(upbeat music) - This week on "Curate".

- [Will] You can be an opera singer, or a visual artist, or a dancer.

The sky's the limit.

Don't let anything hold you down from doing that.

- [Richard] I demand of myself the quality that I must do.

It's the way I make my art.

- [CG] When people see my art, I want you to take away what brings people together.

- I'm Heather Mazzoni.

- And I'm Jason Kypros.

Welcome back to "Curate".

- Growing up in Virginia Beach, Will Liverman never expected to become the acclaimed baritone that he is today.

- Performing at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and the Metropolitan Opera House, this Grammy Award-winning artist has been hailed by critics for his versatility and unique voice.

- We got a chance to catch up with Will during one of his recent visits home to hear about the way he's living out his lifelong ambitions.

(dramatic opera music) - Opera is that alien art form that kind of just hits you in a certain way that no other art form does.

(Will sings in foreign language) (upbeat gospel music) I grew up in the Pentecostal Church in Norfolk, singing in a choir.

And gospel music is such a special thing for me because it's music that really speaks.

And it's so free flow.

We don't use sheet music.

So I think that's really kinda influenced who I am as an artist, and I really carry that with me even into the classical realm.

♪ We sing this song to you ♪ ♪ For you deserve the glory ♪ - When I got to high school, it was the Governor's School for the Arts that really changed everything for me.

Whew, my audition song for Governor's School, they had on the list, like, you could sing an Italian art song, and I didn't know Italian, from French, from German.

Like, I didn't know anything.

But there was another option where you could sing "The Star-Spangled Banner", and so I sang that as my audition, and that's how I got in.

(dramatic music) I went to my first opera at Virginia Opera.

I think I was like 13.

I'd never seen an opera or really knew much about it.

And I saw "Die Walkure".

My attention span was quite short.

I mean, I didn't know what to expect.

It was a long piece, and I kind of fell asleep maybe like around, yeah, 30 minutes into it.

But the cool thing that woke me up was the Act Three, the "Ride of the Valkyries" theme.

(dramatic music) And I heard that, and I started to wake up.

And I turned to Alan Fisher.

He was the head of the program at the time.

And I said, isn't this from a cartoon?

♪ Kill the wabbit ♪ ♪ Kill the wabbit ♪ ♪ Kill the wabbit ♪ - Like, I was so confused.

Like, how did the opera rip this from the cartoon?

And he was like, "No, the opera came first."

And the light bulbs kinda came on.

I was like, oh, this is kind of a cool vibe.

And that really struck me because I was fascinated with how opera is so encompassing of a lot of different art forms, with the big costumes, and the orchestra, the acting, the singing.

It really sort of blew me away.

♪ I once was a boy of peculiar grace ♪ ♪ A dangerous ♪ The first audition that got me a major role would be "Fire Shut Up In My Bones" at the Metropolitan Opera, and this all happened during the pandemic.

And that was a life-changing thing for me because it opened the Metropolitan Opera season after two years of being shut down.

It featured Terence Blanchard, who is the first black composer whose work to be featured at the Metropolitan Opera.

So there's a lot of major impact of doing that show, and it holds so much meaning for me.

While I love the classics, opera can be so much more.

It can be something for everyone.

One of the things that I strive to do in my career is be an advocate for composers of color because there have been so many great and brilliant composers of the day who were held at the gate and who didn't have the opportunities to really get their music out there.

Such brilliant music, and it needs to be heard, and our stories need to be told.

♪ Were that I were a jewel ♪ ♪ A shattered jewel ♪ ♪ And all my shining brilliance ♪ ♪ Might fall at thy feet ♪ ♪ Thou dark one ♪ It was really special to me to perform in my hometown because it's something I don't really get a chance to do that often.

So to be able to present a program which featured all black composers, pieces that I really care about and love and to share that with folks in the community who have known me for a long time and have been so supportive was a really special thing.

♪ Oh ♪ ♪ Then hide thy body ♪ When I was a student, it was a special thing to see alumni come back and share their stories with me.

I'm just honored to be asked back to Governor's School and share my story with the students.

And hopefully, it helps them along their paths.

♪ There is a path ♪ - I was gonna go to the show, but I didn't know I was gonna be performing for him.

So when the opportunity came, I definitely accepted it.

It was just a transformative experience.

