Interview Highlights
Days are filled with things that happen. And you have to sort of determine whether you're going to make choices for things to happen or just react to things that are happening around you. And why not choose to go do things. You're not going to see art unless you go to the museum.
Actor · Comedian · Filmmaker · Magician · Singer · Writer
And I remember I was just the whitest kid ever from small-town New Mexico in this big city of Los Angeles…I'm sitting there watching this play about a lower middle-class African-American man in Pittsburgh and his family. And I just remember being so moved, moved to tears at 13, 14 years old…And it was so moving. And I did think even back then, I recognized the impact that the theater can have on someone that isn't even anything like what they're like.
Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs & Chief Curator Museum of Arts and Design
So the Museum of Arts and Design historically, for me, is part of a New York avantgarde scene. It's just that it was dedicated to artists working in these historically-marginalized materials. And it continues to do that. That mission has never changed.
Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs & Chief Curator Museum of Arts and Design
So the Museum of Arts and Design historically, for me, is part of a New York avantgarde scene. It's just that it was dedicated to artists working in these historically-marginalized materials. And it continues to do that. That mission has never changed.
Founding Conductor of the Four Seasons Orchestra
Principal Violist of the Scottsdale Philharmonic
I feel that the earth is like a classroom for soul growth and we’re put here to overcome challenges, and we may be working on something like humility or compassion or love of humanity. The challenges might be something like war or cancer. Everybody gets a challenge to work on in their lives, but they also get a great gift to help them through those challenges. You just have to know how to use those gifts.
Founding Conductor of the Four Seasons Orchestra
Principal Violist of the Scottsdale Philharmonic
I feel that the earth is like a classroom for soul growth and we’re put here to overcome challenges, and we may be working on something like humility or compassion or love of humanity. The challenges might be something like war or cancer. Everybody gets a challenge to work on in their lives, but they also get a great gift to help them through those challenges. You just have to know how to use those gifts.
Artistic Director of Pacific Northwest Ballet
Dance is for everyone. That’s the mission. We see people that might not be able to encounter dance in so many ways because it’s not something that their school offers…and I think traditionally ballet has felt like it can be an elitist art form. Only certain people are invited. You have to have a certain type of foot. You have to have a long neck. You may have to have finances to be able to study ballet. We would like to eliminate that and make sure that it’s available for everybody to sort of dip their toe in and get a sense of it and have an experience of dance.
Artistic Director of Pacific Northwest Ballet
Dance is for everyone. That’s the mission. We see people that might not be able to encounter dance in so many ways because it’s not something that their school offers…and I think traditionally ballet has felt like it can be an elitist art form. Only certain people are invited. You have to have a certain type of foot. You have to have a long neck. You may have to have finances to be able to study ballet. We would like to eliminate that and make sure that it’s available for everybody to sort of dip their toe in and get a sense of it and have an experience of dance.
Acting Associate Director for Curatorial Affairs · Curator of Music and Performing Arts
National Museum of African American History and Culture · Smithsonian Institution
This museum, this institution has a long history and actually, the idea of a museum goes back to maybe 100 years ago when Civil War veterans wanted a monument recognizing the service and the sacrifice of African Americans during the war effort. It wasn't until the mid-late 80s when congressman John Lewis with some other colleagues started to bring forth the idea that the Smithsonian needed to have a presence to recognize the significance and contributions of African Americans to the history of this country.
Acting Associate Director for Curatorial Affairs · Curator of Music and Performing Arts
National Museum of African American History and Culture · Smithsonian Institution
This museum, this institution has a long history and actually, the idea of a museum goes back to maybe 100 years ago when Civil War veterans wanted a monument recognizing the service and the sacrifice of African Americans during the war effort. It wasn't until the mid-late 80s when congressman John Lewis with some other colleagues started to bring forth the idea that the Smithsonian needed to have a presence to recognize the significance and contributions of African Americans to the history of this country.
Founder & President of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)
They’re not human traits. They’re all shared traits because, of course, we all love. We all love our families, or not. We all grieve if somebody we love disappears or dies. A family dog, perhaps. A grandfather. We all feel loneliness, we all feel joy. We all really value our freedom. And so I think, if anything, looking into the eyes of the animal, even online, you see a person in there. There’s a someone in whatever the shape or the physical properties of that individual are. And that lesson is that I am you. You are me, only different. We are all the same in all the ways that count…Any living being teaches you– Look into my eyes. And there you are, the reflection of yourself.
