The Truth In This Art: Stories That Matter

Zina Verduzco joins The Truth in This Art to explore how AI and digital innovation are transforming community and entrepreneurship for small businesses in Baltimore and beyond.

With deep expertise across marketing, branding, and emerging technologies, Verduzco shares her journey from museum work to leading-edge digital marketing and AI development. She offers practical insights into helping local businesses adapt to the evo...

Bmore Transform and Baltimore’s Graphic Novel Festival take center stage in this episode of The Truth in This Art. Guests Gab Sussman and Victoria Lebrón share how they are reshaping education and community through Bmore Transform’s abolitionist, decolonizing approach and the city’s premier Graphic Novel Fest—celebrating sequential art, uplifting Queer and BIPOC creators, and advancing arts and literacy education across Ba...

Baltimore artist Akio Evans returns to The Truth in This Art for his second appearance, tracing his evolution from hobbyist customizer to full-time artist and self-defined shoe muralist. Evans shares how he moved beyond “customs” into shoe murals—wearable art that tells stories, carries meaning, and can move people to tears—by centering intention, integrity, and community in every piece.

Evans breaks down what changed in hi...

Chef Chris Amendola of foraged. a hyper-seasonal eatery returns to The Truth in This Art, joining the rarified air as one of just a handful of three-time guests.

Amendola shares his journey as an executive chef and restaurant owner, revealing how embracing change and curiosity keeps his creative vision fresh in the kitchen. He discusses building community at Forged and now at Forged at Black Ankle Vineyard, highlighting the...

Laiya St. Clair joins The Truth in This Art to share how she crafts culture from behind the mic as a celebrated radio and podcast personality, producer, and voice artist.

St. Clair reflects on her transition from radio to the world of podcasting, exploring how her experiences in DC, Philly, and Baltimore continue to inspire her work. She discusses her passion for amplifying Black stories and voices, and how creative collabo...

Will Walker, founder of A Tribe Called Run, joins the podcast.

Walker shares his personal journey from Cleveland to Baltimore, reflecting on how both cities' blue-collar spirit informs his approach to building community through running. A Tribe Called Run creates space for accessible runs, fitness events, and coaching, welcoming newcomers and experienced athletes alike.

Walker discusses the power of group running in forming ...

Resident Company Member Chinai Routté and director Paige Hernandez return to The Truth in This Art to illuminate Everyman Theatre’s production of August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson.

Routté shares the transformative experience of portraying Berniece, the play’s powerful central character, and how her own life informs the role’s emotional depth. Hernandez opens up about the responsibility and honor of being one of the few women...

Executive Director of Small Press Expo (SPX), Warren Bernard, returns to The Truth In This Art podcast.

Bernard shares insights into how planning, innovation, and community shape the road to SPX 2025. He reflects on the unique challenges and opportunities ahead, discussing how the evolving comics landscape and creative partnerships are driving the festival’s next chapter. Bernard’s work blends organizing, relationship-build...

Musician, Creative Consultant, and Band Leader Raymond J. Spence joins the podcast.

Spence shares how growing up in Baltimore shapes his approach to music, creative consulting, and community building. Spence’s work bridges performing, teaching, and guiding artists through the early stages of their creative journeys.

Spence discusses how collaborating across disciplines and organizations fuels Baltimore’s creative boom. He ta...

Writer, curator, and editor-in-chief of UP Magazine, T.K. Mills returns to the podcast.

Mills shares how living in New York City shapes his writing, curatorial practice, and editorial leadership at UP Magazine. UP Magazine is the urban art publication he founded and leads. Mills discusses how UP Magazine gives a platform to street artists and storytellers covers graffiti culture while documents the creativity found througho...

Artist and Arts in Health Specialist Zoë Lintzeris joins the podcast.  

Lintzeris shares how life in Baltimore and beyond informs her visual art practice. Lintzeris' work explores themes of love, loss, and resistance within both urban and rural settings. 

Lintzeris discusses how current events shape her work, and how art helps her process personal and collective emotions. She talks about using photography and painting as too...

Aspiring podcaster and artist M’Balou Camara interviews me for a special Maryland Art Summit 2025 recording.

M’Balou is a former student, current colleague, and emerging podcaster preparing to launch “The Heart Reflex,” highlighting voices of the African diaspora in the arts.

Our conversation—recorded live at Prince George’s Community College—explores our journey from a classroom connection at UMBC to ongoing collaboration, ...

Artist, poet, and climate justice advocate Neha Misra joins The Truth In This Art podcast. 

Misra shares how growing up in India, studying physics, and her cultural roots shape her creative work. Misra's art blends visual art, poetry, and climate justice activism. 

Misra discusses how reclaiming creativity helped her navigate periods of loss and anxiety. Misra shares her belief in art as an essential force for healing, resil...

Artist Kiara-Maribel Rivera joins the podcast. In this conversation, Rivera reflects on how her family’s migration and history shaped her identity and her creative work. She shares how her mother’s careful habit of saving photos, report cards, and awards helped her feel connected to her roots. Rivera discusses using art to examine memory, family archives, and the fragments of stories lost along the way. Rivera talks about ...

Artist and curator Carter Wynne joins the podcast. In this episode, Wynne shares how growing up in Washington, DC, and coming from a line of organizers shaped her commitment to social justice and art. Wynne talks about being a self-taught painter, exploring themes of inequality, and resistance. Wynne reflects on the process of using art to process deep emotions and to challenge who gets to shape stories—both in her own lif...

Artist Tiger Chengliang Cai joins the The Truth in This Art. In this episode, Cai shares his journey from China to New York and how his background shapes his creative work. Cai talks about teaching himself art as a child, struggling against expectations, and making his own path in the art world. He loves using riddles and metaphors in his art, with a special focus on the immigrant experience. Cai explains why he doesn’t wa...

Artist and philosopher Mia Ntenta joins the podcast. Ntenta is a visual artist working across painting, sculpture, and installation. 

Ntenta is one of several artists I interviewed from Spring/Break Art Fair 2025.

Ntenta shares how her philosophy background led her to explore ideas through painting and sculpture. Ntenta explains how her visual language and symbols clarify complex philosophical ideas.

Ntenta breaks down her on...

Artist Rosalie Smith joins the podcast. Smith reflects on developing her unique style. Smith talks about making sculptures with old technology and everyday things. Smith shares her process behind her pieces, and how recent experiences in New York and her education have shaped her approach. Smith discusses balancing the absurd and the serious. Smith describes what it means to create and teach in today’s fast-paced and chaot...

Chef & owner of On the Hill Cafe and CookHouse, Chef George Dailey joins the podcast. Dailey is originally from Venezuela. He started his cooking career in Boston, then moved to Baltimore and opened On the Hill Cafe in 2005. In this conversation, Dailey shares his passion for global flavors, seasonal menus, and the art of hospitality. Dailey reflects on building two beloved Baltimore spots. Dailey shares his hands-on a...