Send us a Text Message. OK. This is not what you expected. Life in the fast lane. Follow the instructions. ENJOY.By Max Black & Adam Aardvark

Send us a Text Message. The webbed fingers have been flexed and the five string is tuned - Prepare for the Haunted Swamp: A musical interlude... In Gallowtree, again and again and again...By Max Black & Adam Aardvark

“Democratization of American Arts and Culture” means lowering or removing barriers to experiencing, creating, and sharing art. Through this process, ideas are explored, questions asked, humanity exposed, bonds created, and communities are greatly strengthened. Democratizing the arts also helps strengthen American democracy, by strengthening communi…

A conversation with Arizona Citizens for the Arts (AZCA), the state arts advocacy organization fighting to increase funding in the Arizona state budget. In this episode, we chat with the AZCA Executive Director, Patrick McWhorter, and Director of Community Engagement, Sabrina Estrada. we touch on the exciting cultural developments statewide, as wel…

In episode 114 of Framing the Hammer, we chat with Richard Deming, Yale Director of Creative Writing and author of the recently published, This Exquisite Loneliness: What Loners, Outcasts and the Understood Can Teach Us About Creativity. In the book, Deming profiles six historic figures who publicly wrestled with loneliness and used creativity to c…

In Episode 12 of Framing the Hammer, we chat with Jason McGatlin, a Hollywood producer who worked on films such as The Adventures of TinTin, Volcano, and the Disney+ series, The Mandalorian, and (not least of all), the seventh, eighth and ninth of the Star Wars series, The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, The Rise of Skywalker .…

Send us a Text Message. Nothing changes... (Acknowledgements to S&G - 1966)By Max Black & Adam Aardvark

In episode 12, we chat with Hilary Perkins, founder of Whippoorwill Arts (www.whippoorwillarts.org) a nonprofit advocating for music and musicians that recently underwent a comprehensive report on recommended wages for working musicians. We talk about the report that makes suggested base and graduated pay for musicians of all types, stripes, and lo…

SANDJOB, EPISODE 4A: In Which Nero, Jessie and Iris Return From Hiatus With New Discussions Of "The Sandman" Comic Book Series; A Long Philosophical Tangent On The Nature Of Hell Within Modern Christianity Is Embarked Upon; The Issue-By-Issue Weird Little Guy Quota Returns; And Our Credibility Within The Furry Community Is Called Into Question. SAN…

In episode 11 of Framing the Hammer, we chat with artists Boris Eldagsen and Jason M. Allen about their respective approaches to, uses of, and thoughts about artificial intelligence. Both Boris and Jason received awards for their work using AI, but they took different principled stands in accepting (or not refusing) their awards. Join us as we disc…

4A Arts dives into another aspect of the creative economy in our discussion with creative director Danielle Venne of Made Music Studio. Her firm specializes in “sonic branding” or, “The audio equivalent of a visual logo” as Danni says.By 4A Arts

Send us a Text Message. An episode written by AI and recorded and produced by monkeys. What does AI make of Gallowtree? Can it replicate the idiotic scripts? Does AI make sense in Gallowtree? Is AI a threat? Will understanding Gallowtree aid or abet AI's future? Join us for 'Hartman's Odyssey', AI's take on Gallowtree: it's characters and it's make…

Host and 4A Arts Executive Director Gavin Lodge chats about the mission of 4A Arts and the genesis of the title Framing the Hammer.By 4A Arts

Send us a Text Message. Kevin, the vampire of Gallowtree, tears himself away from chasing chubby chicks with dogs, sliding up to Sanjay and stalking the poor boy from the electrical department long enough to reform Satan's Beaver and record a death metal ambient hardcore album called 'Mysterium'. The mystery is why? Expect an altogether unlistenabl…

In our conversation with Mathew Boudreaux, known in the online crafting world as the “Themperor of Crafting”, @mx.domestic. Mathew addresses their favorite quilting and crochet projects, being a crafting influencer, the sense of community developed in the art world, social justice melding with arts, their idea that 95% is good enough (the last 5% w…

