Art Lovers Forum Podcast

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. 
 

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

 
Welcome To Art Lovers Forum.  Make note of the two women I’m introducing you to today. Not only will artists/explorers Randi Renate and Beatriz Chachamovits be world famous in the not too distant future, but they will be instrumental in helping to save the planet. The work they are doing to preserve and restore coral reefs are also leading them to publicly expose other areas of the ocean that are deteriorating. They are extremely passionate about their mission, and they will not stop until the whole world makes saving the earth a priority.
 
Beatriz Bio:
 
As an environmental artist and educator from São Paulo, Brazil, Beatriz’s work is rooted in interactive experiences. She has had three major interactive pieces at MoCA NOMI, Faena Art and the Art and Cultural Center of Hollywood. 
 
She just opened an early career survey exhibition at a renowned venue inside Miami Design District with works from the last decade of her career. 
 
She was commissioned this year by The City of Miami Beach for a large-scale public art installation for their Elevate Española series of site-specific installations over Española Way. Her work had been featured in prestigious magazines like Vogue (written by Salome Gómez-Upegui), National Geographic, Arte al día, Jewish Currents, Resurgent and Ecologist (UK) as the cover and Florida Design. She is the recipient of numerous grants including The Ellie’s Creator Awards, Miami individual Artist and Artist access grant. 
 
She is a resident artist at Bakehouse Art Complex and super well connected to everybody in the Miami art scene as well as the coral restoration scene in Miami. She works with the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel school of marine and atmospheric science. 
 
Randi Bio:
Randi has been invoked in major sculpture projects. At Yale, she learned how to execute large scale commissions. She's had the largest work on display at Socrates Sculpture Park in Queens.  Her work has been featured in Sculpture Magazine and Interior Design. She's doing a TED talk on her public sculpture and science research in October. Randi has worked with coral scientists in the Bahamas and Florida and is a Fountainhead alum.

Everyone in the art world needs to know Leslie Weissman. She knows the ins and outs of the creative and business side of art better than most. She is an artist, collector, advisor, curator, pop-up gallerist, lecturer, educator, networker, and avid reader. What’s more, she is very close to her husband Michael and children.
None of this is an exaggeration. I’m a friend of hers and I see her in action. She has boundless energy for everything she is passionate about. She has helped me so many times it’s almost embarrassing. That’s why I wanted to do a podcast with her. Listen to this episode and you decide for yourself. Leslie B. Weissman received her training at New York University’s Interactive Telecommunications Program at the Tisch School focusing on Interactive Art and was graduated from Hobart and William Smith College with a B.A. in Art History/Art/Religion.
Leslie co-founded Presents For Purpose which was a socially conscious gift company where the sales benefited cancer and health charities. Currently she is the director of Loft Projects NY, a physical gallery and project space in Chappaqua NY that she founded in 2017. Under the Loft Projects banner, she is a guest curator in other galleries, at Art Fairs and at venues around NYC. Loft Projects focuses on bringing works of underrepresented artists to a gallery setting. 2024 Curatorial projects have included All The Small Things at Marinaro Gallery and the Future Fair presentation of Female Identifying Artists at The Salon at 13th Storey. 
Earlier this month she opened Pluperfect: an action of continued relevance at 81 Leonard, and has upcoming projects with Dimin Gallery, Marinaro, and Eyes Never Sleep Gallery.
In addition to her curatorial projects Leslie is an Art Advisor educating and assisting collectors to build and develop their personal collections. As a working artist and teacher, she has taught neuro typical children and adults, and within facilities that service cognitively impaired patients to help them express themselves with art.
Later this fall she will be a guest critic with the NY CritClub.
Her work has been in shows at The Hole Gallery in NYC, The Zwerner presentation to support the Children’s Museum of NY, and M+B in Los Angeles, Neighbors Gallery, as well as a contributor to the Rema Hort Mann Foundation’s Buy What You Love Event.
Leslie was with Philips Electronics as a member of their research staff and later serving as the Vice President of Marketing for their Internet division. Leslie is responsible for having launched some of the first internet sites built for the recorded music industry during her time at Philips Electronics and Polygram Records. She spent several years at Prodigy Communications, both full time and as a consultant where she explored the business-to-business applications available in the early stages of online technology. 
As a consultant, she worked for Jack Welch at GE in his best practices group to identify technology and applications for consumer use. In addition, she consulted to OMNICOM Media Group and their subsidiary agencies on interface design and marketing strategy related to the speed of internet application development.
Leslie currently sits on the board of Fountainhead Residency in Miami, FL and The Advisory and Acquisition Committee for the Ogunquit Museum in Ogunquit, Maine. 
She is a past Trustee of Blythdale Children’s Hospital in Valhalla, NY, where she served for nine years focusing on expanding their fundraising and development efforts and is now on the advisory fundraising.

