In this podcast, Sergio & Dr. Yanina Gomez Wrap-Up 2015 and Share Plans for an Online Art Community in 2016

In this episode, you will learn how to keep a positive mindset in 2016. Sergio & Dr. Yanina Gomez discuss five practical strategies to help you choose a proactive attitude for the new year. 

Wesley Kimler was born in Billings, Montana. Largely self-taught, his college campus was effectively a conflation of the streets of Afghanistan, the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, and the Laguna Gloria School of Art in Austin, Texas. His work can be found in many collections, private and public. Of his work in the group show Constellations at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Margaret Hawkins --critic for the Chicago Sun Times-- said: But categories hardly matter. Perhaps the most stunning gallery is also the largest and most loosely defined, the room devoted to fantasy. It is anchored by two enormous paintings -- a Chuck Close portrait of Cindy Sherman on one end and Wesley Kimler's tour de force "Umurbrogol," which despite its somber subject features vast swaths of delicious pink and purple paint. Some of the less imposing works here may be as memorable. William Baziotes' "Cat" is a satisfying discovery, as is Brice Marden's abstract meditation on the light and color of olive groves in Greece.

Dr. Anh Nguyen talks about the benefits of using food as medicine.

René Romero Schuler is a recognized contemporary artists. Now living in both Chicago and Carmel, CA, Renee is creating powerful images of strength and vulnerability

Her work is in the permanent collections of The Union League Club of Chicago, Loyola University Museum of Art (LUMA) in Chicago and St. Thomas University – Sardiñas Gallery in Miami.

Whether on canvas, paper, or three-dimensional sculpture, René studies the relationship between what is immediately apparent at the surface and what exists beneath. She creates visually powerful images that haunt us with their beauty and truth.

René’s work has been exhibited during Art Basel Miami since 2011, and exhibited internationally in Paris, Rome, Paxos and Beirut. She continues to be permanently represented in the United States and in Paris, France.

A book, René Romero Schuler: Life and Works, showcasing images of the artist’s thick impastos and striking figural canvases in addition to providing readers a look into her artistic process, was released in 2013.

In this episode, Michael Zhou talks about the history of the Zhou B Art Center in Chicago

Marcos Raya has shown his work in the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, the Museum of Modern Art in Mexico City, the Smart Museum of the University of Chicago, the Snite Museum of the University of Notre Dame, the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago. He was subject of a retrospective at Institution Ospicio Cabanas, Guadalajara, Mexico and a one man London show in 2013. Marcos Raya will be part of the upcoming exhibition "Surrealism the Configured Life" at Chicago’s MCA in the Fall of 2015

Annette is an Exercise Specialist and  Personal Trainer at The Community Hospital Fitness Pointe.  She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Exercise Science from Indiana University.  Annette has been working in medical fitness helping individuals achieve a higher quality of life through exercise for sixteen years.

Robin Greenwood, founder of Verni, speaks about creating a platform for artists and collectors to meet. Robin Greenwood was born and raised in Berlin, Germany, and had a strong desire to paint throughout his adolescence. Robin chose a career in design, and received a BFA in Communication Design from Parsons in New York. Already during and soon following his studies, he began to freelance as a designer and animator for various advertising agencies, and design/animation/visual effects studios in New York City. His clients include Nike, Coca Cola, Bank of America, Verizon, X-Games, and many more. In 2012, Robin decided to leave the world of advertising behind. He moved back to Berlin, taught himself to code, and started building a platform he wished he had as a painter: Verni. The first prototype was launched in early summer of 2014, and he's been building away at it ever since.

Eleven Chicago artists talk about what’s exciting and challenging about being an artist. Part 2

In this episode, gallery owner and curator Anca Negescu talks about opening an art gallery in Romania. Artfooly, The Slice of Art Gallery is located in the center of Bucharest, Romania and it shows mainly Romanian contemporary artists, both established and emerging

John Feustel, Founder and CEO of Artwork Archive talks about tools to organize your art career.

Nicole Berry talks about behind the scenes of an international art fair. Nicole is Deputy Director for Expo Chicago. She has been actively involved in the international art world for over a decade. She is an art historian, art writer, curator and former art adviser. First gaining experience in the Contemporary Department at Sotheby's in London, she subsequently worked in New York City at a number of secondary market galleries. In addition to her gallery work, Berry created her own company, Accessible Art, in 2006. Incorporating advising and organized tours through the often intimidating gallery and museum scene, the main focus of Accessible Art was a monthly newsletter she wrote that reviewed exhibitions and provided information about global art events. She has also written articles for BBC Travel. Berry has curated numerous exhibitions as a freelancer as well as in her gallery positions. She has been a member of panels at various art fairs and has given lectures throughout New York on topics ranging from how to begin a collection to navigating fine art museums.

