EP 124: Who will write your history if you don’t?

What are the lessons from the Joan Mitchell Foundation’s 84 page report, Creating Future Memory: Building the field of Artist Legacy Stewardship? This week, I sit down with Solana Chehtman to discuss the stakes of artist legacy. As Director of Artist Programs at the Joan Mitchell Foundation, she has spent years connecting with archivists, curators, conservators, and artists’ families to learn what happens to an artist’s work once they’re gone. In this episode, we talk about why legacy planning belongs in a working artist’s practice, who should help carry the load, and what we lose when the market decides which artists get remembered. Chehtman’s case for starting now is practical: someone is always talking about your work, and the more you’ve documented, the more say you have in what they say. About Solana Chehtman: Chehtman led Creating Future Memory, a 2025 convening that brought 145 legacy professionals together in Brooklyn, and co-authored the foundation’s report of the same name with Sharon Mizota. Before joining the foundation, she worked with artists at The High Line and The Shed. Resources and Names From the Joan Mitchell Foundation Creating Future Memory: Building the Field of Artist Legacy Stewardship (free report): https://www.joanmitchellfoundation.org/creating-future-memory-report Legacy Field Map: https://www.joanmitchellfoundation.org/legacy-field-map Creating Future Memory convening (May 2025, BRIC): https://www.joanmitchellfoundation.org/journal/creating-future-memory-convening-2025 Creating a Living Legacy (CALL): Legacy Planning Tools: https://www.joanmitchellfoundation.org/legacy-planning-tools Career Documentation for the Visual Artist (this episode’s assignment): https://www.joanmitchellfoundation.org/career-documentation-for-the-visual-artist Estate Planning for Visual Artists: https://www.joanmitchellfoundation.org/estate-planning-for-visual-artists Estate Planning for Visual Artists: A Workbook for Attorneys & Executors: https://www.joanmitchellfoundation.org/estate-planning-for-visual-artists-a-workbook-for-attorneys-executors Artist Legacy Initiatives: https://www.joanmitchellfoundation.org/artist-legacy-initiatives Joan Mitchell Fellowship: https://www.joanmitchellfoundation.org/joan-mitchell-fellowship Joan Mitchell (biography): https://www.joanmitchellfoundation.org/joan-mitchell/biography Report Authors Sharon Mizota, co-writer of the report: https://hyperallergic.com/author/sharon-mizota/ Solana Chehtman, Director of Artist Programs, Joan Mitchell Foundation: https://www.joanmitchellfoundation.org/solana-chehtman Foundation Staff and Board Mentioned Christa Blatchford, Executive Director: https://www.joanmitchellfoundation.org/christa-blatchford Josh T Franco, Board Member; Executive Director, US Latinx Art Forum; Collector at Large, Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art: https://www.joanmitchellfoundation.org/josh-t-franco | https://uslaf.org Shervone Neckles, artist and former Artist Programs Manager (CALL): https://shervoneneckles.com Kay Takeda, former Deputy Director, Artist Programs, and co-editor of Career Documentation for the Visual Artist Creating Future Memory Advisory Council Lisa Darms, Hauser & Wirth Institute: https://hauserwirthinstitute.org Ryan S. Flahive, Archivist, Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA): https://iaia.edu/archives Josh T Franco (see above) Tempestt Hazel, Sixty Inches From Center: https://sixtyinchesfromcenter.org Seitu Ken Jones, artist: https://seitujonesstudio.com Shannon Brunette, Office of Cultural Work: https://officeofculturalwork.org Chelsea Spengemann, Soft Network: https://www.softnetwork.art People Mentioned Daisy Murray Holman, Executive Director, Artists’ Legacy Foundation, and steward of the Estate of Elizabeth Murray: https://artistslegacyfoundation.org/about-us/ Elizabeth Murray: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Murray_(artist) Teresita Fernández: https://www.lehmannmaupin.com/artists/teresita-fernandez Amalia Mesa-Bains: https://amaliamesabains.com Luis Camnitzer: https://www.unitedstatesartists.org/fellow/luis-camnitzer/ Valerie J. Maynard: https://valeriejmaynardfoundation.org Organizations and Resources Artists’ Kids: https://www.artistskids.com AFELL (Artist Foundations and Estate Leaders List): https://groups.google.com/g/AFELL/about Aspen Institute Artist-Endowed Foundations Initiative: https://www.aspeninstitute.org/aefi Valerie J. Maynard Foundation: https://valeriejmaynardfoundation.org Baltimore Museum of Art: https://artbma.org Smithsonian Archives of American Art Oral History Program: https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/about-the-oral-history-program Ninth Street Women by Mary Gabriel: https://chaucersbooks.com/book/9780316226172 Artist Relief: https://www.artistrelief.org Coalition of Small Arts NYC (CoSA NYC): https://anthologyfilmarchives.org/support/about-cosa Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund: https://www.legacy.mn.gov/arts-cultural-heritage-fund United States Artists: https://www.unitedstatesartists.org Artadia: https://artadia.org Creative Capital: https://creative-capital.org BRIC: https://www.bricartsmedia.org The High Line: https://www.thehighline.org The Shed: https://theshed.org  

