The Boulder Artist

Toni Oswald is a writer, musician, performer, filmmaker, and visual artist who currently lives in Boulder, Colorado with her partner Max Davies and their cats Kiki Pamplemousse Fontaine and Charlie Chaplin. Her work has been shown in Los Angeles, Amsterdam and New York. She has performed across the United States and Europe with Anne Waldman, John Frusciante, Max Davies, Thurston Moore, Lydia Lunch, Cecilia Vicuna, Josh Klinghoffer, and many others. Toni’s underground rock journalism has been published in magazines here and abroad, along with literary work in The Oyez Review, Tattered Press, and Bombay Gin.

She is currently working on a novel about a fourteen year old girl clown set in the 1950's entitled, The Gorgeous Funeral.

Her hybrid poetry book Sirens⁠ is available now from us, Gesture Press. The second edition of Sirens⁠⁠ is out now and the companion album will be released at the end of July.

Kevin sat down with Toni to discuss her early theater days, her time in the late 80's LA punk scene, the second edition of her book and companion album Sirens⁠⁠⁠ , and how what we really need more of is DIY art spaces, mystery, clowning as societal medicine, and the freedom to make mistakes.

SIRENS

https://www.gesturepressandjournal.com/press/sirens-toni-oswald

Toni's music on Spotify

https://open.spotify.com/artist/0hMRz9u8SjyzXYsBxcYatn

Her Art Diary Blog

http://tonioswald.blogspot.com/

Julia Vandenoever is a freelance photographer based in Boulder, Colorado.  She grew up in Chappaqua, NY and Norwich, Vermont. During her years at Smith College, Julia studied Art History and Photography. In addition, she attended the SALT Center for Documentary studies as well as SEA Semester. Photography led Julia to freelance at the Valley News, work with Wendy Ewald’s Literacy Through Photography program, and an 11 year Photo Editor career at Backpacker, Skiing, and Outside magazine.  In 2021, Still Breathing, received a solo show at the Center for Photography at Woodstock as well as a Critical Mass Top 200 Finalist. Still Breathing, was published as a monograph by Gray Sky Press in 2022 and was recently acquired by Smith College Rare Books. 

In this episode we speak with Julia about her upcoming show Becoming Grayson, which is an ongoing collaborative photography project with her sixteen-year-old son Grayson. They also dive into her deeply personal body of work documenting her immediate family, and how photography can be used to navigate memory, identity, and complex histories.

Joel Swanson is an interdisciplinary artist exploring the complex relationships between language, materiality, and technology. Working across discursive media—from neon text-based sculpture and obsessively detailed works on paper to new media works and large-scale public art—he investigates how linguistic tools and technologies subtly but profoundly shape meaning. As director of the TYPO Lab at the University of Colorado Boulder's ATLAS Institute, where he serves as Associate Professor, Swanson leads experimental investigations into the boundaries of text-based technologies.

Unsurprisingly, Joel is the son of a nuclear engineer! We get into his upbringing in a Christian Conservative family, the influence of a caring teacher, his approach to public art, and his more recent embrace of more personal, punchy, and pink (but still clever, as always) art making. I've known Joel for a long time but it was a real treat to get to know him and his work better.

Joel's website

Bill has always liked making things, whether it be paintings, sculptures, films, or even a house. He earned his BFA from the University of Colorado but spent 30 years working in film and television, often alongside his wife Deann, before eventually returning to visual art. His current work is graphic, abstract, made unconventionally, and spans from painting to kinetic sculpture. He has exhibited in galleries nationally and internationally, opened up his studio to the public for at least 15 years, and has started initiatives, such as the Boulder Contemporary Group and Studio Doorz, to promote open studio tours.

In this episode, we discuss Bill’s varied career path, tactile and interactive work, and perspective on the Boulder art scene and community.

