Art Works Podcast

With her second novel “The Taste of Sugar,” Marisel Vera has created an epic tale with an intimate heart. It tells the story of small coffee farmers in late 19th century Puerto Rico whose lives had been shaped by Spanish colonialism and upended by the 1898 US Invasion and the devastating 1899 hurricane San Ciriaco which left thousands dead and a quarter of a million people without food and shelter. Vera’s protagonists, Valentina and Vicente, join 5,000 other Puerto Ricans on an arduous journey to Hawaii to work on the sugar plantations where they find themselves instead captive laborers in a strange land. In this podcast, Vera talks about her life as a storyteller, her need to write a book that explored the history of Puerto Rico—a history most people don’t know—her meticulous research and her determination to get that history right, and the deep impact of colonization on the island. She also discusses her own struggle to find herself in books when she was growing up in Chicago, her sense that she was always living in two worlds, in two languages, and embracing that in her writing which moves fluently between Spanish and English.

The power of music to make us whole.

Richard Hunt talks about creating large pieces of abstract art for public spaces and reflects on his time on the National Council of the Arts.

A conversation with Dr. David Fakunle who uses the art of storytelling to promote public health by listening, understanding, and addressing the personal, social, and structural factors that contribute to health disparities. He powerfully combines science with art and is transforming discussions about the role of storytelling in healing. Dr. Fakunle shares his personal story of growing up in a family deeply rooted in the arts, especially music and storytelling. His childhood was marked by significant cultural influences, such as his experiences at the Great Blacks in Wax Museum in Baltimore and his memorable encounter with renowned griot, Mary Carter Smith who with 2019 National Heritage Fellow Linda Goss co-founded the Association of Black Storytellers. Dr. Fakunle took these influences to the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health where he realized the deeper implications about the potential of storytelling in the realm of public health. Fakunle's innovative ideas were supported by the faculty, and upon graduation, he began teaching storytelling in the Mental Health Department at Hopkins, emphasizing the importance of effectively communicating scientific research through engaging narratives. Fakunle argues that the profound benefits of storytelling in health communication come from its ability to resonate with audiences but more importantly, authentic narratives and voices need to be central in discussions about health challenges

Dr. Fakunle also discusses his many years of work at WombWork Productions (where he is now executive director). WombWork is a social change performing arts company. Under his leadership, the company shifted its focus from implicit to explicit public health impact, tackling a range of serious topics such as HIV, gang violence, and child sexual abuse through art. Dr. Fakunle’s passionate belief that the creative process serves as a crucial part of the healing process is the thread that moves through all his work.

Gil Rose is a conductor and the founder and artistic director of the performing and recording ensemble the Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP), which is dedicated exclusively to commissioning, performing, and recording music of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, and Odyssey Opera which is dedicated to performing lesser-known older operas as well as contemporary new works. Rose is also the founder of BMOP/Sound, BMOP’s independent record label, which was created in 2008 to provide a platform for BMOP’s (and then Odyssey’s) extensive archive of music.

In this podcast, Gil Rose shares his motivation behind starting BMOP( which is celebrating its 25th anniversary) and his desire to create a musically interesting and worthwhile project focused on contemporary music and focused on the dynamic between composers, performers, and the audience. Rose discusses his emphasis on flexibility and collaboration with other arts organizations and creating a great orchestra with exceptional free-lance musicians—a decision that allows BMOP to perform a wide range of repertoire, from 90-player orchestra pieces to smaller ensembles. Rose also talks about the critical aspect of fundraising and the challenges of sustaining BMOP and Odyssey, and the importance of grants, particularly those received from the National Endowment for the Arts which have provided integral support for a variety of projects, and whose endorsement acts as a seal of approval and often helps in raising money from other sources. Gil Rose also discusses the "As Told By" initiative, a five-year project commissioning, premiering, and recording opera works by black composers about black historical subjects. (The first opera premiered was "X:The Life and Times of Malcolm X" by Anthony Davis; the second scheduled for 2024 will be “Harriet Tubman” by Nkeiru Okoye—both received grants from the Arts Endowment.) And finally, Rose reflects on BMOP's 25th anniversary, their many collaborations and partnerships, their debut at Carnegie Hall, which received glowing reviews from The New York Times and what’s on the road ahead. Let us know what you think about Art Works—email us at [email protected].