Art Problems

The art world tells artists that if you just keep going, eventually something will break for you. But persistence can also keep you stuck. If you don’t know something’s broken so you keep doing the same thing, you won’t grow.

That's what happened to Gin Stone. Gin is a Cape Cod artist who did what she was supposed to do. She kept going. And she stayed stuck because she didn't have the right help. In this episode, she talks about the gallery show that made her realize she had nothing to say about her own work, the overhaul that followed, and the grant she landed just last week for a sonification project built on 2,000 years of geological data.

 

RELEVANT LINKS:

Free Info Session, How to Get on a Museum’s Radar, Tuesday July 21, 7:00 PM EST
Gin Stone

After years of producing social practice art, Peter Walsh wanted to get back in the studio. So he rented a space and started painting. But when he started reaching out to his old painting friends, he found most had moved on to other things. He needed community. 

He joined Netvvrk, along with many of the artists in his Brooklyn studio building. Then he practiced patience: he went to other people’s shows, built relationships, and let the work lead. That led to his first solo show in New York. 

In this episode, we talk about restarting a practice mid-career, the self-doubt that shows up even with a long CV, and why the artwork always has to come first. Peter lost a painting the day before we recorded. He painted over it and kept working. As he puts it, he's not done.

RELEVANT LINKS

Free Info Session, How to Get on a Museum’s Radar, Tuesday July 21, 7:00 PM EST
Peter Walsh

Guest: Mark Witzling, abstract painter

In this episode of Art Problems, I speak with Mark Witzling about his career path as a painter. Witzling continues our series on artists who are building careers regionally, and his story takes on a second challenge that artists ask me about all the time. Witzling doesn’t have an MFA or a BFA in art. 

 

And he works full time on his art. Want to know how he got his studio paid for and work placed without institutional bona fides, while living in St Louis, MO? Tune into this episode and find out! 

 

RELEVANT LINKS 

 

How to Get on a Museum’s Radar, (Free info session) Tuesday July 21, 2026

Mark Witzling

Craft Alliance (St. Louis) 

Southern Vermont Art Center — site of his solo show last year

Meg Lagodzki paints from a studio in the woods just outside Bloomington, Indiana, five hours from the nearest major art center. In this conversation, part of an ongoing series on artists building careers outside NYC and LA, she talks with Paddy about what it took to grow beyond her local market: the critique group that pushed her work in a new direction, the cold DM from a gallery that turned into a five-year relationship, and the shift from applying to open calls alone to finding opportunities through other artists.

Meg also talks candidly about what changed once she started applying to harder, more selective opportunities instead of easier ones, and why the collectives inside Netvvrk, the smaller groups built around a shared thread like medium or geography, became one of the most valuable parts of her membership.

Meg Lagodzki is a painter based in Bloomington, Indiana, and a member of Netvvrk's Woods and Forest Collective.

Relevant links:
Join the Free Live Webinar: How to Get on a Museum's Radar, July 21, 7:00 PM EST

Meg Lagodzki
https://www.meglagodzki.com/

Momentum Gallery
https://momentumgallery.com/

In this episode, Paddy gives you the skinny on the Guggenheim Fellowship, one of the most prestigious awards for mid-career artists. The talk contains tips and strategies you won't find on their website, including knowing when to apply and how often. You won't find this information anywhere else, so have a listen. Even if you're not planning to apply, this episode will give you strategies for ALL grant applications.

Relevant links:
https://www.gf.org/