I love a podcast that's a little different. Today, Shonto Begay showed up with four new paintings and they're all terrific. One of them however was incredibly important because it explores Shonto's experience at an Indian school and how that affected him. I mean, he's 72 years old and this is something that still affects him to this day and I completely understand why.

You see, he's able to make that world different in his own mind through the catharsis of painting. In this painting I'm referring to, he explores that and lets the viewer see it how they want to see it, but the story of the painting is there for everyone. If you go to the YouTube version of the podcast you'll be able to actually see the painting we're talking about.

So we talk about the four paintings he brings in for about half of the podcast, and then we move over to the Maynard Dixon and Native American Art Museum where we talk about a couple of his other paintings that are a part of the exhibition "Native Voices: 75 Years of Creativity."

One is called "Helpless," which is a monumentally important painting and a marker for Shonto's art career. It was done in 1996, and I've owned it for at least 15 years. It happens to be a very important painting in my life as well.

Shonto is somebody that I respect and appreciate very much. You can hear the passion, the wisdom, and the energy that he breathes into the world as he speaks. He's just a remarkable individual, not only as a painter, but as just a human being.
I'm grateful that I get to show his work and to call him my friend.

This is Shonto Begay on episode 391 of the Art Dealer Diaries Podcast.

Today's podcast was a panel that I was a part of alongside artists Kim Wiggins, Martin Grelle, and my son, Charles Sublette, moderated by Tim Newton. We talk about Western art, the future of art in general, how the world perceives what we happen to specialize in.

With the artists on the panel, we had two different but equally qualified individuals. There was Martin Grelle being on the traditional side and Kim Wiggins who is more of a modernist. They talk about how they see things in their world, from their perspectives as creatives.

Then on the other end of the spectrum you have myself and my son, Charles. I was invited to the panel because of my 35 years of experience as an art dealer specializing in Western art, having worked with museums like the Briscoe on many occasions. Charles on the other hand, sees things in a different light because he's much younger and in tune with a completely different audience.

So it's a good mix of how we see the world of Western art and where it's heading. It was fun to do and it lasted about an hour. We had some good Q&A afterwards. You can watch us on YouTube if you want to see how we just kind of talk and interact, which I think is always interesting.

I'm typically surprised when I go and do one of these things, because you just don't know what's going to come up, or how others see what you see differently. That being said, Tim Newton did a lovely job of moderating all the different aspects and voices and it was a great time.

So hope you enjoy this panel at the Briscoe Western Art Museum on Art Dealer Diaries Podcast episode 390.

I recently attended and exhibited at Scottsdale Art Week, which was the third week in March. They had a lovely series of lectures, and one of them was with photographer Cara Romero. She's a terrific artist that I have in my personal collection.

The Phoenix Art Museum has a big show of her work on display through June 2026 called "Cara Romero: Panûpünüwügai (Living Light)." It's a terrific show and I have been up there twice since it opened. It's very well curated and it's an immersive experience.

In this lecture, Emilia Mickevicius, the Norton Family Assistant Curator of Photography at Phx Art, speaks with Cara about the exhibit and about the works in the First American Girl series, Indigenous Futurism series, and her most recent photographic works. They discuss the themes of survivance, activism and ecology, and how Cara weaves these into each and every photograph she takes.

Cara has her own gallery in Santa Fe and I highly recommend you go see that as well. It was a wonderful lecture. I really enjoyed it and I'm glad I get to upload this talk. This is photographer Cara Romero and curator Emilia Mickevicius on the Art Dealer Diaries Podcast.