Welcome to Art Lovers Forum.  This episode of Art Lovers Forum is dedicated to the late Rosa de la Cruz who was one of the leading art collectors in the United States. I am talking to Ibett Yanez del Castillo, Director of the Emerson Dorsch Gallery in Miami, who worked side-by-side with Rosa and Carlos for 19 years. This is probably one of the most intimate and detailed interviews you will ever hear about Rosa. Ibett thinks about Rosa every day and credits her with the successful and fulfilling life she has had in art. 
Ibett tells us all about Rosa and how she and Carlos assembled one of the finest collections of contemporary art, particularly postwar German paintings. She will also give us the background on how and why Rosa and Carlos opened one of Miami’s first private art museums. She also reveals how Rosa selected the art in her collection, and she didn’t buy a piece just because she loved it.
Rosa and Carlos repeatedly earned a spot on the ARTnews Top 200 Collectors list.  Rosa died at the age of 81 in her home on Key Biscayne, Florida on February 25, 2024, following a long battle with an undisclosed autoimmune disorder. Rosa had five children, 17 grandchildren and six great grandchildren.
Ibett has been with Emerson Dorsch Gallery since 2019 and is the Founder of Ground Control Miami, where she provides tailored collection management and art consultation services for institutions and collectors. With over 20 years of experience, she has worked with galleries, collectors, non-profits, and private and public educational institutions within the greater Miami community. She earned a BFA from the University of Florida (New World School of the Arts). She began her career at the Moore Space, serving as assistant director from 2004-2007. In 2008, she became the founding director of the de la Cruz Collection, where she oversaw the construction phase of the collectors' 30,000 square-foot museum in Miami's Design District. She established all aspects of the collection’s mission, from its educational programming to its annual exhibitions, achieving worldwide recognition.
In 2009, with the vision and philanthropic dedication of Rosa and Carlos de la Cruz, along with support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and numerous educators and community members, Ibett, together with gallerist and NWSA faculty member Fredric Snitzer, initiated the New World School of the Arts Travel Abroad Program. Since its inception, this program has provided hundreds of students with unique artistic and cultural experiences, enhancing their understanding of world history and the arts through direct exposure. The program continues to benefit Miami artists today.
 
Ibett has cultivated extensive relationships within the contemporary art network, establishing multiple educational programs, visiting artist seminars, performances, and exhibitions. She has developed connections with the world's leading auction houses, galleries, foundations, and academic institutions, including The Fabric Workshop and Museum (Philadelphia), White Columns (New York), The Sculpture Center (New York), School of Visual Arts (New York), Parsons The New School (New York), The Pritzker Family Foundation, The Hyatt Foundation, The Key Biscayne Foundation, and The Miami Foundation. In 2014, she attended the Fabric Workshop and Museum in Philadelphia and the Acadia Summer Arts Program (ASAP) on Maine’s Mount Desert Island, founded by Marion ‘Kippy’ Boulton Stroud, also known as Kamp Kippy, which hosted hundreds of artists and their guests and families over its nearly three-decade run.
In 2017, Ibett was nominated and accepted into the International Association of Curators of Contemporary Art (IKT) and has been an active board member at the Fountainhead Residency since 2019.
As Director of Emerson Dorsch Gallery, Ibett has worked with gallery partners Brook Dorsch and Tyler Emerson-Dorsch to strengthen the gallery's presence in Miami and the global art scene. Founded by Brook Dorsch in 1991, Emerson Dorsch Gallery has shaped the trajectory of Miami’s contemporary art scene by championing artists at all stages of their careers, both local and international.
In 2022, gallery partners Brook Dorsch and Tyler Emerson-Dorsch, along with Ibett, expanded their vision to include an artist residency on a 68-acre property in rural western North Carolina. The Metcalf Creek Holler (MCH) serves as an artists' residency and retreat, offering artists the opportunity to immerse themselves in the natural beauty and culture of the Western North Carolina mountains. MCH also supports community programming that features resident artists and their work.

Cris Sweeny and Claire Lardner, owners of Frameworks in Miami for the last 30+ years, have started a new division in their company that offers one-of-kind art pieces that are becoming increasingly popular everyday. Appropriately called LS Art Consulting, Sweeny and Lardner are experts in designing the most captivating, yet appropriate custom art works in the fields of hospitality, cruise lines, design companies, healthcare, commercial, and multi-family developments. 
 
The art installations are so unique that many residential homeowners are now relying on LS Art Consulting to create custom sculptures that underscore their passions. It’s a whole new opportunity that LS Art Consulting is leading the way in. They understand how to create new possibilities that have yet to be defined.
 