Jazz legend and current board member for 4A Arts, Larry Ridley, recounts his musical youth in the Indianapolis jazz scene, his time touring with jazz greats like the Montgomery Brothers, and his lifelong commitment to sharing jazz through education at the National Endowment for the Arts and starting the jazz program at Rutgers University.…

In this episode of Framing the Hammer, we speak with Elena K. Holy, founder and director of the New York International Fringe Festival as well as the 4A Arts general manager. Elena has spent a lifetime as a theatrical producer with a passion for solving problems and creating more outlets to share more innovative theatre with the largest variety of …

Framing the Hammer episode 106 brings us Troy Plumer, a Louisville, KY-based master’s student in history. Troy is an aficionado, though not a trained expert by his own admission, with the era around the Works Progress Administration (WPA) of the Great Depression and arts funding during that period. Troy contributed a guest blog to the 4A Arts websi…

Enjoy this conversation with an art therapist who works with violent criminals. Her nonjudgmental compassion for her patients and artistic process bring insight into the multitude of ways art restores our humanity and helps our self-understanding. We don’t share her last name or work location for reasons of privacy, particularly to protect her work…

A chat with Indigenous artist Ishkoten Dougi whom Gavin met at the Santa Fe Indian Art Market in August. During our conversation, Ishkoten discusses many fascinating aspects of his art, creative process, and experience as a Native artist. Of the many tidbits he shared, some highlights include that he feels forced to speak out and create artifacts t…

In this episode, 4As executive director Gavin Lodge is reunited with his high school junior and senior English teachers, Katherine and Jim Starkey. This married dynamic literary duo inspired their students to think deeper, write expressively, and appreciate all things creative. During this lively discussion they talk about how Jim developed a teach…

Please enjoy my tremendous conversation with the founder of 4A Arts, Charlie Reinhart. This inspirational arts leader, at the ripe young age of 91, demonstrates his fervent belief in the ability of the arts to change both entire lives and our society. Some of the highlights of speaking with him are his commitment to the idea that every single perso…

[CONTENT WARNING: Contains discussion of sexual assault in our "Calliope" segment from 03:25 to 20:15, as well as severe depression and suicide in our "Façade" segment from 43:35 to 1:04:25. Please take care when listening.] GOOD EVENING, DREAMERS! It's been a little while, but we're excited to be back! We were... somewhat less excited to be talkin…

This week we're having a reunion with a good friend Daniel. Our german homie coming back to the states and talking to us about everything he experienced this past year!By David Medina

By David Medina

AI Art? Max starting youtube? AND the new Yachty album?? All discussed in this weeks episode of The 4A Podcast!!By David Medina

The regular cast is back with another episode for this more laid back day. We discuss some lighter subjects and of course never forget music of the week!By David Medina

Second episode back and we're already switching the cast around. Join us as we dive into some more unusual topics this episode with Gavin and returning face Andrew!By David Medina

We know... I promise this is the LAST time we stop!! After such a long time away from the mics, we discuss our growth over the past couple months, and our thoughts on the coming future.By David Medina

GOOD EVENING, DREAMERS! We're back to review the back half of THE DOLL'S HOUSE-- four issues packed with a whole mess of wild twists and wilder ideas. Why does pop culture find serial killers so compelling? Why does this comic have such a tense relationship with queer sensuality? Most importantly, why didn't Morph keep the beard he was rocking in t…

GOOD EVENING, DREAMERS! After a short break for Life Stuff, we're back to review the first half of THE DOLL'S HOUSE-- issues #9 through #12, for those of you following along via the floppies. While this new arc is more artistically consistent than Preludes, its writing is... a land of many contrasts. What part of Africa is Queen Nada's tribe from, …

GOOD EVENING, DREAMERS! This episode, we tackle the back half of Preludes and Nocturnes-- issues #5 to #8 of the original Sandman run. Things go to shit for our main man Morph fast as Dr. Destiny uses his ruby to wreak gruesome psychic havoc on an unsuspecting populace. Plus: Hey look, the Justice League is here! You guys gonna do anything about th…

