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Raw Material

by SFMOMA

Raw Material is an arts and culture podcast from the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA). Each season focuses on a different topic, featuring voices of artists working in all media and exploring the inspiration and stories behind modern and contemporary art.

Publisher-supplied feed metadata · PodParley refreshed Apr 12, 2026 · Source feed

Episodes

  1. I Still Have a Voice (Epilogue)

    As an epilogue for the Raw Material: Disability Visibility Mixtape, we’re honored to share an audio piece by this season's podcaster-in-residence Alice Wong. The story first aired on KQED Perspectives, a show that features opinions from folks living in the Bay Area. If you haven’t already, check...

  2. Museums w/ Amanda Cachia

    In this episode Alice Wong introduces us to Amanda Cachia, an independent curator and critic whose work focuses on contemporary art, activism, and disability language in visual culture. Episode Artwork by: Jen White-Johnson (www.jenwhitejohnson.com) Full episode transcript available below:...

  3. Accessibility w/ Finnegan Shannon

    In this episode Alice Wong introduces us to Finnegan Shannon, a multidisciplinary artist making work about disability culture and access. Episode Artwork by: Jen White-Johnson (www.jenwhitejohnson.com) Full episode transcript available below:...

  4. Art & Technology w/ Lindsey D. Felt and Vanessa Chang

    In this episode Alice Wong introduces us to Lindsey D. Felt and Vanessa Chang, curators who collaborated on the multidisciplinary art exhibition "Recoding CripTech". Episode Artwork by: Jen White-Johnson (www.jenwhitejohnson.com) Full episode transcript available below:...

  5. Disabled Artists w/ Jeff Thomas

    In this episode Alice Wong introduces us to Jeff Thomas, an urban Iroquois photographer, researcher, public speaker, and curator. Episode Artwork by: Jen White-Johnson (www.jenwhitejohnson.com) Full episode transcript available below:...

  6. Disabled Dancers w/ India Harville

    In this episode Alice Wong introduces us to India Harville, an African American queer disabled femme dancer, somatic bodyworker, activist, and educator. Episode Artwork by: Jen White-Johnson (www.jenwhitejohnson.com) Full episode transcript available below:...

  7. Raw Material Presents: The Mission Muralismo Audio Zine - Volume I

    Raw Material is excited to share The Mission Muralismo Audio Zine – Volume I with our listening audience — because we know how much you love ART about ART! Local writers Olivia Peña and Josiah Luis Alderete interweave their perspectives on the history of the Mission Muralismo movement with…

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  8. Visions of Black Futurity Episode 7: Radical Dreaming

    In Episode 7, Babette reconnects with EJ, and we hear her loud and clear. Babette talks with KQED’s Pendarvis Harshaw + former Oakland head librarian Dorothy Lazard about what makes Oakland soulful. NIAD artists Deatra Colbert and Halisi Noel-Johnson tell us about being Black and legendary....

  9. Visions of Black Futurity Episode 6: We All We Got

    In Episode 6, Babette is welcomed into the home of artist Mildred Howard. Twice. Listen to Mildred speak about letting her materials inform her, reflecting light through glass bottles, and giving Black women their flowers. Featured: Elizabeth Catlett, Mildred Howard, Evangeline Montgomery, Betye...

  10. Visions of Black Futurity Episode 5: How Art Lives

    In Episode 5, Babette connects with artist Cheryl Fabio to discuss the work, impact, and foresight of her mother, poet and activist Sarah Webster Fabio. Rapper and fellow writer Nappy Nina reflects on the role of community in building an art career and practice. Featured: Cheryl Fabio, Sarah...

  11. Visions of Black Futurity Episode 4: Black Futurity Rightnowish

    In Episode 4 of Visions of Black Futurity, Babette shares an update on their search for Evangeline. Plus, we hear two episodes of Rightnowish hosted by Pendarvis Harshaw, exploring what it looks like to build liberated Black spaces in the Bay Area. Featured: Deanna Van Buren, Pendarvis Harshaw,...

