When you think about it most entrepreneurs and creatives have a DIY spirit, but few would exemplify this spirit more than this episode's guest Christian "Coog" Lopez.

Christian wanted to simply promote his friend's music and since this was during the blog era this naturally led to creating a tumblr. What was out of the ordinary was how quickly the tumblr grew in popularity, which led to a website, which then led to merch, and from there live event promotion, that developed a one of a kind poetry night series, and all of this has led to a platform for many creatives within Rhode Island called The Daily Note. Oh and Christian does all of this while balancing living between two cities (ATL and PVD) and being a father. In this episode Christian talks about the importance of learning as you go, the impact of having others believe in your vision, the importance of connecting with other creatives, and why the creative energy is shifting in Rhode Island now, more than ever before.

Not caring can usually be associated with online trolls looking to annoy others, but what happens wh0en you care too much? What happens when you care so much it prevents you from not trying in the first place? It's a strange and interesting balance, and few know that balance better than street and concert photographer Rafael Medina. One would assume Rafael picked up a camera at an early age however the opposite was true, as Rafael did not pick up a camera until years later. It was only when Rafael stopped caring about how others would perceive his work that he actually took his first step. A first step on a journey that would lead to taking photos of artists like Pusha T, and releasing his book Dear PVD. In this episode I speak with Rafael about the challenges of street photography, how concert photography teaches you to make quick decisions, the importance of getting your "at bats", why no one has to like your work, how to get your work into galleries, the anxiety of selling your work at street fairs, why you should join a trade organization, photography as utility vs art, your resume vs your portfolio, and his love for the city of Providence.

You have heard of art schools and after school art programs. But what about a non-profit that teaches students how to make commercially viable art for clients, while at the same time paying those students for their work while they learn. Because that is the vision behind Riverzedge arts and Riverzedge Executive Director this episode's guest Kristen Williams. Kristen has a long standing history in theatre as well as academia so it makes perfect sense that she leads Riverzedge Arts, a non-profit program that uses innovative work-based learning strategies to teach art, design, and critical thinking skills to the youth of RI. In this episode Kristen talks about the current state of art education, why certain types of artistic mediums are taught in schools over others, where non-profit programs get their money from, and art being a force for social and economic change.