9 Art Podcasts You Should Follow

Guest Blogger: Richard Slechta

Alyson’s recent list of favorite art documentaries brought to mind an often overlooked, but extremely rich resource for our continued art inspiration and education: podcasts.

Many museums have discussion and lecture programs featuring prominent artists, curators and arthistorians, which are archived and available to the public free of charge online. There are also some excellent independent podcasts out there.
Most of us don’t have a lot of time to sit down idly listening to our favorite artists discuss their work. Podcasts are perfect for killing time while driving or doing mundane tasks in the studio.

Podcasts have helped me further develop the language I use to inform my own artwork. Maybe they can do the same for you.

Getting Started
I find iTunes to be most convenient for getting the latest updates and syncing with mobile devices.

1. Just click on the podcast links below to take you to a iTunes Podcast Preview.
2. Click “view in iTunes,” which will open the podcast page in iTunes.
3. Select the “subscribe free” button. It will ask for an account confirmation and then will begin downloading the latest episode.
4. The older episodes show up on the podcast lists in light gray and can be downloaded at your leisure.
5. When ready to remove the episode, just select and delete, when prompted, be sure to “move to trash.” Otherwise, it will remain hidden on your hard drive.

My Top 9 Choices for Art Podcasts

In descending order . . .

1. National Gallery of Art: Notable Lectures
From Washington,D.C., Notable Lectures is one of the best museum lecture series featuring mid-carrier and established contemporary artists as well as earlier art movements. They have an archive of over 275 podcasts available.

2. MoMA Talks: Conversations
Another good lecture series with artist, curators, scholars, which discusses both modern and contemporary art. This can sometimes be a bit hit-or-miss, but still has some gems among the 180 podcasts available.

3. MoMA Talks Panel Discussions and Symposia
Similar to the MoMA Talks: Conversations. Pick and choose the subjects/artists that interest you most among the 144 episodes.

4. MOCA Audio Podcasts
A collection of audio tours and archive of art talks from the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. While there are only 44 episodes and it was discontinued in 2010, it is has some interesting conversations with artist like, Robert Rauschenberg, William Kentridge, and Paul McCarthy.

5. National Gallery Podcast
From London’s National Gallery. Explores their diverse collection. With 133 episodes and growing, this is an interesting podcast to get more of an historical slant on well-known artists from many different time periods.

6. SFMOMA Artcasts
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art’s podcast series brings you closer to the voices and sounds of artists, writers, curators, and musicians as they respond to the art on view at SFMOMA. With over 300 episodes, there is something for everyone.

7. LensWork
Examines the aesthetic considerations of photography and the creative process. I don’t give this podcast a 5-star rating, as new episodes are only available for a short time on iTunes. Get ‘em while you can!

8. KCRW’s Art Talk
For you Angelenos out there. These are our local off-the- beaten-path art happenings for Los Angeles. Just listen to one episode and you will be entranced by Edward Goldman’s charming accent and quirky use of language.

9. Art Marketing Action Podcasts from Alyson B. Stanfield
Talk about an art podcast that changed my life. This was my first and most entertaining exposure to Alyson’s art marketing wisdom. I still revisit these podcasts and they are the perfect bite-sized marketing nuggets that don’t overwhelm. Discontinued in 2010, but still available online.

For visual stimulation, check out Richard’s Favorite Art Video Podcasts with TateShots, ArtSpark and art:21 on top of the recommended list.

Please share your favorite art podcast in a comment.

About Our Guest Blogger

Richard Slechta is a contemporary art photographer who harnesses light to get at the physicality of illumination. His colorful photo-paper works are a camera-less interaction between light, painting and photosensitive paper.