.CreativeGutsPodcast.com. 

Any views or opinions expressed by our hosts or guests do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Creative Guts.

In this episode of Creative Guts, co-hosts Becky Barsi and Joe Acone sit down with Dave Hady, a New Hampshire-based painter, designer, and director whose work spans murals, public art, and an evolving studio practice.

Dave has built a career creating bold, highly visible work for brands and public spaces, but his recent shift into painting marks a more personal turn. In this episode, we talk about that transition from client work to self-driven work, how his background in design shapes his approach to painting, and what it looks like to take creative risks in a very public-facing career.

Learn more about Dave and his work, including his paintings, murals, and involvement with the Factory on Willow artist residency in Manchester, NH, at www.davidhady.com. Follow him on Instagram at www.instagram.com/davehady.

Listen to this episode wherever you listen to podcasts or on our website www.CreativeGutsPodcast.com. Connect with us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Discord. Subscribe to our Substack newsletter at creativegutspod.substack.com. 

If you love listening, consider making a donation to Creative Guts! Our budget is tiny, so donations of any size make a big difference. Learn more about us and make a tax-deductible donation at www.CreativeGutsPodcast.com. 

Thank you to Kennebunk Savings Bank for being an official sponsor of the podcast!

Thank you to our friends at Art Up Front Street Studios and Gallery in Exeter, NH and the Rochester Museum of Fine Arts in Rochester, NH for their support of the show! 

Any views or opinions expressed by our hosts or guests do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Creative Guts.

Creative Guts is pleased to share this episode of Off the Wall with Matt and Amy from the Rochester Museum of Fine Arts in Rochester, New Hampshire. Off The Wall is a semi-regular series where Matt and Amy chat with a wide variety of visual artists, digging into the nuts and bolts of their creative process to reveal more about the layers of meaning, emotion, and intent behind their work.

In this episode, you’ll hear Denise Manseau discuss "Making Way", an exhibition on view in the Carnegie Gallery until September 4, 2026. The Carnegie Gallery is located in the Rochester Public Library, 65 South Main Street, Rochester, NH 03867. Visit rochestermfa.org to learn more.

Denise Manseau creates paintings that are inventions in response to place—inner landscapes that transform the visible world into tangible form. Her work emerges through a process of discovery, where observation and memory converge to shape environments that feel both familiar and imagined.

Manseau holds a BFA from the University of Massachusetts Lowell and an MFA from Massachusetts College of Art and Design. She has attended the Haystack Mountain School of Craft in Maine as an Open Studio Resident and was a resident artist at the Vermont Studio Center. Paintings developed during her residency in Monasterace, Italy were included in a traveling exhibition at the Monasterace Museo and at Hillyer Art Space for International Artists in Washington, DC.

Learn more about this exhibit at https://www.rochestermfa.org/denise-manseau/.

Any views or opinions expressed by the RMFA hosts or guests do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Creative Guts. 

In this episode of Creative Guts, co-hosts Becky Barsi and Joe Acone sit down with Ashley Normal, a New England-based artist, educator, and community builder whose work explores the strange, fragile, and absurd edges of everyday life. Through drawing, painting, mixed media, and altered materials, she examines themes like mental health, womanhood, gender, memory, and social taboos.

To learn more about Ashley Normal’s work, check out her website at www.ashleynormal.com or follow on IG at www.instagram.com/ashley_normal. 

Listen to this episode wherever you listen to podcasts or on our website www.CreativeGutsPodcast.com. Connect with us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Discord. Subscribe to our Substack newsletter at creativegutspod.substack.com. 

If you love listening, consider making a donation to Creative Guts! Our budget is tiny, so donations of any size make a big difference. Learn more about us and make a tax-deductible donation at www.CreativeGutsPodcast.com. 

Thank you to Kennebunk Savings Bank for being an official sponsor of the podcast!

Thank you to our friends at Art Up Front Street Studios and Gallery in Exeter, NH and the Rochester Museum of Fine Arts in Rochester, NH for their support of the show! 

Any views or opinions expressed by our hosts or guests do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Creative Guts.