More Info:

Bill Snider's Website

CanvasRebel Interview

Boulder Lifestyle Magazine September Issue “Please Touch the Art” article by Grace Adele Boyle

Studio Doorz

Boulder Contemporary Group (BCG)

NoBo Open Studios

Sundance Film Festival Move to Boulder

BMoCA Relocation
If you’ve enjoyed the show, please leave us a rating, consider ⁠making a donation towards our podcast fund, or become a sponsor to receive an on-air business feature. To stay up-to-date, ⁠⁠follow us on Instagram⁠⁠ and⁠ ⁠sign up for our e-zine⁠⁠.

This project is funded in part by a grant from the Boulder Arts Commission, an agency of the Boulder City Council.

We don't usually do a Part 2 with our selected artists, but since we did more of a deep dive into Albert Chong's personal background last time, we decided to record a second, shorter episode to engage more fully with his art practice and philosophies.

In this episode we discuss creating from intuition, the value of non-academic art, elevating humble materials as well as the audience, and a personal story related to the artist Ana Mendieta. 

We also discuss his brand new work reflecting our current times and his upcoming exhibitions in Colorado and elsewhere.

Albert's 2026 shows in Colorado will be at East Window Gallery and the Emmanuel Art Gallery, at the University of Colorado, Denver.

If you’ve enjoyed the show, please leave us a rating, consider ⁠making a donation towards our ⁠podcast fund⁠, or ⁠become a sponsor⁠ to receive an on-air business feature. To stay up-to-date, ⁠⁠⁠follow us on Instagram⁠⁠⁠ and⁠⁠ ⁠sign up for our e-zine⁠⁠⁠.

This project is funded in part by a grant from the Boulder Arts Commission, an agency of the Boulder City Council.

In this episode, Kristen and Becca discuss the artist’s nonlinear path; culture, history, and geology of Boulder; life lessons learned through painting; environmental preservation and climate action; and upcoming events!

Kristen Ross is an artist based in North Boulder whose landscape paintings in acrylic and oil reflect the vibrant complexity of the natural world. Hiking and camping in public lands near her home provides endless inspiration for her colorful works. Though she grew up hiking and camping with her family in the Appalachian mountains, it was moving to Colorado in 2015 that sparked her interest in landscape painting. Through her art, Kristen hopes to inspire appreciation for the world we share and highlight the importance of protecting it.

If you’ve enjoyed the show, please leave us a rating, consider ⁠making a donation towards our podcast fund, or become a sponsor to receive an on-air business feature. To stay up-to-date, ⁠⁠follow us on Instagram⁠⁠ and⁠ ⁠sign up for our e-zine⁠⁠.

This project is funded in part by a grant from the Boulder Arts Commission, an agency of the Boulder City Council.

Albert Chong is an artist working in sculpture, installation, and photography. He has won Guggenheim and Pollock-Krasner Grants, among many other accolades. He has been a professor of Photography at CU Boulder for over thirty years, and sees himself spending more time at his home base in rural Jamaica. We discussed his early days working at his parents' shop in Kingston, the portraits he made of his local community, and his ideals around growing young artists within academia who have stronger critical thinking and a sense of personal commitment to deeper subject matter.

Albert has upcoming local shows at East Window Gallery in Boulder and at the Emmanuel Gallery in Denver. His work will also be included in an upcoming group exhibition at the National Gallery in Washington, D.C. 

To learn more about Albert and see his work online please have a look ⁠at his website⁠.

If you’ve enjoyed the show, please leave us a rating, consider ⁠making a donation towards our ⁠podcast fund⁠, or ⁠become a sponsor⁠ to receive an on-air business feature. To stay up-to-date, ⁠⁠⁠follow us on Instagram⁠⁠⁠ and⁠⁠ ⁠sign up for our e-zine⁠⁠⁠.

This project is funded in part by a grant from the Boulder Arts Commission, an agency of the Boulder City Council.

