The Truth In This Art: Stories That Matter

In this episode of The Truth In This Art, the guest is Louis-Antoine Gilbert!

About Louis-Antoine Gilbert: French-American painter and artist known for his acrylic on canvas works that create the illusion of depth, living in Washington, DC for nearly a decade, creating colorful acrylic cityscapes inspired by brutalist and modernist architecture, art deco design, and graphic novels by Moebius, François Schuiten, and Benoît Peeters. His cubist-influenced work draws from M.C. Escher and Wassily Kandinsky, and he's also a musician, beat maker, and painting instructor.

In our conversation, Gilbert talks through growing up...

In this episode of The Truth In This Art, the guest is Zoë Poindexter!

About Zoë Poindexter: Documentary filmmaker, producer, and director based in Washington, DC. She attended journalism graduate school at Georgetown University, where she continues to work as a documentary teacher's assistant, and specializes in nonfiction storytelling.

In our conversation, Poindexter walks through her journey to A Revolution Called Love, a feature documentary inspired by Black Love Day—a holiday created in DC in the nineties by Mama Ayo Handy-Kendi. After living in DC for almost ten years without ever hearing about it...

In this episode of The Truth In This Art, the guest is Paloma Vianey!

About Paloma Vianey: Interdisciplinary artist from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, now based in Washington, DC. She holds an MFA from Cornell University and has created large-scale public art installations along the US-Mexico border, with work exhibited at major museums and galleries internationally. She is primarily a painter and educator, teaching at the collegiate level.

In our conversation, Vianey walks through her artistic journey from beginning to paint as a teenager when Juarez was labeled "the most dangerous city in the...

In this episode of The Truth In This Art, the guest is Miles Johnson!

About Miles Johnson: Miles Johnson is a self-described "unclassically untrained oil painter" and mechanical engineer based in the DMV area. In over 4 years—starting with over a year on iPad before transitioning to oils 3 years ago—he has created numerous pieces. His late grandmother was a painter herself who created approximately 300 pieces and inspired his creative path. Miles first painted her portrait last summer for his solo show.

Growing up, Miles would run cross-country to the Smithsonian, where Thomas Cole's four...

In this episode of The Truth In This Art, the guest is Bernard Feinsod!

About Bernard Feinsod: Editor, producer, writer, director, sound designer, and voice actor with over 17 years of experience in comedy, documentary, news, variety entertainment, and live events. A Baltimore-raised, Brooklyn-based creative who started at NBC's Today Show at 21, spent eight years at Vice Media, and is now navigating the independent content creator landscape.

In our conversation, Feinsod talks through his 17-year journey in post-production—from the NBC mail room to creative producer, working with Sony, Field and Stream, and Huckberry across te...

In this episode of The Truth In This Art, the guest is Jacob Ming-Trent!

About Jacob Ming-Trent: Acclaimed performer, playwright, and one of American Theater's people to watch. A celebrated artist bringing his solo play, How Shakespeare Saved My Life, to Washington, DC's Folger Theater, and later to The Public Theater in New York with Red Bull producing.

In our conversation, Ming-Trent walks through his journey from a rough childhood in an abusive home to moving to New York at seventeen—having been homeless the previous year and recently dropped out of high sc...

In this episode of The Truth In This Art, the guest is Solana Rostick!

About Solana Rostick: Registrar and Collections Manager at Clark Atlanta University Art Museum. An emerging museum professional dedicated to ensuring underrepresented groups are reflected within institutional collection holdings. Born in Atlanta, raised in Tampa, Florida, and recently completed her Master's in Museum Studies from the University of Florida.

In our conversation, Rostick walks through her journey into the museum world—from early childhood memories of making art with shaving cream on windows at age three to being inspired by her father, on...

In this episode of The Truth In This Art, I sit down with Tyreek Morrison!

About Tyreek Morrison: Tyreek Morrison is an Atlanta-based collage artist who describes himself as "dad first, collage artist second." Born in New Jersey and raised in Atlanta, Morrison uses collage, found materials, paper, paint, and drawing to explore Black American life through memory, identity, and everyday experiences. His daughter just turned one, and this episode was recorded right before his first Father's Day. His father is an oil and acrylic painter, and Morrison grew up watching him work through the night...

