Shows
Art Yap14 - Lauren Frankel, From Musicology to Cultural FuturesToday on Art Yap, I’m talking with someone whose mind seems to run on two beautifully interwoven tracks — sharp, crystalline analysis and expansive creative instinct. Lauren Frankel is a musicologist-turned-nonprofit-arts-worker-turned-data-nerd-turned-cultural-strategist, and honestly? She’s one of the most interesting arts workers I’ve talked to in a long time. She loves spreadsheets and opera with equal devotion. She brings order to artistic chaos without ever dulling it. She’s a systems thinker who never forgets the humans inside the system. I first encountered Lauren’s work live at a San Francisco Arts Commission community meeting and the more I le...
2025-11-2154 min
Art Yap13 - RMK, Painting with GhostsIn this episode of Art Yap, I sit down with Richard Koscher (RMK)--artist, filmmaker, creative director, and bold experimenter--whose newest project GHOSTS OF THE ICE asks us to look directly at what's disappearing. Using thermochromatic paint and custom-engineered frames, RMK creates artwork that literally vanishes with heat--mirroring the way climate change is quietly erasing the world around us. We talk about lost masterpieces, AI in art, raising creative kids, and why sometimes, making something vanish is the most powerful statement an artist can make.This episode is for anyone using creativity to navigate complexity--where i...
2025-09-2635 min
Art Yap12 - Connie Wurz (formerly Connie Wood), at SFO Museum design is everywhereToday’s guest is Connie Wurz (formerly Connie Wood), Curator in Charge of Graphic Design at the SFO Museum—and someone whose work quietly shapes how millions of people experience art and information every day.Connie’s design work isn’t just beautiful—it’s empathetic. It meets people where they are: in motion, in stress, in transit. Whether it’s a traveler sprinting to a gate or someone pausing for a quiet moment in an airport terminal, her contributions to exhibitions make space for curiosity and reflection.In this conversation, we talk about storytel...
2025-08-2246 min
Art Yap11 - Jackie von Treskow, Fringe Signal, Civic ScaleToday’s guest is Jackie von Treskow, Senior Program Manager for Public Art at the San Francisco Arts Commission.Jackie’s journey into the arts wasn’t a straight line—it involved mythical Asheville forests, fringe pirate radio, writing hard for SF from LA in a master’s program, and non-profit hustle.We talk about what it really means to make art public, how monuments shape our collective memory, and why humor and empathy matter as much as policy and process.If you’ve ever wondered who decides what art gets built in your city—or...
2025-08-1542 min
Art Yap10 - Raquel Espana & Daly City's Peninsula Book Collaborative“A room without books is like a body without a soul." And honestly… a mall without art or bookstores? Same energy. Today we’re heading into Daly City’s Westlake Shopping Center—yes, my childhood stomping grounds—for a conversation about how community spaces can transform not just a neighborhood but a whole way of life. I’m joined by Raquel Espana, founder of the Peninsula Book Collaborative, a nonprofit bookstore and literary hub that’s making books, culture, and community connection accessible to North San Mateo County. We talk about starting from pop-ups, turning bookstores into l...
2025-08-0120 min
Art Yap9 - Tina Wiley Crawford, Art Jobs InsideThis week’s guest is Tina Wiley Crawford, recruitment manager at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. She is also a talented graphic designer, a champion for youth programs, and—by her own words—a Swiss Army knife of skills.In this episode, we talk about why claiming “artist” can feel weird, why thank-you notes still matter, and how to get your foot in the door—without selling your soul or starving. Plus, we talk cake decorating, cool tables, and how field trips actually change lives.You’ll laugh, you’ll get inspired, and maybe you’ll sho...
2025-07-2539 min
Art Yap8 - Deborah Munk & Bryan Keith Thomas, What KeepsIn this week’s episode I head down to the dump to trash talk...pardon me, talk trash with Deborah Munk, who’s been running the Artist in Residence program at Recology San Francisco for over 25 years, and Bryan Keith Thomas, an incredible artist, educator, and deep thinker about materials, memory, and community.We talk about how trash becomes treasure, how art can teach sustainability through storytelling, and the surprising ways objects hold history. There’s stories about found mirrors, lost objects, 19th-century heirlooms, and fourth graders learning to see garbage differently.If you’ve ever won...
