Producer Blog: Naysan McIlhargey and Tom Schiff on The Art Show

This month, The Art Show takes viewers to Springfield, Ohio to explore the history, legacy and continued impact of legendary American architect Frank Lloyd Wright and his striking Westcott House. Completed in 1908, the home was Wright’s first commission in Ohio. Today, it’s the only “Prairie Style” Wright house in the state.

Explore the fascinating history of the Westcott House with executive director and curator Marta Wojcik. Ceramicist Naysan McIlhargey discusses the work he’s displayed at the Westcott House and reflects on how his voice and vision in clay have evolved over time. Then, wielding a panoramic camera, architectural photographer Tom Schiff defies standard perspectives in his snapshots of buildings and places, including the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright.

Tune in for this episode Saturday, April 18, at 6pm on CET or Sunday, April 19, at 5:30pm on Think^TV16, or stream episodes of The Art Show anytime, anywhere on the PBS app: https://watch.cetconnect.org/show/art-show/.

Read more below from two of our producers on The Art Show, Rodney Veal and Nadya Ellerhorst, as they revisit their experiences on set and working with the featured artists, giving a glimpse into the creative process and social connection behind the scenes of each episode.

Tom Schiff on The Art Show

Nadya Ellerhorst, CET/Think^TV Producer

Me and Fallingwater go way back. In my AP Art History class in junior year of high school, the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home was just one of 250 artworks I was expected to know the ins and outs of for the final exam, and it was just one of the few pieces that was architecture. That, and its distinct style, has made it stand out in my mind ever since.

Fast forward to my nine hour drives to college, I discovered that Fallingwater was technically on the way to my campus – if we made a detour of a few hours on an already grueling drive. So, as tempted as I was, I never got to see Fallingwater, but as it turns out, there are plenty of Frank Lloyd Wright spots essentially in my backyard!

In the midst of Season 15 of The Art Show, I learned from host Rodney Veal that Ohio has a distinct Frank Lloyd Wright house just up north from Cincinnati in Springfield, Ohio. The Westcott House, built in 1908 and painstakingly restored from 2001 to 2005, is the only FLW Prairie-style home in the entire state. And in this month on The Art Show, we explore the house, its history, its architect, and the creatives it continues to inspire.

While the house is open to the public for tours and hosts a variety of events, we still got an incredible degree of access to the home. As you’ll see in the episode, we shot our segment introductions, interview, and plenty of b-roll footage in the house – even getting to utilize some of the furniture for seated shots! While we always try to create visually striking set-up’s and shots at The Art Show, I think we can say we got some of our most beautiful footage to date. 

And I can’t say that we didn’t make ourselves at home. The Westcott House isn’t sectioned off with velvet ropes; tours aside, it’s also a very active, very usable space, and the staff made sure we were comfortable throughout our multi-day shoot. A few of us played the piano during downtime, and we even had lunch in the kitchen area. I joked that it felt like we were living in the home for a few days!

Enter Tom Schiff, one of our featured artists on this special episode.  Tom is an architectural photographer with an edge. He shoots 360-degree panoramic photos of notable sites across the country, totally challenging our perception in the best way possible. Forget those panoramic shots you can take on your phone – Tom utilizes a specialized camera, Kodak film, and a raised tripod to capture new ways of looking at architectural marvels and everyday scenes alike. You can spend hours poring over his digital portfolio and books (I find their larger-than-life pages especially fun to flip through). He even had an exhibition at the Cincinnati Museum Center last year revolving around American civic buildings (see what I did there? 🙂).

Tom also maintains a special focus on the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright, having published two books exploring Wright’s body of work both nationally and within Ohio. He’s photographed the many different rooms of the Westcott House, putting architecture that’s already fascinating to experience in a whole new light. If you’re curious about exploring those other private FLW architectural sites across Ohio, Tom has worked with their owners to get shots of their exteriors and interiors. 

A unique artistic style demands a unique background! For our sit-down interview with Tom, we had the opportunity to shoot in the striking entryway of Lightborne in downtown Cincinnati. Although not a panoramic shot, we took advantage of a unique look that I hope mirrors Tom’s fascination with space and architecture. We also managed to insert a lot of his work in ways that I hope allows viewers to take all their details in, no matter the device they’re using to watch.

This episode became a broader project about space. How it’s designed, yes, but also how it’s perceived, and how it affects us. Westcott House Executive Director Marta Wojcik talked about the current notion that pictures in a web search or on social media are enough to replace an in-person experience. It’s one thing to be across the country, or just totally removed from a space – say a haunted house in California, or a now-defunct museum in Washington D.C. But when it’s something pretty much in your backyard, why not take that first step across a threshold and get the full experience, as the architect intended? 

