Michael Findlay is a director of Acquavella Galleries in New York. His career began in 1964, when he became a pioneer of SoHo’s legendary gallery scene, presenting the first solo exhibitions of many then unknown artists who went on to become household names. He is the author of The Value of Art and Seeing Slowly (both published by Prestel). His new book, Portrait of the Art Dealer as a Young Man: New York in the Sixties, is an evocative and exciting journey through the 1960’s New York as an art dealer makes a career of emphasizing the importance of lived experience of art over its pursuit of financial gain, while launching the U.S. careers of some of the most sought-after artists of the late twentieth century. Learn more about the podcast here.
After working for almost a decade in the auction and blue-chip gallery world, Erin Schuppert became the Director of Affordable Art Fair NYC in January 2022. With a mission to spread the joy of collecting art in an accessible and welcoming way, the fair holds two editions annually, in March and September. Each fair hosts over 75 galleries from around the world showcasing over 400 artists. Inspired by her vision to make a positive contribution to the vibrant NYC arts ecosystem, Erin began the Fellowship Program shortly after joining the fair. The Program invests in the long-term growth and success of local emerging galleries, inviting them to exhibit at the fair free of charge over three editions. Erin is also proud to work with local organizations such as Arts Gowanus, Materials for the Arts, FIT, and The Art Therapy Project to create joyful, engaging, and welcoming arts experiences. She holds a BA in Art History from Boston University and an MA in Museum Studies from NYU. Learn more about the podcast here.
Anna Holmes holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with Honours from Queen's University, majoring in Art History and History. While undertaking her undergraduate studies, Anna volunteered and worked at the Agnes Etherington Art Centre, acting as both a Curatorial Assistant and Collections Assistant, enriching her knowledge of research procedures, cataloguing, acquisitions and art handling. What began as a curiosity about the art auction industry developed into a career choice which Anna explored through internships at respected Toronto houses and with further advanced study, Anna pursued a Masters degree in Art, Style and Design, Art World Practice, with Christie's Education in London, England, earning her MLitt degree from the University of Glasgow. Anna's professional background includes fifteen years of experience in the Canadian auction world, working with various Toronto firms and receiving mentorship from recognized experts in the Canadian Art auction industry. When she is not focusing on her professional responsibilities, Anna enjoys keeping current with cultural activities, including the theatre, music, and dance. Among other arts-related organizations, she is a member of the Women's Art Association of Canada. Learn more about Cowley Abbott Auctioneers here. Learn more about the podcast here.
Jenn Goodwin is the Public Programs Curator at Toronto Biennial of Art. Prior to joining the team in April 2023, she worked for the City of Toronto with a focus on Nuit Blanche, for which she was the inaugural programmer and played an integral role in shaping its artistic and cultural identity and evolution. Recently, she was also Lead Programmer on ArtworxTO Programs and Cultural Community Hubs. Jenn is also an artist, choreographer, independent curator, and artistic producer/programmer. Much of her art and producing practice has focused on art in public space, envisioned through a choreographic and feminist lens, while championing artists and communities by way of their art practices. Jenn is a graduate of the Master of Visual Studies – Curatorial Studies Program at the University of Toronto and received the Reesa Greenberg award for Curation. Prior to that, she received a BFA from Concordia University in Contemporary Dance. Learn more about Jenn Goodwin at https://www.jenngoodwin.ca/. Learn more about the podcast at https://curatoronthego.com/podcast/.
Alex Farkas is the founder and gallery director of UGallery. Alex enjoyed a small-town childhood in the old mining town of Jerome, Arizona - there were more ghosts than residents and the arts community thrived. It was his mother's ceramic studio and gallery that first nurtured Alex's taste in art. He spent his early years carving wood sculptures, exploring abandoned buildings, and avoiding the rattlesnakes and centipedes under every rock. At the University of Arizona, Alex loved studying art history and sculpture, and he also enrolled in the Entrepreneurship program. It was here he realized he could combine the two worlds of art and business. After graduating in 2006, Alex launched UGallery using his entire savings. After a few years, he packed up a truck and moved to San Francisco to join its vibrant art market. After almost 15 years in San Francisco, he moved to Amsterdam where he runs the business today. Alex has curated the UGallery portfolio since its inception, hosted booths at the New York Affordable Art Fair for over 8 years, and seen UGallery featured in dozens of publications including the New York Times, Washington Post, and TechCrunch. Learn about UGallery. Learn about the podcast.
