Museum Confidential
Museum Confidential is a behind-the-scenes look at museums hosted by Jeff Martin. The show is a co-production of Philbrook Museum of Art and Public Radio Tulsa. New episodes every two weeks.
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Art Fair Diaries: Mexico City
04/13/2024
Art Fair Diaries: Mexico City
For this new installment in our Art Fair Diaries series, Philbrook Chief Curator (and occasional roving Museum Confidential correspondent) Kate Green reports from the biggest art fair in one of the world's biggest cities. Welcome to Mexico City.
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On Sovereign Futures
03/30/2024
On Sovereign Futures
Our guest is curator Allison Glenn; we previously spoke to Glenn a few years ago about her Breonna Taylor-inspired show, "Promise, Witness, Remembrance." Now Glenn is curating a multi-venue, multi-day, multi-focused convening titled Sovereign Futures, which runs April 4th through the 7th. Per the Sovereign Futures website, various "artist-led projects will explore themes of sovereignty through...food, land, speculative futures, and histories of the place that is now called Oklahoma."
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The Insider
03/15/2024
The Insider
Our guest is acclaimed journalist Bianca Bosker, who tells us that -- when it comes to which topics she chooses to investigate and cover -- she's "obsessed with obsession." Bosker's latest book is "Get the Picture: A Mind-Bending Journey among the Inspired Artists and Obsessive Art Fiends Who Taught Me How to See." She was a security guard at the Guggenheim. She worked in a commercial gallery. She was a studio assistant to an emerging artist. What Hunter S. Thompson did with the Hell's Angels, Bosker does with Art History majors.
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The Future of Museum Funding?
02/23/2024
The Future of Museum Funding?
A recent headline in The New York Times read: To Save Museums, Treat Them Like Highways. There’s no shortage of conversations about museum funding models. But after reading this one, arguing that museums should be thought of more like infrastructure, it was time for another. On this episode we speak to one of the piece’s co-writers, Laura Raicovich, former Executive Director of New York’s Queens Museum.
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Live in Reno with Cannupa Hanska Luger
02/09/2024
Live in Reno with Cannupa Hanska Luger
The Nevada Museum of Art invited us out for a live show in Reno with acclaimed indigenous artist Cannupa Hanska Luger. Futurism and speculative fiction are just two of many terms that describe Luger’s unforgettable work and the special exhibition, SPEECHLESS. On this episode we chat with Luger and Apsara DiQuinzio, the Museum’s Senior Curator of Contemporary Art.
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Film & Fashion: Killers of the Flower Moon
01/26/2024
Film & Fashion: Killers of the Flower Moon
Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon just nabbed ten Oscar nominations, including one for Costume Design. But how do you authentically take people back to the Osage Nation of the 1920’s? How do you get every detail just right? Meet Julie O’Keefe, the Osage Nation wardrobe consultant hired to do just that.
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Edward Hopper Abides
01/12/2024
Edward Hopper Abides
On our first episode of 2024, we chat with the co-directors of an acclaimed new PBS American Masters documentary on legendary New York painter, Edward Hopper. “Hopper: An American Love Story” has it all; lonely people in rooms, quiet city streets, difficult relationships, and plenty of secrets revealed.
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Art Basel Miami Beach: A Diary
12/15/2023
Art Basel Miami Beach: A Diary
Art Basel Miami Beach, the biggest international modern/contemporary art fair in North America, took place earlier this month; thousands of art dealers, artists, collectors, curators, and art aficionados showed up. Kate Green, the Chief Curator & Nancy E. Meinig Curator of Modern & Contemporary Art at Philbrook Museum of Art, was among those attending this very active and multifaceted annual event (or series of events). At our request, Green kept an audio diary while she was there. She joins us on MC to share her diary and discuss this gala expo more generally.
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Sharon Stone
12/01/2023
Sharon Stone
You probably know Sharon Stone the actress. It’s time you get to know Sharon Stone the ARTIST. Over the past few years, the Oscar nominee has turned painting into a dedicated daily practice. On this episode we talk about inspiration, early museum experiences, a new exhibition, and so much more.
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Impossible Music
11/10/2023
Impossible Music
We travel to Pittsburgh’s Miller Institute of Contemporary Art (Carnegie Mellon University) for the special exhibition, IMPOSSIBLE MUSIC, a fascinating collection of sounds, scores, sculptures, video, live performances, and more. First up we have a big picture chat with the ICA’s Director, Elizabeth Chodos before a deeper dive with acclaimed curator Candice Hopkins and Pulitzer Prize-winning artist/composer, Raven Chacon. IMPOSSIBLE MUSIC runs through December 10.
