(dramatic music) - [Matt] Feel the heat in the kitchen at the Rep's production of Seared.

Mural artist Hannah Williams discusses Mural Garten Public Art Park.

♪ Pick up the phone ♪ And catch a performance from Sophia Quartz.

It's all ahead on this episode of "Aha A House for Arts."

♪ If you only adjust ♪ - [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, Chad and Karen Opalka, Robert and Doris Fisher Malesardi, and the Robeson 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.

(dramatic music) - Hi, I'm Matt Rogowicz, and this is "Aha a House for the Arts," a place for all things creative.

Now, we all know chefs can be hotheaded and kitchens can be extremely stressful places.

Just ask the folks at Capitol Repertory Theater.

I did, and they told me all about their upcoming production of Seared.

(dramatic music) - Capitol Rep is a professional theater that does an eclectic mix of plays and musicals throughout the season.

We also do a full range of educational kinds of productions that we do out in the community and schools in about the 14 counties around Albany.

And on our main stage, we probably will have between 35 and 40,000 people through our doors in any one year.

A professional theater is one that has a relationship with unions, and so we have union actors on our stage who are members of Actors Equity Association.

We work with designers who are members of USA, United Scenic Artists, and we have directors who are part of SDC, the Stage Directors and Choreographers union.

So it means that the people who work at Capital Rep make a living wage.

This is the new Capital Rep. We built the building that we are sitting in during Covid.

We were in a theater that was in downtown Albany and that was our home for 35 years.

But we needed to grow and we found this building.

They used to make Nabisco cookies here in the basement.

Over 300 kinds of cookies and crackers were made in this building.

We had a lot of friends who came forward.

The Housing Authority said, we could help you get started if you would move to this corner of North Pearl and Livingston.

And that was really the beginning of our turning this building into a brand new theater, which is beautiful.

And every day I walk into this place that has a 300 seat thrust stage theater downstairs.

It has this studio theater that we're talking in right now.

It has a costume shop right across the hallway and a prop shop and beautiful dressing rooms.

I say to myself, I'm lucky.

And I feel very fortunate because the community came forward and helped us build this facility.

I think that this season is gonna be a really good one, starting with the show called Seared by Theresa Rebeck.

Margaret Hall is the associate artistic director here at the theater.

She's directing Seared, but the reason that she's directing Seared and she'll do such a great job is she's 100% a foodie.

- Oh, Seared is a really funny, little bit dark maybe, comedy about a small park slope Brooklyn restaurant.

It's very real.

So we really cook on stage and I mean really cook, salmon dishes, gnocchi dishes, pasta dishes, salads, all different kinds of things are actually being cooked on the stage.

(dramatic music) I don't think I ever want a restaurant for myself, but I do very much like cooking and cooking for others.

So being able to direct a piece with four really wonderful actors who give all of themselves over to this and Theresa Rebeck's really brilliant dialogue and then getting to mix in the food aspect of it.

I'm like, well, this is just like great.

How come every show isn't like this?

Every set person and all of the designers and the entire production crew just shivered when I said that out loud, I'm sure.

That is actually another challenge.

And it was figuring out how to make all the things in the real working kitchen feasible, budgetarily feasible in a small thrust theater where audience is on three sides of you.

- I mean, there's a real stove down there and we had to vent the stove.

And there's a whole lot of things that are going on on the stage so that when people sit in the seats, they're going to smell the onions and garlic cooking.

(gentle music) Well, we're really very lucky because Gabby Bisnet is our food designer and safety manager for all the food.

And she designed the food for the New York production.

So she knows all the secrets of which I am not going to tell you.

- Gabby and I sat down and talked about the different recipes and what we wanted, the smells in the house to be based on Rebeck's words and where else we could be creative, the colors of things.

So what foods would be being cooked so that different colors pop up.

And then she has been instrumental in getting not only our chef, but our waiter comfortable using a knife the way a trained chef would use a knife.

Learning how to, you know, maintain a stove, check the tickets as they're coming in, listen to the orders as they're coming in, going back and forth from the stove to the plating station.

And so she's designed not just the recipes, but also what the dishes look like when they're put on the plate and then sent out into the dining room.

- I think everybody should go to the theater.

I think everybody should go to something where there's a live human on stage.

I love to binge watch series on TV.

I love it.

