Adri Norris is on a mission to tell stories of women who have made history. She does so through her art, her teaching, and her speaking.

Adri is especially interested in shining a spotlight on women of color who have been overlooked in our history books.

In this latest episode of the podcast, I asked her about her work, her teaching, and her activism.

Less than one month ago, Adri was asked to design and direct the Black Lives Matter street mural in front of the Colorado State Capitol building. She selected the words Black Lives Matter Remember This Time for the mural. We discuss those words, as well as the symbolic colors she chose and how she involved community members in its making.

I also asked Adri what steps white artists can take to be helpful right now. Spoiler: This one’s on us. African Americans have been fighting this fight for centuries. It’s our turn to educate ourselves. Still, Adri had some helpful insights to share.

This is special episode of the Art Biz Podcast.

No music. No promotions. Just me and the microphone.

Last week I received an email from a listener, who wrote:

I am a fan of your podcast. I think it can serve as a wonderful tool for artists to learn how to grow and get inspired. With that said, I was wondering if you are planning on making an episode pertaining to Black lives, Black artists, and using art for activism. I haven’t heard anything yet from you about this human rights issue. As a listener, right now, these are what we are looking for. How to get people involved through art, inspiration on making real change and bringing awareness to these issues with our art.

She was certainly right to request this, and it’s a tall order that I could never do justice in a single episode.

It made me realize something very important, and it’s a lesson for your art business. Not everyone who listens to this podcast subscribes to my email list or follows me on social media. Because I wrote a long email to subscribers and I’ve been posting on social media.

But I’ve been ignoring this platform. Not on purpose! It’s just that there are so many channels these days. I’m sure you can relate. So the lesson is: Leverage your content across all platforms if you want  your message to be heard.

Please forgive me for being silent on the podcast until now. As you will learn, it wasn’t my intention.

Born in California, raised in Mexico City, Carmen Mariscal had been living in Paris for many years when our paths first crossed in 2012. She’s been sheltering in place with her family in the north of France during Covid, but will soon be returning to London, where they resettled a couple of years ago.

I’ve watched Carmen’s career soar as she devotes herself to serious projects and exhibitions. It’s been my pleasure to guide her when she needs it along the way.

Carmen has been working on her Chez Nous (Our Home) project for a number of years. It was finally installed in Paris near the high-trafficked area of the Louvre just hours before shelter in place orders.

There is no way she could have predicted what would happen next.

The Chez Nous story speaks to the power of art and the fact that you, once you put your art out into the world, have no control over how it’s perceived—over what it comes to mean to others.

Please enjoy my conversation with Carmen Mariscal.

A lot of people are using their self-isolating time to clean out. Not artist Daryl Johnson. She has nothing left to clean. (I can’t imagine!)

Daryl is a member of my Art Career Success System and messaged me in March when we had a spring cleaning theme in our community. She said she had spent the last year cleaning out her life in preparation for a big move.

Most people who know they’re going to move delay the hard part of getting rid of things until packing time. Again, not Daryl. She made a year-long plan to alleviate much of the stress by recycling, donating, gifting, and selling many of her possessions—a little at a time.

In this episode of the Art Biz Podcast, Daryl talks about a life-changing event that led to a very different relationship with things. When you listen, you’ll discover why the plan took an entire year to implement (it’s brilliant).

You’ll also find out how Daryl made a big wad of cash by selling things through carefully selected channels.