Museum Confidential

On this episode we head to California’s High Desert with our roving correspondent, Preston Poe (of “The Preston Poe Show” podcast). As we often say, there are many kinds of museums. One of them is a tiny spot in a repurposed photo processing booth now dedicated entirely to crochet. The museum’s founder, as you’ll hear, knows how to spin a yarn or two. And rightly so.

Legendary filmmaker and so-called "Pope of Trash" John Waters has a brand new project in his beloved hometown. On view through January 6, 2019 at the Baltimore Museum of Art, "Indecent Exposure" is the first retrospective of Waters' visual arts career, featuring more than 160 provocative photographs, sculptures, and video/sound works. We sat down to chat about the show, the 30th anniversary of "Hairspray," and a few other things. For more information visit artbma.org

In our special Halloween episode, we step into the macabre with acclaimed writer Mark Dery, author of the new biography, Born to be Posthumous: The Eccentric Genius and Mysterious Life of Edward Gorey. Often called the “Grandfather of Goth,” Gorey’s work influenced Tim Burton, Neil Gaiman, Lemony Snicket, and countless others.

We all scream. The Museum of Ice Cream (MOIC) is attempting to blaze a new trail in the museum world. But sometimes that’s a rocky road. First up, a chat with Madison Utendahl, MOIC’s Head of Content and Social. Closing out the show, and for an entirely different take on the emergence of “Instagrammable” or “Pop-Up” museums, we call up Amanda Hess, Critic-at-Large for The New York Times. 

Museums aren't always meant to be enjoyable experiences. That doesn't mean they are not important and essential. On this episode, we sit down with Dr. David Pilgrim, founder and curator of the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia at Ferris State University in Michigan. The museum was born out of his personal collection, one that began decades ago, when Dr. Pilgrim was growing up in Alabama. Our podcast also profiles a recent art project utilizing the Confederate flag.

This episode offers a chat with Alexis Light, Senior Manager of Media Relations and Marketing at The Frick Collection. She is that NYC museum's thought leader when it comes to public relations, marketing, and social media content.

Also in this pod, we begin an occasional feature called "At a Museum in America." Our far-flung, gallery-going correspondent for this new feature is one Preston Poe, an independent curator, artist, and songwriter who also hosts "The Preston Poe Show" (which you can access at prestonpoe.com).

In our Season Two opener we sit down with Bob Dylan Archive curator, Michael Chaiken to talk about how they’re trying to NOT make a museum with the forthcoming Bob Dylan Center. We also chat about his path to getting the position, music, and of course, Mr. Zimmerman himself.

On the season one finale we try our hand at a podcast classic, the vaunted “mailbag” episode. We invited social media followers to “ask us anything” about Philbrook or museums in general. We then gathered a panel of experts to provide answers, or at least attempt to. Results vary. See you this fall for season two.

The Rothko Chapel, established in 1971 in Houston, is both a sacred space and a modern art mainstay. Dedicated to non-denominational prayer and private contemplation -- and also to international peace and fellowship -- the building routinely hosts lectures, concerts, interfaith gatherings, and similar events. And at its heart, of course, are fourteen very dark, luminous, large-scale paintings by the late Mark Rothko. We speak with David Leslie, the executive director of the Rothko Chapel.

Let’s be honest, conceptual art is polarizing. Sometimes intentionally so. We explore this and more in a wide-ranging and fascinating chat with self-proclaimed Experimental Philosopher, Jonathon Keats. From his early childhood days selling rocks for a penny to large-scale thought experiments commissioned by prestigious institutions, his career is nothing if not unique. As described in the pages of Wired magazine by science fiction author Bruce Sterling, “the guy is tireless.”