In this episode of The Truth In This Art, I sit down with Maurice Scarlett III!

About Maurice Scarlett III: Maurice Scarlett III is a Baltimore-based visual artist and multi-disciplinary creative named after his father from West Baltimore. He is of Jamaican heritage and specializes in figurative art characterized by darker, alluring tones that capture the essence of Black figures. His journey began in 2010 with photography—documenting friends who were musicians, DJs, and clothing designers right after graduating high school. In 2017, fashion designer Kirby Jean-Raymond of Pyer Moss discovered him on Instagram and invited him to collaborate fo...

In this episode of The Truth In This Art, returning guest Kris Fulton is back!

About Kris Fulton: Kris Fulton is a self-described coffee nerd, Baltimore-based coffee roaster, and co-owner of Sophomore Coffee, a neighborhood coffee shop in Charles Village. He opened Sophomore Coffee in April 2019, just months before the pandemic, and has spent seven years building it into a trusted community fixture. His journey in coffee began at a local café and evolved through his pivotal role at the Four Seasons Baltimore in 2011, where he honed his skills in luxury hospitality and elevated service that would s...

In this episode of The Truth In This Art, returning guest Megan Elcrat is back!

About Megan Elcrat: Megan Elcrat is the founding principal of Present Company, a Baltimore-based architecture and design firm where she specializes in urban revitalization, adaptive reuse, and creative workspace design. She co-founded the innovative Co-Lab Baltimore co-working space in Old Goucher, which houses both an architecture firm and a design-focused bookstore. Her work is rooted in the belief that architecture is fundamentally about experience and place-making.

We talk about her formative memories of her father's mathematics department office at...

In this episode of The Truth In This Art, the guest is Dr. David O. Fakunle II!

About Dr. David O. Fakunle II: Dr. David Fakunle II is a Baltimore native, academic, and self-described mercenary for change and celestial body for change who has spent 25 years using art and storytelling for liberation. He is an assistant professor at Morgan State University in the School of Community Health and Policy and associate faculty at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He serves as director of the TEACH Division (Transforming Equity through Arts, Culture and Health) at the...

In this episode of The Truth In This Art, the guest is Shaun Stewart!

About the guest: Shaun Stewart is the HBIC (Head Bartender In Charge) of Patterson Pins in Baltimore's Upper Fells Point. Known for "killing the business, one cocktail at a time," Stewart brings years of bartending experience—including consulting for Hemingway's, features in Esquire, and competition wins—to his role at one of the oldest duckpin bowling alleys in the country, now reimagined with an arcade gaming and vaporwave aesthetic. Shaun has been part of many of the best, unique cocktail programs in B...

In this episode of The Truth In This Art, the guest is Amir Browder and Maxwell Young!

About the guests: Amir Browder is the curator, creative director, and founder of Homme Gallery in DC. Maxwell Young is the founder of the Art Shopping Network, a writer, and works on projects that socialize art buying and support living artists, nonprofit institutions, and galleries.

We talk about Acquired Taste and what it does: a catalog and platform that socializes art buying through Polaroids from the host’s personal archive, prints, editorial interviews and essays, and curated fi...

In this episode of The Truth In This Art, the guest is Sarah B. McCann!

About Sarah B. McCann: Sarah is an artist, curator, and founder of SBM Gallery in Baltimore's Highlandtown Arts District. Her text-based mosaics, prints, and multimedia work has been shown nationally. She spent 15 years curating exhibitions nomadically before opening her own space this year.

We talk about launching SBM Gallery and what it means to her to support artists working with love and justice—artists using their work to push for change and move us closer to where we could be. Sh...

In this episode of The Truth In The Art, I sit down with Sam Furnish—founder of Bemo's Clothing and the guy behind Baltimore's "born in Baltimore" premium civvies movement.

About Sam Furnish: Sam launched Bemo's Clothing in 2025 after years in the outdoor industry learning product development and manufacturing. The brand name comes from his father's childhood nickname—"Bemo"—given by Sam's grandpa in 1950s Midwest America alongside nicknames like "Peavy" and "Muley." When Sam moved to Baltimore and locals said "B-more," it sounded just like his dad's name. Bemo's Clothing is his homage to both the man an...

