Arts in America

006 - An Essential City with Sabrina Avilés

Sabrina Avilés is an award-winning independent filmmaker, festival director, and flamenco dancer. Her latest documentary is Chelsea: An Essential City.

In this episode:

• How Chelsea, Massachusetts became America's "essential city."
• How the pandemic has opened up new opportunities to take dance classes from some of the world's best flamenco artists.
• Why brown lives are an essential part of #BlackLivesMatter.

005 - Healing the Healers with KJ Nasrul

KJ Nasrul is a musician, psychotherapist, and founder of Heal the Healers, a program that creates a space of comfort and solace for those who help others.

In this episode:

• Why people who are charged with caring for others are terrible at caring for themselves.
• How the #BlackLivesMatter movement allowed KJ to connect to her identity as a transracial adoptee.
• Why she has only now, at age 40, finally decided to start playing piano in front of people.

004 - How the Arts Will Save America

In this episode: As we approach the 2020 election, host Adam Roberts shares his 2017 TEDx talk "How the Arts Will Save America," given a year after the 2016 election, and his thoughts on how its message lands today.

003 - Something Other with Jason Wiser

Jason Wiser is a multifaceted artist, writer, 3D animator, and really big thinker with near limitless energy who teaches at many of Boston's top colleges.

In this episode:

• How the pandemic has created enormous challenges, but also unexpected opportunities.
• How a creepy comic book story can pave the way for inclusion.
• Why the people creating games and animation need to be diverse if they want to attract a diverse audience.

002 - A World of Abundance with Candelaria Silva-Collins

Candelaria Silva-Collins connects arts and culture to community and community to arts and culture. She leads the Huntington Theatre Company's Community Membership program, making the arts accessible to audiences of any income level.

In this episode:

• Why works by artists of color are subject to cultural pimping.
• Why theaters need to engage BIPOC communities for more than just butts in seats.
• Why maybe we don't need to do Shakespeare for the next ten years.