Studio Noize: Black Art Podcast

A couple of weeks ago a group of super talented printmakers got to together in Houston at the studio of the one and only Delita Martin. We talking Delita, Chloe Alexander, Anne Johnson, Rabea Ballin, Shanna Strauss, Jess Sabogal, Rashaun Rucker and Steve Prince who couldn’t make it. Even your boy JBarber slid in there some how. The magic of the moment inspired us to create a new printmaking collective called the Legacy Print Council. Of course JBarber pulled out the mics to document such a momentous occasion. Today we got Delita Martin and Chloe Alexander talking about how this all came together and the value of sharing with your peers. Followed by Dr. Kheli Willetts who came by the studio to visit and ended up making a print herself. Kheli talks about being inspired to make a print, the time she spent with Elizabeth Catlett and her observation about the event. It’s just a little taste of that good art talk from Legacy Weekend with the crew. Listen, subscribe, and share!

Episode 193 topics include:

how the Legacy Weekend came together

energy in the print studio

sharing techniques with your peers

continuing to learn as your career grows

creating a collaborative portfolio

Dr Kheli Willetts jumping into printing again

Dr Kheli Willetts spending time with Elizabeth Catlett

the context of Legacy Weekend

Delita Martin is an artist currently based in Huffman, Texas. She received a BFA in drawing from Texas Southern University and an MFA in printmaking from Purdue University. Formerly a member of the fine arts faculty at UA Little Rock in Arkansas, Martin currently works as a full-time artist in her studio, Black Box Press. Martin’s work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally. Most recently Martin’s work was included in the State of the Arts: Discovering American Art Now, an exhibition that included 101 artists from around the United States. Her work is in numerous portfolios and collections.

Chloe Alexander is a printmaker who works out of Atlanta, Georgia. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2010 and an M.Ed. in 2014, both from Georgia State University. Alexander is a national and international exhibiting artist who has shown work in institutions such as the International Print Center in New York, the Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair in London, and the Kai Lin Art Gallery in Atlanta. 

Dr. Kheli Willetts is Principal and Founder of Dira Professional Development. Prior to starting her own firm, Dr. Willetts was Director of Professional Development at Mid-America Arts Alliance (MAAA) small to midsize arts and cultural organizations as well as practicing artists.

See more: Delita Martin website + Delita Martin IG @blackboxpress + Chloe Alexander website + Chloe Alexander IG @thehaplessprintmaker + Dr Kheli Willetts website

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Artists should be comfortable blazing their own paths. Even if it take you outside the norms of Black figuration and makes people look at you funny. Today’s guest, Anthony Burks Sr., knows all about that. As a Black artist using animals as his main subjects he has stories of people that didn’t want his work at first but the beautiful compositions, the masterful drawing and the spirit that he puts into the work is undeniable. Anthony talks about his animals, his creative drive, how he approaches his business and survives as an artist. It’s a wide ranging art conversation for yall today. We know you like that good art talk right here on the Noize! Listen, subscribe, and share!

Episode 192 topics include:

the love of drawing

staying in your lane as an artist

painting animals as a Black artist

turning his home into a gallery

handling commissions

Zero Empty Spaces art studio and collective

using social media to get clients

how to get support at a fundraiser

the art hustle in Florida

Anthony Burks, a native Floridian, is a conceptual fine and commercial artist. He works in numerous forms of media including charcoal, pen & ink, pastels, watercolor, and color pencil. The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale graduate has won awards and contests including Best of Show in several different art shows. He has worked and collaborated with numerous companies and organizations over the years through his 30-year company with his wife, Trina Slade-Burks, ATB Fine ArtGroup Inc. (ATB).

Anthony has exhibited his artwork at various galleries, museums, and events. He also utilizes his skills to encourage artistic youth and adults to further pursue their own creative talents and to help promote the arts. He has co-curated varies exhibitions including Continuum PB Arts Fair, Collaboration: African Diaspora Exhibition, Karibu and Boys II Men Art Expo just to name a few. These exhibitions have provided opportunities for emerging, mid-career and established artists and have exposed them to collectors who may not have had the opportunity otherwise.Over the last 20 years, he has also provided opportunities through arts education and artistic techniques to develop artistic skills in drawing and art appreciation.

