A struggling Cleveland, Ohio, artist finds success documenting the lives of others, who, like him, are trying to get by. At MOPCO Improv Theatre in Schenectady, New York, Kat Koppett runs a consultancy that specializes in using the principles of improv to train and coach business leaders. Kathy Flynn shares stories of discovering Works Progres Administration (WPA) art works lost over time in New Mexico. Reno, Nevada, artist Gina Iwahashi specializes in Shibori, a Japanese tie-dyeing technique resulting in a variety of one-of-a-kind patterns.

We travel to The Piper’s Opera House in Virginia City, Nevada, which has been the centerpiece of the town’s arts and culture. Since opening in 1863, it has withstood two fires, financial hardship and over a century of the changing tastes in entertainment. Sir Winston Churchill, best known for being the leader of England during World Word II, but many don’t know him as a painter and a very skilled one at that. We have a look at Churchill’s artistic side though an exhibit at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum. We visit the world’s biggest alligator made out of a mosaic of tiles. And we meet a duo who dreams up and creates unique skateboard designs at The Flophouse.

This time on Art Connection, we take an in depth look at the glass art of Dale Chihuly at the Denver Botanical Gardens. We see how ASL interpreters and Angela Roth, who work closely with the deaf community, take singing to a new level. Meet Clint Holmes as he speaks on topics ranging from what it was like to grow up as a mixed race child and what inexplicable “thing makes him so passionate about music. And self-taught artist, Debbie Loffing, shares her tactile, natural and at times humorous work.

We get an exclusive look at the life of musician Antsy McClain, who combines folk sounds with a little bit of country and a little bit of rock and roll. We meet contemporary painter Kevin Sloan who focuses on nature and its relationship with the modern, technological era. We sit down with non-fiction writer William Donati who is turning his attention to the past with an eye toward the world of fiction. And we visit a collection of artists that have come together to create, collaborate, and inspire.

We head to London, Ohio where fiber artist Karen Mulier is using her long-practiced sewing skills and love of alpacas to make the world a warmer place. We explore that land and skies with artist Bill Gilbert. Creole Jazz musician and composer Don Vappie performs and describes his love of music and we head to Sacramento to take a look at permanent display for local artists.

"The Art of Gaman" exhibit at Holocaust Museum Houston highlights art made by internees at the Japanese Internment Camps in the Western US during WWII. Learn how the Carmelite Sisters of Reno, Nevada design and create charming cards for every occasion from start to finish at their monastery, with help from their very own printmaking shop. Carl Peters was a WPA artist during the '30s and '40s working in Rochester, New York. The Memorial Art Gallery teams up with students at a local high school to study these murals and carry on the tradition. Sam Hundley adores junk and the rejected debris left behind when function is gone from an object. Scrap metal left outside to decay holds an artless beauty for him. No longer garbage, they now live to tell a new story.

We visit the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum and travel through its grand opening. Multi-media artist Tony Carosella embeds QR codes into portraits to combine traditional photography with digital media. We talk with the sculptor who brought the creatures to life on Boston’s Rose Kennedy Greenway carousel and we explore the International quilt festival.

Meet the two artists who wish to revitalize an area once thriving with a wealth of African American culture in Houston, Texas. Take a look at the glitz and glamour of the upper crust society of New York during the time of Downton Abbey. We’ll talk with Michael Cina, an award-winning graphic designer and we take an in-depth look at Heimrad Backer’s body of work Downloadable docsing the remnants of Nazism and the Holocaust.

Owner and lead sculptor of Sculpted Ice Works, Mark Crouthamel, shows off his ice carving skills. We speak with Phyllis Magidson about the attire of the elite of the Gilded Age and what it takes to design period costume pieces. Get to know the touring company of Wicked and we follow Zeb Andrews, a man who likes the bare basics of photography.

In this episode of Art Connection we sit down with Bonnie Gale, a New York artist, who uses willows to create her living outdoor sculptures. We catch up with Grammy award winning pianist, Billy Childs, who merges classical music with smooth jazz. We go behind the scenes with the creators of a spell bounding adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Tempest and we check out “To The Brink, an ongoing exhibit at the JFK Library that sheds light on U.S-Soviet Relations during Kennedy’s Administration.