  12. Visions of Black Futurity Episode 3: Big Black Open Spaces

    In Episode 3, Babette tries to answer the question, “Where will we host our Black art spaces of the future?” In the woods, by the ocean, or in a city center? They turn to artists who deal with matters of space, place, and land: Octavia Butler, Richard Mayhew, and Bay Area artist Sage Stargate....

  13. Visions of Black Futurity Episode 2: Preparing for Launch

    In Episode 2 of Visions of Black Futurity, Babette visits a museum with no walls: the Noah Purifoy Outdoor Desert Museum in Joshua Tree, CA. Purifoy tells us what led him to the desert and Cauleen Smith creates a Black, feminist utopia in the spaces he built. Even our dreams have rhythm, let’s go...

  14. Visions of Black Futurity Episode 1: Finding Kinship in the Archive

    In Episode 1 of Visions of Black Futurity, Babette Thomas takes us on a journey through time. We travel to a 1968 Black arts exhibition in Oakland, California, called New Perspectives in Black Art. It was the first of its kind in the country and, in this episode, we meet the woman behind it all…

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  15. Visions of Black Futurity Playlist: The Vibes are Free

    Babette sets the sonic table for Season 7 of Raw Material with a playlist of songs inspired by the ethos of the Black Bay Area during the 1960s and 1970s. Spotify playlist: https://spoti.fi/3pfCBgY Featured: Evangeline Montgomery, and Babette Thomas Cover art: Evangeline's Garden by Jeanna Penn...

  16. Season 7 Trailer: Visions of Black Futurity

    Call 415-915-1784. Cover art: Evangeline's Garden by Jeanna Penn @jinamae

  17. Anselm Kiefer by The Lonely Palette

    The art of postwar German artist Anselm Kiefer and the poetry of Holocaust survivor Paul Celan are both layered, dense, and hard to read. Sometimes the best starting point is through the layered, dense, and idiosyncratic ways that an individual processes trauma. So grab a spelunking hardhat and...

  18. Alexander Calder by Accession

    This episode talks about a number of pieces by Alexander Calder. Calder is most well known for his mobiles, giant hanging pieces that move subtly with the currents in the room. This episode was produced by Accession. More episodes at accession.fm.

  19. Kara Walker by The Way I See It

    Roxane Gay reflects on Kara Walker's Christ's Entry into Journalism (2017). The Way I See It, "Roxane Gay and Kara Walker's Christ's Entry into Journalism" was produced by the BBC in association with the Museum of Modern Art New York. More episodes at www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0009bf6.

  20. Agnes Martin by Bow Down

    The best-selling novelist and essayist, Olivia Laing explores the influential abstract artist Agnes Martin (1912-2004). Martin – a gay, working class woman who forged a path in a male-dominated art world – embraced solitude and didn’t have her first solo show until she was 46. This episode was...

  21. Roberto Matta by Art History For All

    Art History For All guides you through Roberto Matta’s surreal mental landscape, Invasion of the Night (1941), and explores its connections to physics and psychology. This episode was produced by Art History for All. More episodes at arthistoryforall.com.

  22. Betye Saar by Recording Artists

    This episode focuses on Betye Saar (b. 1926). In a 1975 interview, she discusses the diverse sources for her art and how she prevailed in the face of racism and gender discrimination. This episode is produced by the J. Paul Getty Museum Museum. More episodes at getty.edu/recordingartists/.

  23. Mark Rothko by The Lonely Palette

    “A painting is not a picture of an experience. It is the experience.” — Mark Rothko This episode is produced by The Lonely Palette. More episodes at http://www.thelonelypalette.com/.

  24. Connor by Everything Is Alive

    Connor is a portrait of President William Howard Taft. He's hanging on a wall, but is anybody looking at him? This episode is produced by Everything Is Alive. More episodes at https://www.everythingisalive.com/

  25. Barnett Newman by 99% Invisible

    This episode, "The Many Deaths of a Painting" was produced by 99% Invisible. More episodes at 99percentinvisible.org.

