Episode 43: Swati Biswas (Artsy Way of Life)
Meet Swati Biswas! She's a scientist, dancer, and arts advocate here in Watertown. We chat about her origins with the arts, what led her to seek out supporting artists in India while bringing their skills to folks here to learn (and the challenges of working with people on the other side of the world), we scratch the surface of the innovative natural methods of art creation in traditional Indian art forms (burned your rice? make it into black pigment!), the story of the women artists her advocacy is helping, and we wrap up with her connections to the Watertown community.
(Click here to listen on streaming apps)
Find out more about Swati, the artists she supports, and any upcoming workshops: Artsy Way of Life Instagram / Artsy Way of Life Facebook
Come out to the next Creative Chats event on February 28th with featured guest Jamie Kallestad
—————
Sign up for the Little Local Conversations email newsletter to know when new episodes are out and keep up on everything Little Local Conversations.
Thanks to podcast promotional partner the Watertown Business Coalition, a nonprofit organization focused on connecting local businesses and strengthening our community. Check them out at https://watertownbusinesscoalition.com/.
This program is supported in part by a grant from the Watertown Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.
Transcript
Matt: 0:07
Hi there. Welcome to the Little Local Conversations podcast. I'm your host, Matt Hanna. Every episode I sit down with someone in Watertown to discover the people, places, stories, and ideas of Watertown. This time I sat down with Swati Biswas, who is a dancer and an arts advocate who's trying to connect people here in Watertown with artists on the other side of the world. So I'll let her introduce herself and then we'll get into the conversation.
Swati: 0:29
Hi, I'm Swati Biswas. I live in Watertown. We moved to Boston area in 2016 and love the community here. I'm a trained scientist and work as a medical writer at a pharmaceutical company. But I'm also a trained dancer, so I always have a very intimate relationship with art.
Matt: 0:52
Where did you come from before you came to the Boston area?
Swati: 0:55
We lived in Nashville for quite a few years, almost 17 years or so.
Matt: 1:01
Nice. It's a little bit of a culture difference, but not too much I guess. Nashville to Boston. They both appreciate the arts in their different ways I guess.
Swati: 1:08
Yes, absolutely, and I'm very, very fortunate for my time in Nashville because it's a very family-friendly, intimate community that we were a part of. I worked at Vanderbilt so we had a very diverse culture, people from all over the world.
Matt: 1:26
And so what got you into pharmaceuticals and dancing? Maybe you want to take how those were two areas that became interesting to you in younger days that started that all off.
Swati: 1:36
Right. So at some point in my life I was thinking whether I should be a professional dancer or I should pursue science. Both were equally, equally close to my heart. But what happened, that for the type of science I was passionate about, you cannot do that outside a laboratory. So I decided to pursue that traditional form of, you know, going to college doing my master's, doing my PhD, and then I came to this country for my postdoctoral training. We did not plan to stay here, to be very honest, and it was, all you know, pre-google era, so I did not know whether we'll like it. But I came here, my husband and my son very young at that age, they followed and we stayed.
Swati: 2:27
I have learned a lot from this country and one of the things I felt is that because I am far away from my own culture and my own country, I can appreciate the goodness, the things, the treasures, and the tradition that were not easily available here. I continued doing my dance in different formats. I loved doing choreography. I always performed in community setting. Never started a school, although people asked me to. But I just wanted that to be a medium of connecting with people and community and kids and adults in different ways. When I moved here I was trying to kind of reach out to the community here, didn't know many people, and then pandemic happened. Like many of us, I was trying to even see what's out there. What I can do to, you know, be useful to, the world is a big word, but yeah, sure, outside of my job, right. And we did a lot of fundraising for artists in India. All of those happen to be performing artists. But at the same time my friends were raising funds for supporting other artists and we donated. And I was curious to see who is getting that money because I did not know them. And I was looking through that and I saw a name Bapichitrakar. And I asked my friend hey, can I have their numbers so that I can, you know, just learn about what they're doing?
Swati: 3:59
That's how it started. So I called them and they were like, oh you know, everything is closed. There is no festival that we can sell to. Of course, they don't sell to Etsy or Amazon. It's all like they take their stuff to different fairs like Watertown arts market and that's their livelihood. Everything was closed.
Swati: 4:17
So I said, hey, listen, I'll try to help in any way I can. So I gathered my friends. We bought some stuff from them. They were very, very grateful.