♪ There is a path ♪ ♪ There is a path ♪ - [Ted] I really appreciate that Will is taking out the time to come and to just work with us and to give us some insight.

When you learn, you're not just learning to see where you can get to, but you can also help everybody else.

♪ The way, what we're doing to you ♪ ♪ Do you want to see some crispy lines ♪ ♪ Faded away like a jump shot ♪ - "The Factotum", I co-wrote it with a friend of mine who I went to Governor's School.

We were in the same program together.

And it's loosely based off of "The Barber of Seville", and it's set in a black barbershop.

- When we created the first demo, that was a meaningful moment to me to say like, oh, wow, we really have something that other people care about.

It's not just like a thing that will hook me up about.

And I was excited about it, like, oh, other artists are excited about it too.

- [Will] With Rico, it's just such a significant thing that I would have never dreamed of in a million years.

♪ He's the baddest barber around ♪ ♪ Don't you know ♪ ♪ That he's the baddest barber around in the town ♪ ♪ Ain't nobody ♪ ♪ Ain't nobody ♪ - [DJ King Rico] We wanted to focus on coming together again and focus on the idea of family, focus on that idea of resilience.

- We did it because we wanted to tell a story of black joy and to continue to add to the cannon of what opera can be.

I'm nervous (chuckles) to see it premiered, but also very excited.

♪ Stylist of hair ♪ ♪ So please put them ♪ - Being open to what speaks to you is is most important.

You can be an opera singer, or a visual artist, or a dancer, but you can also do other things.

You don't have to stay in one box.

If you feel called, tell a story or write something.

I feel like the sky's the limit.

Don't let anything hold you down from doing that.

(audience applauds) (audience cheers) - [Jason] Want more "Curate"?

We have the complete catalog, eight seasons' worth at whro.org/curate.

- Richard Stravitz is widely recognized for his distinct ability to sculpt emotion.

He creates stunning works in bronze with a lost wax technique, working in the same manner of ancient Roman masters.

(soft piano music) (soft piano music continues) (soft piano music continues) (soft jazzy music) - I've done art for most of my life.

I'm now 85.

I think about it constantly.

I dream about it.

I wake up thinking about it.

I have a notepad by the bed and I mark down things as they occur, and they occur all the time.

It's a full-time job.

It's not just nine to five, God knows.

The time that I put in is probably half of what I put in mentally.

The process is quite meticulous.

The most difficult part of any sculpture and any artwork, I think, is the beginning idea.

What are you going to reproduce?

And once you know what you want to produce, everything else falls in its place.

I would bet we've been on it for six weeks.

And the body has been altered a number of times.

I think the body's looking pretty good now.

The problem, of course, is we've got her leaning back and we needed a support to keep her, quite frankly, from falling on her derriere.

We've numbers of suggestions.

I try to get suggestions from everybody in the gallery.

We've tried at least a dozen different ideas as to how to support her.

We finally came up with the idea of the ring.

And the ring will be a thicker material than what you see here.

This is merely a sample in order to determine whether the idea is correct for us.

I like her form.

I like the way she is turning.

Although we've done probably a dozen nudes, her body is exposed more than some of these others.

It takes on a little bit of an abstraction by having the circle behind her.

So if we ever get a feeling from a photograph, the photograph is only a basic idea, and then we ad lib because I demand of myself the quality that I think I must do.

It's the way I live and the way I want to make my art.

- I am working on some wax ballerinas.

So she started in clay, and she was specifically made so that we could do a mold of her and then change her position.

So these will, when they go to the foundry, they'll be going right as wax, and then they can get cast immediately.

I even did her, I did her tutu separately, also made a mold of that.

With the wax, you just heat it up and move it around.

We're going through different kinds of poses.

Like here's one, she'll be tying her shoe.

And we're just sort of making it up as we go along.

I enjoy the figurative.

Richard and I, sort of, a lot of times, go through our ideas together.

And it's a little different all the time.

You never know exactly what you're gonna do.

But Richard really likes to work on detail, so that's my style too 'cause I'm working with him.

- Everything that I do is figurative work and is tight work, I would call it.

I'm not an artist who does things loosely.

My technique, to do something as exact as I can be.

Very few people, I think, do sculpture the way I do it.

(soft jazzy music) (upbeat jazzy music) I work like a dog, but it's my life and I love it.

And I hope it shows up in my work.

