This week on the Friday Heaters podcast, I'm joined by artist, producer, painter, and creative force Benn The Good—also known as Benny Cassette, and Benedetto. He has built a career that spans music, visual art, and culture, collaborating with artists including Kanye West, Rick Rubin, John Legend, Daft Punk, and many more, while continuing to develop his own distinct voice across multiple creative disciplines.

I've wanted to have Benny on the podcast for a long time. We've been neighbors for years, referring to ourselves as "sacred neighbors”, and some of my favorite conversations happen across the street talking about art, music, life, and whatever creative rabbit hole one of us is down that week.

In this episode, Benny shares the story behind his creative journey: from growing up in East Los Angeles, finding art through graffiti and mural culture, and discovering the Bahá'í Faith as a teenager, to the unlikely path that took him from making beats in his grandmother's house to working alongside some of the biggest names in music.

We talk about why community matters more than networking, how curiosity fuels great art, why the lines between music and visual art are fading, and what it actually looks like to build a creative life that isn't confined to one medium.

If you've ever wondered how someone develops that kind of creative confidence or how a lifetime of experiences eventually comes together into a singular artistic voice, I think you'll really enjoy this conversation🔥

On this week’s episode of the Friday Heaters Podcast, we sit down with painter, Tidawhitney Lek, to talk about the path from working art jobs in Los Angeles to fully committing to her own painting practice. Tida reflects on growing up in Long Beach in a Cambodian family shaped by the aftermath of the Khmer Rouge, and how those experiences eventually found their way into her work through family narratives, domestic spaces, memory, and identity.

We discuss the moment she quit working side jobs, surviving the uncertainty of the early years, and how a series of studio visits and chance encounters helped launch her career during the pandemic-era art boom.

Tida also breaks down her painting process, balancing practicality with experimentation, the influence of artists like Kerry James Marshall and Amir Fallah, and where she sees her work evolving next as she prepares for upcoming projects with Night Gallery and Victoria Miro.

On this episode of the Friday Heaters Podcast, we sit down with Emma Webster ahead of her major New York show with Petzel. She breaks down her process, from handmade sculptures and real-world digital scans to VR-built landscapes, painting and how it all comes together into something that feels both real and surreal.

We talk about play, failure, risk, and the less visible side of building an art career, along with bigger ideas around technology, nature, and what it means to create entirely new worlds.

On this episode of the Friday Heaters podcast, we sit down with Abby Pucker—founder of the arts organization Gertie, headquartered in Chicago—and a close friend who’s building something we deeply believe in.

Abby shares her path from Sotheby’s and UTA to returning home to Chicago to build Gertie—a platform rethinking how the art world can work by blending exhibitions, membership, and community into a more sustainable model.

We get into the guts it takes to bet on your city, building outside of New York and LA, and what it really looks like to create something meaningful from scratch.

A thoughtful conversation about art, entrepreneurship, and backing a new generation of patrons in Chicago and beyond.

On this week’s episode of the Friday Heaters Podcast, we sit down with Joe Parmer, co-owner of Custom Art Surfaces (CAS), the Los Angeles–based fabrication shop behind many of the canvases and painting surfaces used by today’s leading contemporary artists.

Joe takes us inside a part of the art world that rarely gets talked about—the physical foundation of a painting. From stretcher bars and substrates to gesso and surface preparation, we break down what actually goes into building a canvas, and why those decisions matter as an artist’s career and market evolve.

We also get into Joe’s path into the industry, from looking for a way into the art world to eventually taking over the business and helping grow it into a trusted partner for serious artists. Along the way, we talk about the relationship between craftsmanship and value, how artists know when it’s time to level up their materials, and what happens behind the scenes when making large-scale or highly customized works.

Beyond the technical side, this conversation opens up a broader look at the art ecosystem—how different roles support the creative process, how the market has shifted in recent years, and how businesses like CAS are adapting to reach a wider range of artists.

This is a deep dive into some of the unseen infrastructure of contemporary art—and the people helping bring artists’ visions to life. Enjoy the heat🔥

On this week’s episode of the Friday Heaters Podcast, we sit down with Meredith Bayse and Adam Moskowitz, owners of the art gallery Moskowitz Bayse, to talk about what it really looks like to run a gallery as a husband-and-wife team—the balance, the dynamics, and the shared vision behind it.

Built from the ground up, Moskowitz Bayse has created a space that feels both approachable and serious—welcoming to first-time visitors while still serving seasoned art patrons.

We get into the realities of art fairs for smaller galleries, and the need for more accessible entry points for the next generation of collectors.

We also discuss their roster of 24 artists and their focus on early-career talent—supporting artists who are deeply hands-on in their practice and making the work themselves.

A conversation about building something real, and widening the circle of who gets to be part of it. Enjoy the heat🔥

On this episode of the Friday Heaters Podcast, we sit down with artist Kate Mosher Hall, fresh off her presentation with Hoffman Donahue Gallery at Art Basel Paris. Kate speaks candidly about the realities of being a working artist today — from listening closely to collectors and audiences to her openness to adjusting aspects of her practice based on what resonates, what sells, and what people respond to most.

Beyond the studio, we talk about the routines that keep her grounded — the greatness of cycling, saunas, and cold plunges. We also dive into her early days playing drums in an all-girls punk band and why drummers might secretly make some of the best artists.

Kate also shares deeply personal experiences that have shaped her outlook and resilience: surviving a gunshot wound to the head in high school, the long recovery that followed, and later losing her home and all of her possessions in the Los Angeles fires. After years of rebuilding, she reflects on the emotional process of starting over and eventually feeling ready to welcome new things back into her life.

A long time supporter of Friday Heaters, Kate is a gem. This was a conversation we will treasure forever.

Enjoy the heat🔥

On this episode of the Friday Heaters Podcast, we sit down with Kibum Kim, co-director of Commonwealth and Council in Koreatown, Los Angeles. Fresh off Art Basel Miami, Kibum reflected on the fair and larger questions in the contemporary art industry.

We discussed the challenges of presenting complex artwork in today’s attention economy, the role of the gallerists as cultural gatekeepers, and why expanding the art world shouldn’t mean simplifying it.

Alongside co-director Young Chung, Kibum has built Commonwealth and Council around community, solidarity, and equitable artist support — including the Council Fund, which redirects traditional collector discounts toward artist-driven support.

Enjoy the heat🔥