In today’s episode, we shine a spotlight on Linc Thelen, a Chicago-based artist who plays a key role in Arthouse, an unscripted home design television show. Produced by Crewest Studio and supported by the nonprofit Arterial, NOT REAL ART’s fiscal sponsor, Arthouse aims to bridge the gap between talented artists and everyday people, redefining how art is experienced in personal spaces. With a mission to democratize art, Arthouse empowers viewers to curate authentic artwork that aligns with their tastes without straining their budgets. The show's concept centers on eliminating intimidation in art collecting, providing local artists with a platform to showcase their work directly to buyers.

To support this vision, Arthouse is launching a crowdfunding campaign to raise $150,000 to produce a full-length pilot episode. Set in Chicago, the pilot will follow an individual or family as they explore local art scenes, visit artist studios, and make informed purchasing decisions with the help of host Carmen Acosta. The campaign, running from June 10 to July 25, 2025, on Indiegogo, offers a unique opportunity for art lovers to contribute to a project that aims to transform the way we perceive and appreciate art in our daily lives.

As the featured artist in the Arthouse sizzle reel, filmed in Chicago last year, Linc brings a unique perspective on how this groundbreaking initiative is reshaping the relationship between artists and the public. With a mission to connect real people with authentic art, Arthouse aims to eliminate the barriers that often separate original artwork from everyday life. 

Linc also shares his artistic evolution, discussing the challenges he has faced while navigating the contemporary art scene. His involvement with Arthouse reflects his deep commitment to making art accessible to everyone, not just art collectors and gallery-goers. Throughout our conversation, Linc emphasizes the importance of fostering emotional connections through art, reminding us that the true value of a piece lies in its ability to resonate with individuals on a personal level. Listen to our conversation with Linc Thelen on the player above, or support Arthouse here. 

Links mentioned in this episode: 

Arterial

Arthouse

Arthouse on Indiegogo

ArtsvilleUSA

Crewest Studio

First Friday Exhibitions

Linc Thelen

Linc Thelen on Instagram

NOT REAL ART

NOT REAL ART Podcast

Remote Video Series

Scott “Sourdough” Power

For more information, please visit https://notrealart.com/linc-thelen-arthouse

The Not Real Art podcast is intended for creative audiences only.

The Not Real Art podcast celebrates creativity and creative culture worldwide.

It contains material that is fresh, fun and inspiring and is not suitable for boring old art snobs.

Now let's get started and enjoy the show.

Greetings and salutations, my creative brothers and sisters.

Welcome to Not Real Art, the podcast where we talk to the world's most creative people.

I am your host.

Faithful, trusty, loyal, tireless, relentless host.

Sourdough coming at you from Crew West Studio in Los Angeles.

Man, do we have a great show for you today.

The one and only Link Taylon, hailing from Chicago, is here in the house to talk about some exciting work he's been doing lately.

Can't wait to get into this conversation.

Link's been on the show before, but he's got some exciting news to talk about and I can't wait to get into this interview with him.

But first, I want to thank you for tuning in.

As always, we do this for you and your loyalty means the world to us.

Of course, I want to thank our fiscal sponsor, Arterial, Arterial.org because of Arterial fiscal sponsorship of our show, you can support the show with the financial donation that's tax deductible.

You can go to our website, notrelart.com or go to arterial.org and make a donation there to help support the show and get that tax benefit.

So thank you to Arturial for their underwriting of this.

Of course, I want to encourage you all to, as I always do, to go to the website notrealart.com and check out all the good, healthy, nutritious stuff we got there for you.

All kinds of amazing stories about artists and all art things like remote and First Fridays and Q and R and just all these incredible exclusive stories and content that you can only get@notrealart.com so please go check it out.

And last but not least, I want to tell you about a very important project that our company, Crew West Studio.

Crew West Studio, the company behind this podcast, is is embarking upon.

We are actually in the middle of a crowdfunding campaign to raise money to shoot our pilot episode for Art House.

Art House is a reality unscript, the reality show about real people meeting real artists to buy real art without breaking the bank.

We are trying to raise $150,000 to get our new host, Carmen Acosta, in front of the camera to shoot the pilot episode in Chicago.

And that's an interesting segue into our conversation today with Link Taylin, because Link has been on the show before as an artist talking about his work, give you a little bit of, a little bit of background on Link.

Of course, you know, Link's been making art since he was a kid.

He's been evolving his aesthetic for years.

In, you know, the last, you know, 10, 15 years, he's been experimenting with circles and spheres and, and that has led him into a really interesting, energetic body of work full of light and texture and color that creates spontaneous emotion that reflects the fluidity of life.

His work and Links, he's also an interior a designer and an architect, by the way.

And his work, his artwork and his interior design work has been featured in publications such as Luxe Interiors and Design, Curved Apartment Therapy, Houzz Details, Architectural Digest, Home and Garden.

He's been on hdtv, he's been in Chicago Weekly, on and on and on.

He's of course, shown internationally in his work as well as well as publications.

So Link is world class, no doubt, and his connection to Art House is interesting.

So a year ago we wanted to do a proof of concept for our Art House project.

So we flew to Chicago and yours truly stood in as the host for the proof of concept.

And Link Tailin was one of the three artists that we looked at and the client looked at Nisha, Nishal, the, the, the young couple looking to buy art.

And they looked at three different artists and Michelle Richardson Albinos was one of the artists, Liz Flores was the other artist and Link Taylin was the third artist.

And they ended up choosing Link.

They and their budget was about $5,000 and they were able to work with Link and find a painting that fit their budget and was placed in their home.

And it was a wonderful, wonderful experience for everybody involved.

Link enjoyed himself.

Nisha, Nishal enjoyed themselves.

I enjoyed myself.

And it was just such a wonderful kind of part of the journey.

