Museum Confidential: Recent Episodes
Philbrook Museum of Art
Museum Confidential is a behind-the-scenes look at museums hosted by Jeff Martin. The show is a co-production of Philbrook Museum of Art and Public Radio Tulsa. New episodes every two weeks.
On this edition of Museum Confidential -- which is, yes, the very last one (!) -- we speak with Megan Whittaker Nesbit, the CEO and President of Philbrook Museum of Art. Nesbit, who joined the Philbrook team nearly a decade ago, talks with us about her tenure at the museum thus far, her curatorial interests and experiences, and what she has in mind for the future. Thank you for listening! Please exit through the gift shop.
"Homeward to the Prairie I Come: Gordon Parks Photographs from the Beach Museum of Art" is on view at Tulsa's Philbrook Museum of Art through June 19th; this striking exhibit features 70+ works, including iconic photo-journalism, portraits, and experimental photography. Recently, MC host Jeff Martin had the opportunity to chat with one of Parks's good friends, the fellow photographer Fred Sweets. An award-winning photographer and photo editor who worked over the years at The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The Washington Post, and the Associated Press, Sweets was greatly inspired by the photography of Gordon Parks (as were so many others). On this episode, we hear Sweets reflecting on his life and work with the camera -- as well as that of the legendary Gordon Parks.
We're discussing a fine show now on view at the Detroit Institute of Arts; it's the first major Native American exhibition at DIA in three decades. "Contemporary Anishinaabe Art: A Continuation" (which runs through April 5th) celebrates indigenous work from across the Great Lakes region by way of 60 different artists and nearly 100 works. Our guest on MC is the show's curator, Dr. Denene De Quintal.
For the first time in more than 30 years, a leading museum is hosting a major exhibition of work by the noted architect Bruce Goff (American; 1904-1982). The Art Institute of Chicago -- drawing primarily upon its own extensive Goff collection -- has recently opened "Material Worlds." It's on view through March 29th of this year. On this episode of MC, we catch up with the show's curator, Alison Fisher.
On this newest episode of MC, we speak with Welana Queton; she's currently the Mellon Fellow for Native Art at Philbrook Museum of Art. Recently, Welana was asked to shine a light on a specific area of the museum's collection: baskets. This work led to a newly-launched exhibition -- INTERWOVEN: CHEROKEE, MUSCOGEE (CREEK), & YUCHI BASKETS. Presenting a variety of styles, both decorative and functional, and spotlighting baskets made from a wide range of materials, INTERWOVEN runs ay Philbrook through February 8, 2026.
Our friend Stephen Reily of REMUSEUM returns to the MC podcast to discuss his think-tank's report on marketing in the museum sector. According to this newly-issued REMUSEUM case study: "Museums invest, on average, less than 3% of their operating budgets on marketing, which is a level consistent with the American mining and construction industries." Lots to discuss here. We caught up with Stephen via phone, as he was visiting Miami in order to take part in Art Basel.
They say timing is everything, but acclaimed filmmaker Kelly Reichardt (First Cow, Meek's Cutoff) could have never predicted a rise in museum heists when prepping her latest, THE MASTERMIND. Kelly joins us to talk about the film, her career, and what it took to create a fictional Massachusetts museum in Indiana and Ohio.
Of course we're talking about the recent theft at the Louvre Museum in Paris, which occurred on October 19th and promptly made news headlines worldwide. Four masked and hooded thieves took more than $100 in jewels before exiting the museum (in broad daylight) and speeding away on motor scooters. Amid the many articles and written reports concerning this theft that appeared just after it happened, one piece that caught out eyes was "The Louvre Heist Was a Colonial Wake-Up Call" (from Hyperallergic, the arts/cultural website). Our guest on Museum Confidential is the author of this piece, Dr. Emiline Smith, a Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Glasgow, Scotland (UK).
On this edition of MC, we hear from the celebrated Tulsa-based artist, Patrick Gordon. The first-ever retrospective of this remarkable artist's work -- "Wall Flowers: Patrick Gordon Paintings" -- is now on view at Philbrook Museum of Art through January 3rd, 2026. The show presents 50+ works, including still life scenes, large florals, portraits, and a striking series of paintings titled "Men in Ballgowns." Conversation moderated by Karl Jones of The Center for Queer Prairie Studies. Presented in partnership with Tulsa Artist Fellowship.
From time to time we look at a specific museum job or title and ask the question: what is that exactly? Today we’re exploring the role of the cultural anthropologist with Aaron Schoenfeldt, the Duane H. King Postdoctoral Fellow at The University of Tulsa’s Helmerich Center for American Research.
For the Season 10 premiere of Museum Confidential, we travelled all the way to the land of witches and whales in order to experience once of the best museum collections in the country. On this episode we have an in-gallery chat with Lynda Roscoe Hartigan, CEO and Executive Director of The Peabody Essex Museum, originally established in 1799.
Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP) turns 25 this year. On our Season 9 finale we light out to the Pacific Northwest for a fascinating conversation with MoPOP CEO Michelle Y. Smith.
1946, in the wake of the Allies winning World War II, Sir Winston Churchill came to the US and gave his famous (and famously cautionary) "Iron Curtain" speech at a small college in Mid-Missouri. That school, Westminster College, is the home of America's National Churchill Museum, which celebrates the life, work, thought, and leadership of the "British Bulldog." How does a museum dedicated to the man who saved Western liberal democracy endeavor to stay relevant at a moment when, around the world, democracy itself seems endangered? Our guest is Timothy Riley, Director and Chief Curator of this museum.
Ralph Steadman is an English artist and illustrator best known for his long collaboration with the iconoclastic Hunter S. Thompson, notably illustrating "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas." Their partnership helped define “Gonzo” journalism. On this episode we catch up with Ralph, who turns 89 next month, and his daughter, Sadie, to discuss a career spanning exhibition now on view at Oklahoma State University.
When Japan opened its borders for trade and travel in the 1850s, the goods that hit markets across Europe and America sparked an international craze known as “Japonisme.” On this episode we explore the history, legacy, and a new exhibition on this era with Rachel Keith, Deputy Director for Audience Engagement & Curatorial Affairs at Philbrook Museum of Art.
Museum staff titles are often lengthy, so “Creative Director” seems pretty straightforward. But what exactly does it mean? And what exactly do they do? Bhadri Verduzco holds this position at Philbrook, so on this episode we go straight to the source.
Why are museums built the way they are? Why do we hang art at that height? If a disabled artist makes art, is it necessarily Disability Art? Who gets to decide? On this episode we explore these questions and more with “Crip Curator” and acclaimed author Amanda Cachia.
As Season 9 resumes, we travel to New Jersey’s Montclair Art Museum to experience the Museum’s stunning new installation, Interwoven Power: Native Knowledge / Native Art and a chat with Laura Allen, the acclaimed curator behind the long-gestating project. Featuring artists including Shan Goshorn, Fritz Scholder, Holly Wilson, Oscar Howe, Rose Simpson, and dozens of others, the installation reimagines and presents a new template for what it means to display Native Art.
While our midseason break here at MC continues, we would like to introduce our beloved listeners (that would be you) to something special. It's a podcast called Immaterial: 5,000 Years of Art, One Material at a Time; it's produced by our pals over at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. We dig it. You will, too. For more episodes, or more information, please visit HERE.
