Sonya Clark is a Winifred L. Arms Professor of Art and Humanities at Amherst College in Massachusetts. Her work has been exhibited in over 450 museums and galleries across the globe and she is the recipient of multiple awards and residencies. And you may have seen her work featured in the New York Times, Sculpture, Art in America, Time Magazine, Los Angeles Times and many many others.

In this hour long conversation we discuss:

Sonya’s site: sonyaclark.com

Sonya’s IG: sysclark

Noah on Patreon: patreon.com/noahscalin

Music by Jantrax

Noah-O is an innovative rapper and entrepreneur that has been a staple on the Virginia Hip Hop scene since his debut project Monument Avenue in 2014. He founded the Charged Up Entertainment record label and recently launched a flagship store in Richmond, Virginia. He’s made appearances on Sway in The Morning and Hot 97 and was named one of Style Weekly's Top 40 Under 40. His latest release is the deeply personal album TRILLipino, which captures his experiences as a Filipino American growing up in San Francisco & Richmond, VA.

In this hour long conversation we discuss

Noah-O’s site: noah-o.com

Noah-O’s IG: @chargedupnoaho

TRILLipino: Link to Album

TRILLipino is Noah-O's most personal project to date. Original conceptualizing this album began in 2016. Noah wanted to create a body of work that would capture his experiences as a Filipino American growing up in San Francisco, CA & also Richmond, VA. Through having a desire to tell his own story he began to realize that the album to not only tells his family's story but also touches on the collective experience of the Filipino diaspora. Musically TRILLipino is a project that combines Noah's diverse influences From Bay Area Rap, Boom Bap to Lo Fi & Southern Hip Hop. Searching hi & lo to find a producer who could pull this together Noah met Suttahomz. A Brooklyn native who now resides in VA. Suttahomz is a seasoned veteran formerly of Roc Nation with production credits from Amerie to 2 Chainz. Through years of hard work, becoming friends and finding a cohesive sound, we now present "TRILLipino."

Noah on Patreon: patreon.com/noahscalin

Music by Jantrax

Jonathan is known for writing a Song-A-Day, which he has done every day since January 1st of 2009 - which means he is rapidly nearing 5,000 original songs. His songs have gone viral, gained him worldwide recognition and are now even available as NFTs. 

In this hour long conversation, we discuss the benefits of daily creative projects, what NFTs can offer artists, and so much more!

Jonathan Mann’s site: jonathanmann.net

Jonathan Mann’s IG: @jonathanmann

Additional Links:

Fun-A-Day

As It Happens: Song A Day 

Noah on Patreon: patreon.com/noahscalin

Music by Jantrax

Jennifer is the Pulitzer prize winning author of the novel A Visit from the Goon Squad, she also wrote Manhattan Beach, which won the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction and many other multi-award winning books. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, Harper's Magazine, Granta, McSweeney's, and The New York Times Magazine. And her new book The Candy House, a sibling novel to A Visit from the Goon Squad, came out from Scribner on April 5, 2022.

In this hour long conversation we discuss: pursuing a career in writing, the process of publishing novels, and so much more!

Jennifer Egan’s site: jennifergan.com

Jennifer Egan’s IG: @jennifereganwriter

Noah on Patreon: patreon.com/noahscalin

Music by Jantrax

Hamilton, AKA Ham, is a Richmond, Virginia based artist with a background in architecture and design. Ham is a prolific painter and muralist, who is well known for using his art as a tool for inspiration and healing in the community. In 2020, Ham founded the influential large-scale public art project: Mending Walls which was created to bring about healing through public art while adding to the conversation of Black Lives Matter.

In this hour long conversation we discuss:

Hamilton Glass’ site: whosham.com

Hamilton Glass’ IG: @hamglass

Noah on Patreon: patreon.com/noahscalin

Music by Jantrax

Kate is a literary agent at the Howard Morhaim Literary Agency in Brooklyn, NY. She is also an adjunct professor at New York University. Her work has appeared in Electric Literature, Catapult, Racked, Popula, and in SCRATCH: Writers, Money, and the Art of Making a Living. She writes the fantastic substack newsletter Agents & Books about, you guessed it, literary agents and books.

