Creative Guts is celebrating SIX years! In this special birthday episode, the four hosts — Laura, Sarah, Becky, and Joe — will reflect on the highlights of the past year, discuss the state of the arts in New Hampshire at the moment, share what we’re looking forward to in the coming year, and more!

After this episode, we’re taking a much-needed break for the summer! While you won’t hear new episodes in July or August, we’ll be busy making other fun things happen. Connect with us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Discord to stay in the loop. If you want to get news from us in your inbox, make sure you are signed up for our Substack: creativegutspod.substack.com. 

For our birthday, we have a lot of thanks to give:

• Thank you, as always, to our friends Rose and Mal at Art Up Front Street Studios and Gallery. 
• Thank you to Matt and Amy at the Rochester Museum of Fine Arts. We’re grateful for your partnership and support!
• A special thank you to YOU, our listeners! If not for you, we’d be talking to ourselves. You cannot imagine the love we have for you!
• Thank you to the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire for partnering with us on this year’s youth zine!
• We’d also like to thank the Currier Museum of Art for their support of our recent Tiny Art Exchange companion zine. 
• Thank you to Red River Theatres for collaborating with us on the Creative Guts Short Film Festival and our sponsor, Creative Coop!
• A special thank you to the fine folks who serve on our Board of Directors and Programming Committee!

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

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In this episode of Creative Guts, co-hosts Becky Barsi and Joe Acone sit down with artist and educator Chris Archer.

With a studio practice encompassing functional pottery, sculptural forms, arrangements, and site-specific installations, Chris's work has been showcased nationally and internationally, earning multiple awards and inclusion in esteemed collections such as the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts in Texas and Tokyo Geidai in Japan. Beyond his studio, Chris has dedicated over two decades to art education. Currently, he is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Art and Design at New England College, where he teaches Ceramics, Public Art, and Foundational Design. Chris's commitment to the arts extends to leadership roles in organizations like the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen and the New Hampshire Creative Communities Network, where he advocates for the significance of craft and community engagement.

In this episode, Chris mentions:

The Experimenters, by Eva Diaz

Anthony Bourdaine, No Reservations - Decoding Ferran 

League of NH Craftsmen

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.

Check out Chris's work at www.chrisarcherartist.com, and on instagram at www.instagram.com/chrisarcherartist.

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 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!

In this episode of Creative Guts, co-hosts Laura Harper Lake and Sarah Wrightsman chat with Jenny Tibbits. Jenny is a multi-disciplinary artist and  tribal elder for the Newichawannock tribe, which is a subtribe of the Pennacook and part of the larger Abenaki diaspora. As an artist, Jenny primarily works in torchwork glass, photography, fashion design, and fiber arts. In this episode, we’ll talk about “No More Stolen Sisters”, which features red dresses to honor murdered and missing Indigenous Women and Girls. Jenny is also an electronic music producer, DJ and a singer (we kick off this episode talking about their music)!

You can find Jenny Tibbits on Instagram at www.instagram.com/buffalospirit86 and follow the links to their work from there! You can find Jenny’s music by searching for DJ Ghia on streaming services. 

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. Creative Guts recently moved our newsletter to Substack, and you can find us 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 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! We’d also like to thank The Currier Museum of Art in Manchester, NH for their support of our recent Tiny Art Exchange Zine; Red River Theatres in Concord, NH for collaborating with us on the Creative Guts Short Film Festival; and Creative Co Op as a sponsor of the film festival. We appreciate all the folks and organizations who give support to Creative Guts.

In this episode of Creative Guts, co-hosts Laura Harper Lake and Sarah Wrightsman sit down with musician and artist Dan Blakeslee! Dan has been making music and art for the past 30 years — in fact, he performed at Laura’s college back in 2003! His music is largely about his life, but sometimes it’s about ghouls and vampires. His art, which we think pairs beautifully with his music, is whimsical and playful with visions of mermaids and other mystical sea things!

In this episode, Dan regales us with magical tales, including the unofficial nominee for “most supportive boss in the universe”, his time spent busking in Boston, the challenges and triumphs of screenprinting, and that time he got lost and found himself in Sleepy Hollow! This episode will make you laugh until your cheeks hurt. 

Find more Dan online at www.DanBlakeslee.com and on Instagram at www.instagram.com/danblakesleemusic and Facebook at www.facebook.com/@DanBlakesleeAndTheCalabashClub. 

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. 

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! We’d also like to thank The Currier Museum of Art in Manchester, NH for their support of our recent Tiny Art Exchange Zine; Red River Theatres in Concord, NH for collaborating with us on the Creative Guts Short Film Festival; and Creative Co Op as a sponsor of the film festival. We appreciate all the folks and organizations who give support to Creative Guts.

In this episode of Creative Guts, co-hosts Laura Harper Lake and Sarah Wrightsman sit down with Anthony Payton, a freelance writer, podcast host, and motivational speaker. Anthony is a regular columnist for the Common Ground Initiative at the Granite State News Collaborative and its partner Manchester Ink Link and co-host of the Lock and Key Podcast. Anthony was also a featured speaker at TEDx Amoskeag Millyard in 2023. 