See more: Anthony Burks Sr. website + Anthony Burks Sr. IG @ampburks

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Jamaal Barber: @JBarberStudio

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Mint Gallery in Atlanta has closed its doors, suddenly and sloppily. How could this happen to such a well known, well used space? Studio Noize has recorded episodes there. Your boy JBarber had his thesis show there. There was a history and reputation to the gallery. Today we bring back Jasmine Nicole Williams, aka Jiggy Jas, back for an emergency episode of Studio Noize. We unload our thoughts on the closing of Mint and how poorly it was all handled. We discuss the precarious nature of being an artist and how devastating it can be to have your life and livelihood threatened by bad business. We talk about the changing landscape of arts funding, the need for community and the courage it takes to advocate for yourself and your fellow artists. Listen, subscribe, and share!

Episode 191 topics include:

the chaos of Mint Gallery closing

non-profit arts funding

how poor leadership effects working artists

being transparent

the dream of having a studio

what creates culture

what comes from the chaos

Jasmine Nicole Williams is a Black American visual artist and organizer from Atlanta, GA. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Art in Printmaking from the University of West Georgia in 2017. Her work explores her southern, black, and femme identities through printmaking and murals to inspire people to dive deeper into their humanity.

Influenced by the work of artists like Elizabeth Catlett and Emory Douglas, Jasmine believes in the transformative power of portraiture, print, and public art. She understands the role of art and the need for that art to be accessible to the people as a tool to advance the working-class struggle. With a deep interest in craft and process, Jasmine makes dignified work that reflects and relates to everyday people and injects them with a spirit of optimism toward the future.

Since receiving her BFA, Jasmine’s work has been showcased at Prizm Art Fair, Perez Museum Miami, ZuCot Gallery, Eyedrum, MINT Gallery, and Echo Contemporary. She has received residencies from Hambidge and Midtown Alliance. She was awarded grants from RedBull, Sprite, WISH ATL, and Dream Warriors Foundation and fellowships from Southern Graphics Council International and TILA Studios. She has worked with [adult swim] and Nike. Currently, Jasmine is the 2023 recipient of the Living Walls Abroad Fellowship. 

Jasmine continues her practice in Atlanta, GA.

See more: Rough Draft Atlanta: MINT Gallery abruptly closes its doors at MET Atlanta + AJC: Mint gallery closed suddenly, leaving artists scrambling and unhappy + Jasmine Williams website + Jasmine Williams IG @jn.ooomami

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Jamaal Barber: @JBarberStudio

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Pittsburgh-based art historian and curator, Kilolo Luckett joins the Studio Noize fam today! Its always exciting to have dynamic, interesting women on the show because they have so much to offer. Kilolo has created an experimental, contemporary art platform with Alma Lewis and still works as an independent curator with artists like Stephen Towns, Amani Lewis and Thaddeus Mosley. She talks about building connections with artists that she curates, the importance or reading for artists and creating Alma Lewis as a place where artists can grow in their practice. Kilolo shares what she sees as the job of a curator and how to created a culture that supports artists in every way. Listen, subscribe, and share!

Episode 190 topics include:

building a connection to artists

what an artist reads

advocating for artists

what a curator does

the importance of narratives in art

creating Alma Lewis

art culture

supporting artists during a residency

Kilolo Luckett bio:

Kilolo Luckett is a Pittsburgh-based art historian and curator. With more than twenty-five years of experience in arts administration and cultural production, she is committed to elevating the voices of underrepresented visual artists, especially women, and Black and Brown artists.

Luckett is Founding Executive Director and Chief Curator of ALMA | LEWIS (named after abstract artists Alma Thomas and Norman Lewis), an experimental, contemporary art platform for critical thinking, constructive dialogue, and creative expression dedicated to Black culture.

