Art Ignites Change Podcast

The State of Art in Philly 2021, Part 2 

In this second part of our two part Season 1 finale of the Art Ignites Change podcast we sit down with one more Philly arts leader to discuss how their organization faced the challenges of this last year, including what they’ve learned and where they’re going from here. Today we hear from Kathleen Ogilvie Greene, Curator of Public Programs at the Barnes Foundation!

Episode 10: Part 1: The State of Art in Philly 2021 

In this first part of our two-part Season 1 finale of the Art Ignites Change podcast, we sit down with three Philly arts leaders to discuss how their organizations faced the challenges of this last year, including what they’ve learned and where they’re going from here. Guests Christine Cox (BalletX), Ivan Henderson (African American Museum in Philadelphia), and Jane Golden (Mural Arts Philadelphia) talk with moderator Conrad Benner (Streets Dept)!

Episode 9: Environmental Justice and Public Art 

Today we’re talking with Shari Hersh, Ron Whyte, and Zulene Mayfield about environmental justice and Mural Arts Philadelphia’s new Environmental Justice department. After an introduction to the department, this episode focuses on the situation in Chester, PA, which has long been known as one of the nation’s worst cases of environmental racism. And we talk about ways Mural Arts’ Environmental Justice department will support the efforts of activists and community members, as well as ways you can support.

Episode 8: Point of Triangulation 

This week on our Art Ignites Change podcast we’re talking about “Point of Triangulation”, an exhibition and soon-to-be mural by Michelle Daniel (Jones) and Prof. Deb Willis that challenges viewers to consider the stigma and perpetual re-criminalization that formerly incarcerated people confront while reflecting on their own biases or preconceptions. Give it a listen now on all major podcast streaming services, or by clicking here!

Episode 7: The Viaduct 

The result of numerous community meetings in North Philadelphia neighborhoods over 2019-2020, The Viaduct was a monumental effort and collaboration between artists and community leaders to turn three heavily-traveled underpasses into safe and vibrant spaces for all. Today, we talk with three of the participating artists to learn more about the project and their murals: Patrick Dougher, Andrea Legge (of Legge Lewis Legge), and Anthony Torcasio!

Episode 6: To the Polls 

To the Polls 2020 is a temporary mural project in iconic LOVE Park aimed at exciting Philadelphia’s electorate. And today, we talk with two of the project’s participating artists, as well as one of the artists from our To the Polls 2018 iteration, about their murals and the value of civic public art. Meet artists Kah Yangni, Candy Alexandra González, and Blur!

Episode 5: What Does Justice Look Like? 

As the inaugural Artist-in-Residence at the Office of the District Attorney of Philadelphia, artist James “Yaya” Hough worked to humanize people living and working within systems of criminal justice by cultivating relationships and connections through his artmaking. In conversation with curator Paul Farber, Hough explains the creative process behind the resulting work, Points of Connection, which raises the question: “What does justice look like?”

Episode 4: Murals in Memphis 

Meet Lauren Kennedy, the Executive Director of Memphis, Tennessee’s UrbanArt Commission! The UrbanArt Commission is a non-profit organization committed to creating opportunities for artists and neighborhoods to connect and shape spaces through public art, and the Mural Arts Institute was lucky to collaborate with them in 2019. In today’s podcast, we talk with Lauren about some past, present, and future Commission projects, about how Memphis thinks about public art making, and about their connections to Philadelphia’s long history of investment in art in the public space.

Episode 3: Painting Our Common Threads 

In today’s episode, Mural Art’s Chief Operating Officer, Magda Martinez, hosts artists Meg Saligman and Cesar Viveros Herrera to tell the story of what is arguably Philadelphia’s most popular mural, “Common Threads”. From its unexpected origin to its uncertain future, we get a behind the scenes look at the making of Philly public art history!

Episode 2: Emerging 

Join episode host Greg Corbin, Director of Mural Arts Philadelphia’s Restorative Justice program, and artist Mary Baxter, for a conversation about a current Mural Arts project, Emerge. Making use of traditional and modern ideas of public space, the project is distributing PSAs created by local artists that are a direct response to COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter movement. #WeWillEmerge

Episode 1: Public Art in the Pandemic 

In our first episode, arts advocate Conrad Benner interviews Mural Arts’ Founder and Executive Director Jane Golden to discuss the future of public art in the wake of COVID-19.

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Special Thanks To: 

The Art Ignites Change podcast is produced by Conrad Benner. Our sound editor is Mike Mihalick.