Today, our hosts are sitting down with arts writer and cultural storyteller Sala Elise Patterson! The trio discusses the dynamic breadth of Sala’s practice, from experimental documentary projects and her work as a trustee of The Phillips Collection, to her path writing for outlets such as The Atlantic, Kinfolk, Harvard Design Magazine, Vogue, British Journal of Photography and The New York Times. Covering topics such as Black visibility in art, reimagining the “artist’s muse,” and the politics of architectural design, this is an urgent and beautifully honest conversation about writing - and so much more.

Mentions:

The Wadsworth Atheneum;

William Kentridge;

Phala O. Phala;

Nhlanhla Mahlangu;

André Breton;

Claude Levi Strauss;

Wifredo Lam;

Amié Césaire;

Frantz Fanon;

The Nardal Sisters;

Frida Kahlo;

Sala Elise Patterson;

Adrienne Fidelin;

The Phillips Collection;

Elizabeth Bishop;

Protect: Coastlines, Guns and Women in the Low Country, https://www.twolanefilms.com/protect;

Adrienne Fidelin;

Man Ray;

Saidiya Hartman;

Lee Miller;

Dora Maar;

Paul Éluard.

We're back at the Getty! Today, Kim is solo and chatting with Julie Wolfe, sculpture conservator at The Getty Museum. The pair discuss Julie's path to museum conservation, her book on Roy Lichtenstein's outdoor painted sculptures, and the realities of art couriering. Diving deep into the significance and evolving science of sculpture conservation, Julie offers insights into what it means to steward art for future generations. Bonus tip - be sure to stay for the bloopers at the end of the episode!

Welcome to the conservation lab! Kim and Patricia bring on two art conservators from the Getty Research Institute, Melissa Huddleston and Elyse Driscoll, to discuss their paths to becoming conservators, the excitements and challenges of conservation work, and some of their favorite objects in the Getty's collection. Melissa and Elyse offer fascinating insight into the intricacies of the art conservation field and the exiting projects they're working on now.

We're off to New York! Patricia takes us inside the 2025 College Art Association conference in New York City. Patricia and guest interviewees bring listeners through the experience of being at a conference centered around scholarship and teaching in the visual arts. Providing history, a summary of some of this year's speakers, and artist interviews, this episode brings us back to the central theme of netweaving in the current moment.

Welcome to LA Art Week 2025! Kim gives Patricia a rundown of her experience attending Frieze LA and Felix Art Fair. Including interview clips from surprise guests, our hosts break down the emotional landscape of this year's fairs. Offering thoughts on the relevance of the art fair model and where people from different art world backgrounds fit into the fair ecosystem, Kim, Patricia, and guests talk about approaching the 2025 LA art fairs as a site of netweaving and connection.

Mentions:

John McWhorter, “How ‘Woke’ Became the ‘Woke Right’ (and Why It Shouldn’t Surprise Anyone)" https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/20/opinion/the-long-strange-trail-of-woke.html;

Felix Art Fair;

Frieze LA Art Fair;

Gramercy International Art Fair;

Chateau Marmont;

Dependent Art Fair;

Post-Fair;

wHY Architecture;

Yayoi Shionoiri;

Sarah Conley Odenkirk;

Powerhouse Arts, NY;

ArtConverge;

Christina Valentine;

ArtCenter College of Design;

College Art Association;

Mary Leigh Cherry;

Cherryworks;

Julia Colavita.

How do you use your time? Kim and Patricia discuss daily routines, how artists and writers get into "the zone," studio habits, gallery exhibition planning, and navigating artist/curator conversations about the technicalities of putting on an art show. Join us to learn about the inner workings of studio practice, the work of research, and some contemporary artists' relationship to process. [Recorded December 2024]

What inspired an art historian from Cuba and an artist from Chicago to start a behind-the-scenes podcast about the art world? Listen and find out! Our hosts sit down to chat about the origins of the podcast and share a bit about themselves. Hear their backgrounds and the story of how Now Be Here began. A great episode for first-time listeners and a teaser of what's to come. [Recorded November 2024]

The Art Equation is a podcast from Now Be Here, where art historian and curator Patricia Ortega-Miranda and contemporary artist Kim Schoenstadt talk with artists, writers, curators, registrars, archivists, and more, about everything that goes into pulling off an exhibition and being part of the art world. Now Be Here is a fiscally sponsored nonprofit, hosting a visual directory of women and nonbinary artists to develop opportunities and promote their work to wider audiences. www.nowbehereart.com