Among the many exhibitions to her credit are Familiar Boundaries. Infinite Possibilities (2018), Resurgence – Rise Again:  The Art of Ben Jones (2019), I Came by Boat So Meet Me at the Beach by Ayana Evans and Tsedaye Makonnen (2020), Vanishing Black Bars & Lounges: Photographs by L. Kasimu Harris (2020), and Dominic Chambers:  Like the Shapes of Clouds on Water (2020) at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center; Amani Lewis: Reimagining Care (2021) and Lizania Cruz: Performing Inquiry (2022) at ALMA | LEWIS; Stephen Towns:  Declaration & Resistance (2022), which premiered at the Westmoreland Museum of American Art and travels to Boise Art Museum in Boise, Idaho, and Reynolda House Museum of American Art in Winston-Salem, North Carolina (2023); and Luckett co-curated SLAY: Artemisia Gentileschi & Kehinde Wiley (2022) at The Frick Pittsburgh.

She has curated exhibitions by national and international artists such as Peju Alatise, Martha Jackson Jarvis, Thaddeus Mosley, Tajh Rust, Devan Shimoyama, and Shikeith. She served as an Art Commissioner for the City of Pittsburgh’s Art Commission for twelve years.  Luckett has held positions as Curator of Meta Pittsburgh’s Open Arts, Consulting Curator of Visual Arts at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center, Director of Development at The Andy Warhol Museum, and Curatorial Assistant at Wood Street Galleries, where she helped organize shows that included Xu Bing, Louise Bourgeois, Larry Bell, Catherine Opie, Nam June Paik, and Tim Rollins + K.O.S.

See more: Alma Lewis website + Kilolo Luckett’s IG @kilololuckett

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Jamaal Barber: @JBarberStudio

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We are talking about collecting today on the Noize! We got attorney and art collector Nick Bedford. You might catch Nick in Miami at Art Basel, flying worldwide to check out all the shows, or in the studio with your favorite artists. Nick talks about the value of art, following artists as they grow, and getting into the politics behind collecting. Nick shines a light on what he values in purchasing, which includes the sketches and preliminary drawings. It’s a talk about the other side of the art business from a person actively supporting and acquiring work. Listen, subscribe, and share!

Episode 189 topics include:

reasons to collect

value in art

collecting sketches and preliminary works

what makes a great artist

how success changes artists and collecting

following artists as they grow

recent treasures in the collection

gatekeeping by museums and galleries

Nick Bedford bio:

Nicholas Bedford is a highly accomplished, leveraging his extensive legal expertise to provide exceptional defense for prominent corporate entities, municipalities, and trucking companies across the nation. Among his esteemed clientele are renowned organizations like National Indemnity Company, The Kroger Co., American Family Insurance, Grady Memorial Hospital, The Home Depot, Inc., The City of Atlanta, and some of the nation’s biggest corporate citizens. With over a decade of experience, Nicholas has consistently demonstrated his prowess in handling complex legal matters.

Beyond his legal achievements, Nicholas is deeply committed to his community and passionate about promoting artistic advocacy. He serves as a Board Member of Georgia Lawyers for the Arts and is the visionary Founder of the Artist Making a Difference Mural Program. Through this innovative initiative, Nicholas has spearheaded impactful murals and initiated programs for philanthropic causes, including the Ronald McDonald House, the Atlanta Missions, Allgood Elementary School, and the Jesse Draper Boys & Girls School.

See more: Nick Bedford’s IG @nick_bed

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Jamaal Barber: @JBarberStudio

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The 2024 Florida Prize exhibition at the Orland Museum of Art introduced your boy, JBarber, to 10 fantastic artists in the state of Florida. We got the People’s Choice Award winner from that show, Njeri Kinuthia, on the Noize today. Her work is centered around her experiences growing up in Kenya and the ways she wrestles with culture, religion and social norms. Njeri talks about her love of drawing, her complex relationship with religion, and the ways her art helps her build a sense of self. We go through the details of some of Njeri’s amazing work in the show including Njeri the Great, Nyumba, and Smothered II. Plus some stories about Njeri being a pastor and throwing shade with fabrics. Listen, subscribe, and share!