But there is nothing like being in a theater where you're gonna really smell the onions and the garlic and the butter and you're doing it with other human beings.

I think it's really important.

I hope everybody will just take a little adventure and go see something this year.

- Hannah Williams is a full-time artist and muralist who we featured on "Aha" way back in 2018.

Jade Warwick recently spoke with Hannah to see what she's been up to and to learn about Mural Garten, a free public art park being built in the shirt factory neighborhood of Glens Falls.

- Hi Hannah, welcome to "House of Arts" today.

- Hello.

- Yeah, it's great to talk to another muralist.

You know, I don't get to speak to them often on the show, so it's really great to have you today.

And I know you do a lot of different types of arts.

I know you do like paintings, you're a multidisciplinary artists, but I wanna focus on your muraling, since you're kind of not new, but slightly new into the muralist game.

I think you started in 2020.

2020, right?

- I actually started painting murals.

I've been at it 11 years now.

- Oh wow, okay.

So you're not.

- But I've been full-time as an artist since 2020.

- Okay, so yes.

So you've been a full-time artist, full-time muralist since 2020.

- [Hannah] Yes.

- And I wanted to know, how did you launch into being a full-time muralist?

- Yeah, so essentially, you know, I've always been passionate about art and creating ever since I can remember.

And once, you know, I went through high school, took as many art classes as possible and knew kind of the teaching element wasn't necessarily for me at the time.

And it wasn't until I got into college, I was able to explore different paths in the arts.

And it all started with the concept of live painting.

So being able to paint a canvas from start to finish live, especially during, you know, a band set or at a music festival.

So I got into the music festival scene, live painting for a few years, and within that, it allowed me to be inventive.

So I ended up actually creating a 10 foot by 10 foot frame out of PVC pipe.

- Wow.

- And I would go in to thrift stores and get bedsheets for my canvas and kind of posted up on there.

And that was the minute that I fell in love with large scale work, feeling the physicality of working a little larger than just a smaller canvas, definitely intrigued me into thinking in the realm of starting to paint murals.

And so I was actively searching for different opportunities and found my first mural job on Craigslist.

- Craigslist, the old school way.

- Yes.

- So how does it feel to be a full-time muralist?

Does it feel inspiring?

Do you feel great about it?

I know it's a big leap.

- Yeah, definitely over the years since then, you know, I've been actively painting murals for over a decade now, and it's just cool to see my progression and kind of just self-promotion over the years, word of mouth.

And finally being able to sustain myself within something I'm so passionate about.

It's gratifying for sure.

- I relate to that a lot, seriously.

- [Hannah] Yeah, yeah.

- So I know you just did this big project in Lake Placid.

- [Hannah] Yes.

- A huge mural on a ski resort, or what type of resort is it?

- Yeah, it's the Golden Arrow Lakeside Resort.

It's been there for 50 years now.

It's just an awesome resort style hotel.

I was initially approached by the Lake Placid, North Elba Arts Alliance and the Golden Arrow.

They kind of teamed up as, over the past few years they've been wanting more and more to introduce public art to Lake Placid.

I was really, you know, honored to be approached and to come and initiate this process for them.

They just believed in my work and saw my portfolio so.

- Portfolio speaks for itself, right?

- Yes.

- Now why do you think some people are a little bit hesitant still with like public or like large pieces in cities?

- Yeah.

- Like why, where you do you think that fear and hesitancy comes from?

- It's just an unknown.

People just don't fully understand the process of what it all entails.

So that could be scary to think about.

Maybe for some folks, some people wanna preserve original architecture as well, so that's a whole other aspect and some people just don't like change per se.

- Building in that trust as well.

- [Hannah] Yeah.

- You know, being able to connect with the artist, you know, little bit, being a little nosy.

They're like, what are you doing?

Who are you?

I wanna see what you're like, what are you making?

- [Hannah] Yeah.

- As it relate to me.

You know, things like that.

So it's great that you're doing that work.

- Yeah.

- And that kind of ties back to what you're doing in Glens Falls, which is this amazing initiative called Mural Garten.

- [Hannah] Yeah.

- You wanna give us a little bit of background and what it is and its impact?

- Sure, yeah, so Mural Garten is relatively new still.

We have big goals of kind of a 10 year project, 10 plus year project of developing, you know, as we go.

So Mural Garten is in the east end of Glens Falls within the shirt factory grounds.