Andrew Russeth knows art. As Editor-in-Chief at Artnet News and a critic for nearly two decades, he sees more art than almost anyone in the art world. In this episode, he and Paddy Johnson dig into what keeps a career going over the long haul and why even artists with name recognition still have career gaps to fill. His most repeated advice may also be the most commonly dismissed: you have to have fun. Andrew Russeth won the Rabkin Prize for visual arts journalism in 2019 and was previously executive editor of ARTnews. Links and resources mentioned in the podcast Free Info Session How to Grow Your Career Beyond Your Region. Saturday, October 17 at 1 PM Eastern Sign up here Additional Reading Andrew Russeth, “Jordan Wolfson Is Opening a Major Show at Gagosian. He Does Not Want to Talk About It,” Artnet News, 2026 Jason Farago, After a Career Reshaping the Museum of Modern Art, its Influential Curator Steps Down, New York Times, 2026  Artnet News, “The Best Artworks We Saw in 2025,” Artnet News, 2025 Andrew Russeth, “Maverick Painter and Critic Walter Robinson, Who Helmed Artnet Magazine, Is Dead at 74,” Artnet News, 2025 Andrew Russeth, Massimiliano Gioni will Lead the New Museum, Artnet News, 2026 Andrew Russeth, “How Anicka Yi’s Science Experiments Are Expanding the Boundaries of Art,” W Magazine, 2018 Beeple and Jordan Wolfson, Dialogues: The David Zwirner Podcast, Episode 32 Rozalia Jovanovic, Say Hello to Jordan Wolfson’s Terrifying Animatronic Dancer at David Zwirner, 2014 Chris Wiley, The History of Zombie Formalism, Artnet News, 2018 Frank Benson, Wolfson, Animation, Masks, DisMagazine, 2012 Artists Jordan Wolfson Korakrit Arunanondchai  B. Wurtz Louise Lawler  Anicka Yi Faith Ringgold, Tar Beach Simon Dinnerstein, The Fulbright Triptych Galleries, institutions and publications Clearing Feature Inc. (Hudson) Colab and the Times Square Show Art-Rite reprint, Primary Information New Museum MoMA Writers Ben Davis Annie Armstrong Andrew Russeth Desserts Il Laboratorio del Gelato Morgenstern’s Chim Chim The Little One Marcel at Sotheby’s Sugar Sweet Sunshine Billy’s Bakery Fortunes Ice Cream Chefs Natasha Pickowicz Other names mentioned Martin Kippenberger, Jeff Koons, Richard Serra, Sadie Coles HQ, Richard Prince, Damien Hirst, Cindy Sherman, Robert Longo, Jasper Johns, Peter Halley, John Currin, Jordan Casteel, Amy Sherald, Pace, Esther Schipper, Jeffrey Deitch, Carlo McCormick, Charlie Finch, Jerry Saltz, Howard Halle, Bill Arning, Dave Hickey, Sarah Douglas, Jared Kushner, Will Heinrich, Magnolia Bakery

What makes an art fair successful? Sales. Crowds. Fairs that give people a reason to come back. This fall, artist William Powhida, Netvvrk Director of Operations Penny Retica, and I walked New York's fair week to see which ones do that job. We went to the Spring Break in the old CBS News offices, Independent 20th Century, The Armory, and Printed Matter's New York Art Book Fair at MoMA PS1. One of them left us with some serious FOMO.  Guest credits Artist William Powhida Netvvrk Director of Operations, Penny Retica Artists/Projects Mentioned: Spring Break https://www.springbreakartshow.com/ Kara Sheffler & Joanna Herr, Tiki Bar David Molesky, Prone to Bruise Christopher Chan & Lindaluz Carillo, Soft Bruise Kutay Tufekci, Roselynn Sadaghiani, & Richard Medina in Fool Me Can’t Get Fooled Again Alice Herbert, HOUSE ARREST Matthew Cronin, Catalina Tuca, & Joseph Wilcox, Afterimage, curated by Elisa Gutiérrez Eriksen Independent 20th Century https://www.independenthq.com/ General Idea David Hammons Jenny Holzer Armory https://www.thearmoryshow.com/ Dorian Langberg Michelle Grabner Darvish Fakhr Embajada Gallery Katarina Riseing Alba Triana NY Art Book Fair https://nyabf2026.printedmatterartbookfairs.org/ African Art Book Fair, The Pan African Library Will Not Be Colonized Book Arts Solidarity Network, MAKEREADY A, Lukas, Stop Hiding Behind Masks Precious Okoyomon, The Pleasure Principle Black Sheep, Riso Lantern Additional Reading Valentina Di Liscia, "Independent 20th Century, the Mise en Abyme of Art Fairs," Hyperallergic, 2026 Anna Kornbluh, Immediacy, or The Style of Too Late Capitalism, Verso, 2024 Activating the Transformative Potential of Commons in the Arts Free class If you want shows beyond your home city, join my free class, How to Get Shows Beyond Your Region, on October 14 at 7 PM EDT. Register here.

