(upbeat music) (slow music) - [Jade] Textile artist, Victoria Vanderlan strives to elevate the concept of women's work in her art.

Casey Polomaine discusses the importance of creative coworking spaces.

And catch a performance from Carolyn Shapiro.

It's all ahead on this episode of AHA: A House for Arts.

- [Narrator] Funding for AHA has been provided by your contribution and by contributions to the WMHT Venture Fund.

Contributors include the Leo Cox Beach Philanthropic Foundation.

Chet and Karen Opalka.

Robert and Doris Fischer Malesardi.

The Alexander and Marjorie Hover Foundation.

And the Robison Family Foundation.

- At M&T Bank, we understand that the vitality of our communities is crucial to our continued success.

That's why we take an active role in our community.

M&T Bank is pleased to support WMHT programming that highlights the arts and we invite you to do the same.

(theme music) - Hi, I'm Jade Warrick and this AHA: A House for Arts.

A place for all things creative.

Let's send it right over to Matt for today's (indistinct) segment.

(electronic music) - We're here in downtown Albany on Grand Street to speak with textile artist, Victoria Vanderlan, and let me tell ya, these are not your mother's quilts.

Follow me.

- I'm a textile artist working mainly in the quilt form.

My work is an abstract interpretation of the traditional art of quilt making.

I do a lot of geometric abstraction and optical art.

I grew up in a household where all of the women in my family did all kinds of textile art.

My grandmother made a lot of my clothing as a child.

She was an amazing seamstress.

She would ask to see my work and before even looking at the front, she would turn it over and look at the back, and if the back was not perfect, she would ask me, very nicely, she would ask me to take it out and do it over because the back.

It was really important to have the integrity of a well made piece.

- I don't know anything about quilting (laughs).

So how do you do it?

- Yeah, so this is a piece of patchwork.

- [Matt] So that's a layer that people see?

- This is a layer that people see, you see that front, but this isn't a quilt, this is just a piece of patchwork.

Now this is a quilt about to quilted, I've started quilting this, but a quilt is three layers.

It's that top patchwork piece, it's a piece of batting or flannel or something that you have in the center.

It could be just another piece of fabric.

And then there's a backing, and then you stitch through all three layers to be quilted and you can see that quilting.

I don't think I could live a life without making what I now accept and realize is art but I did not always feel that way.

I did not always feel included in the art world I think because I work in a medium that is considered craft.

I think it was in 2016 I signed up for an artist entrepreneur course at the art center in Troy, and I really attribute that as a pivotal moment in my career where for the first time in my life, I was a part of a cohort of artists.

And these were people who were making art, not just making products and trying to sell them, and it really changed my thinking about what I was doing, and I decided that I wanted to be an artist, and it took me a couple more years to recognize that I always had been an artist.

(slow music) What I've been exposed to my whole life has been very traditional work.

Calicos, just very traditional, American quilt patterns.

I definitely went through a period where I used a lot of triangles and lines and very linear, geometric, strict geometric work.

Then I broke out of that to do some more what is called in the quilt world improv or improvisational piecing and curved piecing which is really scary to a quilter when you first start.

It sounds scary but it's actually wonderful and it breaks open this whole world of possibilities.

These two pieces will get sewn together.

- Wow, okay.

- Sew those together and then I just keep doing it.

And it'll look a lot like this piece.

Eventually I made a black and white piece that accidentally turned into this amazing optical art piece called Thousand Fold that I submitted to last year's Mohawk Hudson Regional and that piece hung at the Albany Airport Gallery and it actually was acquired by the Hyde Collection, and it was just hanging this past Spring beside a Bridget Riley and across from a Joseph Albers and a Sala Whit, which those are some of my favorite artists.

So it was a huge honor.

(upbeat music) The idea of women's work is really close to my heart.

Coming from a long line of women who helped to support their families using textile work.

The fact that I'm carrying on a tradition, it just feels incredibly special to me that I'm able to do this and I'm able to hold these works up as art and that they're being shown in galleries, and it just feels so special to me.

My heart swells when I think of how proud my grandmothers would be of me and how amazed they would be that these things are being recognized as art.

- Casey Polomaine is not afraid to take a risk.

She quit her job at a credit union to start her own theater company in 2014.