In this episode of The Truth In This Art, Rachel Mijares-Fick returns to the program.

About Rachel Mijares-Fick: Rachel co-founded Future Fair back in 2020 during the pandemic with Rebeca Laliberte. Future Fair is an art fair in New York where galleries, artist collectives, and independent curators from around the world come to set up exhibitions. The fair spotlights emerging and under-recognized voices in the art world. Over six years, it's launched careers for artists and dealers and become a real part of the fabric of New York's art scene.

We talk about the...

In this episode of The Truth In The Art, the guest is Omri D. Cohen!

Who is Omri D. Cohen: Author of Questions to Humanity — a collection born from five months backpacking South America — Omri has spent six years asking one question to 700 people across 50+ nationalities, documenting stories and street/landscape photography that reached millions.

Omri D. Cohen talks about his journey leaving home to backpack South America, the process of gathering perspectives for his book Questions to Humanity, building a video series from those encounters, and how storytelling and photography can foster curiosity and...

In this episode of The Truth In This Art, the guest is Douriean Fletcher!

About Douriean Fletcher: An acclaimed jewelry designer and artisan whose work bridges adornment and storytelling. She was the specialty jeweler for Marvel's Black Panther and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and became the first jewelry artist to be part of an Academy Award–winning costume design team—an honor she achieved twice. Douriean has expanded into spacial adornment art, creating large-scale installations and immersive environments.

In our conversation, Douriean Fletcher discusses her exhibition, Douriean Fletcher: Jewelry of the Afrofuture, at the Walters Art...

In this episode of The Truth In This Art, the guest is Alex Jennings!

Who is Alex Jennings: Author, poet, and former standup comedian who lived in New Orleans for nearly 20 years—now working on his second novel from Chicago. You might remember Alex from my New Orleans series where we discussed his book, The Ballad of Perilous Graves, here. 

In our conversation, Jennings talks through his new book Dead End Boys—set in an alternate New Orleans where communicating with the dead is the main industry. He connects the project to comedy and digs into...

In this episode of The Truth In The Art, the guest is Barry Wright III!

Who is Barry Wright III: Baltimore-based improviser, teacher, technology professional, and co-founder (and current board president) of Highwire Improv, launched in 2020. You might remember Barry from his first appearance on The Truth In The Art here.

In our conversation, Wright talks about Highwire's origin during the 2020 lockdown, building an improv community in Highlandtown, and making improv financially accessible and sustainable. As he puts it, improv "can be done with absolutely no materials. You truly only need other human beings...

In this episode of The Truth In This Art, the guest is Cecilia M. McCormick!

About Cecilia M. McCormick: President of MICA (Maryland Institute College of Art) with 33 years in higher education, an art collector who raised three sons now working in the creative field.

In our conversation, McCormick talks through MICA's bicentennial year and the vision she's building as the school hits 200. She connects the programming to three themes—illumination, innovation, and entrepreneurship—and digs into new degrees shaped by workforce demand. As she puts it, creativity is "the commodity that cannot be automated, outs...

In this episode of The Truth In This Art, the guest is Jess Owens-Young!

Who is Jess Owens-Young: Maryland-based collage and mixed media artist and professor who creates work informed by her experiences as a Black woman, mother, and former athlete, using vintage magazines (Ebony, Jet, Essence) to explore the joy and melancholy of Black life in the United States.

In our conversation, Owens-Young talks about her transition from semi-pro soccer player to artist in 2018 and her two favorite series: Oak Bluffs Golf Club (exploring Black leisure and the hidden history of golf) and Hoop...

In this episode of The Truth In This Art, the guest is Chandler Chavez.

Who is Chandler Chavez: A Los Angeles–based filmmaker, editor, story analyst, and writer originally from Arizona, drawn to complicated characters and stories that test our empathy—especially when they’re filtered through the strange mechanics of online attention.

In our conversation, Chandler unpacks his feature debut: a dark-comedy “screenlife” film told entirely through a computer desktop, set inside the “hellscape” of live streaming—where the real-time chat isn’t set dressing, it actively drives the story forward. He talks about arriving at...