Four years ago, deep in the pandemic, we travelled to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Arizona compound, Taliesin West, to see how they were weathering the unprecedented challenges. We just went back to see what was learned and what remains with Niki Stewart, Chief Learning and Engagement Officer for the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation.
A dispatch from the Phoenix Art Museum where we recently traveled to speak with acclaimed conceptual artist, Charles Gaines prior to the opening of a new retrospective. Charles Gaines: 1992–2023 runs through March 9, 2025.
This special episode of MC was recently taped before a live audience at Philbrook Museum of Art. Our host Jeff Martin is joined by on stage by interdisciplinary artist Cannupa Hanska Luger, Brooklyn Museum curator Kimberli Gant, and Philbrook Chief Curator Kate Green. They speak in detail about why and how today's museums are diversifying (or attempting to diversify) their collections. Presented in partnership with Tulsa Town Hall.
What makes American art "American"? Let's discuss. On this episode we welcome back Philbrook curator, Susan Green to chat about the new exhibition, "American Artists, American Stories from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1776-1976." It's a sweeping, varied exhibition offering more than 100 masterworks -- by Mary Cassatt, Barkley L. Hendricks, Edward Hopper, Thomas Moran, Alice Neel, Georgia O'Keeffe, Andrew Wyeth, and many others. It runs through December 29, 2024.
On recent trip to Washington, D.C. we stopped by the National Gallery of Art to chat with curator Kanitra Fletcher about a new show she was preparing to debut, the first show dedicated to Haitian art in the history of the institution. As with most things in life, timing is everything. Spirit & Strength: Modern Art from Haiti opens September 29 and runs through March 9th. www.nga.gov
On our Season 9 debut we talk with Stephen Reily, attorney, entrepreneur, and former Director of Louisville’s Speed Art Museum about REMUSEUM, his ambitious new project to reimagine what museums can be.
Psyche! We’re not actually unmasking Banksy on this episode, but we are taking a closer look at the recently-opened museum in New York City dedicated to the famously anonymous street artist/activist. William Meade is the Executive Director of the Banksy Museum in Manhattan and we have no idea if he knows Banksy’s true identity. For all we know he could actually be Banksy! It’s all a bit complicated.
On the final installment of our ART FAIR DIARIES trilogy, Philbrook Chief Curator and roving MC correspondent, Kate Green takes us to the land of John Hughes movies and deep-dish pizza. Welcome to EXPO CHICAGO.
Acclaimed artist Chris Ramsay’s work deals with big, universal subjects: time, space, impermanence, what we discard, and what we choose to keep. Now, after receiving an incurable cancer diagnosis, Chris is confronting the biggest questions of all.
For this new installment in our Art Fair Diaries series, Philbrook Chief Curator (and occasional roving Museum Confidential correspondent) Kate Green reports from the biggest art fair in one of the world's biggest cities. Welcome to Mexico City.
Our guest is curator Allison Glenn; we previously spoke to Glenn a few years ago about her Breonna Taylor-inspired show, "Promise, Witness, Remembrance." Now Glenn is curating a multi-venue, multi-day, multi-focused convening titled Sovereign Futures, which runs April 4th through the 7th. Per the Sovereign Futures website, various "artist-led projects will explore themes of sovereignty through...food, land, speculative futures, and histories of the place that is now called Oklahoma."
Our guest is acclaimed journalist Bianca Bosker, who tells us that -- when it comes to which topics she chooses to investigate and cover -- she's "obsessed with obsession." Bosker's latest book is "Get the Picture: A Mind-Bending Journey among the Inspired Artists and Obsessive Art Fiends Who Taught Me How to See." She was a security guard at the Guggenheim. She worked in a commercial gallery. She was a studio assistant to an emerging artist. What Hunter S. Thompson did with the Hell's Angels, Bosker does with Art History majors.
A recent headline in The New York Times read: To Save Museums, Treat Them Like Highways. There’s no shortage of conversations about museum funding models. But after reading this one, arguing that museums should be thought of more like infrastructure, it was time for another. On this episode we speak to one of the piece’s co-writers, Laura Raicovich, former Executive Director of New York’s Queens Museum.
The Nevada Museum of Art invited us out for a live show in Reno with acclaimed indigenous artist Cannupa Hanska Luger. Futurism and speculative fiction are just two of many terms that describe Luger’s unforgettable work and the special exhibition, SPEECHLESS. On this episode we chat with Luger and Apsara DiQuinzio, the Museum’s Senior Curator of Contemporary Art.
Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon just nabbed ten Oscar nominations, including one for Costume Design. But how do you authentically take people back to the Osage Nation of the 1920’s? How do you get every detail just right? Meet Julie O’Keefe, the Osage Nation wardrobe consultant hired to do just that.
On our first episode of 2024, we chat with the co-directors of an acclaimed new PBS American Masters documentary on legendary New York painter, Edward Hopper. “Hopper: An American Love Story” has it all; lonely people in rooms, quiet city streets, difficult relationships, and plenty of secrets revealed.
Art Basel Miami Beach, the biggest international modern/contemporary art fair in North America, took place earlier this month; thousands of art dealers, artists, collectors, curators, and art aficionados showed up. Kate Green, the Chief Curator & Nancy E. Meinig Curator of Modern & Contemporary Art at Philbrook Museum of Art, was among those attending this very active and multifaceted annual event (or series of events). At our request, Green kept an audio diary while she was there. She joins us on MC to share her diary and discuss this gala expo more generally.
You probably know Sharon Stone the actress. It’s time you get to know Sharon Stone the ARTIST. Over the past few years, the Oscar nominee has turned painting into a dedicated daily practice. On this episode we talk about inspiration, early museum experiences, a new exhibition, and so much more.
We travel to Pittsburgh’s Miller Institute of Contemporary Art (Carnegie Mellon University) for the special exhibition, IMPOSSIBLE MUSIC, a fascinating collection of sounds, scores, sculptures, video, live performances, and more. First up we have a big picture chat with the ICA’s Director, Elizabeth Chodos before a deeper dive with acclaimed curator Candice Hopkins and Pulitzer Prize-winning artist/composer, Raven Chacon. IMPOSSIBLE MUSIC runs through December 10.
Every object holds a story. That’s the idea behind the thought-provoking new Philbrook exhibition, TRADE & TRANSFORMATION. Curator Kalyn Fay Barnoski (Cherokee Nation enrollee, Muscogee descent) originated and organized the exhibition. On this episode she joins us to chat about how she came to create it. Trade & Transformation is on view through December 30. Details at Philbrook.org.
In 2008, a catastrophic flood shut down the art museum on the University of Iowa campus. 15 years later, the museum has finally reopened with a new building, new name (The Stanley), and a new catalog created in partnership with the legendary Iowa Writer’s Workshop. They invited us up to chat about all of it.
From time to time we explore the question, “what is a curator?” For the past 30 years, Randall Poster has been searching for, securing rights for, and working alongside directors to find the perfect moment for music in countless films. The official job title is Music Supervisor. It could easily be called “Music Curator.” In 2023 alone, his slate includes Wes Anderson’s “Asteroid City,” Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla,” and Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon.”
