Podcast•Mar 31, 2026•59 min
Public Art, Rebooted: Carmen Zella on the Rise of Digital Urbanism
In this episode, host Sourdough talks with Carmen Zella, founder of NowArt and co‑founder of the Next Art Foundation, about her mission to democratize public art through digital, immersive installations like Luminex and Attune. Zella explains how her agency blends curation, technology, and community partnerships—working with corporations such as Walmart and CBRE—to fund and incubate projects that bring museum‑quality art to streets, plazas, and everyday spaces across Los Angeles County. She highlights the challenges of financing and navigating city bureaucracy, while emphasizing the need for more public‑sector support, especially ahead of the LA28 Olympics, to sustain a vibrant, inclusive arts ecosystem. The conversation underscores how digital urbanism reshapes how residents experience and interact with their city’s cultural landscape.