Chicago artists talk about what's exciting and challenging about being an artist. Part 1

Jamey Garza talks about Garza Marfa line of furniture & textiles. Jamey Garza is originally from Austin, Texas.He received his BFA in painting from the University of Texas at Austin in 1986 and his MFA in painting from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1990.  Constance Holt-Garza is originally from San Francisco, California.  She owned and operated Salon de The, a boutique clothing store in San Francisco, from 1993-1998, and designed a line of clothing sold exclusively through the store.

Constance and Jamey met in 1996 as Garza was showing his paintings in San Francisco galleries while simultaneously building custom furniture for retail spaces and restaurants.  The duo moved to Marfa in 2003 to design and build beds for the Thunderbird Hotel in Marfa, Texas.  Once there, the couple decided Marfa was home, and began work on what is now the Garza Marfa line of furniture.

Art Engineer Luis Martin talks about finding success and his NYC projects

Chicago-based artist Patty Carroll talks about the success of her Anonymous Women Series and her experience with bringing the exhibition to China. 

Dr. Rachel Lindsey talks about the mind-body-spirit relationship

Carl Atiya Swanson is Springboard for the Arts' Director of Movement Building, working on Creative Exchange, a national hub for stories and toolkits for artists and organizations to solve local challenges and create new opportunities. Swanson previously worked at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and founded Crown & Sparrow, a boutique communications consulting firm specializing in work with artists. He is a theater maker with Savage Umbrella, a company dedicated to creating new, relevant works of theater, and is on the board of the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network Twin Cities. Swanson holds a BA in Studio Art from the University of Southern California and an MBA from the University of St. Thomas Opus College of Business.

Artist Allison Luce shares valuable information about art residencies. Allison explores the ephemeral nature of existence and the mystery of eternity through her ceramic sculptures and monoprints. Luce graduated with dual BFA degrees in Painting and Art History from Ohio University and her MFA from Hunter College, City University of New York. She currently lives in Charlotte, North Carolina where she is a studio artist and an adjunct art instructor. She has shown her work in solo and group exhibitions internationally and her work is included in private collections. She has been a resident artist at the International Ceramic Research Center in Skaelskør, Denmark, the Zentrum für Keramik-Berlin in Germany, and the Shaw International Centre for Contemporary Ceramics at the Medalta International Artists in Residence in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada. In 2012, her work has reviewed in The Charlotte Observer and she was awarded a Regional Artist Project Grant from the Arts and Science Council of Charlotte.

In this episode, artist Faheem Majeed talks about his exhibition at MCA Chicago. Faheem is a resident of the South Shore neighborhood in Chicago, Faheem often looks to the material makeup of his neighborhood and surrounding areas as an entry point into larger questions around civic-mindedness, community activism, and institutional racism. As part of his studio practice, the artist transforms materials such as particle board, scrap metal, wood, discarded signs and billboard remnants, breathing new life into these often overlooked and devalued materials. His broader engagement with the arts also involves arts administration, curation, and community facilitation, all which feed into his larger practice.

Faheem’s solo exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago runs from March 10 to August 16, 2015. 

Serena Kovalosky is a sculptor, curator, cultural project developer and owner of Artful Vagabond Productions whose mission is to celebrate the creativity and inspiration that artists bring to this world and to promote the arts as a viable and valuable commodity in today's society.

Serena began her career in the travel industry.  After 18 years, she traded her suitcase for an artist’s loft in Montreal, Canada to pursue her talents as a professional artist. Returning to the U.S., she began transferring her project management skills to the art world and co-founded the juried biennial Open Studios of Washington County which to date has brought over $200,000 in art revenue as well as increased tourism to this rural New York community. 

In 2014, Serena curated and produced the five-month Slate as Muse National Art Exhibition at the Slate Valley Museum and was recently invited to speak at the Museum Association of New York's Annual Conference about the exhibition's success.

Serena has exhibited her work widely. She has appeared on the television programs, done numerous interviews on print and radio, and has written hundreds of articles on artists from around the world for the Artful Vagabond art blogsite.

In this episode, Life & Wellness Coach Lara Tallman talks about the benefits of a healthy lifestyle