Art Is Awesome with Emily Wilson

00:16:58

Donna Personna - Playwright, Photographer, & Activist

Art Is Awesome with Emily Wilson ·

2026/09/22

Welcome to Art is Awesome, the show where we talk with an artist or art worker with a connection to the San Francisco Bay Area.Emily & AIA is glad to partner with The Svane Family Foundation's Culture Forward initiative — a $5 million grant program to support arts and culture projects in downtown San Francisco.Today, Emily chats with Donna Personna, a San Francisco-based artist, activist, and 2019 San Francisco Pride Parade grand marshal.Donna talks with Emily about her mixed-media triptych

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00:17:05

Amy Trachtenberg - Multidisciplinary Artist

Art Is Awesome with Emily Wilson ·

2026/09/08

Welcome to Art is Awesome, the show where we talk with an artist or art worker with a connection to the San Francisco Bay Area.About Artist Amy Trachtenberg:Amy Trachtenberg is a multidisciplinary artist whose work includes painting, collage, sculpture, installation, poetry and public projects. Diverse in their scale and material sources, hybrid paintings and objects exist between fiction and abstraction. By bringing what exists in the world into the work, awareness is aroused by the qualities of

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00:18:22

Kelsey Issel - Neon Artist & Culture Forward Director

Art Is Awesome with Emily Wilson ·

2026/08/25

Welcome to Art is Awesome, the show where we talk with an artist or art worker with a connection to the San Francisco Bay Area. Emily & AIA is glad to partner with The Svane Family Foundation's Culture Forward initiative — a $5 million grant program to support arts and culture projects in downtown San Francisco. In the first of episodes, Emily chats with Kelsey Issel, a neon artist and also the Director for the Culture Forward initiative. Kelsey traces her path from organizing the renegade

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00:16:28

Miguel Novelo - Interdisciplinary Artist

Art Is Awesome with Emily Wilson ·

2026/08/11

Welcome to Art is Awesome, the show where we talk with an artist or art worker with a connection to the San Francisco Bay Area. This week, host Emily chats with Miguel Novelo, a multidisciplinary artist from the Yucatan, Mexico, now based in the Bay Area. Miguel's solo exhibition Inframundo is on view at the Institute of Contemporary Art San Jose through August 23rd. Inframundo is a large-scale, immersive installation featuring sculpture, video, and sound. Inspired by the cenotes and caverns of the

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00:17:43

Jonathon Keats - Conceptual Artist & Experimental...

Art Is Awesome with Emily Wilson ·

2026/07/28

Welcome to Art is Awesome, the show where we talk with an artist or art worker with a connection to the San Francisco Bay Area. Today, Emily chats with Jonathon Keats — conceptual artist, experimental philosopher, and writer based in San Francisco. He has sold his thoughts, copyrighted his brain, choreographed a ballet for honeybees, and written six books. He contributes to Art in America, Popular Science, and Wired, and has exhibited at LACMA and Modernism Gallery SF. Jonathon discusses Centuries

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00:17:43

Miguel Arzabe - Painter & Video Artist

Art Is Awesome with Emily Wilson ·

2026/07/14

Welcome to Art is Awesome, the show where we talk with an artist or art worker with a connection to the San Francisco Bay Area. Today, Emily chats with Miguel Arzabe, a engineer turned artist based in Oakland, Ca... About Artist Miguel Arzabe: Miguel Arzabe makes colorful and dynamic abstractions - weavings, paintings, videos. He starts by finding outdated beauty in paper ephemera from art shows, modernist paintings, discarded audio recordings. They are methodically analyzed, deconstructed,

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00:19:45

Paola de la Calle - Multimedia Artist

Art Is Awesome with Emily Wilson ·

2026/06/30

Welcome to Art is Awesome, the show where we talk with an artist or art worker with a connection to the San Francisco Bay Area. This week, Emily welcomes Paola de la Calle, a Colombian American multidisciplinary artist based in San Francisco. Her work spans textiles, ceramics, printmaking, and writing, and often explores themes of immigration, land sovereignty, family memory, and diaspora identity. About Artist Paola de la Calle: Paola de la Calle is a Colombian-American multidisciplinary artist

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00:16:03

Julia Goodman - Multidisciplinary Artist

Art Is Awesome with Emily Wilson ·

2026/06/16

Welcome to Art is Awesome, the show where we talk with an artist or art worker with a connection to the San Francisco Bay Area. This week, Emily Wilson sits down with Julia Goodman, a San Francisco-based artist who makes paper and textiles, as well as paintings and sculptures. They meet on the campus of the California College of the Arts — the last art school in San Francisco, set to close at the end of the 2026–27 school year — where Julia has been teaching. Their conversation covers Julia's

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00:14:44

Abram Jackson - Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco...

Art Is Awesome with Emily Wilson ·

2026/06/02

Welcome to Art is Awesome, the show where we talk with an artist or art worker with a connection to the San Francisco Bay Area. This week, Emily welcomes Abram Jackson, the Director of Interpretation at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, to talk about his work making museum exhibitions more inclusive and equitable. Abram came to the role through an unexpected path — he was a teacher and dean specializing in ethnic studies at the Bay School when a student's mother asked him to review an audio

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00:17:36

Emory Douglas - Revolutionary Artist

Art Is Awesome with Emily Wilson ·

2026/05/19

Welcome to Art is Awesome, the show where we talk with an artist or art worker with a connection to the San Francisco Bay Area. This week, Emily interviews Emory Douglas, the Black Panther Party's Minister of Culture and revolutionary artist. The episode centers on a retrospective of his work, Emory Douglas in Our Lifetime, on view at San Francisco's African American Arts and Culture Complex. About Artist Emory Douglas: The former Minister of Culture and Revolutionary Artist for the Black Panther

