Podcast
About Art
Hosted by Heidi Zuckerman · EN
Heidi Zuckerman is a globally recognized voice in contemporary art and a passionate believer in how art can make life more better. On her podcast About Art, she has real, inspiring conversations with people she finds interesting—artists, collectors, creatives, and more—about their lives, their values, and why art matters. It’s about living artfully, seeing differently, and finding joy and connection through art—wherever you are on your art journey.
22episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Episode 217: Transformational, Not Transactional - with Susan Taylor
1w ago00:53:11Tap to summarizeThis week on About Art, Heidi Zuckerman speaks with Susan Taylor, Director of the New Orleans Museum of Art.Since 2010, Susan has led NOMA through a period of transformation, growth, and institutional reflection, expanding the museum’s engagement with artists, audiences, education, and community while helping shape conversations around what museums can and should be today.In this conversation, they discuss leadership, cultural stewardship, community, resilience, contemporary art, public trust, education, New Orleans, nature, and the evolving role of museums in contemporary society.Together they explore the balance between tradition and innovation, the importance of local culture within global conversations, intergenerational engagement, the relationship between art and public space, and the idea that museums should be transformational rather than transactional.The conversation also touches on Hurricane Katrina, COVID, the NOMA sculpture garden, creative aging, spirit photography, Louisiana landscape painting, and the ways institutions can create spaces for connection, reflection, and belonging.A thoughtful and expansive conversation about museums, leadership, and the role art plays in shaping civic and cultural life.
Transcribe →Episode 216: “The Knowledge Is Waiting for Us” - with Anna-Maria von Bonsdorff
2w ago00:50:48Tap to summarizeAnna-Maria is the Director of the Ateneum Art Museum in Helsinki, part of the Finnish National Gallery and one of the leading institutions dedicated to Finnish art from the 19th century to today. Previously the museum’s chief curator, she has organized major international exhibitions and is known for her scholarship on Nordic art, women artists, symbolism, and cultural history.In this conversation, they discuss museums, scholarship, curatorial practice, silence, attention, accessibility, and the evolving role of cultural institutions. Together they explore how art history is shaped, who gets remembered, the importance of networks and mentorship, and the responsibility museums have in creating meaningful dialogue between historical works and contemporary audiences.The conversation also touches on Helen Schjerfbeck, exhibition making, Nordic identity, women artists, esotericism, and the ways art connects knowledge with something more intuitive, emotional, and human.A thoughtful and expansive conversation about art, perception, and cultural memory.
Transcribe →Episode 215: About Art: Your Questions Answered
3w ago00:31:53Tap to summarizeThis week on About Art, Heidi Zuckerman answers questions submitted by listeners.Together, the questions became a conversation about creativity, collecting, burnout, beauty, confidence, museums, meaning, and how to live a more artful life.Some questions are practical. Some are philosophical. Some are deeply personal.This episode reflects the curiosity, thoughtfulness, and emotional intelligence of the About Art community — and the many ways art shapes how we see, feel, connect, and move through the world.
Transcribe →Episode 214: Art, Survival, and Choosing Joy - with Hank Willis Thomas
4w ago00:41:01Tap to summarizeWhat does it mean to live a meaningful life—and how do we know what truly matters?In this episode of About Art, Heidi Zuckerman is joined by artist Hank Willis Thomas and curator Rujeko Hockley for a deeply personal and expansive conversation about attention, time, and the choices that shape a life.Beginning from a place of reflection—on family, career, illness, and change—they explore how priorities shift over time, what it means to be present, and how we learn to identify what is essential. The conversation moves fluidly between the personal and the universal: parenting, partnership, creative work, and the quiet but profound question of how we want to live.Hank speaks candidly about his recent experience with cancer and how it reshaped his thinking, while Rujeko reflects on turning 40, motherhood, and the evolving balance between ambition and fulfillment.At its core, this is a conversation about perspective—about joy, gratitude, and the possibility of choosing how we move through the world.In this episode, they explore:how life events reshape priorities and perspectivethe relationship between attention and meaningparenting, partnership, and evolving identityart as a reflection of how we livewhy joy may be the most essential form of privilege
Transcribe →Episode 213: Art, Healing, and Following the Truth Within - with Jewel
May 500:56:17Tap to summarizeJewel is a multi-platinum singer-songwriter, poet, and visual artist whose work has reached millions. Over the course of her career, she has continually expanded her creative practice—moving between music, writing, and visual art, with a focus on authenticity, emotional truth, and self-expression.In this conversation, we move beyond any single medium. We talk about what it means to make something honestly—and what happens when you follow that impulse without needing it to make sense.We discuss creativity as a form of inquiry, art as a way of holding and processing experience, and how personal expression can become something shared. We also talk about intuition, storytelling, motherhood, and the role of art as a tool for healing.For Jewel, art began as—and continues to be—something personal, something necessary.This is a conversation about listening closely: to yourself, to your instincts, and to what wants to be made.
