This time we welcome Karen Patterson, the Executive Director of the Ruth Foundation for the Arts. The organisation immediately became a major player when it launched in 2022, announcing plans to give away up to $20 million a year to arts organisations, thanks to a $440 million bequest from Ruth DeYoung Kohler. We delve into the what-ifs of philanthropy, the foundation's ethos, and its ambitious initiatives. Through a focus on generosity, experimentation, and consideration, Ruth Arts aims to transform the philanthropic landscape. “What if we made a big difference? What if people saw themselves as valuable?” Karen asks. “What if people saw themselves as cared for?”
“The market is poised for a big fall, so it's more ‘when’, than ‘what if’,” says Allan Schwartzman, founder of the podcast. He’s back on the show to talk all about the state of the art market and the broader implications of its changing dynamics for the artists and for the cultural landscape at large. "Greatness doesn't grow at the same rate as a population does," says Allan. "Greatness is extremely rare. And right now we're at a moment where I think there's greater confusion than ever about what actually is going on in art and what will be seen as significant 20 or 30 years from now."
We welcome back Kemi Ilesanmi, the former executive director of the Laundromat Project and one of the standout stars of our first season. In season one, Kemi was just about to head off on the trip of a lifetime around 13 countries, including ten in Africa. She promised to come back and tell us how the trip changed her ‘What Ifs.’ “I'm looking for freedom of movement, freedom of ideas, and freedom of manifestation of those ideas. Right now, it feels like I can only find that by working outside of any singular institution.” Kemi talks about creating a “beautiful, joyful, sustainable, cultural infrastructure for black and brown people across the globe” and asks, “What if that were possible? And what if I could help with that? And who else could help with that?”
For the second part of our interview with Koyo Kouoh, the chief curator and executive director of Zeitz MOCAA, we hear about how she has worked to overhaul the infrastructure of the institution internally as well as better connect the museum externally within Cape Town. Koyo talks about how “colonialism as an enterprise, as a model of global relating, has done a lot of harm that we are still mending and attending to.” She says: “That is a field of thinking, a space of emotion and knowledge that I am deeply passionate about. And that is why my investment in the space of Black geographies is so profound.”
Joining us from Cape Town in South Africa is Koyo Kouoh, the chief curator and executive director of Zeitz MOCAA for the first in a two-part special. Originally destined for a career in finance, Koyo talks about her journey into the art world, and from Basel in Switzerland to Dakar in Senegal, where she founded RAW Material Company in 2008. She tells us about her move to South Africa in 2019 to take over at Zeitz MOCAA, a new institution, but one in crisis. “We need to take the time to do the things that are urgent, that are essential, that are necessary,” Koyo says. “And, for me, building out institutions on the continent is a matter of urgency.”
Described as the “next generation of leadership”, in this episode we welcome Salome Asega, the director of NEW INC in New York and an accomplished artist, whose work is at the cutting edge of creativity and technology. Salome’s ability to look towards—and build—the future shines through in this conversation with host Charlotte Burns. Part of her work at NEW INC, she says, is about creating chance encounters for creative people that feel like “choosing your own adventure.” What if we focused on new inventions, narratives and opportunities? Tune in for more.
In this episode host Charlotte Burns is joined by artist Alvaro Barrington, who brings as much generosity of spirit to this conversation as he does to his art practice. Fundamentally curious, Alvaro wants to connect with as many people as possible and to make art that is as relevant to people today as Hip Hop was to him as a kid growing up in New York in the 1990s. But, as the art world has expanded, he says, it’s also become narrower in terms of who gets in. Alvaro is interested in changing that, creating less hierarchy and more connections. What if art could be as beloved as music by Beyonce or Taylor Swift? “Art has to be more in people’s lives,” he says, “It just has to figure that out.”
Hope & Dread Extra: Phyllis Mitz brings you a vision for the future in this interview with astrologer Phyllis Mitz.
Hope & Dread Extra is a series of short, sharp bonus episodes featuring your season favorites from Hope & Dread. Our guests were brimming with additional ideas and extra insights that we just didn’t have room for within the documentary series. But we didn’t want to leave them on the cutting room floor. Join hosts Charlotte Burns and Allan Schwartzman for new Hope & Dread Extra every Tuesday and Thursday.
For more, follow @artand_media on Instagram / Twitter / LinkedIn / Facebook
Hope & Dread Extra: Maya Benton features photography curator Maya Benton, who talks about staring down Neo-Nazi protestors.
Hope & Dread Extra is a series of short, sharp bonus episodes featuring your season favorites from Hope & Dread. Our guests were brimming with additional ideas and extra insights that we just didn’t have room for within the documentary series. But we didn’t want to leave them on the cutting room floor. Join hosts Charlotte Burns and Allan Schwartzman for new Hope & Dread Extra every Tuesday and Thursday.
