Artists in Offices

Artists in OfficesArtists in OfficesArtists in Offices

Artists in Offices

Artists in OfficesArtists in OfficesArtists in Offices

A Podcast

A PodcastA PodcastA Podcast

about (parent) artists and their day jobs

Listen & subscribe now

Check out the newsletter here

Listen to the Season 2 Preview

Artists in Offices

The Podcast

Created, produced, and hosted by Oakland-based artist Rebecca Bird Grigsby, Artists in Offices is a podcast that explores, through interviews with working artists, the idea that "the work you do for pay supports the work you do for love"...or does it? Music is provided by Jesse Kelsey. Subscribe to the Weekly Newsletter here!

Season Two

The second season of the podcast launched on September 25, 2025. Season two artists include Lisa Jonas Taylor, Janine Biunno, Andrea Wenglowskyj, Briana Loewinsohn, David Burke, Susana Sanchez-Young, Sarah Kobrinsky, Lisa Solomon, Ellen Lake, Meredith Steele, and Carrie Lederer. Check out the Season 2 Media Kit here.

Season One

The first season of the podcast launched on May 1, 2019. Season One artists include Elizabeth Amento, Laura Torres, Lisa Jonas Taylor, Helena Hsieh, Janine Biunno, Christopher Thomas Ford, Gabriel Martinez, Em Meine, Nicole Kita, and Mike Rothfeld. Bonus episode with Lennon Michelle Wolcott Hernandez.

Where to Listen & More

Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, Audible. Media Kit for Season Two can be found here! 


Are you an artist with a day job? Get in touch!


Photo credit: Lori Fuller Photography

Listen to the latest episode!

S2:E5 David Burke

artist, educator, muralist, and father of two

I’m thrilled to talk with David Burke on this episode of the podcast! David is an artist whose career balances teaching, studio practice, and public art. Over the past two decades, he’s created murals, exhibitions, and collaborative projects that merge creativity with community storytelling. He’s the founder of Hungry Ghost Productions, a Bay Area mural collective dedicated to diversity, social justice, and collaboration, and their ongoing Love Letter to Oakland project celebrates generations of artists, activists, and leaders in the city. In his studio work, David explores ecology, climate change, and the relationship between the natural and built environment. His teaching career has taken him from Chiang Mai University in Thailand to the Academy of Art University and Cal State East Bay. David is also the father of two.


During our conversation, I reference another podcast interview David did with Urban Artist Talk. You can check out that interview here.


Shout-outs to David's mural crew & collaborators: Steve Babuljak, Pancho Pescador, and Joevic Yeban.


Special recognition goes to Hung Liu, an artist featured in the Love Letter to Oakland mural in Oakland's Temescal neighborhood and a major influence on artists in the Bay Area and beyond, as you'll hear in future episodes.


Additional Links:

To learn more about David and his work, check out his website and follow him on Instagram. 


Artists in Offices is produced and edited by Rebecca Bird Grigsby. Music is provided by Jesse Kelsey.


Listen here!

S2:E4 Briana Loewinsohn

High School Art Teacher and Cartoonist

This week’s guest is Briana Loewinsohn! Briana is a high school art teacher and cartoonist, and the author of the acclaimed graphic memoir Ephemera, published by Fantagraphics in 2023. The book was named one of the American Library Association’s top graphic novels of the year and won the 2023 Foreword Indies Editors Prize for Nonfiction. Her latest graphic novel, Raised by Ghosts, came out in early 2025—also with Fantagraphics—and recently won the Harvey Award for Best Young Adult Book. Briana lives in Oakland, California, with her husband, their two kids, and their cat, Gary.


We talk a lot in the episode about Briana’s “bestie,” Thien Pham, fellow teacher and comic book & visual artist. Briana has been featured in a lot of articles and interviews, but I particularly enjoyed her “Diary of a Struggling Comics Artist” interview with Chris Wisnia; you can listen to the 2nd part of their conversation for free here. She talks a lot about her experience getting her work published in this and other interviews.


Some other projects we discuss include her Color Field for the Drawn to MoMA series and Movie Theaters We Have Lost for KQED.


Additional Links:

To learn more about Briana and her work, follow her on Instagram.


Artists in Offices is produced and edited by Rebecca Bird Grigsby. Music is provided by Jesse Kelsey.


Listen here!

S2:E3 Andrea Wenglowskyj

Buffalo-based photographer and mother of two

In episode 3, I speak with Buffalo-based artist Andrea Wenglowskyj. Andrea is a photo-based artist and commercial/editorial photographer whose work explores how memory and community are shaped by war and authoritarianism, inspired by her Ukrainian-American heritage. A Fulbright Grant recipient in Ukraine, she has exhibited across the U.S. and internationally, including at CEPA Gallery, Silver Eye Center for Photography, and Galerie Amu in Prague. Her photography has appeared in The New York Times, NPR, and more. Andrea has taught at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the International Center of Photography, and the Brooklyn Museum, among others. She co-founded creative organizations Kind Aesthetic and DELVE and has participated in numerous residencies and grant-funded projects. Most recently, her work appeared in Portrait of Buffalo II at CEPA Gallery, where she’ll open a solo exhibition in November 2025.


