Art Lovers Forum Podcast
Enter the world of art by meeting artists, collectors, and gallerists who will tell you how and why they love their creative life.
Episodes

Thursday Feb 06, 2025
Episode 37 - Marc Wehby
Thursday Feb 06, 2025
Thursday Feb 06, 2025
Marc Wehby needs no introduction to people who love to collect art. He and his wife Susie Kravetz, both owners of Kravetz/Wehby in NYC for the last 26 years, have been major influencers in the purchasing of art for both new and experienced collectors.
In fact, Marc told me that many older collectors are now focusing on emerging artists because they like the work being produced. He said that folks with extensive collections feel they have enough pedigree paintings and are now anxious to freshen up what they own with what’s hot today.
I was first introduced to Marc years ago long before we recently got friendly. Our art mentor, Richard Ekstract, used to talk about Marc and Susie all the time because he bought art from them. He used to say that he trusted their taste and experience. I remember these words, “They love art so it reflects in their gallery.”
The one action point that really blew me away was when Marc asked if he could visit our home to see our collection. No other gallerist ever asked to do that. Some might think that was a ploy to sell us more art. I asked Marc about that. He said he has been visiting the homes of collectors since the very beginning of opening a gallery. “I learn a lot about what collectors want the minute I step in to their homes.” I had the nerve to ask him what impression he got after walked into mine. Not a second went by when he said, “In your face, loud, and daring.” I loved it. That’s us.

Thursday Jan 30, 2025
Episode 36 - Moiz Zilberman
Thursday Jan 30, 2025
Thursday Jan 30, 2025
Welcome to Art Lovers Forum. I am very excited about this interview with Moiz Zilberman. This is the first time I am talking to a gallerist who owns galleries in three countries. In fact, he has multiple galleries in each city. He is certainly experiencing the art world on a grand scale.
Moiz’s galleries are in Istanbul, Berlin and Miami. He feels the Magic City is the perfect place to promote conceptual art. He’s not saying that other markets are not ripe for new ideas, he is just emphasizing that Miami has one of the biggest contemporary audiences on earth.
“Everything is relatively new in Miami, the condos, the shopping areas, the clubs, the restaurants, the art galleries and most of all the age of residents, young. You can tell what the environment is like by the museums. Most of the art work exhibited is contemporary no matter what artists and country they are featuring.”
Moiz is very passionate about conceptual art and that is one of the main reasons he is a gallerist in three countries, which may grow in the next few years. His major desire is to introduce artists from Europe and the Middle East to the United States and South America. Vice versa as well. Having galleries in strategic locations gives him the ability to make the proper introductions.
That’s one of the reasons why Moiz opened the Zilberman Gallery in the Design District. The area is one of the most exclusive and exciting neighborhoods in Miami. It’s a perfect fit. Most of the folks who visit the Design District want the highest form of fashion and design. Moiz is ready to meet that desire with his alternative artists.
Zilberman is celebrating its 15th year, representing 29 international artists from Turkey to Mexico, Hong Kong to Colombia, and Germany. With the addition of the new Miami location, it now has a total of six galleries in three cities: Istanbul, Berlin, and Miami, making it an international hub for contemporary art.

Tuesday Jan 21, 2025
Episode 35 - Yiwei Lu
Tuesday Jan 21, 2025
Tuesday Jan 21, 2025
I’m grateful that Yiwei Lu agreed to be interviewed by Art Lovers Forum during this difficult time in Los Angeles. Her galleries are in Venice Beach and Wuhan, China.
We officially met during the Art Fairs in Miami last month. Miami friends of mine, Emily and Chris Campbell, bought art from Yiwei more than a year ago and they now have a close relationship.
I wanted to hear what it was like being an art dealer in Los Angeles during the recent horrific wildfires. I knew Yiwei would talk from the heart. While she plans to forge forward, she is taking a little time for herself to absorb the destruction of her adopted town.
To date, the fires have killed at least 27 people, destroyed more than 12,000 structures and charred more than 60 square miles. You have to be very strong to stay upbeat when so many folks around her are suffering from tremendous losses. While art isn’t the number one item on your wish list when everything you own is gone, it certainly can bring great joy to those who find paintings, sculptures, assemblages, etc., therapeutic. Yiwei wants to support the community through this rebuild era.
Yiwei opened her gallery in Venice Beach in 2019. One of her clients is actor Billy Zane who she says is also a terrific artist as well. She loves living in Los Angeles and says despite many of the challenges ahead, most folks plan to stay. Part of her mission is to bring joy into the lives of people who are in limbo now. She will work to discover and promote unique and underrepresented voices, fostering cross-cultural understanding through art with the mission of integrating art into everyday life.
Yiwei will continue to be highly active in the art fair circuit, participating in notable fairs such as Photofairs New York, Intersect Palm Springs, San Francisco Art Fair, Future Fair New York, Spring Break Los Angeles, and Beijing Dangdai Art Fair. The gallery is also set to attend Intersect Aspen, Art 021 Shanghai, and Untitled Miami. Additionally, Yiwei Gallery collaborates with nonprofit art organizations and art festivals globally, including Casa Reigs in Italy and the Shenyang International Localized Art Festival.