For more, follow @artand_media on Instagram / Twitter / LinkedIn / Facebook
Hope & Dread Extra: Sandra Jackson-Dumont brings you more from the inaugural director and CEO of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, which is scheduled to open in Los Angeles next year.
Hope & Dread Extra is a series of short, sharp bonus episodes featuring your season favorites from Hope & Dread. Our guests were brimming with additional ideas and extra insights that we just didn’t have room for within the documentary series. But we didn’t want to leave them on the cutting room floor. Join hosts Charlotte Burns and Allan Schwartzman for new Hope & Dread Extra every Tuesday and Thursday.
For more, follow @artand_media on Instagram / Twitter / LinkedIn / Facebook
Hope & Dread Extra: Issy Wood brings you a conversation with the talented young artist Issy Wood.
Hope & Dread Extra is a series of short, sharp bonus episodes featuring your season favorites from Hope & Dread. Our guests were brimming with additional ideas and extra insights that we just didn’t have room for within the documentary series. But we didn’t want to leave them on the cutting room floor. Join hosts Charlotte Burns and Allan Schwartzman for new Hope & Dread Extra every Tuesday and Thursday.
For more, follow @artand_media on Instagram / Twitter / LinkedIn / Facebook
Hope & Dread Extra: Kathy Halbreich features a conversation with Kathy Halbreich, the executive director of the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, about why she has put artists at the center of her vision of creating change.
Hope & Dread Extra is a series of short, sharp bonus episodes featuring your season favorites from Hope & Dread. Our guests were brimming with additional ideas and extra insights that we just didn’t have room for within the documentary series. But we didn’t want to leave them on the cutting room floor. Join hosts Charlotte Burns and Allan Schwartzman for new Hope & Dread Extra every Tuesday and Thursday.
For more, follow @artand_media on Instagram / Twitter / LinkedIn / Facebook
Hope & Dread Extra: Black Trustee Alliance focuses on a new organization—the Black Trustee Alliance—that hopes to bring change to the museum field. Tune in to hear from the collector and philanthropist Victoria Rogers, who is co-chair of BTA and Brooke Minto, its executive director.
Hope & Dread Extra is a series of short, sharp bonus episodes featuring your season favorites from Hope & Dread. Our guests were brimming with additional ideas and extra insights that we just didn’t have room for within the documentary series. But we didn’t want to leave them on the cutting room floor. Join hosts Charlotte Burns and Allan Schwartzman for new Hope & Dread Extra every Tuesday and Thursday.
For more, follow @artand_media on Instagram / Twitter / LinkedIn / Facebook
Hope & Dread Extra: Lulani Arquette brings you the highlights of our interview with the president and CEO of the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation, which is in the middle of an expansion into a new building in Portland, Oregon.
Hope & Dread Extra is a series of short, sharp bonus episodes featuring your season favorites from Hope & Dread. Our guests were brimming with additional ideas and extra insights that we just didn’t have room for within the documentary series. But we didn’t want to leave them on the cutting room floor. Join hosts Charlotte Burns and Allan Schwartzman for new Hope & Dread Extra every Tuesday and Thursday.
For more, follow @artand_media on Instagram / Twitter / LinkedIn / Facebook
Hope & Dread Extra: Dr. Kelli Morgan brings you more from Kelli Morgan, who recently left the museum field for academia after experiencing profound racism. She is now the professor of the practice and director of curatorial studies, history of art and architecture at Tufts University in Massachusetts.
Hope & Dread Extra is a series of short, sharp bonus episodes featuring your season favorites from Hope & Dread. Our guests were brimming with additional ideas and extra insights that we just didn’t have room for within the documentary series. But we didn’t want to leave them on the cutting room floor. Join hosts Charlotte Burns and Allan Schwartzman for new Hope & Dread Extra every Tuesday and Thursday.
For more, follow @artand_media on Instagram / Twitter / LinkedIn / Facebook
Hope & Dread Extra: Tiffany Sia features the artist, filmmaker, and writer Tiffany Sia who recently left Hong Kong for fear of her safety..
Hope & Dread Extra is a series of short, sharp bonus episodes featuring your season favorites from Hope & Dread. Our guests were brimming with additional ideas and extra insights that we just didn’t have room for within the documentary series. But we didn’t want to leave them on the cutting room floor. Join hosts Charlotte Burns and Allan Schwartzman for new Hope & Dread Extra every Tuesday and Thursday.
For more, follow @artand_media on Instagram / Twitter / LinkedIn / Facebook
Hope & Dread Extra: Lord Ed Vaizey brings you more from the former UK culture minister, Lord Vaizey of Didcot, who ran the Department for Culture, Media and Sport from 2010 to 2016 under a Conservative government.
Hope & Dread Extra is a series of short, sharp bonus episodes featuring your season favorites from Hope & Dread. Our guests were brimming with additional ideas and extra insights that we just didn’t have room for within the documentary series. But we didn’t want to leave them on the cutting room floor. Join hosts Charlotte Burns and Allan Schwartzman for new Hope & Dread Extra every Tuesday and Thursday.