Transcribe →Episode 212: What the Art World Reveals About Us - with James Cahill
Apr 2800:54:55Tap to summarizeWhat does it mean to write about the art world from the inside?In this episode of About Art, Heidi Zuckerman is joined by writer and critic James Cahill to discuss his novel The Violet Hour and the psychological complexity of the contemporary art world.Drawing on his experience as both an art historian and gallery insider, Cahill reflects on the strange paradox of the art world—where even those at its center can feel on the periphery. The conversation explores how fiction can illuminate what criticism cannot, allowing for a deeper exploration of character, memory, and emotional truth.They discuss the ways art functions in our lives: as an escape, a mirror, and sometimes a veil. Through stories of artists, collectors, and curators, this episode considers how meaning is constructed—and why it often resists clarity. At its core, this is a conversation about ambiguity, perception, and the enduring power of art to hold complexity.About Art is available wherever you listen to podcasts.
Transcribe →Episode 211: Identity, Perception, and the Art World - with Sarah Hoover
Apr 2101:01:50Tap to summarizeWhat does it mean to be seen—and to see yourself clearly?In this episode of About Art, Heidi Zuckerman speaks with Sarah Hoover about identity, perception, and the space between how we understand ourselves and how others experience us.Their conversation moves fluidly between art and life, exploring visibility, expectation, and the emotional complexity of navigating the art world. Together, they consider what it means to belong, how perception shapes identity, and how moments of reflection can bring clarity.This is a candid and nuanced conversation about the inner life of the art world—and the ways we make meaning within it.
Transcribe →Episode 210: Why Design Belongs to Everyone - with Ben Uyeda
Apr 1401:01:25Tap to summarizeIn this episode of About Art, Heidi Zuckerman speaks with designer, maker, and HomeMade Modern founder Ben Uyeda about access, creativity, and the power of making.After leaving behind a traditional architecture practice and academic career, Ben chose to share design directly with a global audience. His open-source approach has reached more than 500 million people and inspired builds on six continents.Together, they discuss authorship, affordable materials, the difference between creativity and taste, and what happens when people stop seeing themselves only as consumers and start seeing themselves as makers.This is a conversation about design as possibility—and why art matters because happiness does.
Transcribe →Episode 209: The Public Makes the Work Better - with Jeremy Deller
Apr 700:55:17Tap to summarizeIn this episode of About Art, I speak with Jeremy Deller, an artist whose work expands beyond museums into public space, where it is shaped by the people who encounter it.Deller reflects on how he came to understand that art does not need to live inside institutions—and how some of the most meaningful work happens when the public is not just viewing but participating.We discuss processions, music, and collective experience, as well as the unpredictability of working outside traditional spaces. At the center of the conversation is a simple but profound idea: the audience is not separate from the work—they complete it.This episode is about openness, participation, and the power of art to create shared experiences in the world around us.
Transcribe →Episode 208: Feminism, Power, and Why Not All Art Matters - with Judy Chicago
Mar 3100:47:58Tap to summarizeWhat is the role of art today—and does all art matter?In this episode of About Art, I speak with Judy Chicago, a pioneering feminist artist whose work has transformed contemporary art and feminist art history for more than six decades.Best known for The Dinner Party, Chicago has consistently challenged traditional narratives in the art world—bringing women’s experiences, history, and creative labor into focus. Her work spans painting, installation, textiles, performance, and public projects, addressing themes including feminism, power, education, mortality, and environmental change.In this conversation, we discuss:Feminism and the evolution of feminist artPower, courage, and speaking truth in the art worldWhy education is essential for changeThe role of artists in society todayAnd why, in her words, not all art mattersThis episode is a candid and thought-provoking look at what it means to live and work with integrity—and how art can shape the way we understand ourselves and the world around us.Listen to more episodes of About Art for conversations that make art accessible, relevant, and part of everyday life.
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