Founder & President of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)
They’re not human traits. They’re all shared traits because, of course, we all love. We all love our families, or not. We all grieve if somebody we love disappears or dies. A family dog, perhaps. A grandfather. We all feel loneliness, we all feel joy. We all really value our freedom. And so I think, if anything, looking into the eyes of the animal, even online, you see a person in there. There’s a someone in whatever the shape or the physical properties of that individual are. And that lesson is that I am you. You are me, only different. We are all the same in all the ways that count…Any living being teaches you– Look into my eyes. And there you are, the reflection of yourself.
Interview Highlights
You know, the camera lens reads thought and reads emotion as much as the human eye does, and anything that is false, anything that is premeditated, planned doesn't feel real. So a great actor has none of those false beats in their work. That's all extremely connected to who they are personally. The camera lens sees it, and the audience loves it.
President of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences
Casting Director & Producer
What an academy was meant to be, going back to their founding, really is a group of people with a certain degree of passion and expertise and knowledge that want to get together and share. That's what I think academies are all about. So the fact that I've been helpful in spurring the Academy onto becoming a more international and global enterprise is a source of great satisfaction to me
carbon print, acrylic and silk-screen on canvas. 24 x 26.5 inches
004, Black Gator on Yellow, 2013. Square Tail Thruster, 70.5 inches x 20 inches
Square Tail Thruster, 70.5 inches x 20 inches
Steve Miller is a multimedia artist born and raised in Buffalo, New York. Being an early pioneer for the ‘science-art’ movement, his most recognized works are those of paintings and sculptures of the natural world. One of his latest projects, entitled, “Health of the Planet”, works with Brazilian scientists to showcase the diversity and necessity of the lungs of our planet, the Amazon rainforest. With surfboards depicting diagrams of alligators, and stingrays, as well as printed x-rays of sloths and native fruits of the country, the intention of the project is for Brazil to take a closer inspection on their global contribution to the planet. Over the past 30 years Steven has presented over 30 solo exhibitions at institutions across the US, China, France and Germany, continuing these conversations about ourselves, each other, and the planet that connects us all.
STEVE MILLER
I have this idea art should be in the world in as many forms and ways as possible, and I love communicating with skate decks… It partially started out in Brazil because what I was doing in Brazil is x-raying animals in the Amazon and I thought there was this idea in the old days that you’d go to the Amazon, you’d kill an animal, stuff it, bag it, and then you’d have this trophy of your kill. The alligators that we x-rayed were alive. I got them from a zoo in a town called Belem, which means Bethlehem in Portuguese.
This interview was conducted by Mia Funk with the participation of collaborating universities and students. Associate Interviews Producer on this podcast was Wills Ladd. Digital Media Coordinator is Hannah Story Brown.
Artist & Environmentalist
“I have this idea art should be in the world in as many forms and ways as possible, and I love communicating with skate decks… It partially started out in Brazil because what I was doing in Brazil is x-raying animals in the Amazon and I thought there was this idea in the old days that you’d go to the Amazon, you’d kill an animal, stuff it, bag it, and then you’d have this trophy of your kill. The alligators that we x-rayed were alive. I got them from a zoo in a town called Belem, which means Bethlehem in Portuguese.”
John D’Agata is the author of Halls of Fame, About a Mountain, and The Lifespan of a Fact, as well as the editor of the 3-volume series A New History of the Essay, which includes the anthologies The Next American Essay, The Making of the American Essay, and The Lost Origins of the Essay. His work has been supported by a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Howard Foundation Fellowship, an NEA Literature Fellowship, and a Lannan Foundation Fellowship. He holds a B.A. from Hobart College and two M.F.A.s from the University of Iowa, and recently his essays have appeared in The Believer, Harper's, Gulf Coast, and Conjunctions. John D’Agata lives in Iowa City where he teaches creative writing at the University of Iowa. The Lifespan of Fact was adapted into a Broadway play starring Daniel Radcliffe, Cherry Jones, and Bobby Cannavale.
JOHN D'AGATA
For a writer of non-fiction or essayist that’s very difficult to work with because we aren’t, or at least some of us don’t consider ourselves journalists. The tools that we are working with aren’t–What your favorite color is. Where you grew up. Or what your favorite number is. If we’re writing a profile of something, the tools that we’re working with are long conversations in which people are sharing anecdotes about themselves. When I do an interview with somebody, I don’t take out a tape recorder. I don’t have a notebook. I invite them on a walk so that we can feel at least that we’re just chatting.
This interview was conducted by Mia Funk with the participation of collaborating universities and students. Associate Interviews Producer on this podcast was Cameron McDonald. Digital Media Coordinator is Hannah Story Brown.
Mia Funk is an artist, interviewer and founder of The Creative Process.