As we're now ramping up to our crowdfunding campaign to shoot a proper 30 minute pilot, we're going to go back to Chicago to do that with our new host, the one and only Carmen Acosta, who's been cast.

So we're very exc.

And Link came back on the show today to talk about his experience working with Art House, what he thinks a show like Art House means for artists like him and for regular folks out there in the world shopping on a budget and wanting to live with real art in their lives.

So this conversation for Lincoln, I was a lot of fun because we're able to kind of go back.

Of course, Link and I have a Long history together.

So without further ado, let's get into this.

But before we do, of course I want to encourage you to please, please, please consider donating to the art house crowdfunding campaign.

We're trying to raise 150,000 DOL.

And your donations are tax deductible because arturial is the fiscal sponsor for the art house project as well.

So every dollar donated to the project is tax deductible.

And of course, we have incredible perks and rewards and incentives as well that you might want to choose from.

So please consider helping us achieve our goal of making this pilot because it's going to be a game changer for how people learn about artists and art and a game changer for artists in terms of getting more eyes on their work.

So we're very excited about this.

Please, please, please help us reach our goal and tell all of your to.

So without further ado, let's get into this conversation I had now with the one and only Link Taylon.

Link Taylon, welcome to the show.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Scott Power.

Thank you for having me, man.

It's.

It's always a pleasure, you coming through.

You and I, we go back a few years.

I've had the privilege of watching your art career blossom from being an art student because, yes, we go back that far, basically.

Let's just say, let's see how far it is.

Like maybe three decades.

I was just thinking about it today.

I'm like, it's about three decades now.

Three decades, dude, how did that happen?

I turned 55 the other day, man.

I mean, you know, like, how did that happen?

Yeah, I don't look a day over 54.

So, yeah, craziness.

And it's been such a Cool.

As your friend, you know.

You know, it's been so awesome to see your career blossom because you've always been so focused and disciplined and bringing that midwestern work ethic, let alone your intelligence, to your arts practice.

And your career has just blown up over the last 30 years, and it's just been a pleasure to watch.

Thank you.

And it's.

Yeah, one of our first outings.

I remember going to your place and you had some graffiti artists, like, completely, like, paint the entire hallway wall in your place.

And I was like, what is this guy doing?

What the hell is that?

It was cool because, you know, I was more into traditional painter at that time.

But, you know, so we always had a connection with.

With the arts at a very early stage of our friendships.

Yes, we did.

And by the way, by the way.

True story about that particular artist and that painting, like, I'm pretty sure that he showed up drunk.

The execution was a little.

Not what I was expecting, but it was.

It was cool.

To have art is.

Is so important, right, to have in the home, you know, and I think of art as soul food.

You know, I mean, I think that there's like a narrative, you know, people, you know, certainly a narrative if you're of a certain tax bracket or whatever.

People are buying art as.

As economic assets as a way of.

Of.

Of.

Of avoiding taxes or.

Or putting their millions of dollars into pieces.

And that's a whole nother world.

Right?

But.

But you and I come from a world where your pieces aren't inexpensive now.

I mean, your career has.

Has blown up in such that now thousands of dollars, if not up to 15,000 or more.

So you're doing very well.

But.

But generally speaking, you and I both know, right, that art is a horrible investment financially.

You know, it's about soul food, right?

I mean, we want people to have your art and artwork in their homes because it makes them feel something, right.

That it moves them in some way.

Absolutely.

And I think, you know, over this last decade is, you know, my work is really connected with, I think, a mainstream audience, and that's why it's done so well.

And a lot of families have it.

I have.

I have clients that have.

Buying paintings for their kids and, you know, their grandkids and stuff like that.

And, you know, they.

It brings joy to them, which, you know, it's.

That's why I'm doing it.

You know, it's not just that they have joy.

It's just that we have a connection, you know, and it comes across into the canvas and they're able to experience that.

So it's.

It's a joyful time for sure.

And, you know, and what I love about what you just shared is that it becomes like a family heirloom.

Right?

I mean, the fact that, that, you know, because I have a couple of your pieces as, you know, and I know my kids, you know, are going to remember they're going to inherit your work and they're going to have it in their homes and they're going to remember me and their mom and their home because they're going to connect visually to your artwork.

They're going to remember you, obviously, as a.

As your artwork.

And so whether artworks appreciate, you know, an economic value, they certainly appreciate an emotional value.

And.

And that emotional connection and becoming family heirlooms, for example, and.

And I just.

I just love that.

And.

And, you know, it's just been so cool to see that people resonate with your work, because, you know, one of the things that I love about your work is that there it.

Your.

Your pieces exude energy and.

And create an atmosphere, and depending on your color palette or maybe who you're commissioned by, what have you exude a joyful energy.

They can exude a more of a masculine energy, you know, so it's.

I love your work because, you know, I know in my room, you know, we have one of your pieces above.

Above our bed, and it's so soothing.

You know, it.

It.

It's a beautiful thing to go to, wake up to and, of course, you know, go to sleep, too.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Not that, you know, your work puts people to sleep, but, you know what I mean?

We try to create.

So people ask, hey, when's the painting finished?

And that's, you know, try to make it calm.

You know, at the end, that has some resolution, like, there's some conflict inside the painting on the canvas, but you see it being resolved, and that's through colors, tones, and composition.

And at the end, it lends itself to people that create their own imagination to get to that place of relaxation.

And absolutely, like, that's what I try to achieve in the work.

And just like you said, you know, some are masculine, so I do attempt to try different things with the colors.

Some are darker tones, masculine.

Some are pinks and lights and greens.

So it's really experimenting with all those tastes because it's like a movie, you know, you want that.

Different characters, and so these canvases are different characters.

For sure.

For sure.

