MOCRA Voices

Empathy is a term that surfaces in all kinds of settings, including museums. MOCRA Assistant Director David Brinker sets out to explore two different angles on museums and empathy.

In Part 1, he talks with museum educator Adam Nilsen about how empathy is understood and studied, as well as the ways it is being applied in museum settings.

Part 2 features chaplain and pastoral care educator Cristina Stevens reflecting on the role art and empathy play in the training and practice of those who support the spiritual needs of healthcare patients.

Listen to Part 2 of the conversation here.

Be sure to listen to the Audio Extra, "Student Reflections."

Visit the MOCRA Voices website to learn more about Adam Nilsen and Cristina Stevens and to explore our other episodes.

Recording Engineer and Editor: Mike Schrand Host: Linda Kennedy Theme and Incidental Music: Stephen James Neale Producer: David Brinker

Original release date: 8/30/2016; updated on 5/30/2017

This episode was made possible with financial support from the Regional Arts Commission.

Pamela Ambrose talks about the ways in which art museums can use their collections to enrich the lives of people living with Alzheimer's and their caregivers.

This is an Audio Extra to Episode 20: Pamela Ambrose.

Original release date: 8/30/2016

Pamela Ambrose and Terrence Dempsey, SJ, discuss the inflatable sculpture Paranirvana, by Bay Area artist Lewis deSoto, a contemporary interpretation of a centuries-old Buddhist shrine.

This is an Audio Extra to Episode 20: Pamela Ambrose.

Original release date: 8/30/2016

Pamela Ambrose has had a distinguished career as a curator and museum director. On the occasion of her retirement as Director of the Loyola University Museum of Art in Chicago, Ambrose joined MOCRA Director Terrence Dempsey, SJ, to look back over her distinguished career managing both galleries and museums, and talk about her enduring interest in the intersection of art and the spiritual dimension.

Be sure to listen to the two Audio Extras, "Lewis deSoto's "Paranirvana"" and "Art and Alzheimer's."

You can hear more from Ambrose in Episode 5: Pamela Ambrose and Ena Heller. Also, watch the related video podcast episode, "Art and the Religious Imagination," on the MOCRA Voices Vimeo channel.

Visit the MOCRA Voices website to learn more about Pamela Ambrose and to explore a Listening Guide to the interview.

Recording Engineer and Editor: Mike Schrand Host: Linda Kennedy Theme and Incidental Music: Stephen James Neale Producer: David Brinker

Original release date: 8/30/2016

This episode was made possible with financial support from the Regional Arts Commission.

The multidimensional, abstract paintings, sculptures, and installations of artist Jordan Eagles have caught the imagination of viewers and critics alike. His invented preservation technique, combining blood, plexiglass, UV resin, and other materials, permanently retains the organic material's natural colors, patterns, and textures.

Eagles speaks with MOCRA Director Terrence Dempsey, SJ, about his unusual artistic media and his works' rich symbolic associations. They also discuss Eagles' continuing growth as an artist, including Blood Mirror, a work created to raise awareness about the FDA's ban on the donation of blood by men who have sex with men.

Jordan Eagles' work was featured in the 2013 MOCRA exhibition BLOOD / SPIRIT.

Visit the MOCRA Voices website to learn more about Jordan Eagles and to explore our other episodes.

Recording Engineer and Editor: Mike Schrand Host: Linda Kennedy Theme and Incidental Music: Stephen James Neale Producer: David Brinker

Original release date: 8/30/2016

This episode was made possible with financial support from the Regional Arts Commission.

Howard Fox is well-known in contemporary art circles as a curator and author. MOCRA Director Terrence Dempsey, SJ, speaks with Fox about his approach to curating exhibitions and discerning trends in art-making, as well as the process of writing essays on contemporary art. Along the way they discuss specific artists who engage the religious and spiritual dimensions in their work.

Visit the MOCRA Voices website to learn more about Howard Fox and to explore a Listening Guide to the interview.

Recording Engineer and Editor: Mike Schrand Host: Linda Kennedy Theme and Incidental Music: Stephen James Neale Producer: David Brinker

Original release date: 5/31/2015

This episode was made possible with financial support from the Regional Arts Commission.

In 2013, MOCRA celebrated its twentieth anniversary, a perfect time to talk with people who have been affiliated with the museum over the years: those who had a hand in MOCRA's genesis, artists who have participated in exhibitions at MOCRA, and other participants in the broader dialogue between contemporary art and religion and spirituality. With "MOCRA Memories" we bring you these conversations and reflections.

This two-part episode features people involved with MOCRA's groundbreaking 1994 exhibition, Consecrations: The Spiritual in Art in the Time of AIDS.

Listen to Part 1 of the episode here.

Visit the MOCRA Voices website to learn more about the people behind the voices.

Recording Engineer and Editor: Mike Schrand Host: Linda Kennedy Theme and Incidental Music: Stephen James Neale Producer: David Brinker

Original release date: 5/31/2015

This episode was made possible with financial support from the Regional Arts Commission.

In 2013, MOCRA celebrated its twentieth anniversary, a perfect time to talk with people who have been affiliated with the museum over the years: those who had a hand in MOCRA's genesis, artists who have participated in exhibitions at MOCRA, and other participants in the broader dialogue between contemporary art and religion and spirituality. With "MOCRA Memories" we bring you these conversations and reflections.

This two-part episode features people involved with MOCRA's groundbreaking 1994 exhibition, Consecrations: The Spiritual in Art in the Time of AIDS.

Listen to Part 2 of the episode here.

Visit the MOCRA Voices website to learn more about the people behind the voices.

Recording Engineer and Editor: Mike Schrand Host: Linda Kennedy Theme and Incidental Music: Stephen James Neale Producer: David Brinker

Original release date: 5/31/2015

This episode was made possible with financial support from the Regional Arts Commission.

Artists Daniel Ramirez and Buzz Spector were studio mates in the MFA program at the University of Chicago in the 1970s, forging a friendship that has lasted ever since.

In this wide-ranging conversation with MOCRA Voices, they trace the evolution of their artistic output over the decades. They touch on the thought of Ludwig Wittgenstein, the music of Olivier Messiaen, divine geometries, book design, and even the finer points of bowing technique.

Visit the MOCRA Voices website to learn more about Daniel Ramirez and Buzz Spector and to explore a Listening Guide to the interview.

Recording Engineer and Editor: Mike Schrand Host: Linda Kennedy Theme and Incidental Music: Stephen James Neale Producer: David Brinker

Original release date: 5/30/2015

This episode was made possible with financial support from the Regional Arts Commission.

MOCRA has been shaped by many people and events over the years. "MOCRA Memories" episodes delve into particular moments in MOCRA's history.

In 2013, MOCRA celebrated its twentieth anniversary, a perfect time to talk with people who have been affiliated with the museum over the years: those who had a hand in MOCRA's genesis, artists who have participated in exhibitions at MOCRA, and other participants in the broader dialogue between contemporary art and religion and spirituality. In this episode we bring you conversations and reflections with people involved in MOCRA's inaugural exhibition, Sanctuaries: Recovering the Holy in Contemporary Art.

Visit the MOCRA Voices website to learn more about the people behind the voices.

Recording Engineer and Editor: Mike Schrand Host: Linda Kennedy Theme and Incidental Music: Stephen James Neale Producer: David Brinker

Original release date: 5/29/2015

This episode was made possible with financial support from the Regional Arts Commission.