Now that theater company called Creative License is the resident company of Cohoes Music Hall, and Casey Polomaine is also the executive director of the Albany Barn.

What lessons did Casey learn along the way?

I sat down with her to find out.

Welcome, Casey, welcome to AHA.

- Thank you, I'm excited to be here.

- Super excited to have you here today.

So I just want to dive into some conversations about art with you.

You were the executive director of the Albany Barn, I would love to hear about what is the barn, what's the barn doing, why is it valuable for creatives?

- Yeah.

The Barn is a creative arts incubator.

We have two locations, our primary location's in Albany, in Arbor Hill, and we have the Electric City Barn which is in Schenectady.

We exist to help provide resources to artists.

So whether that's affordable living space or working space, professional development services like how to protect your intellectual property, how to market your business, how to build a website, that kind of thing.

- All things artists need.

(laughs) - Yeah, yeah.

There's so many people that we work with that are so talented and they really know exactly what they want to do in terms of their creative work, but all of that administrative stuff can get tricky.

So that's where we come in.

- That's beautiful.

I will say as myself as an artist, that is a very valuable thing for artists to have, especially with help with the administrative and the marketing of pieces to it 'cuz a lot of artists, one of our hardest things is marketing ourselves.

So that's very beautiful that the Barn helps artists succeed in that way and supports.

- Yeah, yeah.

- What are some ways that you think the Albany Barn adds values to artist's lives?

Do you have any success stories of artists that have come out of the Barn?

- Yeah, oh so many.

Just a little recent one, we were shut down for several months as were a lot of the places in the world, and when we opened back up we got a message from a band, a group of three friends who had always wanted to start a band together and during the shutdown they decided we're gonna do this.

So they were rehearsing over Zoom and talking and then they wanted to have their first rehearsal and they thought of the Barn.

So they had their first rehearsal ever as a band at the Barn and it was the first thing that we hosted after opening back up.

So just being able to provide an affordable space for this group that has always had this creative dream and was finally ready to do it was just really awesome.

- That's amazing and also practicing over Zoom as a band has to be so hard.

(both laughing) How do you do that?

- I know, I know!

I think was just a lot of tweaking their own stuff and then when they set up shop at the Barn it was hours of tweaking the instruments and the sound and all the technical stuff that I'm not really familiar with, but it was really, really cool to see them work and to see this idea come to life.

- That's amazing.

I love that.

How do you think the Barn impacts the community as a whole outside of the residents who are there?

- Well, our goal is to help uplift these artists so then they can in turn go out into the community and spread their art or their visions, whatever their goals are.

So a success story for the Barn is somebody who gets too big for the Barn and has to move on.

- So their success truly is your success.

- Yeah, absolutely.

- I love that.

Awesome, let's talk theater.

So I know you're a theater nerd.

- I am!

(laughs) - I'm very excited to talk to you about this.

So I know you are the co-founder of Creative License, so I want to hear a little bit about that.

What is the history of Creative License, and how did it begin?

How did you come up with this amazing theater group that helps uplift other folks in the theater arts?

- Yeah, absolutely.

So I had been doing theater in the area for several years.

Curtain Call Theater, Albany Civic Theater, Schenectady Civic, and I met who are now my closest friends in the world and we would do all these shows together, and just the more that we worked at these theaters, we had amazing times at all of them but we just started to think about how we might want to do things differently or where we want to put our focus.

We wanted to try to find some shows that aren't really produced often or that are maybe a little weird or a little dark, just shake things up a little bit.

- (laughs) Quirky darkness.

- (laughs) Yeah.

So we thought let's try this and see if we can do this on our own.

Our first show was actually at the Barn.

- Oh, amazing.

- Yeah, so I can speak to the administrative staffing side of the Barn but I also know what it's like to be an artist that benefits from the Barn's services.

But we had our first show in 2014 at the Barn.

We got nice publicity, nice reviews, pretty good houses for our first show ever and then yeah, then we just kind of kept going.

We did, I don't know, about 10 or 12 shows at the Barn over six years and then we recently partnered up with Playhouse Stage who manages the Cohoes Music Hall, and in the Fall we became the resident non-musical theater company at the Music Hall.

- Oh that's beautiful.

So what got you into theater?

What made you be like that's my passion, that's the path I want to go down?

- It kind of happened by accident.