In this episode, Liz and Becca discuss rich food for thought for any artist–including topics such as process, switching between different mediums, meanings behind form, pressure for cohesiveness, deadlines, and business skills. They also discuss the growth of Boulder, connections across the state of Colorado, and events relevant to the community.

Connect with Liz via her website or instagram and read the story of Yukon Jade.

Liz Compos is a multi-media artist, educator, and community-builder based in Boulder, Colorado. Her art explores the visceral connections between people and their environments, often revealing the tension and harmony between natural and synthetic elements. Drawing from the textures and rhythms of local landscapes, botanicals, graffiti, architecture, fashion, and the human form, Liz creates layered compositions that reflect the complexity of contemporary life.

Her primary focus is painting, working in both oils and watercolor to explore mood, memory, and place. She’s also an emerging muralist and a member of the Jamestown Jade Collective, where she carves jade and crafts hand-made jewelry, adding a tactile, sculptural element to her creative practice.

Liz has her BFA in Painting and Drawing from Montana State University and an MBA from the University of Colorado at Boulder, a path she chose to bridge creativity and strategy. Passionate about education, advocacy, and grassroots organizing, Liz is committed to supporting the arts both inside and outside the studio. Whether she’s curating an exhibit, carving stone, or collaborating on community projects, her work is rooted in connection and collective growth.

If you’ve enjoyed the show, please leave us a rating, consider ⁠making a donation towards our podcast fund, or become a sponsor to receive an on-air business feature. To stay up-to-date, ⁠⁠follow us on Instagram⁠⁠ and⁠ ⁠sign up for our e-zine⁠⁠.

This project is funded in part by a grant from the Boulder Arts Commission, an agency of the Boulder City Council.

Sherry Wiggins is an interdisciplinary artist who sees her work as a feminist, relational process and enactment. Over the last three decades, her artistic practice has taken multiple forms in a variety of modes and media, including drawings, installations, performances, photographs, sculptures and writings. Wiggins’s work is collaborative, reflexive and globally engaged. She has worked on projects with other artists and cultural organizations in Portugal, Holland, Brazil, India and the Middle East, as well as in the United States.

Sherry currently has work in the show Past is Present is Past is Present at the Arvada Center now through August 24th.

Michael Warren Contemporary Gallery

Sherry’s WebsiteSherry’s Instagram⁠

If you’ve enjoyed the show, please leave us a rating, consider ⁠making a donation towards our ⁠podcast fund⁠, or ⁠become a sponsor⁠ to receive an on-air business feature. To stay up-to-date, ⁠⁠⁠follow us on Instagram⁠⁠⁠ and⁠⁠ ⁠sign up for our e-zine⁠⁠⁠.

This project is funded in part by a grant from the Boulder Arts Commission, an agency of the Boulder City Council.

Steven Frost (they/them) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Media Studies at CU Boulder and an interdisciplinary fiber artist. Their research focuses on textiles, queer studies, and community development. Using weaving, Frost combines traditional materials like yarn and cotton with non-traditional materials from a range of sources, exploring the ways history and time are uniquely embedded in textiles. Frost is a Co-Founder of the Experimental Weaving Residency, Slay the Runway, and the Colorado Sewing Rebellion and serves as the Associate Director of the Unstable Design Lab at CU Boulder's Roser Atlas Institute. Frost has exhibited and performed across the US and Internationally. Their work has been featured in the Library Journal, the Advocate, Fiber Art Now, NPR’s Morning Edition, and the collection of the Denver Art Museum.

Experimental Weaving Talk Series by Unstable Design Lab

Loom

Steven’s Instagram

If you’ve enjoyed the show, please leave us a rating, consider ⁠making a donation towards our podcast fund, or become a sponsor to receive an on-air business feature. To stay up-to-date, ⁠⁠follow us on Instagram⁠⁠ and⁠ ⁠sign up for our e-zine⁠⁠.

This project is funded in part by a grant from the Boulder Arts Commission, an agency of the Boulder City Council.