Swati: 4:27
Then I thought, okay, you know, 30,000 rupees, it's not going to last very long. So I thought, okay, how can I do a little bit more? So I organized a workshop with them. It was nerve wracking because they only had like a small phone, no computer. You know I was nervous.
Swati: 4:44
But I got some help from people here like, OK, let's go for it. You know what can be worse than just, you know, I'll just return the money if they cannot do it. But then you know they were, they're good. They were not like highly professional or anything, but they are very good and eager to show what they're doing and when it came to their craft they just excel. They could teach in their sleep. So that's how it started. And then I kind of tried to reach out to other artists, other types of art form. In last three to four years I have done 10 or 11 different art forms. And I invite the artist back sometimes. I got support from Watertown Public Library to do some of those workshops. From Belmont Public Library very recently. From NCCD, we're starting our five workshop series again this year. So this is a great format if I get some support that way, because then I don't have to depend on attendees to pay. So that's where I'm now.
Matt: 5:47
Maybe to paint your connection a little more. So you grew up in India? (Yes.) And what was your experience growing up in India with dance and art? To paint that picture and then we can see how you're viewing it from the outside, you know.
Swati: 6:01
Absolutely. I always did performances and I took dance lessons and everything that a formal dancer should go through. When it came to art, I was always fascinated. I painted a little bit, but I was always fascinated about creating something. So I was always very interested in making costumes with different designs and whatnot. In India most of the stuff you can buy, so you don't have much way of doing it, at least at that point. But I always went to the handicraft fairs because I was fascinated about all the things they do with like jute and bamboo and natural dye and with terracotta is like a wonder world to me. So I could spend hours there that way. So the love was always there.
Swati: 6:49
When I came here, I started designing my dance costumes and I would collaborate with artists and they will do designs. Like after tailoring there will be some artwork. So that's how I kind of was always connected in one way or another. It wasn't intentional outside of the fact that, okay, I need a nice costume. But this is not about me. This is about, okay, take a step forward and see what they need, what gaps there might be. And you know I'm just one person so I cannot probably do much.
Swati: 7:24
But I think there is a benefit of this kind of thing because now they can come up to a Zoom meeting and talk without thinking about oh, we're talking to people who does not understand our language. Initially they are so nervous. I try to be the communicator. I'm always a communicator. That is one thing. I have done exhibitions at Watertown Public Library to show their artwork. I'm trying to put a stall at Watertown Arts Market. A couple of things sells, but people get to know and see.
Matt: 8:00
Yeah, so take us through what is a workshop like if someone comes to one. You're in a live stream or is it recorded with that artist?
Swati: 8:07
Both. So I always have a backup video because I was so nervous about something will not work. So I always anxious, like give me a video, give me a video, right. Now it's not like that. They're comfortable.
Swati: 8:21
We're doing Zoom meetings. Everybody knows that, you know, technology can be a little glitchy, but they actually teach directly on that day. We usually have one hour session so they try to show their craft for 50 minutes or so. But I also always have a video of them showing all the different steps which I share with the attendees so that they can go back and review that and use it and paint at their own pace. We do not recommend that people start painting within that one hour because I really think that divides the attention. I want them to really watch. That's just a recommendation, of course.
Swati: 9:03
You know watch the artist. Ask questions. Because to me that's our chance to learn. Learn about the things that we don't get to see in the books. One thing I'll tell that fascinated me. So the color white that the artists use. I always thought it comes from ground rice powder or there is another kind of soil which is very white looking. But in one of those conversations during a workshop the artist told, oh, you know, we get the white from the crab's hole. I was like what? So they have a sweetwater pond and there are little crabs that live there. And they shed their exoskeleton which has a lot of calcium that gets mixed up with the soil. They dug up that soil and use that sometimes. That's only one natural resource. They use flowers to extract the pigments from there. Mix it with a fixative which is also coming from sap of another fruit or seed. So those are the things that fascinates me about, think about the innovation. Someone innovated that knowledge and generations of artists are using that without even thinking, you know, there is anything outside of that world.
Matt: 10:25
Right,. Yeah, so that's interesting because it's not, so you're not only sharing like the handiness of the artwork, but it's also, especially since you know sustainability is a big topic now, that seems like that could be something that could really interest people outside of the craft form itself. But learning these natural ways of approaching these different manipulations of materials and yeah, because making white. They just go down to the store and buy a white paint, but if they had a natural way of doing that. That's a whole movement right now, so that would be interesting.
Swati: 10:56
Exactly. Exactly.
