Museum Confidential

We miss movies. Due to the pandemic, the latest Wes Anderson movie has been bumped to 2021. But fans aren't leaving 2020 empty handed. One of our favorite Instagram feeds the past few years is the gentle escapism of ACCIDENTALLY WES ANDERSON, a curated selection of crowdsourced photos/stories of buildings, landscapes, and other aesthetically pleasing content evoking the Andersonian world. Many of the best ACCIDENTALLY WES ANDERSON posts have now been compiled into a beautiful new book of the same name. On this episode we chat with AWA's Founder and content curator, Wally Koval.

On this episode we explore the groundbreaking exhibition, "Hearts of Our People: Native Women Artists" with Philbrook Curator Christina Burke. The first of its kind and years in the making, this show honors the achievements of over 100 Native women artists from the United States and Canada spanning over 1,000 years. On view at Philbrook through January 3, 2021.

What is a museum? We know it's more than a big building with paintings on walls and objects in cases. But could our own homes be museums about us? On this episode we speak with author Rachel Morris about her new book, THE MUSEUM MAKERS, a fascinating true story that begins with boxes under a bed and leads to an exploration of imaginary museums, why we collect, and how we curate our own lives.

On this episode we revisit our unforgettable conversation with Dr. David Pilgrim, Founder and Curator of the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia at Ferris State University in Michigan. Museums aren't always meant to be enjoyable experiences. That doesn't mean they are not important and essential. The Jim Crow Museum was born out of Dr. Pilgrim's personal collection, one that began decades ago while growing up in Alabama.

Season 3 Finale. How does a museum reopen in the wake of COVID-19? What are the changes and challenges museums face in this new world? We explore this topic and more with Philbrook President/CEO Scott Stulen and Deputy Directors Megan Nesbit and Rachel Keith.

What follows is a statement recently released by Philbrook. It was created and edited in collaboration with the museum staff, leadership, and Board of Trustees.

On this episode, Philbrook Director Scott Stulen steps in as Guest Host for a fascinating chat with writer and curator, Sarah Urist Green. Sarah is host of the popular PBS web series, The Art Assignment and author of the new book, You Are an Artist: Assignments to Spark Creation.

Philbrook recently kicked off a pen pal program for the museum cats. A bit of connection in the COVID-19 era. If you write them a letter, they write back. That's the deal. The program took off quickly and mail began arriving daily from around the country and around the world. Some from kids, some from adults. Some silly, some quite moving. Some from other cats (kind of). But one recent arrival stood out. The return address on the envelope was a prison. The letter inside was unforgettable. 

In the age of Rotten Tomatoes, likes, and shares, we are all critics. But a rarified few have transcended the trends and held onto a corner of the zeitgeist. No American critic has been more successful at this than New York Magazine’s Pulitzer Prize-winning art critic, Jerry Saltz. In his new book HOW TO BE AN ARTIST, he distills his life into a mission statement of sorts. On this episode we chat with Jerry from his quarantine hideout where he’s holed up with his wife, New York Times art critic, Roberta Smith.