And, you know, we're here today to talk about your, you know, support of a project that I've been developing and the collaboration that you and I made together last year on this project, this project called Art House, about real people meeting real artists to buy real art without breaking the bank.

And we'll.

We'll talk a little bit more about that, actually.

We'll talk a lot about it in.

In just a few seconds.

But before we get into that, I want to check in with you, though, and.

And ask how the heck things are going.

I mean, you're in Chicago.

You're busy as heck, as far as I can tell.

Of course, you're also married with.

With amazing children in your lives, in your life, and.

And.

And you're a busy man.

Say nothing of your, you know, your hockey career.

You know, a lot going on.

But what.

What is happening in the art market in Chicago.

How are things going for you these days?

Things are good.

I mean, the.

The art market, I think since like, say 20, 22, 23 isn't as hot, I don't think, as.

As it is now.

It's still steady.

I have a lot of patrons, and luckily, luckily, I worked really hard at diversifying my work to be nationally and internationally.

So I'm not just working in the pocket I live in.

So I didn't.

Like, I'm going to be in one gallery in Chicago, and I'm going to put all my focus here.

I made sure that.

To diversify it in different markets.

So I'm in.

I sell in California quite a bit.

I'm in Florida, London, Paris and New York gallery.

And then I work with a bunch of art consultants that are in Dallas, Chicago.

And that's.

That's really helped with the mainstream of like, continuing sales, really.

But, you know, with art, it doesn't matter, like, yet.

It's been very successful in terms of where I'm at now.

Every.

Every new, you know, season is like a new challenge.

So it's like starting over.

You know, you want to keep on recreating yourself and not creating the same type of work.

You want to keep living.

And so you got to keep exploring.

And so it's, you know, it's always, you know, it's still a challenge.

Well, and by the way, you mentioning that totally reminds me of the fact that again, we've known each other so long.

I remember when you got fixated on studying circles and spheres and, you know, and then in how that kind of exercise and that that study eventually evolved over years into the work that you're making today.

I mean, I can see that study from 20 years ago now almost or 15 years ago in your work today.

It's such a.

Interesting and kind of wonderful evolution.

Funny.

You know, another painting that can go side by side with it?

And I'm like, God, I'm like, looking back in the emails, I'm like, I remember you buying a piece, but I'm like, God, that was so long ago.

Can I even, like, recreate something?

You know, because it was an era, you know, so, like, I'm like, I'm gonna have to make a couple of them for you.

But then it's funny, I Had a great time.

I said, can I have the old painting so I can look at it and kind of go off of that one and, you know, interpret my new process?

And then we didn't discuss money.

And then when I went to deliver a painting, I'm like, I hope, you know, my prices have jumped quite.

We bought this painting.

Inflation.

It's been a long time.

I'm like, you know, I probably gave you pretty cheap.

So 15 years ago, I feel, I.

Like, feel bad, but I want to make sure I could make the painting first before saying, like, a value to it.

So that's one thing.

Like, commission wise, I don't like taking deposits.

I don't, like, have any constraints.

The work has to be real and that experience has to be real for it to, you know, convey on the canvas that way.

So, you know, like a lot of ours, they don't want to charge anything, but, you know.

Right, right.

So that's hilarious.

That's, that's, that's great.

Well, keep us posted on that.

Did they.

Do they get sticker shock or not?

Oh, my God.

No, she actually gave me a tip because she's like, you know, because I still gave her a deal.

She's like, no, you know, I'm like, I've been following you.

I know.

So she, you know, she.

Okay, good, good tip on it.

So here, if she divides it by two, it's still, she's still coming in at a bargain, know?

Yeah.

So that's, that's great.

Well, look, I mean, that's great to hear, man.

And, and, and that's one of the things that I've always appreciated about you, is that you've always worked to be as strategic and as well strategic as possible and as smart and intelligent as possible about, you know, you know, how you, you know, not just how you make work or what have you, but, but just where, you know, your evolution and staying challenged and creating new work and growing your collector base and growing your market and, and that's, that's, you know, you know, quite frankly.

Right.

That's kind of rare in a lot of artists to have that kind of, you know, discipline and acumen, you know, So I think you'll learn a lot from the other artists listening.

Call Link.

He'll tip.

Pro tips from Link.

Well, you know, you know, even those really successful companies like a Coca Cola, you know, they advertise.

Why are they spending all this money?

They.

Aren't they already a big enough company?

No.

You have to pound the pavement.

I don't care how yes, well, you've done.

And you can't put all your eggs in one basket.

You have to diversify and you kind of have to be at level, keel level because, you know, ups and downs, you have to be able to work through that, you know, you can't.

Those highs and lows, you got to kind of keep it at even keel so it's steady, you know that.

Right, right.

And you can't expect like some great things happen.

And you know, I remember being in the magazine, being published and first time, and I'm like, I'm going to get so much work out of this.

Just doing a huge write up.

And you know, it was years later, probably even four or five years later, I had someone come to the studio.

It's like I had a clip out of this magazine, I've been saving it and I want to buy one of your pieces.

But you know, there it is four or five years later and that piece that was in that magazine, it finally like it took that many years and I got probably three or four commissions off of it, but it wasn't right away.

So you can't expect, you know, instantaneous, you know.

Yeah, play the long game, people play the long game, that's for sure.

That's right.

Well, so speaking of marketing and promotion, I mean, that's kind of a really good segue actually into what I wanted to talk about with you today, which is Art House.

And Art House is for those people listening that may not know.

Art House is an unscripted television show series that, that we've been developing and we want to make.

And Art House is about real people meeting real artists to buy real art without breaking the bank.

And you and I both know that there is a ton of artists, a ton of art out there that, you know, price anywhere from as low as $100 up to $5,000 or $10,000.

There's so much art out there priced below these numbers that most people can afford out there.

And you know, but a lot of times people are maybe confused or intimidated or don't really know.

