A father worries that his favorite children’s books promise his daughter a vibrant natural world that will no longer exist.

ABOUT PAUL

Paul Bogard is author of The End of Night: Searching for Natural Darkness in an Age of Artificial Light, published in North America by Little, Brown, and in the UK and around the world by 4th Estate/Harper Collins. Shortlisted for the PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award, The End of Night has been translated into German, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, and Korean, and is available in hardcover, e-book, paperback, and audiobook. He is also author of The Ground Beneath Us: From the Oldest Cities to the Last Wilderness, What Dirt Tells Us About Who We Are, published by Little, Brown.

Paul is the editor of Solastalgia: An Anthology of Emotion in a Disappearing World, author of the children’s picture book What If Night?, and author of the coffee-table book To Know a Starry Night. He is the editor of the anthology Let There Be Night: Testimony on Behalf of the Dark. His articles and essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Slate, Salon, Los Angeles Times, Outside, Audubon, Conservation, Reader's Digest, National Geographic, Creative Nonfiction, and elsewhere.

A native Minnesotan, Paul grew up exploring the forest and watching the stars near a lake in the northern part of the state. He has lived and taught in New Mexico, Nevada, Wisconsin, North Carolina, and Virginia, and is now associate professor of English and Environmental Studies at Hamline University in Saint Paul, Minnesota. 

Steve has been following the Monica & Felina story now for two years on Facebook as Monica's husband Robert has chronicled via video's the wonderful progress. Enjoy this episode about determination, creativity, overcoming fear and yes love. Read below for info on Monica.

Monica Tarr

I am not a creator of things from scratch. My talents lie in perfecting, changing, tweaking and bringing out the best in things that already exist. The things I am most adept at changing for the better are unlikely art pieces: teams, business outcomes, customer service, collaboration, hidden talents, personal transformations (like helping someone improve their brain health), food and recipes, and now, building a relationship of trust with a 1,200 pound animal that was ignored on a good day and abused on the bad days.

Also, I love beautiful things and beings. Natural places, paintings, sculpture, photography, dance, biology, stars and beautiful souls.

Monica's other labor of love is her drive for prevention of the causes of Alzheimer's disease. The Healthy Brain Habits group is a place to find information & support during your journey to prevent the causes of Alzheimer's disease and reverse early cognitive decline symptoms.You'll see posts, videos and guest speakers talking about brain health science, nutrition, exercise, sleep, stress reduction, detox, mindset, and habit change. Learn more: https://www.facebook.com/groups/healthybrainhabits/

Thank you for sharing your story Monica and we thank our loyal listeners for tuning in.

Linda Harris - Steve Dudrow

co-hosts

Linda met Floyd at his home studio to get a sneak peek at his work for the July exhibition.

Linda and Floyd recorded a few short episodes at Floyd's house/studio. This quickie is them discussing light and shadow. 

We were honored to meet Jen Urso during the research phase of "Modern Desert Markings" exhibition sponsored by Nevadans for Cultural Preservation and the Marjorie Barrick Museum on the campus of the University of Nevada Las Vegas.

Linda and Steve so enjoyed our time with Jen, we learned, we laughed, we cried, we understood, and we left as better people. Many hugs to Jen for gracing us with her time and story.

Artist statement

In my work, I am often making something visible that is invisible—talking or thinking about it in a way that can bring greater appreciation to moments we often ignore. This has included unearthing deep feelings of grief, delineating the boundaries of our public movement and magnifying the microscopic in the most mundane locations. I utilize public interventions, performance, drawing, mapping and technology to honor a sensitive approach to our environment and community that respects the unseen and unspoken. 

My practice revolves around subtleties of environments and behavior as well as attempting to undo the constructs expected to be necessary to take part in an artwork. I like looking at the details. I like the idea that there is always something more complex if we just take the time and attention to notice it. This process of awareness and investigation steers us away from the allure of a spectacle to discover something possibly more intimate and vulnerable. In a public setting where we’re drawn to be distracted, I create stumbled-on moments of focus with ephemeral materials or performance. In a gallery setting that already encourages hyper-awareness, I create an up-closeness or near invisibility so the work can be ignored or experienced intimately. I want to show that there is always more beneath the surface.

Bio

Jen Urso is a multidisciplinary artist creating works that utilize public interventions, performance, drawing, mapping and technology to honor a sensitive approach to our environment and community that respects the unseen and unspoken. Her work often takes place in the public via occupation, immersion and discovery.

Jen has exhibited and performed across the United States, Canada, Mexico and Brazil, receiving numerous grants and awards. In addition to creating work, Jen has curated exhibits, published writing and creates custom hand-drawn maps.

