What role should museums play in public life today?

In this episode of The Art Career, Emily McElwreath visits the Cleveland Museum of Art for a conversation with Emily Liebert, Lauren Rich Fine Curator of Contemporary Art.

Together, they discuss the evolving role of museums in contemporary culture, the responsibilities of curatorial practice, and how institutions balance scholarship with accessibility while serving increasingly diverse audiences.

The conversation also explores Martin Puryear: Nexus, a major exhibition curated by Liebert that remains on view through August. Spanning more than six decades of Puryear’s career, the exhibition offers visitors an opportunity to engage deeply with one of the most important artists working today.

Throughout the episode, Liebert reflects on exhibition-making, audience engagement, and the importance of creating meaningful connections between art and the public.

A particular focus of the conversation is the Cleveland Museum of Art’s longstanding commitment to accessibility. Open to the public free of charge, the museum serves as a model for how cultural institutions can make world-class art available to broad audiences.

Topics include:

• The role of museums in public life today
• Curatorial practice and exhibition development
• Building exhibitions for diverse audiences
• Balancing scholarship with accessibility
• Martin Puryear: Nexus
• Public access and free museum admission
• The future of cultural institutions

Recorded at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Follow Emily Liebert: https://www.instagram.com/emilyliebert1/

Follow CMA: https://www.instagram.com/clevelandmuseumofart/

Follow Emily McElwreath on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@emilymcelwreath_art⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠theartcareer.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for more episodes and resources  

If you loved this episode, tag ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@theartcareer ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠and share your favorite insight on IG stories! Don’t forget to leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify—it helps more creatives discover the show. 

Sound Engineer and Production: Josh Craig

Creative Direction: Nina Yankovic

Brooklyn artist Mr. StarCity joins The Art Career Podcast.

A multidisciplinary artist working across painting, sculpture, poetry, music, and film, Mr. StarCity’s practice centers on expressive figurative painting and deeply personal storytelling. His works often emerge from poetry and lived experience, exploring themes of love, healing, and the complexities of the human condition.

Originally gaining recognition through murals and public works, his practice has expanded into a powerful studio output across canvas and mixed media, with paintings that feel both intimate and mythic in their emotional intensity.

His work has been exhibited internationally and featured in publications including Juxtapoz, Hyperallergic, InStyle, and Vogue.

Follow Mr. StarCity: https://www.instagram.com/mrstarcity/

Follow Emily McElwreath on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@emilymcelwreath_art⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠theartcareer.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for more episodes and resources  

If you loved this episode, tag ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@theartcareer ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠and share your favorite insight on IG stories! Don’t forget to leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify—it helps more creatives discover the show. 

Sound Engineer and Production: Josh Craig

Creative Direction: Nina Yankovic

With Melissa Auf der Maur’s new memoir coming out this month, we’re revisiting our conversation on the podcast.

From Hole and Smashing Pumpkins to founding Basilica Hudson, Melissa reflects on art, music, and the strange alchemy of the ’90s music world.

NYT Article

Pre-Order memoir: https://www.xmadmx.com/#book

Follow Emily McElwreath on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@emilymcelwreath_art⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠theartcareer.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for more episodes and resources  

If you loved this episode, tag ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@theartcareer ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠and share your favorite insight on IG stories! Don’t forget to leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify—it helps more creatives discover the show. 

Sound Engineer and Production: Josh Craig

Creative Direction: Nina Yankovic

This week on The Art Career Podcast, Emily sit's down with Nick Thune.

Known for his sharp, offbeat humor and unique narrative voice, Thune has built a loyal following through multiple stand-up specials, late-night appearances on The Tonight Show, Conan, and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, as well as roles in film and television including Dave Made a Maze, Knocked Up, Venom, FX’s Legit, and Netflix’s Love.

In recent years, Thune has expanded his creative practice into the visual arts, producing a body of work that reflects the same irreverent, observational tone that defines his comedy. His fine art blends text, minimal forms, and conceptual humor to explore themes of identity, absurdity, and human contradiction. His visual work debuted at SPRING/BREAK Art Show and continues to evolve across painting, mixed media, and print editions.