Auronda Scalera and Alfredo Cramerotti are a curatorial duo for arts and advanced technologies. They co-direct Multiplicity XXnft, an online platform that curates, publishes and promotes art with a focus on diversity and inclusion. Auronda is a curator and public figure who lives between London, Dubai and the metaverse. She regularly appears on the art and technology conference and summit circuit and is a lecturer at several university courses, as well as working as a curator, advisor, and global ambassador for art and culture. The House of Lords wanted her as expert witness on art, culture and new technologies at the UK Parliament, part of the first evidence session for a Commission on Web3 and the metaverse; SkyTV / ClassCNBC interviewed her among academics, artists and researchers on AI, art and museums; the PlusTate UK institutional network of museums invited her to organise webinars on art and new technologies; She delivered a lecture-performance at the House of Beautiful Business conference in Lisbon in front of 700+ world leaders. During the latest World Economic Forum on Web3 and Metaverse for 100woman x Davos had her as discussant about equity and diversity. Alfredo is the director of Media Majlis museum of art, media and technology at Northwestern University, Qatar. He is president of IKT–International Association Curators of Contemporary Art, chair of the Digital Strategies Committee of AICA–Int’l Association of Art Critics, and advises the KSA Visual Art Commission, UK Government Art Collection, British Council Visual Arts, and the Italian Ministry of Culture. He is a renowned for his work in contemporary art and media, often exploring the intersections of art, technology, and society. He has curated exhibitions and projects worldwide, such as four national pavilions and collateral events at the Venice Art Biennale; Hong Kong Arts Centre; EXPO Chicago, and the biennials Sequences VII in Reykjavik, Iceland and Manifesta 8, Region of Murcia, Spain.
Judith Tatar is a Founder & Creative Director of Tatar Art Projects (TAP) - a global art consulting firm that connects clients to its community through artwork. TAP curates art programs that amplify diverse voices in visual art and its representatives of the communities they serve. Integral to a successful art program; whether hospitality, corporate or public, is that it enriches the experience for the viewer and maximizes return for the clients’ investment by unlocking the value of storytelling through visual art. Learn more about Tatar Art Projects here. Learn more about the podcast and podcast host here.
Svenja Katharina Frisch is an art advisor and curator based in Berlin. She is also a co-founder of POV contemporary - a fusion of curation and advisory aimed to host international invite-only salons to communicate the passion for art and foster a like-minded community. Learn more about Svenja Katharina Frisch at https://www.instagram.com/svenjakatharinafrisch/. Learn more about the podcast and podcast host at https://curatoronthego.com/podcast/.
Carrie Scott is an American/English curator, art historian, TV presenter and art writer living in London. Over the past 16 years she has worked with numerous galleries, businesses, collectors and artists worldwide. While at the University of Washington, Seattle doing a Master’s in Art History, Scott was noted curator of the Hedreen Gallery at Seattle University's Lee Center, and Director of the James Harris Gallery also in Seattle, Washington. While working with James Harris she curated the first solo show of Rashid Johnson’s work outside of Chicago. From there she went on to be Director of Nicole Klagsbrun gallery in New York. In 2009, Scott launched her own business Carrie Scott & Partners, an art consultancy and curatorial endeavour that could exist beyond the walls of the traditional gallery. Learn more about Carrie Scott at https://www.carrie-scott.com/. Learn more about the podcast and podcast host at https://curatoronthego.com/podcast/.