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Trade & Transformation
10/27/2023
Trade & Transformation
Every object holds a story. That’s the idea behind the thought-provoking new Philbrook exhibition, TRADE & TRANSFORMATION. Curator Kalyn Fay Barnoski (Cherokee Nation enrollee, Muscogee descent) originated and organized the exhibition. On this episode she joins us to chat about how she came to create it. Trade & Transformation is on view through December 30. Details at Philbrook.org.
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Live in Iowa: Words & Pictures
10/13/2023
Live in Iowa: Words & Pictures
In 2008, a catastrophic flood shut down the art museum on the University of Iowa campus. 15 years later, the museum has finally reopened with a new building, new name (The Stanley), and a new catalog created in partnership with the legendary Iowa Writer’s Workshop. They invited us up to chat about all of it.
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Scorsese, Songs, and More with Randall Poster
09/22/2023
Scorsese, Songs, and More with Randall Poster
From time to time we explore the question, “what is a curator?” For the past 30 years, Randall Poster has been searching for, securing rights for, and working alongside directors to find the perfect moment for music in countless films. The official job title is Music Supervisor. It could easily be called “Music Curator.” In 2023 alone, his slate includes Wes Anderson’s “Asteroid City,” Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla,” and Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon.”
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Erasing History
09/08/2023
Erasing History
Video journalist Alexandra Eaton of The New York Times joins us to share an unforgettable story that begins with a painting created in 1837 New Orleans. It depicts a well-to-do family’s three children and a Black enslaved child named Bélizaire. Decades later, Bélizaire was removed from the portrait. Experts have restored the work to its original state, revealing the enslaved youth who had been painted out of history. It goes on display this fall at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.
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Summer Vacation to “Dalíland”
07/21/2023
Summer Vacation to “Dalíland”
In the new biopic, Dalíland, acclaimed director Mary Harron give us a glimpse into the Salvador Dalí’s later years in 70s New York City via the immense talents of Academy Award-winner, Sir Ben Kingsley. From her look at attempted assassin Valerie Solanas in I Shot Andy Warhol to the murderous broker Patrick Bateman in American Psycho, Harron has always been attracted to infamous, challenging, and to put it lightly, difficult people. The film is now on demand now wherever you watch movies. On our special summer episode we chat with Harron about Dalíland and much more.
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Live from Hawaii
05/26/2023
Live from Hawaii
For our Season 7 finale, we travel to the Honolulu Museum of Art (HoMA) to chat with an architect and a neurologist about the intersections of art, science, and nature.
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Preserving the Digital World
05/13/2023
Preserving the Digital World
With more and more of our lives now being lived online -- and with more and more of our stuff existing only in the cloud -- how best should we preserve art...and culture...and everything else worth saving? On this go-round of Museum Confidential, we speak with Richard Rinehart, the Director of the Samek Art Gallery at Bucknell University. He's also the co-author of an interesting new book titled "Re-Collection: Art, New Media, and Social Memory."
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Life in the Archives
04/28/2023
Life in the Archives
On this edition of MC, we've got mad props for all the archivists and librarians in the house. The stewardship that these professionals bring to MuseumLand is as multifaceted as it is vital: caretaking, cataloging, researching, locating, documenting, preserving, updating, etc. Our guest is Saige Blanchard, the Library and Collection Information Specialist at Philbrook. She also tells us about a new rare book exhibit that just opened.
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The Art of the Record Store
04/19/2023
The Art of the Record Store
Founded by artist Theaster Gates, the Rebuild Foundation has been transforming buildings and neighborhoods on the South Side of Chicago since 2009 with art projects, community gathering spaces, small businesses, and more. Their latest venture is a vinyl shop called Miyagi Records. On this episode we do a little crate digging with the project leaders, Nigel Ridgeway and Marco Jacobo.
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Sir Roger Deakins & James Deakins
03/24/2023
Sir Roger Deakins & James Deakins
This episode offers a career-spanning chat with Oscar-winning cinematographer, Sir Roger Deakins, and his wife/longtime collaborator, James Deakins. Known for his collaborations with Coen brothers (Fargo), Sam Mendes (1917), and Denis Villeneuve (Blade Runner 2049), Deakins began his life in film as a still photographer. He published his first-ever book of photographs, "Byways," in late 2021. Many of those photos (alongside unseen works) are now on view in Tulsa at the recently-opened photography gallery, The Hulett Collection. On view through April 29.