In this conversation, we discuss how his visual practice operates alongside his work in comedy, what it means to pursue multiple creative disciplines with equal seriousness, and how both the studio and the stage have shaped his approach to storytelling. We also talk about sobriety, fatherhood, sustainability, and building a life that can hold both the studio and the stage.

Follow Nick

Nick's Website

Nick's Limited Edition Print

Follow Emily McElwreath on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@emilymcelwreath_art⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠theartcareer.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for more episodes and resources  

If you loved this episode, tag ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@theartcareer ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠and share your favorite insight on IG stories! Don’t forget to leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify—it helps more creatives discover the show. 

Sound Engineer and Production: Josh Craig

Creative Direction: Nina Yankovic

This week on The Art Career Podcast, Emily McElwreath speaks with Rachel Fine, Executive Director of Yale Schwarzman Center.

Recorded on-site at Yale, this conversation explores what it means to build cultural infrastructure within a major institution today — from developing artistic partnerships and stewarding creative communities to expanding access and engagement across disciplines.

Together, they discuss Rachel’s leadership journey from the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts to Yale, and the evolving role of university-based cultural centers as spaces where art, performance, wellness, and community converge.

As Yale Schwarzman Center continues to grow as a commons for university life and a hub for creative exchange, this episode offers insight into how institutional vision can shape meaningful, artist-centered programming at scale.

About Rachel Fine: Rachel Fine joined Yale Schwarzman Center as Executive Director in October 2022, following her tenure as Executive Director and CEO of the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Los Angeles. There, she played a key role in establishing The Wallis as a major cultural institution, building dynamic artistic partnerships, advancing initiatives around equity and access, and leading a $55 million campaign that more than doubled the organization’s endowment. A concert pianist by training, Fine studied at the Eastman School of Music and the University of California, Irvine, and later attended Yale for graduate work in musicology. Prior to The Wallis, she served as Executive Director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and Los Angeles Children’s Chorus. Her broader leadership experience includes roles with the Aspen Music Festival, Santa Fe Opera, The Juilliard School, and the DeVos Institute of Arts Management.

About Yale Schwarzman Center: Yale Schwarzman Center is a commons for university life where art, culinary, and wellness experiences converge to build bridges, nurture creativity, and foster kinship and belonging. Through unexpected connections and collaborations, and inspired by the Center's architecture, artists and members of the Yale and New Haven communities engage with creativity through programming that ranges from the intimate to the grand.

Follow Yale Schwarzman Center: HERE

Website: https://schwarzman.yale.edu

Follow Emily McElwreath on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@emilymcelwreath_art⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠theartcareer.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for more episodes and resources  

If you loved this episode, tag ⁠⁠⁠⁠@theartcareer ⁠⁠⁠⁠and share your favorite insight on IG stories! Don’t forget to leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify—it helps more creatives discover the show. 

Sound Engineer and Production: Josh Craig

Creative Direction: Nina Yankovic

On Season 8, episode 4 of The Art Career Podcast, Emily sits down with Dr. Ace Lehner to discuss trans visual culture, the politics of representation, and so much more

Their conversation explores how images construct identity, how institutions shape visibility, and what it means to challenge dominant frameworks of seeing. As both a scholar and an artist, Ace brings depth, clarity, and lived insight to questions that sit at the center of contemporary culture.

Emily and Ace talk about photography, authorship, power, and the responsibility that comes with representation - and why rewriting visual narratives isn’t just theoretical, but necessary.

Recorded at: Creative Legion in Hudson, NY

Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

Dr. Ace Lehner is an interdisciplinary visual culture scholar and artist whose work focuses on trans and queer visual culture, race and representation, photography, performance, and modern and contemporary art. Their writing has appeared in leading journals including Art Journal, Visual Studies, Cultural Politics, and Media-N, among others. Lehner recently guest edited the first-ever issue of Art Journal dedicated to trans visual culture and is currently developing a book project, Trans Representations: Decolonizing Visual Theory in Contemporary Photography, based on their award-winning dissertation research.

