The Truth In This Art: Stories That Matter

Artist and Arts in Health Specialist Zoë Lintzeris joins the podcast.  

Lintzeris shares how life in Baltimore and beyond informs her visual art practice. Lintzeris' work explores themes of love, loss, and resistance within both urban and rural settings. 

Lintzeris discusses how current events shape her work, and how art helps her process personal and collective emotions. She talks about using photography and painting as too...

Aspiring podcaster and artist M’Balou Camara interviews me for a special Maryland Art Summit 2025 recording.

M’Balou is a former student, current colleague, and emerging podcaster preparing to launch “The Heart Reflex,” highlighting voices of the African diaspora in the arts.

Our conversation—recorded live at Prince George’s Community College—explores our journey from a classroom connection at UMBC to ongoing collaboration, ...

Artist, poet, and climate justice advocate Neha Misra joins The Truth In This Art podcast. 

Misra shares how growing up in India, studying physics, and her cultural roots shape her creative work. Misra's art blends visual art, poetry, and climate justice activism. 

Misra discusses how reclaiming creativity helped her navigate periods of loss and anxiety. Misra shares her belief in art as an essential force for healing, resil...

Artist Kiara-Maribel Rivera joins the podcast. In this conversation, Rivera reflects on how her family’s migration and history shaped her identity and her creative work. She shares how her mother’s careful habit of saving photos, report cards, and awards helped her feel connected to her roots. Rivera discusses using art to examine memory, family archives, and the fragments of stories lost along the way. Rivera talks about ...

Artist and curator Carter Wynne joins the podcast. In this episode, Wynne shares how growing up in Washington, DC, and coming from a line of organizers shaped her commitment to social justice and art. Wynne talks about being a self-taught painter, exploring themes of inequality, and resistance. Wynne reflects on the process of using art to process deep emotions and to challenge who gets to shape stories—both in her own lif...

Artist Tiger Chengliang Cai joins the The Truth in This Art. In this episode, Cai shares his journey from China to New York and how his background shapes his creative work. Cai talks about teaching himself art as a child, struggling against expectations, and making his own path in the art world. He loves using riddles and metaphors in his art, with a special focus on the immigrant experience. Cai explains why he doesn’t wa...

Artist and philosopher Mia Ntenta joins the podcast. Ntenta is a visual artist working across painting, sculpture, and installation. 

Ntenta is one of several artists I interviewed from Spring/Break Art Fair 2025.

Ntenta shares how her philosophy background led her to explore ideas through painting and sculpture. Ntenta explains how her visual language and symbols clarify complex philosophical ideas.

Ntenta breaks down her on...

Artist Rosalie Smith joins the podcast. Smith reflects on developing her unique style. Smith talks about making sculptures with old technology and everyday things. Smith shares her process behind her pieces, and how recent experiences in New York and her education have shaped her approach. Smith discusses balancing the absurd and the serious. Smith describes what it means to create and teach in today’s fast-paced and chaot...

Chef & owner of On the Hill Cafe and CookHouse, Chef George Dailey joins the podcast. Dailey is originally from Venezuela. He started his cooking career in Boston, then moved to Baltimore and opened On the Hill Cafe in 2005. In this conversation, Dailey shares his passion for global flavors, seasonal menus, and the art of hospitality. Dailey reflects on building two beloved Baltimore spots. Dailey shares his hands-on a...

Chef & co-owner of The Corner Pantry (TCP), Neill Howell returns to the podcast to talk growth, creativity, and keeping standards high. 

Howell & TCP has expanded the cafe and deepened their commitment to local sourcing. Howell shares his philosophy behind TCP's menu and how to build community through food. Also, Howell discusses how evolving, being creative and has kept the business successful for 11+ years.

Topics ...

Henry Hyde—artisan and owner of Hyde Handmade Knives—returns to talk craft, community, and creating work that resonates. Hyde is an artisan known for his kitchen knives and meticulous approach to materials. In the episode, Hyde reflects on the evolution of his process, from isolating early days to searching for real connection at craft shows. Also, Hyde discusses the realities of working alone and why iteration beats perfe...

Artist and professor Kumasi J. Barnett returns to the podcast to talk art, protest, and making work that cuts through the noise.

Known for subverting comic books through introspective reinterpretations, Barnett reflects his work today. Barnett shares the realities of being a Black painter, creating in the shadow of systemic erasure, and why some truths hit harder in spandex.

Topic Covered:

• Why painting is the easy part—bu...

Multidisciplinary artist, researcher, and educator Joseph Cochran II returns to The Truth In This Art. A native New Yorker, Cochran practice spans photography, video, and archival work, with NYC baked in. Cochran examines the emotional cost of late capitalism in industrialized societies.

In this conversation: 

Cochran discusses living and working in China, rebuilding after loss, and how his identity shapes how he moves throu...

Artist and provocateur Brian Andrew Whiteley joins The Truth In This Art . Whiteley is known for his politically charged work including the infamous Trump Tombstone.

Whiteley reflects on his work including creepy clown performances. He shares how comics sparked his creative journey. Whiteley discusses why art that provokes discomfort can often spark the deepest conversations. Whiteley gets real about the legal and emotional...

Interdisciplinary artist and activist Sheryl Oring returns to The Truth In This Art! 

Oring shares updates on I Wish to Say. "I Wish to Say" is her long-running public art project. For decades, thousands of people have dictated postcards to the U.S. president for this project. It started with just one typewriter. Now, it's a growing collection of public records. It helps fight censorship and shares stories from people rarel...

Director of Baltimore’s new Office of Arts, Culture, and Entertainment (MOACE), Linzy Jackson III joins The Truth In This Art! Jackson started as a summer youth worker and is now a crucial link between artists and the local government in Baltimore City. Jackson talks about what it means to streamline access to public resources and his work tearing down red tape for artists . 

Jackson grew up in Baltimore. His early memories...

Visual artist and educator Christopher Batten returns to reflect on evolution, resilience, and what it means to keep pushing—on canvas and in the classroom.

Now in his 10th year living in Baltimore and his third year teaching at Morgan State, Christopher shares how his practice continues to evolve. We talk about the role of failure, what teaching over 1,000 students has taught him, and how martial arts, memory, and persever...

Baltimore-based artist and designer Elijah Trice returns to talk about growth, storytelling, and painting the everyday with dignity and joy.

Since our last conversation in 2022, Elijah has expanded his practice beyond hyperrealistic portraiture to explore themes of childhood memory and creative freedom. We recorded this just after his first solo show, Nothing Else Matters, which followed a transformative residency at Maryla...

If you’ve ever danced your heart out at a sold-out basement party or streamed a late-night DJ set on your phone, you’ve felt the pulse of Kotic Couture’s world. In this episode, Baltimore Magazine’s 2023 Best Local Artist shares how she swapped rap verses for turntables, co-founded one of the city’s most inclusive monthly events, and turned a bedroom-studio experiment into the Prototype album—all while building a fiercely ...