About Let's Have a Renaissance: The DateKeepers Podcast with Itto and Mekiya Outini
Welcome to Let’s Have a Renaissance, a podcast about literature and the arts, where where authors, editors, artists, composers, and other creative professionals come together to discuss what it takes to build a sustainable career in the arts in the twenty-first century.
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151: Why Write for Weird Instruments? – A Conversation with Donald R. Womack
In this episode, we speak with composer Donald R. Womack about almost becoming a rockstar, philosopher, and professional runner before eventually turning to composition. Donald has written over 125 pieces, approximately half of them for traditional Asian instruments, and has had his music performed or broadcast in 25 countries. He’s the recipient of a Guggenheim fellowship and two Fulbrights, and his work has been honored by universities and musical institutions in both Asia and the West. He currently teaches and chairs the Music Department at the University of Hawai’i.
9 Oct 2026
150: Why Are Film Festivals Dying? – A Conversation with Jeannette Louie
In this episode, we speak with experimental filmmaker Jeannette Louie about the nature of consciousness, identity, and perception, the relationship between creativity and autodidacticism, why collaboration matters now more than ever, and what artists can do to sustain their practices and escape from dying patronage systems. A visual artist by training, Jeannette also makes documentaries. Her work has been shown in museums and galleries and streamed at festivals around the world, and she’s received support from the American Academy in Rome, the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, The Bogliasco Foundation, the Center for Photography at Woodstock, and others.
7 Oct 2026
149: Fire and Ice and Everything Nice – A Conversation with Diane Burko & Mary Salvante
In this special episode, painter and photographer Diane Burko articulates her reimagining of the landscape painting, historically a static and passive genre, as an active vehicle for capturing the poignant tragedy and high-stakes drama of living in and bearing witness to a changing world.
Diane’s work hinges on collaborations with scientists, researchers, and the land we walk upon. She uses works on paper and canvas, as well as time-based media, to consider the impressions made by human conversations on the natural world and celebrates the sublimity of endangered landscapes by honoring the complex relational webs that shape place and identity. Standouts among her many exhibitions include the solo show Seeing Climate Change, recently hosted at the American University Museum and cited by the New York Times as one of the best shows of 2021.
This episode is guest-hosted by curator Mary Salvante, whose exhibitions have included artists of local, national, and international renown, including former Let’s Have a Renaissance guests Joyce Kozloff and Julie Heffernan. Mary holds a Master of Science in Arts Administration from Drexel University and brings to her current position as Director and Curator of the Rowan University Museum of Contemporary Art 30+ years of experience in the educational, for-profit, and non-profit sectors.
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Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
11 ratings
Spotify
4.3 / 5
6 ratings
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