Lehner’s artistic practice spans photography, installation, and performance, examining the relationship between representation and identity.  Their project Barbershop: The Art of Queer Failure has been presented in solo exhibitions at Brewer Harris projects and Practice Gallery, as well as in group exhibitions at the Fleming Museum and the Wassaic Project with additional exhibitions at institutions, including the International Center of Photography, El Museo del Barrio, and SOMArts. 
A recipient of numerous awards and fellowships, including the College Art Association Professional Development Fellowship, Lehner has delivered public talks and organized conference panels internationally. They have worked in museum education for over two decades and pioneered the first Queer Tours at the Museum of Modern Art. Lehner is currently a Tenure Track Assistant Professor of Art and Art History at the University of Vermont.

Dr Ace Lehner's Website: http://ace-lehner.com

Follow Ace: https://www.instagram.com/ace_lehner_projects

Follow Emily McElwreath on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠@emilymcelwreath_art⁠⁠⁠⁠

Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠theartcareer.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ for more episodes and resources  

If you loved this episode, tag ⁠⁠⁠@theartcareer ⁠⁠⁠and share your favorite insight on IG stories! Don’t forget to leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify—it helps more creatives discover the show. 

Sound Engineer and Production: Josh Craig

Creative Direction: Nina Yankovic

About Blake Cooper Griffin: Blake Cooper Griffin is an actor, advocate, speaker, and entrepreneur whose career bridges film, television, and public life. Known for emotionally layered performances and wide-ranging screen roles, he has worked opposite Academy Award winners and led projects across genres, from prestige drama to thriller and comedy. Off-screen, he is the founder of Brainworks Team, an education and mentorship company helping students nationwide build academic strength and self-authorship. A national surrogate for three U.S. presidential campaigns, Griffin has spoken widely on identity, democracy, and the power of personal reinvention. His work and commentary have appeared in outlets including The Washington Post, NPR, and HuffPost. The Story of You: A Life Rewritten is his nonfiction debut.

About the book: 

Part memoir, part guidebook-for anyone standing in the middle of change, when the old version of life no longer fits and the next chapter remains uncertain.

Actor and advocate Blake Cooper Griffin traces the quiet wreckage-and unexpected grace-of personal reinvention. From a Southern childhood marked by silence and shame to building a screen career in Hollywood and speaking on national political stages, he reveals what it took to stop performing a version of his life-and start truly living it.

Blending emotional depth with practical clarity, The Story of You invites readers to reframe the narratives that have held them back. Each chapter delivers cinematic storytelling, hard-earned insight, and a re-authoring question designed to move readers forward-not with perfection but with power.

This isn't about having the answers. The Story of You is about reclaiming the pen, stepping into the unknown, and daring to write what comes next-with intention, clarity, and heart.

Pre-order The Story of You: A Life Re-Written: HERE

Follow Blake: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/blakecoopergriffin/?hl=en

Follow Emily McElwreath on Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠@emilymcelwreath_art⁠⁠⁠

Visit ⁠⁠⁠theartcareer.com⁠⁠⁠ for more episodes and resources  

If you loved this episode, tag ⁠⁠@theartcareer ⁠⁠and share your favorite insight on IG stories! Don’t forget to leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify—it helps more creatives discover the show. 

Sound Engineer and Production: Josh Craig

Creative Direction: Nina Yankovic

On Season 8, Episode 3 of The Art Career Podcast, Emily sits down with Rachel Dratch.

Rachel Dratch ⁠is an American actress, comedian, writer, and podcast host whose career spans stage, television, film, and audio storytelling. Most recently, she has been cast as the narrator in Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show, continuing her long-standing relationship with live performance and theater. 

Dratch rose to wide prominence as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1999 to 2006, where her range of unforgettable characters — most notably Debbie Downer — became cultural touchstones in sketch comedy. She has since returned frequently as a guest performer, including recent appearances portraying Senator Amy Klobuchar. 

Beyond SNL, Dratch has appeared in beloved television comedies including 30 Rock, Broad City, and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, as well as films such as Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star, Click, and Plan B. In 2022, she made her Broadway debut in POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive, earning a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Play. 

She is also the author of Girl Walks into a Bar…, a memoir that blends humor with candid reflection on career, resilience, and reinvention. Known for her sharp wit, improvisational brilliance, and enduring curiosity, Dratch continues to work across mediums while remaining deeply connected to the craft.