Mike Ryczek flew to New Orleans to see his work hanging in the kind of gallery he'd always aspired to. Dinner with the other artists went fine. Then came the gallery crawl the next day, and he froze: four galleries deep without talking to anyone, thirty minutes standing beside his own paintings waiting for someone to approach, and finally the Irish goodbye and some consolation fried chicken.  In this episode, the two of us talk about the moments an art career makes you feel like an imposter, and I share my own recent version of his story, because these feelings don't retire with experience. What changes is how you recover. Mike is a painter in Dedham, Massachusetts who has held gallery representation for over a decade, won a $15,000 Mass Cultural Council grant, and still interrogates every achievement for the trick behind it. Our conversation stays close to what an art career feels like: from the whiplash of rejection and reward arriving back to back to the self-belief it takes to keep assigning yourself work few people see. There’s no strategy in this episode, just the facts of the profession.  Relevant Links:  Mike Ryczek Creative Capital Mass Cultural Council

Have you ever struggled to figure out exactly where your art fits? Or maybe you’ve tried to write an artist statement only to find it one of the hardest tasks you’ve ever had to do. Today’s guest, Jennifer Sharpe, a multimedia artist and experimental filmmaker, has a way of making those problems vivid and infinitely relatable.  In this episode, we talk about how a continuously shifting cultural landscape affects artistic practice. Over the last twenty years, we’ve seen multiple online communities collapse and rebuild. Jennifer came away convinced that while platforms vanish and institutions wobble, the relationships you build are the only durable asset an artist has.  This conversation wanders in the best way. Racehorses, vagabonds, cave paintings, jobs, and a whole bunch of other ideas you wouldn’t think have anything to do with artists, but really do. RELATED LINKS Free Info Session, How to Get on a Museum’s Radar, Tuesday, July 21, 7:00 PM EST Jennifer Sharpe

The art world tells artists that if you just keep going, eventually something will break for you. But persistence can also keep you stuck. If you don’t know something’s broken so you keep doing the same thing, you won’t grow. That's what happened to Gin Stone. Gin is a Cape Cod artist who did what she was supposed to do. She kept going. And she stayed stuck because she didn't have the right help. In this episode, she talks about the gallery show that made her realize she had nothing to say about her own work, the overhaul that followed, and the grant she landed just last week for a sonification project built on 2,000 years of geological data.   RELEVANT LINKS: Free Info Session, How to Get on a Museum’s Radar, Tuesday July 21, 7:00 PM EST Gin Stone

After years of producing social practice art, Peter Walsh wanted to get back in the studio. So he rented a space and started painting. But when he started reaching out to his old painting friends, he found most had moved on to other things. He needed community.  He joined Netvvrk, along with many of the artists in his Brooklyn studio building. Then he practiced patience: he went to other people’s shows, built relationships, and let the work lead. That led to his first solo show in New York.  In this episode, we talk about restarting a practice mid-career, the self-doubt that shows up even with a long CV, and why the artwork always has to come first. Peter lost a painting the day before we recorded. He painted over it and kept working. As he puts it, he's not done. RELEVANT LINKS Free Info Session, How to Get on a Museum’s Radar, Tuesday July 21, 7:00 PM EST Peter Walsh

Guest: Mark Witzling, abstract painter In this episode of Art Problems, I speak with Mark Witzling about his career path as a painter. Witzling continues our series on artists who are building careers regionally, and his story takes on a second challenge that artists ask me about all the time. Witzling doesn’t have an MFA or a BFA in art.    And he works full time on his art. Want to know how he got his studio paid for and work placed without institutional bona fides, while living in St Louis, MO? Tune into this episode and find out!    RELEVANT LINKS    How to Get on a Museum’s Radar, (Free info session) Tuesday July 21, 2026 Mark Witzling Craft Alliance (St. Louis)  Southern Vermont Art Center — site of his solo show last year

Meg Lagodzki paints from a studio in the woods just outside Bloomington, Indiana, five hours from the nearest major art center. In this conversation, part of an ongoing series on artists building careers outside NYC and LA, she talks with Paddy about what it took to grow beyond her local market: the critique group that pushed her work in a new direction, the cold DM from a gallery that turned into a five-year relationship, and the shift from applying to open calls alone to finding opportunities through other artists. Meg also talks candidly about what changed once she started applying to harder, more selective opportunities instead of easier ones, and why the collectives inside Netvvrk, the smaller groups built around a shared thread like medium or geography, became one of the most valuable parts of her membership. Meg Lagodzki is a painter based in Bloomington, Indiana, and a member of Netvvrk's Woods and Forest Collective. Relevant links: Join the Free Live Webinar: How to Get on a Museum's Radar, July 21, 7:00 PM EST Meg Lagodzki https://www.meglagodzki.com/ Momentum Gallery https://momentumgallery.com/  

In this episode, Paddy gives you the skinny on the Guggenheim Fellowship, one of the most prestigious awards for mid-career artists. The talk contains tips and strategies you won't find on their website, including knowing when to apply and how often. You won't find this information anywhere else, so have a listen. Even if you're not planning to apply, this episode will give you strategies for ALL grant applications. Relevant links: https://www.gf.org/