In this episode of The Truth In This Art, the guest is Kenny Riches!

Who is Kenny Riches: A Miami and Salt Lake City-based filmmaker born in Toyota City, Japan, whose award-winning features explore loneliness, identity, and human connection through intimate, character-driven narratives. With a BFA in Painting and Drawing and a filmography that includes The Strongest Man (Sundance premiere, 2015) and A Name Without A Place (2019), Kenny has received support from Sundance Institute, Knight Foundation, and PBS—and is co-founder of The Davey Foundation, a grant-giving organization for filmmakers.

In our conversation, Kenny traces his jo...

In this episode of The Truth In This Art, the guests are Ben Baker-Lee and Rasaan Hammond!

Who are Ben and Rasaan: Ben Baker-Lee and Rasaan Hammond are Baltimore-born filmmakers and co-directors of A Life in Art through the eye of Dr. Leslie King Hammond. Ben, founder of TrueView Film, has been documenting life through a lens since high school, drawn to film's power to capture truthful emotion and lived experience. Rasaan, who grew up immersed in the art world as the son of Dr. Leslie King Hammond (former dean at MICA), gravitated toward audio-visual storytelling early...

In this episode of The Truth In This Art, returning guest Esteban Whiteside is back!

Who is Esteban Whiteside: A Durham, North Carolina-based artist, Esteban Whiteside creates bold social commentary through what he calls "concrete oppressionism"—work that confronts American cultural absurdities with childlike aesthetics, parody, and irreverent humor. Working across canvas, wood, and sculpture, his art is both therapy and truth-telling, making heavy subjects digestible through wit and visual directness inspired by artists like Jacob Lawrence.

Esteban talks about his creative evolution since our last conversation, including his new clock series exploring history and re...

In this episode of The Truth In This Art, the guest is Veronica Jackson!

Who is Veronica Jackson: A Washington, D.C.-bred and Virginia-based visual artist whose foundation is rooted in architecture and museum exhibit design. She critically examines the lives of Black women through innovative visual art, exploring themes of invisibility, hypervisibility, and devaluation—bringing powerful narratives to life using familiar objects, archival texts, and data.

In our conversation, Veronica traces her late-in-life arrival to visual art—graduating from grad school in 2016 with plans to teach, then attending a Santa Fe residency where "art...

In this episode of The Truth In The Art, the returning guest is Lanise Howard!

Who is Lanise Howard: A Los Angeles-based multidisciplinary artist, Lanise Howard creates work centered around a reimagining of different histories, especially within the black experience. She pulls from the past and from the future, which she often sees in her dreams. Working across paintings, drawings, sculpture, and soon textiles, Howard is a world-builder whose portraiture depicts Black bodies and paints often untold stories.

Lanise talks about the three bodies of work she's currently developing: her main project...

In this episode of The Truth In The Art, the guest is Ruut!

Who is Ruut: A Finnish-born, Maryland-based singer, songwriter, composer, and writer, Ruut is a multidisciplinary artist and creative leader known for her evocative music and dedication to uplifting women artists. She’s the founder of the Making Her Mark Foundation, a young nonprofit born from personal loss that connects, mentors, and amplifies women artists in Baltimore and beyond.

Ruut talks about discovering music as a child at the piano, moving to the United States as a teen, and the moment creativity became he...

In this episode of The Truth In The Art, the guest is Barbara Perez Marquez!

Who is Barbara Perez Marquez: Baltimore-based, Dominican Republic–born writer and creator working in comics and prose, focused on middle grade and young adult readers.

Barbara Perez Marquez talks about her path into writing and why she centers younger readers and her own lived experience. She shares insights from The Cardboard Kingdom and previews upcoming projects: The Library of Memories, The Curious Society: A Game of Code, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, and To Dance the...

Back by Bodacious Demand. Let's Watch It Again is back!

Rob Lee and Isaiah Winters revisit the 1991 childhood classic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze for its 35th anniversary.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991) drops the turtles back into a messy, fun, 90s adventure: reconnecting with April and Splinter, fighting Tokka and Rahzar, and chasing the mysterious ooze that created them.  It’s loud, goofy, full of practical effects, puppetry, and pure kid‑movie energy.

