Framing the Hammer

In our conversation with Mathew Boudreaux, known in the online crafting world as the “Themperor of Crafting”, @mx.domestic. Mathew addresses their favorite quilting and crochet projects, being a crafting influencer, the sense of community developed in the art world, social justice melding with arts, their idea that 95% is good enough (the last 5% will steal your joy), and finally, “without creativity, without culture, without the humanities, without art, what is life?”

4A Arts believes that arts and culture are basic human rights and powerful tools for building a whole and healthy society. 

Please follow our efforts and growth to change the narrative around American creativity and consequently to increase support from elected officials at the local, state, and federal levels. 

Please sign up for updates of our movement to change the narrative around American creativity and consequently to increase support from elected officials at the local, state, and federal levels. 

We would appreciate your support in our efforts. 

LI: https://www.linkedin.com/company/4aarts/

FB: https://www.facebook.com/4AArts.Org

IG: https://www.instagram.com/4aarts/

In this episode of Framing the Hammer, we speak with Elena K. Holy, founder and director of the New York International Fringe Festival as well as the 4A Arts general manager. Elena has spent a lifetime as a theatrical producer with a passion for solving problems and creating more outlets to share more innovative theatre with the largest variety of theatre-goers.

4A Arts believes that arts and culture are basic human rights and powerful tools for building a whole and healthy society. 

Please follow our efforts and growth to change the narrative around American creativity and consequently to increase support from elected officials at the local, state, and federal levels. 

Please sign up for updates of our movement to change the narrative around American creativity and consequently to increase support from elected officials at the local, state, and federal levels. 

We would appreciate your support in our efforts. 

LI: https://www.linkedin.com/company/4aarts/

FB: https://www.facebook.com/4AArts.Org

IG: https://www.instagram.com/4aarts/

Jazz legend and current board member for 4A Arts, Larry Ridley, recounts his musical youth in the Indianapolis jazz scene, his time touring with jazz greats like the Montgomery Brothers, and his lifelong commitment to sharing jazz through education at the National Endowment for the Arts and starting the jazz program at Rutgers University. 

4A Arts believes that arts and culture are basic human rights and powerful tools for building a whole and healthy society. 

Please follow our efforts and growth to change the narrative around American creativity and consequently to increase support from elected officials at the local, state, and federal levels. 

Please sign up for updates of our movement to change the narrative around American creativity and consequently to increase support from elected officials at the local, state, and federal levels. 

We would appreciate your support in our efforts. 

LI: https://www.linkedin.com/company/4aarts/

FB: https://www.facebook.com/4AArts.Org

IG: https://www.instagram.com/4aarts/

Framing the Hammer episode 106 brings us Troy Plumer, a Louisville, KY-based master’s student in history. Troy is an aficionado, though not a trained expert by his own admission, with the era around the Works Progress Administration (WPA) of the Great Depression and arts funding during that period. Troy contributed a guest blog to the 4A Arts website that’s full of interesting historical tidbits and soaring rhetoric around how art lifts us all to new heights. This interview on Framing the Hammer reflects his poetic passion for art and history.

Check out our show notes for pictures of artwork Troy references. 

4A Arts believes that arts and culture are basic human rights and powerful tools for building a whole and healthy society. 

Please follow our efforts and growth to change the narrative around American creativity and consequently to increase support from elected officials at the local, state, and federal levels. 

Please sign up for updates of our movement to change the narrative around American creativity and consequently to increase support from elected officials at the local, state, and federal levels. 

We would appreciate your support in our efforts. 

LI: https://www.linkedin.com/company/4aarts/

FB: https://www.facebook.com/4AArts.Org

IG: https://www.instagram.com/4aarts/

A chat with Indigenous artist Ishkoten Dougi whom Gavin met at the Santa Fe Indian Art Market in August.  During our conversation, Ishkoten discusses many fascinating aspects of his art, creative process, and experience as a Native artist. 

Of the many tidbits he shared, some highlights include that he feels forced to speak out and create artifacts that will set the historic record straight, particularly for Native populations. Also, he sees art as an act of “vandalizing nature” and creating art for audiences 1,000 years in the future.