Matt: 10:57
Yeah. So do you push that at all or do you kind of frame it as you're learning this craft? Or do you say like learning this dyeing method? Or what is the framing you use for it?
Swati: 11:06
Yes, I use the exact term that you have used, sustainability. And there are a couple of other examples that I would like to tell you. One is they don't buy the plastic pellets or any kind of pellets from store. They use dried coconut shell to mix their paint. So in my presentation, before we go into any workshop, before I introduce the artist, I usually have, like you know, five, 10 minutes presentation where I try to bring all my research there in a presentable format for people just to know a little bit, you know, just warming them up. Because a lot of these art forms are not at all familiar to them. And that's my segway to introducing the artist and getting into them painting and sharing their craft. And I use the same term that you have mentioned. It's very prevalent in all, many art forms in India. I should not say all because I don't know all art forms. But the old ones, they always either use flowers or leaves or fruits for color. The soil for white. Rice, another source. Burnt rice is for black.
Matt: 12:20
Bad cooks, they can make use of what they've messed up, right.
Swati: 12:23
Yes, yes. If you move towards Rajasthan, which does not have a lot of green vegetables or flowers there. It's a desert land but their mineral-rich soil gives, like you know, yellowstone and redstone and bluestone and whatnot. So that are used in Rajasthan arts. And I am bringing another artist series of workshop, two workshops actually from Rajasthan. They're going to use some of those stone based color, but natural.
Matt: 12:58
Yeah, and so for the people here taking the workshops then. So how are they taking benefit from that? You know, we usually don't have coconut shells here and stuff like that, so how are you making it so that they can be sustainable in their practice too? Is it just general concepts rather than the actual materials? Like, how are you bridging that gap there?
Swati: 13:18
Absolutely. Painters here, there are a group of painters who are very fascinated about natural dye and someone asked me about this particularly and if I am bringing in a workshop where they can only show the dye making process over Zoom. I haven't been able to do that just yet, just because I don't know how many people will be interested just in that. But I think that's a very important angle that I am constantly thinking about.
Swati: 13:48
You still can get a lot of the same materials here. You can get marigold flower that they use for yellow. You can get turmeric here. They use the same thing. You cannot probably get the same exact leafy vegetables that they get, but you can get green leaves here that can be experimented for the same thing. So it is a very transferable skill.
Swati: 14:15
But yeah, that is something I would love to collaborate or be the catalyst. I always call myself a catalyst because I'm really good for nothing, but I can connect this person with a lot of knowledge with this person with a lot of knowledge and come up with something that can be used by, you know, many others. The flip side is time. They make their large batch of dyes in a season and they mix bottles and bottles and bottles of it which lasts them for the whole year. That being said, I don't know whether, here, artists will be eager to spend the same amount of time and if they have the same amount of manpower to do as a family or as a whole. You know, it's a very different culture. So that's a practical side of it.
Matt: 15:06
Yeah, why don't we go through, can you give me an example of one of the artists that you're helping out? Like tell me a little bit about their story and how this is impacting them.
Swati: 15:13
Yes, so I'll go back to my first family of artists, because you know they're my first. She is probably the matriarch of the family. She has three daughters and she's taking care of her elderly in-laws. Taking care of the grandchild. One of the daughters without going into much details, she was living with parents, with her son. So she's supporting all of these people. She's the main artist, but of course, you know, the daughters are picking up. Actually, the girl I told you about, now she is back in her in-laws house but she's not painting anymore. So there is that social barriers. I keep communicating with her, like, okay, one day you're going to come back. I mean, right now she just doesn't have the bandwidth to do everything. She's an excellent artist. I have a standing order for her. Whenever she wants to do it, I will just, you know, buy it from her.
Swati: 16:14
The mother she was very torn when, you know, first daughter's marriage didn't really go the way it was planned. And then I told her don't marry off your other two very quickly, let them complete high school and whatnot. Somehow that didn't quite happen. Now both of them are married. But what they did is because they know that I am trying to kind of help them out in the long run. They requested me will you talk to our son-in-laws so that they can, you know, say yes for the girls to continue to work as artists. So I did that, I tried to convince them and one wasn't going to but then said yes. So you know, that's my connection with artists. And I think that's a much bigger impact than buying or selling artwork, changing the mindset.