I had a friend in high school who did the props for the musical and they needed another person so she just said hey, why don't you do this with me and it'll be fun?

And I said yeah, okay, that sounds fun.

I didn't really know anything about it.

I wasn't a theater kid.

I wasn't going to plays all time or listening to musical soundtracks at home or anything.

- So really new, straight off this.

- I was like okay, I got time, this'll be fun.

I can hang out with my friend and try something new, and I really loved the work.

I loved the creating something with a group of people.

I had a knack for it and did it all throughout theater, became the assistant director in high school and then went to college for it, and I've been doing it ever since.

So it was a really happy accident that I came across theater.

- I feel like a lot of creatives say that.

They're like I just happened upon it.

I just picked up a pencil one day and I just learned that I'm great at art.

- Yeah, yeah!

I feel like some of the best things just happen when you least expect it.

- Really truly though.

What are some of your favorite things about acting in theater?

Has there been a part that you played that you look back on and it still has a nostalgic hold on your heart?

- Oh yeah, absolutely.

When a show ends, most of the time you're ready to say goodbye to it but sometimes it's a little bit harder, more than others.

We just wrapped a production of God of Carnage at the Music Hall and the role that I played I had wanted to play for years, ever since I saw the show on Broadway, and our production had myself, my Creative License co-founder, Erin, and then our two very, very close friends, Ian and Brie.

So the four of us were in the show together and the director was actually my high school drama teacher who helped me learn the ropes in high school.

- Full circle!

(laughs) Was he proud?

- Yes, yes.

- Oh, I bet he was.

- And it was so nice to work with him again after 20 years.

I'm dating myself a little but that's okay.

But it was really fun to just be with this group of people that I love so much, to do this show that I've always wanted to do.

So that just wrapped a couple weeks ago and I'm still not quite ready to say goodbye to it totally.

- Congratulations on that.

- [Kasey] Thank you.

(laughs) - Is there anything that you would tell an artist or a theater artist or any type of artist, a word of encouragement or something since you have this come up story?

Starting at the credit union, really taking a risk on your dreams, having things come true and play out beautifully.

If you could give one word of advice for artists out there who are striving to go down that same path as you, what would you give?

- Oh wow.

- No big one, right?

(laughs) - I know, I know!

Probably just to be brave and it's really scary to quit a job that's stable and secure and really just put yourself out there knowing this could go really well or this could go horribly, but you just have to be brave and give it a shot.

Be practical about it.

I did quit my job to figure something out with no solid plan in place, but I prepped for months.

I prepped the finances, I prepped all of the ways that this could go.

So it's a mix of be rational but then also be brave and do the thing that's gonna make you happy because if it doesn't work, then you're where you started, right?

But if it works, things could change in a really awesome way.

- Yeah, having faith in yourself.

I think more creatives have to realize that we just have to trust in our own moves.

We have to trust in the dreams we've built for ourself.

If we go at it 100%, it will work out.

- Yes, yeah, and so many people that I meet at the Barn, I always ask someone that comes to visit are you an artist?

And so many people say oh, not really.

I kind of draw but I'm not an artist, and I always say you are an artist.

- You are an artist, yes.

- You are so build yourself up, right?

Believe in yourself, call yourself an artist 'cuz that's what you are, and every artist has to start somewhere.

- Well, thank you.

Thank you for your inspiring words, Casey, and thank you for being on AHA today.

I appreciate it.

- Thanks for having me.

- Thank you.

(laughs) Please welcome Carolyn Shapiro.

- All right, this song is a brand new song.

It hasn't been recorded yet.

It's a song about falling in love.

It's called Will You Love Me?