Monday Jan 13, 2025
Episode 34 - Carmin Kilpatrick
Monday Jan 13, 2025
Monday Jan 13, 2025
I just want to say that I love Carmin Kilpatrick’s artwork. She is only a freshman in college and yet she has mastered creating art that is filled with mystery, intrigue, secrets, fascination and new shapes and designs. I can stare at her work forever.
I have shown her work to a few experts who like what they see and are now waiting anxiously to see what she produces over the next few years. I am going to collect a few of her paintings now because I believe she is going to embrace new trends and opportunities in the future.When you listen to her podcast interview, you will hear she has the right, genuine attitude, interest and natural desire to make her mark in the art world.
Carmin feels that through her work, she can provoke thought, spark dialogue, and illuminate important personal and social issues. Her art delves into the intertwined concepts of truth, judgment, and change, exploring how they shape identity in a rapidly evolving world.
She was born in California but grew up in South Florida and attended the Arts Academy at North Broward Preparatory School for high school (as their first scholarship recipient). Carmin traveled to Italy and received a grant to spend 6 weeks in Wexford, Ireland, practicing art with a small group of students. Besides art, she loves fashion and creative direction—from mood boards, to styling, to photoshoots. Carmin hopes to work with fashion as another medium of art. She is currently a Studio Art BFA major at Florida State University.

Sunday Jan 12, 2025
Episode 33 - Liz Berman Sklaw
Sunday Jan 12, 2025
Sunday Jan 12, 2025
When Liz Berman Sklaw ran the New York Marathon this past November she unequivocally felt like she was viewing a kaleidoscope of paintings in every borough she passed through. “It may have been the diversity of the street crowds, or the change in architecture every few miles,” Liz said. She felt like she was in an art trance. The fact that she was totally focused on the beauty of the city, Liz found the energy needed to finish the race.
Liz started running a number of years ago because it enabled her to experience different worlds. Being on foot you get to see life from different perspectives and she felt it helped her become a better wife and mother by broadening her horizons. She doesn’t look at the world through one lens anymore. She is able to see and understand different perspectives.
Liz runs at home and when she travels. She gets more creative when she runs. Painters create on canvas; she creates when her feet hit the ground running. She also needs that time to help her come up with new ideas for her promotion business and fundraising for various charities. She gets more daring, more spiritual and definitely more fearless. It’s wonderful to become more liberated when you have to be so many things to so many people day.

Thursday Jan 02, 2025
Episode 32 - Laura Shabott
Thursday Jan 02, 2025
Thursday Jan 02, 2025
When I found out that Laura Shabott, the artist, the lecturer, the actress, gave talks about the book, Ninth Street Women, I knew she had to do a second interview with me on Art Lovers Forum. I wanted Laura to tell folks who are interested in art why the Ninth Street Women is so important.
The book was published in 2018 and while it was a best seller there are still so many people who are interested in art who still haven’t read it. It’s about five women painters who elevated that status of women in the modern art world during the post WWII time period. Women artists were simply not taken seriously by art critics or historians. They focused most of their attention on male artists.
Author Mary Gabriel explains, in Ninth Street Women, how Lee Krasner, Elaine de Kooning, Grace Hartigan, Joan Mitchell, and Helen Frankenthaler changed all that. It took Mary 20 years to write her book but, in the end, she told a remarkable and inspiring story about the power of art and the female artists who played a major role in shaping the postwar American art world.
Be sure to refer to episode 23 of Art Lovers Forum to learn more about Laura Shabott. She lives in Provincetown (PTown), which is three miles long yet regarded to be “America's Oldest Working Art Colony in the United States since 1850. There are now 60 art galleries, a major regional art museum, and many other organizations that provide opportunities for artists including residencies and educational programs.