Swati: 17:05
But I also do another thing with the workshops and whatnot. I send them money so they know that, ok, we're getting this remuneration for our time. I also buy bulk from them, like 10, 12, 20, whatever, just to take it off their hand whenever I can. I cannot do it every month. But my intention is, if it is here, I can show it to people, they can buy, and I'm constantly looking for places to exhibit those, just so that people get to know. You know it's a visual thing. If you did not grow up with that kind of art, you don't automatically get drawn into that. You just don't connect with it, right. So that's another thing. I try to invest in that. I buy, I bring it here, I have a whole pile here. Actually, today we're going to go and put up a few pieces in Natick Senior Center for people to see. So, yes, those are the kind of things that I'm trying to do and I cannot put a label to it, except that I really care for them.
Matt: 18:10
Yeah, that's obviously the best reason to do something. Why don’t we talk about bridging the culture. You talked about how people here aren't used to that. Why is it useful for someone here to go to a workshop or buy the art here? Like why should the US, someone in the US, care about an artist in rural India? You know what is the benefit of bridging that gap?
Swati: 18:28
Absolutely, my favorite topic. Because of the reason I travel. Because of the reason there is a whole push of doing a semester outside your home country. I believe it expands one's horizon, expands one's respect to the world out there that is not fully known to them or available to them. And very recently there is also a push, and I was thrilled to see that's happening, the doctors are now prescribing art therapy. It has been there, but I think there is a bigger push. More voices behind it. Go to a museum, do this, go do that, right. So I think art gives us an instant boost of happiness and connection. And it opens up the side of our mind which I think lets us be creative, bringing more empathy. I'm not eloquent enough to really explain it. But I really felt during the pandemic did you see people are putting a lot more artwork and they were just doing something to feel free because we were all cooped up in our houses or wherever we were. So I think art gives that mental freedom and happiness which I think has a really great value. So I cannot give you a direct yes no answer. Like okay, someone buys an art, so what is it for them. But at least you know, you can talk about sustainability. You can talk about, oh you know, in India there are elephants. As simple as that, right.
Swati: 20:14
Coming back to the art form I mostly talked about, it's called Patachitra. So they make huge paintings like seven feet paintings which are actually scenes from a story. So it's think about a modern day television or a movie reel. It is actually their public education medium. They prepared one, or many of such, for covid pandemic awareness. They take it to different villages to teach people that they should wear masks, they should go to the doctors if they have fever. So because it's like century-old public education medium, I think, if nothing else, that's one of the major values in that. Stories have ecosystem, empathy, community, friendship, all of those embedded in those. We don't dig deep always to, you know, bring out those sides. So in my workshops I try to communicate those aspects rather than just you take a pencil and you draw something, or you take a paint and you fill in the, you know, the fish or whatever it is.
Matt: 21:26
Yeah. So then, I know you want to make sure we talked about kind of the commerce of art. So that's another big topic that you know you could talk for hours about. But within the context of this, you know how did you want to talk about the commerce of art?
Swati: 21:40
What I felt is I can only do one or two workshops per year, which is not enough to keep them motivated. Because we get a paycheck at the end of every month. They don't. They sell art. Their family gets food and education and clothes. It's as simple as that. Most of them don't even know English. So right there, they're cut off from rest of the world, right. So I am not an e-commerce person, but for me, if my initiative sells five or 10 paintings per year, that's going to them.
Matt: 22:21
Are you just selling them at like the Watertown Arts Market and things like that. It's not online or in galleries, it's just in these.
Swati: 22:27
Arts market is one of the places. There is no gallery right now. I was putting it up for Belmont Consignment Store. A few were sold but then she needed to kind of redesign or remodel her space. Exhibitions, I have not had much luck from people buying it from exhibitions because I guess they don't know the story or they don't connect. Or for the simple reason people don't always go and spend money on art, right. And I think that's universal anywhere.
Matt: 22:57
My mother is actually an artist and owns her own studio up in New Hampshire. And yeah, it's an interesting thing that, at least from the perspectives I've heard, it's sometimes it's the you have to have them come in a few times. Like they'll see it and then they'll come back, and then they'll come back, and then they'll buy it. So that's a little tricky without you having a consistent location, right? So, yeah, maybe getting some type of online thing would be helpful there. Anyway, just thinking out loud there.
Swati: 23:23
No, I think that's a great idea. I am working on making a website and once that is up I'll try to, you know, do a little bit of more marketing. People have asked me to put it on Etsy or whatnot. I could do that, but to be honest, it will probably dilute the authenticity because it's like firsthand from the artist to me and someone is buying from me. I can tell them about the artist, right. So I don't want to destroy that side of it, so we'll see, we'll see where it goes.