Katharine Earnhardt, the founder of Mason Lane Art Advisory, developed an in-depth art market knowledge and aptitude for developing client taste through 15 years of experience in the New York and London art worlds. She has worked at the Museum of Modern Art, Christie’s Inc, and Gurr Johns, conducting extensive research on art value and investment. Katharine has a dual degree in Art History and Economics from Williams College and a Master's in Art Business from Sotheby’s Institute of Art. Known for her approachability, and transparency, Katharine instills trust and confidence in her clients and industry colleagues. Learn more about Katharine Earnhardt here. Learn more about the podcast and podcast host here.
Gemma Rolls-Bentley is a curator, creative consultant & writer who has been at the forefront of contemporary art for nearly two decades. Curating exhibitions and building art collections internationally, her curatorial practice amplifies the work of female and queer artists and provides a platform for art that explores LGBTQIA+ identity. Her debut book Queer Art: From Canvas to Club, and the Spaces Between is being published by Quarto in May 2024. Most recently she curated ‘A Million Candles: Illuminating Queer Love & Life’ at the London Art Fair. In 2023 she curated the group exhibition ‘Dreaming of Home’ at Leslie Lohman Museum of Art in NYC and the Tom of Finland Art & Culture Festival in London. She curated the Brighton Beacon Collection, the largest permanent display of queer art in the UK. Gemma is a visiting lecturer at the Royal College of Art and has taught at numerous institutions including Goldsmiths and Glasgow School of Art. She co-chairs the board of trustees for the charity Queercircle and sits on the Courtauld Association Committee. Learn more about Gemma Rolls-Bentley here. Learn more about the podcast and podcast host here.
Vancouver-based artist Amy Stewart has been drawn to the interconnections of art, play and nature since her childhood in 108-Mile House, British Columbia, where she spent most of her time outdoors. That first northern home continues to dominate much of Amy’s current artistic world. The memories of childhood and nature shape her adult imagination, and they are reflected in her paintings’ rich textures and vibrant tones. Her pieces are often inspired by the feelings that come both from the natural world and from engaging fully in her community and with her loved ones. “I paint how I feel and who I am,” Stewart explains. And that sense of humanity—the private experiences of suffering and celebration—is evoked by her canvases’ unique explorations of colour, which range from exuberant bursts of brightness to contemplative reflections on darkness. Learn more about the artist here. Learn more about the podcast here.
Canadian artist Bibiana Hooper lives in the beautiful Okanagan, British Columbia. She moved with her family from the city a decade ago to live in the country with expansive views of vineyards, orchards, lakes, mountains and sky. As a self-taught artist, she began exploring her skills in 2018 when she joined a collective art gallery. Bibiana's art practice is all about capturing the beauty of flowers and landscapes through a contemporary and poetic brush stroke. Her passion for nature shines through her with the flow and organic elements in everything she creates. Bibiana paints in her home studio and she's also an integral part of the Naramata Art Group. You can find her artwork hanging in galleries and private homes all around the world. Learn more about the artist here. Learn more abou thte podcast here.
Billie Rae Busby is an award-winning contemporary artist who uses a precise hard-edge painting technique and colour theory to reinvent her surroundings. Her abstract landscape paintings evoke wonder and possibility by depicting mood, memory, movement and time. Based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, she is inspired by both the complexity of urban architecture and the vast rural landscape. She strives to interpret ordinary places in a fresh, new context. Learn more about the artist here. Learn more about the podcast here.
Claire Crawford (née Gaulin-Brown) is an artist and illustrator living and working in San Francisco, California. Claire uses surrealism and abstract tools to inquire about nature culture dualism as a place to imagine a post anthropocentric world. Learn more abou the artist here. Learn more about the podcast here.