John D’Agata is the author of Halls of Fame, About a Mountain, and The Lifespan of a Fact, as well as the editor of the 3-volume series A New History of the Essay, which includes the anthologies The Next American Essay, The Making of the American Essay, and The Lost Origins of the Essay. His work has been supported by a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Howard Foundation Fellowship, an NEA Literature Fellowship, and a Lannan Foundation Fellowship. He holds a B.A. from Hobart College and two M.F.A.s from the University of Iowa, and recently his essays have appeared in The Believer, Harper's, Gulf Coast, and Conjunctions. John D’Agata lives in Iowa City where he teaches creative writing at the University of Iowa. The Lifespan of Fact was adapted into a Broadway play starring Daniel Radcliffe, Cherry Jones, and Bobby Cannavale.
JOHN D'AGATA
For a writer of non-fiction or essayist that’s very difficult to work with because we aren’t, or at least some of us don’t consider ourselves journalists. The tools that we are working with aren’t–What your favorite color is. Where you grew up. Or what your favorite number is. If we’re writing a profile of something, the tools that we’re working with are long conversations in which people are sharing anecdotes about themselves. When I do an interview with somebody, I don’t take out a tape recorder. I don’t have a notebook. I invite them on a walk so that we can feel at least that we’re just chatting.
This interview was conducted by Mia Funk with the participation of collaborating universities and students. Associate Interviews Producer on this podcast was Cameron McDonald. Digital Media Coordinator is Hannah Story Brown.
Mia Funk is an artist, interviewer and founder of The Creative Process.
Australian Cinematographer of the Year (ACS), Denson Baker’s credits include the feature film Ophelia starring Daisy Ridley & Naomi Watts, Measure of a Man with Donald Sutherland, Judy Greer and Luke Wilson, The Luminaries with Eva Green and Eve Hewson, and Domina with Kasia Smutniak and Isabella Rossellini, and the opening and final scenes of Jordan Peele's Academy Award winning Get Out.
Behind the Scenes at The Luminaries courtesy of Denson Baker
DENSON BAKER
One of the first things that we did when we did when we arrived in New Zealand to start pre-production was to travel to some of the actual locations where the story is set. One of them is Hokitika on the West Coast of the south island of New Zealand. And we discovered there’s an absolutely fantastic very small but a little museum that was full of so much incredible archival photography that you could not find searching the internet and the imagery just inspired so many thoughts and ideas and design. What was really interesting is it’s so unique to New Zealand.
This interview was conducted by Mia Funk with the participation of collaborating universities and students. Associate Interviews Producer on this podcast was Anja Westhues. Digital Media Coordinator is Hannah Story Brown.
Mia Funk is an artist, interviewer and founder of The Creative Process.
Australian Cinematographer of the Year (ACS), Denson Baker’s credits include the feature film Ophelia starring Daisy Ridley & Naomi Watts, Measure of a Man with Donald Sutherland, Judy Greer and Luke Wilson, The Luminaries with Eva Green and Eve Hewson, and Domina with Kasia Smutniak and Isabella Rossellini, and the opening and final scenes of Jordan Peele's Academy Award winning Get Out.
Behind the Scenes at The Luminaries courtesy of Denson Baker
DENSON BAKER
One of the first things that we did when we did when we arrived in New Zealand to start pre-production was to travel to some of the actual locations where the story is set. One of them is Hokitika on the West Coast of the south island of New Zealand. And we discovered there’s an absolutely fantastic very small but a little museum that was full of so much incredible archival photography that you could not find searching the internet and the imagery just inspired so many thoughts and ideas and design. What was really interesting is it’s so unique to New Zealand.
This interview was conducted by Mia Funk with the participation of collaborating universities and students. Associate Interviews Producer on this podcast was Anja Westhues. Digital Media Coordinator is Hannah Story Brown.
Mia Funk is an artist, interviewer and founder of The Creative Process.
The Creative Process: Podcast Interviews & Portraits of the World’s Leading Authors & Creative Thinkers
Inspiring Students – Encouraging Reading - Connecting through Stories
The Creative Process exhibition is traveling to universities and museums. The Creative Process exhibition consists of interviews with over 100 esteemed writers, including Joyce Carol Oates, Hilary Mantel, Neil Gaiman, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Tobias Wolff, Richard Ford, Junot Díaz, Marie Darrieussecq, Michel Faber, T.C. Boyle, Jay McInerney, George Saunders, Geoff Dyer, Etgar Keret, Douglas Kennedy, Sam Lipsyte, and Yiyun Li, among others. Artist and interviewer: Mia Funk.
