the makers podcast

Greg Lundgren does a lot of stuff, as the owner of Vito's, The Hideout and Lundgren Monuments, you'd think he'd have his hands full. But no, he had to go create Out Of Sight, a huge survey of art from the PNW currently in its second year and opening August 4th alongside the Seattle Art Fair. We sat down in my studio to talk about what went into its creation, what's new this year, what keeps him going and what drives him crazy.

Allyce Wood's work addresses the intersection of humankind and the natural world, considering the ecological and cultural ramifications on both. She is also in possession of an extremely agile and curious mind which makes for lively conversation peppered with surreal tangents and funky sub-references. She wants to be eaten by an Orca, me not as much. Discover the resoning behind both our stances by pressing play.

In the second half of my conversation with Tonya Lockyer we discuss the challenges of turning Velocity Dance Center around and reinvigorating its community reach, then move on to examining the nature of dance and art and they're relationship with broader society. And as always, a bunch of other stuff. Stuff that further cements the idea that Tonya is the bees knees.

Tonya Lockyer began dancing at the age of four, at 9 she was invited to join the National Ballet School of Canada in Toronto, after which moving to New York to study with Merce Cunningham. From there her explorations as a dancer and choreographer has taken her all over the world, eventually bringing her to Seattle where she worked with local dance institutions like On The Boards, Cornish College for the Arts and Velocity Dance Center, where she became Executive Director in 2011. After revitalizing and dramatically expanding the organization over the next three years she proposed changing the organizational structure to an executive team, with Tonya becoming Artistic Director in 2014. But these highlights don't begin to tell half of her story. Tonya is an incredibly energetic and generous soul and sitting down with her in her place in Pioneer Square was a fantastic experience, one which produced one of my favorite conversations thus far. This is part one of a two-part episode, and to be honest, I'd happily sit down with her again and again, she's the cat's pajamas.

UK artist Jamie Moakes tackles some serious economic questions through an admittedly somewhat absurd quest: manipulating the market for Ram Man action figures in order to turn said action figures into valuable currency. I sat down with Jamie at Interstitial Gallery in Seattle and over the course of a handful of bourbon and gingers, got to know this witty, charming and generally delightful fellow. Plus he's got that lovely British accent that makes everything he says sound more authoritative to American ears (I'm so goddamn provincial).

Amanda Manitach Is an artist, the visual arts editor for CityArts Magazine, The director of the Hedreen Gallery at Seattle University and the co-founder of The Factory, a new arts space in Seattle's Capital Hill Neighborhood. That's like, three and a half people's worth of stuff that she's getting done. What have you gotten done today? That's right, think about it. And then go do something already, but not until you've listened to the podcast. Priorities. It's all about priorities.

Susie Lee is an artist, Katrina Hess is a designer, and together they are the co-founders of Siren, a new dating app that introduces a unique and engaging platform that helps build community while empowering its users. We talk about the nature of online dating and the reasons these two decided to try to create something different. And a whole bunch of other stuff, you know the drill by now.

Episode 20 is a whopper of a show, live from Seattle Town Hall I spoke to about 15 different folks about all manner of creative and arts-centric stuff. Big props to Juan Alonso for throwing the whole thing together and Town Hall for hosting!

Episode 19 has me continuing my conversation with Washington artist Brian Cypher. Having discussed his youth and early artistic life we move on to what drives his current practice, what questions and concerns confront us in the studio and his newest upcoming venture, Occasional Galery.

Brian Cypher produces work that is honest, direct, unadulterated, and at the same time vulnerable and approachable. It's no surprise our conversation shared many of the same traits. I've long admired his artwork and visiting him in his studio was a real pleasure. It was a little early in the day for my customary bottle of wine so there was nothing to combat the triple latte I had on the way to his house, consequently, I think I talked a whole bunch more than usual, which I realize is saying a lot. Once again, this is part one of a two-part episode.