Video journalist Alexandra Eaton of The New York Times joins us to share an unforgettable story that begins with a painting created in 1837 New Orleans. It depicts a well-to-do family’s three children and a Black enslaved child named Bélizaire. Decades later, Bélizaire was removed from the portrait. Experts have restored the work to its original state, revealing the enslaved youth who had been painted out of history. It goes on display this fall at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.
In the new biopic, Dalíland, acclaimed director Mary Harron give us a glimpse into the Salvador Dalí’s later years in 70s New York City via the immense talents of Academy Award-winner, Sir Ben Kingsley. From her look at attempted assassin Valerie Solanas in I Shot Andy Warholto the murderous broker Patrick Bateman in American Psycho, Harron has always been attracted to infamous, challenging, and to put it lightly, difficult people.
The film is now on demand now wherever you watch movies. On our special summer episode we chat with Harron about Dalíland and much more.
For our Season 7 finale, we travel to the Honolulu Museum of Art (HoMA) to chat with an architect and a neurologist about the intersections of art, science, and nature.
With more and more of our lives now being lived online -- and with more and more of our stuff existing only in the cloud -- how best should we preserve art...and culture...and everything else worth saving? On this go-round of Museum Confidential, we speak with Richard Rinehart, the Director of the Samek Art Gallery at Bucknell University. He's also the co-author of an interesting new book titled "Re-Collection: Art, New Media, and Social Memory."
On this edition of MC, we've got mad props for all the archivists and librarians in the house. The stewardship that these professionals bring to MuseumLand is as multifaceted as it is vital: caretaking, cataloging, researching, locating, documenting, preserving, updating, etc. Our guest is Saige Blanchard, the Library and Collection Information Specialist at Philbrook. She also tells us about a new rare book exhibit that just opened.
Founded by artist Theaster Gates, the Rebuild Foundation has been transforming buildings and neighborhoods on the South Side of Chicago since 2009 with art projects, community gathering spaces, small businesses, and more. Their latest venture is a vinyl shop called Miyagi Records. On this episode we do a little crate digging with the project leaders, Nigel Ridgeway and Marco Jacobo.
This episode offers a career-spanning chat with Oscar-winning cinematographer, Sir Roger Deakins, and his wife/longtime collaborator, James Deakins. Known for his collaborations with Coen brothers (Fargo), Sam Mendes (1917), and Denis Villeneuve (Blade Runner 2049), Deakins began his life in film as a still photographer. He published his first-ever book of photographs, "Byways," in late 2021. Many of those photos (alongside unseen works) are now on view in Tulsa at the recently-opened photography gallery, The Hulett Collection. On view through April 29.
Museums rarely allow their most beloved works to travel. But Omaha’s Joslyn Art Museum is under renovation. An opportunity arose. Now through May 28, Philbrook presents 500 years of European treasures from that acclaimed collection. Featuring paintings by the likes of Rembrandt, Monet, El Greco, Titian, and Renoir, there’s no shortage of star power. Philbrook Curator Susan Green tells us all about it.
London's Royal Academy of Arts will soon open a special exhibition titled, SOULS GROWN DEEP LIKE RIVERS: BLACK ARTISTS FROM THE AMERICAN SOUTH. Created in partnership with the Souls Grown Deep Foundation in Atlanta, the exhibit will showcase 60+ works by notable Black artists over the last century. We speak with the curator of this show, Raina Lampkins-Fielder.
What is the “art market?” A decade ago, Michael Findlay published “The Value of Art” to explore this very question. But the world has changed in many ways since the book’s initial release. A global pandemic, MeToo, Black Lives Matter, crypto currency, and other factors have impacted how people and institutions are buying/selling art. Michael has just released a new, updated edition. Much to discuss.
A work by Mississippi Choctaw/Cherokee artist Jeffrey Gibson is instantly recognizable. This is even more impressive given the variety of his output. He paints, sculpts, repurposes, re-contextualizes, creates performances, and more. On this episode we chat with Gibson about his past, his work, and a current exhibition at the Aspen Art Museum called, “The Spirits are Laughing.”
A century ago, the Detroit Institute of Arts became the first U.S. museum to purchase a painting by Vincent van Gogh. Now they’re hosting America’s largest Van Gogh exhibition in a generation. On this episode we chat with DIA curator Jill Shaw about this massive undertaking.
MC is closing down 2022 with a one-hour special -- a breezy, somewhat geeky, opinionated, and taped-live-in-the-studio conversation between host Jeff Martin and producer Scott Gregory. The discussion topic is outstanding LP covers as rendered by known and/or notable artists. Kind of a long title, of course, but you get the idea -- and it's a pretty fun listen. With a few tangents, yes, but with lots of tasty music clips as well. Kick back, relax, and turn it up.
Acclaimed artist Sharon Sprung had to wait years before she could tell the world that she was commissioned to paint Michelle Obama’s official White House portrait. On this episode we chat with Sprung from her Brooklyn studio about painting, patience, and what’s it’s like to have a First Lady drop by.
On this episode we get a few kicks with British artist Dave White who pioneered the sneaker art movement 20 years ago. His portraits of popular shoes led to collaborations with Nike, Jordan, and countless other brands. But Dave is no mere “sneakerhead.” His recent work is more concerned with the ground we stand on than the things we stand in.
Well before Joan Didion’s death in December 2021, acclaimed writer and New Yorker magazine contributor Hilton Als was hard at work on a show for LA’s Hammer Museum. But how can one exhibition grapple with Didion’s big, uniquely American life? This episode explores that and much more. “Joan Didion: What She Means” runs through February 19, 2023.
With climate change and more frequent weather events, what does the future hold for coastal museums? On this special episode we speak with Courtney McNeil, Director and Chief Curator at the Baker Museum in Naples, Florida. This conversation was recorded in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Ian.
For the past few decades, American artist/sexual anthropologist Betony Vernon has been living in Europe, designing erotic jewelry, writing books, and generally following her creative muse. We caught up with Betony while she was back in the states for the inaugural FORMAT festival in northwest Arkansas.
The one and only Cheech Marin (Cheech & Chong) stops by to discuss his recently opened museum, The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art and Culture. Nicknamed “The Cheech,” the 61,420-square-foot, two-story center resides in what used to be the downtown public library in Riverside, California and houses nearly 500 paintings, drawings, and sculptures. That's a lot, man. Far out.
On our Season 7 premiere, we visit the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles for the opening of a groundbreaking new exhibition, REGENERATION: BLACK CINEMA 1898–1971. Enjoy a fascinating chat with exhibition’s co-curators, Doris Berger, Vice President of Curatorial Affairs at the Academy Museum, and Rhea Combs, Director of Curatorial Affairs at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery.
We’re cooking up something tasty on this special summer episode and taking a bite out of the Whataburger Museum of Art. Is it really a museum? What’s the submission process? Is it curated? Is this pure marketing or something genuine? We explore this and much more with Whataburger Marketing Director Brooks Boenig alongside participating artists Mayra Zamora and Kristin Moore.
From a fire at the Smithsonian in 1865 to the Covid-19 pandemic, museums have faced challenge after challenge, and have survived. That didn't happen by accident. On our final MC episode for Season 6 -- and our 100th overall! -- we survey the general state of museums today with Samuel Redman, author of "The Museum: A Short History of Crisis and Resilience."