I try to make it so, and yeah.

I love looking at the work that I've completed.

And I rarely, but on occasion, look at something that I've created 10 years ago, and it motivates me to make the work that I'm making currently better.

So it's not that I'm infallible by any means, but I constantly strive to better my craft.

If you've done the right job, the best job you can, you'll look at it and and get joy from it, and that goes on until the day you die.

And I'm sure that happens with painters as well.

They look at their work and they get joy out of it.

And if you don't get joy out of the work that you complete, even though you may make a dollar out of it and you keep the lights burning in your home and food on the table, if you don't love it, it's work.

And I don't consider this work.

This is joy.

I did this around 10 or 12 years ago.

I'm not sure exactly when.

The colors of Moulin Rouge originally were black and red.

And although it works for the Moulin Rouge background in France in those days, it looked like hell on her.

So we changed the colors.

We can do that on any bronze.

We could put acrylic paints on.

But outdoors, they don't weather as well as the standard chemical patinas that color it.

(melancholy jazzy music) I still have more to give.

I love it.

If I didn't love it, I wouldn't do it.

If I can't sculpt, I would be very unhappy.

I'd probably start painting.

And if my hands got too bad, I'd probably put a paintbrush between my teeth and paint.

I guess I am obsessed by it.

- Every year, students at Old Dominion University get to learn from the production team at WHRO in a documentary class that culminates with a project called "Curate You".

In this segment, Chris Green, better known as CG Paints, walks us through some of his biggest projects and how he's helping to inspire the next generation of artists.

(laid back music) - Chris is an artist who, like, connects with the person or the subject.

He connects with the humanity.

It's a part of his being.

Before he even picks up a paintbrush, he really cares about people.

I think that is, like, his superpower.

- That's one thing about Chris.

When he's at an event, he likes to be indulged in his passion, not just there having a good time, and he can do both very well.

But when he live paints, you can really see his passion for his work.

♪ Have a good time ♪ (laid back rock music) - First art show, ooh, that's a good one.

The first art show I ever had was in high school.

I remember that.

It was like an AP art class.

And back then, all I did was in portraits.

I was obsessed by looking at the face.

And I just submitted it.

I didn't think I was gonna get in.

I got lucked up and got in.

Actually, it's not even luck.

It was putting in the work.

That first time doing anything, you're nervous if you're gonna get in or not, you know?

Well, in the beginning of my art career, I was really into eyes.

Like, if I would see an eye, I would have to draw the eye.

And just looking at the eye, seeing how different eyes are shaped, how they're formed.

I know you heard the line eyes are the windows to the soul.

But it's really interesting how everyone's eyes are so unique.

It's almost like they're a facial fingerprint.

- [Interviewer] How do you start?

- Mmm.

It's like a process, for real, for real, but usually always pad, keep it simple, sketchbook, pencil.

For so long, I've been drawing that way.

I think that was my first way I ever created was a pencil, and then I there upgraded to charcoal, so that's when I started doing the shading.

And I got really good at shading, and that's when I started with color.

In college, that's where I learned to paint.

I went to the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.

They told you, like, traditional art 'cause a lot of places, they don't teach you the old school stuff.

Learning the traditional, the foundation and painting, that made me fall in love with the art of painting.

And back then, I learned to paint with oil paint.

If anybody knows, oil paint is usually like the hardest medium to paint with.

That was my start at painting.

So that prepared me to be so good at what I do now with acrylic paint.

During the pandemic, oof, it was a lot going on.

I kinda went through this loss of inspiration.

That's what one of my paintings were about, about finding the inspiration again.

And I learned it through plants, just taking care of plants every day but knowing not to overdo it, and just doing that.

I got really into seeing what the plant needed and realized, how do I need those things in my life?

My plant needs water, and that could be someone, like, pouring into us.

A plant needs light, and that could be your energy, your religion, that God-given light that you have, and you gotta show that light to the world.

Of course, your soil.

So I used to get the little cheap dollar store soil and I realized, nah, that didn't work because it wouldn't grow right.

Depending on your environment, people grow differently.

So I realized people are plants.

I wanted to show that.

An artist's job is to show things that people can't see, and I wanted to show that point of view of showing the person as the plant.

So I want you to get the whole plant energy as soon as you've seen it.

Yeah, you don't want your clay to be dry and hard, right?

This morning was amazing.