The Creative Guts team is back with a new GUEST TAKEOVER of Creative Catalogues! In these bonus mini-episodes, a guest host will share a glimpse at their creative consumptions or something big happening in the creative community. This week’s episode is brought to you by Kathleen McDermott and Brendan McCormick of B McCormick Art, who report on the new NH Alt Market, happening May 23, 2026 from 11 am to 4 pm at the Newmarket Millspace in Newmarket, NH.

Get more information on the NH Alt Market at www.nhaltmarket.com and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/nhaltmarket/.

Learn more about Kathleen and Brendan at https://bmccormick.com/ and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/bmccormick86/

Listen to this episode wherever you listen to podcasts or on our website www.CreativeGutsPodcast.com. Connect with us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Discord. Subscribe to our Substack newsletter at creativegutspod.substack.com. 

If you love listening, consider making a donation to Creative Guts! Our budget is tiny, so donations of any size make a big difference. Learn more about us and make a tax-deductible donation at www.CreativeGutsPodcast.com. 

Thank you to Kennebunk Savings Bank for being an official sponsor of the podcast!

Thank you to our friends at Art Up Front Street Studios and Gallery in Exeter, NH and the Rochester Museum of Fine Arts in Rochester, NH for their support of the show! 

Any views or opinions expressed by our hosts or guests do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Creative Guts.

In this episode of Creative Guts, co-hosts Laura Harper Lake and Joe Acone sit down with Dr. Loretta Brady, professor at Saint Anselm College and founder of the Community Resilience and Social Equity Lab.

Loretta’s work sits at the intersection of research, community engagement, and game design, using interactive, research-backed projects to explore how communities respond to challenge and inequity. In our conversation, we dig into how her lab designs games as tools for understanding complex social systems, how students actively participate in that work, and how creativity can open new pathways into conversations around resilience and equity.

Learn more about Dr. Brady and the Community Resilience and Social Equity Lab at Saint Anselm College.

Listen to this episode wherever you listen to podcasts or on our website www.CreativeGutsPodcast.com. Connect with us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Discord. Subscribe to our Substack newsletter at creativegutspod.substack.com. 

If you love listening, consider making a donation to Creative Guts! Our budget is tiny, so donations of any size make a big difference. Learn more about us and make a tax-deductible donation at www.CreativeGutsPodcast.com. 

Thank you to Kennebunk Savings Bank for being an official sponsor of the podcast!

Thank you to our friends at Art Up Front Street Studios and Gallery in Exeter, NH and the Rochester Museum of Fine Arts in Rochester, NH for their support of the show! 

Any views or opinions expressed by our hosts or guests do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Creative Guts.

In this episode of Creative Guts, co-hosts Laura Harper Lake and Joe Acone sit down with Ned Roche, ceramicist and owner of Chases Garage. 

As an old friend of Joe and newer friend of Laura, Ned brings creative thinking and humor to our delightful conversation. Ned shares about Chases Garage, an auto-shop turned artist community in York, Maine, that offers classes, workshops, and studio space. We also dive into how Ned’s work, folded things, evolved; his latest endeavor: soft serve ice cream out of clay; and many silly side topics. 

Find Ned’s work at www.nedroche.com and follow him on Instagram at www.instagram.com/hiprandy. Check out Chases Garage at www.chasesgarage.com and on Instagram at www.instagram.com/chasesgarage/. 

Listen to this episode wherever you listen to podcasts or on our website www.CreativeGutsPodcast.com. Connect with us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Discord. Subscribe to our Substack newsletter at creativegutspod.substack.com. 

If you love listening, consider making a donation to Creative Guts! Our budget is tiny, so donations of any size make a big difference. Learn more about us and make a tax-deductible donation at www.CreativeGutsPodcast.com. 

Thank you to Kennebunk Savings Bank for being an official sponsor of the podcast!

Thank you to our friends at Art Up Front Street Studios and Gallery in Exeter, NH and the Rochester Museum of Fine Arts in Rochester, NH for their support of the show! 

Any views or opinions expressed by our hosts or guests do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Creative Guts.