Matt: 23:56
And Etsy is going to take some money away from that artist too. Which is important too. So if people are interested in checking out some of this artwork, what should they do?
Swati: 24:05
So in Watertown Arts Market last time, a couple of people came up and said hey, I bought this from you, remember? I was wondering whether you will be here. They didn't buy it this time, but they remembered me. So they know there will be one store showing Indian art. And I think that's a win itself that people remember because it's so different. And just because they didn't buy this time doesn't mean that they wouldn't buy in the future. There is a young couple with a three-month-old baby, came and bought a couple of paintings because these are very, very bright and colorful. They said, oh, this will be perfect for my baby's room. So you know it's happening. Yeah, maybe people will see more and more and that's why I'm doing more exhibitions, so that they see, they know and if they're curious they can reach out. And yeah, I'm always looking for more places to put up paintings. The gallery, it's again another investment and right now I just don't have time to do that much. So we'll see.
Matt: 25:09
Yeah, yeah. So was there anything else you want to talk about on, you know your bullet points here. Bridging the gap between arts and culture, the commerce of arts, exposing people to the rural India experience, what else can be done. Anything else on those bullet points that we didn't hit on that you want to make sure you talk about?
Swati: 25:23
I think we talked about, you know, bridging the gap and where the gaps are. My effort is, at some point I would like to have some representation in India who can actually help them, you know, making it a little better. For example, the photos that they send me sometimes are really, really bad. It does not represent the actual beauty. That's a real problem in today's world. So those are real issues.
Swati: 25:49
I could employ a photographer to send it to them. And you know I did a video. I sent a team there to do a video of their dye making. But just going there and taking a few photos, it's not cost effective at this point. You know, those are the real issues. So if someone can teach them or take the photographs or be there as counterpart of Artsy Way of Life, that will be wonderful. I am just not big enough to have one person doing that. And right now I have artists in 10 different places that I'm in connection with, so it's not like just one place. So it has to be a huge operation if I have to have persons in all over the place.
Matt: 26:38
Right. At the end I'll ask you where people can reach out to you so we can give them a direct way to reach out to you. But first, before we end things here, I do want to talk about your connection with Watertown and things that you are doing in Watertown. Obviously, it's great that you're bringing a different culture into Watertown, so I want to know how you're doing that in Watertown, yeah.
Swati: 26:54
Absolutely. I love Watertown. When we came to see this home, we fell in love. We just decided to go with it. And then pandemic happened.
Swati: 27:05
So I started kind of looking online like what is there for art and culture? So I saw many organizations. One thing led to another, Roberta connected with me and she wanted to come to one of my dance programs. She could not. Then we talked and I became part of the Watertown Public Arts and Culture Committee. And I am just amazed with the talent and the dedication of everyone.
Swati: 27:34
I feel like a slacker because I'm always struggling to remember, I mean, I remember if I'm in the conversation, but you guys do so much behind the scene all day long that I only have respect. And you know, it's a great way for me to actually know Watertown. That's why I'm very, very grateful. Other than that, I communicated with public library and I have done workshops through them. They did a fantastic thing. They made little kits for people to pick up. There were paints and paper and whatnot. So they made it very interesting for people to go and just come and grab this kit and do your painting.
Swati: 28:17
I worked with Art Relief, if you know about that organization. I did a session with them and the kids were very happy. I did two days of workshop and the next day a little kid ran up to me, maybe your son’s age, and he had an orange flower in his hand. And he came and said, can I do an orange dye from this flower? That was precious. And I said, sure, that's the whole point of why I'm doing this. So you know, these are the rewards. These are the rewards that I think inspires me. Watertown is inspiring. Also I was an artist-in-resident for Mount Auburn. So it was very different from all the other things that they did before. And many people from our committee came to see my performance. So you know, that was again very, very encouraging that people just want to understand, show support. So I look forward to be connected to the community any little way I can and bring a different voice, probably right. Because there are places we could connect, like River of Light with Diwali. We can do something later on, you know, in coming years.
Matt: 29:32
Yeah, I think that shows, you know, I recently had an episode with the president of Mount Auburn Cemetery, Matthew Stevens. So if people are interested in how they're kind of making themselves not just a cemetery but a thing for life as well. But it's also interesting. It just shows that you know, if anyone who's interested in having a different way of operating in Watertown and bringing in the arts in different ways, you know, reach out to people. I think it's beneficial for everybody and brings all these diverse points of view and just a way to brighten the day.