During our conversation, I reference Andrea's May 2017 CreativeMornings Buffalo talk about Paths of Intention. You can watch the video here. 


Additional Links:

To learn more about Andrea and her work, visit her website and follow her on Instagram.


Artists in Offices is produced and edited by Rebecca Bird Grigsby. Music is provided by Jesse Kelsey.


Listen here!

S2:E2 Janine Biunno

Artist & Archivist Janine Biunno is back with an MLS degree, a new job, and a kid.

On this episode, I’m excited to welcome back Janine Biunno to the podcast! When we last talked, Janine was wrapping up her MLS degree while working as an archivist and maintaining her art practice. This time around, we talk about life after that degree, parenthood during a pandemic, day jobs that turn into careers, daily practices, and valuing the little moments.


During our conversation, we discuss Oliver Burkeman's book Four Thousand Weeks, Janine's husband Mac Pohanka, co-owner of Brooklyn-based Noble Signs, and our graduate advisor (and mom of 2!) Jennifer Schmidt.


Janine is a New York–based visual artist and archivist whose work explores how we experience architecture, infrastructure, and city spaces, and how our memories of them shift in the digital age. She currently leads the archives at The Met, after 8 years at the Noguchi Museum. Her art has been exhibited at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the International Print Center of New York, the Center for Book Arts in New York, Transmitter Gallery, and Satellite Miami, and is included in major collections across the country. Janine holds a BFA from Carnegie Mellon University, an MFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, a graduate certificate in Museum Studies from Tufts University, and an MLS from CUNY Queens College Graduate School of Library and Information Studies. Janine is also the mom of a 5-year-old son. 


Artists in Offices is produced and edited by Rebecca Bird Grigsby. Music is provided by Jesse Kelsey. More information about the podcast can be found at artistsinoffices.com. 


Additional Links:

For more information about Janine and her work, please visit her website and Instagram. 


Listen here!

S2:E1 Lisa Jonas Taylor

Lisa Jonas Taylor returns to Artists in Offices as a parent artist!

For the first episode of Season 2, I'm excited to welcome back Lisa Jonas Taylor, who became a parent in 2023. Lisa is a Santa Rosa-based artist who makes paintings that often incorporate sculptural and theatrical elements. Lisa has shown her work at places like Bass & Reiner Gallery, Southern Exposure, the Contemporary Jewish Museum, the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, and the Casa Romantica Cultural Center in Southern California. Collaborative projects include God Sees Everything, part of SFMOMA’s Fertile Ground at the Oakland Museum of California, and Solarium, created during a residency at This Will Take Time and later exhibited at City Limits Gallery in Oakland. Lisa holds an MFA from California College of the Arts and a BFA from CSU Long Beach.


When we recorded this conversation in August 2025, Lisa had recently left her full-time job at CCA after 10 years. We talk about that transition as well as life with a toddler, and a studio in flux...again. If you haven't already done so, you can listen to my season 1 chat with Lisa here.


Artists in Offices is produced & edited by Rebecca Bird Grigsby. Intro music is provided by Jesse Kelsey. 


Additional Links:

You can learn more about Lisa's work on her website and follow her on Instagram. 


Listen here!

Season One

10 artists + 1 bonus interview

S1:E1 Elizabeth Amento: A self-described "artist with a day job". Listen here; bonus episode here.

S1:E2 Laura Torres: A multi-disciplinary artist and tightwire performer. Listen here; bonus episode here.

S1:E3 Lisa Jonas Taylor: A San Francisco-based artist and arts administrator. Listen here.

S1:E4 Helena Hsieh: A Los Angeles area artist and educator. Listen here.

S1:E5 Janine Biunno: A Brooklyn-based artist and archivist. Listen here. Bonus episode here.

S1:E6 Christopher Thomas Ford: A Los Angeles area artist & museum preparator's assistant. Listen here. Bonus episode here.

S1:E7 Gabriel Martinez: A Berkeley-based visual artist & graphic designer. Listen here.

S1:E8 Em Meine: An Oakland-based artist who works in art & design higher education. Listen here.

S1:E9 Nicole Kita: A Northern California artist and educator/advocate for artists with developmental disabilities. Listen here.

S1:E10 Mike Rothfeld: An artist and arts administrator living and working in Oakland & San Francisco. Listen here.

S1 Bonus! Lennon Michelle Wolcott Hernandez: A Boston-based interdisciplinary artist who works by day in graduate admissions. Listen here.

Follow Artists in Offices on Instagram

Contact me!

Are you a self-described "artist with a day job"? I'd love to hear from you!

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Copyright © 2025 Artists in Offices - The Podcast - All Rights Reserved.

Powered by