You know, they might, they may not want to go into an art gallery because they feel intimidated or they feel like they can't afford art.

They may not know they can go straight, maybe reach out to an artist and visit an artist studio and buy directly from an artist.

And that's kind of on the what we'll call the market side or the demand side.

And on the so called supply side, artists, I mean, artists generally don't get a platform to at the, to promote and market their work at scale.

And so a lot of times artists are struggling to make ends meet locally or regionally or maybe they have a website and they're trying to sell to people around the world.

But it's hard, it's a struggle.

I mean, with any business or product, you know, marketing sales and converting, you know, prospects into sales.

I mean, it's, it's a, it's a difficult proposition.

And artists generally just want to make art, right?

And historically they've relied on their gallery or their dealer or what have you to help tell their stories and promote their work and sell their work.

And that's great.

But in our view, in my view, you know, the kind of existing art gallery model is just one business model that unfortunately doesn't really serve 99 point percent of artists out there.

You know, and so there's this huge number of artists, hundreds of thousands of artists in America that, that, you know, need support in terms of getting their stories out there, promoting their work.

So personally, it was during the pandemic I saw, you know, Netflix.

I was, you know, like everybody else watching every show on Netflix and a show called Chef's Table came on and I just loved that show because it was so beautiful to watch, but it really focused on a chef and it focused on that chef and how they think about food and feeding people and how they make their dishes and all these things.

They might grow their own ingredients, you know, farm to table stuff.

I mean, it was just, and it was just this beautiful show.

And I thought, man, you know, like, like what an interesting way to maybe even promote visual art.

And wouldn't it be cool to go into an artist studio and learn about art making and learn about that artist, so on and so forth.

And of course the show Chef's Table on Netflix, I mean, they spent millions and millions of dollars on that production.

It looks great, you can see it.

But I was thinking, well, if we really want to do a show that's democratic and helps to democratize art and really helps to promote artists and art at scale, and we can help like real people learn about art and art making, well then we need to maybe think about a show that could be on HGTV or PBS or some other, you know, maybe YouTube or just some other platform, maybe Netflix too, you know, whatever.

But this idea of like, okay, how do you take a show like Chef's Table and, and, and that some DNA from Chef's Table and how do you take some DNA from a show like House Hunters and combine them and come up with something that would benefit artists, working artists in America, as well as benefit Americans who are curious and want to learn about art and buying art.

And so, you know, it wasn't long.

I came up with this idea for Art House.

And again, Art House at its core is about real people meeting real artists to buy real art without breaking the bank.

And so when I got the idea, I started talking to some people and they really resonated with them.

And I was able to put a production team together of veterans from Hollywood who have been making HDTV shows like House Hunters and Designer's Challenge.

And we decided that we wanted to do a kind of a proof of concept kind of pitch reel, the short, you know, five, six minute thing.

And we wanted to come to Chicago.

We were, we were.

We were, you know, we wanted to do it there.

You know, people were asking, well, you know, you know, who do we know in Chicago?

I was like, link tail.

And we know Link Taylor.

We got it.

We got to reach out to him.

And I was a little nervous calling you because you know me very well.

I figured you'd tell me to fuck off because you know me so well, but you didn't.

You had.

You had mercy on your old pal and you decided to throw in with us and.

And you were the featured artist in our.

In our little proof of concept video.

And, man, I, you know, I just want to thank you for being a part of that.

Oh, no, thank you for even considering me to be part of it, since we are friends.

But, you know, to work with the people that you put together, the production company and, you know, the homeowners, is, you know, it was a great experience for everyone.

I mean, we had great.

We had a blast, you know, and it is.

It is good to be able to share the techniques and spend time in the studio and have, again, homeowners come in there that probably would have never had a chance to come to the studio or, you know, wouldn't know who to call.

And like I said, you hit the nail on the head.

It's, you know, it's intimidating going to the galleries.

You know, I'm intimidated, you know, feel like, yeah, I like to even look at the work.

I'm not there to buy this.

Can I even be in there?

You know, you know, so it's like, oh, it's too expensive.

It's an unsettling feeling.

You should be able to walk into a gallery and feel at home.

But it, for me, it.

It's somewhat cold sometimes, you know, and like I said, it's intimidating because typically the galleries, and again, not nothing against the galleries, you know, but it's usually someone at the desk and they're just kind of looking at you.

You know, it's.

It could be the same for them.

Meaning, like, it's a little awkward at first or, you know, because you don't want to be pushy.

You want to give people space.

So I think, you know, you coming up with gets rid of that, that, you know, that it allows people to engage with the art and different artists and see the process, you know, to them have a better understanding.

And that's what, you know, Art House.

Has done well, for sure, and I appreciate that.

And, and it's so true.

I mean, it's so interesting, right?

I mean, here you are an artist, very successful artist, you know, generally speaking.

And, and, you know, only, you know, working, continuing to work hard, continuing to get your work out there in the world.

And, and even you are, you know, turned off a little bit or int when you go into a gallery.

And I, by the way, I've talked to a lot of artists that feel that way.

Right?

Isn't that interesting?

You know, and, and how can a show.

What can I do?

What can we do?

What can my company do?

Crew West Studio to democratize art.

And that phrase, democratize art, that, you know, that means, you know, that's rooted in this idea that art is for everyone.

You know, art shouldn't be just some exclusive elitist thing.

And by the way, that's bad for artists because artists are trying to earn a living.

And, you know, and most artists that I talk to want people to buy the art because they love it and want to see it every day and it makes them feel something.

So, like, that is, I think, the ethos of a show like Art House to try to, you know, connect, you know, the, the, the artist with the, with the, the potential buyer and, and help educate and inspire and empower.

And I think that's what Art House is all about.

And so this pitch reel we put together with you is, you know, just a taste of that in terms of, like, what the show is.