Episode 188 topics include:

coming to New York from Kenya

finding freedom in the clothing

wrestling with cultural norms in art

the importance of drawing

female oppression

2024 Florida Prize

Njeri Kinuthia bio:

Njeri Kinuthia was born and raised in Kenya. She received her bachelor’s degree in Fashion Design from Machakos University, Kenya. Njeri moved to the U.S. in 2021 to pursue her MFA at the University of Central Florida, funded by the Provost's Fellowship Award. Her artistic merit has been recognized with awards, including the 2024 Florida Prize in Contemporary Art People’s Choice Award, the 2024 University of Central Florida Outstanding Graduate Creative Research, the 2023 Éclat Law Prize, the 2023 United Arts Public Art Award, the 2023 Innovation in Arts Award, among others. Njeri has exhibited her work in various shows and galleries, including the ongoing Florida Prize at the Orlando Museum of Art, and a solo exhibition at Snap! Gallery in Orlando. She has also showcased her art in international settings, including Norway. Njeri is also an Art Educator teaching at the University of Central Florida. Her work explores themes of self-reflection, feminism, and the suppression of women perpetuated by cultural and societal norms. Njeri has also shared her insights through artist talks and interviews, further contributing to the discourse on the role of art in society. 

See more: Njeri Kinuthia website + Njeri Kinuthia’s IG @njeri_artistar

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Jamaal Barber: @JBarberStudio

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Vanessa Meshack is fresh off her first solo gallery show at Pencil and Paper Gallery and a feature in the international printmaking magazine Pressing Matters. Now she joins her favorite art podcast, Studio Noize, to talk about her new career. Vanessa was one of the super fans featured on the 100th episode! She’s made huge leaps in her art practice since she me JBarber out at Print Austin years ago. She discusses the way that making art has helped her find herself again, how she began exploring printmaking, and the challenges of setting up a new studio practice. Listen, subscribe, and share!

Episode 187 topics include:

Inner Visions solo show at Pencil and Paper Gallery

figuring out a direction

obstacles on the way to making art

falling in love with printmaking

using yourself as a reference

expressing yourself through art

being featured in Pressing Matters magazine

print nerding out over monoprinting

separating your practice from your business

Vanessa Meshack bio:

In her profound journey towards self-actualization, Vanessa Meshack draws upon spiritual guidance, memory's whispers, graceful movement, and rich experiences to craft abstract figurative masterpieces. Her creations convey not just strength, healing, vulnerability, and joy, but also embody the intricate tapestry woven by intersectionality, shaping her unique worldview. Rather than dwelling on the shadows of overlapping social identities, Vanessa reframes the narrative, showcasing the elegance that blooms from embracing one's inner wisdom. Her chosen mediums, such as drawing, fiber, and printmaking techniques like monotype and woodcut, are meticulously applied to archival paper and fabric. Through stitching and quilting, she imparts intention, infusing her work with a profound meditative essence. Vanessa Meshack, a self-taught maestro, channels her artistic voyage into her prints. Her monotypes, a dance of ink and texture, create vignettes of her narrative. Her studio, nestled in a detached garage apartment in Dallas, Texas, serves as her sanctuary. Here, she transforms solitude into eloquent expressions, demonstrating the boundless potency of artistic exploration. 

See more: Vanessa Meshack website + Vanessa Meshack’s IG @vlmeshackart

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After spending 8 weeks at the Penland School of Craft there was a perfect time to reflect on the experience. Your boy JBarber got together a diverse panel of Penland people to talk about it. You got students (Erika Marin and Tori Hoang), a teaching assistant (Jasmin Warnock), a CORE student (Nicholas Malik), and an instructor. Not to mention some diverse ethnic backgrounds from Latinx to Asian to Black to discuss being in art spaces like Penland and exploring your curiosity in craft. We discuss their experience in the spring concentration, how diversity effects art spaces, and what they have learned during the process. Most importantly, do we recommend Penland to other artists of color? Listen, subscribe, and share!

