Welcome, once again, Alyssa Botelho from Podcast Episode 175 and Ethan de Aguiar , from Podcast Episode 173. They have teamed up to create the New Bedford Film Festival - which, "celebrates authentic cinematic stories, cultivates bold storytellers, and champions the city’s growing creative and diverse economy." The festival will take place in New Bedford (as of this posting) in the South Coast of Massachusetts from April 18 to 21, 2024, their inaugural year. The New Bedford Film Festival event s...
Mar 11, 2024•42 min
Welcome, Chris Page , an artist and painter who spent most of his adult life in the Amherst-Northampton area of Massachusetts. Chris just recently moved to Somerset and has a studio in the Hatch Street Studios in New Bedford, Massachusetts. His work, although grounded in abstract painting is as he says, "based on walking and being present in the landscape." Chris Page is currently walking the area of Horseback Beach and Gooseberry Neck in Westport, Massachusetts as a specific exploration. He is ...
Mar 04, 2024•53 min
Welcome, once again, Jeff Angeley from Podcast Episode 122 and Chris Camarao , from Podcast Episode 135. They have teamed up to create the New Bedford Roots & Branches Festival - Everything Acoustic By and For the People! Their inaugural year was last July (2023) with a promise to bring, "a new kind of acoustic music festival... to downtown New Bedford!" The Festival is, according to their website, "a free, one-day, acoustic music festival by and for the people." It is free to all and it is ...
Feb 26, 2024•49 min
Welcome, once again, painter/muralist/art instructor, and production artist on Loving Vincent , Katherine “Kat” Knutsen ! She has been our guest on In-Focus Podcast Number 73 and last time, she spoke with our intrepid Indie Music Host – Scott Bishop about her musical side In-Focus Podcast Number 131! This time, she speaks with The Artists Index’s cofounder, documentarian, and podcast host, Ron Fortier , once again, about her background, passions, and future. She is a whirling dervish of great en...
Jan 29, 2024•55 min
Welcome, Mary Monteiro , who says she, "was not exposed to art growing up so I latched on to the only creative endeavor I had been exposed to, sewing." After high school, her interest in creating with fabric led her to pursue a degree in fashion design. It was well-intentioned but short-lived. After her first foundation drawing class at S.M.U. (Southeastern Massachusetts University) which evolved into the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth , Mary Monteiro , had found her true passion. Her des...
Jan 22, 2024•57 min
Welcome Fairhaven native, Beth Ann Gallagher , film buff, historian, and the founder of the film and television blog Spellbound with Beth Ann (2008). The blog offers, "featured productions and creatives that often come from the silent and classic film eras, but not entirely." Beth Ann expanded her coverage to include contemporary film and television in 2020. She is an admitted lifelong film fanatic and TV viewer and attributes it to, "growing up an only child in wintry New England" which, might ...
Jan 15, 2024•48 min
Welcome, Pam Hoss , aka Pamela L. Hoss , who often uses herself as a vehicle of expression. According to her, "Some of my portraits are intimate investigations, while others, using full body postures, are theatrical large-scale narratives. Both elucidate my life as a woman in the roles I have played as a daughter, mother, artist, teacher, and wife." Self-portraiture has allowed Pam Hoss to uncover what could not easily be perceived. Documenting the past with the present, she looks at herself thr...
Jan 08, 2024•48 min
Welcome, Patricia A. Thomas, aka Patty Thomas , performer, director, writer, and teacher. Throughout her career, Patty has directed theatre and music projects in many communities and different parts of the world. As the artistic director and co-founder of Culture*Park Theatre , along with Rebecca Schade , she has fostered new and emerging plays and playwrights, curating and presenting nearly 400 short plays for the Short Plays Marathons . Patty is the author/editor of Two Portuguese-American Pla...
Jan 01, 2024•41 min
Welcome, Alyssa Botelho a writer, director, producer, and actor. She was born and raised in Fairhaven, Massachusetts . Her passion for unearthing untold stories from the past and breathing life into them through the art of filmmaking is what drives her to create. Alyssa's style is a blend of suspense, mystery, and existentialism. It's all woven together with a thread of humor that provides a multi-dimensional richness to her narratives. She first learned filmmaking at Fairhaven High School and w...
Dec 18, 2023•51 min
Welcome, Troy Henriksen , a New Bedford native, is a self-taught visual artist, writer, and musician who has been living and working successfully in Paris, France since 1998. Troy Henriksen is known for his colorful, bold, and optimistic paintings. He has over a thousand collectors and is represented by Galerie W Paris . He has written three books; New Man New Identity ( Critéres Editions France ), Let’s Get Wasted ( Galerie W Editions, Paris ), and The Journey Of Johnny Vincent ( Beacon Publish...
