Recorded live on Lumpen Radio 105.5 FM, Saturday, September 12, 2026
A teacher looked at her painting in front of the whole class and called it a knowledgeable failure. She took it as a compliment.
Chicago painter Megan Williamson has been painting for decades and is nowhere near finished figuring out what painting can do. From a hundred Zoom portraits to a room full of circus figures, her work is about looking, searching, and following an idea wherever it goes.
What We Talk About
If you love hearing an artist talk honestly about not knowing, this episode is for you.
Chapters:
• 00:12 - Live, Unedited Conversation Begins
• 01:12 - Interview Begins — Megan Williamson, Chicago Painter
• 12:54 - Studio Companion: My Dog Tao Teo
• 20:19 - From Classroom to Studio: How Teaching Shapes Her Art
• 30:43 - Ad Break — The Inner Guide: Finding Answers Within
• 42:11 - Learning to Be Brave — Childhood, Horses, and Early Lessons
• 48:44 - From Coloring Pages to a Calling: Teacher Memories
• 59:30 - Closing Remarks — Exhibition Details & How to Follow Megan
All about Megan Williamson
You're gonna love Megan!
She's a painter who is genuinely still curious after decades of doing this. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, and this October she has a solo exhibition at the Swope Art Museum in Terre Haute, Indiana, titled Damn Everything But the Circus, after an E.E. Cummings line. She studied at Knox College and the New York Studio School, teaches landscape painting, and keeps a studio here in Chicago.
Things We Mentioned
Connect with Megan Williamson
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Episode Credits
Produced, Hosted, and Edited by Stephanie Graham
Lyrics: Queen Lex | Instrumental: Freddie Bam Fam | Cover Art: Emma McGoldrick
