Podcast: Sergio Suárez, GULCH magazine, HBO’s ‘The Gilded Age’ and more on ATL Arts Collective

Featured contributor Jasmine Hentschel talks with community organizer Plushette Ellis about arts funding, civics and “Making it Work” in Atlanta. Plus, we explore Sergio Suárez’s exhibition at the Carlos Museum, discover an Atlanta connection to HBO’s The Gilded Age and get ArtsATL’s Best Bets for the week.

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Gulch magazine documents Atlanta’s visual arts and subcultures

Featured contributor Jasmine Hentschel, publisher of GULCH magazine, joins Kim to talk about the publication’s evolution from a community art calendar into a print magazine documenting Atlanta’s visual arts and the subcultures surrounding them. She also discusses GULCH’s new mobile app, which makes it easier to explore its growing calendar and find out what’s happening in Atlanta’s art scene. For Beats, Bites & Sites, Hentschel shares three favorites: the Goat Farm Arts Center, whose performance spaces feel almost dreamlike; Pollo Primo, a low-key spot near East Atlanta Village serving delicious, affordable chicken; and Posy Press, a creative resource at the Goat Farm that recently collaborated with GULCH on a print directory of Atlanta’s gallery districts and fall events.

Sergio Suárez brings contemporary art into conversation with the ancient world

At Emory University’s Michael C. Carlos Museum, ancient Greek and Roman objects share gallery space with contemporary works by Atlanta artist Sergio Suárez. In his exhibition “Anamnesis,” Suárez explores memory, time and the traces people leave behind through large-scale woodblock prints and ceramics. ArtsATL’s Andrew Alexander visits the exhibition to learn how Suárez uses materials, museum objects and the building’s architecture to bring different eras into conversation.

Making It Work: Plushette Ellis on artists, money and civic engagement

In her monthly Making It Work segment, Hentschel talks with Plushette Ellis, founder of Artistic Logistics and an Atlanta community organizer deeply involved in the arts. Ellis sees enormous untapped potential among Atlanta’s artists, but she also sees barriers created by limited funding and a lack of access to resources. Her advice? Artists need to understand the civic systems that shape their livelihoods, build relationships with elected officials, and hold policymakers accountable. From attending public meetings to learning how local and state budgets support the arts, Ellis argues that advocacy is part of building a healthier creative ecosystem.

Atlanta’s connection to The Gilded Age

HBO’s hit period drama The Gilded Age returns for its fourth season, and one of the people helping bring its 1880s world to life has a connection to Atlanta. ArtsATL editor-at-large Benji Carr speaks with Erica Armstrong Dunbar, chair of Emory University’s Department of African American Studies and a historian who has served as the series’ historical consultant and co-executive producer since 2019. Dunbar helps the show navigate the history of Black life in the late 19th century while balancing historical detail with dramatic storytelling. From its Black characters’ experiences to the era’s clothing and technology, her work grounds the series in the period’s complexities and brings history and fiction together on screen.

ArtsATL’s Best Bets: Halloween weekend and beyond

ArtsATL Executive Editor Shane Harrison rounds up events for the week, including the Native American Festival and Powwow at Stone Mountain Park; the Merian Ensemble’s season opening at the Goat Farm’s Loop venue; pianist Igor Levit at Spivey Hall; and hip-hop pioneer Rakim at City Winery.

Looking to stay connected to the people, performances, exhibitions and ideas shaping Atlanta’s creative community? The ATL Arts Collective brings you the stories behind the city’s culture every Wednesday.

Special thanks to this week’s sponsors:

Join us on social at @artsatlanta and @atlartscollective. 

Thank you to the CP Group and Downtown Atlanta Inc. for providing the ATL Arts Collective with a home at CTR Culture Studios.

Our theme music is K Michelle Dubois’ “Hit the Deck” from her album Astral Heart, courtesy of Wicked Superb Records. Jordan Owen composed all other original music in this episode. Set art by Gina Thompson.

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