Nelson-Atkins Museum unveils podcast Art Bytes to deep dive history, context, and conversation behind featured works

Samantha Koslow chats alongside Kathleen Leighton, host of the podcast Art Bytes, in the fifth episode of the audio series.

A new podcast, Art Bytes, has launched at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City. Art Bytes is a series geared towards listeners who are interested in art and want to learn more. 

Hosted by Kathleen Leighton, Media Relations & Productions Manager at Nelson-Atkins, the first five episodes of Art Bytes released Oct. 4. Each episode is 20-minutes and spotlights a new guest to tell stories of the art on the walls at the museum, discuss their art process, and more.

“It’s been a great experience to have access to interesting people and bridging that gap so people can learn more about art, about the museum, about different topics,” says Leighton. 

Art Bytes is the second podcast produced for the Nelson-Atkins museum. While A Frame of Mind focuses on the history of the museum—Art Bytes provides a casual conversation with artists, art collectors, curators and more, to share their knowledge and experience with art.

“What I’m looking for are interesting stories and interesting conversations, and the best people to tell those stories,” says Leighton. 

The second episode features comedian and art collector Cheech Marin—formerly of Cheech and Chong—who houses an art collection at the Riverside Art Museum in Southern California. 

During Marin’s visit to Nelson-Atkins for the A Layered Presence / Una presencia estratificada exhibition, he sat down with Leighton to discuss how his passion for collecting art began. 

Marin says his love for art began when he was 10 years old after he was given the topic of art for a project. When he began his research, librarians encouraged him to visit art museums. 

“What they instilled in me at that point was to go to museums, actually see paintings in person because you have to see paintings in person,” says Marin on Art Bytes. “That led to a wonderful path now in my life that I’ve been on to this day.” 

Leighton’s idea for the show sparked last year when the museum began searching for creative ways to attract different audiences. Leighton pitched the idea of a podcast and video series to Julián Zugazagoitia, Director & CEO of the Nelson-Atkins, who supported it head-on. 

“I told Julián it would be a very casual, organic conversation with someone,” says Leighton. “We have great access to lots of different types of people here at the museum and we want to give people a little peek into that life.”

Other episodes include guests such as curator Aimee Marcereau DeGalan, art therapist Sherri Jacobs, Venezuelan artist Elias Crespin, and more. 

Leighton shared her enthusiasm for future episodes of Art Bytes, which will release on the first Friday of each month. Upcoming episodes can be found on audio streaming platforms such as Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Audible, and more.

“We have a lot of exciting people coming through here,” says Leighton. “To have a quick conversation with them that we can share with others, I think that’s absolutely fantastic.”

The Nelson-Atkins Youtube channel is also home to videotaped versions of select episodes. More information about Art Bytes can be found online.