And it's essentially a public art space and a public art garden, if you will as well.

That's open and free to the public.

And our main mission is, you know, to build community through public art.

So this entails, you know, large scale murals on buildings, on shipping containers.

We wanna hold more events like Muralthon that we've been doing where artists paint on shipping containers and also do more community based events and possibly introduce some art education, you know, bring in youth art programs possibly and just kind of go from there.

- See now where did this idea of Mural Garten grow from?

- Yeah, so Eric Unkauf, the owner of the shirt factory, he's always been a huge supporter of the arts.

You know, he turned, you know, he purchased the shirt factory, I believe in 1999, and has been adamant about keeping it as art studios.

You know, I was a tenant there at one point in time and had a studio.

So I've known him for quite some time and just kind of, you know, having conversations with him over the years.

You know, there's amazing examples of what public art can do if we look at, you know, Asheville, North Carolina, we look at Wynwood and Miami, these art districts that are just a huge hub for public art.

And so wanting to bring that to an area like Glens Falls, we just, we saw a need for it and an importance in it so.

- That's amazing.

- [Hannah] Yeah.

- And that's like, and I want the audience to know a little bit about Muralthon because that was, I was a part of that.

- Yes.

- It was one of the best experiences I had because you guys covered the hotel costs, you covered food, you made sure we were safe, and you made sure we had all anything we needed.

You guys basically covered.

So I want the audience to know a little bit of what is Muralthon exactly, and why is it important for artists to have this?

- Yeah, so Muralthons, we had our second annual Muralthon event this year.

And what it is, is an opportunity for emerging artists or more established artists to be able to get some of their work up, you know, within a smaller scale.

Something that's more tangible and not a giant building.

Maybe like if it's more of an emerging artist, it's not as intimidating.

We usually have six artists paint 10 by, eight by 10 murals on shipping containers.

Being able to provide the artists in Muralthon, and opportunity, give them, you know, not only compensate them for their work, but give them certain incentives where especially if you're not from there, it kind of welcomes you into the community, into different businesses.

So, you know, we give gift cards to, you know, the vegan restaurant that's right on site, Rock Hill Bakehouse.

This year we were able to introduce some more holistic care for the artists, so acupuncture and massage if they wanted to.

- Wow.

- And then other, you know, discounts for the shirt factory businesses inside.

- That's awesome.

- [Hannah] Yeah.

- So before we, you know, wrap it up, I wanna talk about your love for education.

You know, at the beginning you kind of said, oh, well, when I went into this, I didn't feel like a teacher, being a teacher connected with me.

But now you do love being within the education realm.

- Yeah.

- As an individual.

How does it feel to now be running youth programs and what about it do you love?

- It feels amazing to be able to provide something like that.

Especially, I always try to relate it back to like, what did I need to see when I was, you know, back in high school or earlier and have like, what kind of support did I need?

So it's very inspiring to work with the students and youth just in the event to try to let them know like we were all given the narrative growing up, that there wasn't many, you know, tangible art, you know, careers within the art.

And I want nothing more than to be possibly that one voice to show them, hey, I'm a real person that has found their way with an alternative creative career path.

With hard work, you can do this.

And being able to give them the confidence, you know.

They're there because they already, you know, have these innate, you know, creative skills.

But to be able to help foster that, provide them, you know, with the know-hows on how to paint something like a mural to give them, you know, hopefully some inspiration that there's different avenues down the road.

- Yeah, and that's really, really important.

- [Hannah] Yeah.

- We really do have to make sure we keep passing that down because we do wanna make sure that folks like we're able to be, we're privileged to be able to be muralists.

I wanna make sure the youth, Gen Z, the Gen Alpha is actually able to do the same things we are doing as well.

- A hundred percent.

- Very important.

Awesome, well, thank you Hannah for stopping by and chatting with us today.

- Yeah, thank you.

I appreciate it too.

Thank you.

- Please welcome Sophia Quartz.