I mean, the show will, a full episode will be like 30 minutes.

But, but, you know, our little segment was like six, six when I called you that day.

So, I mean, shit, that was, you know, year and a half ago now, probably maybe two years ago, I called you to tell you about Art House.

Do you remember sort of what you were thinking or what you thought about when you heard about the concept?

I thought it was A cool concept, you know, and after you brought up the Farm to Table, that TV show, you know, immediately went on there, and I really got what you were talking about, and, you know, you got to really know the.

The chef and the person.

And a common theme in that show is just you could see the love that each chef had.

And, you know, through everything, it's not about just eating the food, it's how he presented it, how he sourced it and all that.

And so that's the same with the painting.

It's not just looking at the painting.

It's getting to know the artist, you know, getting to know the ingredients, like what makes the art art, art.

So I thought it was, you know, a brilliant idea.

And it's.

It's hard to combine that.

How can you create a show about art that's.

That could connect different audiences and stuff like that.

So come up with an idea about going into different cities, different types of artists, different types of clients with homes, you know, and having them select from a group of artists.

It's a great idea.

And I think a lot of people, you know, I think it will resonate with a lot of people.

It'll be interesting to see, you know, some of the.

Some of the stuff that you can create, you know, for sure.

And it's.

And it.

It's interesting.

I was talking to somebody the other day who.

Very successful guy, very successful.

And you would think that, you know, he would be very comfortable going into art galleries and buying art.

And he was telling me he was, you know, he heard about Art House and he said, man, he goes, I can't wait to see the show.

I would love the show.

He's like, my wife and I went to, you know, into these art galleries over the weekend because we're interested in getting art.

And.

And he said we were completely turned, you know, intimidated, completely turned off.

We ended up leaving, you know, because, you know, it was not a great experience.

And.

And, you know, here's a guy that I would have thought, like, you know, no problem.

I mean, he's going to go into the art gallery, he's going to spend a ton of money, and he's going to, you know, be happy and.

No, no, no, no.

Even him, you know, he was feeling, you know, intimidated.

And so hopefully a show like Art House will break that.

Will break that barrier down.

You know, two of the words I like to say about Art House is that, you know, what we want to do with Art House is humanize artists and demystify the art world and demystify art making, how to buy art, and humanize artists.

Because I feel like sometimes artists are these, like, you know, mysterious, magical, you know, creatures that, you know, people maybe are intimidated by or they don't really know, like, how to find them or how to go and go visit a studio.

And so a show like art house, I think will ultimately humanize artists, demystify the art world and empower the viewer, you know, to say, oh, yeah, no, I could do this, you know, like, I can afford this.

I can, you know, go visit an artist.

Yeah, that's good.

Talk up a little bit about your experience, you know, making the art house pitch reel with us, I mean, and being featured in it.

I mean, do you remember, I mean, you, you said earlier you had a lot of fun and that was great to hear, but, like, drill down on that a little bit.

I mean, you know, it must have been kind of strange having a Hollywood crew infiltrate your, your studio, you know, day or two.

What was, what was your experience like?

I mean, I thought it was a pretty, you know, I think the crew itself were all artists in their own way, you know, so, you know, each one of them, whether they're doing art direction or they're doing the lighting, each one of them had a passionate for, you know, had a passion for the job.

And so that's what art is, is having a passion and doing something well.

And so them being in the studio felt very natural.

So, you know, we weren't just like, we'll do this cut, we're setting up the lights, we're like, hey, can you work in the process?

How do you normally work?

It felt very natural, you know, in reels.

I thought, you know, again, that was an easy experience for me.

I used to doing stuff for some TV shows and like I said, having a great production company and people behind it made it a lot easier.

And then having, you know, some amazing clients that you had come in that wanted to purchase the painting, you know, prior to coming in, you know, I was, that's kind of nerve wracking.

It's like, which one are they going to like?

You know, I knew they like my work, but they did have different styles.

You have, you have one, the style of the house, which I, you know, I had some imagery of what their house may look like, but that's, you know, from a photograph.

And then, you know, they, you have a husband and wife, she likes these colors, he likes these colors, you know, So I had to make a range of work that was fitting for what I like to do.

But Then also having respect of like, okay, which kind of pieces would they, you know what they would like.

Yeah.

And it was funny because they're like, oh, you know, we're going to do this piece and, and then they have send over images of where it's going.

I'm like, oh, well that's a loft.

They've got like 15 foot ceilings.

We're going to have to do bigger painting than the three by three.

It's going to have to be a big pain.

Yes.

The price just went up, people.

That's great to hear, man.

I love what you're saying about, you know, all these people being artists because they are.

I mean, obviously, you know, if you're a professional, you know, production person doing lighting or sound or direction or photography or cinematography or whatever, I mean that's, those are real, you know, those are real art forms, you know.

And so, yes, so people are bringing their artistry to the table to your studio.

But part of what I loved about, you know, what I saw as well, and I think you can confirm this, which is like everybody on the production team really feels this project like they get it.

Like they get Art House on a deep level.

Like they're all kind of rooting for it, you know, because they're artists, they're rooting for other artists and they would love to be involved in a show that actually is, you know, like has a common good.

You know, like there's like, like a bit of social benefit.

Right.

To, to a TV show for once.

Yeah, I mean, like I said, I, I, I think the way it was produced, this is a real, real and the people part of it, this lends to a great show.

And so yeah, they want to be part, I want to be part of.

Who wouldn't want to be part of it?

Because it seems like that is, it was already a show.

Like this was already something that was already in production.

So, you know, I, right.

They all, yeah, we all want success for it because it seems like it will be successful.

I don't, There wasn't a doubt in anyone's mind on that team that didn't think that this was not going to make it a show.

Right.

Yeah, it definitely feels like the right idea at the right time, you know, and, and you know, better than, you.