Episode 186 topics include:

how to find out about Penland

making time for an 8 week class/residency

Core students at Penland for 2 years

experiencing craft for the first time

living at an adult summer camp

interacting with creatives

learning from the other people at Penland

diversity at Penland and art spaces

learning about yourself with making

Penland School of Craft is a national craft education center dedicated to the creative life. Located in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains, Penland offers total-immersion workshops in sixteen beautifully-equipped studios along with artist residencies, a gallery and visitors center, and community programs.

See more: Penland School of Craft website + Penland School of Craft IG @penlandschool  , Nicholas Malik’s IG @nicholas_malik, Jasmin Warnock IG @warnockart

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Your boy, JBarber, has been teaching at the Penland School of Craft and now we’re back with new Studio Noize! We found David Harper Clemons in a weaving cabin making broaches, print, sculptures and drawings. David is also the HBCU tour coordinator for Penland. We talk about the HBCU tours and how to get more diversity into artist communities. David talks about his curiosity with materials in making his functional and wearable art, the value of Black narratives in objects and what you need to be a great metalsmith. Listen, subscribe, and share!

Episode 185 topics include:

gettting into metals

HBCU tour at Penland School of Craft

bringing diversity to Penland

metalsmithing vs jewelry

the attention to detail

top 3 skills of a metalsmith

curiosity for materials

Black narratives in objects

importance of surfaces and touch

David was born in El Paso, Texas and spent much of his life in Austin, Texas.  Initially he began his undergraduate career attending Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana, pursuing a degree program for Biology Art.  He attended the program for two years before returning to Austin to complete his BFA at the University of Texas in Austin, with a primary emphasis in painting. He earned his MFA in Metalsmithing in 2007 from San Diego State University. David taught in the art department at the University of Arkansas in Little Rock, Arkansas for 10 years. During 8 of those years he was responsible for creating and heading the Metalsmithing and Jewelry Department. In 2018 he relocated to Penland, North Carolina to dedicate his time to be an independent artist and workshop instructor.  Much of his work embraces the craft of Metalsmithing and it’s collected history of techniques and objects. The resulting works rendered in metal, mixed media, and hand made artist books are vehicles to communicate ideas surrounding identity, narrative, and forays into material and process-based work.  He has exhibited in numerous exhibitions including: Craft in America: Expanding Traditions, Different Tempers: Jewelry & Blacksmithing, RE/ACTIONS, and has work in the permanent collection of the Arkansas Art Center in Little Rock, National Ornamental Metal Museum. Yale Contemporary Craft Museum, Ollie Trout Collection at the University of Texas in Austin. 

See more: David Harper Clemons’ website + David Harper Clemons’ IG @harperclemons  

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It’s an instant classic for you today on the Noize! We got the wonderful LaNia Roberts on the show and she came with all the energy, honesty and transparency that we needed in our studios. LaNia talks about how she got her big personality, empowering herself through art and the inner thoughts that artists feel and don’t often speak on. There is a truly awesome story on how she got to her style of painting that is a must here for any artist trying to find their way. You gotta rate the show 5 stars just for that! Its all that good art talk that you need in your life with a young woman artist that is blazing a trail in these art streets. Listen, subscribe, and share!

Episode 184 topics include:

being a young artist at SCOPE

getting empowerment through art

how LaNia developed her personality

creating systems to support your practice

the big shift in painting

Stan Squirewell as a mentor

overcoming the fear of growth

what artists believe about themselves

LaNia Roberts, born in 1996 and hailing from Louisville, KY, discovered a profound means of self-expression in visual art amidst her early struggle with identity. Supported by numerous scholarships as a first-generation college student, she pursued a degree in Painting at Syracuse University's Visual and Performing Arts School. LaNia culminated her academic journey in 2019, achieving a degree in Painting from Syracuse University and traveling to over 12 countries across three continents since attending art school. Presently, she resides in Louisville, KY, fully engaged as a professional artist. Her practice has also expanded into an online-based social art practice, empowering millions worldwide to embody radical self-compassion, love, and acceptance, with over 200,000+ followers between Instagram and Tiktok. Most notably, her artistic endeavors have garnered her the representation of the esteemed Claire Oliver Gallery in Harlem, New York City.

See more: LaNia Roberts’ website + LaNia Roberts’ IG @laniaroberts

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