This week on The Heart of Art we speak to Kathi Appelt '72. She is known for her children's & Y.A books and has won numerous awards such as National Book Award finalist, Newberry Honor Book and PEN USA Award. We have a great conversation about why it is that she writes, how the setting guides her stories, and why she began writing books after originally not even wanting to have children herself.

This week on THOA we have the crossover episode that everyone has been waiting for! Hector sits with the host of Garden Success, Stephen Brueggerhoff. Apart from being a AgriLife Extension Horticulturalist, he is also a musician having 45 years of experience playing the bass guitar. We have a great conversation about his love for music and how it affects his gardening, as well as his new passion, mastering the Mbira, a traditional instrument from Zimbabwe.

This week on The Heart of Art we speak to Leann Hale, artist & art educator as well as founder & owner of Purple Turtle Art Studio. Leann specializes in teaching children with a variety of needs and we analyze how she has tailored her teaching for each individual child, how teaching elementary school students gave her the necessary skills to open her own art studio, and how exactly children are empowered through art education.

This week on The Heart of Art we speak to Martha Wells '86, author of "The Murderbot Diaries" that recently was adapted for screen and streaming on Apple TV+. We speak about how her background in IT helped her receive the knowledge that would later contribute to creating Murderbot's world, the implications of artificial intelligence getting smarter, and what the process was for adapting the novella into a film series.

This week on The Heart of Art we speak to Scott Petty, a pastel painter with a background in construction and special education. We analyze why he uses such vibrant colors in his paintings, how he decides what colors to use, and how his background in construction has influenced his painting.

This week on The Heart of Art, we speak to Michael Gayk, an Instructional Associate Professor at the School of Performance Visualization & Fine Arts. We have a great conversation about how his metal work led to many opportunities such as brand character design for General Motors as well as creating 3D models to help people in the medical industry.

This week on The Heart of Art, we will be speaking to the organizers of The World Shakuhachi Festival, which has not been hosted in the U.S. in 20 years but will be coming to College Station, April 17-20, 2025. Dr. Martin Regan, Professor of Music in the school of Performance Visualization & Fine Arts, along with David Wheeler, one of the founders of the festival, talk to us about what it takes to organize such a massive event. We also discuss how versatile the shakuhachi instrument is with much success in television and video games due to its mesmerizing sound.

This week on The Heart of Art, we speak to Dr. David Wilborn, conductor, composer, trombonist, and Associate Professor at Texas A&M College of Performance, Visualization, & Fine Arts. We have a great conversation about where his love for music and low brass began, his method of composing music, and the creation of the new music performance degree that TAMU now offers.

This week on The Heart of Art, we speak to the newly appointed Director of the Texas A&M's University Art Galleries (UART). He shares how his experience in the South Dallas Cultural Center and being a curator for galleries and museums with a focus on community engagement will be an advantage for the UART and the surrounding community.

This week on The Heart of Art we speak to Dustin Kempf '07, program coordinator for the Capstones and Honors Programs at Texas A&M, as well as vocalist and performer. His previous band, J. Greene & The Steady, was featured on hit shows such as "Nashville" & "The Fosters." We have a great conversation about music, why he performs, and we learn from his own mistakes balancing his passion for music and academia.