Art, Life, and Social Practice, ALSP is an extension of my personal journey to understand the complexity and power of art. As many other passionate artists and art patrons, I want to talk about my love of art and it’s potential effect on us all. I genuinely believe in the power of art, the image and the art institution. It is my belief that being an artist is a gift. If nourished, respected, and properly maintained, the gift of creating can have lasting effects on the artist, their creations, and environment.

However, I also believe the infrastructure of many art institutions, organizations and industry constructs within the art world need to be challenged, encouraged to be forthright, transparent, more inclusive, and progressive.

Programing of Art, Life, and Social Practice will primarily feature minority artists living and/or working in the DC metropolitan area, the DMV art scene and the overall art industry. Namely, I will interview/engage visual artists, curators, collectors, arts organizations, and advocates. The intention is to feed the artistic spirit, stimulate scholarly dialogue regarding the arts, and challenge the status quo within the industry.

host: Amber Robles-Gordon

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From Left to Right: Micheal Booker, Akili Ron Anderson, Lavette Ballard, Wesley Clark, Asha Elana Casey, Kymone Freeman, Katherine Tzu-Lan Mann, Molly Secours

Art, Life and Social Practice Episodes

Guest: Molly Secours, Film Maker, Audio Book Narrator, Author

Guest: Molly Secours, Film Maker, Audio Book Narrator, Author

https://www.instagram.com/mollmaud/

https://www.mollysecours.com

Guest: Katherine Tzu-Lan Mann, Painter, Installation and Public Art Artist

I had a rich and candid conversation with Katherine Tzu-Lan Mann about how she weaves her roles — as artist, mother, and citizen — into a dynamic visual practice. We talked about how her large-scale paintings and installations draw from traditions of Chinese landscape painting, chemical and geological processes, and the tension between the natural and the artificial. Katherine share how motherhood has shifted her time, space, and rhythms in the studio, while also fueling new ways of thinking about presence, absence and the landscapes of identity. We also explored how site-specific and public art allow her to engage community, place and temporary interventions in the built environment. In that way, the talk became as much about how we live and make as about what is made. Dive into our dialog to hear how Katherine navigates the demands of home, the freedom of abstraction, and the invitation to reclaim “landscape” as heritage.

Katherine Mann, Painter, Installation and Public Art, Artist and Mother

https://www.instagram.com/ktzulan/

https://katherinemann.net

Guest: Michael Booker, Quilter and Visual Artist

Michael Booker, Quilter, Visual Artist, Prof. of Art at Montgomery College

https://www.instagram.com/mabooker_art/

https://michael-booker.com/links.html

Guest: Akili Ron Anderson, Visual Artist and Africobra Member

Listen in on a conversation with my good friend Akili Ron Anderson. Akili, or as I call him, Anderson, is a

tremendous human being, multimedia artist, conversationalist, professor and activist.

Blessings,

Amber Robles-Gordon

Akili Ron Anderson

http://www.akilironanderson.com

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/Akili.Ron.An...

A Massive Sculpture of an African American Last Supper, Hidden for Years, Has Been Discovered in Columbia Heights.

https://www.washingtonian.com/2019/10...

Guest: Wesley Clark, Visual Artist and Art Installer

Art, Life and Social Practice, presents a conversation with artist Wesley Clark.

Learn more about Wesley Clark: http://wesleyclarkart.com

https://www.weinstallart.com

Guest: Wesley Clark, Visual Artist and Art Installer

In this conversation with artist Wesley Clark, we explore his personal journey to fine art. Learn how his initial interest in drawing, design and creativity lead him to the intersections of building fictional artifacts, documenting and challenging social in justice and creating empowering large scale public artworks. Wesley’s practice weaves his exploration of memory and history through mark-making, surface disruption, and the layered languages of street life and graffiti to evoke time, place and erased presence. His artworks navigates themes of identity, belonging and place. Which forces viewers to reflect on the evolving role of the artist, art and our perceived notions of history. Whether you’re driven by studio practice or social impact, Wesley’s insights are invigorating and deeply human. Listen in for inspiration and provocation alike.

Guest: Asha Elana Casey, Visual Artist and Art Teacher

Guest: Asha Elana Casey, Visual Artist, Curator and Art Teacher

Asha Elana Casey

https://ashaelanacasey.com

https://www.instagram.com/ashaelanacasey/

Guest: Lavett Ballard, Visual Artist

Art, Life, and Social Practice

Date: March 2023

Lavett Ballard

https://www.lavettbeart.com

https://www.instagram.com/lavettballardarts/

Guest: Kymone Freeman, Author and Playwright

In conversation with Kymone Freeman, poet, social advocate/activist, community organizer and co-founder of We Act Radio, Washington DC's independent progressive radio and TV studio since 2011. Author of Nineveh: A Conflict Over Water @WeActRadioDC

Art, Life, and Social Practice

Date: March 2023

Kymone Freeman

https://www.instagram.com/kymonefreeman/

https://www.busboysandpoets.com/events/th-evt-30045775/

Art, Life and Social Practice at Eaton Hotel - 2019 Episodes

Guest: Carmen Robles-Inman, my mother, a creative, proposal writer and much, much more

Carmen Robles-Inman and Amber Robles-Gordon

Art, Life, and Social Practice

Date: Tuesday, March 12, 2019

Episode: 1

Press Play or Click the Mixcloud link to listen to episode #1.

https://www.mixcloud.com/amber-robles-gordon/art-life-and-social-practice-episode-1-w-carmen-robles-inman/

Guest: Aziza Gibson-Hunter, Visual Artist and Community Organizer

Blueprints and Red Lines Mixed Media 45" x 42", 2014 Occupational Hazards Series — Blueprints and Red Lines
Mixed Media 45" x 42", 2014
*Occupational Hazards Series*

Art, Life, and Social Practice

Episode 1: A Conversation with Aziza Gibson-Hunter

In this first episode (recorded in 2019), I sit down with Aziza Gibson-Hunter, co-founder of Black Artists of DC. We discuss her family history, creative journey, and her deep connection to the organization that has supported generations of Black artists in Washington, DC.

I’ve known Aziza since joining Black Artists of DC in 2005, and her art practice—rooted in research, investigation, and cultural memory—continues to inspire and challenge.

In our second conversation, we explore the influence of her Philadelphia upbringing, her relationship with her parents, and delve into her recent series and evolving artistic process.

A conversation with Aziza is always enlightening, thought-provoking, and soul-nourishing—you won’t want to miss it.

Press Play or Click the Mixcloud link to hear my initial conversation with Aziza Gibson Hunter in 2019.

https://www.mixcloud.com/amber-robles-gordon/art-life-and-social-practice/

Aziza Gibson Hunter

https://www.instagram.com/gibsonhunterstudio/

http://gibsonhunterstudio.com/