And, as we figured out set design, lighting, and camera angles, we got to perceive the Westcott’s spaces in a special way. It’s an experience that I take pride in; collaborating with an amazing team, we’ve created a special project about a place that’s distinct and significant in so many respects. I’ve gotten to go about my day job in a significant example of American architecture, from one of the most renowned American architects in history.

As things simmer down following the many shoots and interviews for this episode, I think I’ll take advantage of a tour of the Westcott House soon. Our work on this has, for me, helped cement the fact that there’s just some kinds of experiences you can’t substitute for, or pass up. And I hope this episode motivates our viewers to explore places like these in a way that a screen can assist with, but never fully replace. 

Naysan McIlhargey on The Art Show

Rodney Veal, CET/Think^TV Producer and Community Arts Liaison

There is something quietly profound about the objects we reach for without thinking. A cup cradled in the morning light, a bowl passed across a table, a plate that has borne witness to countless meals and conversations. Pottery and ceramics have traveled with us for thousands of years, so seamlessly integrated into daily life that their significance can feel almost invisible. Their utility is so perfectly resolved that we often forget they are among the earliest expressions of human ingenuity and artistry.

Yet within that familiarity lies something far more poetic. These are not just objects of function, they are vessels of history, touch, and transformation. For Naysan McIlhargey, founder of Miami Valley Pottery, that poetry is not only preserved, it is amplified. Working in the ancient and demanding tradition of wood-fired kilns, Naysan elevates ceramics into a space where craft, chance, and elemental force converge. Clay, fire, air, and time become collaborators. The results are not simply made, they are revealed.

We first spent time with Naysan back in Season 2 of The Art Show, and returning to his practice now feels like a continuation of a conversation already in motion. Time has a way of refining the artist’s hand, deepening intention, and sharpening intuition. In Naysan’s case, those years have only strengthened a practice rooted in discipline.

Though I had known of Naysan by reputation, meeting him in person carried a certain anticipation. Our introduction took place at the newly redeveloped headquarters of WYSO in Yellow Springs, a space still humming with the energy of transformation. Inside, commanding both attention and reverence, is Naysan’s monumental ceramic tile mural, more than 4,400 individual pieces coming together as a singular, cohesive vision. It is a work that mirrors his philosophy: the power of accumulation, of small gestures building toward something enduring.

Naysan himself embodies that same sense of grounded presence. There is a physicality to him that speaks to the labor of his craft, a quiet strength shaped by years of lifting, tending, firing. But what resonates even more is his calm, an assuredness that does not need to announce itself. There is warmth there, a genuine openness that reflects his belief in community and in the shared humanity that underpins all creative work. It is rare to encounter someone whose energy immediately signals both depth and generosity, and it was clear from the outset that this would translate beautifully on screen.

What unfolded was more than an interview. It was a full immersion into a way of thinking about art and life. Off camera, our conversations drifted easily between making, music, and the rhythms of community engagement that sustain his work. On camera, Naysan spoke with clarity and candor about what he described as the “hostility” of the wood-fired kiln process. It is a striking word, but an honest one.

Inside the kiln, temperatures soar beyond a thousand degrees. Flames move unpredictably. Ash settles where it will. The very forces that give these pieces their breathtaking surfaces and textures are the same forces that can undo them entirely. There is no absolute control, only a relationship with risk. In that environment, the artist must relinquish the illusion of mastery and instead cultivate humility. Ceramics, like many physically demanding art forms, asks for a kind of surrender. Not resignation, but openness. A willingness to accept that failure is not only possible, it is essential. That what emerges from the fire is as much a negotiation with nature as it is an act of human intention.

Decades into his career, Naysan approaches this process with something that feels almost sacred. There is a ritualistic quality to his work, particularly in his semi-annual kiln firings, where themes rooted in history, nature, and cultural memory begin to take shape. His surfaces carry imagery that feels both ancient and immediate, a visual language that connects past and present through texture, pattern, and form. And perhaps that is the quiet revelation at the heart of his practice.

These everyday objects, cups, bowls, plates, are anything but ordinary. In Naysan’s hands, they become records of time, of fire, of human touch. They remind us that even in the most familiar rituals of daily life, there exists an opportunity to encounter beauty, complexity, and meaning. All we have to do is slow down long enough to see it.

Learn more about The Art Show: https://www.cetconnect.org/theartshow/.