Andrea Soos is well known for her playful abstractions that combine creative mark-making, patterning, and gestural application of colour. Working with a fresh modern palette, Soos’ paintings allow the viewer to freely journey around the canvas, enjoying the twists and turns of her engaging compositions. Although she may not know the outcome of the piece when she begins, the artwork evolves as a visceral and therapeutic practice, driven by music and song lyrics. Viewers of Soos’ work connect with the many visual entry-points and feel at liberty to apply their own experiences and history to the marks on the canvas. Soos lives and works in Victoria, British Columbia, where she also trained for her BFA. Soos’ work has been collected across Canada and in the USA, and works to release new series’ of artwork year-round. Learn more about the artist. Learn more about the podcast.
Jodi Miller is a contemporary Canadian impressionist painter whose landscapes explore our sense of belonging and how we interact with our natural environment. She is a veteran of the Royal Canadian Air Force, following a 20 year career as an aerospace engineer working in aircraft maintenance and project management. Jodi pivoted to become a full-time artist in 2015, returning to the prairies where she grew up on a family farm. She now finds inspiration in the vast land and skies. Jodi paints in response to her time in nature and her work represents optimism where the artist sees metaphorical life journeys in the many paths carved out in nature. Jodi’s work has been recognized for “capturing Canadian identity through landscape” and she has been named one of “28 Contemporary Canadian Artists You Need to Know” by Create Magazine. Her work has been requested at shows across Canada and is held in private collections world-wide. Learn more about Jodi Miller here. Learn more about the podcast here.
Jennifer L Mohr is an acrylic and mixed media painter living and creating in Airdrie, Alberta, Canada (the traditional territories of the Treaty 7 Nations in Southern Alberta, and the Métis Nation of Alberta, Region 3). She began exploring visual arts in early childhood, later earning her B.F.A. in painting at the University of Saskatchewan in 2003. With a nostalgic palette, expressive, layered marks, and lingering, ground-level perspective, Jennifer’s paintings place the viewer within the landscape, allowing them to experience the beauty and complexity of self-reflection within nature. Her paintings are part of private collections across the globe and have been featured in publications, including Create! Magazine, The Jealous Curator blog, and the popular website, My Modern Met. Learn more about the artist here. Learn more about the podcast here.
Andrew Wang is a Toronto based mixed media artist. He has a non-traditional background, coming from two decades in engineering and business. He left this career 6 years ago to pursue art and has developed into a professional artist showing in galleries, art fairs and public art installations. Andrew uses meticulously folded origami objects to create large scale assemblages. He tells stories of individual journeys and migrations of previous generations. With his unique background, he draws on science and mathematics for his compositions and metaphors. Fluid dynamics, planetary motion and weather patterns are often seen in his work. Learn more about the artist. Learn more about the podcast. I also want to share a new exciting art podcast called In/Tension. In/Tension, produced by Toronto-based The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, is a limited podcast series of intimate, thought-provoking and accessible conversations with emerging, mid-career, and established contemporary visual artists across Canada. Detailing the ideas, inspirations and experiences that fuel their art, In/Tension aims to shed light on the breadth of the Canadian contemporary art scene and provide a platform for diverse artistic voices to dive deep into their creative intentions. Learn more here.
Cobie Cruz was born in Manila, Philippines into a family of artists. He started his career in advertising as an art director, then became a director of television commercials before starting to paint professionally. Cruz participated in several group and solo exhibitions before emigrating with his family to Canada in 2005. Cobie Cruz's paintings are an exploration of composition, color and texture. The bold and determined brushstrokes are created by both intention and spontaneity and reflect his interpretation of the world around him. Cruz is curently represented by Canvas Gallery, Petroff Gallery, Arta Gallery in Toronto and Galerie Bloom in Montreal. Learn more about Cobie Cruz here. I want to share a new exciting art podcast that will be premiering next week, called In/Tension. In/Tension, produced by Toronto-based The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, is a limited podcast series of intimate, thought-provoking and accessible conversations with emerging, mid-career, and established contemporary visual artists across Canada. Detailing the ideas, inspirations and experiences that fuel their art, In/Tension aims to shed light on the breadth of the Canadian contemporary art scene and provide a platform for diverse artistic voices to dive deep into their creative intentions. Learn more here. Learn more about the podcast here.