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Rembrandt to Monet
03/10/2023
Rembrandt to Monet
Museums rarely allow their most beloved works to travel. But Omaha’s Joslyn Art Museum is under renovation. An opportunity arose. Now through May 28, Philbrook presents 500 years of European treasures from that acclaimed collection. Featuring paintings by the likes of Rembrandt, Monet, El Greco, Titian, and Renoir, there’s no shortage of star power. Philbrook Curator Susan Green tells us all about it.
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The American South...at the Royal Academy of Arts
02/24/2023
The American South...at the Royal Academy of Arts
London's Royal Academy of Arts will soon open a special exhibition titled, SOULS GROWN DEEP LIKE RIVERS: BLACK ARTISTS FROM THE AMERICAN SOUTH. Created in partnership with the Souls Grown Deep Foundation in Atlanta, the exhibit will showcase 60+ works by notable Black artists over the last century. We speak with the curator of this show, Raina Lampkins-Fielder.
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The Value of Art
02/10/2023
The Value of Art
What is the “art market?” A decade ago, Michael Findlay published “The Value of Art” to explore this very question. But the world has changed in many ways since the book’s initial release. A global pandemic, MeToo, Black Lives Matter, crypto currency, and other factors have impacted how people and institutions are buying/selling art. Michael has just released a new, updated edition. Much to discuss.
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Jeffrey Gibson
01/27/2023
Jeffrey Gibson
A work by Mississippi Choctaw/Cherokee artist Jeffrey Gibson is instantly recognizable. This is even more impressive given the variety of his output. He paints, sculpts, repurposes, re-contextualizes, creates performances, and more. On this episode we chat with Gibson about his past, his work, and a current exhibition at the Aspen Art Museum called, “The Spirits are Laughing.”
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Van Gogh in America
01/13/2023
Van Gogh in America
A century ago, the Detroit Institute of Arts became the first U.S. museum to purchase a painting by Vincent van Gogh. Now they’re hosting America’s largest Van Gogh exhibition in a generation. On this episode we chat with DIA curator Jill Shaw about this massive undertaking.
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Art, Artists, and LP Covers: An Extended Chit-Chat
12/30/2022
Art, Artists, and LP Covers: An Extended Chit-Chat
MC is closing down 2022 with a one-hour special -- a breezy, somewhat geeky, opinionated, and taped-live-in-the-studio conversation between host Jeff Martin and producer Scott Gregory. The discussion topic is outstanding LP covers as rendered by known and/or notable artists. Kind of a long title, of course, but you get the idea -- and it's a pretty fun listen. With a few tangents, yes, but with lots of tasty music clips as well. Kick back, relax, and turn it up.
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Painting Michelle Obama
12/16/2022
Painting Michelle Obama
Acclaimed artist Sharon Sprung had to wait years before she could tell the world that she was commissioned to paint Michelle Obama’s official White House portrait. On this episode we chat with Sprung from her Brooklyn studio about painting, patience, and what’s it’s like to have a First Lady drop by.
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Sneaker Art at 20
12/02/2022
Sneaker Art at 20
On this episode we get a few kicks with British artist Dave White who pioneered the sneaker art movement 20 years ago. His portraits of popular shoes led to collaborations with Nike, Jordan, and countless other brands. But Dave is no mere “sneakerhead.” His recent work is more concerned with the ground we stand on than the things we stand in.
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Hilton Als on Joan Didion
11/11/2022
Hilton Als on Joan Didion
Well before Joan Didion’s death in December 2021, acclaimed writer and New Yorker magazine contributor Hilton Als was hard at work on a show for LA’s Hammer Museum. But how can one exhibition grapple with Didion’s big, uniquely American life? This episode explores that and much more. “Joan Didion: What She Means” runs through February 19, 2023.
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Special Report: Hurricanes and Museums
10/28/2022
Special Report: Hurricanes and Museums
With climate change and more frequent weather events, what does the future hold for coastal museums? On this special episode we speak with Courtney McNeil, Director and Chief Curator at the Baker Museum in Naples, Florida. This conversation was recorded in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Ian.
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