An arts nonprofit in Washington, D.C. builds community through the art of storytelling. "Mona Hatoum: Terra Infirma" showcases some of the major sculptures from this world-renowned artist. The Filomen M. D'Agostino Greenberg Music School is the official music school of The Lighthouse Guild, a nonprofit healthcare and service organization for the blind and visually impaired. Cincinnati artist, Terrence Burke, developed an interest in puppets when he was growing up. But it took special encouragement from his daughter to help him realize his childhood dream.

Students in Detroit, Michigan learn the trade of media making. Poet Tanaya Winder shares her inspiration. Visit Mark Groaning's gallery in Rochester, New York, and you'll quickly realize that he likes to explore. It isn't often that you come across an artist who is as comfortable with a paint brush as they are with a torch. Stephen Koury is an artist in central Florida, who is known for his paintings of animals.

We take a look at the places and the people that keep the regional Capital Repertory Theatre vibrant. Gerardo Pereda-Rosas demonstrates the time and love that goes into his glass-etching pieces, which showcase his Latin-American heritage. The Live in Color Dance Company provides a place where dancers can perfect urban funk hip-hop choreography and form a lasting community. And a father and son show their work together in a light and sculpture exhibition connected by the theme of continuance.

Meet Dan Dunn, an artist that creates paintings with rapid strokes at a breathtaking speed. We visit “Magritte, an exhibit highlighting Belgian surrealist René Magritte at The Museum of Modern Art. Glassblower Michelle Kaptur shares the emotion that goes into each of her creates titled “Soulbursts and we visit the recently refurbished tapestry room in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

After 11 p.m. on the Las Vegas strip, musicians congregate at bar for an improvisational jam session like no other. The Harvard Art Museum officially re-opens and we’re invited inside for a closer look. For the first time, Opera Colorado has commissioned the creation of a new opera, The Scarlet Letter, and we receive a behind the scenes look. And a painter who is also a criminal law attorney tells us how he balances his day job with his passion for painting.

We visit The Korean American Youth Performing Artist, a non-profit group sparking excitement about the arts and Korean culture in a unique way. We explore The Milwaukee Art Museum, which houses one of the world’s foremost collections of the 20th Century Haitian Art. Meet Craig Mitchell Smith, an unconventional artist who is a self-taught glassmaker. And we join photographer Roy Inman on a photo shoot to see how he works with flash bulbs.

Meet the performers of the Boulder, Colorado Dance Company, Frequent Flyer Productions. We get a first-hand look at how Jason Wolff creates beautiful and functional hand-crafted pottery pieces. Designer Ann Williamson creates “wearable art, from Japanese kimono silk and we visit “Barkitecture, a competition that challenges top design firms to create artsy abodes for our four legged friends.

Alaskan Tlingit artist Clarissa Rizal creates Chilkat weavings and button blankets highly regarded for their unique beauty and the stories they hold. We sit down with artist Chuck U who morphed his childhood dream of illustrating comic books into a successful career as a graphic designer. We visit Dayton artist Willis “Bing Davis who is well known for his distinctive, mixed media work that pays tribute to his African-American heritage and culture. Lastly, we watch as artist Jera Rose Petal Lodge melds metal into wearable art.

Get a look at the play Fear Up Harsh, which depicts some of the harsh realities a soldier must face when returning home from war. After Cincinnati artist Dawn B. Dyer retired she returned to her true passion of painting and found true inspiration in animals. Bettina Burr has found a new home for some of her family’s collection that was stolen by the Nazis and scattered throughout the world. And Grammy-winning musician Daniel Ho shares his unique worldview and takes a refreshing approach to all aspects of his successful career.

Reporter Jared Bowen goes one-on-one with the director of Cirque du Soleil Amaluna, an acrobatic production that tells the story of a world made up of only women.
Take a trip into the field on an outdoor lifestyle photo shoot with Reno, Nevada photographer Mike Okimoto. A musician in Tampa, Florida, uses radio waves and instruments to encourage social change. Everyone who makes their living in the fashion industry knows there's more to the job than glamour. We go to Kansas City, Missouri, to see a prime example of hard work in the industry, designer Nataliya Meyer.