The company believes in “Limitless Possibilities” 
 
BUSINESS HOURS AND SHOWROOM LOCATION
Monday – Friday 8:30 am – 6 pmSaturday – Sunday closed
 
FrameWorks, LS Art Consulting
4150 SW 74th Ct, Miami, FL 33155
CONTACT INFO:
info@ls-artconsulting.com(305) 443 4581 (305) 267 9360
https://ls-artconsulting.com/
Timeline:
1989: FrameWorks is founded by Cris Sweeny in Coconut Grove
1994: Sweeny began to work with her first major hotel projects, The Fairfield Inn by Marriot
1996: Claire Lardner becomes an equal partner and owner
1996: Partnership with Summer Bay Resorts in Orlando, FL began
1998: Partnership with Sandals and Beaches Resorts began
1999: First Cruise Ship with Royal Caribbean Cruise Line / Began creating custom art with 60" Epson Fine Art Printer
2001: First Ritz Carlton Project
2008: Expanded our commercial and retail business to a 20,000 sq foot production facility in the Bird Road Art District
2010: Partnership with Carnival Cruise Line began
2012: Partnership with Norwegian Cruise Line began
2016: Expanded large format printing capabilities with the Canon Arizona Double Flatbed Printer
2019: Expanded wall covering printing capabilities with the Colorado Printer
2024: The rebranding from FrameWorks to LS Art Consulting

Artist Laura Shabott is a well-known, multi-media artist and actress, but should be the Ambassador for Provincetown, Massachusetts, the New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod. Laura sounds like she is reciting poetry when she describes the small coastal resort which has a year-round population of 4,000 and then grows to 60,000 or higher in the summertime. Often called "PTown, the locale is known for its beaches, harbor, artists, tourist industry, and as a popular vacation destination for the LGBT+ community.
 
PTown, three miles long, is 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.
 
I met Laura at the Fine Arts Work Center, an art program and residency based in Provincetown. For over five decades, the Fine Arts Work Center has provided time and space for emerging artists, and writers at crucial, early stages of creative development through their seven-month residency program.
 
Laura’s paintings, collages and drawings have been exhibited at Berta Walker Gallery, the Museum of Art, Ely Center for Contemporary Arts, Four Eleven Gallery, the Provincetown Art Association and Museum, (PAAM); Provincetown Monument and Museum (PMPM); and Truro Center for the Arts. Laura has work  in the permanent collection of PAAM Museum and will have a solo show. “YOU ONLY GET ONE BODY” on October of 2025 at the Cape Cod Museum of Art, Boston. 
 
Laura will also return to the stage in “A PART OF THE NOISE” by Carl Kline and directed by Lynda Sturner on August 11, and she will act as Lee Krasner in a performance of LEE AND TENNESSEE directed by David Kaplan on September 14th as part of Forum 24 with the Provincetown Art Gallery Association.

I met Melanie Baer Schwartz a few months ago during a Fountainhead Arts trip to Detroit. She is the Director of Sales at Library Street Collective, one of the most creative art galleries in the nation. The minute I met her I knew this is what I needed from a gallerist. She was well informed, willing to share her knowledge, very inspirational and super friendly. She made our experience visiting the Library Street Collective and buying Mike Shultis’s Booty and La Bete, euphoric. We came away convinced that Detroit is going to be among the leading cities for art in the future. 
The following is the official explanation of the Library Street Collective. "Since its inception in 2012, Library Street Collective has connected Detroit to the international arts community while supporting the local creative renaissance through exhibitions, collaborations, and public projects. The gallery's influence extends beyond its walls into the city's public, private, and heritage spaces, raising awareness and funding for nonprofits and other worthy causes and has evolved into collaborations and partnerships with major US museums, large-scale public projects, and community-based initiatives. 
“Expanding upon this mission, the gallery has transformed a century-old Romanesque-style church into The Shepherd, a cultural arts center designed by Peterson Rich Office (PRO) with exhibition spaces, the Black Art Library curated by Asmaa Walton, a performing arts theater, and community workshop space. The Shepherd's grounds, designed by Office of Strategy + Design (OSD) feature a boutique bed and breakfast, McArthur Binion’s Modern Ancient Brown Foundation, a public skate park designed by Tony Hawk, and a sculpture park honoring the late Charles McGee. This project reflects Library Street Collective’s commitment to Detroit’s Little Village neighborhood, reinforcing its role in fostering a vibrant and inclusive arts community in Detroit and beyond."
At an early age, Melanie wanted to enter the world of medicine. That all changed when a high school art teacher spotted her talent and passion. She encouraged her to take art classes in college to better understand her future. That sealed the deal. Melanie studied studio art and art history at the University of Michigan before achieving her Masters in Contemporary Art and Art Business at the Sotheby's Institute of Art. During her time in New York, she interned at David Zwirner, Christie's, and Gagosian. She became the Assistant Director of Leila Heller Gallery, followed by her move to Detroit once she met the owners, Anthony and JJ Curis of the Library Street Collective. 

