“The Artist is Present” is a special series which is being hosted under the Catalyst: A Creative Industries Podcast of the Center for Creative and Cultural Industries at Chapman University. “The Artis is Present” was developed under the direction of the Phyllis and Ross Escalette Permanent Collection of Art’s Director, Fiona Shen, and Collections Manager, Jessica Bocinski, so that a wider audience would have the opportunity to hear directly from the artists in the Escalette Collection at the University. In this episode of The Artists is Present, host Helene Vlok interviews artist Virginia Katz - an artist whose muse and medium is nature. Fueled by curiosity and endurance, Virginia has applied the lessons she learned from her experience as a marathon runner to her art. Virginia explains how her childhood spent in upstate New York significantly influenced her creative process - which is often experienced in nature, her commitment to networking within the art industry, and her goal of inspiring young artists. Much like our previous guest, artist Lorena Ochoa, Virginia uses some unconventional methods to create her art. Listen along as Virginia explains why she considers herself a “collaborator with nature” and how both the WIND and OCEAN series were created.