"checking in with"

Whether I loved what I saw or not, being in this setting felt like entering sacred grounds after being cast out for too long.

The Dallas-based artist and curator of experimental film and new media is off to Cairo to teach for two years! Christina Rees chats with him about the adjunct teaching racket, opportunities for American artists overseas, and how his new city may influence his work.

I recently spoke with a handful of Texas makerspaces to see how shutdowns have affected their spaces, the communities they serve, and the mixed experiences of going fully digital. 

"It takes all of us, but as individuals we need to stand up, open our eyes, be brave and realize this is not the America we should be living in."

Christopher Blay's May 22 video check in with Letitia and Sedrick Huckaby at Huckaby Studios. The artists and educators talked about studio work during the Great Lockdown of 2020, family, and their students.

Houston-based artist Tierney Malone talks to Glasstire about Willie Nelson, the importance of family, and the politics of our current moment. 

Christina Rees talks to Zeke Williams about him contracting COVID-19 in March, about his going to grad school after his art career started, and the essence of getting business done in the art world.

Sterling Allen talks to Christina Rees about the seduction of graphic design, using a parking lot as a gallery, and being a sculptor with a preoccupation with flatness.

Brandon Zech talks with artist Kevin McNamee-Tweed about Austin’s art scene, finding the perfect paintbrush, and the abundance of deadpan humor in his work.

Christina Rees and Emily Peacock chat about Emily discovering her inner painter, how her work takes on the ideas of crisis and emergency, and how much they both miss driving.

Christina Rees and artist Celia Eberle go dark and honest in this chat about postponing projects, how the sky is falling, and a party for the end of the world.

Christina Rees chats with artist Jon Whitfill about his leaving schoolteaching behind, the charm of Lubbock’s art scene, and his scientific attraction to spheres and why he makes them into art.

Christopher Blay and Scott Winterrowd talk about museums having to improvise on the fly, Scott's collection of other artist’s works, and an unusual fact about his painting in the Glasstire auction.

Christopher Blay talks with Brandon Thompson's about his love for art, his disdain for graphic design, and making peace with (and working through) the lockdown.

Christopher Blay chats with Giovanni Valderas about the Moss/Chumley Award winner's connection to his Oak Cliff neighborhood, meteors hurtling toward us, and piñatas and politics.

Elaine Bradford talks to Glasstire about art-inspired poems, the best pandemic TV, and crocheted cacti.  

Christopher Blay talks with San Antonio-based artist Jenelle Esparza about multitasking in the studio, the disproportionate effects of the pandemic across the globe, and how her family's history with the process of labor is in her genes, and her work.

Brandon Zech talks with artist Tommy Gregory about the importance of public art, the intricacies of traditional bronze casting, and planned obsolescence.  

Brandon Zech talks with artist Jules Buck Jones about the best pandemic reads and the wonders of nature. Also featured: an impromptu studio tour.  

"I think we’re all qualified to be astronauts now. We can all go to Mars."