In this episode, Rob and Isaiah mix straight-up nostalgia with...

In this episode of The Truth In The Art, the guest is Juan Morales!

Who is Juan Morales: Maryland native, writer and director whose films explore immigration, racism, and community; currently developing the feature Abhaile about a small town overtaken by a white supremacist group.

Juan talks about his path from nearly attending medical school to filmmaking, why he wrote Abhaile from the perspective of a Latina protagonist, and the challenges of telling a large story with a small cast. We also dig into research, collaboration, mentorship, and how community shapes and sustains creative work.<...

In this episode of The Truth In This Art, the guest is Jamilla Okubo!

Who is Jamilla Okubo: A Washington, D.C.-based multidisciplinary artist whose work spans painting, collage, illustration, and print design. Her work centers the Black silhouette, using pattern, ornament, and saturated color to explore identity, self-possession, and cultural memory—drawing from African textile traditions, fashion, and Black feminist thought.

In our conversation, Jamilla traces her journey from Duke Ellington School of the Arts to Parsons, where she initially planned to focus on painting but discovered her multidisciplinary approach after ma...

In this episode of The Truth In This Art, the guest is Currie Lee!

Who is Currie Lee: Filmmaker and artist with a photography background, focused on visual stories about complicated relationships.

In our conversation, Currie talks through her short film The Haze—a psychological horror about a toxic relationship. She connects the project to personal moments that pulled her back into making art and digs into choices that shaped the film’s edit and camera language. As she puts it, “you’re upset and unhappy because you’re not the one making the art.”

She rec...

In this episode of The Truth In This Art, the guest is Nicole Clark!

Who is Nicole Clark: Chicago-born, Baltimore-based artist and writer. Nicole works across paint, prose, and collage, often pulling from personal paper trails to build layered, funny, and pointed reflections on women’s lives.

In our conversation, Nicole talks about moving from “Chicago proper” to Baltimore, why she leans on blinders to avoid comparison, and how running her own race keeps the work honest. She walks through mixing mediums—abstract and figurative painting with text and collage—and how revisiting old artifacts lets her t...

In this episode of The Truth In This Art, artist Santos Shelton returns!

Who is Santos Shelton: Bay Area–based artist and storyteller. Santos blends science fiction and fantasy with vibrant color and dynamic texture, using his work to explore vulnerability, healing, and lived experience through a lens shaped by being biracial—Black and Mexican.

In our conversation, Santos talks about using art to translate personal and societal trauma into visual stories, and how making the work can be a way to express what’s hard to say out loud. He reflects on a deep...

In this episode of The Truth In This Art, the guest is returning filmmaker Tristian “TrisRex” Johnson!

Who is TrisRex: A filmmaker, monster maker, and practical FX artist whose work blends sci-fi and horror with hand-built creatures and DIY craft.

In our conversation, TrisRex digs into his latest project, Aliens Resurgence (for the Hive). He talks through post-production—“doing a bid”—and how the edit sets pacing and tension. He breaks down working with real people alongside fabricated characters, including Big Pookie—“the biggest diva”—and what it takes to design, move, and shoot large-scale practica...

In this episode of The Truth In This Art, the guest is Jonene Lee!

Who is Jonene Lee: Philadelphia-based curator and owner of NoName Gallery, with roots in photography, dance, and deep ties across the city’s music and arts community.

In our conversation, Jonene lays out how photography—documenting friends, parties, and performances—shaped her curatorial eye. She talks about organizing Philly DJ Day, uniting around 300 Philadelphia DJs for a single group photograph inspired by Gordon Parks. We get into her dance background and how that sense of rhythm and flow shows up in how sh...

In this episode of The Truth In This Art, the guest is Dr. Lawrence T. Brown!

Who is Dr. Lawrence T. Brown: Research scientist at Morgan State University’s Center for Urban Health Equity and author of The Black Butterfly: The Harmful Politics of Race and Space in America.

In our conversation, Dr. Brown traces a line from West Memphis, Arkansas, to Baltimore’s neighborhoods, explaining how a racial dot map led him to say, “that looks like a butterfly,” and name the pattern “The Black Butterfly.” He walks through what he found in local archiv...