In this hour long conversation we discuss:

Kate McKean’s site: morhaimliterary.com

Kate McKean’s substack: katemckean.substack.com

Kate McKean’s IG: @kate_mckean

Noah on Patreon: patreon.com/noahscalin

Music by Jantrax

Freehand is an LA based multi-disciplined artist who’s infamous for destroying coveted sneakers to make unique masks - a body of work stemming from a year long, daily project called MASK365 (inspired by own Skull-A-Day project!) Since 2010 he has made more than 200 one of a kind sneaker masks, working with brands like Nike, adidas, Puma, Cadillac, Converse and more. Freehand was also my very first podcast interviewee and I’m excited to have him back for the 2nd time to specifically talk about the world of NFTs.

In this hour long conversation we discuss:

- Navigating Non-fungible tokens as an artist

- The pros and cons of this new digital space

- and more!

Freehand Profit’s site: freehandprofit.com

Freehand Profit’s IG and Twitter: @freehandprofit

NFT Twitter Thread HERE

NFT Database HERE

Noah on Patreon: patreon.com/noahscalin

Music by Jantrax

Michael-Birch is a fiber artist and fashion designer. Pierce has interned for Diane von Furstenberg, embroidered Christmas decorations for the Obama White House, and designed an exclusive collection for Levi’s. They have performed their embroidered portraits at Oscar and Super Bowl events, Design/Miami, and SXSW, and worked with clients such as Visa, Target, Amazon, Delta, NBCUniversal, and Airbnb. And they have exhibited in numerous galleries and museums both domestically and abroad.

In this hour long conversation we discuss:

- Surviving as an artist during a pandemic

- Collaborating with corporations

- Dealing with scam inquiries

- and more!

Michael-Birch’s site: michaelbirchpierce.com

Michael-Birch’s IG: @michaelbirch

Noah on Patreon: patreon.com/noahscalin

Music by Jantrax

For this very special episode I’m interviewing my own parents, Mim Golub and Chuck Scalin! Both Mim & Chuck are artists and art educators and were of course fundamental in my own foray into the art world. It’s always a pleasure for me to hear the stories of their career arcs and I’m so glad to have captured this conversation in my studio earlier this year, before the Covid-19 Pandemic hit the United States. Thankfully both of my parents are healthy and continuing to stay safe through this unusual time.

In this hour long conversation we discuss: growing up in immigrant households, being first-generation college graduates, sexism in the education system, creating art internationally, and more!

Chuck's site: ChuckScalin.com

Chuck’s IG: @chuckscalin

Mim’s IG: @mimgolub

Noah on Patreon: patreon.com/noahscalin

Music by Jantrax

Jesse is an internationally known artist whose goal has always been to translate his skewed perspective of the world onto paper, canvas, concrete or skin. He has been published in almost every tattoo magazine, has won a ton of awards for his unique use of color and even found his way onto the reality TV show Ink Master. He currently works in Richmond, Virginia where he runs his own studio called Loose Screw Tattoo.

Foreground/Background is a conversation between working artists – pulling back the curtain on the real day-to-day efforts that go into making a living from our passions and the realities of dealing with the art word.

In this hour long conversation we discuss: running a creative business, collaboration, tattoo art, reality TV, and more!

This interview was recorded prior to the COVID-19 pandemic so be sure to listen through our entire conversation to hear a follow-up with Jesse about the many things that happened to him since we talked earlier in the year (including multiple rounds of quarantine AND the birth of his first child!)...

Jesse’'s site: https://jessesmithtattoos.com/

Jesse’s IG: https://www.instagram.com/jessesmithtattoos/

Jesse’s FB: https://www.facebook.com/jessesmithtattoo

Noah on Patreon: patreon.com/noahscalin

Music by Jantrax