Thanks to Robert Fontaine, Lincoln Road is once again a meaningful and exciting destination for serious art collectors. He recently moved his blue chip art gallery, The Robert Fontaine Gallery, to the legendary outdoor mall, because of the ever-increasing foot traffic. It’s also steps away from the world-famous Art Basel and all of the art fairs that pop up annually.
Robert Fontaine is going to add a certain new pizzazz to the area that he hopes will attract both new and experienced buyers who want blue chip art. Robert and his staff are more than willing to spend time with people who never bought art before and want to be educated.
Just listen to this podcast. Robert explains the art market in ways that will give you a greater appreciation and desire to get involved. He makes it simple and direct. He also discusses topics, like investing, that many gallerists don’t want to talk about. It’s great to have a resource like Robert because he has experienced all of the stages in contemporary art.
His early years were spent in St. Petersburg, Sanibel and Captiva Islands. When he was 18, he lived on a sailboat and worked on the barrier Islands of North Captiva Island, Cabbage Key, and the historic Useppa Island.
Robert entered the art market in 1998 when he interned at the Jill Spanbauer Gallery, Naples FL. In 1998, he received the Robert Rauschenberg Scholarship Award Grant via B.I.G Arts Sanibel. He also studied at the Florida Gulf Coast University for four years.  He worked as a studio assistant to Multimedia Artist Nancy Gifford, Naples & Miami Beach FL.  Robert also received an Academic Scholarship from the Captiva Civic Association, Captiva Island.
In 2003 he finally moved to Miami Beach for a position as Director of Ashmore Gallery, a 17th-19th century European and American Art Gallery, located near the Bass Museum in what is now the W Hotel. He spent a year as an assistant to Barbara Gillman, Barbara Gillman Gallery, Wynwood and worked as Director of Space 39 Gallery Southwest Florida.
Robert saw the world in 2007 to 2010 when he was named Director of Exhibitions for Performer and Painter Marilyn Manson, staging solo Exhibitions in Zurich, Athens, Moscow, São Paulo, and Cologne.
He finally made it to Miami in 2011 when he opened the Robert Fontaine Gallery which was in operation for 10 years in Wynwood, before moving into pop ups spaces, in various locations in South Florida: Miami Beach, and Palm Beach. He loves his life in art and plans to continue to surprise his audiences.

If you want to expand your horizons in the art world, listen to this episode of Art Lovers Forum. I am speaking to Dianne Beal, an independent curator and private art dealer in Washington D.C., Paris and Miami.
She is absolutely a well-known specialist of non-conformist art. Let’s put it this way, the bipartisan political power couple, Mary Matalin and James Carville, are just two of her celebrity status clientele. 
Dianne has developed an excellent reputation for promoting intellectually challenging projects in Washington, Paris and most recently, Miami.  During the pandemic, she created an online artist interview series Square Dose and spends time now organizing diverse exhibitions with impactful curatorial themes. After operating galleries in Washington, DC in the early part of her career and then founding Galerie Blue Square in Paris in 2007, Dianne continues to focus on art projects that link local and international concerns. She has collaborated with American university art museums as well as major museums, including the Louvre Museum and Museum of Modern Art in Paris.
Curatorial exhibitions include The Color of Light (2021-22) featuring five international artists and three venues in Latvia and France; Riga Photography Biennale (2018); Tribute -Yves Ullens (2017) Mark Rothko Art Centre, Riga, Latvia; RED!!! Russian-American XXI c. Visions (2017) George Mason University; Crude - Andrei Molodkin (2013) American University; and Russian Constructivist Roots: Present Concerns (1997-98), University of Maryland, University of New Hampshire, Dickinson College and The World Bank which traced the legacy of the Russian avant-garde movement of the 1920s and 1930s through the works of 13 leading contemporary Russian artists.
From 2011 - 2014, Dianne  served as a consultant to UBS bank, acting as a private guide to its top Private Wealth clients at Art Basel Miami Beach. Galerie Blue Square hosted a booth of its artists at Art Paris Art Fair at the Grand Palais for several years.
Dianne has been invited to give interviews and has delivered lectures at leading universities and has served as guest curator and juror for various public and private exhibitions. In 2010, she contributed to a book published by the National Center for Contemporary Art in Moscow about émigré artists.  Dianne earned a Bachelor of Arts in Russian and East European Studies from the University of Michigan and a Master of Arts in International Affairs from the George Washington University. She speaks French and Russian.