ARTMATTERS: The Podcast for Artists
ARTMATTERS is an intimate, bi-weekly podcast featuring in-studio conversations between host Isaac Mann and professional
artists from around the world. Now in its second season with over 55 episodes, the show has become a vital resource for the
contemporary art community, exploring everything from technical practices and daily studio insights to career advice, creative
blocks, and the emotional realities of making art.
Host Isaac Mann brings both the perspective of a working artist and the curiosity of a thoughtful interviewer to each conversation,
creating a space where artists can discuss not just their techniques and influences, but also the vulnerable aspects of creative life-
hope, depression, expectation, success, and failure.
Whether exploring technical processes, relationship dynamics, or tips for a healthier practice, ARTMATTERS offers
both emerging and established artists a rare glimpse into the real experiences behind successful creative careers.
ARTMATTERS: The Podcast for Artists
#80 Spectacular! Leo Ambrosio, ARTMATTERS' Youngest Guest (Bonus Episode)
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Welcome back to a very special episode of ARTMATTERS: The Podcast for Artists.
This BONUS mini episode celebrates Episode #80 of the Pod - and features a very special guest. The youngest one in ARTMATTERS history, in fact.
Before we begin, I want to take a moment to say thank you. To everyone who's listened, shared the show, supported on Patreon, and to all the artists and friends who kept telling me to keep going over these past four years. Because projects like this are funny. They don't come with obvious signs that they're working. There's no paycheck. And because it takes so much time, out of my own studio practice and out of the time artists generously give me, there have definitely been moments where I've had to ask myself not whether I believe in it, but whether the value is worth what it costs everyone involved. And whenever I've hit those moments, there have always been people who reminded me that these conversations matter. Thank you.
Since we're hitting 80 this week I'll also mention that incorporating video into this project has definitely added to the overhead and time the show requires. So in the spirit of an NPR pledge drive, if you've been here a while and you're in a position to support, becoming a patron or making a one-time donation would mean a lot. I want to keep this show listener supported and ad-free as long as I can so if you'd like to help, that's the best way to do it.
My guest today is Leo Ambrosio. Leo is eleven years old, going into the sixth grade, and he recently exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum. It began with a program called the Basquiat Project.
The Basquiat Project is an arts education program developed by the Brooklyn Nets in partnership with the New York City Department of Education. It ran in fifty Brooklyn middle and high schools, asking students to make work about bullying, anxiety, and how you move through it. Out of everyone who submitted, about a hundred pieces made it into the show at the Brooklyn Museum.
Leo was one of them.
For today’s episode, Leo and his mom joined me in my Bushwick studio. Leo got his hands dirty and helped me prepare some new paintings, then we sat down with the mics and had this conversation. We talk about Leo’s mixed media painting that was selected for the Basquiat Project, about finishing a painting and second guessing yourself, about Frida Kahlo and the Knicks trophy and drawing hands and art camp.
Enjoy the episode!