Jen is a passionate runner, gardener, seed-saver, environmental advocate, thinker and mother. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art from Carnegie Mellon University. She lives and works in Phoenix, AZ.

Welcome to the 100th episode and 1st year anniversary of the Art Box Podcast.

It was last April when Rachelle Knight and Steve Dudrow dreamed up a podcast for the VVAA and in May the BoD approved us to move forward. We would like to thank the 2022 BoD for giving us the green light to start on our journey.

In early June Tyler Roylance was our first guest and we were off and running, we crept along learning and trying to get better episode by episode.

Rachelle came up with the idea of mixing in some short 10-minute episodes and Floyd Johnson was our star in these, we recorded some at his home and he was always available to consort with us on this short episode idea. Tyler jumped into these short episodes as well, even including some of his students for creative specials.

Rachelle moved to SLC in the fall and Linda Harris answered Steve’s frantic calls for help and help she did. Linda is a master at recruiting great guests, asking the most interesting questions, and getting grants for us to go on the road.

Our other occasional co-hosts include Rachel Washington, who is also our happy starting and ending voice, Rayette Martin specializing in public lands’/archeology episodes and more recent Diane Alexanian, our Hollywood recruiter and co-host. Yes, The Art Box has gone Hollywood.

Upon our year mark we have passed 10,000 downloads along with our 100 episodes, we have traveled to Elko, Nevada for the 38th Cowboy Poetry Gathering, the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art in Las Vegas, the Mystery Ranch in Avi Kwa Ame National Monument, we have recorded one episode outdoors in Gold Butte National Monument, we have listeners in 23 countries and 48 states.

We started recording in the Women’s History and Culture Center thanks to Jean and Carol, we recorded quite a few episodes at the Mesquite library learning center, thanks to our hosts  Judi and Vanessa. In early 2023 Mesquite Works with grants from the City of Mesquite, Do it Best Hardware and help from C&J Blinds, built a recording studio for our use at the Mesquite STEAM Center. To show our appreciation Linda and Steve will be teaching a podcast course this summer there as the Art Box is committed to building partnerships with local organizations.

Thanks to everyone who has seen us through this amazing year, our sponsors, our guests, and our loyal listeners.

To celebrate our milestone, please enjoy this roundtable of former guests, all amazing artists, to talk about creativity in the Virgin Valley and beyond.

Enjoy.

Drop in this June to view and purchase the amazing art created by the June Artist of the Month. Displaying the fill month of June in the Mesa Galley @ Mesquite Fine Art Center 15 W. Mesquite, Blvd.

Our friend Matt Harper provided Linda and Steve contact info for Alina Lindquist and wow are we ever glad he did, what a talent.

Direct experience with the landscape is a cornerstone of my artistic practice. I primarily paint en plein air with oil to capture my initial experience on location. Sometimes I will use watercolor or gouache, depending on how much I want to carry that day. No matter what materials I use, the marks and colors captured outside inform my larger work back in the studio.

There’s an ineffable quality of the desert, and painting is the only way to transcribe my experiences. My current work focuses on the Mojave Desert, more specifically, the Northwestern section. Observational study through painting, or sometimes just simply watching the environment around me, generates questions and a further desire to understand the environment I work in. The more time I spend outside, the more I research the landscape, the plants, and the area’s history. My studio work incorporates the essence of the location along with an additional layer of process informed through further readings about the desert. It’s an ongoing process of observing, learning, and painting. Ultimately, my work seeks to transmit my love and sense of wonder for the desert.

Musings of the Mojave Exhibit

Honors

Our friends Diane Alexanian and Jill Waters combined their super Hollywood powers to bring us acclaimed director and all around nice guy Shelley Jensen for a rousing hour interview.  

This is a great listen. Catch you in an hour when you can drop us a line at [email protected] to tell us how much you loved this episode. 

We loved his quote: "Life is a fun ride and it’s really up to the individual to enjoy it"

A bit about Shelley.

Shelley Jensen is an American television director and producer.

He has directed episodes for a number of notable television series including The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Friends, Amen, What I Like About You, The Drew Carey Show, Webster, The Suite Life on Deck, Sonny with a Chance, I'm in the Band, Good Luck Charlie, Austin & Ally and other series.

Jensen won a Daytime Emmy Award in 1996 for his directing work on Disney Channel's Adventures in Wonderland winning alongside David Grossman and Gary Halvorson.

• CREDITS

Linda and Steve sit down with Mesquite Women's History and Culture Center founder Jean Watkins and General Manager Carol Saldivar for a heartwarming and enlightening interview. You will be inspired.

"Bloom where you're planted"

Learn more about these local heroes making impacts nationally.

https://whccmesquitenv.org/