This is a special live episode that was recorded at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth, Texas. The event was centered around the museum’s ongoing exhibition titled Trespassers: James Prosek and the Texas Prairie, and the episode features a fascinating on-stage conversation with artist and past podcast guest James Prosek and art curator Spencer Wigmore.

Trespassers is an exhibit about grasslands– specifically, James examines how we think about and define America’s imperiled prairie ecosystem. Over the course of more than two years, James traveled throughout Texas and the Southern Plains, visiting private ranches and urban restoration sites, and he was often accompanied by some of Texas’s most well-renowned grasslands experts. He investigated ideas around how our man-made boundaries and concepts attempt to define grasslands, and how grasslands often do not conform to our desires to control them. He examines ideas around fire, species classification, conservation, and natural history, and the end result is a collection of more than 20 mind-blowing paintings and sculptures.

As the curator for this exhibit, Spencer played a very unique role throughout the entire project– he was the one who initially approached James with the idea, he accompanied James on many of his grasslands road trips, and he even arranged the exhibit in its stunning space within the museum. So I loved learning about the collaboration between artist and curator, how they complimented each other’s personalities, and how they ultimately worked together to bring this spectacular collection of meaningful art into the world.

As you probably remember from my first podcast conversation with James, he’s a deep thinker who has spent his entire career digging into the nuances of our natural world. And Spencer’s depth of understanding of art history and the artistic process– as well as his ability to communicate his knowledge in a fun and engaging way– is second to none. So I know you’ll enjoy this conversation that covers everything from broad, big-picture ideas around the philosophies of defining species, all the way down to the details of how James created such intricate, delicate sculptures. Be sure to check out the episode notes for a full list of everything we discussed.

I’d encourage you to visit the episode webpage, as I have included a gallery of images of the exhibit that will serve as a great reference point for some of our discussions. And the nice folks at the Carter also recorded a video of the entire event, that is embedded on my webpage and available on Youtube. Follow the link in the notes to access all of that.

The episode starts with a kind introduction from The Carter’s Manager of Adult Programming, Madeleine Fitzgerald and then James, Spencer, and I begin our conversation. I hope you enjoy!

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Amon Carter Museum of American Art
Trespassers: James Prosek and the Texas Prairie
James Prosek
Spencer Wigmore
Watch the YouTube video
Full episode notes and links: https://mountainandprairie.com/carter/

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TOPICS DISCUSSED:

3:00 - Welcome statements

10:45 - How the Trespassers exhibition came about in Spencer’s mind, and how it landed for James

19:15 - Comparing American grasslands to the Great Pyramids

23:45 - James’ painting process

29:15 - Spencer’s role as curator

34:00 - Discussing the work Fort Worth Composition No. 1

37:45 - Discussing James’ interest in silhouettes

42:30 - James’ use of bronze to depict burned logs

47:00 - James’ clay flowers

50:15 - The biggest surprise in this project for Spencer

54:00 -What James has learned about grasslands since finishing the project

1:01:15 - James’ read on the state of western grasslands conservation

1:06:15 - James’ book recommendations

1:09:30 - How Spencer sets up the gallery space

1:14:00 - Audience questions begin

1:14:45 - Spencer’s and James’ relationship to Fort Worth, and whether or not they found remnant prairies there

1:20:00 - Where Spencer and James feel the anti-fire bias came from?

1:23:30 - Inquiring about the significance of a Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout in one of James’ works

1:26:15 - Whether or not James or Spencer did some fly fishing as a part of their research for this project

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