Anthony’s writing is often centered on his own history with incarceration — he describes writing as a way to stay out of the dark abyss while in prison. Originally from Brooklyn, NY, Anthony walks us through his journey to New Hampshire and to prison and the role writing and creativity has always played in his life. Anthony primarily writes creative nonfiction and strives to be sometimes humorous and always insightful. 

Learn more about Anthony Payton at www.anthonypaytonmedia.com and check out Anthony’s TEDx Amoskeag Millyard talk, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIXauVs_Svs. 

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. 

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! We’d also like to thank The Currier Museum of Art for their support with our recent Tiny Art Exchange Zine; Red River Theatres for their partnership with the Creative Guts Short Film Festival; and Creative Co Op as a sponsor of the film festival. We appreciate all the folks and organizations who give support to Creative Guts.

For a second year of magic and fun, the Creative Guts Short Film Festival is back! Creative Guts is partnering with the Red River Theatres to present this event where filmmakers and art lovers can enjoy watching short films on the silver screen.
 

We’re inviting independent filmmakers to submit their short films to our short film festival, which will be hosted at Red River Theatres in Concord, New Hampshire, on Friday, August 22, 2025. We welcome films from any genre that are 15 minutes or under to be submitted. The spirit of this festival is to celebrate the creativity, voice, and collaboration of filmmakers. We encourage submissions from creatives of all backgrounds and at any stage in their filmmaking journey to apply. Show us your creative guts!  

The deadline to submit to the festival is Friday, July 11, 2025.

Get all the details and submit your film at https://filmfreeway.com/CreativeGutsShortFilmFestival.

Join our discord server, which can be found through our website, to connect with other creatives! As always, hang out with Creative Guts on Facebook and Instagram where our handle is @CreativeGutsPodcast and visit our website www.CreativeGutsPodcast.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. Creative Guts is a small nonprofit, but our work is far bigger than this podcast. Learn more about us and make a tax deductible donation at 

www.CreativeGutsPodcast.com

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In this episode of Creative Guts, co-hosts Laura Harper Lake and Sarah Wrightsman sit down with artist Becca Lane of One Lane Studios! Becca is an acrylic painter who creates portraits of animals combining hyperrealism with a colorful and playful contemporary vibe! Becca’s work features silly and sweet oddball creatures like racoons, possums, spiders, and more.

Becca recently won the THRIVE Arts and Culture Business Competition from the Regional Economic Development Center (REDC), so we’ll chat about that and everything that comes with running a small art business. In this episode, we’ll discuss Becca’s unique journey to art school, her love of animals, puzzles, and more, and how Becca has cultivated the community she loves online!

Find One Lane Studios on the web at www.OneLaneStudios.com and across the big social media platforms (Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, and Bluesky) by searching @OneLaneStudios or you can visit www.OneLaneStudios.com/links! 

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. 

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!

The Creative Guts’ team is back with another installment of Creative Catalogues!  In these mini-episodes, someone from the Creative Guts team will share a glimpse at their creative consumptions — the inspiring creative things they’re loving lately. This week’s episode is brought to you by Jozimar Matimano, a fine artist and director on the Creative Guts Board.  

Featured in this episode:

• The Creative Act by Rick Rubin - https://sites.prh.com/thecreativeact
• Tomorrow's Monsters podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tomorrows-monsters/id1546892635
• Contemporary Art Issues YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3A1YpJ0bDaLB2yjKOGPIjw

Learn more about Jozimar at www.jozimarmatimano.com. Follow him on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/jozimar_matimano/ and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100068560406684. 

Hang out with Creative Guts on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn where our handle is @CreativeGutsPodcast and learn more online at www.CreativeGutsPodcast.com. You can also join our Discord server through our website!

If you love listening, consider showing Creative Guts your support! You can leave a review, make a tax deductible donation, buy some merch, or interact with our content on social media. Learn more about us at www.CreativeGutsPodcast.com.

In this episode of Creative Guts, co-hosts Becky Barsi and Joe Acone sit down with freelance writer Ben Cassidy!

A journalist whose byline you’ve likely seen in places like GQ, National Geographic, Smithsonian, and Scientific American, Ben’s writing blends curiosity with craft, often taking readers into the unexpected corners of science, culture, and the human condition.

He’s been recognized by Longreads and The Sunday Long Read for his standout narratives and formerly served as the features editor at Seattle Met, where his longform work earned national awards. Now based in New England, Ben continues to explore the region—and beyond—through his writing and his newsletter, aptly named The New England Newsletter.

In this conversation, we’ll talk about the art of immersive storytelling, how Ben finds and shapes his stories, and what it means to document a place with both depth and heart. Let’s get into it!

Learn more about Ben at https://www.bybencassidy.com/ and at https://thenewenglandnewsletter.substack.com/.

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. 

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!

In this special episode of Creative Guts, co-hosts Laura Harper Lake and Angie Lane are live at Exeter High School for the annual Slam Free and Fly poetry event! This was a powerful evening of original poetry from freshmen students participating in the Arts in Action project, a school to community partnership supported and funded by the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts.

In this episode, you’ll hear original poetry from 21 gutsy young people who took to the stage on Valentine's Day to move our hearts and minds with their amazing works.

Listen to this episode wherever you listen to podcasts or on our website www.CreativeGutsPodcast.com. Be friends with us on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/CreativeGutsPodcast and Instagram at  www.Instagram.com/CreativeGutsPodcast.

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.