(banjo music) ♪ I think that you're so fine ♪ ♪ Wonder if you will be mine ♪ ♪ But I'm scared to death ♪ ♪ What if you steal my breath ♪ ♪ Oh will you love me in the mornin' ♪ ♪ Oh will you love me when the evenin' comes ♪ ♪ Will you love me every night like no one else ♪ ♪ Oh will you love me when I lose myself ♪ ♪ Oh will you love me I lose ♪ ♪ Well I think that you're so sweet ♪ ♪ Wonder if you will knock me off my feet ♪ ♪ Do you want to dig deep down ♪ ♪ Plant these seeds and turn the world around ♪ ♪ Oh will you love me in the mornin' ♪ ♪ Oh will you love me when the evenin' comes ♪ ♪ Will you love me every night like no one else ♪ ♪ Oh will you love me when I lose myself ♪ ♪ Oh will you love me when I lose ♪ ♪ I want to fall in love with you ♪ ♪ Where the sky's my only blue ♪ ♪ Want to kiss you every night ♪ ♪ Hold you 'til the mornin' light ♪ ♪ Oh I will love you in the mornin' ♪ ♪ Oh I will love you when the evenin' comes ♪ ♪ I will love you every night like no one else ♪ ♪ Oh I will love you like I love myself ♪ ♪ Oh I will love you like I love myself ♪ This next song is a song about friendship that I wrote for my best friend, Leela, it's called Honeydew.

(banjo music) ♪ I've been lookin' around for the pieces of this puzzle ♪ ♪ Up mountains and the valleys below ♪ ♪ Where I'm bound is away from my troubles ♪ ♪ Truckin' down an endless road ♪ ♪ I've got so many questions ♪ ♪ And I can't stop stressin' ♪ ♪ I got so many words to say ♪ ♪ I'm runnin' blind and I'm stumblin' in the darkness ♪ ♪ Just to find my own way ♪ ♪ When I'm at the end of the line ♪ ♪ You always give me a sign ♪ ♪ 'Cause you're the sun on the field ♪ ♪ And the light shines through ♪ ♪ You're the breath of fresh air ♪ ♪ When I'm feelin' blue ♪ ♪ You light me up ♪ ♪ You hold me down ♪ ♪ My sweet honeydew ♪ ♪ I've been losing my mind ♪ ♪ Tryin' to find reasons to keep on goin' ♪ ♪ But I've got demons in my head that follow me to bed ♪ ♪ Back roads I keep on goin' ♪ ♪ Well I'm gettin' to the end ♪ ♪ And I've run out to sleep ♪ ♪ I've got nowhere left to turn ♪ ♪ World's changin' and rearrangin' ♪ ♪ And I've got so much left to learn ♪ ♪ And I'm at the end of the line ♪ ♪ You always give me a sign ♪ ♪ 'Cause you're the sun on the field ♪ ♪ And the light shines through ♪ ♪ You're the breath of fresh air ♪ ♪ When I'm feelin' blue ♪ ♪ You light me up ♪ ♪ You hold me down ♪ ♪ My sweet honeydew ♪ ♪ It's like climbin' to the top of the highest hill ♪ ♪ Nostalgia that comes with the Autumn chill ♪ ♪ You're here, you're there, you're everywhere ♪ ♪ My sweet honeydew ♪ ♪ Honeydew ♪ ♪ My sweet honeydew ♪ ♪ You're here, you're there, you're everywhere ♪ ♪ My sweet honeydew ♪ ♪ I look around and I feel all right ♪ ♪ Knowing you are by my side ♪ ♪ When I'm lost and I feel alone ♪ ♪ You always find me and bring me home ♪ ♪ 'Cause you're the sun on the field ♪ ♪ And the light shines through ♪ ♪ You're the breath of fresh air when I'm feeling blue ♪ ♪ You light me up ♪ ♪ You hold me down ♪ ♪ My sweet honeydew ♪ ♪ It's like climbin' to the top of the highest hill ♪ ♪ Nostalgia that comes with the Autumn chill ♪ ♪ You're here, you're there, you're everywhere ♪ ♪ My sweet honeydew ♪ ♪ Honeydew ♪ ♪ My sweet honeydew ♪ ♪ You're here, you're there, you're everywhere ♪ ♪ My sweet honeydew ♪ (theme music) - Thanks for joining us.

For more arts, visit wmht.org/aha, and be sure to connect with WMHT on social.

I'm Jade Warrick, thanks for watching.

- [Narrator] Funding for AHA has been provided by your contribution and by contributions to the WMHT Venture Fund.

Contributors include the Leo Cox Beach Philanthropic Foundation.

Chet and Karen Opalka.

Robert and Doris Fischer Malesardi.

The Alexander and Marjorie Hover Foundation.

And the Robison Family Foundation.

- At M&G bank, we understand that the vitality of our communities is crucial to our continued success.

That's why we take an active role in our community.

M&G Bank is pleased to support WMHT programming that highlights the arts and we invite you to do the same.