The Department of Homeland Inspiration

A quick overview of what the listener may experience here at The Department of Homeland Inspiration. This is an audio art narrative brought to you by The Art Ranger. She watches out for art in its many forms, conducts interviews with cool people you've never heard of, creates audio portraits, writes essays, slams poems, rants about the absurdities of living, keeps an audio diary, and wishes to create nutritional intellectual snacks for you, dear listener.

Each episode is a unique work of audio art consisting of woven together bits and bytes.  

A conversation and soundscape featuring documentarist, artist and creator of Community Supported Film, Michael Sheridan.  This audio portrait contains parts of our conversation in a matrix of soundtrack clips from the collection. The collaborative works discussed and sampled herein have been created in Afghanistan, Haiti, and among new immigrant and refugee communities in the greater Boston area with Michael serving as teacher/ facilitator/ producer. An inspiring version of nurturing the art within others.  

Art Ranger delivers two spoken word pieces that came about due to a collaborative art show called Courage Within Women Without Shelter. Critical Ground is a collective of four women artists in Monterey, California who tackle the subject of "homelessness" using art workshops as a way to connect with the women, learn more about their circumstances, and to raise awareness and funds. If you wish to see the art show virtually and meet all the artists involved, here is a video produced by Monterey Museum of Art. This being "women's history" month feels fitting for the episode. 

Unearthed from a drawer, Art Ranger reads from - And Being, but an Ear, a 29 year old essay based on one Emily Dickinson poem, a poem that seems morbid but goes transcendental. She also reads selections from her copy of The Gorgeous Nothings (2013), a generous art book displaying images of Emily's envelope poems, in her own hand upon slightly torn, butter-colored paper fragments of actual size.  See, Art Ranger's love has always been fed by books, such as Susan Howe's My Emily Dickinson, which likely inspired the essay, and of course, The Archives. 

In celebrating cool people you've probably never heard of, Art Ranger catches up with poet and entrepreneur Gerda Govine.  She's now completing her sixth book of poetry and you can find out more about the artist here. Gerda was born in St Thomas, raised in New York, and currently lives in Jamul, California. This episode is an audio portrait woven of Gerda's poems and our dialog, and she knows how to make "Poetry Within Reach"!

Art Ranger's celebrates Bob Dylan's 80th birthday, in part due to Patti Smith, who declared this May: Bob Month. Herein we explore the affects of the early analog experience and how it can shape one's internal musical library throughout the decades.

The title of a poem from the book "Starting from San Francisco" by the late Lawrence Ferlinghetti interpreted by the Art Ranger. Welcome to season 2 of this podcast:  Homeland Inspiration is about discovering things that might have been there all along, stumbling upon them and taking note.  Due to a book falling off the shelf (and seeming oh so relevant) during Season 1, we read Tentative Description of a Dinner to Promote the Impeachment of President Eisenhower and Big Fat Hairy Vision of Evil by Mr. Ferlinghetti.  

Art Ranger reads a poem by Lawrence Ferlinghetti that seems both current and historical, the first of three with permission granted by New Directions Publishing Corporation. Using various musical items lying around her studio, the Art Ranger gives it a certain contextual texture.

Art Ranger takes on the recent wowy, Beeple-NFT story; as a practicing artist drawn to absurdities, rant she must.

Art Ranger weaves conversation with multi-multi-media artist, Doris Bittar into an audio portrait. Here at the Department of Homeland Inspiration, we believe one of the perks of being an artist is the other creatives you meet along the route. Doris has been the recipient of numerous grants, awards and commendables; she exhibits her work nationally and internationally, always in process. Plus, you can learn an easy and delicious recipe with Doris, called Mishi Malfouf/ Deconstructed Cabbage on vimeo.