How Art is Born

In this episode of How Art Is Born, Host R. Alan Brooks is joined by Derrick Hodge, composer, musical director, bandleader, producer, bassist, and advocate. Hodge reflects on his early days as a musician in West Philadelphia, feeding his curiosity and creative drive, his journey of self acceptance, and shares some words of wisdom for all the creators out there.

Mentioned in this episode:

Check Out Off The Walls from Colorado Public Radio

Hey! If you love How Art is Born, there’s another podcast that I think you should check out. It's called Off The Walls and it's all about the people and stories behind Denver's street art. In each episode, you'll meet artists, activists and other Denverites ... to explore some powerful murals around town ... and why they matter. Find Off The Walls from Denverite and Colorado Public Radio wherever you get podcasts!

CPR Off The Walls Ad 1

In this episode of How Art Is Born Host R. Alan Brooks is joined by the delightfully unhinged queer comedy duo of Lee Robinson and Kate McLachlan aka Dyketopia. Their conversation delves into how the pair found their way into performing stand-up comedy, creating a community for the queer comedy scene, and more.

Mentioned in this episode:

Check Out Off The Walls from Colorado Public Radio

Hey! If you love How Art is Born, there’s another podcast that I think you should check out. It's called Off The Walls and it's all about the people and stories behind Denver's street art. In each episode, you'll meet artists, activists and other Denverites ... to explore some powerful murals around town ... and why they matter. Find Off The Walls from Denverite and Colorado Public Radio wherever you get podcasts!

CPR Off The Walls Ad 1

In this episode of How Art Is Born Host R. Alan Brooks is joined by Miami based multimedia artist and video game director, Leo Castañeda. Their conversation delves into Castañeda forging his own path and creative identity amongst a family of artists, teaching himself how to independently create and develop a video game, his video game direction and design process and more.

Mentioned in this episode:

Check Out Off The Walls from Colorado Public Radio

Hey! If you love How Art is Born, there’s another podcast that I think you should check out. It's called Off The Walls and it's all about the people and stories behind Denver's street art. In each episode, you'll meet artists, activists and other Denverites ... to explore some powerful murals around town ... and why they matter. Find Off The Walls from Denverite and Colorado Public Radio wherever you get podcasts!

CPR Off The Walls Ad 1

Join host R. Alan Brooks for a conversation with Los Angeles area based professor, author, graphic novelist, curator, and New York Times best-seller, John Jennings in today's episode of How Art is Born. Hear about Jennings’ discovering his love for art and comics, his early days as a graphic designer, self-publishing his own books, creating a new character for the Marvel universe, and more!

Join host R. Alan Brooks for a conversation with Denver-based singer, songwriter, and producer, N3ptune, in today's episode of How Art is Born. Hear about N3ptune's spiritual journey to becoming a multi-hyphenate and genre bending musical artist, growing up in the Baptist Church, embracing his most authentic self, and more!

Join host R. Alan Brooks for a conversation with Los Angeles and Denver-based photographer, Amanda Lopez, in today's episode of How Art is Born. Hear about Lopez's journey to discovering her love of photography, learning as much as she could about her craft in the classroom and on the job, how she's dealt with fear and imposter syndrome to build a successful career as professional photographer, and more!

In this episode of How Art is Born host R. Alan Brooks is joined by Thomas Evans, a.k.a. Detour, an all-around creative specializing in large scale public art, interactive visuals, portraiture, immersive spaces, and creative directing. Detour’s focus is on expanding customary views of creativity and challenging fine-art paradigms by mixing traditional mediums with new approaches.

Hear about Detour’s days as a breakdancer, a student life coordinator on the Auraria Campus in downtown Denver, a trip to Zimbabwe that catalyzed his decision to pursue visual and interactive art full time, and more!

In this episode of How Art is Born we welcome Colorado-based multi-disciplinary artist, activist, and "disruptor," Gregg Deal, (Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe). His work is informed by his Native identity and includes exhaustive critiques of American society, politics, popular culture and history. Through paintings, murals, performance work, filmmaking, spoken word, and more, Deal invites the viewer to confront these issues both in the present and the past tense. 

Host, R. Alan Brooks and Deal, discuss his life growing up in Utah, the early days of his career as an artist and student in the Washington, D.C. area, the value of having diverse work experience, and the impact of having good mentors and support systems.

In our Season 3 premiere of How Art is Born we welcome Houston-based educator and visual artist Kaneem Smith. Kaneem creates sculptural works out of fabric materials such as burlap formerly used for import/export purposes, referencing concerns on ethical trade, colonialist interactions on the natural environment, and contemporary issues concerning global civil justice. Her work has been included in numerous venues such as the African American Museum in Dallas, National Art Gallery in Athens, Greece; Lima Art Museum, Peru, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver.

In this episode, Kaneem and host, R. Alan Brooks talk about growing up in the south, finding your lane to create within your community, and working through the process of overcoming fear of failure.

How Art is Born season 3 is coming soon! Join artist, writer, professor, and host R. Alan Brooks, for in-depth conversations with folks across the spectrum of artmaking. This season we’ll discover the stories, experiences, and origins of artists Leo Castaneda, Gregg Deal, Amanda Lopez, Kaneem Smith, Thomas “Detour” Evans, and more! 

We’ll explore how these artists careers began; delve deep into their creative processes, and bring to light how their art is born. 

Get new episodes of How Art is Born every other week starting Wednesday April 12, 2023 wherever you get your podcasts, or at mcadenver.org/podcast.