How can a small museum in the middle of the country have an impact on par with bigger institutions? How can we fight above our weight class in the arena of ideas? On this special episode we team up with MuseumNext to explore the value of tone and crafting a unique institutional voice. Your intrepid host (Jeff) finally gets his turn in the hot seat. Things get interesting.
Shirley Woodson was born in 1936. She grew up and still lives in Detroit. It’s her city, her muse. At 86 the artist recently opened her first ever solo exhibition at her hometown museum, The Detroit Institute of Arts. “Shirley Woodson: Shield of the Nile Reflections” features 11 of the artist’s big, vibrant canvases depicting black bathers in rivers. On this episode we chat with the busy-as-ever artist and Valerie Mercer, the exhibition’s curator and head of the DIA’s Center for African American Art.
What role can artists and creatives play in wartime? On this episode we chat with acclaimed author Lesley M.M. Blume about her recent Town & Country article, “The Art of War: How the Surrealists Helped Upend Camouflage and Redefine Modern Battle.” In a globe-spanning investigation filled with big art world names like Gorky and Dalí, the story proves once and for all that truth is stranger than fiction.
Read the article at https://www.townandcountrymag.com/
As Women’s History Month comes to a close, we explore Gustave Courbet’s perennially provocative 1866 work, “L’Origine du Monde (The Origin of the World)” with artist/writer Lilianne Milgrom, author of “L'Origine: The Secret Life of the World's Most Erotic Masterpiece.” Milgrom was the first artist authorized by the Musée d’Orsay to re-create Courbet’s scandalous masterpiece.
Troy Montes-Michie was born in El Paso. Border towns are a natural mash-up of cultures, traditions, languages, food, fashion, and nearly everything else. It’s no surprise that Montes-Michie turned his focus to collage, creating instantly recognizable works using magazine clippings, pornography, images of the Black male body, and plenty of zoot suits. In “Rock of Eye,” the artist’s first solo museum exhibition, these collages can be seen alongside, drawings, sculptures, and installations. On view through September 4th at the California African American Museum in Los Angeles.
Mike Winkelmann has been creating digital art for over two decades. He’s 40 years old, lives in South Carolina, and has a computer science degree from Purdue. But this isn’t a show about Mike Winkelmann. This is a show about Beeple, the name by which Winkelmann is best known, the name that took the art world by storm in 2021 when an NFT of his nearly 15-year project, EVERYDAYS, sold for a record $69.3 million. Still not sure what NFTs are? We’ll get to that.
In the years before World War 2, a group of artists gathered in New Mexico to “carry painting beyond the appearance of the physical world, through new concepts of space, color, light, and design, to imaginative realms that are idealistic and spiritual.” They called themselves the TRANSCENDENTAL PAINTING GROUP. On this episode we chat with Philbrook Curator Susan Green about the special exhibition, ANOTHER WORLD, the first comprehensive traveling exhibition to explore work by the group. On view at Philbrook through Feburary 20, 2022.
Oklahoma artist Harold Stevenson (1929-2018) created big paintings and lived an even bigger life in New York, Paris, Key West, and the Hamptons, becoming best friends with Andy Warhol along the way. For much of the past decade, Dian Jordan (The University of Texas Permian Basin) has been researching Stevenson’s singular life, gathering an archive, and laying the groundwork for a definitive biography.
We haven’t done a live audience show in ages. So when the invitation came to travel to Aspen, Colorado for the opening of a new Andy Warhol show at the Aspen Art Museum, we jumped at the opportunity. ANDY WARHOL: LIFETIMES is a career-spanning show originated at the Tate Modern. The AAM invited Los Angeles-based artist Monica Majoli to re-conceptualize the presentation. It’s invigorating. This chat features Majoli, Assistant Curator Simone Krug, and the Museum’s Director, Nicola Lees.
Mark Mothersbaugh has been a creative force for well over 40 years. From co-founding DEVO to scoring countless films and shows, his impact is undeniable. That body of work includes many collaborations with filmmaker Wes Anderson (“The Royal Tenenbaums”). We invited Mark to provide an exclusive musical experience for our special exhibition, “THIS IS AN ADVENTURE: Accidentally Wes Anderson.” To our great surprise, he said yes.
Barbara Kruger’s images and texts have been a consistent source of cultural commentary for decades. Her new exhibition, THINKING OF YOU. I MEAN ME. I MEAN YOU, dominates several spaces in the Art Institute of Chicago. On this episode we chat with the exhibition’s co-curator, Robyn Farrell about the artist, the show, and why it's definitely NOT a retrospective.
Few artists have work as instantly recognizable as Vincent van Gogh. But as original and unique as it seems, the work stands on the shoulders of many others. That’s exactly what Pulitzer Prize-winning author and acclaimed artist Steven Naifeh explores in his latest book, Van Gogh and the Artists He Loved. Furthering the work that began with his landmark 2011 biography Van Gogh: The Life, Naifeh let’s us in on a completely new side of Vincent: the fanboy.
We hear the word “viral” all the time. But very few things actually go viral. A recent exception is “Who Is the Bad Art Friend?,” a nearly ten-thousand-word feature in The New York Times by Robert Kolker. The story identifies a dispute between two writers that involves Facebook, a kidney donation, and explores the question, “who owns our personal stories?” Journalist Sarah Cascone joins us to discuss a related legal battle involving Andy Warhol and Prince. It’s complicated.
On the occasion of her first career retrospective, we sit down with legendary artist/feminist Judy Chicago. The exhibition , now on view at San Francisco’s de Young Museum, includes approximately 130 paintings, prints, drawings, and ceramic sculptures, in addition to ephemera, several films, and a documentary. We also talk about smoke sculptures. What’s a smoke sculpture? We’ll get to that.
Many people have been incorrectly hailed as a “Renaissance Man,” but it perfectly describes Mr. John Lurie. Music, acting, painting, writing, he’s done it all. With a long-gestating memoir just out and a second season of HBO’s “Painting with John” now in production, we recently caught up with Lurie for a wide-ranging chat.
The long-awaited Smithsonian Anthology of Hip-Hop and Rap just dropped. The set includes 129 tracks on 9 discs and a hefty 300–page book with original design by Cey Adams, acclaimed artist and founding creative director of Def Jam Recordings. From his early subway graffiti days alongside Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat to designing classic albums for Beastie Boys and LL Cool J, Adams has been at the epicenter of hip-hop culture. He spoke to us from his studio in New York City.
What is an “outsider artist?” Do we even call them that anymore? In recent years the term shifted to “self-taught artist.” Sounds different. But does it mean the same thing? On this episode we chat with Dr. Katherine Jentleson, the Merrie and Dan Boone Curator of Folk and Self-Taught Art at the High Museum in Atlanta. The High recently opened two companion shows focusing on this very topic.
The secret's out! Season 6 of Museum Confidential starts Friday 9/3! Enjoy this early listen to our new season theme song performed by Oklahoma's own Broncho. Written by Broncho's Ryan Lindsey and MC Host Jeff Martin.
On the season finale of Museum Confidential 2021 we sit down with Philbrook President/CEO Scott Stulen and Phil Armstrong, Project Director for the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission. Phil has been leading the effort to open Greenwood Rising, a history center located at the gateway to Tulsa's Historic Greenwood District. Greenwood Rising honors the icons of Black Wall Street, memorializes the victims of the massacre, and examines the lessons of the past.