See our show notes for videos and photos of Ishkoten's work as well as some of his cultural references. 

4A Arts believes that arts and culture are basic human rights and powerful tools for building a whole and healthy society. 

Please follow our efforts and growth to change the narrative around American creativity and consequently to increase support from elected officials at the local, state, and federal levels. 

Please sign up for updates of our movement to change the narrative around American creativity and consequently to increase support from elected officials at the local, state, and federal levels. 

We would appreciate your support in our efforts. 

LI: https://www.linkedin.com/company/4aarts/

FB: https://www.facebook.com/4AArts.Org

IG: https://www.instagram.com/4aarts/

Enjoy this conversation with an art therapist who works with violent criminals. Her nonjudgmental compassion for her patients and artistic process bring insight into the multitude of ways art restores our humanity and helps our self-understanding.

We don’t share her last name or work location for reasons of privacy, particularly to protect her workplace, however we get into some deep topics regarding those she helps on a daily basis. 

Originally from Japan, this art therapist has a different perspective of art and cultural expression from many Americans, making this conversation all the more intriguing. 

See our show notes to see some of the artist's own work and dive deeper into some of her referenced pieces. 

4A Arts believes that arts and culture are basic human rights and powerful tools for building a whole and healthy society. 

Please follow our efforts and growth to change the narrative around American creativity and consequently to increase support from elected officials at the local, state, and federal levels. 

Please sign up for updates of our movement to change the narrative around American creativity and consequently to increase support from elected officials at the local, state, and federal levels. 

We would appreciate your support in our efforts. 

LI: https://www.linkedin.com/company/4aarts/

FB: https://www.facebook.com/4AArts.Org

IG: https://www.instagram.com/4aarts/

In this episode, 4As executive director Gavin Lodge is reunited with his high school junior and senior English teachers, Katherine and Jim Starkey. This married dynamic literary duo inspired their students to think deeper, write expressively, and appreciate all things creative. 

During this lively discussion they talk about how Jim developed a teaching technique with a framed hammer, their romance that began with an artistic “assignment”, why they incorporated art into all of their English lessons, and their philosophies for how deeply high schoolers should (or should not) go into the Shakespeare rabbit hole.

See our show notes to watch videos and see photos of the artworks they reference. 

4A Arts believes that arts and culture are basic human rights and powerful tools for building a whole and healthy society. 

Please follow our efforts and growth to change the narrative around American creativity and consequently to increase support from elected officials at the local, state, and federal levels. 

Please sign up for updates of our movement to change the narrative around American creativity and consequently to increase support from elected officials at the local, state, and federal levels. 

We would appreciate your support in our efforts. 

LI: https://www.linkedin.com/company/4aarts/

FB: https://www.facebook.com/4AArts.Org

IG: https://www.instagram.com/4aarts/

Everyone is an artist! 4A Arts founder Charlie Reinhart explores creativity, inclusion, and how art belongs to everyone. Discover your creative side!

Find our show notes here.

4A Arts believes that arts and culture are basic human rights and powerful tools for building a whole and healthy society. 

Please follow our efforts and growth to change the narrative around American creativity and consequently to increase support from elected officials at the local, state, and federal levels. 

Please sign up for updates of our movement to change the narrative around American creativity and consequently to increase support from elected officials at the local, state, and federal levels. 

We would appreciate your support in our efforts. 

LI: https://www.linkedin.com/company/4aarts/

FB: https://www.facebook.com/4AArts.Org

IG: https://www.instagram.com/4aarts/

Executive Director Gavin Lodge introduces 4A Arts and explores a new age of arts advocacy, where art shapes identity, economy, and democracy.

4A Arts believes that arts and culture are basic human rights and powerful tools for building a whole and healthy society. 

Please follow our efforts and growth to change the narrative around American creativity and consequently to increase support from elected officials at the local, state, and federal levels. 

Please sign up for updates of our movement to change the narrative around American creativity and consequently to increase support from elected officials at the local, state, and federal levels. 

We would appreciate your support in our efforts. 

LI: https://www.linkedin.com/company/4aarts/

FB: https://www.facebook.com/4AArts.Org

IG: https://www.instagram.com/4aarts/