Talk Show Hosts
Dave Bise, Host
Dave is a St. Louis native, an artist, active advocate and philanthropist for the arts, and supporter of many nonprofit organizations. He co-founded and serves as President of Partnership for the Arts Group (PFTA) since 1994 with the mission of supporting the arts and education. He founded and hosted the Partnership For The Arts Podcast talk show “Where We Talk Art” in Punta Gorda from 2017-2021 and resumed the role of Host when PFTA relocated production in 2025. Dave is the Producer and Host of the show as well as the Host of Science Fiction Studios which are both recorded in the Magic City of Birmingham, Alabama.
Merry Bise, Co-host
Merry is the co-host of the “Where We Talk Art” show with Dave and also co-hosted the ‘Taste of the Arts’ show. She spent most of her working life in information technology, employee development, and as a time management consultant.
She is currently assisting with web publication of the PFTA Talk Show and Sci-fi Verse Studio Productions Episodes in the Magic City of Birmingham, Alabama..
Merry enjoys gardening and experimenting with new recipes with Dave, her husband and Host of both PFTA and Science Fiction Studios. podcasts
Victor Gartner
Victor Gartner joined the show in 2021 and continued as Host of the Podcast show which was based in Southwest Florida until production was relocated to Alabama in 2025.
Since the 1980’s watercolor painting has been Victor’s primary creative outlet. A decade later Victor discovered scratchboard while in Florida. Since then Victor’s artwork has been scratchboard portraits, buildings and science fiction themes. Scratchboard etchings is time consuming, requiring 100’s of hours per board, yet Victor finds it most gratifying.
His art has won awards in Massachusetts and Southwest Florida.
It was a tough decision but Victor has decided to return to his passion for creating and teaching art.
I’ve enjoyed hosting the show which I listened to for so long, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to have continued to explore all the worlds of art through hosting the PFTA podcast.
Catherine Lucas
Educated in the classical tradition, Catherine works within the time-honored arts. She has always been captivated by the elegant and gracefully rendered images of the Old Masters. Catherine earned her BFA from Hofstra University (NY) and her MFA from the New York Academy of Art, Graduate School of Figurative Art (NY, NY).
Be On The Show!
Want to be a featured artist on one of our episodes?
An award winning artist, Catherine exhibits her art nationally in galleries and museums through national and international juried exhibitions. As an Art instructor she coaches fine artists to bring their artwork to the next level.
Cat left the show in July 2019. She assures us it’s not goodbye… “I will be listening in too, just like I did before I came on the show, and I’ll stop by and say hello and guest co-host when I can…” Check out Cat’s return as we celebrated our 100th episode!
Correspondents
Nanette Crist
Having spent her working life as a New York lawyer, Nanette is now a self-proclaimed “culture vulture” focused on exploring Southwest Florida’s vibrant arts scene. She shares her discoveries in her blog: http://nanettesnewlife.blogspot.com/. Nanette is also a freelance writer for Florida Weekly and writes a bi-monthly arts and excursions column during the season.
Sandra
Sandra is our Art Correspondent based in Fort Myers, FL.
Igor
Studied: Kuban State University in Krasnodar. Philologist; majored in German Philology. Teacher at Krasnodar Musical College. Previous: Producer of Project R.U.R., aт alternative psychedelic rock band. Previous: Producer and co-founder at Strangefilm, the Independent Film Studio. Previous: specialist for International Relations at Strangefilm.org; Independent Film Studio Current: producer of ‘Bylina’, ensemble of folk instruments and vocal. Current: producer of ‘Narodny effect’, ensemble of folk instruments and vocal.
Become a Correspondent
Art Correspondents have the important role of informing the world about what the Arts are doing in their community! Wherever you are, if you have your finger on the ‘art pulse’, we want to talk to you…
Crew Members
Steven Tacy, Announcer
So Heeeree’s Steven! Yep, Steven is our announcer at the beginning of the show. We can’t say enough good things about this young man! Sounding Good and Thanks again, Steven.