Interview with Nicole Cromartie and Katie Wilson-Best of the Clyfford Still Museum on the exhibit Tell Clyfford I Said Hi, done in partnership with the Colville Confederated Tribes of Nespelem, Washington. Recorded at 2:22pm on July 22, 2026 via Zoom.

What a great line to put in a signature file: “Young children are experts in abstract art; let them guide you…” That line is in Nicole Cromartie’s email signature file. She has an interest in turning children on to art and proved it with “Tell Clyfford I Said ‘Hi’”: An Exhibition Curated by Children of the Colville Confederated Tribes. It was a collaborative exhibition co-curated with youth from the Colville Confederated Tribes in Washington State and the Clyfford Still Museum in Denver, Colorado. Nicole’s the Director of Learning and Engagement at the museum, and a doctoral student in the Leadership for Educational Equity at the University of Colorado, Denver. Her research interests include making museum learning visible, sharing authority with children, fostering equitable museum–school partnerships, and museum education leadership.

Katie Watson-Best is the Digital Media Manager at the Clyfford Still Museum. Watson-Best holds a BFA in photography and new media from the Kansas City Art Institute and received an MFA in advanced photographic studies from the International Center of Photography and Bard College. They are my guests today as I continue my month-long residency at the museum with a project called Still in Cascadia.