Through the use of artificial intelligence and augmented reality, the new exhibit, THE LEGACY OF SURVIVAL, allows anyone to interact with and interview the centenarian survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. This episode includes remarks from Dr. Tiffany Crutcher (Terence Crutcher Foundation), Greg Robinson (Tulsa Community Remembrance Coalition), and Mother Viola Fletcher (age 107). "The Legacy of Survival" is on view at Gilcrease Museum through June 19, 2021.
The Kinsey African American Art & History Collection tells the story of African American triumphs and accomplishments from 1595 to present day. From May 22-June 30, the collection will be on view at the Greenwood Cultural Center and the Gathering Place. Two locations. One show. This episode presents a live conversation with Bernard and Khalil Kinsey, Michelle Brown (Greenwood Cultural Center), and author Hannibal B. Johnson. Moderated by Gathering Place Executive Director Tony Moore.
Rick Lowe is one of the two Lead Artists for the Greenwood Art Project alongside William Cordova. Born in Alabama, but a longtime resident of Houston, Lowe's work is widely acclaimed and collected. He was awarded a coveted MacArthur "Genius Grant" in 2014. On this episode we chat with Lowe about the ongoing work of the Greenwood Art Project and the upcoming centennial of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.
On this 75th episode of Museum Confidential we chat with Mikeal Vaughn of the Urban Coders Guild. This spring the Urban Coders Guild student cohorts will use their acquired web and mobile application development skills to create a collection of websites and an accompanying mobile app for the businesses lost in the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. Co-hosted by Greenwood Art Project Program Director Jerica Wortham.
On this episode we road trip to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art to chat with Associate Curator, Allison Glenn. Promise, Witness, Remembrance at Louisville, Kentucky's Speed Art Museum, guest-curated by Glenn, reflects on the life of Breonna Taylor, her killing in 2020, and the year of protests that followed. The exhibition is organized around the three words of its title, which emerged from a conversation between Glenn and Tamika Palmer, Breonna's mother. On view April 7-June 6.
Acclaimed documentary director, editor, and producer Sam Pollard joins us to talk about his recent films Black Art: In the Absence of Light, MLK/FBI, and his storied career. From serving as Spike Lee's longtime editor (Jungle Fever, Clockers, 4 Little Girls) to directing one of the earliest films on the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre (Goin' Back to T-Town, 1993), Pollard has made an indelible impact by telling Black stories through film.
TheRese Aduni has been hard at work on her documentary, "Rebuilding Black Wall Street." The film uses 16mm film footage shot by TheRese's father and chronicles the men and women who rebuilt Greenwood in the aftermath of 1921. This episode also features artist William Cordova, one of the Greenwood Art Project's two lead artists. Co-hosted by GAP Project Director, Jerica Wortham.
2021 marks the 50th anniversary of the classic crime film SHAFT, directed Gordon Parks. Parks was a filmmaker, writer, musician, and one of the 20th century’s great photographers. A recent piece in the New York Times called him, “The Godfather of Cool.” Not bad for the youngest of 15 children from Fort Scott, Kansas. Fort Scott is now home to the Gordon Parks Museum. On this episode we catch up with the Museum’s Director, Kirk Sharp.
A new season begins in partnership with the Greenwood Art Project, an initiative of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission. To get a broader view of the project we chat with anthropologist/archivist Marlon Hall who handles the project’s unique use of social media, Kode Ransom who runs the GAP mobile outreach efforts, and Program Director, Jerica Wortham. Jerica will serve as Co-Host on several episodes this season.
On the final episode of OUR PEOPLE, Rebecca Nagle chats with artist Susan Billy (Pomo) about family, traditions, basketry, and more. Susan is the granddaughter of Pomo basket weaver Susan Santiago Billy. Presented in connection with the landmark special exhibition, “Hearts of Our People: Native Women Artists” (through 1/3/21). Hosted by journalist/podcaster, Rebecca Nagle (Cherokee). Music by Oklahoma musician, Kalyn Fay (Cherokee/Muscogee).
On the penultimate episode of OUR PEOPLE, Rebecca chats with artist Kelly Church (Ottawa/Pottawatomi) about basketry, invasive bugs, sustainability, and more. Presented in connection with the landmark special exhibition, “Hearts of Our People: Native Women Artists” (through 1/3/21). Hosted by journalist/podcaster, Rebecca Nagle (Cherokee). Music by Oklahoma musician, Kalyn Fay (Cherokee/Muscogee).
Let's go back to Arizona. In part 2 of our look at the impact of the COVID-19 era on the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, we go a bit deeper and chat with the department heads who keep the wheels turning. Recorded live on-site at Taliesin West.
On the third episode of OUR PEOPLE, Rebecca sits down (virtually) with artist/photographer, Cara Romero (Chemehuevi ). Now based in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Cara grew up alternating between the rural Chemehuevi reservation in Mojave Desert, CA and the urban sprawl of Houston, TX. Presented in connection with the landmark special exhibition, “Hearts of Our People: Native Women Artists” (on view through 1/3/21). Hosted by journalist/podcaster, Rebecca Nagle (Cherokee). Music by Oklahoma musician, Kalyn Fay (Cherokee/Muscogee). New episodes every week in December.
Our intrepid host reports from an unforgettable desert journey to Taliesin West in Arizona, home to the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. In late 2019 we were invited by the Foundation to do a live show for a real, human audience (remember those?). But then the world changed. We kept our promise, took the trip, and left with a deep-dive exploration of how cultural sites are surviving the COVID-19 era. On this episode we speak with Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation President and CEO Stuart Graff.
On this episode of OUR PEOPLE, Rebecca chats with acclaimed artist and First American Art Magazine editor, America Meredith (Cherokee) about her work, family, and more. Presented in connection with the landmark special exhibition, “Hearts of Our People: Native Women Artists” (on view through 1/3/21). Hosted by journalist/podcaster, Rebecca Nagle (Cherokee). Music by Oklahoma musician, Kalyn Fay (Cherokee/Muscogee). New episodes every week in December.
In connection with the landmark special exhibition, Hearts of Our People: Native Women Artists (on view through 1/3/21), Museum Confidential presents a new limited series hosted by journalist/podcaster, Rebecca Nagle (Cherokee) highlighting artists in the exhibition. Music for the series provided by Oklahoma musician, Kalyn Fay (Cherokee/Muscogee). New episodes every week in December. On this episode Rebecca chats with acclaimed artist, Anita Fields (Osage) about her life, work, and much more.
Docents, volunteers, tour guides, whatever you want to call them, have been and remain an important part of the museum visitor experience. As the world and demographics change, how do museums make sure volunteers keep up with the change and remain relevant to modern audiences and concerns? On this episode we chat with journalist Sophie Haigney about her recent Slate article, "Museums Have a Docent Problem."