Follow Rachel: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/raedratch/?hl=en 

Woo Woo Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/woo-woo-with-rachel-dratch/id1710044536 

Purchase Tickets to Rocky Horror Picture Show: HERE 

Follow Emily McElwreath on Instagram: ⁠⁠@emilymcelwreath_art⁠⁠

Visit ⁠⁠theartcareer.com⁠⁠ for more episodes and resources  

If you loved this episode, tag ⁠@theartcareer ⁠and share your favorite insight on IG stories! Don’t forget to leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify—it helps more creatives discover the show. 

Sound Engineer and Production: Josh Craig

Creative Direction: Nina Yankovic

In Season 8, Episode 2 of The Art Career Podcast, Emily sits down with Sarah Ortegon. 

Sarah is an Eastern Shoshone–enrolled and Northern Arapaho visual artist, dancer, and performer whose work bridges ancestral knowledge, land, and contemporary Indigenous life. Raised between Denver and the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming, her practice spans painting, beadwork on hide, mixed media, and performance—grounded in memory, resilience, and cultural continuity. In 2013, she was crowned Miss Native American USA, a moment that led to years of international jingle dress performances and a deepened commitment to bringing Indigenous presence into contemporary cultural spaces. 

Many first encountered Sarah through She Never Dances Alone (2019), a multi-channel video by Jeffrey Gibson, first presented on the screens of Times Square and later traveling internationally, including live performances at the Venice Biennale. Centering the jingle dress dance—a powwow dance traditionally performed by women to call upon ancestors for strength, healing, and protection—the work amplifies Indigenous visibility on a global stage. 

In this episode, we talk about ancestral knowledge, contemporary Indigenous life, motherhood, and performance—how these threads intersect, and what it means to carry cultural continuity forward with intention and care. This conversation is part of a broader effort to support and elevate Indigenous women artists and to make space for their voices, practices, and leadership within contemporary art. 

Follow Sara: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/nonookeiht_bee3eisei/?hl=en 

Follow Emily McElwreath on Instagram: ⁠⁠@emilymcelwreath_art⁠⁠

 Visit ⁠⁠theartcareer.com⁠⁠ for more episodes and resources  

If you loved this episode, tag ⁠@theartcareer ⁠and share your favorite insight on IG stories! Don’t forget to leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify—it helps more creatives discover the show. 

Sound Engineer and Production: Josh Craig

Creative Direction: Nina Yankovic

In Season 8, Episode 1 of The Art Career Podcast, Emily sits down with Johnny Cirillo, the photographer and visual storyteller behind Watching New York— one of the most influential portrait projects documenting contemporary life in the city today.

Born in Jackson Heights, Queens, Johnny developed an early passion for photography as a teenager on Long Island, after his mother gave him his first 35mm camera and shared her own black-and-white photographs from the 1960s. What began as an obsession quickly became a practice: rolling his own film, building a darkroom, and photographing friends as he explored the medium from the inside out.

Through Watching New York, Johnny has built and connected a global community of more than 2 million people united by a shared love for New York — its people, its fashion, and its everyday magic. His work is rooted in attention and intimacy, capturing fleeting moments that feel both deeply personal and collectively recognizable. Johnny has collaborated with brands including Airbnb, Gucci, AMI Paris, Balenciaga, GQ, Burberry, Adidas, Away, and Free People, and has interviewed artists and cultural figures such as Halsey, Ethan Hawke, Colman Domingo, Charli XCX, Ashley Graham, and Lizzo.

In this conversation, they explore:
His early relationship to photography and image-making
How Watching New York evolved into a cultural archive
The ethics of looking, access, and photographing strangers
Building trust and community through portraiture
Collaborating with major brands while maintaining artistic integrity

This episode is a thoughtful reflection on observation, authorship, and the quiet power of paying attention — essential listening for anyone interested in photography, cultural memory, and the art of seeing.

Follow Johnny: https://www.instagram.com/watchingnewyork/?hl=en
Purchase: Watching New York: Street Style A to Z: https://www.amazon.com/Watching-New-York-Street-Style/dp/1419769944

Follow Emily McElwreath on Instagram: ⁠@emilymcelwreath_art⁠

Visit ⁠theartcareer.com⁠ for more episodes and resources

If you loved this episode, tag @theartcareer and share your favorite insight on IG stories! Don’t forget to leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify—it helps more creatives discover the show.

Sound Engineer and Production: Josh Craig

Creative Direction: Nina Yankovic