(upbeat music) ♪ That's making me read between all your lines ♪ ♪ Nothing's said up front so I can reply ♪ ♪ I know that you're just afraid I'll decline ♪ ♪ Oh my, what happened to Mr. Tough Guy ♪ ♪ It's your low worth ♪ ♪ Guess you never wanted me to stick around, stay around ♪ ♪ Oh you knew this ♪ ♪ Not going without you ♪ ♪ Express yourself ♪ ♪ So pick up the phone so we say hello ♪ ♪ And then you'll sulk ♪ ♪ How easy this goes if you could only adjust ♪ ♪ It's me you should trust ♪ ♪ If you believe in me, would you ♪ ♪ So many words you could say ♪ ♪ But you still push me away ♪ ♪ One phrase is all that it takes ♪ ♪ Don't ruminate ♪ ♪ The things that we could become ♪ ♪ But we just need a little communication ♪ ♪ Baby ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ Tell me what you think, there's no need to moan ♪ ♪ You've got me here confused with these mixed signals ♪ ♪ These mixed signals ♪ ♪ Interloper, guess you never wanted me to stick around ♪ ♪ Stay around ♪ ♪ Or do you just not know how to just be yourself ♪ ♪ So pick up the phone ♪ ♪ And say hello ♪ ♪ And then you'll know how easy this goes ♪ ♪ If you could only adjust ♪ ♪ It's me you should trust ♪ ♪ Communicate with me would you ♪ ♪ So many words you could say ♪ ♪ But you still push me away ♪ ♪ One phrase is all that it takes ♪ ♪ Don't ruminate ♪ ♪ The things that we could become ♪ ♪ But we just need a little communication ♪ ♪ So just pick up the phone ♪ ♪ Could you say hello ♪ ♪ And then I'll know that you want me so ♪ ♪ I know that you can adjust ♪ ♪ Tell me that you miss me so much ♪ ♪ Communicate with me would you ♪ ♪ So many words you can say ♪ ♪ But you still push me away ♪ ♪ One phrase is all that it takes ♪ ♪ Don't ruminate ♪ ♪ The things that we could become ♪ ♪ But we just need a little communication ♪ ♪ Baby, baby ♪ ♪ A bit of communication ♪ ♪ Baby, baby ♪ ♪ Couple words, couple phrases, baby ♪ ♪ I'll be temporarily fine, temporarily okay ♪ ♪ This will only last a moment ♪ ♪ But I will take it by the way ♪ ♪ Locked in, that's when I saw something in you ♪ ♪ Inviting me in for something exciting ♪ ♪ Lost my sense of time through that ♪ ♪ I didn't think this would last so briefly ♪ ♪ 'Cause I believed ♪ ♪ I believed forever you and me ♪ ♪ But it turned out you thought this was short term ♪ ♪ I would disagree ♪ ♪ And the way I feel is everlasting for eternity ♪ ♪ Wish I wasn't seen as someone who was in your history ♪ ♪ I'll be temporarily fine ♪ ♪ Temporarily okay ♪ ♪ This will only last a moment ♪ ♪ But I will take it by the way ♪ ♪ Temporarily just fine ♪ ♪ Temporarily okay ♪ ♪ This will only last a moment ♪ ♪ But I will take it by the way ♪ ♪ We were never synchronized, always a step behind ♪ ♪ You know it's only a matter of time ♪ ♪ Rewinding, melting, finding out ♪ ♪ We're never united in this world ♪ ♪ 'Cause our time, our time is short lived and limited ♪ ♪ Just provisional until you say we're separated ♪ ♪ And the way I feel is evermore ♪ ♪ I'm fascinated ♪ ♪ Fast, it makes my future permanently damaged ♪ ♪ Try, yeah, temporarily okay ♪ ♪ This will only last a moment ♪ ♪ But I will take it by the way ♪ ♪ Temporarily just fine ♪ ♪ Temporarily okay ♪ ♪ This will only last a moment ♪ ♪ But I will take it by the way ♪ ♪ Endlessly, durably, emotively ♪ ♪ Eventually, continually, continuously ♪ ♪ We're meant to be ♪ ♪ Mm, endlessly, durably, emotively ♪ ♪ Perpetually, continuously, we're meant to be ♪ ♪ Meant to be ♪ ♪ Mm, be ♪ ♪ Ohh, be ♪ ♪ Mm, be ♪ ♪ I'll be temporarily fine ♪ (gentle music) - [Narrator] Funding for "Aha" has been provided by your contributions and by contributions to the WMHT Venture Fund.

Contributors include the Leo Cox Beach Philanthropic Foundation, Chad and Karen Opalka, Robert and Doris Fisher Malesardi, and the Robeson 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.