The Case for Baskets

On this edition of Museum Confidential -- which is, yes, the very last one (!) -- we speak with Megan Whittaker Nesbit, the CEO and President of Philbrook Museum of Art. Nesbit, who joined the Philbrook team nearly a decade ago, talks with us about her tenure at the museum thus far, her curatorial interests and experiences, and what she has in mind for the future. Thank you for listening! Please exit through the gift shop. 

"Homeward to the Prairie I Come: Gordon Parks Photographs from the Beach Museum of Art" is on view at Tulsa's Philbrook Museum of Art through June 19th; this striking exhibit features 70+ works, including iconic photo-journalism, portraits, and experimental photography. Recently, MC host Jeff Martin had the opportunity to chat with one of Parks's good friends, the fellow photographer Fred Sweets. An award-winning photographer and photo editor who worked over the years at The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The Washington Post, and the Associated Press, Sweets was greatly inspired by the photography of Gordon Parks (as were so many others). On this episode, we hear Sweets reflecting on his life and work with the camera -- as well as that of the legendary Gordon Parks.

We're discussing a fine show now on view at the Detroit Institute of Arts; it's the first major Native American exhibition at DIA in three decades. "Contemporary Anishinaabe Art: A Continuation" (which runs through April 5th) celebrates indigenous work from across the Great Lakes region by way of 60 different artists and nearly 100 works. Our guest on MC is the show's curator, Dr. Denene De Quintal.

For the first time in more than 30 years, a leading museum is hosting a major exhibition of work by the noted architect Bruce Goff (American; 1904-1982). The Art Institute of Chicago -- drawing primarily upon its own extensive Goff collection -- has recently opened "Material Worlds." It's on view through March 29th of this year. On this episode of MC, we catch up with the show's curator, Alison Fisher.

On this newest episode of MC, we speak with Welana Queton; she's currently the Mellon Fellow for Native Art at Philbrook Museum of Art. Recently, Welana was asked to shine a light on a specific area of the museum's collection: baskets. This work led to a newly-launched exhibition -- INTERWOVEN: CHEROKEE, MUSCOGEE (CREEK), & YUCHI BASKETS. Presenting a variety of styles, both decorative and functional, and spotlighting baskets made from a wide range of materials, INTERWOVEN runs ay Philbrook through February 8, 2026.

Our friend Stephen Reily of REMUSEUM returns to the MC podcast to discuss his think-tank's report on marketing in the museum sector. According to this newly-issued REMUSEUM case study: "Museums invest, on average, less than 3% of their operating budgets on marketing, which is a level consistent with the American mining and construction industries." Lots to discuss here. We caught up with Stephen via phone, as he was visiting Miami in order to take part in Art Basel.

They say timing is everything, but acclaimed filmmaker Kelly Reichardt (First Cow, Meek's Cutoff) could have never predicted a rise in museum heists when prepping her latest, THE MASTERMIND. Kelly joins us to talk about the film, her career, and what it took to create a fictional Massachusetts museum in Indiana and Ohio.

Of course we're talking about the recent theft at the Louvre Museum in Paris, which occurred on October 19th and promptly made news headlines worldwide. Four masked and hooded thieves took more than $100 in jewels before exiting the museum (in broad daylight) and speeding away on motor scooters. Amid the many articles and written reports concerning this theft that appeared just after it happened, one piece that caught out eyes was "The Louvre Heist Was a Colonial Wake-Up Call" (from Hyperallergic, the arts/cultural website). Our guest on Museum Confidential is the author of this piece, Dr. Emiline Smith, a Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Glasgow, Scotland (UK).  

On this edition of MC, we hear from the celebrated Tulsa-based artist, Patrick Gordon. The first-ever retrospective of this remarkable artist's work -- "Wall Flowers: Patrick Gordon Paintings" -- is now on view at Philbrook Museum of Art through January 3rd, 2026. The show presents 50+ works, including still life scenes, large florals, portraits, and a striking series of paintings titled "Men in Ballgowns." Conversation moderated by Karl Jones of The Center for Queer Prairie Studies. Presented in partnership with Tulsa Artist Fellowship. 

From time to time we look at a specific museum job or title and ask the question: what is that exactly? Today we're exploring the role of the cultural anthropologist with Aaron Schoenfeldt, the Duane H. King Postdoctoral Fellow at The University of Tulsa's Helmerich Center for American Research.