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The Conversation Art Podcast

The Conversation Art Podcast

Michael Shaw 100 Episodes Oct 12, 2026

The Conversation Art Podcast features intimate one-on-one and roundtable discussions with contemporary artists, dealers, curators, and collectors. Based in Los Angeles, the show reaches a national and international audience. Each episode explores the creative process, the art market, and the ideas shaping today's art world.

Episodes

Episode 392: NYC artist Nancy Goldring-  living in Westbeth for 50+ years, artist housing in the West Village that's a world unto itself
Episode 392: NYC artist Nancy Goldring- living in Westbeth for 50+ years, artist housing in the West Village that's a world unto itself Oct 12, 2026 46:46 New York City-based artist Nancy Goldring talks about: The artist building in the West Village of Manhattan, Westbeth, where she's lived since 1971, when she moved in as a graduate assistant, and was paying $144 a month (which actually seemed like it might be too much at the time); her experience being on the committee reviewing applicants to live in the building; how once you get into Westbeth as
Episode 391- OLD NEWS plus Lucien Smith mini-tribute
Episode 391- OLD NEWS plus Lucien Smith mini-tribute Sep 26, 2026 14:59 This episode is a mix of excerpts from OLD NEWS (Jeff Weiss's nightly email blast of art-related content) and a Lucien Smith obituary, including comments from readers of the obit more than the obituary itself. George Stoll, a comment from The Art Daddy, and passages from a long Atlantic article by Sebastian Smee exploring the career and influence of Norman Rockwell, particularly on the films of Da
Episode 390: a broken plate catapults a career: Nyack, NY-based artist Rob Strati
Episode 390: a broken plate catapults a career: Nyack, NY-based artist Rob Strati Sep 6, 2026 54:54 Nyack, New York-based artist Rob Strati talks about: Living in Nyack, as far as its local arts community and proximity to NYC; his early artist years in San Francisco, including driving a cab for several years, and eventually getting into tech (starting as a web designer at Yahoo) as a day job, always to support the art even though it became a big part of his then-identity; how his 25 years workin
Episode 389: The Conversation presents: The Intrepid Artist, an Advice podcast- Episode 1, with co-host Arleene Correa Valencia
Episode 389: The Conversation presents: The Intrepid Artist, an Advice podcast- Episode 1, with co-host Arleene Correa Valencia Aug 8, 2026 36:18 "To Post, or Not to Post….That is the Question" In this pilot episode of The Intrepid Artist, the main question asked by a listener is whether sharing (or even having) one's social media plays an important role in grant and open call decisions. Arleene advocates for developing a thoughtful, engaging and empathetic feed, as opposed to one in which an artist is simply constantly sharing work. She wa
Episode 388: Lauren O'Neill-Butler on Artist Activism, Artforum magazine and the seminal Project Row Houses in Houston
Episode 388: Lauren O'Neill-Butler on Artist Activism, Artforum magazine and the seminal Project Row Houses in Houston Jun 20, 2026 52:38 Hunter College professor and author of The War of Art, Lauren O'Neill-Butler talks about: Her 12 years at Artforum magazine, including its balance between advertising and hard-core art writing, and how her chapter on Fierce Pussy was written while at Artforum; the classes on Activism she's taught at Hunter College, which were not to get students to become activists but to make them aware of its h
Episode 387: Peter Hujar and Paul Thek's "Wonderful World That Almost Was," with writer and Frieze editor Andrew Durbin
Episode 387: Peter Hujar and Paul Thek's "Wonderful World That Almost Was," with writer and Frieze editor Andrew Durbin May 23, 2026 50:44 Writer and Frieze editor-in-chief Andrew Durbin talks about: His book tour for "The Wonderful World That Almost Was," which has been hectic; how he became familiar with Peter Hujar's work initially, and why his and Paul Tek's legacies really took off after their deaths; Peter's persona and personality as someone who could be as charming and engaging as can be, but also someone who flew off the han
Episode 386- James Delbourgo on the 'Noble Madness' of collectors- from Charles Foster Kane to Norman Bates and others, and what Freud had to say about all of them
Episode 386- James Delbourgo on the 'Noble Madness' of collectors- from Charles Foster Kane to Norman Bates and others, and what Freud had to say about all of them Apr 25, 2026 01:04:46 James Delbourgo, professor of history at Rutgers University and author of A Noble Madness: the Dark Side of Collecting from Antiquity to Now, talks about: Why he's written about contemporary art so extensively, as a history academic who's very interested in the present, going to galleries and wondering who collectors are right now, raising a lot of questions about archetypes for what would becom
Episode 385- Useful Art explodes what your sense of Art with a capital "A" is and can be, with John Byrne, author of "Useful Art- How Activist Artists Can Change the World"
Episode 385- Useful Art explodes what your sense of Art with a capital "A" is and can be, with John Byrne, author of "Useful Art- How Activist Artists Can Change the World" Mar 28, 2026 01:09:20 John Byrne, author of "Useful Art- How Activist Artists Can Change the World," and professor of Useful Art at Liverpool John Moores University's School of Art and Design, talks about: The city of Liverpool and its art community, with about 20 total galleries, and how he fits into it; where he'll be book touring the book; a key framing in the book, being in a 'neo-liberal occupation' that we live u
Episode 384: Boston artist and lifelong art school teacher on photography and teaching in art schools for 46 years
Episode 384: Boston artist and lifelong art school teacher on photography and teaching in art schools for 46 years Feb 21, 2026 51:53 Boston-based photographer Jim Dow talks about: The Boston art community (which is often connected to the art school and universities) and why he's lived there the great majority of his life (he lives in the house he grew up in); he's a dedicated Mass-hole- there's an edge to people there and you have break that edge; how he navigates random passersby when he's photographing for long sessions wit
Episode 383- Sarah Khan: Documenting the Immigrant Experience
Episode 383- Sarah Khan: Documenting the Immigrant Experience Jan 17, 2026 51:00 Hadley, Massachusetts and NYC artist Sarah K. Khan talks about: How it's a "little miracle" to have a studio (a former chick coop on a farm in the 5-college area of Mass.) after so many years working in kitchens and other spaces not dedicated to her work and where she can really spread out; her short films about the immigrant experience in New York via food trucks (particularly her Queens Migrant
Episode 382: Robbie Conal,from the studio to the streets--applying what you do best to what you care about most
Episode 382: Robbie Conal,from the studio to the streets--applying what you do best to what you care about most Dec 13, 2025 54:04 Artist and legendary street artist Robbie Conal talks about: His family history, including his two activist-and-politically inclined parents, his background in fighting the power; moving up to Los Osos (in San Luis Obispo County) as a permanent residence (back after the 2008 crash), but keeping a small place in L.A.; what he misses about not being in the city (he's lived in NYC and SF as well as
Episode 381- Arleene Correa Valencia: From rural Mexico to the Napa Valley and back, fulfilling a family dream
Episode 381- Arleene Correa Valencia: From rural Mexico to the Napa Valley and back, fulfilling a family dream Nov 15, 2025 53:41 Napa, CA-based artist Arleene Correa Valencia talks about: Why she lives in Napa, CA, and the two distinct versions of the town, for the wealthy and for the poor ("you're either the owner of the vineyard, or you're working the vineyard," as she put it); how she's the first generation to not be working the vineyards, his dad having worked the vineyard for a period before transitioning to hand-pa

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