For more, follow @artand_media on Instagram / Twitter / LinkedIn / Facebook
Hope & Dread Extra: Max Hollein brings you some highlights from our interview with the Marina Kellen French Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, who talks about his vision for the museum.
Hope & Dread Extra is a series of short, sharp bonus episodes featuring your season favorites from Hope & Dread. Our guests were brimming with additional ideas and extra insights that we just didn’t have room for within the documentary series. But we didn’t want to leave them on the cutting room floor. Join hosts Charlotte Burns and Allan Schwartzman for new Hope & Dread Extra every Tuesday and Thursday.
For more, follow @artand_media on Instagram / Twitter / LinkedIn / Facebook
Hope & Dread Extra: Michael Armitage focuses on a conversation with artist Michael Armitage, who recently founded the Nairobi Contemporary Arts Institute (NCAI).
Hope & Dread Extra is a series of short, sharp bonus episodes featuring your season favorites from Hope & Dread. Our guests were brimming with additional ideas and extra insights that we just didn’t have room for within the documentary series. But we didn’t want to leave them on the cutting room floor. Join hosts Charlotte Burns and Allan Schwartzman for new Hope & Dread Extra every Tuesday and Thursday.
For more, follow @artand_media on Instagram / Twitter / LinkedIn / Facebook
Hope & Dread Extra: Hamza Walker brings you more from a season favorite—Hamza Walker, the director of LAXART in Los Angeles—who talks about an exhibition of decommissioned Confederate monuments he is co-organizing with artist Kara Walker.
Hope & Dread Extra is a series of short, sharp bonus episodes featuring your season favorites from Hope & Dread. Our guests were brimming with additional ideas and extra insights that we just didn’t have room for within the documentary series. But we didn’t want to leave them on the cutting room floor. Join hosts Charlotte Burns and Allan Schwartzman for new Hope & Dread Extra every Tuesday and Thursday.
For more, follow @artand_media on Instagram / Twitter / LinkedIn / Facebook
Hope & Dread Extra: Amy Webb brings you more from the futurist Amy Webb, founder and CEO of the Future Today Institute and author of The Genesis Machine: Our Quest to Rewrite Life in the Age of Synthetic Biology.
Hope & Dread Extra is a series of short, sharp bonus episodes featuring your season favorites from Hope & Dread. Our guests were brimming with additional ideas and extra insights that we just didn’t have room for within the documentary series. But we didn’t want to leave them on the cutting room floor. Join hosts Charlotte Burns and Allan Schwartzman for new Hope & Dread Extra every Tuesday and Thursday.
For more, follow @artand_media on Instagram / Twitter / LinkedIn / Facebook
For the final episode, hosts Charlotte Burns and Allan Schwartzman are joined by the series’ editorial advisors, Deana Haggag, Mia Locks and Jay Sanders. They’ll highlight key discoveries and plot some of the changes that have occurred during production of the programs. Where does power reside now in the art world? What does that mean for broader society? And, of course, in the middle of 2022, do our guests feel inclined toward Hope or Dread? Tune in for more.
Guests: Deana Haggag, Mia Locks, Jay Sanders
As shifts in power scramble the chessboard, how are our guests reacting to the pace of change? Our interviewees—from critics to museum directors, philanthropists to an astrologer—share their tips for dealing with discomfort. The stakes are high: tune in to hear some of the solutions.
New episodes available every other Wednesday.
For more, follow @artand_media on Instagram / Twitter / LinkedIn / Facebook
Guests: Lulani Arquette, Maya Benton, Tim Blum, Roxane Gay, Deana Haggag, Kathy Halbreich, Phyllis Mitz, Dr. Kelli Morgan, Tiffany Sia, Hank Willis Thomas, The Rt Hon Lord Vaizey of Didcot, Hamza Walker and Amy Webb
In the second of two episodes dedicated to the art market, Charlotte Burns turns to her series co-host; the richly experienced art advisor, critic and curator Allan Schwartzman, as he offers his understanding of where the market sits now—and how it may look in the future. Drawing out trends, strands, opportunities and obstacles, this program represents an intimate insight into an ever-fluctuating industry.
New episodes available every other Wednesday.
For more, follow @artand_media on Instagram / Twitter / LinkedIn / Facebook
In the first of two episodes dedicated to the business of art, Charlotte Burns and Allan Schwartzman trace the changing contours of an industry defined by dealmaking. Power within the art trade is held by a few key players and yet, the art market shapes the lives and livelihoods of almost everyone working in art.
In an art world that likes to season the cold logic of commodities trading with the language of inclusion, passion and creation, we speak to dealers, artists and futurologists to discover how — from the local to the global, from private passions to international politics and economics—everything is touched by the market.
Tune in to find out.
Guests: Tim Blum, Roxane Gay, Melanie Gerlis, Kathy Halbreich, Pam Kramlich, Larry Marx and Issy Wood