In 2025 Samstag Museum of Art invited Kaurna-based artist and Samstag scholar Monte Masi to create a new work to be performed across multiple performances in the gallery. Monte joins Associate Curator Anna Zagala to discuss what drew him to art in the first place, the thrills and perils of the improvised unscripted encounters, and his experience living and studying in San Francisco during a tech boom and the tail end of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

In 2025 Samstag Museum of Art invited&nbsp;Kaurna-based artist and Samstag scholar Monte Masi to create a new work to be performed across multiple performances in the gallery. Monte joins Associate Curator Anna Zagala to discuss what drew him to art in the first place, the thrills and perils of the improvised unscripted encounters, and his experience living and studying in San Francisco during a tech boom and the tail end of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Talks and discussions that follow the lead of contemporary art, from the Samstag Museum of Art at the University of South Australia.

ON ART

Monte joins Associate Curator Anna Zagala to discuss what drew him to art in the first place, the thrills and perils of the improvised unscripted encounters, and his experience living and studying in San Francisco during a tech boom and the tail end of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Monte Masi

Ryan Presley (Marri Ngarr) is a visual artist living on Yugambeh Country (Logan City, QLD). His practice spans painting, printmaking, sculpture, video, installation, and writing, and is marked by a deep engagement with the visual economies of power, memory, and resistance. 

Commissioned by the University in 2024 to paint a portrait of its Chancellor, the Honorable John Hill, Ryan joins Associate Curator Anna Zagala in the studio to discuss his exhibition Daydreamer, how growing up in Mparntwe/Alice Springs and an early love of drawing shaped his trajectory, and what he hoped to convey of the sitter in the portrait, currently on display at Samstag Museum of Art.

The episode concludes with a throw to Samstag and Ryan’s conversation with art historian Dr Andrea Bubenik.

Ryan Presley (Marri Ngarr) is a visual artist living on Yugambeh Country (Logan City, QLD). His practice spans painting, printmaking, sculpture, video, installation, and writing, and is marked by a deep engagement with the visual economies of power, memory, and resistance.&nbsp;
Commissioned by the University in 2024 to paint a portrait of its Chancellor, the Honorable John Hill, Ryan joins Associate Curator Anna Zagala in the studio to discuss his exhibition Daydreamer, how growing up in Mparntwe/Alice Springs and an early love of drawing shaped his trajectory, and what he hoped to convey of the sitter in the portrait, currently on display at Samstag Museum of Art.
The episode concludes with a throw to Samstag and Ryan&rsquo;s conversation with art historian Dr Andrea Bubenik.

Ryan joins Associate Curator Anna Zagala in the studio to discuss his exhibition Daydreamer, how growing up in Mparntwe/Alice Springs and an early love of drawing shaped his trajectory, and what he hoped to convey of the sitter in the portrait, currently on display at Samstag Museum of Art.

Ryan Presley

Claire Healy and Sean Cordeiro have been life partners and artistic collaborators for over 25 years. They join Associate Curator Anna Zagala to discuss their new exhibition, Psychopomp, currently on display at Samstag Museum of Art. The outcome of the UniSA Jeffrey Smart Commission, the work is a cacophonous and vibrant moving image work that explores the porous relationship between science and mysticism. In this conversation, they delve into the history of rocket technology and its link to spirituality, contemporary pagan rituals, and why, after leading a peripatetic life, they decided to settle in the Blue Mountains.

Claire Healy and Sean Cordeiro have been life partners and artistic collaborators for over 25 years. They join Associate Curator Anna Zagala to discuss their new exhibition,&nbsp;Psychopomp, currently on display at Samstag Museum of Art. The outcome of&nbsp;the UniSA Jeffrey Smart Commission, the work is a&nbsp;cacophonous and vibrant moving image work&nbsp;that explores the porous relationship between science and mysticism. In this conversation, they delve into the history of rocket technology and its link to spirituality, contemporary pagan rituals, and why, after leading a peripatetic life, they decided to settle in the Blue Mountains.

Claire Healy and Sean Cordeiro have been life partners and artistic collaborators for over 25 years. They join Associate Curator Anna Zagala to discuss their new exhibition, Psychopomp, currently on display at Samstag Museum of Art

Claire Healy and Sean Cordeiro

South Australian artist Louise Haselton was invited by curator Jasmin Stephens to create work in response to North Terrace, the cultural boulevard that runs through Tarntanya / Adelaide, for the exhibition North Terrace: worlds in relief, which recently opened at Samstag Museum of Art.

Louise joins Associate Curator Anna Zagala on the podcast to discuss, among other things, how a pamphlet in the University of South Australia’s Architecture Museum caught her eye, what walking North Terrace yielded, and the tactile pleasure of working with Japanese papers.

Louise Haselton is a visual artist who employs a range of presentations. Her practice explores the inherent qualities of everyday materials, seeking connections and relationships between seemingly disparate materials and objects gleaned from the world around us.

North Terrace: worlds in relief is on at the Samstag Museum of Art, 20 June – 26 September 2025.

The exhibition features Andrew Burrell / Allison Chhorn / Louise Haselton / the ArtHitects (Gary Carsley and Renjie Teoh) / with poetry by Natalie Harkin

ON ART is supported by the Gordon Darling Foundation and Solstice Podcasting and produced by Tilly Balding in Tarntanya/Adelaide. The conversation was recorded 16 June 2025.

South Australian artist Louise Haselton was invited by curator Jasmin Stephens to create work in response to North Terrace, the cultural boulevard that runs through Tarntanya / Adelaide, for the exhibition North Terrace: worlds in relief, which recently opened at Samstag Museum of Art.
Louise joins Associate Curator Anna Zagala on the podcast to discuss, among other things, how a pamphlet in the University of South Australia&rsquo;s Architecture Museum caught her eye, what walking North Terrace yielded, and the tactile pleasure of working with Japanese papers.
Louise Haselton is a visual artist who employs a range of presentations. Her practice explores the inherent qualities of everyday materials, seeking connections and relationships between seemingly disparate materials and objects gleaned from the world around us.
North Terrace: worlds in relief is on at the Samstag Museum of Art, 20 June &ndash; 26 September 2025.
The exhibition features Andrew Burrell / Allison Chhorn / Louise Haselton / the ArtHitects (Gary Carsley and Renjie Teoh) / with poetry by Natalie Harkin
ON ART is supported by the Gordon Darling Foundation and Solstice Podcasting and produced by Tilly Balding in Tarntanya/Adelaide. The conversation was recorded 16 June 2025.

Louise joins Associate Curator Anna Zagala on the podcast to discuss, among other things, how a pamphlet in the University of South Australia’s Architecture Museum caught her eye, what walking North Terrace yielded, and the tactile pleasure of working with Japanese papers.

Monte Masi

In 1 playlist(s)

ON ART

Social links

Follow podcast

Recent clips