Know, these home shows with now they're all about, you know, these married couples renovating.

It's, they've got these cookie cutter shows and it's like, okay, it worked for, for these people.

Magnolia Homes and let's, let's everyone let's do that same show.

And it's like that gets kind of, that gets boring.

So this is nice that it is a diversion.

It does have some home part of it, you know, dealing with the house.

No husband, wife, team.

Right, right, right.

Yeah, right.

Well, you know, speaking of husband and wives, you know, you, you mentioned, you know, the, the so called art buyers.

Nish, right, And Chicago couple, we were, they were fantastic.

We were so lucky to find them and have them.

And you know, we talked to a lot of different couples in the Chicagoland area because, you know, there is a casting, there's a method to the madness, right, in terms of casting the couple or the art buyer, obviously bringing artists into the show as well.

And also just to, you know, kind of pull the curtain back a little bit for our listeners, I mean, what we did was we gave the couple, once we found the couple that we wanted to work with, and there were pros and cons.

I mean, one of the, we loved.

All the couples had really strong attributes.

But one of the reasons why Nish and Nishaw were, you know, were, were perhaps the best choice was that also they were living in the city, you know, and it allowed us to focus production and be more efficient.

Right.

Because they were not just a great couple who wanted to buy art, but, but they actually were close to your studio and close to us.

So it helped us as a level in terms of logistics that helped us save money and time.

Time is money.

And you know, the couple of the other couples, they were, you know, an hour outside the city and you know, that would have slowed us down.

Right.

So anyway, just a little bit of inside baseball in terms of how some of these casting choices are made.

Because it's not always just about, you know, you know, what you might think.

There are these other kind of practical things that you got to think about.

But.

Okay, so Nisha Nashoga were chosen as the couple that we wanted to go with.

With.

And then we gave them, we got to know them, we could talk to them a little bit.

And then we gave them like 10 artists in Chicago to choose from.

You were one of those 10, you know, and, and they, you know, they chose you and they chose two other artists, right, to, to, to, you know, to look at.

And then upon even closer look, they chose you.

And we came to your studio and we met you and we, and you had all these amazing artworks for them to look at.

And they, of course, were, you know, just incredibly compelling works.

But, you know, part of the fun, part of the pitch reel is that, you know, we don't know what they're going to go with right until the very end.

But we bring them into your studio.

What was it, what was it like?

What.

You know, obviously they were, they were a great couple.

But I mean, how did you feel?

I mean you as an artist, right, you.

I'm guessing you want to feel good about your collectors and your clients.

You know, how did you feel about Nisha Nishal when you met?

I thought they were perfectly casted.

You know, they're like peas in the pod.

They had great personalities, good smiles, energetic, open, you know, not, you know, just a nice people demeanor and someone, you know, a couple that would, you know, have Sherry interests, similar interests.

And you could see that they could communicate well together.

So it wasn't like, oh, I just want this and you know, don't listen.

They, you could see that they, this was and exploration for both of them.

And they were both very much intrigued and you know, excited and thought it was a blessing that they were able to be there.

They, you know, thought it was great.

I still to this day, you know, it's.

Yeah, it's been a little more than a year.

He sent me a message like via Instagram I think last week.

You know, that's great.

You know, that's one of my pieces of art and stuff.

So.

Yeah, but yeah, she was pregnant at the think what, eight months.

She was, she was like eight months pregnant.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And it was so lovely to see.

And, and that's part of the narrative.

It's like, well, where's this art going?

She's like, well, it's going in the baby's room, you know, which.

The baby was also their room because, you know, that's what, you know, new parents do, right?

The baby sleeps in the master.

But, but, but yes.

I mean the, what people need to understand about that sizzle reel is that when.

Or the pitch reel that we made, you know, is that when we walk into their room, right?

You, you've, you've.

They, you know, they've chosen the, the, the work, the, you know, they, they.

But they've never seen it, you know, hanging in their house.

And so we, you know, hang the art in the, in their room.

And we kept them out of the apartment for hours.

Right.

Like they couldn't see it until like we were ready to film.

And then when the cameras were rolling, you know, you brought them into the room and I kind of came from behind and then, and then.

So that, that scene where they're looking, they, they See the art for the first time.

That reaction is completely genuine, completely sincere.

It's.

It's absolutely a spontaneous, true moment.

Yeah.

And they did pick, you know, from looking at their interior, they picked the right piece, you know, and it made a lot of sense in that room.

And yeah, to see their expression.

That's what's, that's what's always a nerve wracking thing.

You know, when clients buy my work or commission and you know, I, you know, I usually deliver the pieces or I'll ship them, but if I'm.

If it's in Chicagoland area, I'll deliver it and hang it, you know, and it's always like, no, is this what they want?

Are they going to like it?

You know, kind of nerve wracking like.

But it seems always work out.

So.

Thanks.

Yeah, well, they, I mean, it was clear to everybody there that day.

And anybody that watches this, this video, I think is.

It's very obvious that this, that the reaction that they have is so genuine, so sincere and of the moment.

I mean, they, they were completely bl.

And moved in such a, such a beautiful way.

And you know, so what do you, I mean, as an artist, as somebody that knows this project, you know as well as I do at this point, basically, I mean, speaking to other artists out there that might be listening, I mean, what do you think a benefit, the benefits of a show like Art House would be like for, for both, for artists, but, but for, but for regular folks.

Like, what do you, what do you think the benefits are of a show like Art House House?

Well, Art House, it benefits both the art goer, the collector and the artist because you're bringing attention to the arts, you're bringing attention to the process.

And you know, someone watching the show will be like, you know what?

I've always wanted a piece in my room.

You know, that looks great.

You know, this can't.

This won't be so hard, you know.

You know, I'll ask the right questions, you know, maybe throughout har.