2025-07-1834 min
Art Yap7 - Micah Ruiz, The Luck You CraftToday’s guest is Micah Ruiz, the founder of Orion Custom Framing. Micah is the kind of person who makes you feel like you can build something beautiful from scratch—whether it’s a frame, a business, or an entire life.Micah grew up homeschooled in a town of 400 people, the son of a pastor, with no formal arts education—but with a punk mindset that carried him from a teenage summer job in a rural Oregon frame shop all the way to framing for SFMOMA and the Cantor We talk about everything: how frami...
2025-07-1131 min
Art Yap6 - Allison Gamlen, Futures Worth FundingToday’s episode features Allison Gamlen, a lifelong arts advocate who now serves as the Visual and Performing Arts Coordinator for the San Mateo County Office of Education.We talk about growing up in the wings of the symphony and Kabuki theater, what happens to the brain when children are denied creativity, and how California’s Prop 28 is giving public school students a shot at becoming the next generation of culture-makers.This episode is for anyone who knows that the arts aren’t extra—they’re essential. That creativity is a human right. And that w...
2025-06-2731 min
Art Yap5 - Jonathan Carver Moore, To Be SeenToday’s guest is Jonathan Carver Moore—a gallerist, curator, and unapologetic advocate for emerging artists, especially artists of color and queer voices. Jonathan runs his namesake gallery in San Francisco’s budding Mid-Market arts corridor, where he’s created a space that’s as bold, joyful, and fiercely intentional as the work he champions.In this episode, we talk about what it means to create space—literally and figuratively—for artists who’ve historically been pushed to the margins. We get into the roots of his journey, the power of representation, and the business of building a gallery that f...
2025-06-1325 min
Art Yap3 - Anna Lisa Escobedo, Everyone Has a Story to TellToday’s episode features Anna Lisa Escobedo a true community building baddie from LA. Anna Lisa’s creative project management connects artists with opportunities, each other, and the public. She pours herself heart and soul into making the arts accessible to everyone. And at the time of this recording she is on that job market, so scoop her up fast if you are looking to improve your organization’s creative vision, strategy, and day to day environment because Anna Lisa’s a real one.
2025-06-1341 min
Art Yap2 - LE BohemianMuse, A Multifaceted StorytellerIn today’s episode I sit down with LE BohemianMuse in her beautiful sunlit SF studio in the mission. LE is first generation Ghanian Bay Area-ian, and I just love talking art and life with her. She’s a philosophical soul who is a multifaceted storyteller at heart. A creative force by nature, LE has no trouble blending her art practice with a streamlined business strategy. Hopefully you are just as excited as I was to hear more about her business muse reverie atelier, which provides 1 on 1 coaching, uplifting blog posts, and curated collaborative art experiences blending food and art...
2025-06-1327 min
Art Yap4 - Craig McIntire, Connecting Through ArtToday’s guest is Craig McIntire—a self-taught painter, a practicing speech-language pathologist, and the kind of person who instantly feels like a friend you’ve known forever. He’s warm, funny, endlessly curious, and has a deep love for people (and Halloween, though sadly we didn’t get to that part). I could listen to him tell stories about anything and everything. In this episode, we talk about his creative work, his ever-evolving artistic identity, and the joy he finds in creating authentic connection through imagination.
2025-06-1341 min
Art Yap1 - Stella Lochman, Radical JoyIn today’s episode I sit down with Stella Lochman, a joy-driven community programming visionary with deep roots in San Francisco, the city where she was born and raised. Carrying forward the legacy of the city’s progressive and thoughtful artists, Stella offers a utopian perspective on our current cultural moment—along with simple tangible ways we can show up for one another through a model of mutual aid. So hang on tight for hot takes, fernet sips, Truffle Man art, community radio and collective liberation fueled by imagination.
2025-06-1332 min
Art YapIntroducing: Art YapShawna Vesco Ahern gabs, gossips, and otherwise chitchats with San Francisco Bay Area arts and culture baddies about how they build community through creativity—and the winding life paths that led them there. Art Yap guests bring fresh perspectives on curation, arts project management, community programming, arts funding, legislation, marketing and more. Click here to view the episode transcript.
2025-05-1402 min