Wednesday Dec 18, 2024
Episode 31 - Deborah Mitchell
Wednesday Dec 18, 2024
Wednesday Dec 18, 2024
Deborah Mitchell is a conservation artist. I met Deborah years ago when she took members of Fountainhead Arts on a hike through the muddy waters of the Everglades. It was an exhilarating experience. Her interview on Art Lovers Forum is exactly that. She is going to take you away from your daily busy life, which is probably indoors, and tell you what’s happening on the outside.
Deborah recently made a trip to Venice for a project called Waterscapes. I think you should watch the video first which documents her ARTSail Waterscapes Residency. The project uses art to deepen the understanding of climate changes which impacts The Venice Lagoon and Florida Wetlands. The Everglades in South Florida and the Lagoon in Venice are critical estuaries that provide essential services such as water purification and habitat for diverse species. Their preservation is vital for maintaining ecological balance, environmental health, and economic stability in their regions.
Here the video - https://youtu.be/jDnPZDQA58Y
Deborah resides in Miami Beach. Her passion for environmental exploration is deeply rooted in her certification as a Master Naturalist from the esteemed University of Florida. This educational background ignites her unquenchable thirst for knowledge and understanding of the natural world. Through immersive fieldwork experiences, Deborah gathers invaluable observations that serve as the catalyst for her creative process. Transitioning from photography, her primary medium, she skillfully transforms her captured moments into captivating collages, employing elements such as paint, fabric, and installations. The culmination of her experience-based approach breathes life into her evocative artistic creations.
Visit her website to learn more - http://www.debmitchellart.com
Here are links that can help you increase awareness, both locally and beyond.
artsail
Institute of Marine Science (Venice, IT)
Archbold Biological Station
Friends of the Everglades
Big Cypress National Preserve
Fountainhead
Deborah Mitchell
Everglades NP
AERIE
inaturalist

Monday Dec 09, 2024
Episode 30 - Charo Oquet
Monday Dec 09, 2024
Monday Dec 09, 2024
Charo Oquet is one of the most popular artists in the city of Miami. Everyone loves her because she has been able to maintain a thriving art practice while helping others from foreign countries get expose for their creative work. She is also admired because her work has always remained relevant through the years. Her interview reveals how she does it all which is a good life lesson for all of us.
Charo, a Dominican-born, Miami-based artist, is celebrated for her interdisciplinary work encompassing painting, photography, performance, and installation. Her art explores displacement, identity, migration, gender, and sociopolitical issues with a focus on decolonial aesthetics and contemporary culture. Charo’s extensive career includes solo exhibitions and international participation in significant art events.
Her work is featured in various museum collections, such as the Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art and the Bass Museum of Art, and she has been the recipient of multiple fellowships and grants. Additionally, she is an arts activist, having founded Miami Arts Collaborative, which later became Edge Zones, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the arts and artists, especially within marginalized communities.
As an artist, curator, and cultural producer, Charo is recognized for her contributions to the global art landscape, fostering dialogue and creativity across borders and cultures. She holds a BFA from Florida International University and continues to play a vital role in advancing contemporary art through her artwork, curation, and mentorship.

Monday Nov 11, 2024
Episode 29 - Veronica Riedel
Monday Nov 11, 2024
Monday Nov 11, 2024
I just got back from visiting my long time (Guatemala, Madrid, Miami) artist friend Veronica Riedel at her Mycelium Garden exhibit. She was showing how the world of nature, artificial intelligence, and art come together. Her exhibit is at idartlab, 676 NW 23rd St, Miami. I know Veronica and her mother Ana Westermann and Ana’s husband for several decades. We all met on one of our travel trips we took with Smart Tours.
Veronica is a screenwriter, director, producer and multimedia artist. Her second feature film Gallo Gallina has been awarded with Ibermedia coproduction grant and will be soon in production. Gallo Gallina has the support from the Guatemalan Government.
Veronica has dedicated her life to creating artwork about social justice, ecological awareness, and equality. She observes human behavior, weaving them into visual narratives. Creation is her life – a way of living that defines her very essence.
Books & Books will be debuting Veronica’s art book next Saturday. It’s a masterpiece.
I wanted to interview Veronica because she really observes everything around her, human behavior mostly. She reinvents her conclusions creating stories, works of art, films, designs, moods, food, spaces, furniture, houses… you name it. She says her life without creation would be nothing. “It is a lifestyle, a way of being, It just is. There is never a dull moment in my life.”
Veronica’s works of art have been exhibited in museums and international art fairs and belong to important private and public collections in Guatemala, Latin America, Europe and the United States.
In 2023, she published her 300-page book All The Worlds That Are In This One at the Pinta Art Fair in Miami and presented her immersive video installation at Miami International Fine Arts (MIFA). In 2024, Riedel continued exploring the use of mycelium in her art, exhibiting at La Mecha Contemporary Gallery in El Paso, Texas. Her work was also featured at the JUANNIO Latin American Art Auction and the Rozas-Botrán Gallery and Foundation in Guatemala. Additionally, she won the prestigious Karstica residency in Cañada del Hoyo, Spain for September 2024. In parallel with her artistic work, Veronica has developed an important cinematographic career as director, screenwriter, and producer. Her fiction feature film, and Opera Prima, Capsules (2011), won many awards at important international film festivals. She also created, directed and produced the docuseries Strange Medicine (2013-2014) for Fusion TV and Univision. She also recently wrote and directed an experimental short film “MY DARKNESS IS MY LIGHT”, which will be showcased at the Icaro National Film Festival in 2024. She was born in Guatemala City, Guatemala. She went to the American School of Guatemala, coursed undergraduate studies at Francisco Marroquin University in Guatemala City. She studied Photojournalism at the University of Columbia, South Carolina and Art and New Media at Anderson Ranch Art Center, Colorado. She earned a B.F.A. in Communications, Film and Photography at the University of Miami, Florida, and Screenwriting at the University of California, Santa Monica.