Agnes Gund is a legend in the art world for her collection, her philanthropy, and her decision in 2017 to sell a painting by Roy Lichtenstein for $165 million and launch the Art for Justice Fund. She’s also the subject of the new documentary, AGGIE. The film was directed by Agnes’ daughter and acclaimed documentarian, Catherine Gund. The film is available now in virtual theaters and on demand. On this episode we chat with Catherine Gund about her work, this film, her larger-than-life mother, and how/where art and social justice intersect. aggiefilm.com
We miss movies. Due to the pandemic, the latest Wes Anderson movie has been bumped to 2021. But fans aren’t leaving 2020 empty handed. One of our favorite Instagram feeds the past few years is the gentle escapism of ACCIDENTALLY WES ANDERSON, a curated selection of crowdsourced photos/stories of buildings, landscapes, and other aesthetically pleasing content evoking the Andersonian world. Many of the best ACCIDENTALLY WES ANDERSON posts have now been compiled into a beautiful new book of the same name. On this episode we chat with AWA’s Founder and content curator, Wally Koval.
On this episode we explore the groundbreaking exhibition, "Hearts of Our People: Native Women Artists" with Philbrook Curator Christina Burke. The first of its kind and years in the making, this show honors the achievements of over 100 Native women artists from the United States and Canada spanning over 1,000 years. On view at Philbrook through January 3, 2021.
What is a museum? We know it's more than a big building with paintings on walls and objects in cases. But could our own homes be museums about us? On this episode we speak with author Rachel Morris about her new book, THE MUSEUM MAKERS, a fascinating true story that begins with boxes under a bed and leads to an exploration of imaginary museums, why we collect, and how we curate our own lives.
On this episode we revisit our unforgettable conversation with Dr. David Pilgrim, Founder and Curator of the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia at Ferris State University in Michigan. Museums aren't always meant to be enjoyable experiences. That doesn't mean they are not important and essential. The Jim Crow Museum was born out of Dr. Pilgrim's personal collection, one that began decades ago while growing up in Alabama.
Season 3 Finale. How does a museum reopen in the wake of COVID-19? What are the changes and challenges museums face in this new world? We explore this topic and more with Philbrook President/CEO Scott Stulen and Deputy Directors Megan Nesbit and Rachel Keith.
What follows is a statement recently released by Philbrook. It was created and edited in collaboration with the museum staff, leadership, and Board of Trustees.
On this episode, Philbrook Director Scott Stulen steps in as Guest Host for a fascinating chat with writer and curator, Sarah Urist Green. Sarah is host of the popular PBS web series, The Art Assignment and author of the new book, You Are an Artist: Assignments to Spark Creation.
Philbrook recently kicked off a pen pal program for the museum cats. A bit of connection in the COVID-19 era. If you write them a letter, they write back. That's the deal. The program took off quickly and mail began arriving daily from around the country and around the world. Some from kids, some from adults. Some silly, some quite moving. Some from other cats (kind of). But one recent arrival stood out. The return address on the envelope was a prison. The letter inside was unforgettable.
In the age of Rotten Tomatoes, likes, and shares, we are all critics. But a rarified few have transcended the trends and held onto a corner of the zeitgeist. No American critic has been more successful at this than New York Magazine’s Pulitzer Prize-winning art critic, Jerry Saltz. In his new book HOW TO BE AN ARTIST, he distills his life into a mission statement of sorts. On this episode we chat with Jerry from his quarantine hideout where he’s holed up with his wife, New York Times art critic, Roberta Smith.
A special episode commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Oklahoma City Bombing. We chat with OKC Mayor David Holt and Kari Watkins, longtime Executive Director of the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum. Can't-miss conversations on remembrance, resilience, and observing one tragedy while living through another (Covid-19).
It's not breaking news to say that women artists have often been ignored or even purposefully excluded from the canon. As we continue celebrating the 100th anniversary of passage of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, we sit down with acclaimed author Bridget Quinn to discuss her book, "Broad Strokes: 15 Women Who Made Art and Made History (in That Order)."
In a special episode we air an important conversation hosted by museum engagement company, Cuseum. More than 3,000 museum professionals around the globe tuned in to “How to Keep Your Audience Engaged, Entertained, and Inspired in the Age of Coronavirus.” Featuring Philbrook Director Scott Stulen and Seema Rao, Deputy Director and Chief Experience Officer at Akron Art Museum. Moderated by Cuseum’s Brendan Ciecko.
Art museums account for less than 5% of all American museums. More than half fall into the history category. Science and technology museums barely make up 1% of the overall industry yet host millions of annual visitors. On this episode we travel to Dallas’ Perot Museum of Nature and Science to get a look at how these museums work from the inside out.
2020 marks the 150th anniversary of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Christine Coulson worked at The Met for a quarter of a century in a variety of roles. She left a couple of years ago to write full time and the result is her acclaimed debut novel, “Metropolitan Stories.” On this episode we chat with Christine about the real stories behind her fictional world.
2020 marks the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th amendment to the constitution, giving American women the right to vote. Last fall, the Baltimore Museum of Art announced a bold initiative. Only 4% of the museum’s 95,000 artworks were created by women. Throughout this year, every artwork the museum purchases will have been created by a woman artist. On this episode we travel to Baltimore for a chat with BMA Director, Christopher Bedford.
There’s a bit of a trend happening in the museum world. Museums are unionizing. And while this trend is somewhat isolated to New York and California, it’s a development that can’t be ignored. One of the museums to recently organize is the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in Manhattan. On this episode we chat with Andres Puerta, Director of Special Projects for IUOE Local 30.
In a special report we speak with New York Times reporters Robin Pogrebin and Zachary Small about their bombshell investigation into 31-year-old (now former) Erie Art Museum Director, Joshua Helmer and his related sexual harassment scandals at that institution and his previous employer, the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
One name keeps popping up as one of the most important young voices on the future of museums. That name is Colleen Dilenschneider. Through short videos, presentations, and data driven articles on her website, Colleen consistently boils down industry studies and presents them in a digestible and reliably optimistic way. Think Malcolm Gladwell as a giddy millennial. On this episode we chat with Colleen about that future she’s always taking about.
2019 marks the 60th anniversary (October 1959) of New York’s Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. The Guggenheim was the final and perhaps crowning achievement of architect Frank Lloyd Wright. 2019 is also the 60th anniversary of Wright’s death (April 1959). All these decades later, the legendary architect remains a complicated figure. On this episode we sit down with acclaimed author and longtime Washington Post reporter Paul Hendrickson to chat about his polarizing and kaleidoscopic new biography of Wright, “Plagued By Fire."
Museums acquire. They keep. They care for their objects. And it always causes a bit of a stir when a Museum decides to sell something from its collection. In May of 2018, at Christie’s in Hong Kong, an 18th century Chinese vase owned by Philbrook Museum of Art sold for $14.5 million. On this episode we chat with Philbrook Director Scott Stulen to learn the real story behind this potentially controversial decision.
The name "Edward Hopper" is synonymous with loneliness. Hotels and motels play a central role in Hopper’s art. "Edward Hopper and The American Hotel" recently opened at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond. It is the first in-depth look at this side of Hopper’s work and features a recreated room based on Hopper’s “Western Motel.” The space serves as a fully functional hotel room. Every night sold out before opening day. On this episode we chat with the show’s curator, Dr. Leo Mazow.
Sometimes a place becomes a museum by accident. This takes the perfect mix of history, people, luck, notoriety, and course, art. One of the best examples of this rare occurrence is the legendary Chelsea Hotel in New York City. Acclaimed author Fiona Davis writes novels about famous New York buildings. She recently wrote about the Chelsea Hotel, so we checked in with her to talk all about it.
