The Creative Exchange Podcast

In this episode, Julie Wake sits down with Susie Nielsen, founder of FARM PROJECTS, a contemporary art space in Wellfleet, MA on Cape Cod, for a warm, wide-ranging conversation about art, identity, and connection. They dig into why our reactions to art say more about ourselves than the art itself, what led Susie to start FARM as an alternative to the traditional gallery model, and how she's built a space rooted in curiosity rather than judgment. Along the way, they explore what it means to live in "the space between" knowing and not knowing, and how community shapes a creative life on the Outer Cape. It's a conversation that will resonate with artists, art lovers, and anyone art-curious who's ever felt a little intimidated walking into a gallery.  Today's sponsors:  William Raveis Real Estate, The official real estate company of the AFCC, South Shore Playhouse Associates - Also known as the Melody Tent, TD Bank, John K. & Thirza F. Davenport Foundation,  Cape & Coast Bank, Donald C. McGraw Foundation, Eastern Bank, Cape Cod 5. Learn more about the Arts Foundation's mission is to support and strengthen a vibrant and diverse arts and cultural sector for everyone in the region. 

When Ryan Raveis lost his wife Meghan in 2023, he turned to the one thing that had always been there: music. In this episode, he opens up about losing Meghan, the heart behind the Raveis family's charitable work and the force who raised millions for cancer research, and how music became his lifeline. What grew from that loss is Ravestock, a two-city concert event honoring her legacy and bringing the community together in exactly the way she would have wanted.   Ryan believes access to the arts isn't a luxury. It's love. Today's sponsors:  William Raveis Real Estate, The official real estate company of the AFCC, South Shore Playhouse Associates - Also known as the Melody Tent, TD Bank, John K. & Thirza F. Davenport Foundation,  Cape & Coast Bank, Donald C. McGraw Foundation, Eastern Bank, Cape Cod 5. Learn more about the Creative Exchange!  Learn more about the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod.  The Arts Foundation's mission is to support and strengthen a vibrant and diverse arts and cultural sector for everyone in the region. Get involved!

In this episode, Julie Wake sits down with Dr. Mary Grant, President of Mass College of Art and Design, to explore how creativity shapes not only artists, but entire communities. They discuss the evolving role of arts education, the rise of entrepreneurship among artists, and how tools like AI are changing the landscape. At its core, the conversation highlights creativity as a powerful force for problem solving, connection, and leadership in an increasingly complex world. Today's sponsors:  William Raveis Real Estate, The official real estate company of the AFCC, South Shore Playhouse Associates - Also known as the Melody Tent, TD Bank, John K. & Thirza F. Davenport Foundation,  Cape & Coast Bank, Donald C. McGraw Foundation, Eastern Bank, Cape Cod 5. Learn more about the Creative Exchange!  Learn more about the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod.  The Arts Foundation's mission is to support and strengthen a vibrant and diverse arts and cultural sector for everyone in the region. Get involved!

In this episode of the Creative Exchange Podcast, architect Thad Siemasko of SV Design shares how thoughtful design can shape communities, enhance human experience, and support social impact. Drawing from projects ranging from affordable housing and artist live work spaces to YMCA performing arts centers, Thad emphasizes the importance of “fit” in architecture ensuring buildings respond to their environment, purpose, and the people they serve. The conversation explores how design begins with listening, how creativity and function intersect, and how architecture can foster connection, access, and vibrancy in communities. Ultimately, Thad frames his work around a simple guiding principle: how can design help people live better lives. Today's sponsors:  William Raveis Real Estate, The official real estate company of the AFCC, South Shore Playhouse Associates - Also known as the Melody Tent, TD Bank, John K. & Thirza F. Davenport Foundation,  Cape & Coast Bank, Donald C. McGraw Foundation, Eastern Bank, Cape Cod 5. Learn more about the Creative Exchange!  Learn more about the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod.  The Arts Foundation's mission is to support and strengthen a vibrant and diverse arts and cultural sector for everyone in the region. Get involved!

In this episode of the Creative Exchange Podcast, Julie Wake speaks with legendary public radio producer Jay Allison, founder of Transom, PRX, and a driving force behind The Moth Radio Hour. Jay reflects on his lifelong pursuit of authentic storytelling and the belief that every person carries a story worth hearing. From his early days discovering the power of portable tape recorders to building platforms that amplify community voices, Jay explores why vulnerability makes stories powerful, how storytelling builds empathy, and why local voices matter more than ever in an era of misinformation and shrinking public media funding. Together they discuss the responsibility of storytellers, the future of community driven media, and the simple but radical act of listening to one another.   Today's sponsors:  William Raveis Real Estate, The official real estate company of the AFCC, South Shore Playhouse Associates - Also known as the Melody Tent, TD Bank, John K. & Thirza F. Davenport Foundation,  Cape & Coast Bank, Donald C. McGraw Foundation, Eastern Bank, Cape Cod 5. Learn more about the Creative Exchange!  Learn more about the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod.  The Arts Foundation's mission is to support and strengthen a vibrant and diverse arts and cultural sector for everyone in the region. Get involved!  

