Art is elixir, art carries cultural story that contributes to words
written and not written. Art unites, creates individuality and
community. Art helps heal microscopic splits and wounds as well as
macroscopic explosions and devastations. – carlettajoywalker
…inTerViewviewsaRtistViewsInterviewsviewintERviewViewsInter…
NOW
Wow Wow Wow The Studio Museum in Harlem re-opened in it’s newly built building Saturday, November 15, 2025. As I appreciated the long line of people waiting for admittance—enjoying myself with memory and reminiscence—I felt effervescent, part of the roots and breath of Studio Museum of Harlem. Sweet serendipity had me actually take a long walk through this new Studio Museum in Harlem. What a delight to experience the magnificence I knew would be present—the excitement of familiar artists and works known and new in view. The pop of surprise and engagement with totally unfamiliar artist. The pleasure of the architectural design itself, a quiet work of art meant to showcase art with care, allow for flow of movement from exhibit to exhibit—breath and space for engaging. I started planning my return, eager to absorb the art absent the competing excitement of this grand opening.The enthusiasm and courtesy of the staff engaging with steady streams of people entering and awaiting entry, filling this seven story 82,000 sq ft edifice, was in evidence several hours after the opening and with many hours yet to go. Seeing Thelma Golden on wide and open stairs between floors ascending/descending, in what appeared to me as delight and awareness of the vastness of this moment in the Studio Museum in Harlem story and evolution, was lovely to witness. — Carletta Joy Walker
Art Is Unity ~ ArtTalk
As far back as I can remember being an artist is all I ever really wanted to be. Drawing was my safe place. I had many interests which I always drew about.
A memory I haul out whenever anyone asks me about my art—is of my being in a vacant lot and dragging a stick through the dirt and just reveling at…. Anthony Gonzalez
“The year was 1967 and I was an eight-year-old boy riding the crosstown bus with my mother.
“The bus stopped on Avenue A, and a man with black-rimmed glasses and a big black beard entered alone and sat down in front of us.
“My mother leaned over and whispered in my ear that the man in front of us was a famous poet.
“I didn’t know what to think. What did…?” Eric Drooker
I quit my day job in December of 1991, a couple months after the publication of my first book, Diego. I did not “know” I could quit my job – I just hauled off and did it. It was kind of crazy, I guess, for me to assume I could support myself on royalties and freelance work. But here it is, 32 years later, and…Jonah Winter
I wanted my portraits and figure paintings to create shifting perspectives for the audience so I made them very large. I wondered what it would feel like if the figures in the painting were the viewers and the audience became the ones being looked at? I thought it might relinquish a desire…Ryan Davis
I think of myself as an artist sometimes and to varying degrees.
When I find that what felt like 20 minutes of working on a project was actually 9 hours. When I look at something I did from the perspective of time – sometimes years later – and what I made – the sight or feel of it makes me swoon…Noa Mohlabane
The act of taking a photo brings me back to being young, in Jamaica with my mom and family members. My mom would bring so many disposable cameras and we would take photos everywhere. Now, one of my favorite things to do with her is to look through those photos and relive those memories. With my art, I am hoping…Liz Menzie
At some point in my early teens, my father stopped paying for art supplies, but he would pay for graph paper, so I did a lot of doodling during this period. In high school, when I started doodling, I started to become free of restraints? This became especially true when I saw doodling similar to mine in a museum, although I….Laura Anne Walker
… I used to make purely abstract paintings a long time ago when I was learning to paint. It taught me how to move it around, make large gestures and not be so fussy. They were always side experiments and something I could then bring back into the figurate work I was making at that time. I don’t think I would work in pure abstraction, I’m just not that brave. …Sammy Bennett
Drawing is very important to me and I make studies for all of my paintings unless I’m copying a photograph. I often feel like I can’t get started on painting until I have at least 50% of the idea fleshed out. It gives me more confidence when approaching a new painting and it also…Brittany Hayden
I am an artist. But growing up, I didn’t know any artists; I didn’t think “being an artist” was even an actual occupation. I certainly didn’t have any role models or guidance in that area. It was only in college that I took an art class as an elective and learned that it was considered a profession. That’s when I decided I was going to pursue it, and that I would… Yasmeen Abdallah
The term “artist” is so weighted now, I’d rather just view someone as an artist if they’ve chosen to make art of some kind. The rest is just categorization of monetary success or professional commitment, differentiating between fine and commercial art or lowbrow vs highbrow—but sure, I think of myself as an artist. Currently I’m working on pieces that engage directly with the work of other artists, namely John Baldessari and Robert Ryman. Engaging directly with existing art is … Michael Boring
Notice…
Studio Museum in Harlem: https://www.studiomuseum.org/
ABC No Rio: http://www.abcnorio.org/
NOMA: Northern Manhattan Arts Community: https://www.nomaanyc.org/events/thegramuptown/
El Museo del Barrio: https://www.elmuseo.org/
ChaShaMa – – https://chashama.org
Urban Glass – https://urbanglass.org
New Museum – https://www.newmuseum.org/exhibition
Half Gallery – https://halfgallery.com/
Lyles & King – https://lylesandking.com/
…artists are just reflective citizens and hopefully what they make sort of captures the time and if you get an audience you get something people can think about. – JS
The ArtTalk Conversation …I’m interested in heirlooms, keepsakes, mementos, but as equally as fascinated by the materials deemed unworthy of precious hood. -YA
…In the creative atmosphere very little is unorthodox. There is balance, harmony, color and tone sensibility form evolved out of creative soup content: content being shaped by material substance…i am Art Is the Unity. – CJW