Bruce Springsteen just turned 70. But The Boss shows no signs of slowing down. In his hometown of Freehold, New Jersey, there’s a new exhibition at the Monmouth County Historical Association. It’s called, quite simply, SPRINGSTEEN: HIS HOMETOWN. On this episode we talk all things Bruce with Eileen Chapman, Director of The Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music at Monmouth University.
In 2013, while looking through a forgotten box of archival materials, Dr. Seuss’s widow, Audrey Geisel, discovered a folder containing a collection of sketches for a project called “The Horse Museum.” It was only about 80% finished and contained no completed artwork. Editors at Random House set out to complete the book and hired Australian illustrator Andrew Joyner to provide the art. A true love letter to museums and a wonderful primer on art history, “Dr. Seuss’ Horse Museum” was released a few weeks ago. On this episode we speak with Andrew Joyner from his small town home in southern Australia.
Spoiler: Adam Lerner isn’t your average museum director. For the past 10 years, Adam ran the show at MCA Denver. His impact on the institution, the city, and in many ways, the industry, is undeniable. Adam recently stepped down to explore new adventures. We were asked to do an exit interview of sorts. Recorded live in Denver.
During our summer break, we headed down to Atlanta to interview hip-hop artist and activist, Killer Mike. He’s known widely for his work with Run The Jewels, but this trip was to talk about museums. Specifically, Atlanta’s High Museum of Art. A little over a year ago, Mike became a board member at The High. We wanted to check in and see how it’s going. What follows is a chat with Mike and High Museum Director Rand Suffolk. Recorded in the studios of public radio WABE in Atlanta.
For our 2019 Summer Special we chat with photographer, actor, and legendary skateboarder, Jason Lee (Mallrats, Almost Famous). Lee spent a good portion of 2018 road-tripping through Oklahoma taking photos for his first solo museum show. On view at Philbrook Downtown until November 10.
For our Season 2 finale we headed down to the Big Easy for a live show to kick off the annual conference of the American Alliance of Museums (AAM). We set up shop inside the beautiful and mouthwatering Southern Food and Beverage Museum for a chat with Don Wildman, host of the long running Travel Channel show, “Mysteries at the Museum.”
There are many examples of writers using paintings and other visual art as inspiration to create an entirely new work. Think The Girl with a Pearl Earring or even The Da Vinci Code. That’s exactly what award-winning writer Donna Baier Stein did when she decided to write a new collection of short stories based on works by iconic American artist, Thomas Hart Benton. The issues Benton dealt with through the height of the Great Depression and on still resonate and echo today. We recently sat down with Stein to talk about her new book (Scenes from the Heartland), how she landed on Thomas Hart Benton, and the one piece that inspired the whole project.
In our first show recorded in front of a live audience, we explore what it means to be a curator with Philbrook Museum of Art Chief Curator Catherine Whitney and Gilcrease Museum Senior Curator, Laura Fry. Your grandmother probably went her whole life without saying she “curated” something. And while so many people these days claim to curate this or that, the only ones that can truly own the title are actual curators. Featuring cameos by comedian Pete Holmes, exit signs, and the National Mustard Museum.
We recently stumbled upon a fascinating blog post written last year by Graham Boettcher, Director of the Birmingham Museum of Art in Birmingham, Alabama.
The headline read, “DIRECTOR RECKONS WITH ART MUSEUM’S UGLY PAST” and looks at the museum’s troubling Jim Crow-era policies in the first dozen years of its existence.
We sat down with Graham to discuss this and much more.
Museums have a problem. Too much stuff. But whereas you can take a few carloads to Goodwill or set up a yard sale, museums don’t have that luxury. Sometimes they end up building costly expansions just to contain the overflow. New York Times reporter Robin Pogrebin visited museums of various budgets and sizes to see just how big a problem museum storage has become.
Time for our annual round table chat with three experts from different parts of the art world. The roster includes Hrag Vartanian, editor of the popular arts and culture website Hyperallergic, Philbrook Director Scott Stulen, and artist Sharon Louden who is currently putting the finishing touches on a brand new installation in the Philbrook Rotunda. The installation will be on view through the rest of 2019.
Less than 20 miles from Washington D.C., there’s a place called Glenstone. It was founded by Mitch and Emily Rales and opened in 2006. Last fall Glenstone took a big leap into the next chapter. But what is Glenstone? It’s an art museum. It boasts over 200 acres of grounds. It’s private. It’s free. Kids and chewing gum aren’t allowed (that’s a little controversial). They only allow a few hundred folks at a time. No pictures. No phones. But don’t be easily distracted by those shiny objects. Mitch and Emily Rales are after something different. On this episode we sit down with Emily (who also serves as Director and Chief Curator) to find out what.
For the #1 slot on his Top 10 Best Art Shows of 2018, New York magazine art critic Jerry Saltz selected an exhibition at the Guggenheim by Swedish artist Hilma af Klint titled “Paintings for the Future.”
“The most magnificent sight in New York this year was the drop-dead first gallery showing of kaleidoscopically colored, structurally complex, completely abstract paintings made in the first two decades of the 20th century by unacknowledged Swedish visionary Hilma af Klint.”
Since opening last October, it’s become something of an art world sensation.
We recently sat down with the show’s curator, Tracey Bashkoff, to check in and see how it’s going. The exhibition closes April 23, 20
Art conservation: It’s sort of a magic trick. But there are immensely talented people using skills and techniques passed down over generations alongside the latest technology. On this episode we chat with Julian Baumgartner of Chicago-based Baumgartner Fine Art Restoration. Julian has taken his family business into the 21st century by embracing new media, becoming a bit of a social media star in the process.
Close your eyes. Imagine a museum. Chances are we’re all seeing a variation on a theme. Open galleries, high ceilings, there’s a guard in the corner wearing a navy or perhaps maroon blazer. It’s quiet, it’s cold, it’s a museum. Those are the stereotypes of course, but you see where we’re going. Museums are, or at least, can be, much different. One of the places trying to change the way we interact with these spaces is The Underground Museum in Los Angeles. We recently sat down with the museum’s Director, Megan Steinman.
Several years ago, the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, Austria began inviting artists to sift through the museum’s more than 4 million objects and create exhibitions filtered through the artist’s own unique point of view.
Recently, the museum asked Wes Anderson, the Oscar-nominated director of “The Grand Budapest Hotel” and “The Royal Tenenbaums”, and his partner, acclaimed designer, writer, and illustrator, Juman Malouf, to take on the same gargantuan task.
They ended up choosing 423 objects for the show. 350 had never before been publicly shown. We sat down for a transatlantic chat with Kunsthistorisches Museum curator, Jasper Sharp to talk about the show, how it came together, and much more.
Pulitzer Prize Finalist Mary Gabriel joins us to talk about her acclaimed new book, Ninth Street Women. After WWII, when names like Pollock and Rothko were entering the American mainstream, five women dared to enter this male-dominated space–not as muses but as artists. From their New York studios, where they worked, drank, fought, and loved, they kicked open doors for themselves and everyone that came after. On this episode we get to know Lee, Grace, Helen, Joan, and Elaine.
On this episode we head to California’s High Desert with our roving correspondent, Preston Poe (of “The Preston Poe Show” podcast). As we often say, there are many kinds of museums. One of them is a tiny spot in a repurposed photo processing booth now dedicated entirely to crochet. The museum’s founder, as you’ll hear, knows how to spin a yarn or two. And rightly so.