Swati: 30:02
Absolutely, if I can take a few more seconds. It's not only the diversity, but also the convergence. So Mount Auburn really was a huge, tough project for me. It's not because they were demanding. It's like what I want to convey. Because in our culture we even have a song which says death, you are my lover. It's very depressing, but it's also very, very philosophical. So, coming from that culture, I was like, okay, I don't want it to be very morose, but I want to show that it's, you know, a flow of life and it's a season of life. That was my project theme and we did some dancing there. But yeah, I think the convergence is where we find common ground and we connect with each other, right. Your love for art and people connected you and I through this committee. And now we're doing this podcast, which we didn't think when we were in the interview together, right. So I think one thing led to another and I always like to keep it open for wherever it takes us, right.
Matt: 31:13
Yeah, I do like that, the convergence. Yeah, I think diversity is great, but convergence, where all the diversity converges, is what makes the community. So yeah, cool. Well, where should people go find everything that you're doing if they want to find out more about the artists and the art, your dance, anything. Where should they go find you?
Swati: 31:32
Okay. I am very active on social media. I have my page, Swati Biswas. I also have another page called Artsy Way of Life, which is just for art, but I post pretty much everything on my main page as well because that has, you know, larger visibility. I also have same instagram handle, Artsy Way of Life and Swati_B. I post my travel photos because they are usually museums and stuff which kind of aligned with my interest.
Swati: 32:02
I write about the things that is coming up. Not always formally as blogs, but I am trying to be a little bit more disciplined about putting it in a blog, just so that the informations are there. They can reach me, email, my phone number. Usually all the posters that I put up has my phone number, so it's not a secret anymore. So, yeah, I'm always up for a conversation. And one thing I really encourage people is just send me a note.
Swati: 32:33
If you want to see the arts, there is no obligation to buy, but if you're just curious, okay, what is she talking about? What does this mean? How does it look? You know who are the people that are doing it. I plan to do the artist feature etc on my website when I have it. But then again, I need, you know, good picture and, you know, good representation of them. Another point is, if I have a website and if I bring in a new artist, it may take a while for me to add them, so I don't want them to feel offended. So you know, this is really a work in progress. But I'm hoping 2025 will be my lucky year to finally do the website.
Matt: 33:15
Great. Well, I'll get that information from you and put all that in the show notes for people to find all that stuff. But anything else you want to say before we wrapped up.
Swati: 33:25
Just thank you. Thank you for offering to do this podcast and this has been a great experience. Also, I'm always grateful for conversation because I always get five other ideas that I can pursue. So any ideas, any suggestions you have, please send it to me. I'm always open to learning as well.
Matt: 33:48
Right. Well, thank you for opening up your home to me for this conversation and for sharing your thoughts and ideas and stories, and I hope everyone who's listening will enjoy it as well.
Swati: 33:56
Thank you. Thank you so much.
Matt: 33:58
So that's it for my conversation with Swati. You can find out more about her where she mentioned. I’ll put that information in the show notes. If you like these conversations and you want to hear more of them, head on over to littlelocalconversations.com. I have all the interviews I've done. You can find out any upcoming events, like the Creative Chats event that I have coming up at the Mosesian Center for the Arts on February 28th. So if you're into art, you enjoyed listening to Swati, you'll probably enjoy coming to that too. It's a free event. Mosesian Center for the Arts, February 28th. You can check that out, littlelocalconversations.com. Other ways you can follow along with what's going on with the podcast is signing up for my newsletter, which I send out once a week. You can find that in the show notes or at the website. You can also follow along on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, wherever you like to stream.
Matt: 34:45
A couple things to wrap up here. I'd like to give a thank you to the Watertown Cultural Council, who've given me a grant this year for this podcast. I want to give them the appropriate credit here, which is this program is supported in part by a grant from the Watertown Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency. Find out more about the Watertown Cultural Council at watertownculturalcouncil.org. You can find out more about the Mass Cultural Council at massculturalcouncil.org. I also want to give a shout out to a promotional partner, the Watertown Business Coalition. They're a nonprofit organization here in Watertown that's bringing businesses and people together to help strengthen the community. Find out more about them at watertownbusinesscoalition.com. There's some events coming up in March and April to look out for, so go check out their site if you want to network with some business and nonprofit folks. So that's it. Until next time, take care.