Season 8 opens with a fun conversation featuring the Arts Foundation’s 2026 Artists of the Year, novelist and poet Lauren Wolk and visual artist Jackie Reeves. The two reflect on their unexpected and electric collaboration, The Inkline Project, which blends animation, poetry, and music into short art films now featured in festivals. Together, they explore identity, creative instinct, collaboration without ego, the freedom of making without a plan, and what responsibility artists carry in complex times. From childhood creativity to motherhood, protest, privilege, and “good trouble,” this episode is a thoughtful and energizing meditation on what it means to be an artist and a human right now. Season 8 begins with a reminder: never think you’re just one thing.     Today's sponsors:  William Raveis Real Estate, The official real estate company of the AFCC, South Shore Playhouse Associates - Also known as the Melody Tent, TD Bank, John K. & Thirza F. Davenport Foundation,  Cape & Coast Bank, Donald C. McGraw Foundation, Eastern Bank, Cape Cod 5. Learn more about the Creative Exchange!  Learn more about the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod.  The Arts Foundation's mission is to support and strengthen a vibrant and diverse arts and cultural sector for everyone in the region. Get involved!

What makes Cape Cod a welcoming, meaningful, and substantive place to visit? The arts. Unfortunately, the region's housing crisis has made it increasingly more difficult for artists to live, work, and create here. State Senator Julian Cyr returns to the CX Podcast to discuss these challenges and how last year's landmark legislation, the Affordable Homes Act, will give Cape Cod and the Islands the tools to keep creatives here through the Seasonal Communities designation which prioritizes housing for artists.   Today's sponsors:  William Raveis Real Estate, The official real estate company of the AFCC, South Shore Playhouse Associates - Also known as the Melody Tent, TD Bank, John K. & Thirza F. Davenport Foundation,  Cooperative Bank of Cape Cod,  Donald C. McGraw Foundation, Eastern Bank, Cape Cod 5. Learn more about the Creative Exchange!  Learn more about the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod.  The Arts Foundation's mission is to support and strengthen a vibrant and diverse arts and cultural sector for everyone in the region. Get involved!

What’s the secret to life? For visionary designer Ken Fulk of Provincetown, it’s in the power of saying yes. As he shares with host Julie Wake in this episode of the Creative Exchange, “Yes is such a glorious, intoxicating, exciting place to live.” It’s what has led Fulk to new discoveries, incredible journeys, and unbelievable opportunities, all as he’s built a magical career that reimagines how the spaces we live, work, and play in should operate.    Today's sponsors:  William Raveis Real Estate, The official real estate company of the AFCC, South Shore Playhouse Associates - Also known as the Melody Tent, TD Bank, John K. & Thirza F. Davenport Foundation,  Cooperative Bank of Cape Cod,  Donald C. McGraw Foundation, Eastern Bank, Cape Cod 5. Learn more about the Creative Exchange!  Learn more about the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod.  The Arts Foundation's mission is to support and strengthen a vibrant and diverse arts and cultural sector for everyone in the region. Get involved!  

Having grown up in a family filled with great cooks, it’s not surprising that food is the centerpiece of Rebecca Orchant’s first book, Simmering: A Kitchen Memoir, which came out earlier this year. In our latest episode of the Creative Exchange, the Provincetown purveyor of good eats – she and her husband Sean own Pop + Dutch on Commercial Street – dishes on everything from the role food plays in all aspects of our lives to writing to finding her authentic self on the Outer Cape to the sense of urgency with which she approaches life. Today's sponsors:  William Raveis Real Estate, The official real estate company of the AFCC, South Shore Playhouse Associates - Also known as the Melody Tent, TD Bank, John K. & Thirza F. Davenport Foundation,  Cooperative Bank of Cape Cod,  Wequassett Resort & Golf Club,  Donald C. McGraw Foundation, Eastern Bank, Cape Cod 5. Learn more about the Creative Exchange!  Learn more about the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod.  The Arts Foundation's mission is to support and strengthen a vibrant and diverse arts and cultural sector for everyone in the region. Get involved!  

The logical, rational side of neuroscientist Lisa Genova’s brain said not to write a book, but her heart said otherwise. Roughly two decades ago, Lisa listened to the latter, penning her first novel, Still Alice, a highly personal piece inspired by her grandmother’s struggles with Alzheimer’s. Following her true north has led Genova to writing four more books with another (More or Less Maddy) on the way in 2025. The New York Times best-selling author sits down with host Julie Wake to discuss taking that career risk, selling her first book out of the trunk of a car, and living a life with purpose.  Website: https://www.lisagenova.com/ Today's sponsors:  William Raveis Real Estate, The official real estate company of the AFCC, South Shore Playhouse Associates - Also known as the Melody Tent, TD Bank, John K. & Thirza F. Davenport Foundation,  Cooperative Bank of Cape Cod,  Wequassett Resort & Golf Club,  Donald C. McGraw Foundation, Eastern Bank, Cape Cod 5. Learn more about the Creative Exchange!  Learn more about the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod.  The Arts Foundation's mission is to support and strengthen a vibrant and diverse arts and cultural sector for everyone in the region. Get involved!