You'll see how they interact with the artist.

You'll see the different types of questions they have.

Have.

And that way that it opens up the doors to these homeowners to be able to not be so intimidated when talking about art instead of saying, oh, I don't know anything about.

Everyone says, oh, I don't know anything about art, you know, oh, I just know what I like.

You know, if they really dissect it and they kind of look at it a little longer, they probably do know something about art.

You know, you don't have to know the full art history.

So I think this show, if it's, you know, like I said, from what I see is from the scissor reel, in my experience, it will help.

It'll help sales, you know, help whether or not the artist is in the show or not.

You do a show in Chicago, if people watching all over in Chicago, different states in Minnesota, oh, my God, you know, I like this, or I see this person's art, you know, I feel confident that, you know, this is going to work.

You know, you get people confidence.

Yeah.

And.

And I mean that you hit the nail on the head too, because, I mean, every episode is going to feature three artists, and we're going to meet three artists on every episode.

And, you know, whether the art buyer in the show chooses, I mean, they're gonna have to choose one artist.

And whether you're.

You get chosen or not, being on the show is going to be so positive because you're going to get that.

You're going to get exposure, you're going to get publicity.

And ultimately, you know, my experience, artists are.

Artists fully understand that art is incredibly personal thing, subjective thing.

And.

And they're going to be happy for the other artists that got chosen, you know, maybe a little disappointed for themselves, but that it's a win.

Right.

Because they got maybe the whole tens of thousands, if not, you know, hundreds of thousands or millions of viewers get to learn about that artist and then go to their website, go to the Instagram account and learn more and follow and maybe eventually buy.

And so that kind of platform, that kind of exposure is really, you know, kind of unique and rare, you know, I think so that's the motivation, I mean, you know, to try to give platform, you know, to, you know, to artists, what you're.

The show is doing.

It's almost like the intention of what most gallery owners first start off at, you know.

Most, yeah.

Owners, if you get to know, that's another thing.

Again, it's intimidating.

But if you get, like my gallery in New York, it's amazing.

And if, you know, you get to know them and get to know what they're collecting, the gallery is there to create their own stable of artists.

We don't, you know, a gallery is a person, right.

Someone wants to own a gallery, hey, I want to have abstract art.

I want to collect, like, you know, I want these different types of artists.

They call it a stable.

Stable of artists.

And then they have to have some type of.

I don't want to say theme But a look like, you know, other artists kind of represent a way, and they kind of fill gaps with the different artists.

Some are sculptors, some are painters, some are photography, and they group this together.

But most of the intention in those galleries before were, you know, they want to bring art to people and be able to expose them to it.

And so this show is doing that same kind of concept, wanting to bring art to people and humanize it and try to bring it so it's not so intimidating.

Yeah.

One of the things that kind of gets me excited about it is that, you know, in a world where we get a chance to, you know, make the show and the show, you know, finds its audience and, you know, we make, you know, the first season, what have you, you know, the reality is we're kind of creating another marketplace, you know, like, I can envision our website, you know, even being a place where, you know, people can go and connect with the artists and buy art, you know, directly, you know, from the artists on the Art House website, you know, and, you know, you do that in a national scale or even an international scale.

Be a nice new revenue stream for artists.

I better stockpile my paintings.

You better get to work.

Yeah, I love it.

I love it.

Exactly.

Exactly.

Well, you know, I want to be respectful of your time.

I.

I know we're.

We're getting close here.

I do want to chat about a couple things before we go, though, you know, and I mean this in all seriousness, because, you know, I think it's an important thing.

But, you know, obviously, on a certain level, you know, you.

You are a consumer of content like everybody else.

I mean, you know, I know you probably watch stuff on, you know, Netflix or PBS or YouTube or whatever, but, I mean, if you could pick where Art House is distributed, you know, where.

If you could.

If you could choose.

Where do you see Art House being distributed?

Is it a.

Is it ideal for Netflix?

Is it ideal for PBS?

Is it ideal for YouTube?

Is it ideal for HGTV?

Like, where would you like to see Art House end up?

Well, I don't know if there's one place.

I mean, because, you know, it could be on HTTV Network.

It could be, you know, a Netflix.

But, you know, maybe HTTV might be more personal, you know, because it's really geared towards homeowners.

Right?

Yeah.

HTV Home 5 feeling, you know, renovations, people, you know, emotions and stuff like that.

Right.

Netflix is such.

More of a broad audience and diverse and, you know, so that, you know, so I guess more of a movie would Be htv, Magnolia Homes, like any of that type of production company, you know?

Yeah, yeah, I agree.

I mean, you know, we've been, you know, it's interesting.

We've been talking a lot about it.

I mean, obviously, Netflix has kind of a, you know, I mean, there's some sex appeal there.

It's like, we're on Netflix.

But the reality is, if you're on Netflix, you're, you know, they're not really promoting the show.

You're part of the scroll.

You know, good luck, you know, really connecting right, to.

To the audience.

Something like hdtv, to your point.

You know, the people are going there to figure out how to make their homes better.

Right.

And.

But also, you know, you know, people think of PBS as maybe being old and stuffy, but, you know, at the end of the day, you know, people trust pbs, and a show like this could really do well on pbs, I think.

Yeah, absolutely.

But we'll see.

See, we'll see.

We'll see.

More to come.

You know, one of the things I want to chat about before I let you go, Link, and I'm just so grateful, man, that you took time to sit down with me today and talk about this.

And, you know, when you and I did the proof of concept pitch reel in Chicago last year, you know, as you very well know, I stood in as the host and for better and worse, stood in as the host.

And, you know, at that time, I was happy to do it because, quite frankly, I knew exactly what I wanted and I knew exactly the kind of tone and manner that I wanted the show to strike.