Dec 11, 2023•50 min
Welcome, Ethan de Aguiar , who self-describes as a self-proclaimed artrepreneur. He is a New Bedford native and an experienced filmmaker. Ethan de Aguiar focuses on the art of storytelling and brings the essence of the subject matter to life with cinematic visuals that create a unique experience for audiences. He has built long-term working relationships with notable local organizations such as New Bedford Creative , Destination New Bedford , DATMA , the SouthCoast Community Foundation , YMCA So...
Dec 04, 2023•55 min
Welcome, Paul Bielatowicz , born in Burnley, Lancashire, England . As a child, he was obsessed with gymnastics, but around the age of 7, he began expressing an interest in playing the guitar. Paul Bielatowicz's dad had always played guitar and the two would often sing songs together. His parents bought him a child-sized nylon-strung acoustic guitar for Christmas and he started taking classical guitar lessons. He has now spent the past two decades recording, playing, and touring with some of the ...
Nov 20, 2023•46 min
Welcome, Eric Baylies of the Baylies Band , a local music performer who's been associated with Bad Motherfucker , Temple Of Bon Matin, Club Math , Free Jazz Now , Psychedelic Jazz Trio , and Minibeast with Peter Prescot t of Mission Of Burma. He's toured with Pere Ubu and performed with Wire , Weird Al Yankovic , Macaulay Culkin's Pizza Underground , Godsmack , Staind , Carnivore , Lizzie Borden , Ralph Nader , Vanessa Carlton , Swans , Blue Oyster Cult , Psychic TV , Andrew WK , Volcano the Bea...
Nov 13, 2023•1 hr 1 min
Welcome, Donna Gagnon , Artist, and Painter, AKA, Donna Sylvia Gagnon , who as a child was always interested in drawing, so much so that her parents sent her to the Swain School of Design summer program classes. After graduating from Fairhaven High School , Donna attended S.M.U. (Southeastern Massachusetts University), now the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth , where she majored in Visual Design. Donna Gagnon then worked at various advertising agencies, printers, and civil engineering firms...
Oct 16, 2023•1 hr 8 min
Welcome, Sarah Athanas , the Co-Founder and Chief Community Builder at Groundwork . Sarah grew up on Cape Cod and studied Art as an undergrad at the University of California, Santa Barbara . Her concentration was primarily in video and installation art. Upon graduation, Sarah pivoted towards pursuing documentary filmmaking. Sarah Athanas later directed, edited and produced the documentary Tracking Patagonia while living in Coyhaique, Chile. To fund the post-production of the film, she accepted a...
Oct 09, 2023•45 min
Welcome, Allie Copeland , AKA Alexandra Copeland, the Art Curator for the New Bedford Free Public Library . Allie grew up in northeast Connecticut and went to school in Boston. She holds a bachelor's in Art History and a Master's of Library and Information Science with a concentration in cultural heritage. Both degrees are from Simmons College . Prior to this position, Allie Copeland was working as a collections manager and registrar for the Rye Historical Society in Rye, New York. She has exper...
Oct 02, 2023•48 min
Welcome, Hendrick Hernandez , AKA Hendrick Hernandez-Resto a Latinx creative who was born in Carolina, Puerto Rico , and raised in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Hendrick is an emcee, beat maker, producer, mix engineer, audio director, model, videographer, photographer, sketch artist, and creative specialist. He is a self-described multidisciplinarian and an enthusiastic participant in all forms of creativity. Hendrick is also the founder of Sleepless In New England , a creative collective of all d...
Sep 25, 2023•1 hr 5 min
Welcome, Seth Rainville , who was once an aspiring painter and printmaker turned ceramicist. Seth John Rainville came from a family of creatives. His self-described journey began as a painter and printmaker but, he ended up with a degree in Ceramics from The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (UMD) in 1996. Shortly after, he made his way to Phoenix Arizona where his career took off. Then, he became the head of Ceramics for the Phoenix Center for the Arts . He was nominated to the Artist Advis...
Sep 18, 2023•1 hr 7 min
Welcome, Donna Dodson , a sculptor and a Resident Scholar at the Women’s Studies Research Center at Brandeis University. But wait, there's more! Donna Dodson may be the only Fulbright US Scholar we've had on the podcast . She is also a Fellow at the St Botolph Club and a member of the Boston Sculptors Gallery . By the way, she currently (as of the date of this post) has a new show at the Boston Sculptors Gallery - DONNA DODSON: SHEROES . Donna has exhibited her work, received favorable reviews, ...
Sep 11, 2023•56 min
Welcome, Marina Wells, who joined the New Bedford Whaling Museum for a two-year Photography Fellowship in the Fall of 2022. She holds a B.A. in English Literature and Art History from Colby College and is currently a Ph.D. candidate in American & New England Studies at Boston University . Marina has completed fellowships at the Mystic Seaport Museum , Nantucket Historical Society , and the Winterthur Museum & Library , among others. The Artists Index co-founder and host, Ron Fortier , ta...