By David Medina

GREETINGS, DREAMERS! Welcome to the inaugural episode of SANDJOB, a podcast where three American queers with varying levels of experience read and review Neil Gaiman's SANDMAN series of comic books! Today's episode covers issues 1 through 4, originally published January to April of 1989 and collected in the trade volume PRELUDES AND NOCTURNES. Just…

Welcome back to another episode of The 4A Podcast! This week on the podcast we talk about one of the most iconic music festivals Woodstocks, and the disaster it left in 1999. We also get into some facts about the new 100+ mile long skyscraper being made in Saudi Arabia !By David Medina

Join us on this weeks episode of The 4A Podcast! Our feelings are all over the place this week. We discuss many things including an interesting underground show the 4A attended !By David Medina

Welcome back to another episode of The 4A Podcast. This week we discuss the recent headlines regarding a WNBA player in the gulag! We also dive a bit into Max's eating habits and Luis' experience at the City Morgue Show!By David Medina

Welcome back to another episode of The 4A Podcast and this week we are happy to announce our first guest on video, AVGVUST $ANTANA!! Join us as we talk about his latest work, and dive back into some of his thoughts on different cultures .By David Medina

After months and a slight delay, we are finally ready to present our first recorded episode ! We're all excited for this new aspect of the podcast and we hope you share our enthusiasm :) . In this episode we continue our ice breaker questions from the first episode, but with a new voice on stage!By David Medina

We're back... really really back! Our studio is finally ready and we couldn't be more excited to be back on the mics. Enjoy our first episode back where we share a bit of our personalities for our new viewers and our day ones :)By David Medina

Welcome back to another episode of the 4A Podcast. This week we take a small dive into conspiracy theories while also looking back at some of our favorite and most memorable field trips.By David Medina

Send us a Text Message. That's all Folks! (For now) (OK, so new episodes are on the way, but we didn't want to brag) (Brag, brag, brag, brag) (OK. so we did....) (Don't tell your friends, enemies or relations....) (Pssst) (GALLOWTREE is back with a whole new season) (Starting soon...) (In Gallowtree, again and again and again) Why are you not surpr…

Welcome back to another episode of the 4A Podcast ! Come and sit down and listen to our lively weeks in which we raged, created, bonded and spent a ridiculous amount of money. We end this weeks episode by reflecting and sharing stories on the many unexpected situations in life.By David Medina

Welcome back to another episode of the 4A Podcast! This week we're swinging back to an instant classic, Spider-Man No Way Home and what we love about the universe. Make sure to stick around to hear what else we've been doing through our little break!By David Medina

Send us a Text Message. Here's the latest extended installment of GALLOWTREE - The Rise Of Vlado Part 1. The final omnibus edition (5b - The Rise of Vlado Part 2) will be available early April. As usual, feel free to edit 5a and 5b together for a seamless mega-episode of an entire story arc... GALLOWTREE heaven!!!…

Send us a Text Message. Welcome to the second (and concluding) part of GALLOWTREE Omnibus Edition 4. Feel free to edit 4a and 4b together for a complete 3 and a half hour episode. This will either entertain you for a good while, or, numb your brains into submission like - to quote Douglas - being smacked around the head by a golden brick wrapped in…

Send us a Text Message. This one was just way too long for only one omnibus edition! Welcome to episode 4a... Episode 4b will drop at the start of next month, so, your wait won't be too long - of course, if you are listening later, they will both be out there, kicking their little baby feet, wanting you to lift them up and snuggle them as twins you…

Send us a Text Message. Welcome to the year in round-up with the Neighbourhood Watch... In Gallowtree, again and again and again... An Omnibus Special release.By Max Black & Adam Aardvark

Send us a Text Message. Here we go again.... And again and again... In Gallowtree... Omnibus 2!By Max Black & Adam Aardvark

Send us a Text Message. Another chance to sample in long form, a version of Gallowtree as it was meant to be... Enjoy this extra long edit of a complete storyline... Gallowtree as it should be heard... Again and again and again... all at once!By Max Black & Adam Aardvark