And so I knew I could do that and kind of, you know, provide an example of what I was looking for.

But I, you know, Candor, never really wanted to be the host of the show.

I've got a lot going on in life.

I'm a dad, too.

Traveling around, doing a TV show.

Not the kind of lifestyle I want.

And quite frankly, Link, and all Candor, I don't want to be famous, man.

You know, I want to be able to look, I don't want to.

I don't want to be world famous.

And, you know, that would happen if I was the host of the show.

I mean, I'd be world famous.

I couldn't walk down the street.

Paparazzi, you know.

Yeah, exactly.

Paparazzi all the time.

Miserable.

I don't need that in my life.

I don't need pop to school.

You just said you don't want them taking photographs when you're dropping your kids off.

Exactly.

I don't know, I'm not going to do that to my kids.

So rather than being world famous, I chose to, you know, find a host that, that does want to be world famous and wants to step in.

And so, you know, one of the things that we've been doing over the last, you know, six, 10 months is looking for the new host.

And, you know, we, I don't know if I shared this with you, but we looked at three people, two women and one man.

They were all artists.

Carter Roy Got of Hoboken, New Jersey.

Wonderful artists and wonderful guy.

You know, we, we screen tested him.

You know, he was great.

You know, definitely had a lot to offer.

We talked to Japanese American artist Mary Lai here in Los Angeles.

Again, great artist, great human, had a lot of strengths and she did great in her screen test.

And then we talked to Carmen Acosta, and Carmen is an artist, creative director here in Los Angeles.

Latina woman who is kind of well known in art circles here in la.

And we also screen test at her and she just killed it.

I mean, she just did a phenomenal job.

Everybody agreed to great, but she just, you know, you know, stood out.

And then also, interestingly, you know, she's the other, you know, folks, you know, married with kids, that kind of thing.

And, and Carmen is, is free and, you know, excited to travel and do things.

And, and so I'm saying that to say that we have a new host for the show we're very excited about.

Carmen Acosta.

She's exactly the kind of, of person.

She's an expert, affable host that we were looking for.

She can speak to anybody and everybody.

She's the kind of person that will be able to easily go into artists studios, talk to the artists, talk to the people, and she'll kill that for sure.

But then she's also the kind of person that, you know, you can imagine that we do a show someday with like a couple and they've got, they've got 50 bucks, they've got a hundred bucks, you know, what are they going to do, you know, and, and, you know, Carmen's the kind of host that they, she could take them, you know, to the, you know, local flea market or the local art fair or whatever, and, you know, find something that's really special and amazing, you know, for, you know, 50, 100 bucks, you know, so she's, she's got that kind of.

And by the way, she's a graphic designer and a creative director, so she can help people think about the space that the art is going to hang in.

And maybe you want to paint that wall, you know, a different color or whatever, to help the art pop, or maybe you want to frame the piece in a certain way.

And so anyway, so we're.

We're just really stoked about our new host, Carmen Acosta.

And, And I really look forward to.

To you meeting her because when we, you know, shoot the pilot, we're coming back to Chicago, she's going to be the host, and you'll get a chance to meet her.

So anyway, so I just wanted you to know that unfortunately, you know, you're not going to be able to work with me anymore.

Excellent.

Finally I don't have to work with Scott anymore.

Yes.

Don't like your art direction.

Exactly.

Exactly.

Well, and, you know, as we wrap up, you know, I just want to mention that, you know, on June 10th, you know, we're launching our crowdfunding campaign.

We've decided to raise the money for the pilot through crowdfunding.

Why?

Well, because we get to actually make the show we want to make.

You know, we.

You know, one of the things that I've learned, you know, pitching ideas around Hollywood is that the.

That the.

The.

The tighter your presentation, the better your chances.

You know, Hollywood doesn't do good with just concepts and ideas.

They want to actually see the script, they want to see the pilot, they want to see the actual thing that you're making.

And money right now in Hollywood is tighter than ever.

And everybody I talked to is having a hard time, you know, finding money for their projects.

And, you know, and there's this rise of independent production, independent producers, independent projects.

And so, you know, we thought, well, you know what?

We want to make the show.

We want to make.

We want to make the pilot that's the most.

Represents the show.

Art house.

And, and we want to make it ourselves.

And that pilot will allow us, you know, we believe, to sell the show and raise the money to make the.

The rest of the show, that kind of thing.

And so June 10th, we're going to launch a crowdfunding campaign.

We're going to raise $150,000.

We've already raised 25,000, so we're looking to raise 125.

And the campaign will run from June 10th to around.

What would that be, July 5th or something?

I'll run for about 45 days.

So anyway, so get your wallet and checkbook out.

You got it.

Absolutely.

Your success is my success, by the way.

Love that attitude.

You gotta feed the fish to eat dinner.

You got.

You gotta.

And that's in all candor.

And that is exactly, I hope, the attitude that most artists take with this project, that they understand that that to get behind this project means to get behind their own success.

Because, you know, show like Art House ultimately, we believe would grow the market and grow demand and bring revenue into the marketplace.

You know, a lot of people don't understand that the home decor sector, you know, so the, the home decor wall art sector, this is the mass produced stuff that people buy at Target or they buy at Creighton Barrel or they buy at Ikea or whatever.

That, that market, that home decor wall art market is almost a $7 billion category, right?

A $7 billion category.

And the reason people are settling for mass produced home decor is because they feel like they can't afford original art or that original art isn't for them.

And I just believe a show like Art House could help educate and empower people such that we can convert 1 to 3% of that 7 billion into the original art market.

So.

So anyway, so for artists to get behind the show, I think is a smart move because ultimately it's good for them.

And that's why we want to do it.

We just want to help artists.

Awesome.

Well, we're gonna get there.

Thanks, Alen.

You're the best man.

Thanks so much for coming through.

Thanks for having me.

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