I had a class at the Chrysler Museum.

So environment is kind of like a setting where you're at and where a story takes place.

And it's usually with third graders.

Those are like my favorite group of kids.

- [Student] He did, he did.

- You did good.

Is that a mermaid?

They're so in tune with their creation.

And we do this project, world building.

You could tell already it's space?

I get them excited.

I say you can make anything you want.

You wanna crease it one more time.

Go like that.

And crease it really hard.

- I tried my best doing it.

- [Student] I'm making this.

- Close this real tight.

Okay, got it.

The fun surprise, I give 'em some clay, and they can then create their character that lives in the world.

So someone asked me a question, can you color the clay?

What do you think the answer is?

- [Students] Yes.

- Yes, but it's a special way.

- [Student] It's supposed to be a hamster.

- [Teacher] I love it.

- So I really think that helps their creativity in what kind of world they live in and what kind of way they see themselves.

- Respect the potential.

Like, everyone comes at like a different different level and you gotta, like, respect that.

- I actually told myself, hey, I'll never be teaching.

But I ended up first going to Teens with a Purpose, working with the kids there and just connecting with the kids and connecting with Mama D. It's to see the angle it makes.

So let's say if I had a halfway of the wing, right, the line going through.

Working with the Chrysler for the Teens with a Purpose art project got me teaching art at the Chrysler Museum.

I also teach at LTYC, Leaders of Tomorrow Youth Center.

They bring teaching artists into different environments, that could be a school, that could be after school program, just so the kids can have that expression, have that creativity.

Anytime I get a chance to make mural art, I love it.

One of my favorite murals I did, it was at Teens with a Purpose to show art and passion through pain.

One of the teams, unfortunately, passed away through COVID.

I got to paint a portrait of her and reflect her energy and reflect her light.

Get into the habit of art.

Get into the habit of creation.

Don't do it only because you love doing it, but do it because you have to create.

That continuous creation every day will build a habit.

So the days you don't feel like creating, the days you're not inspired, you still create.

Those days lead to the days where you can make some of your greatest art.

Even as an artist, you gotta like stay motivated because you never know what opportunity can happen.

When people see my art, I want you to take away what brings people together, being connected, being grounded, kind of connect with people, and not only connect with people, connect with yourself.

So I always want to create something that self reflects so people can see themselves in what I create.

And whether it's struggle, whether it's pain, I want you to know you can get through it.

You can get through anything, really seeing the beautiful side of it, the life lesson, the journey.

So my art, I really wanna show the beauty, and what brings people together, and the magic and their own light.

And not only the light of our people, but your self light 'cause sometimes you forget.

Every day, I want you to wake up, see my art and remind you, hey, this is why I do this.

This is what gets me inspired.

- Congratulations to "Curate" season six alumni Ann Gray who was recently accepted to Brown University.

- And is still producing great music.

And this week, we leave you with the video for her single, "Sorry Excuse".

- What A bright future.

- Absolutely.

Well, we'll see you next time on "Curate".

(soft guitar music) (soft guitar music continues) (soft guitar music continues) ♪ In every single parking lot ♪ ♪ I thank God I see the sliver of you ♪ ♪ In every grocery line, I hear your preplanned pickup lines ♪ ♪ And I see your face in takeout menus ♪ ♪ I know I shouldn't miss you ♪ ♪ But I still see your smile in the traffic lights ♪ ♪ And sometimes I'll get nervous that you'll visit ♪ ♪ And I won't have the strength to leave you twice ♪ ♪ I told you that I hated you while crying on the floor ♪ ♪ When things were going south and I drove up to the north ♪ ♪ Don't hate me ♪ ♪ I just hate to go ♪ ♪ But in every single advertisement, I still see your face ♪ ♪ Wanted to call you 'cause I wanted to say ♪ ♪ I'm sorry ♪ ♪ But that's a sorry excuse, I know ♪ ♪ In every car, I see you, every plastic thank you bag ♪ ♪ Every grocery store receipt, every song stuck in my head ♪ ♪ It's you ♪ ♪ I see you ♪ ♪ Every cloud that's in the sky, every offer that I choose ♪ ♪ Every feeling in my stomach, every person in the room ♪ ♪ How can I forget you when everything looks like you ♪ ♪ Everything, everything, everything looks like ♪ ♪ You ♪ (no audio)