Legendary filmmaker and so-called "Pope of Trash" John Waters has a brand new project in his beloved hometown. On view through January 6, 2019 at the Baltimore Museum of Art, "Indecent Exposure" is the first retrospective of Waters' visual arts career, featuring more than 160 provocative photographs, sculptures, and video/sound works. We sat down to chat about the show, the 30th anniversary of "Hairspray," and a few other things. For more information visit artbma.org
In our special Halloween episode, we step into the macabre with acclaimed writer Mark Dery, author of the new biography, Born to be Posthumous: The Eccentric Genius and Mysterious Life of Edward Gorey. Often called the “Grandfather of Goth,” Gorey’s work influenced Tim Burton, Neil Gaiman, Lemony Snicket, and countless others.
We all scream. The Museum of Ice Cream (MOIC) is attempting to blaze a new trail in the museum world. But sometimes that’s a rocky road. First up, a chat with Madison Utendahl, MOIC’s Head of Content and Social. Closing out the show, and for an entirely different take on the emergence of “Instagrammable” or “Pop-Up” museums, we call up Amanda Hess, Critic-at-Large for The New York Times.
Museums aren't always meant to be enjoyable experiences. That doesn't mean they are not important and essential. On this episode, we sit down with Dr. David Pilgrim, founder and curator of the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia at Ferris State University in Michigan. The museum was born out of his personal collection, one that began decades ago, when Dr. Pilgrim was growing up in Alabama. Our podcast also profiles a recent art project utilizing the Confederate flag.
This episode offers a chat with Alexis Light, Senior Manager of Media Relations and Marketing at The Frick Collection. She is that NYC museum's thought leader when it comes to public relations, marketing, and social media content.
Also in this pod, we begin an occasional feature called "At a Museum in America." Our far-flung, gallery-going correspondent for this new feature is one Preston Poe, an independent curator, artist, and songwriter who also hosts "The Preston Poe Show" (which you can access at prestonpoe.com).
In our Season Two opener we sit down with Bob Dylan Archive curator, Michael Chaiken to talk about how they’re trying to NOT make a museum with the forthcoming Bob Dylan Center. We also chat about his path to getting the position, music, and of course, Mr. Zimmerman himself.
On the season one finale we try our hand at a podcast classic, the vaunted “mailbag” episode. We invited social media followers to “ask us anything” about Philbrook or museums in general. We then gathered a panel of experts to provide answers, or at least attempt to. Results vary. See you this fall for season two.
The Rothko Chapel, established in 1971 in Houston, is both a sacred space and a modern art mainstay. Dedicated to non-denominational prayer and private contemplation -- and also to international peace and fellowship -- the building routinely hosts lectures, concerts, interfaith gatherings, and similar events. And at its heart, of course, are fourteen very dark, luminous, large-scale paintings by the late Mark Rothko. We speak with David Leslie, the executive director of the Rothko Chapel.
Let’s be honest, conceptual art is polarizing. Sometimes intentionally so. We explore this and more in a wide-ranging and fascinating chat with self-proclaimed Experimental Philosopher, Jonathon Keats. From his early childhood days selling rocks for a penny to large-scale thought experiments commissioned by prestigious institutions, his career is nothing if not unique. As described in the pages of Wired magazine by science fiction author Bruce Sterling, “the guy is tireless.”
On this episode we take an in-depth look at the very first Philbrook Director, Eugene Kingman. An acclaimed artist in his own right, Kingman’s journey included stops at Yale, The Rhode Island School of Design, the offices of The New York Times, and the organization that would become the C.I.A. We chat with Mark Brown, longtime journalist and executive assistant to the current Philbrook Director.
What are we saying when we refer to a piece as "bad" art? All of us probably have guilty pleasures, or maybe a favorite mistake or two, but what does it mean to seek out and really cherish certain works of bad art? This episode of our podcast features a conversation with Louise Sacco, the so-called Permanent Acting Interim Executive Director of MOBA (a/k/a The Museum of Bad Art).
For our special Valentine's Day episode we explore many different kinds of love, from the boomtown couple that founded Philbrook to the supposed foot fetishism of an iconic French artist. Keep an ear out for cameos by Marie Antoinette and Edward Hopper.
Gilcrease Museum houses the world’s largest and most comprehensive collection of art and artifacts of the American West. This episode features a chat with Gilcrease Senior Curator Laura Fry and special appearances by Neil Young and Henry Kissinger.
Explore the bookish side of museums in a revealing conversation with poet, Kenneth Goldsmith, the first and only Poet Laureate at New York City's iconic Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).
Arguably at the height of his career with work in Vanity Fair and Vogue, regularly shooting the likes of Jesse Owens, Gary Cooper, and Katharine Hepburn, photographer Lusha Nelson died in 1938 at the age of 30. His personal archive remained lost until 2015 when it was rediscovered by Philbrook. Hear the amazing true story.
Movies and museums. Museums and movies. They go together like popcorn and Milk Duds. On this installment of our podcast, we speak with Charles Elmore of the Oklahoma Film Critics Circle. Topics include memorable motion pictures of 2017, what makes a film an "art film," how today's so-called Golden Age of Television relates to (or doesn't relate to) today's films and filmmakers, and so forth.
Our first in-depth artist chat, with acclaimed photorealist, Karl Haendel. Topics range from the best types of pencils and football to Dutch artist M.C. Escher and politics. See Haendel's work in the current Philbrook Downtown show, "Game On."
Sweetness! It's an extended and ever-so-tuneful edition of our podcast for the extended holiday weekend. Listen in as our host Jeff Martin and producer Scott Gregory dig various songs and/or bands inspired by art and/or artists and/or museums and/or The Muse. Sonic bliss? Odd audio? Both? Neither? It's in the ear of the beholder, friends.
Look for the companion "Museum Confidential" playlist on Spotify.
An in-depth chat with Hrag Vartanian (Hyperallergic) and Sharon Louden, two of the most prominent thought leaders in the art world today. Topics range from early museum experiences to a one-way trip to Mars.
Explore a different side of legendary actor Vincent Price for our special Halloween episode with Philbrook curator, Christina E. Burke. Guest starring Michael Jackson, Johnny Carson, and Jack Nicholson. Hosted by Jeff Martin and produced by Scott Gregory .
On the debut episode of Museum Confidential we chat with Philbrook Director Scott Stulen about his rock and roll ambitions, his past obsessions, the show he's been thinking about for years, and much more. We DO NOT talk about cat videos.
Starting Friday, October 13th, Philbrook Museum of Art and Public Radio Tulsa team up for a new podcast exploring how museums work from the inside out.
Think of a museum. Any museum. Which art works get to be displayed, and which don't, and why? Where do they keep all the unshown (or unshowable) pieces?
And why do they keep them at all? And just how does one pack/ship/transport a priceless painting or sculpture? Museum Confidential is a new and unprecedented exhibition at Philbrook Museum of Art that explores such questions.
The show opens on October 13th, which is also when Museum Confidential: The Podcast will arrive. It's a collaboration (to be posted twice monthly) between Jeff Martin of Philbrook and Scott Gregory of Public Radio Tulsa -- and it'll cover the same fertile ground as the exhibit itself...as in, what really goes on "behind the scenes" at a museum?