  26. Raw Material Mixtape: The Beholder's Share

    Catch a sneak peak of what’s coming this season on Raw Material's "summer mixtape," from SFMOMA. Season update: Raw Material is temporarily suspending this season to create space for more urgent stories and conversations. Black lives matter.

  27. Welcome to Raw Material

    Welcome to Raw Material from SFMOMA! Start here for a quick introduction to our seasonal arts + culture podcast, by SFMOMA Content Producer and Raw Material creator Erin Fleming.

  28. Six Degrees Episode 6: Nikhil

    Sayre Quevedo, Raw Material’s podcaster-in-residence for Season 6, is at the end of his journey. It all started with a curiosity about the surprising ways humans are connected, and a wild plot to make his way to various artists through “degrees of separation.” When we first meet Sayre, he’s...

  29. Six Degrees Episode 5: Every connection

    After a series of false starts, rabbit holes, and mind maps, the time has come for Sayre to (possibly) meet internationally acclaimed artist Nikhil Chopra, the sixth degree of separation. Nikhil is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, splayed upon the floor. Sayre is intimidated, alone, and buried...

  30. Six Degrees Episode 4: Nooshin

    Nooshin Rostami is a United States–based Iranian artist living in exile. While her father was dying in Iran, Nooshin was 6000 miles away from home. How will she process her grief without physical contact—without seeing her sisters, her mother, and the body of her father? What will it take to…

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  31. Six Degrees Episode 3: Yetunde

    The sounds of rain, a family kitchen, a song, a late-night conversation—do the moments they encapsulate make us who we are? In this episode, Sayre Quevedo travels through artist Yetunde Olagbaju’s memory via a series of intimate recordings that constitute what they call a “living archive.”

  32. Six Degrees Episode 2: Jazmin

    Jazmin Jones is pathologically inept at returning phone calls. In an attempt to clear her conscience (and voice-mail box), the artist decides to make a series of anxiety-inducing phone calls she’s put off for far too long. Listen in as Jazmin painfully catches up with friends, family, and...

  33. Six Degrees Episode 1: Sayre

    Sayre Quevedo begins Raw Material season six by breaking into his ex-boyfriend’s apartment. His goal is to retrieve twenty-two love letters he wrote to a man who doesn’t deserve them. Join Sayre as he searches for signs, symbols, closure, and perhaps, real connection.

  34. Season 6 Trailer: Six Degrees

    Season 6 Trailer: Six Degrees by SFMOMA

  35. Raw Material Season 5: San Francisco— Stories From The Model City

    Season 5 of Raw Material takes inspiration from a 41 x 37-foot scale model of the city that was recently unearthed, refurbished, and distributed in pieces to neighborhood libraries. Listen in as residents tell stories of life in this vibrant, diverse, and ever-changing frontier city. Produced by...

  36. Season 5 Trailer: San Francisco— Stories from the Model City

    Catch a sneak peak of what’s coming this season on Raw Material, from SFMOMA.

  37. Luvvers Bonus Episode: Stocking Stuffer

    A short, holiday bonus episode of Season 4 of Raw Material: Luvvers.

  38. Luvvers Episode 5: My Art is Gay

    Facing persecution in her native Uganda and unwilling to live an inauthentic life, fierce queer artist Leilah Babirye made a choice. She fled her home to discover a world of sexual and artistic exuberance in a new creative community on Fire Island, New York. Learn more about her extraordinary…

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  39. Luvvers Episode 4: Silence Equals Death, So Fuck Loudly

    The connection between the art world and the queer scene has not always been as openly discussed as it is today. Delve into the complex relationships between art, activism, and queer identity, and discover the power of making noise through making art. Photo: Douglas Crimp by T.L. Litt, 1990....

  40. Luvvers Episode 3: Make Time, Make Love

    Through looking at a variety of relationships, Chelsea investigates the many ways desire can be expressed. Hear the famed love letters Frida Kahlo sent to Diego Rivera, as well as to the lesser-known, though no less poetic answering machine messages left by Chelsea’s husband.

