Glasstire

Artist On Artist is Glasstire’s video and audio podcast series in which Glasstire’s News Editor Christopher Blay, also an artist, hosts Texas-based artists and art professionals in one-on-one conversations.

Our guest this week is North Texas- based Erica Felicella, a performance artist who counts among her wide range of influences photographers (she was an assistant to Goef Kern) and Gregory Crewdson, vaudeville, and even land art icons Andy Goldsworthy and Robert Smithson.

“I heard someone actually scream out [during a performance] 'When is she going to do a magic act?' I was trying not to crack up and I thought: this is just perfect.”

Christopher Blay invites Bill and Pam Campbell to talk about their 46-year run with one of the longest-running galleries in Texas, William Campbell Contemporary Art. Last month the couple announced their retirement, and that the gallery continues with new owners, Fort Worth Contemporary Art Partners.

“We still love the business and we really thought we would keep working until we couldn’t anymore, and just close the doors. So we’re thrilled that it is going to continue.”

Artist On Artist is Glasstire’s video and audio podcast series in which Glasstire’s News Editor Christopher Blay, also an artist, hosts Texas-based artists and art professionals in one-on-one conversations.

For this episode, Blay participates in a session of Carolyn Sortor’s “Being Together,” one of two projects Sorter created for her Glasstire artist residency. The conversation explores the true nature of being together, our present state of isolation, artificial intelligence, and free speech.

Learn more about Sortor’s Glasstire residency here: https://glasstire.com/2020/12/05/announcing-carolyn-sortor-as-glasstires-virtual-artist-in-residence

Inspired by the career of Clint Willour, Christina Rees and Brandon Zech discuss the transformational impact a single person can have on an art scene. 

"Even though we're not in a 'major art scene' (although we really are, here in Texas), we have a lot of people who are making a powerful impact."

Christina Rees and Brandon Zech discuss artists' use of windows as makeshift galleries and question if cities should force businesses to put art in empty storefronts.

"To be fined for not putting art in your windows — that concept honestly blows my mind... it's the opposite of what we're used to."

This week's podcast is sponsored in part by Texas Talks Art, a weekly series of virtual, lunchtime conversations with curators from Texas’ leading cultural institutions and artists from across the state. Tune in every Tuesday at noon CST for these virtual talks, which are happening throughout 2021. All talks are free and open to the public. See the full schedule and register for upcoming talks at Texas Talks Art's website: https://texastalksart.org

If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Brandon Zech talks with Houston artist and Glasstire contributor Henry G. Sanchez about the challenges of public arts funding during a pandemic. If you'd like to learn more, you can read Sanchez's recent articles about arts funding in Texas:

Part 1: https://glasstire.com/2020/11/23/arts-funding-in-pandemic-texas-part-1

Part 2: https://glasstire.com/2020/12/01/arts-funding-in-pandemic-texas-part-2-houston

If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Artist On Artist is Glasstire’s video and audio podcast series in which Glasstire’s News Editor Christopher Blay, also an artist, hosts Texas-based artists and art professionals in one-on-one conversations.

This week Christopher Blay’s conversation with guest Ciara Elle Bryant touches on her navigation through graduate school as a Black woman, her mentors and influences, as well as creating opportunities for Black artists.

“There are things that are happening in Dallas that Black artists will never know about, because there wasn’t a Black person in the room to share the information with a Black artist.”

Christina Rees and Brandon Zech talk about the landmark events of 2020, and their takeaways from an unusual year.

"2020 is going to stand as this incredibly strange marker in so many people's lives for so many reasons, and visual art is no exception."

If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Christina Rees and Brandon Zech talk about nativity scenes, Christmas art, and the inherent kitschiness of our beloved holiday traditions.

"If you leave a few Christmas decorations up year-round you're tacky, but if you leave an entire house full of Christmas decorations up year-round you're eccentric and fun."

If you enjoy Glasstire and would like to support our work, please consider donating. As a nonprofit, all of the money we receive goes back into our coverage of Texas art. You can make a one-time donation or become a sustaining, monthly donor here: https://glasstire.com/donate

Artist On Artist is Glasstire’s video and audio podcast series in which Glasstire’s News Editor Christopher Blay, also an artist, hosts Texas-based artists and art professionals in one-on-one conversations.

This week, Christopher Blay speaks with Austin-based artist Betelhem Makonnen, who uses video, photography and installation as she considers perception, presence, and place. This conversation touches on the unreliability of memory, how the artist perceives time, and how her work deals with where we currently find ourselves.

“I think that is ultimately what is at the foundation of my practice — it is an insistence on mobility, which is like freedom and liberation. To move.”