The Gutterblood Talk Show announces the Gem to Gem oral history series.
AUSTIN, TX, January 31, 2026
In addition to its tri-annually released community live streams, the Gutterblood Talk
Show is expanding its programming with the Gem to Gem series.
Gem to Gem, directed by Dio Traverso, features pre-recorded one to one conversations that capture oral histories between two key bellwethers in the heritage of Austin’s current art ecosystem.
First up is Annette Carlozzi’s conversation with Sandra Gregor, executive director of the Texas Fine Arts Association (TFAA) from 1983-1997.
Folks can access Gem to Gem and all past livestreams on The Gutterblood Talk Show website, and YouTube Channel.
Context behind Annette and Sandra’s conversation
We feel compelled to explain the interconnections between Austin art institutions because it’s a large part of the context of what Annette and Sandra discussed in the video:
Work in Progress: The Interconnected Story between the Elisabet Ney Museum, the Texas Fine Arts Association (TFAA), Laguna Gloria Art Museum, the Austin Museum of Art, Arthouse, and The Contemporary Austin
“The West Austin site, Laguna Gloria, was home to prominent Texans Clara Driscoll and Henry Sevier; their villa was built in 1916. After their divorce and late in life, Clara conveyed the property in 1943 to the Texas Fine Arts Association. TFAA, founded in 1911 by artists, originally occupied the home studio of German-born, Austin-based artist Elisabet Ney, which had been designated the Elisabet Ney Museum in 1907. The Ney Museum was acquired by the City of Austin in 1941 and remains in operation as a significant artist house museum. Laguna Gloria Art Museum was founded on the Laguna Gloria site in 1961, serving concurrently as the Austin chapter of TFAA (now a statewide organization with chapters in various cities), and showcasing their programs as well as their own contemporary art offerings, including a community art school.
Eventually, TFAA and LGAM separated as organizations. In 1992 and in advance of a proposed move of its major exhibition facility downtown, LGAM changed its name to the Austin Museum of Art (AMoA). TFAA changed its name to Arthouse and became a contemporary exhibitions venue, acquiring a spacious Congress Avenue commercial building as its home. But in 2011, facing economic and organizational challenges, AMoA and Arthouse were merged by their respective Boards, calling themselves Arthouse/AMoA.
Finally, in 2013, the merged organizations were reformed and rebranded as The Contemporary Austin, which comprises both the Laguna Gloria site, now a sculpture park and art school, and the downtown facility that Arthouse had developed, called the Jones Center.“
- Annette Carlozzi
Next up
In process is Annette Carlozzi with Sue Graze, executive director of Arthouse from 1999-2011 with a short tribute to Laurence Miller, and Dana Friis-Hansen, director from 2002-2011 and chief curator from 1999-2002 of the Austin Museum of Art (AMOA) with Chris Cowden, executive director of Women and Their Work from 1986 to the present.
This project is in tandem with the Austin Art History Timeline Project which was introduced during the Austin Art History Story Telling Series Part One, aired on June 11, 2024, and Part Two, aired on June 25, 2024.
About The Gutterblood Talk Show
Established in 2022, The Gutterblood Talk Show is a DIY initiative seeding candid dialogue about the state of the Austin art scene as the city rapidly gentrifies. Held off the grid in the warm intimacy of Sono Osato’s studio in Austin, Texas, it weaves people together across the diverse spectrum of cultural stakeholders to form new and stronger bonds and understanding within the community. Gutterblood means the kids that grow up together in the street in antiquated English slang, or, more succinctly, chosen family.
Note from Sono
“It was pointed out to me from a future participant in Gem to Gem that they feel uncomfortable being called a gem because they don’t see themselves that way. It’s just what they do instinctually. My answer was that it’s OK if people feel that way about what they’ve contributed. It’s not hubris, it’s fact.
Gems within the Austin art eco-system abound. We’re all gems and are completely surrounded by them. It’s a constellation. For the GBTS, it’s an honor and a joy to shout that out and celebrate it.”
- Sono Osato
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