Sep 05, 2023•59 min
Welcome, Sarah Jane Mulvey, a poet, writer, and editor working a full-time job in the non-profit arts world. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Communications, Journalism, and Media from Bridgewater State University . She immediately abandoned her dreams of being a journalist because, although she had no formal training, she'd been writing creatively and dabbling in poetry since childhood. Then, around 2014, she started seriously writing and performing her poems. It was then, as she says, "I fou...
Aug 28, 2023•1 hr 2 min
Welcome, Sheila Oliveira who earned her Bachelor's & Master's in Studio Art from the Department of Graphic Design at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth . She was granted a teaching assistantship and remained at the University on the adjunct faculty of the CVPA teaching analog and digital photography for over 20 years. Sheila Oliveira took digital design courses at Mount Ida College for several years. She served as President and Curator of the Greater Fall River Art Association for ten...
Aug 21, 2023•53 min
Welcome, Kyle DeCicco-Carey to In-Focus Podcast Number 161! Kyle is the Library Director at the Millicent Library in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, and speaks with us on the fifth and last episode of this series about famous Fairhaven artists. This episode is about Albertus van Beest. Our five-part series of conversations on celebrated Fairhaven artists from days gone by with Kyle have included: Podcast Episode 132 - William Bradford Podcast Episode 133 - Lemuel Eldred Podcast Episode 146 - Robert Sw...
Aug 14, 2023•56 min
Welcome, Immuter, an American indie band from South Coast Massachusetts that fuses elements of classic rock with the sound of influential modern acts such as Muse , The Strokes , and Radiohead . The band frequents colleges and venues throughout the East Coast and has played alongside performers such as Jeremy Zucker and The Concept. Immuter talks with The Artist Index performing artists host, Scott Bishop , about their background, music, travels, and lots more. This episode was recorded in Scott...
Aug 07, 2023•56 min
Welcome, Roger Kizik , to In-Focus Podcast Number 159. Painter Roger Kizik was born in Boston, and raised in Medford, Massachusetts. He was in the US Navy between 1964 and 1968. He “transitioned joyfully” to MassArt where he attended from 1968 to 1972. Roger has exhibited widely in New England, New York marginally, and elsewhere around the US. He was also the preparator at the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis for 25 years. He says the job was, “tailored to suit my painting life” He has also been the ...
Jul 31, 2023•51 min
Welcome, Taylor Hickey , to In-Focus Podcast Number 158. Taylor is an interdisciplinary visual artist. She is primarily a printmaker, bookmaker, and sculptor. She was born and raised in Southeast Texas and received a BA in Drawing/Printmaking from McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and earned an MFA in Printmaking from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (UMass) in 2021. Taylor now lives and works in New Bedford, Massachusetts after relocating in 2018. Taylor Hickey conti...
Jul 24, 2023•59 min
Welcome, Mark Furtado who was born and raised in New Bedford and, “surrounded by art”. Mark went to Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School GNBVT) for Business Technology and is currently a student at Bristol Community College (BCC) in Fall River, Massachusetts for Office Administration. He is an artrenpreneur and started his artisanal brand, The Artisan NB , in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic *. Mark started his business as a pilot program to test the marketplace. He bel...
Jul 17, 2023•53 min
Welcome, Stephen D. Rogers , to In-Focus Podcast Number 156. Stephen is our first published mystery writer! His current book is Shot to Death . His new book is available on Amazon along with several of his others. Stephen is also the author of the Three-Minute Mysteries , Books 1-3, available as ebooks on Amazon, and more than 900 shorter pieces. The Artist Index co-founder and host, Ron Fortier talks to Stephen D. Rogers about his background and his passion for writing. The Artists Index contin...
Jul 03, 2023•1 hr 1 min
Welcome, William Collin Kenedy , to In-Focus Podcast Number 155. We first spoke with him on In-Focus Podcast Number 119 . Since then, William has been very busy in his first year as an emerging painter. He is a contemporary artist and graphic designer. He has developed an impressive portfolio with his many years in the design industry. William Collin Kennedy was born in Washington, DC, where his creativity started at a young age. He simply began drawing any and everything around him. As a self-t...
Jun 26, 2023•1 hr 2 min
Welcome, Mr. David Domingo Reis, AKA – Dave Reis who, among other his accomplishments, spent nearly 26 years as a Jazz radio show host. That’s right, an original DJ who worked at the former WUSM which became WUMD radio station, 89.3 FM, on the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth campus. Reis just wanted to promote Jazz musicians. WUMD signed off around noontime on a Monday in June of 2017 after 42 years of broadcasting. According to a Fall River Herald article, on “May 1, the Federal Communica...
Jun 19, 2023•52 min