Tuesday Oct 22, 2024
Episode 28 - Brook Dorsch
Tuesday Oct 22, 2024
Tuesday Oct 22, 2024
Welcome To Art Lovers Forum. Brook Dorsch, the founder of the Emerson Dorsch Gallery in Miami, was at his home in Asheville, North Carolina when Hurricane Helene stormed through the beloved city known as an art colony, a healing resort and a home to notable luminaries, statesmen and bohemians.
In this episode of Art Lovers Forum, Brook describes the force of the hurricane, the destruction, and the fast action efforts to save his house. With him at the time was of his wife and business partner Tyler, their young daughters and coincidentally their gallery director, Ibett Yanez del Castillo, who was visiting on that day with her family.
Everyone pitched in to place buckets where water was pouring in after hundred year old trees fell on their house. Together they limited the damage and when the rain stopped they ran out to help neighbors. That’s the way it has been ever since. Brook says Asheville has shown its true colors. Everyday the citizens of the city are devoting time to get everyone back home and rebuild their businesses. So many of the arts and crafts work have been destroyed forever. You cry when you hear him describe what happened to the art community.
One statement Brook made that is very important to convey in writing as well as to hear from him is …. FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) has been doing exceptional work in Asheville with both finances and people on the ground. Any news information to the contrary is just not true. FEMA is working side by side with Asheville, a city Brook says will be in full swing a few months from now. Yes, there will always be residents that need help. The community will continue to support each other.
Brook founded Dorsch Gallery in 1991, in his walk-up apartment just east of Coral Gables. At the time, the Miami art scene was concentrated in Coral Gables; Brook noticed a need for a venue for the contemporary artists living in Miami. From 1991-2007, he built the program from his small 900 square foot apartment until December of 1999 he purchased a 7000 square foot warehouse in Wynwood becoming the one of the first commercial galleries to open in the neighborhood. Brook ran the gallery alone with help from the artists and interns and his mother while also working a full-time job in the Satellite Communications industry.
Brook’s Gallery grew and changed along with the Miami art scene and his own experience of the art world. When he moved the gallery to Wynwood in 2000, the neighborhood was still very raw. Brook curated a number of shows in the abandoned crack house next door to the warehouse. At the same time,
Martin Z. Margulies had just purchased his warehouse in the neighborhood, the Rubell Family Collection was open only by invitation, and Locust Projects was still an artist-run alternative space one block away. From 2000-2014, Brook Gallery witnessed a boom of art spaces in the area. For his role as one of the founding members and president of the Wynwood Arts District, Brook has been lauded as the pioneer.
In 2017 the Gallery moved again to its current location in the Little Haiti neighborhood in what was the Porto Prince market. The new location has a rooftop patio that has been used for small concerts and events. In the first years of the gallery, Dorsch showcased work by mainly local emerging artists; building a strong local following, a number of the exhibitions were reviewed in Art in America and other national publications. Many shows had a co-op spirit, and some were like happenings. Dorsch also showed established figures, including Robert Miller and Arnold Mesches. Dorsch hosted concerts and music events.
Brook’s reputation for trailblazing an art district and for paving the way for young artists has made him the man to consult about questions concerning the Miami art scene. The Gallery, now called Emerson Dorsch, carries on the spirit of Dorsch Gallery’s early days by fostering long-term relationships with artists, with events and with hospitality and, always, ambitious shows. In 2023 he and his wife founded the Metcalf Creek Holler, a 68 Acre mountain Artist Residency in the Mountains of Western North Carolina. metcalfcreekholler.org