  41. Luvvers Episode 2: There's No Such Thing As Too Easy

    Sex sells. In this episode, Chelsea Beck analyzes the history of persuasive sexual imagery, and imagines a world where titillation fosters compassion rather than divisiveness. Image: Carolee Schneeman, "Interior Scroll," (1975). Courtesy Carolina Nitsch, NY; photography by Anthony McCall.

  42. Luvvers Episode 1: What Get's You Hot?

    Nayland Blake doesn’t create art to express who they are, they create art to investigate the possibilities of identity. Hear the artist discuss their explorations of the queer, BDSM, kink, and furry scenes, and learn more about their unique approach to one of art’s oldest subjects—sex. Image ©...

  43. Season 4 Trailer: Luvvers

    Catch a sneak peak of what’s coming this season on Raw Material, from SFMOMA.

  44. Mixtape Episode 8: Amy Sherald by Note to Self

    In the long history of portraits of First Ladies of the United States, none has drawn a reaction quite like the painting of Michelle Obama by Baltimore native Amy Sherald. Hear the artist discuss art in the age of Instagram. This episode is produced by WNYC Studios and Note to Self. More episodes...

  45. Mixtape Episode 7: Carolee Schneeman Yoko Ono by A Piece Of Work

    Carolee Schneemann and Yoko Ono have created provocative art throughout their careers. Learn how these artists have dedicated their lives to exploring the pleasures and the vulnerabilities of the human body. This episode is produced by WNYC Studios and MoMA. More episodes at...

  46. Mixtape Episode 6: Patti Smith and Judy Linn by The Kitchen Sisters

    Back when Patti Smith and Judy Linn were kids, they used art to shape the world around them, posing for each other in photographs and starring in each other’s home movies. Hear Linn discuss how the two young Brooklynites weren't just "dreaming a future, they were dreaming a present." This episode...

  47. Mixtape Episode 5: Maria Tallchief by Stuff You Missed in History Class

    An Oklahoman of Osage heritage, Maria Tallchief rose to stardom through years of hard work and dedication. Peek behind the curtain at the globetrotting life of America's first prima ballerina—her loves, her losses, her joys, and her sorrows. This episode is produced by Stuff You Missed in History...

  48. Mixtape Episode 4: Hazel Scott by The Memory Palace

    Hazel Scott was a child prodigy, a New York jazz icon, the first African American woman to host her own television series, and an outspoken critic of discrimination in all its forms. Find out how her courage made her a role model for many and a target for some. This episode is produced and hosted...

  49. Mixtape Episode 3: Georgia O'Keeffe by The Artsy Podcast

    Many people know Georgia O’Keeffe for her flower paintings and depictions of the New Mexico landscape. Discover the very different setting that captured O’Keeffe during her time as a commissioned artist for the Hawaiian Pineapple Company—now the Dole Food Company— and how an initial distaste…

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  50. Mixtape Episode 2: Alice B. Toklas and Gertrude Stein by Stuff You Missed in History Class

    Gertrude Stein is often credited as a driving force behind Modernism and Cubism while her lifelong partner, Alice B. Toklas, is frequently left out of the story. Learn about this power couple and their roles as movers and shakers in the world of 20th century art. This episode is produced by Stuff...

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ABOUT THIS SHOW

Raw Material is an arts and culture podcast from the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA). Each season focuses on a different topic, featuring voices of artists working in all media and exploring the inspiration and stories behind modern and contemporary art.

HOSTED BY

SFMOMA

Produced by Raw Material (SFMOMA)

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Frequently Asked Questions

How many episodes does Raw Material have?

Raw Material currently has 74 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.

What is Raw Material about?

Raw Material is an arts and culture podcast from the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA). Each season focuses on a different topic, featuring voices of artists working in all media and exploring the inspiration and stories behind modern and contemporary art.

How often does Raw Material release new episodes?

Raw Material has 74 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.

Where can I listen to Raw Material?

You can listen to Raw Material on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.

Who hosts Raw Material?

Raw Material is created and hosted by SFMOMA.
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