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00:15:38

Kara Maria - Painter & Printmaker

Art Is Awesome with Emily Wilson ·

2026/04/28

Welcome to Art is Awesome, the show where we talk with an artist or art worker with a connection to the San Francisco Bay Area. This week, Emily chats with Kara Maria, a painter and printmaker based in San Francisco Episode Highlights: Kara discusses her large-scale wood panel print on display at Chase Center in San Francisco, created at Magnolia Editions in Oakland with master printer Tallulah Terrell How a monarch butterfly painting became the starting point — and then had to be modified — for

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00:14:46

Chad Hasegawa - Painter

Art Is Awesome with Emily Wilson ·

2026/04/14

Welcome to Art is Awesome, the show where we talk with an artist or art worker with a connection to the San Francisco Bay Area. In this episode, Emily talks with San Francisco based artist Chad Hasegawa, known for his minimalist, bold abstract style. Chad grew up in Hawaii, moved to San Francisco inspired by the Mission School art movement, and studied advertising at the Academy of Art University before becoming a full-time painter. He discusses how artists like Franz Kline and Mark Rothko shaped

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00:15:55

REPLAY! Remembering Tosha Stimage - Multidisciplanary...

Art Is Awesome with Emily Wilson ·

2026/03/31

Welcome to Art is Awesome, the show where we talk with an artist or art worker with a connection to the San Francisco Bay Area. Today, we are paying tribute and remember Tosha Stimage, who passed away earlier this month. We are revisiting Emily's conversation with Tosha back in 2024, as they discuss her artistic journey, from her childhood experiences with nature to her current projects and inspirations. Emily highlights her creative process, experiences during the pandemic, and her upcoming

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00:18:10

Maria Jenson - SOMArts Executive Director

Art Is Awesome with Emily Wilson ·

2026/03/17

Welcome to Art is Awesome, the show where we talk with an artist or art worker with a connection to the San Francisco Bay Area. Host Emily Wilson sits down with Maria Jenson, executive director of SOMArts Cultural Center in San Francisco. Maria shares her journey from dancer and playwright to arts administrator, including stops at SFMOMA before finding her home at SOMArts. The conversation covers Cece Carpio's solo exhibition Tabi Tabi Po: Come Out with the Spirits, You Are Welcome Here, featuring

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00:16:27

Joe Cerda - Painter & Tattoo Artist

Art Is Awesome with Emily Wilson ·

2026/03/03

Welcome to Art is Awesome, the show where we talk with an artist or art worker with a connection to the San Francisco Bay Area. Today, Emily chats with Richmond-based artist Joe Cerda about his multifaceted creative practice spanning tattoo art, painting, and sculpture. Key Topics: Joe's earliest artistic memories, including his godfather teaching him to draw a boat at age four His self-taught journey into tattooing, starting with hand-poked tattoos and a homemade machine built from a Walkman

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00:16:19

Kristine Mays - Wire Sculptor

Art Is Awesome with Emily Wilson ·

2026/02/17

Welcome to Art is Awesome, the show where we talk with an artist or art worker with a connection to the San Francisco Bay Area. Today, Emily features San Francisco wire sculptor Kristine Mays discussing her politically charged exhibition "State of the Union" at Modernism Gallery. Created in response to the uncertainty and division at the beginning of 2025, the show explores themes of American identity, social justice, and individual responsibility through intricate wire sculptures.Kristine walks

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00:15:10

Adriene Busch - Weaver

Art Is Awesome with Emily Wilson ·

2026/02/03

Welcome to Art is Awesome, the show where we talk with an artist or art worker with a connection to the San Francisco Bay Area. In this week's Episode, Emily features Adriene Busch, a Bay Area fiber artist and weaver whose exhibition "Of Water" is currently on display at M Stark Gallery in Half Moon Bay. They chat at Adriene's home studio and discuss her artistic journey and creative process.Adriene grew up in Arizona making art but studied business in college, considering art impractical as a

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00:15:12

Christine Wong Yap - Visual Artist & Social Practitioner

Art Is Awesome with Emily Wilson ·

2026/01/20

Welcome to Art is Awesome, the show where we talk with an artist or art worker with a connection to the San Francisco Bay Area. Today, Emily chats with Christine Wong Yap, a visual artist working in printmaking, social practice, and community-based art.Christine discusses her latest project "Bay Windows/Ventanas," a trilingual public art installation featuring lanterns created with Chinese-speaking women in Chinatown and Spanish-speaking women in the Mission District. The lanterns, displayed at five

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00:20:14

Replay! Tucker Nichols - Artist & Illustrator

Art Is Awesome with Emily Wilson ·

2026/01/06

Welcome to Art is Awesome, the show where we talk with an artist or art worker with a connection to the San Francisco Bay Area. Happy New Year! Cheers to a great 2026! In today's Episode, we continue our Winter Hiatus with a Replay of EP27 from June of 2024, with Illustrator Tucker Nichols... Emily chats with NorCal based artist Tucker Nichols as he shares stories about his spontaneous move to Taiwan, where he immersed himself in a vibrant artistic community. He discusses his extensive body of work,

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00:15:45

REPLAY! Saif Azzuz - Libyan-Yurok Artist

Art Is Awesome with Emily Wilson ·

2025/12/23

Welcome to Art is Awesome, the show where we talk with an artist or art worker with a connection to the San Francisco Bay Area. Today, for our end of the year REPLAY! Episode, we revisit Emily's chat with Pacifica based artist Saif Azouz, discussing his journey in art, inspiration from nature and literature, his current exhibition 'Cost of Living', and his reflections on boundaries and displacement. Saif's experience with art, his use of materials, and his perspectives on creativity and community

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